Hi all. Hope all well with yourselves. Just before we get into the story, just wanted to thanks for the support you all gave me, whether it being shouting out ideas, the nice comments, criticism or checking out the story, I appreciate it. Also, in case it irked anyone, I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, I've got a fair bit going on, plus I've made the mistake of working on all the stories at the same time. Much more time consuming than I imagined.
Nevertheless, the show, or rather story, shall go on. So, I'll shut up and let yee read away. Enjoy.
Tsukune and Yukari all sat in the tent in silence, waiting for the group to return. Moka had been the Moka, on the other hand, was the more proactive out of the three and was tending to Tsukune's injury, worried that it might open up again.
Tsukune looked over to Moka and gave her a nod. "Thanks, Moka." He simply said.
Moka had nodded in response. After what had happened earlier, neither were sure of what words, or if any words, could be spoken to help the mood.
Yukari was struggling the most at the moment. After hearing the sound of the violence escalating, Ruby took it upon herself to go out and see if she could help. She assumed that if she could just talk to her master, she could convince her to spare the humans, and try to find another way of saving their home. However, no one from the group has yet to return.
"Do you think… they're okay?" Yukari asked.
Moka looked over to Yukari, giving her a cheery smile despite her own self-doubt. "Don't worry. They'll be fine. Kurumu and Mizore aren't pushovers. And Ethan would sooner French kiss a slug monster before losing in a fight."
At that, Tsukune shivered, the disgusting becoming present in his mind's eye. "Please don't say that again." He pleaded, incurring slight giggles from the girls. As their spirits were lifted slightly, Tsukune couldn't help but wonder about the individual that had worked with them in the fight earlier.
"That guy… the one with the scythe…" Tsukune started.
Moka looked back at Tsukune and tilted her head to one side. "Mathias?" she asked just to make sure.
"You know him too!?" Yukari exclaimed.
At that, Tsukune and Moka looked at the young witch in confusion. "What do mean? Do you know him as well?"
Yukari shook her head. "No, but I think Ethan does. He knew that Mathias was a Shinigami, and Mathias knew about Ethan's flames. They spoke to each other like they were, I don't know, 'rivals'."
At that, Tsukune looked down oat the ground, trying to think about what Yukari said. "But how? Both he and I weren't aware of the monster world before my parents found that flyer. And Ethan wasn't able to control fire like he can until-" his eyes then widened as suddenly made a connection. "No way."
Moka saw the look of realisation in his eyes. Before she could ask about what he was thinking, Kurumu burst into the tent, worry coating her face.
"GET A MAT READY! ETHAN'S HURT!" the bluenette cried.
Soon after, Mathias and Mizore came into the tent, carrying in an unconscious pyromancer into the tent. Tsukune paled at the sight, while Moka widened her eyes and covered her mouth in response to the shock.
Yukari, however, was a lot more calm and composed, seeing her friend suddenly in danger, she got her wand and waved it, causing one of the bed mats to float out and unroll onto the ground. As soon as it did, Ethan was placed on it.
"What happened?" Moka asked, seeing her friend deathly still, the only signs of life being her sharp ears picking up on his heartbeat.
"The idiot got hit with a vine and got some kind of poison injected into him." Mathias answered. He looked at the sweat going down his brow. "Whatever it was, it actually took down the living furnace."
Kurumu showed Yukari where the poisoned vine struck, revealing an angry looking wound. A look of concern was present on her face. "I don't know what I can do. If I don't know what kind of poison was used, I can't cure him.
"There must be a way." Mizore said, calm but serious.
Mathias looked down at the pyromancer. He thought back to all the fights he had seen him in. The lizard morons, the perverted fan club, the swimming club and so on. In each of them, Drake had managed to pull one hell of a surprise, wiping them out in an instant. Even the S-class monster, the werewolf, wasn't able to-
Mathias widened his eyes in surprised, then forming a blade-like smile on his face. he knelt down and poked his head slightly.
Tsukune saw this. "Hey! What are you doing!?" he asked.
"C'mon, Drake. After all those other fights you got into? After showing those cunts who's the boss? You're just going to give up?" he shook his head slightly. "You really are a waste."
Moka gaped in shock at the Shinigami, before looking at him with a stern frown and her fists clenched.
Mathias decided to land the killing blow. "What would your parents say?" he asked in a mocking tone.
At that, Ethan's body temperature rocketed, turning his skin bright red and steam to emit as well. After a few seconds, a green and purple smoke floated out of his pours, fading as quickly as it came out. After the smoke finally stopped coming out, his eyes shot open, glowing more intensely than before.
He lept off the mat and lunged for Mathias, latching his left hand around his throat and coating his hands with fire as he kept his grip on him. He used his free hand to summon a flame grenade, which he planned to shove into Mathias' mouth.
"Big… Mistake." Ethan said, his voice echoing from the power flowing through him.
Not bothered by the flames, Mathias gently placed a hand over the arm that was restraining him. He then latched on, proving to have more strength than he let on, causing Ethan to grunt in pain as Mathias moved Ethan's hand away from him with ease.
"Guess it worked a little too well there. Sorry about that." Mathias said. Quickly moving behind Ethan, he let off a slight chuckle, placing his hands behind his head. "For what it's worth, I didn't mean what I said. I remembered how you took down the werewolf a while ago. Reckoned that you needed the same thing to burn through the poison in your system."
Ethan had more anger in his eyes than he had ever shown before, added with an orange aura coating his form. After a few seconds, the aura faded and his eyes returned to their original color.
"Say anything like that again… and I will tear you limb… from… limb." Ethan said, his voice returning to normal, but laced with enough venom to terrify the rest of the club. Flopping to the ground, Ethan held a hand under his chin as he tried to think about how to rescue Ruby. "We need to find a way to save Ruby."
Yukari gasped. "Ruby? What happened?" she asked.
"Her master took her." He answered, his eyes narrowing. "Chances are after she learned that Ruby's not going to help her anymore, she's planning on getting rid of her."
"You ain't too far off, kid."
The group turned around, seeing the bus driver with a cigar in his mouth. Ethan got back onto his feet and walked up to him, pulling the cigar out of his mouth.
"No smoking indoors." He calmly said, causing the driver to laugh. "Now, what do you want?"
The driver put his hands in his pocket before explaining himself. "Simple. To tell you that Ruby's master's gonna use her as a sacrifice." He said.
At this, the club members gasped, except for Ethan, who raised his brow in surprise.
"Sugar. Looks like that woman can hold a grudge." Mathias commented.
"It's more than that." The driver continued. "Originally, she wanted Ruby to lead the plant monsters against the humans. Although, because Ruby's after turning away from her master's… 'ideals', she view Ruby as a traitor and is going to take her powers for herself."
At this, Mathias looked a little more serious. "That's… not good." He said.
Ethan clenched his fists. He took in a few breaths to try and calm himself down. When he regained his composure, he spoke. "If that's the case, then we need to work on saving her." Her looked back to the rest of the group. "Who's with me?"
As soon as he asked that, Moka quickly went up to him, looking more assertive this time around and shook her head. "Ethan, you are not going this time."
"… What?" the pyromancer asked.
"You were just poisoned. I know you burnt it out of your system, but how do we know that there aren't any side effects? You can't go out there until we know that you're in full health." She explained. She could see that Ethan wasn't happy about this, not one bit, but she knew she had to say it.
After a brief moment of silence, which involved Yukari and Kurumu holding onto each other for dear life in case Ethan lost his temper, the pyromancer eventually sighed in acceptance.
"Okay, I see your point." He admitted. "But I can't just sit here and let you guys face her alone. We need all the firepower we can get."
Mathias then raised his hand. "In that case… may I make a suggestion?" he asked, gaining the attention of everyone in the tent. "Just want to make sure, Drake. You still have your staff, right?"
"Uh, actually, I have it." Yukari said, taking off her hat, reaching in and effortlessly pulling out the item in question. "I held onto it when Ethan left the tent, just in case."
Mathias nodded in understanding. "Smart. In any case, if you're looking for power…" he pointed at the staff. More specifically, the pentagram seal. "All you need to is remove the seal."
At this, Yukari widened her eyes with surprise, in contrast to Ethan, whose eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"I told you before, Shinigami. We're not removing the seal." He stated.
Mathias looked at him with a smug smile. "So, you'd rather let the girl die then.?" He sarcastically questioned.
Ethan was silent for a few seconds, doing his best to hold back a growl. His eyes widened when he felt someone holding onto his hand. He looked and saw that it was Yukari, who had a reassuring smile on her face.
"Its okay, Ethan." She said. "I know it said it might not be a good idea, but… we need to use everything in our power to help her."
Ethan could see that she didn't belief that using the power in the staff would be safe either, but he could also see that she was desperate. Personally, he could empathize. He would do anything to help protect the people he cared about, but he was also afraid of what might happen if it were released.
Especially since it was the Chairman, someone who Ethan couldn't trust no matter how hard he tried, who gave him the staff.
After weighing his options for a moment, he eventually sighed in defeat. He looked over at the Shinigami, hate still present in the pyromancer's eyes.
"Alright. We'll do it."
…
Ruby slowly opened her eyes, feeling a little groggy for some reason. Her vision was slightly blurry, so she wasn't able to make out anything straight away. However, it soon returned to normal, allowing her to see that she was lying within a circle that was drawn into the soil she was lying on.
Still feeling a little weak, she managed to push herself up, wanting to check to see where she was. When she was on her feet, she turned her head from side to side, seeing that she was in a different area to Witch's Hill.
"Where… am I?" Ruby asked out loud.
"Someplace where those meddlesome beasts won't disturb us."
Ruby's eyes widened. She turned her head to the source of the voice, only to see her master looking back at her with a terrifyingly calm expression. His caused Ruby to take an involuntary step back, only to hit off something as she did. Startled, she turned around to see nothing there. Gently, she lifted her hand and reached out, only for her hand to press up against an invisible surface.
"A barrier." The Elder Witch explained. "So that you won't escape what is coming to you." She explained.
Soon, more vines shot up from where Ruby was standing, two wrapping themselves around her arms and one wrapping itself around her neck, while others lslithered across the ground like snakes, ensuring that she won't escape.
"Why… master… why?" Ruby asked as she struggled to breathe.
"You chose to defend the humans, Ruby." The Elder witch stated. "You side with those who defend your parent's killers. I cannot forgive you for betraying me in such a manner."
Ruby struggled to free herself from the vines as she spoke. "We can't… justify… killing… with killing…" she said. "We're only… destroying ourselves…"
Ruby's master was silent after Ruby spoke. She then rose a hand and clicked her fingers, causing the vine around Ruby's neck to tighten further, cutting off Ruby's airflow.
"Huu…" Ruby managed to say before her speech was cut off entirely.
The tome in the Elder Witch's hand began to glow, causing her other hand to glow with the same energy. "Ruby… I'm sorry…" the energy soon became more concentrated and volatile. "But you must exist no more." With that, the Elder witch fired the blast of energy from her hand at Ruby.
The energy phased through the barrier, making it's way towards Ruby's head. As her vision began to blur, she felt like everything was crashing down on her. She had lost the first friends she had ever made and her life was about to be taken by her mentor… the woman who cared for her like a mother…
"Despicable."
Just before the energy struck Ruby, a figure appeared right in front of her. Said figure swung her leg up in front of the blast, instantly shattering it like glass, saving Ruby. A cloud of smoke formed from the explosion, momentarily blinding Ruby, but the explosion was strong enough to weaken the vines.
They released their grip on her and she collapsed to the ground, taking in large breaths and doing her best to get her breathing back under control. As she did, she looked up to see her savior. She was momentarily startled when she saw who it was.
Before her was Moka, only her hair was now pure while, she was taller, her curves seemed more defined, and her eyes were now blood red with slitted pupils. Another thing Ruby noticed was that she wasn't wearing the Rosary from before.
"To think that you took Ruby under your wing, treated her like family. And now you had her set up like a lamb for the slaughter." The inner Moka said with disgust towards the Elder witch. Her eyes seemed to glow with rage. "You certainly are a weak individual."
At that, an aura of energy formed around the Elder witch, her eyes widened with anger and shock from the woman's outburst. "I shall not be spoken to like that by ANYONE!" she roared, sending beams of energy towards the vampiress.
Moka smirked as she saw them coming. As she prepared to throw her next attack, a scythe flew over her head, slicing the beams and nullifying their power. The scythe then spun back like a boomerang, flying back over Moka's head, prompting her to looked back and see Mathias with his hand outstretched, while somehow standing on the ceiling above them.
"What?" Mathias asked, as if he was just minding his business and not defying gravity. "Can't I have some fun?"
The Elder witch looked up and saw the young Shinigami. Mathias noticed the stared and returned with a cocky smile, while professionally spinning his weapon in his hand. As she was about to attack again, she was surprised to feel the temperature of the room go down to freezing temperatures.
"We didn't like it when you poisoned our friend."
Mizore shot up from the shadows, her ice claws ready to go, and swiped towards Elder witch. While she was some distance away, she had still fired off a number of ice kunai towards their opponent. Before the Elder witch could defend, she felt a sharp pain go through her right lower leg. This distracted her long enough for the kunai to main the witch, sending her onto her knees.
"THAT was for hurting my destined one." Kurumu yelled viciously.
Kurumu tore out her claws, further damaging her leg to the point where the Elder witch was roaring in pain. She looked back at Kurumu and, with as much energy as she could muster, fired another blast of energy at the succubus. Luckily the blast was intercepted when a water basin appeared in front of Kurumu, saving her from the attack.
"You won't hurt my friends anymore." Yukari stated, determination present in her voice and on her face. the little witch looked over at Moka and Ruby, soon waving her want in their direction. "Dispel!" she yelled. As she did, the barrier shattered, freeing them both.
The present members of the newspaper club and the Shinigami had the woman surrounded, prepared to strike again. The Elder witch looked around, seeing her opponents, cursing at how she was so easily beaten by them."
"How can I lose… to the likes of you?" she asked with a venomous tone.
Kurumu allowed herself a smile before answering. "We do what it takes when someone hurts one of our friends."
Mathias fell from the ceiling and spun himself around mid-air, landing in a crouch position. He rested his scythe on his shoulder before speaking. "Plus, you're a pretty reckless fighter. You left as many holes in your position as a piece of Swiss cheese." Mathias said. "Shouldn't be hard to finish this." He added, standing to full height and coating his weapon in a black aura.
The Elder witch looked around. Even she could tell, despite her delusions, that she was now outmatched. Honestly, she didn't expect for them to be this powerful. She assumed the boy with the silver hair was the only real threat. How wrong she was.
Seeing that she was about to lose, she knew that she only had one choice left.
The Newspaper club all suddenly looked confused when they heard the older woman laughing.
"Huh? Why's she laughing?" Kurumu asked.
Moka looked at the woman, her eyes narrowing as she suddenly felt something unusual emitting from her. It felt like…
"Uh oh." The Shinigami said as he realized what was going on. He then took a few steps back as he spoke. "We ought to high-tail it out of here!"
Ruby looked at her master, feeling a similar strand of power radiating from the woman. She couldn't make heads or tails of what it could've been at first, having never come in contact with this kind of magic before. That was when, however, when she realized what it was.
"No…" Ruby whispered. Her voice then reached maximum volume as she exclaimed. "MASTER, STOP! YOU'RE USING FORBIDDEN MAGIC, YOU CAN' COME BACK FROM THAT!"
The Elder witch began to twitch, subtly at first, but as the magic within her began to increase she was soon losing control of her body completely. She looked at Ruby, her eyes completely covered with a pale light.
"It is already too late!"
…
"I still think I should've gone there."
At this time, while the girls had gone to rescue Ruby, Ethan and Tsukune were still in their tent. Ethan agreed that he needed some rest before heading back out there, but he wasn't the most patient person in the world, and he had to try hard to resist the urge to out there and join the fight.
Tsukune, who was reading over one of Ethan's original stories for the newspaper's comic section, turned his head to see Ethan sitting on his backside, resting his his head on his hand while seeming to pout like a child.
"Wow. I never thought that I'd see you like that." Tsukune commented.
"Like what?" Ethan asked, although his mind was still a little preoccupied to care.
"You're sitting there like Yukari when she's trying to tutor Kurumu. It's not like you." Tsukune explained.
At that, Ethan swiftly turned his head towards Tsukune, with his eyes glowing from sudden irritation from that comparison. Immediately, Tsukune's throat went dry from the fearful look on his friend's face.
Ethan was about to say something else when he saw the draft he had been working on in Tsukune's hand. At that, Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Wha… how did you get that?" he asked Tsukune. Ethan normally kept his drafts hidden away, partly because he didn't want anyone spoiling anything, but primarily because he, surprisingly, was shy about his original works.
"Mizore found them before we left." Tsukune said before he went back to reading them. "This one's pretty good. A medium brought back from the dead to expose a guy who's using the resurrected for evil purposes. How come this wasn't published yet?"
"Because it ain't finished you eejit." Ethan said. the pyromancer stood up and snatched the drawings away from Tsukune. "Besides, I'd rather get some facts straight before I put in the paper. Don't want to risk pissing anyone off with the paper."
At that, Tsukune nodded in acknowledgement. There were some communities in the monster world that weren't happy with some of the stuff that was made in the hman world that was based off them, like the old 'Wolfman' movie, which apparently angered the werewolves because it made their kind out to be uncontrollable killers.
Tsukune walked over to his bed mat and sat down on it cross legged, allowing his mind to drift into thought. A few seconds later, Ethan brought him out of his trance.
"A penny for your thoughts." The pyromancer said.
"Just wondering if the girls are okay." Tsukune answered.
Ethan smirked as he was rummaging through his back, looking for something. "You needn't worry. After all, those girls aren't push-overs. Plus, you removed the seal on Moka, so they should be able to handle the witch." He said confidently.
"It's not the witch I'm worried about." Tsukune said.
This caused Ethan to stop what he was doing and raise his head up in confusion. He turned back towards Tsukune and asked "What do you mean?"
"That guy… Mathias… I don't trust him." Tsukune stated. He looked over at Ethan. "Tell me. How do you guys know each other?"
Ethan tried to think of an answer to Tsukune's question. Truth be told, he didn't mind the idea of the group knowing about Mathias kidnapping him, but if he revealed anything about the class rep's murder, then it would cause them to panic.
And now was most certainly not the time to panic.
"Um, well… I- WHOA!" Ethan said. before he could finish what he was wanting to say, the ground suddenly shook with tremendous force, causing Ethan to stumble and Tsukune to jump up, only to fall back down again from the instability of the ground.
"Wha- Ethan, what's going ON!?" Tsukune asked.
"HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW!?" Ethan said back.
The shaking slowly came to a halt. Ethan then rushed out of the tent to see what was going on, with Tsukune right behind him. As the two were now outside, they were amazed to see what was going on.
In a field quite some distance away, a large level of dark energy was being unleashed. As it was, Tsukune used a pair of binoculars to get a better look at the situation. His eyes were as wide as dinner plates when he saw large vines emerging from the ground, only for them to wrap themselves around each other to make themselves into another form.
"Uh… Ethan? We got a problem." Tsukune said with a hint of panic in his voice.
"That's putting it lightly."
Tsukune practically jumped out of his skin from the sudden voice, while Ethan calmly turned around, only to raise his brow upon seeing the bus driver. His surprise was then followed by irritation.
"I thought you were with the girls." Ethan said.
"Yeah, I was." The driver said before pulling out a cigar and lighting it. "Thought you guys might want a ride over to where the fun's going on."
Ethan looked back over to where he saw the dark energy, a slight sliver of panic running through him when he saw a large, plant-based monster forming. It looked like a bunch of vines wrapped together to make some sort of titan.
"That doesn't look good." Ethan blurted out loud.
"It sure ain't." the driver said. "The woman was stupid enough to unleash forbidden magic, the type that can control the caster, make them into the devil-incarnate, practically, or kill them as a price for casting it in the first place."
"That doesn't sound very nice." Tsukune said, who now had gone as white as a sheet.
"And the girls are right in the middle of it." Ethan said, now concerned that this may be more than they could handle alone. He turned back towards the bus driver. "How fast can you get us there?"
The driver smiled. "Depends on how much you value your lives over theirs." He said grimly.
Ethan smiled. "That fast, huh?" he quipped. He then looked over at Tsukune. "You coming'?"
Tsukune, who had recovered from the shock after hearing that the girls could be in trouble, looked over at Ethan and nodded assertively. "Yeah. I'll do whatever it takes to help them."
The pyromancer gave Tsukune a small grin. While Ethan certainly gave Tsukune a hard time every now and then, there was no denying that the average joe had an extraordinary drive to help those in need.
The driver gave a subtle, yet grim, laugh before saying "All aboard."
…
"What the hell is that?" Mizore asked with genuine surprise.
After the aura had finally faded, the whole group was shocked to see that in the place of Ruby's master was a large, plant-like monsters. This one, however, wasn't like the ones that she sent out to attack the students. This one was essentially an enormous Venus fly-trap with several, large tendrils emerging from all parts of its body. The mouth of the creature was wide open, revealing the Elder Witch's upper half; her lower half seemed to have merged with the being she just formed, making them into one.
Kurumu's mind went completely blank upon first seeing the creature, having difficulty comprehending what she just saw. After making a quick recovery, she managed to say "Uh… what's that?"
"It's forbidden magic!" Ruby cried, having been knocked back onto the ground. "She needs to be stopped as soon as possible. If she doesn't revert to her normal form, she will lose herself to the dark magic and never return!"
The Elder Witch stretched out her hands out as far as she could reach, causing five tendrils on each side of her to stretch out. After taking in a deep breath, she whipped her arms forward, followed by the tendrils shooting towards the group, all aiming to kill.
"LOOK OUT!" Moka yelled, quickly grabbing onto Yukari and launching herself into the air, evading the tendrils that were sent her way. Mizore slammed her palms into the ground and formed a large block of ice that shielded her from the attack, Kurumu flew up into the air, but Mathias shot towards Ruby, picking her up bridal style and coating them both in his dark aura. As one of the tendrils was about to land a hit, the two warped from where they were standing, now positioned a good distance behind the creature before them.
Mathias looked at the creature and raised his brow in surprise. "Yikes. The woman's either desperate or demented to try something like this." He said. He then looked over at Ruby. "No offence."
Ruby got back onto her feet. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the sight before them. Her master had always told her about the dangers of using forbidden magic, how it can destroy the caster. And now, she was seeing… no, she could feel her master being destroyed from the inside out.
"Master…" Ruby said under her breath.
As if on cue, the creature turned around to face the younger witch and the reaper, revealing Ruby's master within. However, there was nothing of the woman she once knew, instead replaced with an animalistic rage.
"YOU BETRAYED ME, RUBY!" she cried. At the point where her body had merged with the creature, rested her tome, where the gem embedded in the cover was glowing more brightly than before. "YOU WILL DIE WITH THOSE WHO DEFY MY WILL!" she added before her hands glowed with energy. A split second later, her hands shot out at Ruby, firing a condensed beam of magical energy at her apprentice.
Mathias stepped in between them, summoning his scythe and spun it in the motion of a propeller, acting as a shield against the attack. However, the force was enough to send him skidding back. He accidentally bumped into Ruby, but she had clung onto Mathias as he was sent backwards. When he stopped, he looked back at Ruby and gave a quick apology. As he looked back at the creature, he gritted his teeth.
"You've got to be kidding me. I had and easier time going one on one with DRAKE for God's sake." He yelled.
"Her magic is increasing at a rapid rate. The longer she's in that form, the stronger she becomes." Ruby explained.
Mathias now had a bull's rage building within him. While he was a calm person in general, he was a sore loser when it came to fights. He felt even more irritated that the sorry excuse for a witch was using forbidden magic to get the better of them.
And that's when he remembered something important. As he did, his malevolent smile resurfaced. "Well… if we can't win our way… let's play by her rules." He said. He outstretched his free hand and a dark mist appeared. He grasped at the mist, causing it to form into Ethan's staff.
Ruby widened her eyes when she saw the staff. "I-Isn't that Ethan's?" she asked.
Mathias nodded. "Needed to borrow it in case things got out of hand." He said. "You see, this puppy is an old artifact that has two effects. The first is to allow one more control over their abilities, handy if you only just unlocked your power."
A familiar golden light shun around the staff. Mathias tightened his grip on the staff as she continued. "And the other… is to allow its wielder to unlock their full potential with their powers. A power so great it had to be sealed off." He finished, his eyes directed at where the pentagram seal had once been.
At that moment, the staff vanished, in its place was a more concentrated amount of golden aura. The aura then began to wrap itself around Mathias' arm, followed by the rest of his body. The young reaper felt his body flaring with pain as the aura circled around him, feeling how the aura was merging itself with him. However, he didn't show it. In fact, he welcomed the pain, knowing that the end result would give them a chance.
His scythe soon glowed with the same aura, however, unlike Mathias, the aura completely engulfed the weapon. After it was completely covered, Mathias' scythe began to change its shape under the cover, changes that caused the Shinigami to raise an eyebrow.
When the aura faded, the weapon had been completely remodeled. The simple black handle had been replace with a curved handle that looked to be the shape of a black bone. At the top of the bone handle there was what seemed to be a small spine that was curved like a quarter of a circle, the other end being connected to a skull that had several cracks in it. Sticking out from the back of the skull was the scythe blade, which had become longer, double edged and serrated.
The scythe was certainly more intimidating than before.
Mathias casually examined the weapon for a moment, surprised at the changes. "Damn. Wasn't expecting this."
Ruby marveled at the weapon, feeling the sheer amount of dark energy pouring out. However, it was short-lived, as she saw magic circled appearing on the ground behind him.
"Behind You!" Ruby exclaimed.
Mathias responded instantly. He turned to see more plant monsters leaping at him. With another quick spin, he sliced the monsters in half. Inwardly, he was surprised with how light the weapon felt despite the added material.
He looked back to inspect the damage, only to see a wave of dark energy flying up towards Ruby's former master. The Elder witch formed a barrier to defend herself from the attack, only for it to shatter upon the energy's impact. The energy faded away before it could hit her, but there was no denying the power from that attack.
The Elder witch lost the look of rage in her eyes for a moment, instead having curiosity flow through her. This power wasn't anything like she had seen before.
"That power… where did he acquire it?" she thought to herself. Her face then looked sterner than before, raising her hand, summoning more tendrils from her form. "That is the power I need. The power to destroy all th-"
Before she could finished what she was saying, the head of the creature she had formed was struck from behind, causing the creature to bend forward in response. Before the master could react any further, it was then struck on its left side, then its right, followed by strike from underneath, causing the creature to lean backwards.
"Is this all you have to offer?"
Moka then appeared right in front of the master. Landing on the edge of the creature's mouth, she grabbed onto the Elder Witch's throat, her eyes now flaring scarlet with rage.
"You dare call yourself a master when you can't even control your own magic!?" she raised her free hand, ready to land a fatal blow to the witch.
"It wouldn't be wise to underestimate me." The Elder witch replied.
As Moka was about to land the hit, a tendril got in between them and swiped Moka away. Seeing this, Ruby summoned her wings and shot towards Moka, hoping to catch her. Instead, another tendril shot at Ruby and wrapped itself around her, leaving her trapped.
Moka spun in the air and landed on her feet with ease, looking up to see Ruby trapped in the vines.
"Release her!" Moka exclaimed.
Mathias warped up into the air, a few meters away from Ruby and swung his scythe, hoping to create the same wave of energy he just made before. Unfortunately, a barrier appeared before Ruby. Instead of shattering, the shield managed to absorb the attack, followed by shooting the same wave of energy out at Mathias.
"REFLECTOR SHIELD!" he yelled comically before receiving the full blow from the attack. He wasn't physically injured, but it was enough to send him flying back towards the ground.
Moka looked at the reaper with mild disgust. "You're just as much an idiot as this witch." She said before turning her attention back to Ruby.
"Ruby…" the master said. "It is time to receive your punishment for your betrayal. If you will not join me in the battle, then I shall take your power for myself."
An opening opened up at the top of the creature's head, with several sharp teeth spiraling around from within. When Ruby saw this, she went as pale as a sheet, fearing what is to come.
"No… no, PLEASE! MASTER, STOP!" Ruby cried.
"OH NO YOU DON'T"
Several balls of flame passed Ruby, all of them having made their way into the mouth on top of the creature's head. Two seconds after they entered, the sounds of explosions could be heard from within, followed by a blast of fire to shoot out from the mouth. The Elder witch cried out in pain as she felt the fire burning inside of her.
Ruby looked around, her eyes then seeing the sight of Ethan grabbing onto the vine that trapped her to dear life, his flame gauntlets burning through the vine.
"ETHAN!?" Ruby cried.
The pyromancer looked over at Ruby, nodding towards her. "Hey, Ruby! How are things… aside from nearly being eaten alive?" he asked, hoping to lighten the mood.
Before Ruby could respond. Several smaller vines emerged from the larger vine, all of which wrapped themselves around Ruby, their grip much tighter and to the point that it was causing Ruby severe pain.
"GAAGH!" Ruby cried.
Ethan's eyes widened slightly, quickly followed by his eyes glowing. "LET HER GO!" Ethan released his grip on the vine and shot towards Ruby, allowing the flames to travel up his arms and to his shoulders. He slammed his fists together and allowed himself to spin around.
He had planned to slam his fists into the vine and obliterate it, freeing her. However, it was interrupted when two smaller vines appeared. Instead of wrapping themselves around his legs, they instead stabbed through them right through, anchoring themselves to him. Ethan felt the pain and gritted his teeth. The sudden distraction was enough for him to lose concentration and for his flames to extinguish. At that moment, two more vines appeared, each one grabbing one of Ethan's arms.
"Grr.. Feck, that hurts." Ethan said through his teeth, the pain surging through his legs.
As this was going on, Moka had continued to fight against the Elder witch, only to have her blows land on the tendrils, which seemed to be getting stronger by the second. This did nothing to hold back the vampiress, but prevented her from helping out Ruby and, much to her surprise, the recently present Ethan.
"Ethan is struggling. It seems that he wasn't ready to fight after all." She thought.
She leapt high into the air, evading another strike from one of the tendrils, before spinning in the air and shot towards the Elder witch again, only for numerous tendrils to come between them, acting as a shield from Moka's attack.
Instead of leaping away from the creature, however, Moka soon lost her patience. She grabbed the tendrils, one by one, tearing them away from the barrier that was set up, bloodlust present in her eyes, inwardly angered that Ethan had been hurt.
She wouldn't admit it, but she did care about Tsukune, Ethan and the rest of the girls, having been the only people she had interacted with in a long time. As such, she would do anything necessary to keep them save.
"COME OUT AND FACE ME!" Moka roared.
Behind her, more vines had gathered behind her. As they did, instead of attacking her, the vines wrapped themselves around each other, forming into a new shape. In under a second, the vines had formed the upper half of the Elder witch.
She pointed her palm at the vampiress before saying "BIND!"
In that instant, Moka became as still as a statue. No matter how hard she tried, her body had completely seized up, preventing her from any form of movement.
"What's… what's happening to me?" she asked herself.
She was soon brought out of her thoughts when she felt a sharp pain in her right hip. She wasn't sure what had happened, but she had a fair idea when she felt a warm liquid slowly trailing down her side.
"A Vampire… one of the most powerful monsters in existence." The Elder witch started. "Born with the ability to convert their demonic aura into power, earning their reputation as the strongest creatures in existence. A power that would be most… useful."
"STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!"
The Elder witch turned, seeing Tsukune in the middle of a group of plant monsters, using a firearm to hold back the monsters. The boy looked up angrily at the witch, a new-found temper rising after seeing her hurt. He wasn't able to help, as the creatures soon began increase in number.
The Elder witch simply ignored Tsukune, instead focusing on the vampiress. With a wave of her hand, the vine began draining blood from Moka, transferring it into the creature and, by extension, herself. With pride swelling up within her for having outsmarted an S-Class vampire, she turned back to Ruby and Ethan, a cruel smile present on her face.
"Now… where were we?"
The mouth on the top of the creature's head had healed, ready to consume its victims. Two more vines shot out from the mouth, each one wrapping themselves around their necks, securing their pray. Those vines then, with a fair bit of effort, granted, pulled Ruby and Ethan in.
"OH, YOU COMPLETE BI-"
Before Ethan could finish what he was saying, he and Ruby were swallowed whole.
The Elder witch's body immediately react, having consumed two powerful beings. A pink and gold aura formed around her torso, showing that their strength was becoming her own. Soon, a hint of red was appearing, showing that the silver-haired vampiress' power was also becoming her own. As the overwhelming power flowed through her, she let off a maniacal laughter that caught the attention of Tsukune.
After having managed to get some distance between him and the monsters, Tsukune had looked up to see the aura around the Elder witch, her power even obvious to Tsukune. He recognized the gold color in her aura, added with the blood-stained vines not too far away from her, he realized what had happened.
"No… no… it…" was all he managed to say, as the color drained from his face.
The Elder witch pointed her hand up into the air, a look of triumph present on her face.
"At last… I will wipe the humans off the face of the earth."
Uh ooooooh. Looks like the newspaper club are in a spot of trouble. The big question here, now that Ruby's master now has Ruby, Moka and Ethan's power all at once, how will the gang be able to handle her. Even with the power boost Mathias got from the staff's real power, it's going to be a hassle. However, there's going to be a major spin in the works that may turn the tides of the fight. As to what it is, well, you'll see in the next chapter.
Right, before I leave, I need to say something. You know when you see people posting things on social media, commenting on videos, etc. That's all well and good, but there are some people who say things that are so toxic they would need a skull and crossbones symbol to label them. It drives me up the wall because people think that the anonymity gives them the right say such bad thinks. The reason I'm talking about this was because that I was reading a few fanfics a while ago to clear my head, and one of the reviews… let's just say that what was said just really bothered me. I just wish that people wouldn't be be like that, is all.
Sorry for bringing it up, but I felt that it was a topic that needed to be pointed out.
Right, with that, I'm going to sign off. Hope you have a nice day, and see you later.
P.S.
Matt: To answer your question, I had decided to follow the anime story, which is why I didn't write in the other stuff. However, they are going to me an appearance. I won't say how, but they will. Hope that answers your question.