Erza's last stand. Sidney pushed her to don the armor of Nagakami, and at this rate it was her only hope of defeating the Ace of White Eclipse. The armor was running at the cost of her own magic, so she had limited time to do this. Had any of her guild mates been watching, they would believe in her because she's Erza. But…this was Sidney Castle. To think he'd go down without so much as a fight was ludicrous. "I won't lose here…!" Titania screamed while swinging her lance forward, unleashing several crescent beams from the tip of her lance at Sidney, taking slow steps forward to close the gap between the two.
Even Sidney had little choice but to respect the Armor of Nagakami. He had to step backwards and lean to the side to avoid some of the crescent beams. He was unable to completely evade every single one, as several of them ended up grazing his body, but he showed not a single sign of pain despite how high the damage probably was. A normal mage by this point would've croaked no questions asked. "…"
"HAAA!" Once Erza was close enough she thrusted the tip of her spear forward, aiming to pierce right through Sidney's chest for a finishing blow. Sidney clasped his hands on the tip of the spear just before it hit him, the sharp edge digging into his hands. There was a brief power struggle for a few seconds before Sidney raised his foot to kick Erza in the stomach. A choked grunt of pain was forced from Titania as she tumbled along the forest ground once again before coming to a halt, using her spear as a support to stand back up.
"…It's time to end this." Sidney reached the end of his patience, and this battle was beginning to drag on far too long for his liking.
"I couldn't agree more." Erza gave a firm nod, now forcing herself to stand up straight. "I'll end this right now." The grip on her spear tightened greatly and she lunged forward once again, the tip of her lance sparkling brightly. "Nagakami Starlight!" Erza flew past Sidney while swinging her lance, 'stars' appearing right after her swing that exploded violently, noticeable to anyone nearby or far away; the brilliant explosions shook a small section of Fiore, and Erza could only hope that her piercing attack was enough to win…
Sidney was no fool; he could sense the danger Erza's last attack had to offer and he wasn't going to be foolish and merely just tank it. The Ghost mage clasped his hands together, a magic seal forming under him and his body was suddenly covered by a defensive urn. Nagakami Starlight was an exceptionally powerful attack and pierced through his urn and struck him. The blinding explosions covered Sidney from view…when the smoke and light faded, Sidney was still standing tall, his defensive urn completely shattered into pieces and his body looked bruised but he only winced at the end of it all. "Was that your strongest attack?" He needed to know for clarification.
"…" Erza was completely speechless. She was going all out and she had yet to even bring Sidney to so much as a knee. She wasn't even sure if she was actually hurting him at this point. Chocolate orbs shrunk in what was shock and maybe fear as Sidney completely tanked the strongest move in her arsenal.
"I thought so. Now then…it's time for me to show you mine." The ghost mage tugged on his scarf to show his signature show of respect. Sidney clapped his hands together once more, now floating in a seated position with his legs crossed. Four magic pillars appeared Erza, two black and two white, shooting into the endless sky. The four towers combined into one and shot up into the endless sky with Erza right in the middle; the black and white pillar was Eclipse magic, special to very select mages of White Eclipse. The tower then exploded violently, the power immeasurable. The only sound amidst the violent rumbling was Erza's cry of pain that slowly died down as the explosions slowly faded away…when it was all over; Erza was face down in the dirt, the Armor of Nagakami broken apart around her. She was done.
"And Sidney Castle takes victory over Erza Scarlet, how interesting…" The Client spoke before a beam dropped down onto Erza, sapping her of her magic. "Getting some good magic early, now this is something I like to see. You have my thanks, Sidney Castle! That's one less threat to worry about."
"…" Sidney said not a word. He took a step forward...and nearly fell to a knee. He stumbled for a moment, but was capable of standing back up, ignoring the pain Erza managed to cause and just walked away as the rune barrier disappeared.
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Lucy and Sagittarius stumbled backwards from Raven's onslaught of arrows. Despite being so young, Raven was most definitely capable of holding his own against Lucy and her sharp shooting spirit. "Guess he wasn't getting around…." Lucy said while rubbing the back of her head. "Come on, Sagittarius!"
"We can overcome this foe, moshi-moshi!" Sagittarius saluted before taking aim at Raven once again, unleashing several arrows within the blink of an eye towards the young wing mage.
"Sorry, but I'm not losing here…!" Raven shouted while countering Sagittarius' arrows with his own. Now it was time for his counter attack; Raven formed several magic seals in front of him: red, blue, green, yellow, black, white, and brown. "Fury Blast!" On the cue Raven began unleashing several arrows that shot through the seals, becoming the elements of water, fire, earth, lightning, darkness, and light. These arrows aimed to swarm Lucy and her spirit, exploding violently with each respective element, various explosions occurring all along their battlefield. It was hard to tell if any of his shots were accurate enough due to the smoke and debris flying form each one. After Raven fired all shots, he stared into the smoke, waiting anxiously for the result…and a single arrow flew through the smoke, striking Raven right in his chest. "Guh…!" That one shot was enough to take him down. The wind mage collapsed on his back in defeat.
"Agh…" The smoke cleared and Lucy and Sagittarius were covered in burn marks and bruises. She sent Sagittarius away due to his injuries and she ended up limping towards Raven. "Wow…you're kinda tough…"
"Thanks…you too…" Raven sighed. In the next instant a beam dropped down from above and sapped him of his magic…he blinked as he could feel a part of himself just vanish from his being. "W-What…?"
"Your magic…! Is it really gone…!?" Lucy asked with widened eyes.
In order to test this theory, Raven sat up and tried to fire his bow, but nothing happened. So he just let out a heavy sigh. "….My bow is still here…but I can't even do anything with it…" Raven replied. "I didn't think that guy was seriously capable of this…"
The rune barrier around them faded. Lucy clenched her hand into a fist and nodded at the young male. "Don't worry, we'll put a stop to this, that I promise you!" She then knelt down and extended her hand to him, to help him up. "Alright?"
Raven stared at Lucy for a moment. His eyes closed and he let out a small sigh. "For a moment...you reminded me of my sister. Yeah, okay. I'll hold you to that one." Conceding, he took Lucy's hand and she helped him up. "You better not go losing to anyone, got it?"
"I'm going to do my best." Lucy said with a determined stare. "Everyone's racing around trying to find this guy, or just fight in general. The more people that fight, the more magic he obtains. That's why we need to locate him or cut off his magic supply as quickly as possible." They couldn't stop people from fighting. Plenty of the random mages within the country would jump for joy at the opportunity to fight the famous ones. As such...Hosonaga was their main target from the very beginning.
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Yukino and Ren were sent flying backwards from Lyon's Ice Make: Ape. The icy creation beat its chest ferociously before standing in front of its creator, waiting for his next order. "I know Sheri isn't going to be too fond of hearing about this…" Lyon commented while dusting off his outfit. "But even if you are her fiancé, I cannot hold back…and you're more threatening than you originally appear." The last part was directed towards Yukino. "I'm afraid I cannot allow myself to lose to either of you."
"I see we're on the same page…" Ren said while standing back up. "Unfortunately for you, I will not be losing to anyone less handsome than I, so for that I apologize, Lyon…and to the fair Yukino, I wish I didn't have to bring harm to beautiful maiden such as yourself, it is truly regrettable…"
"Em…" Yukino sweat dropped, not particularly caring about the monologues the two males were giving. She could already tell where they were coming from because she felt the exact same way. The spirit mage quickly pulled out one of her silver keys, throwing it up into the air. "Gate of the Swan, I open thee! Deneb!" A bell chime echoed out and the celestial spirit, Deneb appeared. The edgy black swan slumped over while staring at the shocked Lyon and Ren.
"I know what you're thinking…" Deneb mumbled. "If he's the gate of the swan, why isn't he white…?"
"Uhm…" Lyon gulped silently the black swan.
"Not the first thing I expected, no…" Ren swallowed quietly.
"D-Deneb, please, finish them off…!" Yukino pleaded.
"Yeah…" Deneb didn't sound very into it but he was going to do what he had to anyway. He took off, his surprising speed catching Lyon and Ren off guard. Deneb flew in a triangle formation, lightning beginning to surround the two mages. Before they could react the triangle ended in a vicious explosion of lightning that spread out several meters. When the lightning faded both Lyon and Ren were down for the count. "There…they're down…just like me…"
"A-Ah…thank you, Deneb…!" Yukino praised her spirit to raise his…well, spirits, before calling him back. The rune barrier around the three of them faded away and Yukino was declared the winner by The Client.
"The Celestial Spirit mages takes it!" The Client chuckled before beams of light dropped down on both Ren and Lyon, sapping away their magic. "Ice Make and Air magic…I suppose I could make some use of this…" He didn't sound too impressed. Hosonaga let out a small sigh as he ultimately shrugged them away.
Yukino clenched her hand into a fist as The Client had the nerve to think lightly of someone's magic. "How dare you think so lightly of someone's magic like that…they've spent their life working on it and…" It was pretty clear she was just talking to the air at this point, but even so she had to vent her anger. "Lyon-sama…Ren-sama…I'll fight to make sure your magic rightfully returns to you, that I swear…"
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"Nobody move outside of the line." Layanna of the Magic Council was ushering some civilians to safety. Behind her were a trail of unconscious wizards, who tried to attack her for one reason or another. Their reasons didn't matter, because they were defeated and under arrest for the attempt. "This situation is getting out of hand. The airways are jammed because of these runes...I hope Lahar's efforts are going well."
Speaking of the runes, they suddenly flared up once again, creating a wall between Layanna and the civilians she tasked herself with protecting. "Oh no, look out!" A young girl exclaimed, worried about the cool Councilwoman who saved her.
"Hm...who's approaching now?" Layanna turned her head, only to see that Aira Aeolus of White Eclipse was nearby
"Oh! Um, hello." Aira meekly waved towards Layanna. The woman's blonde hair wavered in the wind and she tired to keep it down. "I apologize foe meeting like this. I understand you're busy."
"Oh." Layanna's expression soured a bit. She was never really a fan of any of the guilds or the people within them. She could at least recognize Aira as a somewhat amicable person. Still...
"I don't wish to fight you, truly. I already have to make my way through the tear shedder of Quatro Cerberus, and the spider-woman of Mermaid Heel..." Aira said with a slight bow. "However, I do not wish to hand my magic over to a man that would use it for evil." Her healing magic was a thing she was proud of.
"Unfortunately, my duty is to protect the people." Layanna responded. "If I have to choose the mission that Siegrain-sama gave me, or your wellbeing...my mission comes above all else."
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Evanee had a trail of defeated wizards among them. The likes of Toby and Yuka from Lamia Scale were among them. She crackled her knuckles, not even feeling warmed up from it all. This was just one gigantic inconvenience for her. "And they just keep coming..."
Right on that cue, two wizards approached her. It was Kuro and Waiston from White Eclipse. "This is the presence I sensed!" Waiston came to a halt with a grin. "There she is! Someone that could rival Sidney!"
"You really wanna fight her?" Kuro scratched the back of his head. It didn't really look like they had much of a choice now, since the runes reappeared around them all. "Oh! Well. Guess we're stuck here anyway!"
Evanee pinched the bridge of her nose. It really was one after today. "I don't have a lot of time for you. I'm trying to end that man's plan before it even kicks off the ground. So tell me where you're Ace is. Once I beat him, I can shove my fist down his thrown and end this."
"You're gunning for Sidney?" Waiston let out a laugh. "You shouldn't be worried about him. Right now, you should be worried about the two of us! You're not gonna be able to think about Sidney by the time we're finished with you!"
"Do you have to say it like that?" Kuro whispered to his friend.
"Show some confidence!" Waiston puffed his chest out. "Today's going to be a historic day, Kuro! We're going to defeat one of the strongest wizards in this country!"
"Yeah!" Kuro decided to nod and go along with it. They were already here, so it's not like they were going to fight each other.
"Ugh." Evanee could only groan. The things she put up with...
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Jaxon and Draco's battle was at its peak; both Eclipse mages were bruised and battered, but Jaxon was on the winning end of this bout for sure. "Come on…surely you can do better than that…" Jaxon taunted the blaze mage in attempt to push him to use his stronger techniques. "At this rate I'll just be moving on a little sore…"
"Tch…" Draco wiped the blood away from his mouth with his arm, grunting in annoyance at Jaxon's words. "Don't worry…it's about to get hot." A sly grin crossed the lips of the tanned male, red eyes glinting with anticipation. The earth began to rumble and a white pillar of flame erupted from the ground right under Jaxon's feet.
"…" Jaxon just narrowly saw this coming and quickly rolled to the side as the pillar of white flame shot into the sky, incinerating the sand within a few foot radius. The S class immediately replied by shooting his hand forward, a blue magic seal appearing before his now open palm. "You should cool down. Rain Needle!" From the seal, sharp droplets of water shot out to clash against the blaze mage.
Draco crossed his arms, grunting as the sharp water made contact with him. Draco slid back across the sand while taking the entirety of Jaxon's attack. Once it was over, he dropped his arms, letting out a heavy exhale with that same grin on his face. "Nova." Draco's strongest spell; the sun seemed brighter than usual and the heat in the area rose drastically, and now Jaxon would find out way. Draco formed a large sphere of white flames equaling the size of a meteor in the sky, and that sphere rapidly dropped down from the sky and Jaxon was its target.
"Huh." Jaxon blinked and looked up. There was hardly any time to react so the sphere landed on the ground, resulting in a brilliant explosion of white flames that shook the earth. Jaxon was thrown into the ocean due to the sheer ferocity of the Nova.
"Whoa…" Even Draco was surprised with the outcome of his attack; he didn't expect Jaxon to fly into the water… "Does this mean I win…?" He questioned with a cheeky grin. But it was far too soon to pat himself on the back, for the clear sky above soon became cluttered with dark clouds. "Uh…?" A torrential downpour ensued and the ocean began to rage slightly.
Jaxon rose from the ocean atop a miniature tornado, covered in serious burn marks and bruises. He didn't look too pleased, however. "Well…this has been fun. But I think we've been doing this for a little too long." With a swipe of his arm, the weather mage created several tornados that scooped up the water in the ocean and rushed towards Draco before he could even react.
"Gaaah!" Draco cried out as the ripping tornados ran right into him. The wind and water was sufficient enough in snuffing out his flames before he could even summon them. The blaze mage was on his hands and knees, coughing up some water while trying to stay conscious.
"Now for the finisher…" Jaxon inhaled, gathering a myriad of elements within his mouth. "Bellow…of the Weather God!" Throwing his head forward, the S class unleashed a funnel composed of the elements directly towards Draco. The Blaze mage could do nothing in time and took the hit directly, rolling across the ground until coming to a halt on his side, unconscious. The rain stopped, but the cloudy sky still remained. "I think that's a good backdrop for the current situation…"
"Jaxon wins! Blaze magic doesn't seem too bad, but I would really enjoy seeing that weather magic in action..." The Client didn't even sound bored yet, he was just enjoying watching all these fights and reaping the benefits. The beam of light dropped on the unconscious Draco and took away his magic just as it did with all the others.
"Don't you worry about that." Jaxon said while lifting his head up tot he sky. "Someone's going to rain on your parade sooner or later. I don't think you'll be so happy then."
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Next Time: Second Round Storm.