Siegrain didn't recognize the mage with makeup and a tired expression.
He's dangerous...
But it didn't matter.
He's more dangerous than Racer.
Siegrain's neck was crawling with a sense of danger as he watched the mage lazily glance at the rest of his wires and give a selfish smirk.
"This place is too cluttered."
Siegrain watched as the mage lazily held his hand out and swiftly whipped his arm around in a full circle. Siegrain, in a moment of self-preservation that was as much instinct as anything else, leaned back until his eyes were staring up at the leaves overhead, and something arced past his nose.
What was that...
Siegrain's eyes were wide as the invisible attack clipped a few strands of hair and continued past him, carving effortlessly through the edge of the circular clearing. He wearily leaned upwards, his breath tense as he saw the aftermath: a ring had been cut through the perimeter, cleaving the trees in two like a magic eraser had been run through their trunks.
I didn't see it-
"There..."
Siegrain flinched as the mage's smug voice rang in his ears, Siegrain's brown eyes flicking ahead as the stranger's red eyes tiredly stared back. The sleepy mage gave a half-hearted yawn as he walked to the center of the clearing while the trees around them fell to the earth. With each of their echoing falls, one of Siegrain's threads snapped.
"That's a lot better..."
In less than a minute, all of the trees lining the perimeter had been knocked down, and the traps had been destroyed, leaving the three in a clearing that lacked the foliage above so they could see the moon overhead, inching its way toward the center of the sky.
"Don't you think?"
The mage's smug and cocky voice echoed through the open clearing as Siegrain let out a controlled breath, forcing his previous injuries to take a back seat as his magic brimmed beneath his skin. His eyes narrowed before a shaky breath cut in from behind; it was Racer, who was now trembling on the ground as he tried to hide his injuries.
"Midnight, I- I was..."
Racer spoke with a panicked expression, shakily trying to hide his fucked up leg to little avail. His voice rose with his growing fear as he saw Midnight raise an eyebrow unamusedly at his pleas.
"This isn't my fault!"
Racer desperately yelled, hoping Midnight would hear him out before taking drastic measures. He was only partially correct; Midnight would let him cry his heart out about how unfair life was.
"I would've won against Jellal, but Cobra told me to take his brother instead!"
Watching Racer's panic grow with every passing moment was funny to Midnight.
"This wasn't my fault!"
It was funny because Midnight knew that Racer had fucked up. Racer had gone from a tool to a liability; it was too late to hide it. Midnight's sleepy eyes had already caught the severed foot on the ground; his next move should've been to tell Father about the incident, but that wasn't what he was going to do.
"I- I can fix it! The cut's clean; it can be reattached! I- I can still find my Prayer!"
Midnight, he had already decided what he would do to the failure. Sure, Midnight knew that Father would want to try to salvage at least a little of his investment, but that didn't mean Midnight would just let Racer off the hook. Mercy came at a cost.
"I can still be useful to Brain!"
Racer had embarrassed the Oracion Seis after all.
"Just give me a chance to explain it to him, and I'll-"
"What's there to explain?"
Racer felt his hopes vanish as he felt some invisible force grab the blood-soaked clothes around his cut leg. His eyes were wide with fear as he saw the threaded wire around it snap as the end of his pants leg twisted and tightened, molding itself into the raw flesh and meat of his cut appendage.
"AAAARRRGHHHHHH!"
Racer let out a guttural scream, scratching his throat raw as he saw stars blow out of his vision before he completely collapsed from the pain. His vision faded quickly as he heard a buzzing voice cut through the foggy state of his mind that had been driven numb with tears and writhing pain.
"You lost."
Racer mercifully slipped into the dark haven of unconsciousness and dreams. Unaware that he was leaving the two remaining mages alone, he collapsed in a small pool of his own blood. The sputtering blood that had once flowed from his leg was now reduced to a mere trickle thanks to the clothes that had tightened around his leg and cut off most of the blood flow to that area.
"Finally..."
Midnight said with a bored tone after Racer had passed out and a few seconds of silence had passed, flicking some of his magic towards the severed foot and pulling it back to him. A second later, it was in Midnight's requip space, ready to be reattached or hung in front of Racer's long ass nose at a later date.
"Some quiet."
Midnight gave a slight hum of appreciation at the silent atmosphere before he turned to Siegrain, who was watching him with the utmost caution. Midnight, in turn, smirked before yawning and speaking with a wayward glance at the rising moon above.
"So you're Jellal's brother, huh."
It was almost Midnight.
"Guess I'll kill you."
Midnight said with a slight and uncaring shrug. It wasn't personal; he just didn't like that face. Besides, he figured that if Racer was here alone, Cobra was fighting Jellal. Midnight didn't believe that Cobra was strong enough to kill Jellal alone. Cobra would most likely lose, leaving Midnight to finish off Jellal.
"I'll try to make it quick."
That meant Midnight could have the pleasure of bashing Jellal's face twice in one night.
"Consider it a little act of mercy since I need to go clean up after Cobra's sorry-"
Midnight's casual commentary stalled as an explosion echoed throughout the woods. A maroon light flashed through the air as toxic magic erupted from somewhere further in the forest.
"What the hell..."
Midnight tilted his head as he and Siegrain both turned to see a pillar of maroon, toxic magic exploding from deep in the trees. Siegrain watched in confusion and caution as Midnight's own turned into unfiltered glee, escaping the sleepy mage's lips in an astonished laugh, "Never mind!"
That fucker's lost it!
Midnight's loud laughs slowly fell to amused chuckles as he turned to Siegrain. Midnight's hand was haphazardly outstretched as he used the twisting magic collected around his hand. He flicked it around like an invisible whip, and with each flickering bite, his magic cracked the ground and snapped at the air. It was a shame his side pallet had become his main dish, but he wouldn't complain.
"Too bad, I was hoping to kill Jellal myself..."
Midnight yawned as he swung his arm downward, leaving a clean and steady scar on the ground. Siegrain reacted quickly enough to dodge and threw a blade at Midnight, only for it to fall short and hover in the air an inch from Midnight's nose.
"But he's good as dead already."
Siegrain's eyes widened as the billowing light from the poisonous pillar illuminated their battleground and gave Siegrain a clear glimpse of Midnight's growing smirk and self-satisfied expression.
"Even I know not to fuck with that stupid snake."
Then Siegrain watched his threaded daggers twist unnaturally and shoot back towards him.
Mystogan had a second to react once Cobra's eyes flashed open, and the dirt prison erupted in a pillar of corrosive poison. It towered over the clearing and tinted the air with a corrosive spray that burned the nearby mud-crusted earth and made the temperature skyrocket. Mystogan only had a split second to put as much distance between him and the sudden blast radius as possible.
Mystogan didn't react fast enough.
Mystogan let out a muffled scream as his right arm, from his fingers up to his elbow, bathed in the poison of the highest caliber. His jaw clenched as he dissipated into a hastily made smoke cloud, reappearing at the field's far edge.
Shit...
Mystogan's eyes flickered to his arm, which was now completely covered in purple smoke, melting the bandages off his arm and leaving the purpled and bleeding skin in its place.
That's not good.
Mystogan groaned as he let his hand hang dead next to his side, sweat dripping off his brow. He looked at the bandage on his bicep and let out a small breath of relief; at the very least, the tourniquet was still there. That would stop the poison from spreading quickly enough to become-
"COBALLIOS!"
Mystogan's attention whipped away from his arm and towards the heartbroken cry, his eyes wide as the pillar of poison imploded in a flash of purplish pink light, leaving behind a thick aura around Cobra's body. It clung to the air and eroded the ground, wafting around the sobbing dragon slayer like a toxic cloud. It was a... painful sight, but as Mystogan watched Cobra cradle the snake's dying body in his arms, in a tender contrast to the raging magic billowing around his body, he realized the magic wasn't just denser than before.
His body...
It was like it was transforming him.
Is changing.
Cobra's sleeves had melted off from his power to reveal scales of purplish pink color with dagger-like claws at the end of his fingers. His agonized cries revealed his fangs, which seemed more prominent. His eyes were lacking irises as if the intensity of his rage and despair had blinded him. The ocean of magic power possessed the dragon slayer, leaving an enormous shadow over his shoulders.
This is the true power...
It was like Cobra had the presence of a dragon of old.
Of Dragon Slayers.
Mystogan gulped at the thought, his breath coming out in a heavy puff as he took out his cloud staff, which was on the verge of collapse. The crack from earlier had widened after being so close to the explosion, and he knew it couldn't take another hit without shattering to pieces.
I'll need to make some adjustments...
Unfortunately, that meant he would have to sacrifice some of himself to keep his staff usable.
Painful adjustments.
Mystogan braced himself as he put his stuff in his mouth and ripped some spare bandages from his legs. His vision danced with stars as he shakily clasped them in his hand and did the same with his cloud staff. His muscles screamed as he took the totem and moved it towards the purpled fingers of his right hand, poisoned beyond current use. Then he leveraged the wood in place against his leg and gritted his teeth, his eyes watering as he took the bandages and wrapped the staff to his limp grip.
"NGHH!"
Mystogan let out a muffled scream as he taped his cloud staff to his dead hand. His eyes closed as he fought back the stars and finished the process, letting out a pained breath as he let his right arm and attached staff hang limply by his side.
There... it's painful, but it works.
Mystogan let out a heavy breath before he began taking out his illusion staff. His body was heavy as he calmed his labored breathing and leveled his gaze on the dragon slayer who set his friend's dying body gently on the ground. The care in the dragon slayer's hands was nowhere to be seen once he turned to face Mystogan's guarded gaze.
"You..."
Cobra's hatred...
"Because of you..."
Cobra's pain...
"It's all because of you..."
Cobra's tears, shed for his dying friend whose fading heartbeat still echoed in his ears along with his roaring magic, were all directed at one person. He was mounting in a furious rage that took over Cobra's psyche until his irises faded, and he was just a puppet of vengeance and a dragon's wrath. His animalistic state of mind mirrored in the burning roar echoing towards the person who had taken too much from him this time.
"JELLAL!"
A person who looked on with a resigned gaze, fading into a mirage of illusions as a new set of poisonous explosions thundered throughout the forests.
The distant sounds of explosions and destruction hit Siegrain's ears as he was thrown into the ring of fallen logs. The splintering wood dug into his back, and his head rang as he collided with the fallen tree trunks surrounding the clearing.
I can't see his magic.
Siegrain gritted his teeth as he pulled himself out of the wooden crater he was in, his neck prickling as he tilted his head, and a whip of invisible magic brushed past his cheek, leaving a new cut as the wood behind him was snapped in two. The debris flew around him and offered him a chance to throw a few daggers at his opponent as he sprinted around the perimeter, circling Midnight, who responded with a smirk.
"So that's all you're worth..."
Seigrain's instincts, saving him from the attacks he couldn't see, blared to life when his daggers were reflected. Siegrain dodged his wayward blades easily, not realizing he had been had until it was too late.
"Jellal must have taken all the talent in the family."
Siegrain clenched his teeth as he felt pain ring in his elbow socket, his eyes flashing to his left to see his coat sleeve trying to squeeze the blood out of his veins. The force jostled Siegrain's shoulder as his clothes twisted his left arm so hard it felt like it would break at any instant.
Shit!
Siegrain gritted his teeth as he quickly utilized his magic, weakening the durability of his threads, so the force twisting them ended up snapping the lines and not his arm. Siegrain's left coat sleeve broke off his arm effortlessly, the stray threads crumbling like brittle spaghetti noodles. His left arm was bare to the world, with only a new bruise at his elbow joint to show for the invisible attack.
He can use his magic directly on my clothes...
Siegrain frowned as he ran the information through his head in less than a second, glancing at his bruised elbow before concluding.
But not my body.
Siegrain internalized the thought, his head flicking upwards as Midnight gave an impressed whistle.
"Cool trick..."
Siegrain's eyes narrowed as he watched Midnight give a small yawn. Siegrain took a deep breath before forming two daggers in his hands and began running across the perimeter again. His eyes were constantly trained on the middle of the ring, and his ears caught the mirthful chuckle that left Midnight's lips.
"A little boring, though."
Midnight's words echoed as the dark mage lazily wielded an invisible whip that cracked past Siegrain's head, staining the ground with new scars. Siegrian's nerves screamed at him to keep moving as he threw his daggers at Midnight while sprinting around the perimeter. Midnight, not budging an inch, watched the attacks with unfiltered boredom.
Is this all he can-
"Thread Magic: Binds"
Do?
Midnight's lidded eyes widened ever so slightly as the daggers exploded in an extensive webbing that blocked his vision. Midnight let out an intrigued hum as the swath of threads stopped a few inches from him, and his magic began twisting it.
Except it didn't twist like it was supposed to; instead of being twisted into a ball of yarn like Midnight expected, the threads cracked like a pane of glass.
What the hell...
Midnight's thoughts staggered, and his lidded eyes flickered in surprise as the wall of threads before him shattered, and a pair of boots shot through the other side like a slingshot.
Fuck.
Midnight reacted on a dime as he put his arm between his face and the incoming boots, his forearm bruising as Siegrian smashed through the wall of threads in a flying dropkick. Midnight grunted as he was flung back, a curse escaping his lips as he tumbled to his feet and held out a hand. His eyes snapped wide open for the first time in the fight as he watched Siegrian sprinting straight towards him, and Midnight's magic began twisting the other sleeve of his opponent's coat.
Only for the sleeve to crack like the attack before it and crumble harmlessly like brittle noodles.
This fucker...
Midnight's eyes narrowed in realization as Siegrain closed the distance instantly and threw a right hook, catching Midnight on the jaw.
He got rid of my foothold.
Midnight scowled at the thought, his arm going up to protect his head as a high kick from hell collided with his forearm. Midnight, he was gnashing his teeth angrily as he firmed the lift and raised his rage-tinted eyes to meet the cold-hearted glare thrown his way. He tilted his head as a lightning-fast jab grazed past his cheek, leaving a scratch and a trickle of blood that only further incensed Midnight.
He's actually hitting me.
Midnight's eyes were laced with fury as he tried to raise his guard, only to have his opponent grab it and drag him down into a knee, nearly caving Midnight's chest. Midnight grunted as he pulled back reflexively and saw Siegrian flicking a dagger into existence. The threaded blade glinted in the moonlight like a snake as it shot towards Midnight's throat, who watched it with wide eyes and muttered a spell for the first time since the fight began.
"Invisible Magic"
The dagger stalled an inch from Midnight's throat, held by an invisible force before the blade twisted out of Siegrain's grip and clattered to the floor. Midnight gave a vengeful breath as he held an open palm before Siegrain's unguarded chest.
"Repulse"
Siegrain only had a second to realize his dire situation, so he chose the best option. Instead of uselessly trying to guard himself, he tapped Midnight's arm with his finger. Siegrain's magic flickered almost instantly before he was hit with a repulsive burst of twisting invisible magic that shot him across the arena. Meanwhile, Midnight dashed backward, his eyes flashing red as he put a spell on his hand, cracking his invisible whip before he stopped, feeling the slightest shift on his wrist.
Tricky bastard...
Midnight's lips curled downward as his whip moved instinctively, cutting the thin, razor-sharp fishing wire-styled thread looping around his wrist—just a tug from severing it.
So that's how he caught Racer.
Midnight clicked his tongue as he cooled his hot head and did a quick scan of his body to make sure no more threads lingered. During this time, Siegrain struggled to his feet, digging his heels into the dirt as he stooped with heavy shoulders. Siegrain's coat and shirt were shattered, revealing an array of minor bruises along his torso with large and fresh spiral-shaped bruises over his chest.
Dammit...
The price he paid for purposefully making his clothes weak so Midnight couldn't grab them.
I was too hurried.
Siegrian held a hand to his purple chest as a trail of blood fell from his lips; Siegrian took a labored breath before he wiped his lips and disconnected the thread that had gone slack in his fingertips. His last ditch effort to make something of his earlier breakthrough, where he'd stumbled in his attempt to end the fight as soon as possible. He shouldn't have formed a dagger; it gave Midnight something to latch onto, and the dark mage was good enough to take advantage of Siegrain's lapse in judgment.
Now, he won't let me get close again.
Siegrain frowned gravely at the thought, ignoring his injuries as he dully turned his head to his opponent's focused gaze. Siegrian's vision was slightly blurry, but his mind still worked; it told him to keep an eye on the dark mage in front of him, who was dusting himself off and mumbling in an odd voice.
"Well, I suppose I'll take it back now..."
Midnight's voice was cautious but not concerned, his red eyes turning towards his opponent's brown eyes as the injuries that sported Midnight's skin seemed to sizzle and vanish in a trickle of steam—leaving Midnight standing free of injuries as he palmed his neck and watched the sinking realization that flashed across Siegrain's dull, moonlit eyes.
"Jellal left you an ounce of talent."
Midnight was now awake, truly and utterly, and with both hands in his pockets, as his back muscles seemed to tense like a spring, it became painfully clear there was a difference. There was a stark contrast between this enemy, now looking at Siegrain directly, no longer weighed down by iron eyelids, and the previous one.
"Invisible Magic"
That difference came with the twisting of air around Midnight and the rushing sound of the wind as a vortex seemingly surrounded him. It was a sight that startled Siegrain to the core, and in a moment's notice, he dashed towards the edge of the ring, his eyes never leaving the dark mage and the red eyes that flashed open and seemed to glint with cruel delight underneath the pale moonlight.
"Twisting Scythe"
Before, a volley of invisible slashes carved up the earth and tore through the forests of Devi.
Mystogan vaguely heard what sounded like a Gatling gun echo through the air as he danced on his feet. His eyes narrowed as he blurred through a moonlit battlefield, his shadow flickering through toxic-laced craters as he traded blows with Cobra.
His strength has improved immeasurably...
Mystogan didn't have the luxury of thinking about what was going on on the other side of the forest.
He's incomparable to before.
Mystogan was solely focused on surviving Cobra's barrage of relentless attacks. None were precise, but all of them were lethal, with each missed punch leaving a new crater in the ground and ripping through a new tree like it was made of butter.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Mystogan's ears rang with each inhuman roar, and his skin prickled with each breath of the toxic gas that bathed Cobra's body. His body trembled, warning him of the danger of being near the rampaging beast of poisonous chemicals.
"JELLAL!"
It was a scene of pure, unfiltered hatred, like standing before a rampaging demon; trying to stop it would be a death sentence. Yet Mystogan chose to stay near, just out of reach, using his illusions to distract when needed and parrying Cobra's lethal blows when they were ruthlessly destroyed until he had enough time to reform them again.
He's not getting tired...
The problem was he couldn't see a way to put the rampaging dragon slayer down for good. Cobra shrugged off any sleeping spells Mystogan used between bouts; the dragon slayer was too flooded with adrenaline to fall victim to it, or his magic had grown too powerful. Mystogan honestly wouldn't be surprised if it were both.
I need to change my strategy.
Mystogan frowned as he leveraged a wild punch to separate himself from the action. Twisting in the air as he shot a beam of purple magic from the end of his wooden stave, and Cobra instantly replied with a whip of poison magic from his clawed fingers. The two attacks collided, resulting in a smoke cloud that billowed between the two, giving the opponents a slight reprieve in the drawn-out battle. A reprieve that Mystogan took full advantage of, letting his mind run through his options.
I'll lose if I keep playing this game of attrition.
The situation was desperate, but the course of action was logical: He was poisoned. He was on a timer, but Cobra wasn't; at the rate he was fighting, he would lose, and he would lose futilely. He was unable to take enough from Cobra to assure him he didn't chase after Wendy on a revenge spree for what Mystogan had done to the snake—the human—a while back.
I don't want to take a life... another life.
Mystogan's family had already taken enough of those. No, Mystogan wanted to spare this dragon slayer bathed in hatred and fury, but that meant hitting him with something strong enough to get past those new scales. That opportunity wouldn't come with Cobra in his current berserker state.
I'll need to make him drop his guard.
Cobra wouldn't stop fighting or moving until 'Jellal' was dead and gone.
He should be able to survive if I hit him with 'that' attack...
So Mystogan would give Cobra what he wanted.
Barely.
Mystogan let out a shaky breath, sweat dripping down his face as his eyes dulled over, glancing at his side to see the cloud staff still tied to his right hand. Its crack glowed a strained purple that Mystogan ignored before he took out his eye staff with his other gloves hand, tapping it to the ground as illusions of himself flickered around him, dashing in separate directions just in time for a figure to soar over the billowing smoke column, strike down like a poisonous meteorite, and let out a thundering snarl.
"JELLAL!"
Cobra's expression was as venomous as his magic, his eyes pure white as if the incarnation of rage had taken over as he whipped around and shot poisonous scales from his arms. Firing like bullets into the ground around him and kicking up dust as the illusions were pierced through. Cobra's rage mounted as he saw one of his scales nick the true Jellal's cheek before he dived into the debris, and the cloud of dust surrounding Cobra became a smokescreen of billowing mist.
"Poison Dragons"
Conra didn't think. He couldn't. All that came to mind was the image of Coballios. All that rang in his ears was the dull heartbeat he'd left behind. All his thoughts trailed back to his desire, his need to kill Jellal, utterly and truly.
"Sharp Horn"
Maroon toxins danced through the air as he leveled a corrosive fist and slammed it into the ground, the magic seeping into the earth. The power mounted as the area trembled as if struck by an earthquake, and a wave of poisonous explosions erupted with Cobra at the epicenter, shattering the ground around the dragon slayer as the entire field was leveled under the weight of his fury.
The force blew away the smokescreen along with the rest of the area. Revealing a streak of mist rocketing miles into the sky before Jellal's slightly burnt figure burst from its end. The moon was at his back as he soared above the billowing explosions, avoiding most of the corrosive blasts before gravity took a gentle hold. He began descending towards Cobra's seething figure like an arcing comet.
"Poison Dragons"
Cobra's rage instinctively pointed towards the one it hated more than anything, allowing him to build up poison in his lungs. More than ever before, he tilted his head upward and released a breath of powerful poison magic, so vile and deadly even the air around it seemed to burn from its corrosive touch.
"ROAR"
The earth shook and trembled with the force of Cobra's fury, his body sung with the ancient power that rested in his chest, and it blinded him. His rage blinded him, so he was unable to see the look on Jellal's face as the lethal attack barreled towards him, like a tower of toxic death rushing to greet him high in the sky. The beam's power was so blindingly mighty it hurt to look at it.
He isn't focused...
Yet Mystogan did. He stared past the rising laser and narrowed his gaze on the dragon slayer it came from. Mystogan ignored the searing pain from his right arm, which had become blacked by poison, as he descended towards the beam of maroon magic.
Don't let this chance go.
Mystogan calmed himself and balanced his life on the razor's edge as he swiftly and calmly used his gloved left hand to grasp his illusion staff and grasp it tightly, the wood straining and crackling as purple magic flooded through its surface. Mystogan's mind was calm even as the roaring beam inched closer, and the thundering sound of its power threatened to cave in his eardrums with every passing second.
You'll only get a second...
Mystogan let out a deep breath, his narrowed on the dragon slayer below as he turned his staff towards the ground and watched a magic circle form beneath it. Flashing purple before the open eye at his totem's base seemed to compound with an influx of purple static, and its red iris flickered a deep purple. The force was so strong it shook his arms to keep it focused on the one below.
So wait till the last moment.
Mystogan clenched his teeth, his eyes wide and focused as he waited until he saw the shades of maroon in the dragon slayer's attack. Until even his bones shook from the venomous snake shooting towards him. He waited until the last second before casting an illusion spell on himself to cloak himself in darkness and used his cloud staff, still tied in his limp right hand, to twist in the air. The poison magic rushed inches past his right shoulder and roared like a freight train as it raced into the night sky above.
The thundering sound of the attack shooting off into the sky behind him hid the sound of Mystogan's cloud staff cracking. Its wooden beams splintered until they finally shattered under the force of being too near the toxic magic it had been afflicted by. Its wooden entrails spilled over in Mystogan's left hand. Still, he only gave it a passing glance as he leveled his staff and aimed at the dragon slayer who had mistaken Mystogan's disappearing act. This camouflage hid Mystogan in the background of the starry night sky, while Cobra took it as a sign of victory.
Don't hesitate.
Mystogan let that misunderstanding fester, allowing the dragon slayer blinded by rage to roar in triumph as he slowly tilted his hand, and the eye at the end of his staff blinked in a purple flash so bright it blended in with the stars above.
"Eye of Hecate"
A pillar of purple light roared from his staff, and that violet star fell to earth.