@Lunarlors34@Natsume Honnaji@Raijinslayer
Everything all around Dawn was going to hell. The Shadow beast hadn't been exactly normal but Dawn had expected dark wizards in such a place as this. He's never expected to end up on the same battlefield as a lich. Hell he'd never expected to end up on a battlefield at all. The moment the dome began to rise Dawn knew he was in trouble. As the sunlight was shut off he felt himself start to panic as his vision went dark. He'd never had brilliant night vision and the somber lighting of this dome was insufficient for him to make out anything, even shadows.

He was wizard yes but by no means trained in anything like what was shaping up in this street. He wasn't ready for combat and as Cody had just told him, he was incapable of fighting. As the dome was closing the voice of a man with a warning resounded through the minds of all present followed not ten seconds later by a ball of energy. It was the only bright thing in the blackness and Dawn felt strangely drawn to it. Like it was something in a store that he desperately wanted. Cody had thrown up some form of protection field around both of them but as Dawn stared at his he too a couple steps forward outside of Cody's field of help.

Then suddenly it detonated with extreme force. The wave of energy knocked Dawn to the ground but strangely neither the heat nor the fire felt more dangerous than a boiling shower. The force of the explosion however was a different matter. Though dissipated by Nidhogg's hasty attempt to deflect it the force of the blast still resounded through the dome crushing Dawn into the ground.

When it was gone and sunlight again streamed into the area Dawn dragged himself out of the concrete brushing stones and dust off his face and clothes and out of his hair. By this time the shadow wizard responsible for the event that drew them all here appeared at the top of the dome, coating the damaged areas in solid shadows to keep his pets in there element and plunging Dawn once again into complete blackness. What he said was fairly generic to villains Dawn had read about but he filed it away in case at some later date it might be useful.

Now Dawn was prepared to fight. This was not an easy task but there were other wizards in the area and these beasts seemed to detest light and what was fire but light and heat. He might not be able to do much but he could help in small ways. Maybe if Cody gave him a hand with defense he could go on the attack with what fire magic he could summon.

Just as these thoughts were forming however the playing field changed again. One of the wizards approached the lich trying to dole out orders like a military strategist. There was only one problem with his plan, no one especially someone capable of summoning something like this dome liked to take orders. The lich reacted badly summoning all manner of undead creatures into the area. Though Dawn could barely see he could hear the unearthly noises that the creatures made and the voice of the lich.

A second bone dome formed around Cody, Dawn and this foolish tactician and even without his sight Dawn could feel the putrid aura the walls of this new dome gave off. No one would be phasing through this one. More undead were created to deal with the three of them as Nidhogg proclaimed that Robin's life was forfeit.

Then the tactician proceeded to give a hero's speech. The kind that in books always heralded a miracle that saved the hero at the last moment. But this wasn't a book, this was reality and in reality that kind of speech usually ended with the so called hero's body on the ground. "He's gonna get 'imself killed." Dawn muttered to Cody. "Listen Cody, I'm gonna try talkin' those two down. If it gets hairy I might need some ah your defensive magic."

Though he could barely see Dawn used the sound of Robin and Nidhogg talking to guide himself to where they stood. "Give it rest before ya get yourself killed. We get it, yer all noble and willing to take on the monster and save the poor defenseless villagers. Take my advice, back down before you end up like those creatures he's raisin' to kill us." Dawn said regarding where he thought Robin was with a steely gaze. Then he took a few steps in Nidhogg's direction looking as none threatening as a farmer boy in a big city possibly can.

"Is there any chance we could put the blood feud on hold for a sec. You two clearly don't like each other, but there's an awful big monster the others are fighting out there and if you put too much effort into killin' us the others might have finished it off before you get a chance at your um... 'fun'. So could we reserve the murderin' till after the shadow beast is gone?" Dawn asked making sure to avoid phrasing it like an order. He really hoped Cody was prepared with that defensive magic as at this distance Nidhogg could probably gut him.


@CirusArvennicus@Lugubrious@t2wave

Elizabeth continued to stare at the dust mage as she recoiled from Elizabeth. Evidently the note had upset her but Elizabeth showed no signs that this bothered her. On the contrary, her lips turned upwards in a smile, ever so slight. In fact for those that didn't know Elizabeth well you might think that she was smug, amused by Fleo's discomfort. Those that had known her for any long period of time knew that this was far from true but for those in the Phoenix Wing Grand Stands it hardly made a difference. One of the other Phoenix Wing members stepped between Elizabeth and Fleo before anything more could happen.

Elizabeth continued to look at Fleo contemplating her bandages when man invited himself into the conversation. His outfit was gaudy, he was pale as death and his smile repulsed Elizabeth. She took a step away from him and as the others continued to talk she watched him with rapt horror. The same expression on her face as those of people watching a train crash but unable to pull themselves away. After a few minutes Ariel approached, her appearance shifting to one of forested elegance. Something in this sight spurned Elizabeth into action. She planted herself in Ariel's path, blocking the girl from reaching Nero before she raised her hand and slapped hard with her open palm. Elizabeth took two steps towards him and her fingers started to move over his cheek. She was signing so furiously that her nails dug into his skin. If anyone at the group had known Elizabeth's language they would have seen that she was slashing two signs into his face over and over again.

"Death alone"

@Expolar @Crimson Raven @Natsume Honnaji @Raijinslayer @Lunarlors34 [Prince of Seraphs]

Lux Harken- Dome Battle

The ghouls reacted surprisingly quickly considering their drone nature. Two jumping to buildings on either side of the street while the third lept right for Lux. They left behind much of their lower leg armor to dissolve in the golden ground. It was worth it though, considering the alternative.

Lux did not move as the third drone lept for him, only a slight smile fliting across his face as he watched his impending doom. The reason was soon shown however. A blob of light rose up from the layer across the street and intercepted the ghoul. With no way to divert while still in midair the hulk of animated meat impacted the blob and was reduced to flailing wildly in an attempt to escape.

Unfortunately for the drone it's efforts were in vain. The globe floated slightly above the street and had the consistency of a thin gel. Held suspended in the center of the globe and unable to find purchase to push off of the monster was doomed.

Lux left it to be purified and turned his attention to the other two drones. They watched him with renewed caution after seeing what had happened to their comrade, as much as these things recognized comrades that is. Simultaneously the pair each turned one of their arms into a tentacle, the other limbs still holding them tight to the sides of their respective buildings.

Once again simultaneously the pair sent their tentacle arms whistling towards the light mage. Lux's already impressive kinetic vision was being boosted by his magic's passive reinforcing effects though, allowing him to twist out of the path of one and grab hold of the other.

The magic infusing the glove on his hand was sending off white motes where it was already at work purifying the offending appendage. The magic covering his shoes fused with that covering the street and provided the young man a sturdy footing as he pulled at the ghoul.

Normally such a task would be impossible, the hunk of living meat had three limbs holding it to the bricks of the building. This was by no means a normal situation though. Lux's armor did more then just protect him, it moved with his will. The cogs and rigid sections especially. Boiled down it meant that he received a significant boost to speed and strength while wearing the Armor of Light.

In the end it made the impossible, possible.

With a mighty heave the ghoul was torn from it's purchase and brought flying towards the person it had been trying to kill. With another twist away from the still flailing second tentacle Lux brought up the golden floor just enough to catch his target half a second shy from impacting him. The recently airborne monster's last ditch strike missed him, brought up unexpectedly short by the new wall.

The same could not be said for Lux's strike though. A thought sent a sliver of power into the hilt in his hand, a spell used so often it no longer needed words. A blade of pure white light burst from the cross guard and in an instant the traveling knight had separated the monster's head from it's body.

Immediately turning to the other monster he struck before it had the chance to run away. The hilt now becoming the handle of a bow. An arrow lept forth just as the ghoul screamed, landing in it's gaping mouth. It was slightly to the side but that hardly mattered as the arrow liquified and entered the beast to purify it from the inside.

Taking only a moment to make sure that all three were dead, Lux took off running for the spot he had earlier heard shouts of fear and anger. The golden floor moved with him and any shadowlings that tried to attack him did a fair approximation of melting as they made contact with it's surface.

Penny
@liferusher
Thor seemed to have reached a desperate point, and Penny knew she had the battle in the bag. So Penny allowed the shock wave to hit her, even though she could have dodged it, especially with the platform heaving like it had been. She fell to one knee, grimacing slightly, deliberately falling so her hands touched the ground and both feet were there, but as Thor stepped closer to her, Penny looked up. And she smiled. "Good try. But when I am in my Phoenix Form, I'm a little bit resilient to magical attacks" Some might wonder why Penny didn't use this form all the time then. The simple reason was it was dangerous for her, and already she had used it more then she had intended. She knew she should stop it now, but still.

Electricity needed to find a way back to the ground. As she felt it push through her, Penny felt its destruction to her organs, and then the healing following it. Keeping both hands and feet on the ground enabled the electricity to find a way out, lowering the paralysis, and added to her own magic, it enabled her to rise.

She was pale, a little shaky, and her heart was fluttering, feeling weak and fast. But she was on her feet ,and as thor made to hug her, Penny shoved her back with a blast of flame. Feeling sick, Penny bent over, and couldn't help being violently sick. Which made her feel weaker still.

Penny cursed, but she stayed on her feet, wiping her mouth. Her heart fluttered still, and Penny wondered if there was some damage to it, damage her magic couldn't fix. She'd worry about it later. Her mouth was dry, and she was sweaty, clammy. Her vision swam. It was a deliberate force of will to bring her vision back into focus.

She did something even more dangerous to her body right then. "Phoenix Song : Energy" This worked on herself, and only herself, but using it like this meant there was a great risk to herself, but energy flooded her, and her skin flushed. Then she cut her Phoenix Form, wondering if she'd done permanent damage to herself.

She'd worry about it later.

She turned to see if thor was still up.

Michael
@Silver Fox

"sometimes terrorists do things you'd least expect" Michael said softly, glancing about the stadium, "Some armies have different ways of fighting, and a lot of magical energy at their disposal" He fell silent as the platform seemed to stabilise, letting out a slow breath. For now, the danger seemed to have passed.

Michael hesitated, and then summoned a low level Angel, a messenger angel who he instructed to look about, remaining hidden, before looking up at the platform again.

"Sometimes we rely too much on our magic. You can't know they'd be able to fly-what if something happened? I don't like this, Prince"

@Caits@Silver Fox@liferusher@Joshua Tamashii

Zephyr/Loki

Just when he was going to count Karn out and was going to take Penny out next, the boy transformed into a frog and latched his tongue onto his arm. "Oh? Nice recovery.... Continue." He looked at the small froggy Karn before he turned into a bug and skittered in his sleeve. His eyes widened as he hesitated slightly in having black spikes pierce out from his sleeve all missing but destroying the top. Karn would come out his neck and go and land on Pyyrha who was saying he was more of a danger than the wingers were. Loki snickered before removing the destroyed top and laughing. "Oh you are too good, Pyrrha right? Yep I decided you are my favorite! Although in reality I have to still use what Zep is capable of using. So me using two percent right now is almost pushing it, I can't use more of my power than I really want too. Otherwise his body would destroy itself. Yet how about a counter proposal beautiful. If we take out everyone else in the match, then I will jump off the edge myself. What do you say to that Pyrrha?"

He was about to wait patiently before Thor's attack hit him from behind jolting him as the electricity surged through his body. Yet he cracked his neck and looked back at them. "Friendly fire much there thunder bug?" He turned back to see Karn's eyes slit, like a cat that knew he was in danger. Loki launched forward at Karn aiming to plant both his hands against Karn's chest and then blast him off with a torrent of dark energy. This boy was odd, at other times he was silly and playful. Then suddenly serious and cracking jokes, was this an act to trick him? Did he not learn what god he was yet?

@Caits

Ike Riven

Ike was watching the games quite amused, it only started getting interesting when the Dragon Fang mage acted completely different. Dementri had a point with two wingers, but if that boy was actually not in control and a god was, then it was a tough choice to make. Take the Wingers out so they don't get all the points, or take the god out so he doesn't steamroll everyone. Thor was going to need to go all out soon, if she liked it or not. The more she hesitated the more damage she took and the more likely she was next out the door. Thats when Gabriel came around asking for help then running off. He stared blankly at him before sighing and standing up. Taking a look to see if anyone else was coming and reluctantly joined Gabriel.

He looked at him shove the games master aside and start doing something. "I'm so not getting blamed if this fails, now what do I need to do exactly? All you are doing is grabbing a Lacrima and channeling your raw magic into it. Is that it? If so move aside, I have more magic stored in my body than you. Just explain how I don't push too much out." Ike said getting to the point, it was faint but he could see magic leaving Gabriel's body and entering the Lacrima. So thats how he knew what he was doing there.

@Raijinslayer@Prince of Seraphs@Natsume Honnaji@Expolar@Crimson Raven@Silvan Haven

After easily dispatching one of the weaker shadow drones Shiro heard a commotion. Narrowing her eyes she could barely make out what seemed to be Nidhogg starting a fight with one of the other mages...what a bother he was.
However she now teleported, having to teleport a few times, and now appeared where Dawn and Cody were, grabbing the two male wizards before teleporting out. She landed with a tumble on the ground, her usual unchanging face was distorted with pain as she slowly got back up and glared towards Nidhogg.
She had a hunch here, and he wasn't going to let Nidhogg kill these two seeing she hadn't seen who had cast the magic. She had only seen the magic cast.

"I simply cannot allow you to kill these two Jack-Sama...." She said with gritted teeth as she fought back the pain. She had made contact with his dome walls and the pain coursing through her was incredible but she had limited feelings so was able to somewhat fight it. She now leveled her scythe at him as her eyepatch slowly fell to the ground.
"If you insist however, you may kill that man. Georgie has no business with him." She fell to her knees now as the pain was beginning to overwhelm her...she had to find Manami. Her holy water could cure this no problems...

Cody stood in shocked silence as the dome was erected around of him and Dawn. Why him?! What did he do to deserve this. Upon hearing Nidhogg's and Robin's conversation his grip on his sword tightened. What should he do? The dome gave off a putrid smell of rotting corpses...rotting...burning.
Corpses.
His honour told him one thing, help Robin....however the fearsome magic power coming off of the man made him tremble. This was a similar feeling to that day...but not quite the same.
He didn't answer Dawn as he fell to his knees, still trembling as his breathing become short and raspy. He was having flashbacks of his home being burned down, his adoptive parents still inside and burning.
Not until Shiro had teleported in and moved them further away from Nidhogg. That teleport was exactly what was needed to wake him up!
"I...I will not sit back and let anyone else die. I learnt this magic to protect, and protect I shall!" Cody managed to yell, his voice shakily and broken due to fear however. Shiro glanced over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes.
Her vision wasn't great in this light, but she had fought in worse. Cody's eyes widened before he slumped to the ground once more, Shiro's handle had been slammed into his gut and forced the air out of his lungs.

"Stay down. Duarthy-Sama will not hurt you if you do...well not too much." Shiro ordered before placing her scythe next to Dawn's neck. Her guild mark eye seemed to glow brilliantly in the darkness of the dome.
"Duarthy-sama, remove these two from the dome...I'll deal with them later. The shadow beasts are the main priority. We mustn't let them escape, or the Mistress will be most displeased if she has to remove them from the city." Shiro said as her composure was returning. She had dealt with a lot of pain through life...however Nidhogg's magic was a completely different level. If she hadn't been given a holy enchantment by Manami she might be dead.

Robin's response brought with it a slight pause to Nidhogg's thought process, as he'd been expecting something more violent in response to being threatened with death by someone clearly not seeming like they'd give into such manners. It actually impressed Nidhogg a bit that the boy had the courage to even accomplish such a thing, and the fire in his eyes was quite pleasing. Then one of the other two decided to but in, and Nidhogg found his presence to be more annoying as he spoke. He was speaking like prey, trying to get him to turn away from his prize and focus on something that he had already lost interest in. To be honest, Nidhogg couldn't help but feel a little pang of predatory instinct push for him to leap at the boy, as he smelled ever so sweetly of fear and his bumbling through the dark made him seem very helpless and appetizing. However, before he could even get the chance to do anything, he was interrupted by a very . . . unexpected brat.

"Shiro . . ." He began, his crimson eyes narrowing in a glare of warning as the white haired girl proceeded to try and tell him what he couldn't do. However, that was overcome by the look of pure, unadulterated hatred and malice that crossed his face as she mentioned the name of their guild master. The air would soon become thick with the oppressive feeling of his dark and foul magical energy, the pressure bearing down on those that stood across from him. Any cordiality or sense that this man could be reasoned with were crushed by the weight of the fury behind his eyes as his gaze turned from Shiro to Dawn, then settling on Cody. No words were spoken, only a soft chuckle that resonated within the chamber . And then there was darkness, as the light that illuminated the inside disappeared, the necrotic energy receding to line the dome with greater intensity.

As soon as the darkness fell, the four would find themselves beheld to only silence, that was momentarily broken by the sound of creaking cracking bone. That was the sound of the thickness of the dome growing, as Nidhogg was aware of Shiro's Limitations, and beyond that, he knew that Manami would get involved the moment he laid so much as a finger on the stupid girl. The moment it appeared that Shiro would reach out to touch either Dawn or Cody, however, she'd have to move quickly or be caught on the receiving end of a vicious attack by Nidhogg, a sucker-punch straight to the gut, his arm wrapped in the haunting blackness of his assault form, which only continued to grow over him as he took on the blackened form, bringing with it a palatable thickness to the air around him, a sense of awe-inspiring terror that would likely freeze the light mages in their place as they were forced to feel the brunt of his presence. Two blazing red eyes would stare down at the white-reaper of Shadow Heart, but no words accompanied them, for this wasn't the Nidhogg that joked around or played with his food. This was the Nidhogg that would torture and kill scores of people, that destroyed everything in his path, and would raze the earth with his rage.

Without any motions at all, the ground beneath Dawn and Cody would erupt as a flurry of skeletal hands would grab and pull at them, their energy draining grip would be as strong as iron as they attempt to pull the two into an early grave, their magical energy draining rapidly due to the sheer number of clawed appendages grasping them, which easily reached into the dozens.

In this darkness, the shadow creatures(largely forgotten about) found themselves trapped and probably a bit confused as they saw that no one in the dome seemed interested in them. As such, they decided to simply stay out of the fight for now and simply take in as much of the darkness and shadow as they could, growing larger and more powerful while at the same time feeling a strong apprehension towards targeting the large black mage and his prey. The aura he was giving off was highly intimidating and even seemed to make the earth rumble a bit.

---

As the largest creature saw the other fight and die against the skilled mage, he growled, pacing in front of them ever so slightly as it seemed to try and figure out some plan of attack. However, suddenly and withou warning, the creature would turn around and run away from Ferrin towards the smaller dome, which suddenly seemed to be growing in size, pushing nearby debris as it pushed forward, even knocking down nearby building as it cracked the foundation. The creature would phase through, making it's way though about 4 feet of nine before it finally reached the inside, the necrotic energy doing nothing to the undead monstrosity as it made it's way into the interior. A low growl was the only indicator of it's arrival, and it would stalk around the perimeter as it waited to see what it should do in this situation.

@Silvan Haven@Crimson Raven@Lunarlors34@Expolar@Prince of Seraphs@Natsume Honnaji

P.S: So I'm thinking that, given the temperaments and power levels of Dawn, Robin, and Cody, that they'd be rather crippled by the fear aura that comes with the assault, but it's not completely set in stone. If you want to break fear, just be sure it makes sense and I'll be good with it, though I do believe it would take some effort, especially if Nidhogg is right next to them. Also, with the lights gone, Nidhogg is going mainly by the smell of Shiro's sins(which she probably has a lot of) to locate her, she only has the visual que of glowing red eyes to find Nidhogg. This should be fun.

Ferrin was all pumped and ready for a fight, but then the thing up and ran. "Oh no you don't!" Ferrin snarled, his emotionless facade breaking. He charged after it, flaming sword oustreched. But at the last moment, if slid through the bone dome. Ferrin's thrust sank his sword a foot or so in the bone and stopped. "Damn." He swore. With a jerk, he pulled his sword out, and with a thought, extinguished the flame. He breifly glanced at the light mage, but he seemed to be whole. So, Ferrin left him alone.

Ferrin glanced around the intirior. A fine mess I've gotten myself into. A Shadow mage, and a necromancer. However, I do not think that this is the same Necomancer I am looking for. His magic is differnt, and he did not seem to be concerned with me. Still, I aught to help. He thought. However, a portion of his mind said, why bother? It was none of his business. Its the right thing to do. Turning my back on this would be an insult to Fairy Tail's legacy. That thought disturbed him slightly. For something to have a legacy it had to be dead, right? He discarded the thought. Whatever, he did not have time for a philosophical meandering.

Alright, the next step is... "You know, it is a little musty, in here." Ferrin said, conversationaly, as he walked to the dome wall. He set the palm of his Gauntlet against the bone, and concentrated. "I guess I should open a window! Forzare!" He shouted, pushing his palm forward. A blast of kinetic force rippled down his Gauntlet and a massive section of the dome exploded outward, leaving a hole large enough for even a tall person like Ferrin to step through without ducking. Sunlight blazed in, killing or hurting any of the shadow beasts in its way.

Ferrin took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Ah, fresh air." He said. With that done, he turned around and approched the little dome. He telekineisis was innefectual; He could not feel the thought of anyone in the dome. Hmm...I might be able to blast through it, but if I did, I may hit someone... He thought. Ferrin raised his sword, and executed a whirlwind of slashes on it, making quite a racket. Each individual slash did little, but left a scrach. He concentrated them in an X, each one deepening the stroke. Soon, there were substantial gouges.

"I have always wanted to do this." Ferrin remarked, aloud. He lifted his Gauntlet and banged on the dome hard. "Little pig, little pig, let me in..." He chanted. Then, he drew back his fist and gathered magic in it. "Or I will huff...and I will puff..." He gathered more magic, "...and I will blow your house in! On 'blow' his Gauntlet let out a blast from the elbow that propelled it forward, then Ferrin released the aether-enhanced kinetic magic he had been gathering in a blast of pure force on impact. Whatever magic that may defend the dome, he was sure he could break it.

@Silvan Haven@Raijinslayer@Lunarlors34@Expolar@Prince of Seraphs@Natsume Honnaji

[h1]Cody Bloodstein,
@Raijinslayer@Prince of Seraphs@Natsume Honnaji@Expolar@Crimson Raven@Silvan Haven

#Cody on knees doubled over in pain already so can't move anyway, even with the whole fear aura. He'll feel the fear once the pain is gone I say

Shiro narrowed her eyes at the obvious predicament. She wasn't quite understanding what was Nidhogg's problem...as a member of Shadow Heart, one must follow the orders of Georgie to the letter shouldn't they? So shouldn't he be helping, not undermining Shiro here?
"Duarthy-sama, I believe you're misunderstanding. Georgie simply requires something they have...you can kill them if you so desire after we acquire the item in question. I will not stop you, in fact if you so desire I might even assist." She explained as he scythe was now levelled at the dark mage in question. She knew she couldn't take him on in a fight, especially if she was to keep him away from Dawn and Cody.
No matter she would-she suddenly disappeared from view. Shoving Cody out of the path before pushing Dawn with her scythe handle, the hands now erupted out of the ground and wrapped around of Shiro.
Even with her holy divinity, which wasn't made strong enough to resist Nidhogg, the pain was excruciating. She couldn't even cry out or scream, her voice had abandoned her, all that she felt was pain. Strong, crippling pain and the only noise she could make were some raspy breaths. She couldn't leap away using her magic, nor could she enhance herself. Her magic being drained prevented that.

Manami had meanwhile entered through the top of the dome using her water to shield her from the darkness and lower her down. Upon finding that there was a secondary dome she slashed at the ground beneath her as she dropped beneath the dome.

As she began to lose consciousness however a torrent of water now shot out from the ground and smashed into the hands holding Shiro, shattering them and thus freeing Shiro. A bed of water formed under Shiro to prevent her from falling now as a woman now formed from the water. She held Shiro close in a hug as she comforted her. Any and all of Nidhoggs attempt to either attack her and Shiro, or Dawn and Cody would be thwarted by a water sphere forming around of them (the insides would be empty of course, so they can breath ).
"It's ok Shiro, I'm here now." She mumbled as she encased Shiro in healing water. Shiro mumbled some sort of reply but Manami simply nodded her head.
Standing up slowly now she gave Nidhogg a look that could kill, her normally tender and caring eyes were clouded over in anger. However her usual grace had yet to leave her as she simply tucked some of her purple hair with orange tinged ends behind her ear before sighing.
"Jack, Jack, Jack. What on earth do you think you're doing?" Manami asked as she crossed her arms under her large bust. She wasn't impressed, however she would wish to avoid a confrontation with her own guild member if at all possible. Especially that of Nidhogg or even Maxie. Those two were monsters in battle, and Nidhogg in personality. Questionable about Maxie's personality.

She wouldn't await a response before sighing.
"No matter, I'll simply retrieve the book myself. Which of you two have it?" She asked over her shoulder. The holy aspect of her water should protect the two from the fear aura as well while healing any sort of small injuries they might've had.
Cody had recovered at this stage and was staying awfully and suspiciously silent, so she decided to focus on him. Bending down now, and completely ignoring the seething Nidhogg, she was still within her water sphere after all, she sighed before reaching out and grabbing him by the scruff of his clock and held him up now.
"Give me the Grimoire and we'll leave you alone. If you don't, I'll simply take you to Georgie. She'll get it out of you one way or the other." Manami said as her eyes hardened once more. Cody struggled in her grip as he kicked out at her, but the water sphere was barrier was in the way. She had simply reached through as it was her own spell after all.

Him hand over the book of Absolute Defence to whoever these scumbags thought they were?! Never!
However she now dropped him before sighing as he didn't respond. Stepping his sphere now, a whip made from water manifested in her hand before she went to whip him...however the spell disappeared from sight as it got close.
Cody had managed to look up in time to use his magic, but now closed his eyes and grimaced. She had done that to see if it was him or not...His eyes caught a glimpse of the guild mark on her thigh as his eyes widened...she..she.
Regaining his composure now he glanced towards Dawn and sighed before he reached into his cloak.
"Fine. If it means Dawn is left alone...take it. Kill me if you truly want, but leave Dawn out of this." Cody mumbled in defeat as he tossed a book to her which in bold letters said Absolute Defence on the title. Nodding to him with a sweet smile, she pocketed the book before turning back to face Nidhogg as the water disappeared.
The crippling fear now came back however for Cody which petrified him to the spot.

Jason Alexander

I regarded the blind girl tacitly, more for my own benefit at this point than believing I could get any kind of reaction out of her. Unfortunately for me, a big failing of the Ascetic Arts was how much they relied on vision.

I never assumed I would encounter a moderately interesting blind person.

Well, at the very least not one that would warrant their use.

"Not really. You could go down and ask."

This, of course, assumed she had some method of getting past the barrier of a flight of stairs en route. How she would deal with that, I couldn't say.

Robin was prepared to fight, even go all out, if need be however it now seemed as though he may not need to after all. It really didn't matter to him either way as long as the shadow beast got destroyed at some point. As for the thing that kept him from needing to fight, another mage, apparently from the same guild as the man he was going up against, had busted onto scene telling the man that he can't hurt the children because they need something from them but however he could feel free to kill Robin if he wanted to, of course it seemed as though the man didn't care about Robin in the slightest anymore. The dark mage was now focused entirely on the children, apparently the man really wanted what was forbidden for him to have, quite typical of a 'villian'. Robin continued to stand back and watch the exchange, the new person who busted in was named Shiro as he derived from the conversation, as she was speaking trying to protect the kids she hit one in the stomach after he stood up to try to fight.

This entire time Robin hadn't let his guard down and the blades were still spinning around him making a circular blade around his waist just in case. Shiro, who was just defending the kids, was now saying as long as she got what she needed, a grimmoire apparently, she'd help the man kill them if he wanted. Robin wasn't really surprised or shocked at this fact, nor at the fact that the mean declined her offer with an attack on the two involving magic draining bones. Before the attack could get the two with the grimmoire Shiro had pushed them out of the way and taken their place.

As if things weren't already hectic enough yet another person had busted through, this time with water from the outside, and rescued Shiro as well as began healing the kids. Robin assumed this was the other woman Shiro was talking about earlier. She seemed quite angered at the man but didn't bother with him as she turned her attention to the two with the grimmoire and managed to kid the boy to give it up. Once she got she left the boy and turned her attention away from him, at the same time the boy seemed to be unable to move crippled by what seemed to be fear.

Seeing this Robin tried to think back to the last time he felt fear...it has been quite a long time..thinking about it he almost missed the feeling, but nevertheless he could see how much it affected the boy Robin decided to change his focus from the man he was ready to fight over to the boy, this could prove dangerous, but he was going to be quick about it. He didn't talk, nor did he walk over to him, he simply tossed the boy a sweet roll from his pocket and flashed him a warm soft smile before looking back at the others. Rather than speaking up or charging in he decided it was best for him to just observe...for now at least.

@Raijinslayer @Lunarlors34 @Prince of Seraphs

Gabriel
@Oblivion666
Gabriel hesitated. While Ike's assistant was nice, it wasn't required, or rather, it wasn't something Gabriel thought was necessary. Plus, he couldn't really teach someone to know their limit when it was imperative to keep the flow going. "Well, no offense, but this isn't something you can learn in a few moments. But you can channel some of your magic to me, and I can tell you when to stop. I have a lot of magic at my disposal as well, Ike. But yours is appreciate, lets go the safer route and you just channel through me"

Games Master Sheldon was spluttering a bit, but Gabriel ignored him, thinking the Games master to be foolish and, just a little bit crazy.

Arie hummed softly as she walked alongside Luna, her arm wrapped around the younger girl's. She had insisted that they link arms like common schoolgirls while going down to see Grant, thinking that after being all freaky-deaky over apologizing to that Amelia girl she could use someone to be close to her for a bit. "So, how was that apology? I had decided it was twixt you and Amelia, and so excused myself afore the two of you had said much of concern," the playful mage gave Luna's arm a little squeeze with her own, trying to get her to pull her head out of the clouds.

"O-oh, uh, well... It went well," Luna said softly before retreating back into her silence. Arie sighed, giving the more powerful mage a careful shake. She was glad Luna was too kind to just go off on her like Grant might. To be honest, Arie was only willing to be in the same room as Iron Enigma's #1 mage because Luna was going to be there too. She would at least keep him from hurting anyone while at the games.

"Sheesh Luna, you could do to behave a slight more friendly. You may be amongst your teen years, but you don't need to be so existential and brooding all the time!" Arie smiled, trying to cheer the moon-girl up some. It didn't work, and she let out an exasperated sigh before giving Luna's shoulder a poke hard enough to snap her out of stupor for a moment. "Hey, Earth to Star Girl! What has put you in such a mood that you cannot least give me a smile?"

Luna shook her head, eyes downcast. "Sorry, just... Amelia... Her magic bothers me, sorry," Luna's voice was low and weak, and she tried to pull her arm from Arie's grip. The C-class mage held firmly, and stopped, pulling Luna around to look at her. Arie was going to get to the bottom of this even if it ruined their friendship, which she doubted it would.

"What is it about the girl's magic that bothers you so?" She asked directly, holding Luna's shoulders tightly as she did, and looking into her eyes.

"I-it's... That she uses d-deceased souls, it just s-seems... O-odd to me," Luna admitted, unable to look into her friends eyes.

"We both understand that that is not all, tell me fully, with only candor, Moon." Luna's eyes became wet as she spoke again.

"Her mother. The fact she can summon her mother... It... Seems wrong, n-no... It seems unfair that she gets to bring her mother along with her wherever she goes, despite her being... being..." Luna had to stop herself before her sobs made her unable to continue to speak. Arie gently huggeed the lunar mage close, holding there until her she could finish her though. "Despite her being dead, wh-while people like me... Can't ever see our m-mothers again. It's not fair... A-and then... I just... I had to..." She sobbed heavily, hugging Arie back. The older woman gently patted her back. "Stone, I-I don't want to fight her ever again."

"I understand, sweet Moon, I understand."

They embraced for a long time, their initial mission forgotten. They were both glad they had each other.

Nero’s smile turned quizzical, teetering on the edge of derisive, as Trinity attempted to set him straight on something he’d apparently understood. ”Uh, what? Runnin’ a little low on sense in there? That’s nonsense. A ‘soul’ is somethin’ invented by religious types to convince people to do stuff that doesn’t really help ‘em in life. I’ve looked long and hard at all these stories of other worlds, dearie, and there’s nothin’ out there. There’s two parts to a person: body and mind. If some crazy spell stuck someone’s mind in someone else, or made ‘em wacko enough to think so, then that’s all there is to it.” He crossed his arms, unaware that Elizabeth had started to move toward him.

”I do actual miracles that you can see and touch, dearie,” he continued. ”If you want this friend of yours fixed, I’ll do it no problem. If you wanna talk about souls, go to church. A lotta people go their entire lives askin’ someone to make their wishes come true. That’s not what religion’s a..nagghh!”

A five-fingered bludgeon careened into his face. Instantly his glasses flew off, mercifully soaring clear of his skin rather than shattering and leaving bloody gashes across his features for the second time in two days. Even as he cried out in pain, a curse soaked instantly through Elizabeth’s flesh, and around her the world started to get bigger. Nero stumbled backward, off-balance, and barely managed to keep from falling into the laps of two surprised spectators in the seat below before his assailant advanced. With her nails, the insane woman scratched red lines into his cheeks, but she did not get far. With a frustrating swiftness, she found the face of the dark mage rising higher and higher beyond her reach. Holding his face with both hands, Nero cracked open a slit between two fingers to glare balefully at the shrinking woman and spit out, “You vile bitch! Why, I oughta--! I oughta--!” His breathing came fast and furious, but at the height of his rage it began to sputter out.

He pushed his way out into the aisle and leaned on the center railing, gingerly bringing his hand away from his face. The lack of blood calmed his nerves somewhat. When he whirled around, a girl of five years stood where Elizabeth had moments ago. ”Well. That wasn’t very nice. I really, really want to hurt you, but I bet I’d regret if in a few minutes, even if it did end with a nice, painful death. So enjoy your magic repression, you little twa...twerp. Jeez!” He cast an angry glance at Ariel and Trinity. With a smile on his face, the Genie, though rather odd-looking, managed a certain charm, but in rare times of anger, when his black eyes were wide open, he was unsightly to behold.

After the event became clear that it would be a free for all, James had left the stands, realizing he had another sparring session with Cody and that he owed him some additional lessons on maneuvering around an opponent's defenses. And so, with a plan of action in mind, he set out to find the young and aspiring swordsman. He had started at the hotel, which had been a dead end, unsurprisingly. Only a couple of the guild had stayed behind for the day, one not feeling well and the other taking a break from all the noise. So with no other option, he set off into the city to look around.

His search would have taken hours if there hadn't been a large crowd of people, mages and normal people alike, fleeing from one direction in particular. After finally managing to stop someone to ask what was going on, he got a very hurried explanation. "Some giant shadow monster thing appeared, started attacking whoever it could see. A small group of mages tried fighting back, but it turned them into unconscious dummies. It kept going for a couple minutes before another group of mages showed up and trapped it. We thought it was OK, but then more of them came out of some shadow portal in the top, so we ran. Wait, you aren't go-" The man couldn't finish his question, as the paladin was already sprinting towards the location, his helmet appearing as he drew his sword and shield.

The run wasn't as long as he'd thought it would be, the shadowy top of the dome come into view first and then the rest, with the rune knights all clustered around the outside trying to force their way in. He climbed a nearby roof and backed up for a running start. If the rune knights can't get through the bone, then as strong as I am, I likely won't be able to either, but that shadow for a roof? THAT I can get through. Guess now's as good a time as any. And if my hunch is right, the lad's found himself in the middle of all this trouble. Taking a running stance, he sprints for the edge of the roof and jumps, bringing his sword straight up and being carried up and above the doom before coming straight down. "Holy Landfall!" The holy magic surrounded him and burned a hole through the shadow, though it quickly sealed back up behind him as he burrowed. Upon exiting the bottom of the shadowy top, anyone below would see a golden shooting star for about ten seconds before it impacted, a wave of holy energy spreading out in a twenty foot radius that damages the top layer of the secondary dome.

Standing, he looks down and growls, realizing that it would never be so easy when dealing with the undead. Pulling back his sword, he feeds his holy magic into it and begins hammering away at it, aiming to bash his way inside.




Damian growled, the topic of the Argus and his attempt to take out his guild member starting to get to him. "I can live with a prank, Samir. The amount of power he poured into that attack? It had the potential to kill her and if he wants to pull that kind of stunt again, I'll make sure he doesn't get out of it again." Realizing what he'd just said, he takes a deep breath and calms himself. "Sorry about that, guess I still let the soldier in me do the talking on occasion."




Jack could understand where Jamie was coming from trying to stop the fighting, but that route had already gotten the guild master no where fast. "She has no interest in what Jackie would want, otherwise I doubt we would be in this position. That said, I am still willing to give you a chance to walk away before it gets bad for everyone."

@Zarkun


"I can live with a prank, Samir. The amount of power he poured into that attack? It had the potential to kill her and if he wants to pull that kind of stunt again, I'll make sure he doesn't get out of it again." Realizing what he'd just said, he takes a deep breath and calms himself. "Sorry about that, guess I still let the soldier in me do the talking on occasion."

"It's alright." the archer replies as she sips on some water, "I understand where your coming from. After all, we don't want to see any of our friends get hurt either. Either way, we must keep an eye on him and his guild regardless, even though I should think that he'd get some form of punishment by now."

@Lugubrious@CirusArvennicus@Prince of Seraphs
Nero seemed pretty confident that he could fix the situation no matter what. Perhaps he could, but she wasn't entirely sure he could identify what to pick out. Trinity tried to explain the situation better. That only seemed to get the odd mage on a small rant. It was particularly short because Elizabeth suddenly cut her off and began to dig her nails into Naro's face. Before Ariel had a chance to get the girl off of the man he apparently used a curse on her. Even so she pulled the Elizabeth away instinctively. She seemed to be regressing in age and before long she was a little girl. It didn't take much to trace the cause and she looked at Nero. "What did you do?"

With a glance Ariel could tell that Nero was not in the best mood. Yet there was still a smile on his face which was disconcerting. Without thinking she stepped forward to place herself between Nero and Elizabeth despite whether the girl wanted her to or not. "Alright then. Let's slow down for a minute." At the moment she was trying to sort things out. They had been talking about Karn but that was derailed for the moment.


@Zarkun@Raijinslayer@Prince of Seraphs@Natsume Honnaji@Expolar@Crimson Raven@Silvan Haven
Despite having been absent for a decent part of the Games, the spirit had appeared to watch some of the games. James seemed to have enough though and after a while he wandered off. Being his familiar she couldn't really be that far from him when not in the spirit world, at least not for an extended period of time anyway. It was just as well because as it turned out there was quite a commotion going on. James wasted no time making his way up and punching a hole through the shadow barrier on the top.

Sensing that she was about to be cut off from her anchor she briefly vanished and passed through the narrowing path that James had carved. It was quite dark inside obviously and as she approached the floor she held out her left hand and her bow formed. It shown with a white light and she nocked a magic arrow which had an equally brilliant blue glow to it.

@Lunarlors34@Natsume Honnaji@Raijinslayer

Before Nihogg had a chance to respond to Dawn's attempt to calm him another wizard appeared in the dome apparently with the aid of transportation magic. Quickly she warped both Dawn and Cody to a place of safety or at least further away from the dark mage. Though evidently not safe enough. Tiny bone hands reached out of the ground at Nidhogg's request and started to claw at Dawn and Cody attempting to drain there magic. Though no one could see as they did this to Dawn very slowly each hand that was touching him started to steam, then to smoke and crackle though a moment later they were washed away by cleansing water without so much as a trace.

Several things happened at once then, more wizards joining the party, the sound of destruction from the other side of the wall, Cody losing his precious grimoire but Dawn didn't notice any of it. The moment the hands had touched him his mind had been frozen in an intense state of primal fear. For several seconds he couldn't move but very quickly that changed. The fear warped itself into a new form, anger. Fear of death turned into outrage at the one that threatened him.

In an instant Dawn's eyes changed color, gold filled the lenses of his soul and they glowed in the dark like flood lamps lighting up the space. He felt power grow inside him like a storm and in that moment he screamed. [OrangeRed]"I SAID ENOUGH!"[/color] He shouted as he fell to his knees. Then more magic than he had ever summoned before burst out of Dawn in a massive display of light and fire. It churned around him, furious in its intent. Dawn's mind was too flooded for him to know or care what had become of Cody. The flames reached higher and higher as they continued to swirl in a great inferno, they touched the top of the dome and the necrotic energies crackled as they were met with the extreme heat of the blaze.

The Shadow creatures which had been quietly growing in power and number in the corners of the dome screamed at the area was flooded with deadly light. The undead caught in the torrent of enchanted flames that surrounded Dawn gave ungodly shrieks as their flesh boiled and there bones cracked from the heat. The flames swirled around Dawn like a hurricane where he sat in the eye.

Dawn felt sick, he collapsed to the ground in the center of flames. There was a pressure building behind his eyes and it seemed like all his muscles were screaming out in distress as though he was Atlas lifting the sky in his arms. The flames about him felt safe but they also felt deadly. Like they were clawing at him. Demanding more and more until he had nothing left to give. Dawn couldn't see the other wizards in the dome. In fact he'd forgotten they were there as he tried to calm his stomach and avoid throwing up in the middle of the streets.




@CirusArvennicus@Lugubrious@t2wave

Elizabeth shrieked as the curse worked its way into her system transforming her from the girl of eighteen that she was to a mere child. She stood much shorter but her expression hadn't changed. Something else however had, something very significant and it was a shame that her brother wouldn't be there to see what it was. Elizabeth opened her mouth and tasted the air with her tongue before for the first time in more than either years she spoke.

"That was mean." Her voice while childlike was laced with something else, a tinge of danger, of something released from a cage. She stood staring at Nero with a fixed expression on her face. Though the change surprised her at first Elizabeth had adapted to her smaller form. For almost five feet in every direction around Elizabeth ice started to form on every surface radiating outwards from her. Even though people that stood in one place for too long would notice the substance crawling up there boots. Elizabeth spoke again and as she did so her eyes changed to a startling and unnerving color of silver with the whites of her eyes fading to midnight blue. "You walk with death in your shadow and madness in your eyes. Your mouth speaks with laughter but your spirit with hate. Always the fool, always the clown. All the world's a stage but you've thrown away your script. The map's gone to pieces but don't tell the others. Who can know your as lost the rest. Just as common." She looked even more dangerous in a child's body. With her eyes steeped in dark and silver and ice creeping from her body. Elizabeth's madness was twin faced and Nero was about to meet the violent half.

@Oblivion666@Caits@liferusher@Joshua Tamashii

Karn brief paralysis ended in time as he was hit in the chest, feeling his fragile human body's ribs breaking from the impact before he quickly transformed into his Chimera form and digging his claws into the earth. Leaving large claw marks as his large body was pushed against it and stopped at the edge. Panting and giving a sigh of relief, he coughed a bit, tongue lulling out as he felt pain ache his chest. His human form had taken too much damage, so he'd be forced to stay like this for some protection and this body's fast healing. Course that meant he'd be sapping more energy, but he'd rather not end up in critical condition. The beast opened his mouth, flames erupting from his jaws in another powerful blast toward the apparent god.

"Eastern Chimera Roar!" he roared.



Amongst somewhere in the crowded stadium, a tall man that smelt of lavender perfume, long black hair and wearing a black cloak. Golden eyes watching the battle arena as what looked like a regular pipe twisted along with his cold lips. Giving a minor hum as he watched, his golden eyes narrowed slightly as he listened to the loud chatter of the cheering crowd. Drowning out most vivid conversations. "Suppose it's time for the beast to come out." he mused, blowing on the pipe almost casually, but his eyes kept on the stadium.



Suddenly, there was a very loud and very painful ringing sound that pierced his hearing and made him scream out. It was a very loud and agonizing sound to those with very high hearing, but others probably would not hear it. Similarly to a dog whistle. The beast roared loudly, thrashing his head from side to side to rid of this agonizing sound. It was like a constant claws against a chalkboard screech right next to his ears. He snarled and roared, thrashing his body about, rearing and slamming his paws against the earth, kicking his hind quarters as he moved about thrashing and rearing his horned massive head around. Unfocused in his aim and not being careful about his attacks unlike before. He roared and flopped on the ground on his side. Limbs waving and crawling about the earth, long tail thrashing before he stood again, moving again as forcefully banged his head against the earth. Running and dragging it along the earth as if it would help but to no avail.

Rearing his head back, Karn roared before breathing fire. Launching his fire in random erratic directions, even to those in the stands but luckily the barrier protected them. Fangs snapping as claws clawing the earth as he continued to appear go absolutely wild. He roared as the sound continued, using Eastern Chimera Explosion a few times, launching flames out from his body and was quickly ebbing away and using up his magical abilities in his berserk attacks that could probably hit anyone in the field. To the point that he was using way too much and could very likely hurt himself.

It hurt! It hurt! It hurt! Make it stop!

"GRRRAAAAAAAAOH!!!!"

Snarling and thrashing, his fangs snapped at Loki, though this time he had little control if his fangs ever landed, it could do lethal damage with his flaming saber fangs.

"Karn calm down! You're going to hurt somebody like this! Or us!" He could barely hear Edo-Karn shout through the ringing. And he could feel her try to regain control, though she was having a lot more trouble this time.


@Caits

"I don't like it either Mikey, but worrying too much won't help. Especially when we don't know exactly what's going on. Harder to tell in a crowded place like..." Prince started before a sudden ear screeching ringing entered his ears which immediately pinned back and his hands directly went to cover them as he flinched.

"Owww! What!" The feline man hissed and bared his fangs, his one teal eye's pupil slitting, tail fluffing instantly and arching like a angry and freaked out cat. Claws digging into his skull and seeping into his flesh, yet he did not mind that pain as the loud sound continued. He hissed and spat and he almost lashed out randomly like Karn, but he managed to dig his claws further into his skull in a attempt to avoid hurting his fellow Guild Mates. But it was being difficult as his tall form visibly shook and his hissing never stopped, unable to form proper words or thoughts.

"Whoa!" Elizabeth had suddenly rushed up to Nero and started attacking him. Nero used his strange magic to spare himself much damage, just a few red marks from the scratching. What the hell prompted this?! Nero retaliated, naturally, and Trinity found herself thinking that it fit the girl better, this form.

And she had the gall to complain, at that! "You attacked him." Ice began to coat the ground around them, which gave Trinity cause to groan. More trouble. She had to defuse this, quickly, before they started a fight in the stands. Nero might be able to display more control than that? but, then again, his spells were also difficult to predict in themselves, so he might start something destructive without meaning to. Like that manticore lady. That turned out well, didn't it?

So, defusing this! Normal activity, go! Trinity conjures a few brass instruments to blare rudely over the end of Elizabeth's odd, aggressive outburst. She plays a rousing victory march, cheering Karn with lyric and trying desperately to keep collateral to a minimum. She looks pointedly at Elizabeth and Nero, but more Elizabeth.

They don't need another Magic Council Building, either, and this girl had some kinda magic.

However, her music quickly faltered, as Karn very suddenly started acting berserk. "Karn?" He was in some kind of pain, but... what? What was with this sudden onset? Was it an attack? It didn't look like any of the other mages were doing anything super strange. The minstrel looked around the stadium, looking for a clue. There! she could see the tall frame of Prince. He didn't seem to be entirely well, either, but what was wrong? Both seemed like they were trying to fight some pain in their head. Did it have something to do with how those two were connected...?

Thor was blasted back with a blast of flames created by Penny. Thor was blasted backwards and tumbled towards the edge. She laid on the ground in defeat. Truly it didn't even hurt anymore. Thor went past the point of even caring if it hurt. Keeping up with the fight mentally was a whole sport itself. Thor slowly sat upright and shook their head lightly. Vision was blurry and it was difficult to move. She had to end it, she didn't want to fall off. She didn't want to let her guild down with this defeat. Thor stood up again but didn't seem alright in the least.

She looked quite wobbly and didn't even seem to notice what was going on around her. She could see a blurry phoenix in front of her but even that was hard to see. Thor painfully felt her forehead as she slowly lost the will to stand. Really fast! This fight had to end! Thor aimed with their other arm at Penny and shot out a ball of electricity at her. It was not even close, no way she would have hot that. Vision faded for a moment when she shot that ball, she had to stop. This wouldn't last long. Thor fell onto her knees and tried aiming another shot at Penny with her other hand still covering part of her head in pain.