^{@BranchOfSin & @floodtalon & @Slendy & @Eklispe & @Dash375 & @BranchOfSin}

Reina laughed suddenly, her light voice tinkling into Meruin's ears. "Meruin, my dear apprentice, what's there to be worried about? Have I not taught you that the second thing you need the most as a mage is confidence?"

The first thing you needed most was caution, by the way.

"No, don't fear for failure, fear the chances lost instead! Discovery at the cost of risk is the life of one who pursues the path of magic, and so it shall always be. If you want to teach this Deus magic, then so be it! I have complete confidence in you, Meruin."

At her masters encouraging words, Meruin's face immediately lit up, giving sight to a rare and bright smile from the small mage. She nodded her head in accordance and turned to Deus without further delay.

"I am sorry for postponing my answer until now, Deus. I didn't want to refuse - Ido want to teach you, but at the same time, I had worried I might not do justice to your potential. I will do away with those worries, and if you will have me as your teacher, I will gladly accept your offer!"

While all this was going on, Chase kept silent. She looked to Sol, to Liz, to Deus, to Meruin and finally, to Ryan. While Reina talked, Chase's grin grew uncontrollably and when Meruin had finished, Chase gave a long, cheery laugh.

"Wahahahahahaha~ You know what? I think I like you kids! You've all great potential, such that I haven't seen in year! I see a magic time knight," she said, looking at Sol.

"A repository for the elements!" This was said looking at Liz.

"The child of Merlin! And I must say that was a surprise!" Obviously, this was looking at Deus.

"And a mage with talent nearly enough to rival my Meruin!" Looking at Ryan.

"And finally, that little man slinking in the background who smells of negative energy!" She wasn't looking in his direction, but she was definitely referring to Marcus.

"You're all such interesting children! It would be a crime not to taste you when your young and yet to be broken!" she declared, and suddenly Reina's eyes widened as she realized what Chase was about to do. In a split second both the silver and gold archmages disappeared from their screens along with their auras.

Meruin's own eyes widened as well, and she cast as many barriers as she could in the scant few seconds she had to spare.

Suddenly, the heavy oppressive auras that had disappeared came back, but worse. Much, much worse. For one, horrible horrible second, it felt as if the heavens had crashed down into earth and pulverized everyone with its weight. And then, it was gone.

Hovering exactly where their images once stood were the two grand witches themselves. Reina was glaring at Chase, who was grinning down on everyone else from where she floated.

"Chase . . ." said Reina warningly.

"Don't you worry Reina, I simply want to taste their potential in person, especially given how they've developed," responded Chase coolly. "So, children, what say you? Care for a little wager?

"All of you against me in true battle, and I will use only ¹/_1,000,000 of my abilities. I win if just one of you gives up, and you win if you can land even a small scratch on me. If you win, I will give you a little gift from my own treasury, and if I win, I seal your abilities for one week. What do you think?"

Reina and Meruin inhaled sharply. On one hand, fighting Chase, one of the most brilliant combat mages on the world, no matter how she handicapped herself was . . . . daunting, to say the least, but on the other hand, Chase was a thief, inventor and an alchemist of epic proportions. She stole from gods, kings, and god-kings, and had herself similarly made items to rival that which she stole and her treasures were absolutely of the highest tier. If - if - they won . . . even Reina herself thought of participating in the battle, before realizing she'd offered this deal only to the young ones in front of them.

Slick turned to see Ryan had disappeared, shrugged and carried on working. Slick began to put wires in, making a concealed wire path to his room. He threw a roll of wires down the whole he'd dug, which by now was deep enough for two men stood on each other's shoulders to fit in.

@TheHangedMan

Ryan frowned and thought on Chase's offer. Losing his abilities for a week would be detrimental to his job as Disciplinary Committee Leader, but a personal treasure from Chase's treasury...

"I'm in. I'm highly likely to lose, but on the off chance I win... I would advance my potential immensely." Ryan looked at Chase with a hardened and determined stare. "You would do well to not underestimate us. I will now revise my earlier statement. I am not likely to lose whatsoever. Not only will I win, but I will do it in record time."

Ryan smiled and decided to up the stakes. "I would actually like to place an additional wager. I will be the one to land the scratch on you. If I do, I want two treasures. If I do not and someone else does, you will seal my abilities for a week. If we all fail, you will seal my abilities for two weeks. Does that sound nice?" Ryan asked. He already wanted to take his words back, but it was too late. His pride was on the line now.

@TheHangedMan

Deus looked at Meruin and smiled. He was glad that Meruin had accepted his offer.
He then thought of Lady Chase's wager. Sealing his powers for a week? That wouldn't be a problem. The problem was how they would fare against her. Even if she was only using some part of her powers, Deus knew that she would still be just as destructive. He smiled, he knew that a chance like this might not come again in years to come, besides this was his chance to test that thing out. He nodded at Lady Chase's offer. He knew that this was suicide, but what better way off testing out your skills than against one of the most Powerful mages in the world, the universe even.
"I'm in. But I suggest we do this far away from the school, or we might cause some damage." Deus said. But then he looked at Ryan and sighed.

"Oi, Oi Ryan......Oh well, Guess I'll just play along instead..." Deus said. If worst comes to pass, I still have my trump card Which I can only use twice per day...

Marcus felt a chill run down his spine when Chase mentioned something that closely fits his description. He came out of hiding and nodded as if he told Sol he was okay. The mysterious women disappeared for a few seconds and returned in person radiating an immense amount of power for a previous moment. This must be the reason why 3 is so powerful. Marcus stayed back and listen to the words exchanged between his friends and the mysterious women. Marcus was a person to never turn down a fight so hands down he accepted the challenge.

"Excuse me but I promise you miss- you won't be bored when fighting us. After all your fighting some of the schools council members. Although judging from your intense power its gonna be hell for us.....I accept your challenge.." He said with his dark blue eyes which were filled with controllable negative energy starred directly at Chase. Just by looking at the woman Marcus knew he had a battle to look forward to.

Sol turned around and listened to what Chase had to say, a magic time knight eh? He liked the sound of that. Sol was about to reply when they suddenly vanished from the portals they were in, a brief moment of confusion before they appeared in person exuding a ungodly amount of power practically crushing his barriers out of existence before it was reigned back under control. He had to admit the offer was certainly tantalizing, though it was certainly terrifying that Chase thought that she could fight at one one-trillionith of her power and still fight against all of them. Of course Sol never had been one to back down from a challenge.

"Well I don't see why not, let us see glimpse of the power that the Empress of Destruction wields, as for collateral if we all activate our bracelets and Chase agrees not to purposefully destroy the barrier that should contain it." Sol said thoroughly intrigued to see how this would turn out. If nothing else and they lost Sol would have to time to hone his sword skills, which admittedly he had been slacking in somewhat.

@TheHangedMan

Liz listened to Chase's compliments to herself and the rest "Fancy word of saying storage box for the elementals." She rolled her eyes the little mage becoming all the more unlikable to the person who wanted to beat Chase more then anyone else which is why it might of been strange when she showed reluctance to accept and instead bit her lip obvious in thought.

"I guess I am in." Liz sighed raising her hand and stopped leaning against the wall to stand on her legs and walked over to Sol "Keep an eye on me." She whispered quiet enough so that only he could hear and put a box in his pocket since she was the one she knew the longest and could likely trust before walking away and leaving it at that.
@Eklispe
@Thehangedman

@Dash375@Eklispe@Slendy@BranchOfSin@TheHangedMan

Ryan smile grew almost psychotic as he heard each confirmation. "Well then? Let's get this party started! The stakes are high, the challenge higher! Surrender is not an option! Understood!" He yelled at every one as his voice got continuously louder. He then realized what he was doing and shook his head. "Let's start this confrontation." He said calmly, though you could see the madness in his eyes.

@Dash375 & @floodtalon & @Eklispe & @Slendy & @BranchOfSin

Meruin shivered in excitement. Outwardly, she was quite mellow and seemed to be more interested in research rather than combat, however that was far from the truth. Meruin was someone who loved the thrill of the fight, and relished in its experience. It was only because of her definition of combat that prevented her from being serious. There were some qualifications to be met before she could consider something a 'serious' fight and act accordingly. Such a situation was now.

Against Chase, nothing but preforming beyond her best would suffice.

The golden witch swept her eyes across her opponents. Young talents, all of them, but untempered as of yet. Each of them had very little in the fine art of restraint, even Meruin. A useful attitude to have now, as they were in their youth, but dangerous in the future. Chase would see if she could cultivate that same attitude into them.

With a grin, the golden witch floated off the ground, and gave Reina a look. "Well, they're worried about the destruction of their school. Want to do something about it, Reina?"

The silver haired witch shook her head in exasperation, before flicking her wrist and snapping a slender finger.

A huge magic circle, larger than the island of the school itself, flared to life and engulfed the small landmass. With a whisper of a single word, the world became silver-ish in color, and all signs of life except for Reina, Chase, and her opponents disappeared.

"No need to bother with those bracelets of yours, although I must say they are rather well made. I might want to speak with the makers. Anyway, as you can see, Reina has created a whole new space-and-time for us to fight to our hearts content. Now, I will wait by the entrance of the school and give you a single minute to plan before we start, unless . . . you would rather we begin now? By all means, go ahead and do so; I'm feeling rather impatient myself."

Meruin turned to look at her schoolmates. "I vote that we take Lady Chase's offer."

She was seriously hoping the others would as well.

@TheHangedMan @Dash375 @floodtalon @Eklispe @Slendy

Deus

Deus looked at Chase and started Calculating many plans in his head. One of them had to do with using Banishing Shift. The other was to fight in a team. Which seriously seemed like a great Idea but Deus knew that some of the people here would love to fight one on one instead of fighting like a team. Deus nodded at Meruin.
"How about you give us time to prep up, Starting the fight now would be reckless without most of us knowing your abilities first anyways."
Deus then clapped his hands together and out of the ground made Durendal appear.
"So now, what does everybody else think?"

Cornelia

She was reading a book when she sensed that the school, rather the whole Island was Isolated from reality and put in its own Space-Time. Of course Cornelia was able to protect herself from this since her mastery was Space-Time along with Subjective Reality. She put her book down and sighed. This was a magician's work, and a very powerful one at that too.
Cornelia smiled, there was going to be a fight and she was planning to join the fun.

@BranchOfSin@TheHangedMan@Dash375@Eklispe@Slendy

"I think, that unless we work together we're screwed." Ryan drew Honjo Masamune and gestured towards it. "I believe our best bet is this sword. I have explained it in the past, but let me explain again. This sword has the ability to cut through anything when enough power is pumped through it. Normally, I would stand no chance of scratching Lady Chase with this, but if I can catch her off guard or someone gives me an opening, I could definitely scratch her. If it comes down to it, I have my Grimoire as well. Any objections?" Ryan explained his plan of attack as he re-sheathed his sword.

@floodtalon

"If we are talking about cutting things, then Durendal, Cliburn or Murakamo can do just as much damage with an addition of Magic Damage too..."Deus said as he summoned Kusanagi and Clariburn. But suddenly, Kusanagi began to glow a black color.
I wouldn't be so sure Deus Out of a sword cane out a voice that could be heard by everyone.
"Amaterasu?! HavenHaven't heard from you in a while, anyways, what do you mean that Kusanagi or Clariburn or Durendal won't work?" Deus asked.
[Well she's a magician right? Wouldn't magicians be able to sense Magic? All three of these weapons are magic, they would damage the surrounding areas but not the magician itself if she can sense them. Our safest bet is to go along with Masamune since it isn't completely made of magic.]
Deus nodded. It kinda made sense. He then took out a paper sheet from his back pocket that had some Japanese letters and a small black orb.

"If we want to win we should go all out!" Marcus unnecessarily shouted. He was pumped. Someone even stronger than 3 is an opponent worthy of a full out fight. "Personally I'd say let's do are own ways but teaming up gives us a lot of optional victories. As most of you know I'm more bronze then brains so I'll happily play decoy. Plus this gives me a chance to use Taijitu mode." Marcus sat criss cross on the mysterious surface. Now all he has to do is wait for the rest of the brilliant minds to come up with an awesome plan to defeat Chase.

@Slendy@BranchOfSin

"I agree. We most definitely need to go all out. However, our plan just needs to be as basic as possible. I have the experience to say that specific combat plans just don't work." Ryan looked at Deus' talking sword but disregarded it. It agreed with him, which was nice. Ryan then turned his attention towards the entire group. "Here's my idea. Liz will create a smokescreen with her water and fire elementals, which will give Meruin an opportunity to go after Chase. She won't hit her, but she will get her to move. Marcus and Deus will try to pincer her and guide her to me. I will be maneuver behind her and try to get the strike. I won't hit, but we'll have a small advantage. Getting her mobile is essential, her most dangerous spells will be the ones that require focus and her being still. Any questions?" Ryan explained his plan and looked at everyone.

"Of course, I won't mind a minute of down time to prepare." Sol said grinning. He spent a brief moment considering Ryan's idea, he didn't like it. Chase specialized in breaking everything and anything, going at her with the hopes of landing a single powerful attack was unlikely to work. The way to go about was an overwhelming amount of constant attacks giving no chance to go on the offensive; Meruin was probably their best shot at this in his opinion. While the idea of keeping her mobile was a good one Chase no doubt had more than enough experience casting on the move. Figuring he had more than enough time, he quickly warped back to the entrance of the school leaving his schoolmates to their own devices and wondering what exactly the purpose was of the box Liz had given him was.

No matter he would figure it out if the time came, now though was very important to get as much preparation as he could. First he forcibly grabbed a hold of time in the area, much easier actually since they were already in a distorted area, and made it run slower much slower. That should buy him a considerable more amount of time, after all Chase had never said how long the minute was. Then he set to creating runes, hundreds of runes around the area, there was no point in holding back. He set proximity runes, tracking runes, escape runes, time runes, everything he could possibly think of. By the time he was finished the entire school was covered in runes that he could activate at any time, since he didn't know how much moving Chase would be doing he had to cover everywhere. Of course that meant he was starting the fight already a little tired from all the expended energy but in the end it should be worth.

@floodtalon & @Slendy & @BranchOfSin & @Eklispe

Meruin paused, thinking over their propositions. They needed more info if they wanted to effectively challenge Chase. Just when she was about to speak, Sol decided to go ahead on his own and her words turned into a cry of shock.

"Wait, Sol-!" It was too late by then, however, and he was gone.

With a sigh, Meruin spoke hurriedly. "We have to catch up to him, so we better make this fast. Firstly, Lady Chase is severely restricting herself, and I've heard her use the term 1/1,000,000,000 - this is by no means an accurate representation of how much she is limiting her abilities. The only thing that phrase means is that she will not be using her Aeon to fight us."

She looked at Deus and Marcus, who were probably unaware of what the word Aeon entailed.

"An Aeon is the pinnacle of mastery of a single practice," said Meruin, simplifying the explanation - there would be time for a more detailed one later, if they were curios. "All mastery leads to one of four Aeons: Destruction, Creation, Existence and Void. This is moot point though, seeing as I am ninety-nine percent sure that Lady Chase will not be using her Aeons. Instead, I highly suspect that she will be fighting us with her original specialty: Fire magic."

Meruin pursed her lips in apprehension. "In a way, this might be even more terrifying. Did you know her Title, back before she was known as 'The Empress of Destruction'? It was 'The Winter Witch' - her fire spells devastated whatever they touched and literally burned out all that could be burned, including atmosphere. Lady Chase, whenever she was serious back then, left the sun blocked out and everything cold. She burned out heat in the atmosphere and created artificial winters."

A flame so hot that it turned everything around it to ice. That was Chase's flame!

"Her favorite tactic is definitely going to be heavily on the offensive and . . . bombardment. Not good, I had forgotten about that. Listen, whatever we do, let's try to avoid sticking together. It's risky, because we can't cover each others backs, however, it's not worth having all of us get taken out in one go. Your smokescreen idea is good, Ryan, but we can't rule out the fact that Lady Chase might not even choose to look through the smoke screen and simply destroy everything around her in one go."

She paused for a few moments, considering their options. Ideas and parameters jumped into her head as she wildly sought the best path to victory.

---

Chase floated lazily in the air, humming to herself with her eyes closed. A single eye lifted open as she felt Sol arrive at the scene. Being herself, of course she could sense what Sol was doing to the time around him. She grinned to herself.

"What a kid. My initial estimation of him has gone up a few notches," she said, before frowning. "If only he was working with the others, then perhaps it would get higher. Well, perhaps this is a part of their plan."

@TheHangedMan

Ryan nodded as he thought over what Meruin said. "Liz would be better off than most of us than. Not completely okay, but better. Ditch the smoke screen idea." Ryan looked around and noticed that Sol was gone. He felt for Sol's energy and found him preparing traps. "Sol is off preparing the battlefield. I don't think he's going to be playing ball with us. I'm putting away my sword, I don't want it to be melted." Ryan dropped his sword and it melted into the ground. "I suppose the only chance we have is to just rush her. We can't out wait her, we can't outwit her, we definitely can't out power her, all we have is superior numbers. Let's just go all out with our most damaging attacks." Ryan said but then furrowed his brow. "No, wait, our most damaging attacks could kill each other. I don't know, there is no real plan that could be used."

@floodtalon

Meruin opened her eyes, her thoughts coming to a gradual halt. "I think . . . our chance of victory lies best with Sol and Marcus."

"Lady Chase's abilities are formidable . . . no, formidable is a horribly gross understatement. They're beyond godly. But right now, we don't have to worry about it being beyond godly. She will be limiting herself, and since I know Lady Chase isn't the type to be so petty as to toy with us, I'm certain we have a chance at victory.

"Her abilities will be heavily offensive and destructive in nature. It's her favorite - and only - tactic. Overwhelming offense has always been her trademark. As I see it, absolutely none of us could take a direct hit from her. Marcus is the only one that has a prayer of surviving. You see, her abilities are powerful, but so long as it's not an Aeon-class technique, it's still magic. Marcus wouldn't be affected at all if he took a direct hit.

"Sol has grasp over time magic, and while I'm sure Deus or Cornelia are more familiar with it, I think that only he can apply it in a meaningful manner against Lady Chase. Here's what I propose: Like you said, going all out with our best attacks, only, the only ones doing the attacking will be Marcus and Sol. Everyone else will act as support. No matter what, we have to get close to Lady Chase. Staying far is only inviting pain."

Marcus stood up and closed his eyes. "So what your saying is all I have to do his punch her?" After he said that he opened his eyes and his appearance altered. He was now wearing an all black cloak that had the yin-yang symbol imprinted on the back. His eyes were black and his pupils were white. Black flames danced around his body as he pounded his fist into the palm of his other hand. "I can do that!" In the blink of an eye Marcus was gone and standing behind Chase. His arms under the cloak didn't move but a punch was thrown. This punch wasn't regular it was probably enough to shatter the strongest he on earth if Marcus had enough concentration. But for now his mission was to punch and not hold back no matter what. His cloak faintly moved but there was an onslaught of punches that came Chase's way.

Deus sighed. He also wanted to attack Directly using Aura Manipulation too. He sighed. If they were going to fight an opponent that had control over fire magic, Being inside would just make it bad for them so he decided to reveal one of his new Space-Time Manipulation Abilities, which was technically just teleportation.

Deus began to charge his power, and when he was ready, he teleported everyone to the courtyard.
"That should at Least give us a slight advantage."
Deus said as his Aura began to flare out of control.