Zelriane changed his pose again, widening his stance and holding his elbows outwards, while bending his hands inwards. His elbows were locked at small degrees, almost taking the posture of a bird. "Takusan" Zelriane's posture was distorted. As the chains flew towards him, his body flickered to meet them, wary of the surrounding bladed hands, while striking the chain links repeatedly at mach speed.

The chain shattered in several places along its length, rupturing along its length as Zelriane's silhouette bounded around them like an army of green monks. He ultimately darted past the circle that entrapped him, and gained on Bruce quickly. His body appeared in front of the chain-launching swordsman with a spinning motion that pushed the dirt around his feet away once again, but he didn't attack. With the last of Bruce's earliest chains destroyed, his feet were frozen for a split second, as if he were waiting for his opponent to make some kind of move. His stance fluttered, like it was about to change. Despite his overwhelming speed and capacity to predict Bruce's movements, Zelriane was taking great care in his approach this time around. Zelriane narrowed his eyes and waited patiently, fishing for a counter.

"Strike back."

Bruce's tune seemed to have changed. The melody intensified, chords struck deeper and higher and more rapidly.

'Gaian Guardian.'

The technique name, admittedly more in homage to Ross than technical accuracy, passed through Bruce's mind.

Recognition of Zelriane's shift in offensive style clicked in his mind, still orbiting a median of his psyche. Reactionary rather than brute force.

Bruce's very skin, composed still of stone, moved. Material moved so fast it gave the impression of a phantom that moved a half-step, then a full step ahead of his true body. The skin-deep composition moved in tandem with Bruce's real body.

In the phantom's right hand his mace took form, swinging forward to strike. A step behind, Bruce thrust forward with his right handed sword, the blade elongating to pass through the Earthborn phantom while the mace aimed for Zelriane's head.

Bruce's left blade rose with his left forearm at crosswise with his torso.

The clones still behind Bruce tightened their formation around him.

His foot shifted tightly against the ground. Bruce's twin-like technique was a tad peculiar, and slightly more difficult to follow than Zelriane had expected. He pivoted his body underneath the mace and lifted his left hand, coated in energy, to parry Bruce's sword, all while spinning around and aiming to strike his left hand directly against his stomach, through his defences. His left hand coated itself with agoniki before direct impact, and he made sure to face Bruce's main body, while keeping himself rooted to the ground, and weary of the clones behind him.

Bruce's phantom, being comprised of material that had originally been Bruce's own skin, reacted the same as though Zelriane had made contact with his body.

Moving based on gut feeling and tactile sensation rather than sight, he reacted a little faster than he otherwise could have. The blade in his right hand dissipated and the blade in his left hand lengthened. With an upward flick of his wrist, the blade came in an arc toward Zelriane's outstretched hand, intent on cleaving through palm, fingers and forearm as much as possible.

A moment after that, the two clones nearest either flank stepped forward, slashing crosswise to send slicing waves of Ki at the encroaching threat.

Zelriane pulled his hand back, narrowly saving his fingertips. But he didn't stop his momentum, quickly pushing right back into Bruce's zone of control with another flurry of strikes and parries in the moment before his clones interfered. He struck forward with several punches before the clones closed in, one two three four five- Then he paused, swung his right foot up in a full body rotation towards the first blade, redirecting the first slash with a parry using his foot, while angling his small body to dodge the second with his right leg fully outstretched above his head, and his torso almost horizontal with the ground. Part of his Gi was torn away by Bruce's Ki in the process, but he was quick to follow through even further. As soon as both his feet his the floor, Zelriane dashed around one of the clones, taking its back and kicking through its torso.

"Cage me once more," Zelriane goaded with a quick voice, almost inaudible in spite of his movements. In the same moment, he took a familiar stance, and aimed to cut straight through Bruce and his clone in one swift motion.

"Akari"

Zelriane's body was like a sonic storm, punches and kicks with reactions that took any modicum of sportsmanship off of the table. A one on one encounter was his preferred scenario. With only one target, he could predict every move while his sight was unimpeded, and react with his superior speed before there was much of a chance to do anything. Without anyone to interfere, he could continue to solidify his pace, and pick up his tempo with a series of dodges, counters, and unbearably powerful initiative. Without any sort of solid defence, Bruce was fighting a losing battle.

A pair of silhouettes appeared in the light of the hall. Oz was here. He let go of the cat that had been helping him to reach the others. "Thank you." He said to it.

The room was filled with a slurry of different magic attacks and moving characters. The others likely didn't notice his injuries just as he entered. Regardless of that, he stomped away from the aiding animal and into the fight. Oz reeled back his arm and swung it forward, releasing a wall of rippling, physical energy at Zelriane amidst his fight with Bruce.

"Pay it back in spades now."

Despite Zelriane pressing the offensive, Bruce maintained his vague dissociation from the scene, though 'dissociation' really didn't describe it adequately.

As he was, Zelriane's attempts at taunts were rendered moot on every level. Beyond listening to anything superfluous, Bruce kept track of the dispatching of his clones.

Fighting one so much faster than him made taking damage inevitable- thankfully, among other things, Bruce had improved his compartmentalization of pain drastically when he developed his phantom technique. Because, being that Bruce's true body was left more vulnerable state in exchange for using the more versatile, faster and infinitely reactionary material of his Sage state, the damage he took translated to more significant damage in direct correlation to how much material he used of his body.

The benefits, particularly in his current fight, included disorientation that replicas composed of Earth-born material could not achieve, in large part because his inherent Ki came away with each 'Guardian' such that he could not easily replicate with other golems.

'May get uncomfortable'

The incomplete thought flashed across Bruce's mind and fell away, neither disregarded nor allowed to provoke concern. He simply acted.

He dug deeper, and the form of his true body visibly shrank a little beneath his robes. Phantoms appeared half a step to his left, right, and continued flowing out and fully forming. With each new double he seemed to grow a new head and arms, and his footwork was nearly indiscernible among no fewer than twenty-four feet.

Before he could make an offensive move, however, he sensed Oz's heavy presence through the scattered particles he'd left around the chamber. Those same particles shivered at a rippling power headed in their direction. Rather than avoid and give Zelriane more opportunity to either duck back or try disabling him, Bruce armed each phantom.

Seeing twelve arms bent at different angles with alternating weapons, and seeming to grow out of one another- a mace and a sword often next to one another, though there was no obvious pattern- was a disorienting sight.

Each of his phantoms lunged with their weapons- slashing crosswise, vertically, horizontally and heaving massive maces downward.

Zelriane didn't stop, not noticing Oz's presence immediately as he carried through with his Akari strike. The dash itself moved through Bruce's phantoms, and surrounding clones, and shot him across the room, out of harms way, until Oswald's ranged attack made its way towards him. He spun towards it, and jumped up, clasping himself to the roof as the wall passed underneath him. The little man hung in place for a moment, before flipping back down to the ground beneath him, and landing with a silent plop. He glared at the shifting phantoms, and towards Oswald, biting his bottom lip angrily. "Every time I think myself privy to a duel, more of you show up to spoil my fun." He inhaled deeply and took his combat stance again. "Of all the arrivals, it had to be you."

"You put me up to this, whether intended or not." Oz replied. Zelriane knew their encounters more than the rest. The speedster had always come out on top of their fights but this time would be different. Oz was different. "Without your actions I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be fighting. The changes that have come to me thus far would not have. You've made me what I am, Zelriane. You have brought this on yourself." He explained.

Oz turned to Bruce. The technique he employed was a little unsettling to look at regardless of how effective it is. He locked eyes with him and nodded. "Leave Zel to me. If he wants a duel, I'll grant it to him. Help Jenso. He has a demigod to stop." He turned back to Zelriane and raised his fist between them. "Let's do this."

Bruce's eyes flickered from Oz to Zelriane and the exit.

Bruce wanted to finish the fight, but the desire passed. His meditation, while not ideal, had yielded some success in making his walls more aesthetic than necessity. He'd come to terms with all that he was.

His phantoms returned to his body, disappearing while his form regained substance and volume. Save a few chinks, he was largely unharmed.

Bruce nodded at Oz and set off sprinting for the staircase to catch up to Jenso. Zelriane wasn't likely to just let him go, but it didn't matter.

"We're not the prey," he murmured- evidently, he'd found a new rhythm and melody that he was acting upon. "We are the hunters."

There was silence for a few moments as Bruce made his way out of the chamber. Zelriane didn't move. Not until the swordsman had left. Afterwards, he focused on Oswald and clenched his left fist briefly. "It's no matter," the shorter man wheezed, "This is more fitting. Much more fitting." He tightened his combat stances and stared Oz down, while his arms were emblazoned by green energies. "Even if you guarantee your death." His eyes moved from Oz's face, to the stump that remained where one of his arms used to be.

"I'll be sure to even you out quickly."

Jenso was nearing the half-way point up the massive tower. The floors were all the same. Large circular rooms, no furniture, no windows, no defining features at all. His path seemed unblocked, until he was stopped by Nexus. The man was wearing loose-fitting armour, and standing firm in place. He said nothing, while blocking the stairway that proceeded further. This was the first time that Nexus showed himself in person to Jenso, or anyone, for that matter. The man hadn't left the tower very often since coming to this world. Why would he? His ripped mask clung tightly enough to his face to show his expression- Anxious, waiting, and wanting much more than he could ever receive.

Jenso looked at Nexus, overlooking him completely. Was this truly his real self, now? "So I'm guessing that Yzeira ordered you to stop me, too.." Jenso muttered, and walked over to him. "And if you don't, he'll make you suffer. Right?" Jenso said, more like stating a fact rather than asking a question. He kept a close eye on Nexus's movements. He did not want to fight his friend, but he needed to get past no matter what.

"You can't win," Nexus stated coldly, "As much as I hope, as far as you've come, there's no way to win." Nexus didn't move from his spot. "I haven't seen this kind of reaction from him for centuries. I hadn't known just how much power he could amass until today. The rift in space time is growing even faster than before, and now it's..." Nexus stopped and lowered his gaze. "I can convince him," Nexus started, taking a step forward, "I can convince him to renew his offer to you, even after all you've done. If you come with me to his study, I believe we can save your world, your friends, and most importantly, you."

Jenso looked into Nexus's eyes and frowned. He looked sad for a moment, but a small smirk appeared on his face. "You know.." Jenso muttered. "It would be easy for me to just give in, and agree with the offer. And it would make sense for me to fear the man who'd already killed me once. But..." He stated, pausing for a moment. "A loss isn't a loss unless you let it consume you."

With that, Jenso attempted to walk past Nexus. "I know you're only trying to stall for time, Nexus. No more delays. I know there's a very good possibility that I might lose. But my friends are fighting with all they have right now, against our common enemy who ruined our lives. We've come this far, and we're going to finish it. It's time for the Order to fall. Even if I die in the process." Jenso stated.

Nexus put his arm out in front of Jenso.

"Enough is enough, Jenso," He growled, "Abandon these childish notions. Think logically for once in your life." Nexus pushed him back with a strong thrust of his arm. "I am not stalling for anything, I am acting of my own free will. All this hope, all these fairy-tale dreams that you insist on making a reality, they won't happen. You're rushing in head first, like you always do, eager to die. Eager to throw away your life." He rose his hands and opened them loosely, as if to beg. "There are ways to win that don't involve bashing your head against a brick wall. There are options we can take. Let me help you one last time, come with us and abandon this nonsensical crusade." He brought a hand to his chest and squeezed the edge of his armoured plate. "We can win from the inside out, just you and me, if you just listen."

Jenso glared at Nexus as he was pushed back, but remained resolute in his stance. "Win from the inside out, huh? When we're being controlled by Yzeira?" Jenso retorted, and crossed his arms. "I'm thinking very logically, trust me. You're already suffering when you try to say things Yzeira won't allow you to say, and I wouldn't be surprised if he could just let you die at any moment if you chose to betray him. Being put under his control would make winning impossible." Jenso stated.

"I'm not eager to die, no. But my friends helped me to get this far, including you. And I intend to do what's nessecary to win. If you can provide a way for me to accept Yzeira's offer, and guarantee that I won't get controlled by him, I'll listen. How's that?" Jenso stated.

Nexus huffed loudly and his eyes wandered. He looked back to Jenso and then to the ground. "I've been working on such a feat for the past 3000 years. I haven't made much progress, but I'm sure.. I'm sure that one day.." He rose his hand and pointed at Jenso. "If you give me time, 10000, perhaps 9000 years. Maybe less, maybe more, I'll eventually..." He paused and let his hand drop. "This is our only hope, Jenso. You have to believe that. You can't punch your way through this one."

Jenso frowned, and shook his head. He got into a combat stance, somewhat concerned by Nexus's hopeless response. "I'm sorry Nexus...but I'll have to refuse. I'm sorry that it has to be like this.." Jenso stated truthfully, as he channeled energy from his feet towards the ground. It moved over the floor, remaining relatively close to Jenso. He coated his fists in Arki, and began to channel pure Ki within the palm of his right hand. He began his approach towards Nexus, feigning a quick dash past Nexus's left side to observe his response while remaining in front of him as the energy on the ground followed.

"I don't intend to just punch, Nexus.." He muttered, as the white flames within his pupils seemed to glow an ominous blue for a moment before turning back to white flames. A different colour of flame? No, it was something else. Something powerful. His voice seemed more heavy, for those few seconds, as he finished speaking. It came forth from sheer anger that emerged because of the red-coated man who'd caused the suffering of many. A great fury, that appeared after witnessing Nexus's hopeless state.

In an instant, all of Jenso's energy left him. His Ki and arcane abilities were sealed, and his abilities changed to those of a normal human being. Nexus sighed. "You're a fool," He grunted, "And now you'll die a fool, at my hand, exactly how he planned it." Nexus summoned a blue sword in his right hand and tightened his stance.