[h3]Ajax Thera & Stacy Kaiser[/h3]

The stoic Saint stood firm as Aiden and Oriel launched their attacks. The Ice Guardians were the first to close in for an attack, a clever tactic of Aiden to preserve his magic by using a spell he had already cast earlier. The first one closed in, swinging a sword down at Ajax but finding stiff resistance. Ajax blocked by simply grabbing the frozen sword with his bare hand, effortlessly stopping the Ice Guardian in its tracks. Before the rest of the small horde had a chance to get their attacks in they were all destroyed. Ajax swung the Ice Guardian by the sword, smashing all of them into frozen shards.

Despite the frosty effects of the spell, he appeared entirely unaffected and even unaware of any numbing from the contact. His yellow eyes focused next on Aiden's incoming water discs. Like with the Ice Guardians, Ajax made no attempt to dodge them. When he blocked the first disc with his left forearm, he seemed somewhat surprised by the attack freezing on contact, encasing his arm in ice. The following three attacks all hit him as well, almost fully enclosing the Wizard Saint in ice. This was brief, as the ice soon cracked and shattered, freeing Ajax.

He looked back at Aiden again now. [b]"Dragon Force?"[/b] he wondered aloud, watching the Dragon Slayer charge up another attack. [b]"... No, it's not."[/b] Ajax crossed his arms in front of his face in a defending position the moment he saw the barrage of ice birds flying at him. Though they pelted him like a machine gun, the occasional few missing and hitting the ground around him to cause dirt and dust to fly into the air. Once it settled down, Ajax was shown in the same position, completely unscathed. Before he could even relax out of his defending stance, Oriel came in for her attack.

Her foot went around his guard, as she struck from a different angle, and connected with the side of his head. The blow noticeably forced Ajax to tilt slightly, and for a second it seemed as if he had head trauma. But only for a second, as Ajax finished relaxing out of his stance surprisingly calmly while Oriel put distance between them to avoid a counterattack. Now standing upright with his hands to his sides it was easy to tell: Ajax had taken no damage from the attacks. [b]"Hmmm..."[/b]

[b]"I had hoped you two would be stronger,"[/b] he said in a matter-of-fact tone. There was no insult intended, but his deadpan tone might've made his words even more hurtful than if it was a simple insult. Ajax looked to Oriel on the ground for a moment, looking her up and down, before turning his gaze to Aiden in the sky and doing the same. [b]"Unless the two of you aren't taking this seriously."[/b] Ajax looked over to his right. Stacy had backed away from the fighting significantly, standing well out of their way. He nodded his head towards her before turning his gaze back to Aiden and Oriel. In response, Stacy jumped over to the hatch leading down to the facility, falling through the opening and closing the steel entrance behind her on the way down. A faint click could be heard, as the only way into the base was now locked.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ013DmYdLw]Uh-oh...[/url]

Ajax notably adjust his position, standing with a wider and more balanced stance. He brought his elbows to his side and held his fists out. If the new stance wasn't proof enough, the intense magical pressure in the air made it clear that he was preparing an attack. The large man began taking a long, deep breath, inhaling the air around him and inflating his lungs. The ground beneath him began shaking slightly, sending tiny pebbles and yet-to-be-melted ice shards into a frenzy. Very quickly, both Aiden and Oriel could feel an intense heat radiating from Ajax, despite not being particularly close to him.

Now he began to lean back slightly, still sucking in air. After a few seconds of this he finally ceased. The shaking in the ground only grew stronger and the pressure in the air grew more intense. [b][color=orange]"Lava Dragon's..."[/color][/b] he spoke rather quietly, just loud enough for Aiden and Oriel to hear. The split-second warning, aside from the time he took to charge his attack, was all they got. Ajax flung his upper body forward, setting his arms further out to keep his balance. [b][color=orange]"Roar!!"[/color][/b] With his mouth wide open, the Wizard Saint aimed at the space between Aiden and Oriel, the perfect middle distance between them.

A powerful cyclone of orange and black lava burst forth like an erupting volcano. The dust and small rocks along the ground were all blown back instantaneously from the force of the spell. The sheer size of the roar attack was frightening, being almost wide enough to hit both Aiden and Oriel though not quite. Even if they stood still it wouldn't hit them directly. But it wouldn't take a genius to deduce that even being close to the spell was very dangerous. The ground underneath it, despite not being in contact, was instantly scorched along its flight path. The powerful wave of lava blasted far into the distance, eventually disappearing into the horizon.

In the aftermath of the attack, the barren ground around the mages was now surprisingly clean, what with all the dust and debris blown away. A single, large black mark was stretched across the ground, showing the path from Ajax that his spell had taken. The Wizard Saint himself stood upright completely now, getting out of his attacking stance and surveying the condition Aiden and Oriel were in. He intentionally aimed between them so as to not directly hit either, for he knew best what the results of a direct hit would be. But even still they were in incredible danger and may have sustained injuries even with successful dodges. [b]"I hope you two are more willing to go all out now,"[/b] Ajax finally spoke, surprisingly calmly.

[h3]Piper Hatfield - [color=hotpink]Ms. One Shot[/color][/h3]

Much to Piper's pleasure, Nigel complied with her demand and actually prepared to give her a boost. [b]"If only all men were as intelligent as you, Nigel,"[/b] Piper said, serving as her version of a compliment. She gave a light hop onto Nigel's back, or what she assumed was his back given he appeared more like a trampoline than a human right now. [b]"Time to kick some ass!"[/b] The young woman held her bazooka in one hand and placed her other on Nigel to help balance her crouching position. She got as low as possible in order to control herself better once launched.

After Nigel flung her skywards, Piper performed an unnecessary flip and landed with surprising grace on the building she had targeted. A smirk formed on her face as she took her weapon in both hands. [b][color=hotpink]"Freeze Shot."[/color][/b] Before she could decide what to shoot at, the Lamia Scale mage, Sage Ruzuzaki, began tossing the demonized civilians into the air. [b]"Might as well..."[/b] Piper spoke to herself with a grin, taking aim at the centermost target amid the airborne cluster.

After squeezing the trigger, a fast but large magical ball flew out of the bazooka, hitting the man in the air. Immediately upon contact, ice began expanding from him, encasing all of the airborne civilians in a glacier large enough to not break once it crashed to the earth. The devilish grin of success was soon wiped off Piper's face as many thick vines climbed up the sides of the building she was on and homed in on her. [b]"The hell?"[/b] The bazooka in her hands glowed white as she used her requip magic.

Instead of one weapon in her hands, she now had one in each hand. Two automatic pistols. [b][color=hotpink]"Flame Shot."[/color][/b] With precise aim, Piper began firing at the vines. Each squeeze of the trigger resulted in a red magical bullet hitting a vine, exploding into fire and burning through it. To her dismay, every time she shot through one it would only grow back and continue advancing. No matter the quantity of bullets she could put out, the vines closed in.

Piper was forced to retreat from the rooftop. Taking a risk and jumping off the side, away from the vines, Piper began planning her next course of action. She was not equipped to handle the vines directly, that much was certain. The source of them, however, was likely within her scope of ability. Using her keen magical sense, Piper looked towards Lu in the distance. He was the one controlling them. Despite the great distance between them, Piper aimed one of her pistols and fired a single shot as she fell. The little red bullet flew across Augustine Town, likely barely noticed due to the small size and lack of noise, arcing through the air on a direct path to Lu's forehead.

And Piper hoped it would do something to stop his magic, considering there were vines waiting for her on the ground as well as the vines chasing her from the rooftop.