Hey! Did I leave you guys hanging long enough? Thankfully for you, I've returned after a little break. And guess what? Unless something huge impedes progress, the story's best year is upon us.
Enjoy!
"Ignite, Dyrnwyn." Steph shielded her eyes as light shone all around them, the source being Quinn. She didn't know what he was doing, but she didn't like the looks of it so far. The light was extremely intense, so much so that despite her eyes being shut and shielded by her eyes, they still became sore. Soon enough, though, the light began to fade, allowing Steph to slowly clear her eyes.
Once she did, she noted that Quinn had changed.
He still stood where he had been facing opposite herself and Terra, but now his right sleeve was ripped and tattered. And in his right hand he held a gigantic blade, shimmering with light. The blade made Steph a bit confused as to what it was. Sometimes it seemed as real as any blade she'd seen Simon use, but sometimes it flickered, showing her the same blade, but only made of light.
"What is that?" She asked weakly. Quinn smirked and raised his bade to admire it.
"Dyrnwyn." He replied. "A holy blade I've created. That's what I've mastered holy magic for. To create weapons capable of slaying any demon."
"So you have." Terra replied. "How is this one any different than the dinky one you started with?" Quinn's smirk widened at this.
"Shall I show you?" He asked. Before Steph had time to react, Quinn swung the blade downward. With the swing a trail of fire left the end of the blade and raced across the ground towards the girls. Steph dodged just in time, but the heat from the swing was much more intense than she had imagined.
"It generates fire?" She asked as she landed once more. "Just how powerful is this sword?" Quinn shrugged.
"Don't know." He answered. "It was the first one I ever managed to make, solely because Neptu said it would be beneficial." For a moment, Steph saw brief confusion wash over Quinn, before he shook it off. "Oh well. Using it to fight silly guild girls will do, I suppose."
"Steph, we need a plan." Terra said from Steph's left. "He's taking it more seriously than a moment ago."
"Didn't need you to tell me that." Steph replied. "Any ideas?"
"No. Firstly, I think knowing the way that blade works would be our priority."
"Got it." Steph said. "Figure out how it works." Steph bolted forward and aimed at Quinn, firing lightning at him. Quinn raised Dyrnwyn and deflected the blades, causing to fly off everywhere. She got right up close and started to strike at him with her fists, but she couldn't do much with the blade between her and her target. Thankfully, she could back off, as she watched Terra approached from behind. Terra struck the ground and pillars of earth rose up to fly at Quinn, who just barely dodged the first few before turned around and cleaving the remaining in half before they reached him. He boosted forward and tried to swing at Terra, but she backed up and rose up at least ten walls of earth between her and Quinn.
This didn't seem to phase him whatsoever, as he cleaved right through the first eight or so of the barriers before he stopped at the second to last one. Steph heard him click his tongue in irritation.
"Well damn," He said. "I thought I had enough speed. Oh well." With this, light erupted out of Dyrnwyn, sending Terra backwards. Steph took this opportunity to get right up close, which resulted in her grabbing Quinn's wrists and wrestling him for control of the fight. He laughed as they did so.
"What's so funny?" Steph demanded.
"Do you actually think this is going to end well for you?" He demanded. "You know what's gonna happen? We're going to win, find Gin, and take him far far away before we finally rid the world of a Demon Lord. Hell, I might even take that blonde over there with us."
"That so?" Steph hissed. "Well sadly, I don't think you're going to get the opportunity."
"Oh?" Quinn asked. "And why's that?" Steph smirked.
She watched as she channeled her magic directly into Quinn, finally having gotten between him and Dyrnwyn. Although she took no joy in watching him fry and fly backwards from all the electricity coursing through him, she did feel rather vindicated. Despite the thousands of volts coursing through him, Quinn laughed through the spasms.
"You cheeky thing, you." He hissed, struggling to his feet. "Guess I deserved that one."
"You guess?" Steph demanded. "I'll only feel good once you're nearly comatose too, you bastard." Quinn rolled his eyes at this.
"You're brother deserved it." He replied. "He's just like Gin, That blonde, and all the other demons who've fallen because of me. You think just because he's your brother he's somehow above the others? Newsflash sister, he ain't no dif-!" Quinn whirled just in time to cut through a strike from a pillar that had been thrown at him from the direction Terra had been thrown, and soon the girl appeared there, looking vicious.
"Damien is different." She growled. "He's not just some mindless monster!"
"Oh really now?" Quinn asked. "Do you honestly think you're fooling me?"
"He is." Terra hissed. "He's never used those powers of his on the innocent, and he'd never do such a thing. Not willingly. He-"
"Willingly." Quinn said, cutting her off. "That's just it. Willingly. He's still a threat. What if the demon inside decides it's bored? What if he loses control? If, if, if...People like you never consider the ifs. The possibilities. Things like this, demons, it ain't worth taking that risk."
"And I suppose that's why we're here." Steph said, electricity crackling around her. "We disagree. The person attached to the demon is worth it." Quinn glowered at her, Dyrnwyn beginning to glow.
"I suppose we will never see the same way." he said. Steph prepared herself.
"No, I guess not."
Although Winter was pretty focused on helping Bella recover as fast as possible, and keeping her out of Damien's comatose state, she was partially listening to Quinn and Steph talk. As the battle resumed, she sighed.
"Maniacs." She muttered. "The lot of them."
"...Winter?" Winter made a face and looked down at Bella, who's eyes were directed at the fight. "Is...Is he right?" Winter raised an eyebrow at this.
"Huh?" She asked.
"Is he right?" She asked weakly, turning to look at Winter fully. As she did this, Winter noted she seemed lost. "Am I a monster? Is the threat I represent to big to matter who I am?" Winter stared down at Bella, unsure of what she was supposed to say. "Maybe I should just let them kill me. It's not right, after all..."
"Just shut your mouth." Winter hissed, continuing on her work. "Of course you're worth it. As is Damien, as is Gin. Why the hell do you think we're here?"
"But..."
"No, stop." Winter said, looking back at Bella. "Until you willingly massacre an entire village of starving orphans, myself and all of our friends here would fight tooth and nail to save you from anyone coming after you. Don't buy into his bullshit. He's got a different view on things. Got it?" Bella stared at Winter for a moment, before she smiled.
"Thanks Winter." Winter smiled.
"No problem." She said. "Now try to calm down, your heart rate is making it harder to heal you."
"I've told you countless times." Elizabeth said as she swatted Drake and Michael away. "You're not going to beat me. You had your chance, but you didn't capitalize on it."
"What the hell does that mean?" Michael muttered, rubbing his arms. "What chance? We knocked her out cold and she stood back up like nothing even happened."
"I know." Keita agreed. "Perhaps we missed something."
"Like what?" Drake asked, coughing. "We've tried everything, but we can't get through her defenses." Since Elizabeth had stood back up, Drake and the other two had tried everything. They'd made sure to go after her head first for confirmation, and of course it didn't work. After that, the fight returned to what it had been before, which was Elizabeth throwing them every which way.
Thinking hard, Drake fought back to the moment Elizabeth had stood back up. Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary with her. At this, Drake recalled a faint glow coming from her chest, but that couldn't have been anything important.
"No ideas?" Michael asked. Drake shook his head.
"No," he replied. "All I'm coming up with is plans that wouldn't work. She's a different kind of strong than I'm used to dealing with."
"That much is true." Keita said, massaging his left shoulder. "Shall we go after her again?"
"I think so." Michael said. "Maybe the enchant wears off with enough pushing."
"Guess we have to find out, don't we?" Drake asked, readying himself for another bout.
Ultear dodged Vissi's spears. She'd tried everything she had, but just like Aeran before it, Vissi seemed to only fall when Ultear completely obliterated it. And seeing as she hadn't gotten near close enough to manage that yet, it wasn't going well. Dodging another swing from the spears, Ultear slid backwards until she was near Reyna.
"You alright Ul?" Reyna asked as Aurath came after her as well.
"Just peachy." Ultear replied, waiting for Vissi to come after her as well. "Any ideas as to what we're supposed to do?"
"Just a few." Reyna replied. "If this is like normal summoning magic-"
"I doubt that." Ultear interjected.
"But if it is," Reyna continued, jabbing a finger at Abigail, who was still watching Elise fight Sentine. "She should be the weak point."
"What do we do?" Ultear asked.
"We need to take her out." Reyna replied. "And I think I have just the thing." Ultear made a face and looked over her shoulder at the girl.
"What's that?" She asked. She watched as Reyna laughed, and raised her hand over her shoulder.
A flash was gripped tightly in her hand. Ultear smirked.
"You just keep that shambling holy thing busy, I'm going after Abby."
"You got it." Ultear heard Reyna go back after Aurath, so she went for Vissi. The thing swung it's spears at her, but she blocked them with ice and slid underneath it's legs. With this, she created her own spear made of us and jabbed it right in between Vissi's legs, and watched as it went all the way up and pierced right through it's head. Vissi didn't seemed phased, but it also moved a bit more rigidly than before. Perhaps Ultear's attack prevented it from moving the way it had before. Sparing herself a moment, Ultear looked over at Elise. The girl seemed to be faring well against Sentine, and from what she could tell Abigail's attention was still fully on her as well. If Reyna could get away from Aurath, she could totally catch Abigail off guard.
"Of course, that would still require us to have dealt with these things..." Ultear muttered, looking back up at Vissi. Just what exactly did these things qualify as? Summoning magic? Or just holy magic or some variant? She honestly had no idea. Ultear sighed, her hand glowing.
Stabbing Vissi once more, she knew it didn't matter.
"Your Heavenly Body magic will explode in your face." As Tristan said this, the blast Simon had been preparing exploded in his face just as ordered. He coughed and stumbled backwards. Nami sprung forward to attack with her sword, but Tristan's increased speed allowed him to dodge her with ease. Simon didn't know what it was Juno had planned, but he hoped she did it quickly, because this was going poorly.
He watched as Nami flew back after receiving a hit from Tristan's increased power, and she flew backwards near him.
"You alright?" He asked as she struggled to her feet.
"Yeah." She replied. "I just...Damn, this guy hurts."
"I know." Simon replied. "But there has to be something we can do."
"We just have to wait for Juno." Nami replied, back on her feet. "I trust her, she'll figure it out."
"All out of ideas?" Tristan called. "I'm not surprised. It's quick difficult having to adapt in a fight where everything you try just backfires on you. So I'll understand if you just want to give up."
"Do you ever shut up?" Nami asked. "We're not giving up just because you're tough. If we acted like that we wouldn't have made it here to begin with."
"Agreed." Simon said. Despite no longer having access to his armor, he'd gotten stuck in his Purgatory armor, so if he could get close enough Tristan was going to get a face full of his club. "We're not giving up."
"Huh." Tristan said. "I suppose you have my respect for that. However, respect will not get you far in here, kids." He flew forwards and punched as Simon, who barely had time to raise his club to block it. He turned and did the same to Nami, who also flew backwards. Once he'd done this, he laughed.
"Because in here, kids, I'm infallible. Unbeatable. And even if I do fall, I will rise again. You cannot beat me."
Natsu regained his footing and watched Neptu, waiting for his next attack. He'd only been hit a few times, but he wasn't feeling to good. His magic really was effective against him.
Natsu perked up as he heard explosions in the distance. He knew that meant the kids must have been engaged in fights with the others. Neptu sighed.
"I suppose this is just another enemy that doesn't know." He said. Natsu made a face.
"What did you say?" He asked. Neptu looked rather indifferent despite the war zone around them.
"It's The Cross." He said. "Sometimes I wonder how long it takes for enemies to catch on, or if they even have a chance."
"what are you talking about?" Natsu demanded. "Explain." Neptu shrugged and crossed his arms.
"Let's just say my four commanders are special. They don't lose." Natsu scoffed at this.
"Really now?" He asked. "I really doubt they're all that. The kids can handle it."
"And it seems you too don't know." Neptu said. "They can't. Even if one or two fall, they can't lose." Natsu felt his stomach turning at this.
"Why not?" He demanded.
"It's impossible." Neptu said. "They're blessed. If one, two, or three fall they will get right back up. They'll win by exhaustion if necessary." Natsu felt a bit sick and turned to look over the battlefield again.
Be careful kids. I don't know what this guys on about, but if he isn't joking, we're in this for the long run.
Simon used the club to make sure he could stand, and watched as Tristan just stood there, eyes mocking him as he stood.
It was ridiculous. Divine Territory gave him such an insane advantage that there was no way any of them were actually expected to do anything.
"Come on kids, there really isn't any reason to keep going." Tristan told them. "Just give up. You won't be able to beat me."
"I thought we just told you to shut your trap already." Nami hissed. "We're not giving up just because you think it's what's best." Tristan shrugged.
"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." Tristan raised his own hand, and Simon tensed.
He wasn't prepared for Tristan's blast to explode in his own face. He watched as the man flew backwards and landed hard.
"What the hell happened?" Nami asked. as Tristan struggled to his feet. The dome above them rippled. Simon watched in awe as the bright white light of Divine Territory slowly became many different colors at the same time.
"What the hell is happening?" Tristan demanded. "What did you kids do?"
"Over here." Simon turned at this to find Juno standing behind them, smirking. Her right hand was glowing, and she looked pretty proud of herself.
"What did you do, Juno?" Nami asked.
"I executed the plan." She replied.
"Which was what, exactly?" Simon asked. Juno raised her hand and waved it around.
"I used my own magic to make Divine Territory work for me, not Tristan." Simon stared at the girl in awe. How had she managed that. "It was simple, really. My territory infected his."
"So, what you're saying is..." Nami started. Juno nodded.
"Divine Territory is under my control now."
Looks like a good spot to leave the first chapter of the New Year. I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try to get five!
Chapter 256:Archangel