[IC] Fenixtear - A Fairy Tail RP (Page 4)

@Bartimaeus


Grasidia’s unexpected hostility had definitely caught Leon off guard, but he understood her frustrations. Despite that, he couldn’t help himself from voicing his own concerns.
“You’re one of our strongest mages, Ma’am. If we’re to stand a chance you need to be kept healthy too.” His words seemed to ring hollow, the plant mage ordering him to aid the others. At the very least she seemed a little less worse for wear than before. Leon turned to Lorelai, who was continuing to wrap Grasidia in her healing embrace just for a tiny bit of extra relief.

“Alright Lor, that’s enough.” The fairy flew back to his side, resting on the young man’s shoulder. Tucking his codex away, Leon scanned around to try and find someone else in need of his assistance. Unfortunately the battle was much too chaotic for him to get a good grasp of his surroundings. Though the sight of a young Felix rushing in to face the beast immediately drew his attention.
What is he doing?! This was bad! Holly and Marduk had specifically told him to look after Felix and he’d already abandoned the young lad. Grasidia was right - he has wasted his efforts and now Felix was in peril. He began to move forward, thinking he could try and protect the boy at the last moment. He willed his legs to move another step, but a blood curdling screech locked his muscles in place. The dragon was enraged. Fear had Leon in its grasp, Lorelai’s words of encouragement falling on deaf ears. Then the dragon readied its breath attack.

If not for Grasidia’s brambles, Leon would surely have been roasted to a crisp. Falling backwards, he took a moment to catch his breath as the heat of the flame breath lashed all around him. Had Grasidia managed to protect Felix too? He would never forgive himself if he has failed to keep him same. Once the flames subsided, Leon peaked out from behind his cover just in time to see Zenith escorting Felix to safety. What a relief. Before he had time to get comfortable, the ground rattled and warped around him - the result of the dragon’s body slamming down to the earth with immense force. The foundation of the streets around him buckled, and Leon employed a bit of quick footwork to try and stop himself from being swallowed up by debris. Jumping from large pieces of unstable ground, he made his way to a patch of earth that was relatively untouched. The decimation of Era surrounded him, but at least his friends had managed to get some good hits in on the creature. Or so he thought.

Leon couldn’t believe his eyes, the dragon was healing itself! It was hopeless to try and fight this thing. Though it seemed he had resigned himself to despair a tad too early. His allies were not so complacent as to let the beast get away with dismissing their efforts to fell it. A good portion of its face, neck and wing bloomed into sanguine thorns - a sight that sent shivers down Leon’s spine. No doubt that was Lavinia’s doing. Did blood magic have to be so unsightly?

Meanwhile Holly’s assault, cleverly taking advantage of the Dragon’s own carnage of the surrounding area, pelted the monster with chunks of rubble and debris. Wait, was that Clover being flung towards it as well? Leon watched him torpedo into the dragon before attempting to further rend its wound apart. That was definitely one way to go about it. All the while, Grasidia continued to subdue the beast with her vines, but it would seem the effectiveness of her restraints was starting to fade. That was when he saw the tail swipe heading straight for Lilianna. Damnit, in all the chaos he had failed to keep an eye out for his other guild members. He winced at the sight of the dragonslayer’s body being sent reeling from the attack. 

The dragon’s tail swipe didn’t end there, continuing along its arc and heading straight towards Leon. Lorelai braced for impact, but thankfully the young mage had been given enough warning of the impending attack to pull his codex in front of him.
“Adloquium!” He shouted, the same magic circle from when he had healed Grasidia bursting forth from the flipping pages of his book. From the bottom of his feet, an array of tessellating hexagons began to solidify into a crystalline force that enveloped him in a sphere of protective magic. The shield had only just finished taking form right as the tail collided with it. The barrier shattered immediately, but had thankfully managed to absorb a good amount of force from reaching Leon. He was still flung backwards, tumbling along the streets in a messy heap. Lorelai flew to his side, beginning to heal him with her own regenerative magic.

Raising himself to a kneel, Leon pointed towards his injured teammate and issued a pressing order to his Pixie.
“Go to Lilianna! Do whatever it takes to get her back in the fight!” Lorelai hesitated not wanting to leave her conjurer in an injured state, prompting a much more forceful shout. 
“Go! She’s more important than I am!” Leon was practically useless against this dragon, but he could at the very least try to keep his allies safe. He attempted to stand up, only to be met with a throbbing pain in his right leg. Crumpling to the ground, he winced whilst examining the gash along his thigh. Probably nipped it on some jagged rubble.

“I’ll be fine.” Lorelai wasn’t reassured, but she reluctantly darted away towards where Lilianna was. When she had stopped in front of her, Leon closed his eyes and began to focus his magic. In front of his face, a magic circle depicting a pair of butterfly wings formed.
“Whispering Dawn” On his command, Lorelai began to pulse with energy, twirling around Lilianna before an intense plume of pixie dust burst from all around her. In addition to her own healing magic, the additional restorative effects from her spell began to mend Lilianna’s wounds much faster than if he had relied purely on Lorelai’s embrace.

Leon watched as Felix began his assault again, only to be taken out by one of the dragon's attacks. Similarly, Zenith had a gout of intense fire breath aimed towards him. Leon grit his teeth and attempted to stand up again, but his body failed him.
“Come on! Move!” Tears welled up in his eyes. He pounded his prosthetic fist into the side of his good leg. “Move!” Unfortunately, he could not overpower his instincts right now. Everything in his body was screaming at him to run and hide, to give up and let be. No matter how hard he wanted to continue helping he just couldn’t force himself to move. How pathetic. He’d only received mild injuries and was already at the end of his rope? He started to think perhaps his guildmates should have questioned bringing him along rather than Felix. At least Felix had the guts to keep on fighting despite all odds. Through his tears, Leon looked over to Lilianna and prayed Lorelai’s efforts accumulated to something. He hated to leave Zenith and Felix without his aid, but he had to trust that the other more composed members of the group would be capable of helping them.

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by TheHangedMan

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Marduk
The guild was doing surprisingly well for the opening stage of this fight. Marduk hadn't expected them to catch it so badly off guard, and at times it felt like they were pushing it back.

The stronger members of the guild peppered it with magic and blows, doing everything they could to damage the creature. From the very start they moved at a frenetic pace, one he was only too glad to assist. He'd find debris and pelt it at the dragon. It wouldn't hurt the damn thing but it would serve as a distraction. Every single second where it wasn't focusing on his guild members was precious time bought.

He whooped excitedly when Lavinia managed to take out one of it's eyes. That some quick thinking from her, considering they had no time to coordinate that.

A quick scan of the field found Leon healing Grasidia. Good, where he close enough he would have nodded in approval, they needed Grasidia back in fighting shape as soon as possible. He frowned as Grasidia seemingly rebuffed him. What was she being stubborn over?!

In the meantime, Marduk positioned himself on a nearby rooftop, looking for a better vantage point. From there, he opened portals for fleeing civilians, in an effort to get them out faster. The sooner they were out of the way, the more space they would have to fight!

Perhaps it was feeling pressured by their constant barrage, or perhaps by virtue of its wild instincts, but in that moment the Dragon roared. The breath of flame was devastating in scope and shocking in intensity. Right away Marduk position a portal in front of him, letting the heat eject harmlessly behind him - however, the sheer heat radiated by the surrounding flames was sweltering, and perspiration dripped down his brow as the fire washed over. His vision went hazy with the heat and his breath labored from the lack of oxygen. It felt like an eternity had passed for what was only a moment of danger.

When he flames dispersed and his vision refocused, he was treated to the heart-stopping sight of Felix taking a roundabout method of suicide - via dragon.

He was about to move the boy out of harms way, when Zenith jumped in. Marduk sighed in relief, and privately resolved to speak with Felix after this was over, if Holly left anything left for him. He'd also have to apologize to her and Zenith.

"But," he shook his head, "that was for later." He had bigger things to worry about.

He'd thought they'd been making headway. The dragon was visibly affected, struggling even. It screamed, a horrible, deafining sound that physically bore down on him. His teeth clenched reflexively, and he opened portals right next to his eats to ease some of the pain, but even still, the pressure it exuded was unbelievable. Still, the danger passed and the dragon fell silet. Holly and the others could damage it, and Grasidia was doing a hell of a job holding it down. For moment it felt that they'd be able to end this soon, and get a resounding victory. Then the moment passed, heralded by a gout of flame.

More and more black thorns grew from its body, twisted and menacing, freeing it from the plant mage's grasp. As if to insult all of their efforts until now, the beasts wounds began closing, sinew and scale growing over them until it was as though they had never existed. The dragon lowered its head, and breathed.

What happened next was pure destruction.

He caught a glimpse of it before Grasidia's brambles rose up to protect him. The winds and flame buffeting the plant mage's protection was magnitudes more intense than the one he had powered through earlier. The scream that followed, he was better prepared for. The shield his guildmate created held well, but it did little to stop the next blow.

Rising into the sky and crashing into the earth like a raging deity, the earth rumbled and cracked, sending debris and shrapnel flying. Marduk's reflexes were not what it was, so though he managed to create a portal to get out of the blast radius, the old man felt his shoulder jolt and shudder, before pain shot through it.

He knelt down, looking at the limb. A line of rebar was sticking out from his right shoulder, red liquid blossoming outwards and trailing down. Marduk glared at the sight, before gripping the rebar and pulling it own. Fire magic quickly sealed the wound, and he looked to survey the damage.

The dragon had followed up its monstrous jump with an equally devastating swipe of its tail. He didn't have vision on any of his guildmates.

Marduk's teeth clenched in worry, until a blooms of red spikes appeared around the dragon, damaging it further. Lavinia's work, no doubt. Good, that was one confirmed safe.

Holly was not far behind either, and not to be undone.

The show of magic that followed in her wake would have troubled even a Wizard Saint. A hail of everything around it buffeted the overgrown lizard, knocking it every which way. It look like something he would have done in his prime!

But he was no longer in his prime, and he could not afford to sit still and watch either.

He watched Holly collapse, most likely from exhaustion, but he couldn't rule out an injury either. He created a portal right next to her, lifting her in a bridal carry and belted out orders.

"Luke! Keep that horny devil occupied!" Looking down at Holly, he said in a quieter voice. "Hold on lass, I'll get you to Leon. We'll get you back in the fight, don't you worry."

He created a portal into the air, free falling and eyes flicking through the wrecked battleground. His guildmates were battling hard, doing their best. They were beaten, bloodied, but still bringing the fight however they could. His heart sunk as he saw Leon, his hands full as it were. There was no way he would be able to handle healing Holly as he was now. His eyes flickered, back and forth between his comrades, mind racing and weighing his options.

Zenith, Felix, Leon, Lilliana, Cloven, Gwen, Lavinia-

"ASTORIA!"

Marduk roared stepped through a portal, right as she got her cyclone started. The old man set Holly down gently behind Ashers bulwark.

"Ria, she needs your healing. We'll run out of people that can hurt that thing at this rate!" His right arm had gone numb. The blood was coming out wrong. He ignored it. "You were stopping the fires right? Leave that to me. You and Leon are our only field healers. Focus on healing and let us do the rest!"

With that being said, Marduk could only hope Astoria knew what needed to be done, because he sure as hell didn't. He'd only heard about Ria's healing abilities in passing, thanks to Gwen. It was laughable: he'd known her longer, but he didn't know nearly as much about her abilities than he did Leon's. He was so fucking conceited wasn't he? For all that talk about bringing back that the old ways, he was really horribly inept at it.

Now he knew he had to make sure they won this: No way he'd be able to rectify that if he was dead.

This would take a helluva lot of concentration and more power than he felt he had. Taking a deep breath, Marduk surveyed the battlefield once more. Right now they were lacking coordination. They'd done well at the start by sheer virtue of their upper-tier mage's power, but that had been wasting the abilities of everyone else who had come. But magic power was not what determined a fight. Sometimes, all it took was a little courage. The determination to keep going, the resolve to just to show up. They had all shown that spirit, and he couldn't be prouder of them.

He would not let their spirit go to waste.

A portal opened in front of Zenith, sending the gout fire towards the dragons rear end.

A portal opened below Felix's unconscious body, dropping him next to Leon.

And smaller portals the size of a plate opened right next to Lavinia, Gwen, and Zenith. His voice echoed through them less than a second later:

"Gwen, load up all the biggest, baddest spells you've got. When you give the signal, fire below you and I'll open a portal from there to its ass ! We're sending this thing overgrown lizard to hell! Vinny, Zenith, join Luke! I'm counting on you three to keep that thing busy until then, do you understand?!"

His vision blurred. Not good. Need to focus.

He opened a portal next to where Cloven and Asher were.

"Cloven, find Grasidia! We need her help! Asher, protect Astoria like your balls depended on it!"

Hehehe, he was getting crude now. It's been awhile hasn't it? Well, might as well go all the way!

"MAGES OF FENIXTEAR, BITCH SLAP THAT DUMB FUCKING SORRY EXCUSE FOR A DRAGON!" Now, to put out some fires.

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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Sanguine Rose

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This was crazy. As soon as she put the roar out, it was shooting more flames. This wasn't like any dragon she'd read about. The fact it seemed to be regenerating and growing stronger with each burst of flames. Ria blinked. That was it. Gwen's ice could help, but not directly. They needed more than just cyclones.

Of course, the dragon sent tremors through the ground and if it wasn't for Asher's little bunker, she was pretty sure she would have been toasted along with buried. She only barely recovered before Marduk lay Holly next to her. Heal one of their strongest mages? She nodded, unable to get a word out before the old man was off. Her gaze snapped down to Holly. 

She knelt next to the armored mage. Placing a hand at the seam where Holly's helmet met her chestplate, she closed her eyes for a moment. "Rejuvenating waters." The water poured from her hands, glowing a brilliant blue as it flowed into the armor to soak against Holly's clothing and skin. As it was absorbed, it would give her back energy, make the aches hurt a little less, and stop any bleeding. Broken bones wouldn't mend, not fully anyways, but they would certainly hurt less and be useful. Likely they'd all end up hurting come the dust settling. "Best I can do without you drinking it, and we don't have time for that."

Standing, she looked up at the chaos still exploding around them. "We need to keep the fires at bay." Her gaze drifted over everything. This was far more destruction than she wanted to be around. So many people were without homes because she didn't notice it sooner. How did she not see it sooner?

Her attention turned to Holly for a moment. "Get back in the fight." Her gaze shifted to Asher. "Please stay close. I'm going to need cover."

That was all the warning the water mage gave. She closed her eyes and braced her feet. Raising her hands above her head, a large magic circle appeared under her feet, and another matched swirling over her head. Wind kicked up around her, blowing her clothing around violently. A scowl crept onto her face, but she didn't notice. She focused her energy into the toward the clouds and sky. 

Darkness swirled overhead. The clap of thunder. The circles exploded into tiny sparkles. Then came the rain. 

First, a drop here and there. Not more than a breath later and the skies seemed to open up in a downpour. Her brows furrowed, muscles locking to keep her held firmly in her stance. The noise around her died beneath the sounds of the water falling to the ground, onto fires and dusty debris to put out the flames. The only smell wafting into her nose was the rain. Droplets hitting her skin and soaking her clothes helped calm her panicking nerves. All she could focus on was the clouds overhead, and sending as much rain as quickly as possible down onto the city below.

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Remram

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This had to be a bad joke; the dragon was regenerating from the damage that it had taken and it's appearance keeps mutating into something more and more horrifying. Hell, he was lucky that he was in the air since the worst thing that he to deal with is the sudden burst of wind trying to force him down, but he was able to manipulate the course of the wind so that the impact was lessened though he was still pushed back. He could only look at horror at the flaming destruction beneath him though he did not have time to worry about his allies since the dragon was now targeting just him; it created more fierce winds and again Zenith was manipulating the course of the winds around him and was sent flying backwards, skidding on his feet across the roof of a building. It was going to take more than that to keep him down before he took flight again high into the air.

Everyone was doing their best, even when they were at their utmost limits and were still fighting. He needed to respond to them in kind and pull his damn weight like Lavina and Holly. His thoughts were at a sudden stand still when he saw Felix fly right past him and landed a powerful strike against the dragon, but the damn kid was still in the air. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion; he knew what was about to happen and how horrible it was going to be, but he couldn't take his eyes away from it. "No!" The dragon rocketed the boy down the earth with its tail.

Fire was coming straight towards Zenith, but Marduk came in with the save with a portal that redirected the attack back at the dragon. 

Rage, unyielding rage towards the dragon for what it did to Felix and towards himself for failing to protect the boy. Why was he so harsh on this kid? Was it his fault? 

He heard what Marduk said and the elder mage did not need to tell him to do that. Zenith dove straight down at the dragon as fast as he could. "War Beast!" His body morphed into of that living siege weapon, an armor scaled bipedal behemoth creature of monstrous strength that weighed more than a few tons and now it was diving straight to the dragon's head at alarming speeds. Zenith elbow dropped down on the dragon's head on impact, sending the beasts head smashing against the ground, but Zenith was not done yet. 

"Enkidu!"

A bright light enveloped his body and then faded to reveal a bipedal, silver dear with wolf like eyes, claws, and fang, legs resembling spears, and a long mane. What resembles fur are actually scales with a black swirl pattern, pulsating with a green light. The magical pressure coming from him could have been described as suffocating; all of his power was being pushed to its absolute limit and after this form is used, he was going to feel an intense rebound. 

His claws dug into the dragons head to get as tight as a hold on it as possible, his mouth open as magical energy began to gather into a sphere, growing larger and larger as he was putting every single bit of his magic into this one attack. The sphere radiated with a green light in the darkness that Ria has summoned and then it it began to flicker before it condensed into a golf ball sized sphere. "Gilgamesh!"

The titanic beam he released created a light that probably could be seen all over the city. If this dragon somehow survived this attack, then he was absolutely screwed.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by datadogie

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Holly remained where she was, conserving her strength until Marduk picked her up. She had been listening to the fight and catching what glimpses of it that she could, retaining a map of the battlefield in her head and updating it with what she believed to be happening. She was almost going to tell Marduk to put her down and to just let her rest, before figuring that going back behind the lines to rest for a little bit wasn't too bad of an idea since it meant they would have to worry about her less. Once she was set down, Holly kept herself still but ensured that she was in a comfortable position; many people didn't realise the power that could have in rejuvenating someone who was exhausted.

Only a few moments passed before Astoria knelt next to her. As the girl's hand moved to the seam between Holly's helmet and chestplate Holly instinctively moved her hand in the direction of the contact, but she forced herself to relax - Holly knew that Astoria wouldn't do anything to remove her armour, and that feeling of security grew further as water from Ria began to flow into her armour and soak her. The feeling of her energy being restored and her pain easing at such a rate felt just a little odd to Holly, but in a good way. Holly was able to ignore what pain was left thrumming through her system, and at Ria's prompting, climbed to her feet. She didn't have all day to rest: She had to go back in.

That was exactly what Holly did. She didn't want to overexert herself again, but she wanted to give the dragon hell, and hopefully put an end to it entirely. She took a step out from behind cover to get a grip on the situation from the past minute or so. The rain began to pour as Holly watched Zenith, trying to plot where she wanted to place herself in the fight, before cringing as Zenith let out a massive beam of light, making Holly cover her eyes briefly. That's when she decided that she was going to put herself back in again. She decided that the target would have to be the head, in order to try and kill the best instead of clipping it. 

Unfortunately, Zenith was in the way of the head. So, Holly had to take the next best option: The neck. Using Pounce, she thrust herself into the air, off to the side, so she had a clear line toward the dragon's neck. "Thrust: Attack Projection!" She yells. From the air, she drew Shadowbane with speed, slicing as she did, and sending an arced cut echoing through the air. With subtle changes in her momentum, she kept herself righted, so that she could cut down toward the dragon's neck with every slice. She wasn't just hoping to cut it off, she was hoping that she hit an artery or something major, to make it bleed.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Spectral

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Asher

Asher internally sighs in relief as a couple of his guild mates were able to hear his call out and had taken cover behind his protective wall. He was also impressed at their quick work in helping dampen the incoming wall of flames with their combination of water and some sort of dark dome that absorbed what flames touched it. In this manner, the three of them had a definitive defensive line set up should the others need a place to fall back. 

Taking an opportunity to look around the side of his shield wall, he looked back towards the dragon. It didn’t take much time to see it had taken quite a beating, which certainly pleased Asher. However, as he was observing, it once more let out a horrendous screech, forcing him once again behind the bulwark to dampen the sound. Taking a second look, he lets out a frustrated breath as he can see that the dragon was now recovering itself. “Fantastic. Of course it can do that…” Compounded with what seems to be the guilds powerhouses taking a beating and some even struggling, the situation definitely was getting more and more sketchy for them. 

His attention was taken away from the dragon by the sound of clanging steel behind him. In looking back, he spots Holly, one of the guilds top members, now laying upon the ground next to Astoria. Before he could even ask what was going on, a distortion opens up beside him, the voice of the older gentleman Marduk yells out for him to protect Astoria. “No need to remind me that, Marduk. I’ll keep both her and Holly safe here,” giving a nod, though if he could see him he didn’t know. 

Running up to the back of the barrier, he quickly forged a small metal slider, just big enough for him to open and look through. Scanning quickly, he spots at the base of the wall all sorts of new debris sitting there. He grimaced a little as several unfortunate Rune Knights bodies had also found rest there. But mourning their deaths had to wait for after the dragon had been put down and his guild mates were safe, as he began to draw on his magic. “Forge!” The bulwark glowed once more with the hot, molten sheen, as Asher willed the metal to absorb all the new material. Pipes.  Street lights. Even the weapons and armor of the fallen knights. All was taken into the growing mass of the wall, becoming thicker with each new intake. 

As he was finishing with the last bit of it, he found Astoria coming up behind him. With her asking him to stay close and cover her, he replies back. “Just stick near me behind this wall. I swear I’ll do my best to prevent anything from interrupting what you’ve got planned,” giving her what he hopes came across as reassurance. He steps back up towards the peephole, hands placed upon the walls. “I’ll also try and provide some assistance towards those still fighting.” With that being said, along the outer side of the wall, spiked tips began to protrude, each one much like the head of a spear. 

Suddenly, the form shot out from the side of his wall. Through the gap, he could see the form of Holly, seeming to somewhat have recovered from her injuries earlier, and quickly flying off to the side to flank. “Well then…” he quietly speaks to himself. Rain starts to hit the top of his head, as he forces more mana into the wall, this time channeling it towards just the spear tips, now burning red. He pays it no mind, as he adjusts all of them in the direction of the dragon. “I at least should provide some covering fire for her approach like this. If I’m lucky, maybe some burning metal in its skin can slow down that annoying regeneration.” His eyes then narrow in focus as he starts his supporting assault. “Scrap Shooting!”

One by one, the blazing tips of metal began firing off the wall. They whizzed through the air, boys of steam following in their wake as they blow through the rain. In a matter of seconds, the shots start to make contact with the dragon. While some shots bounced off the thicker bits of scales, more found flesh thanks to the blood magic ripping into the hide. In the places where this happened, the recovering tissue began to sizzle and burn, now spreading out even more as it boils the blood around it.

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Anza

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Lavinia

While the other members of the guild were fighting for their lives and probably being scarred forever by the traumatic experience, Lavinia was… Hanging back. Waiting for the right moment.

It wasn’t that she was a coward, exactly. She’d prefer to call it ‘recognizing the realities of the situation.’ They could pile up as much damage as they wanted on the dragon, but unless they managed to land a decisive strike and kill it for good, the monster would just regenerate from everything. Her blood thorns could slow that process down, but with its healing accelerating with every passing second there was only so much she could do.

There was no other option. Forget about the constantly-healing body, they had to take out its brain… somehow.

Problem was, Lavinia had already hit the skull with her Impaler-Helsing combination, and it hadn’t worked. The damn thing was just too durable. She had one spell that might be powerful enough to punch through, but that would require her getting close, and would probably nearly kill her if she used it. And even if she didn’t want her guildmates to die, she wasn’t ready to throw her own life away for their sake.

So it was time to get creative.

Opening her grimoire, she summoned up another huge blood-spike beside her, feeding it fluid and growing it to a massive size. At the same time, she kept her eyes on the fight, waiting for an opening. With her ears already protected, the dragon’s screeching didn’t both her too much, though unfortunately the blood covering meant that she couldn’t hear Marduk too well either. ”Shut it, old man! You think I take orders from you?”

Then Zenith decided to go full-throttle, and Lavinia quickly shielded her eyes as she saw him gathering magical energy into a sphere. There! This is my chance!

She wasted no time in seizing it. As soon as the flash had gone off, she peeked out, concentrating on the dragon’s head once more. The blood scattered everywhere by Zenith’s attack converged all at once, forming a sharp crimson spear aimed right at the epicenter of where the blast had gone off.

Move… more… Holly sliced open its neck, and blood poured from the wound, flying towards the head and combining with the giant thorn. Raindrops splashed into the blood and merged with it, increasing the weapon’s density and power. Clenching her fist hard enough to draw blood of her own, Lavinia let off a Helsing spell, plunging the weapon as deep as it would go into the already weakened skull.

…It still wouldn’t be enough. Even with her taking advantage of Zenith’s attack, even with Holly and Astoria providing indirect assistance, this was still fundamentally the same trick she’d used before. Dense blood spears being massively accelerated at point-blank range could do a lot of damage, but they wouldn’t quite reach the brain. If she’d been able to shoot into its mouth, maybe, but with the dragon’s head having been just slammed into the ground a moment before its jaws were most likely closed.

However.

She had another spear. The one she’d been building up beside her. At the same moment she drove one blood-thorn into the dragon’s skull, she flipped the other to aim its blunt end at her target, and let it fly.

Push on a nail with your hand, and likely as not it won’t go in. But hit a nail hard enough with a hammer, and you’ll drive it clean through. One spike was her nail, and the other her hammer.

EAT! THIS!!!

Not even a second after the first spear plunged in, the second one rammed it from behind, smashing it straight through the damaged skull and towards the dragon’s vulnerable brain.

If that didn’t reach it, it was unlikely that anything Lavinia could do ever would. But Zenith and the others were still nearby. If they struck the ‘nail’ with their own attacks, they could drive deeper still. And if they had to shove her weapon all the way into the very center of its brain just to finally fucking kill this thing, then Lavinia had no doubt they’d go the distance.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by j8cob

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Grasidia

The dragon's rage seemed to climb as it took more and more damage from the guild. Lavinia preventing it from properly healing its wing and eye, combined with the new injuries it was sustaining, only further fueled its ire. It prepared to look over its back to attack the pest tearing at its muscle but was interrupted by Zenith slamming onto its head and bringing it to the ground. As Zenith let loose another attack into its head, Holly began slashing into its throat from a distance. Two larger blood spikes from Lavinia struck the new wound on its head that was opened up by Zenith, pushing into its skull even deeper than before. The monster let out a screech of pain as the blood spike dug into its brain, but it wasn't quite deep enough. It not only remained conscious and moving but more spikes began growing from the top of its head attempting to stab Zenith with their rapid spread. But before the dragon could lift its head up to take aim at Holly with another flame attack something grabbed hold of its jaw.

Grasidia sprung forth from the ground beneath the dragon's head, grabbing its lower jaw with her bare hands. With a quick demonstration of her immense strength she slowly forced its lower jaw back to the floor. She stepped forward, placing her foot on its jaw and then grabbing the top of its mouth with her hands before they could snap shut on her. "Sit," she commanded, taking one of her hands from its upper jaw and aiming them down at the floor of its mouth. In the palm of her hand was a single blade of grass, which very rapidly grew and twisted into a spiral mass. It quickly shot forth, impaling the dragon through its lower jaw and embedding itself into the ground. Once there it continued growing, anchoring the dragon's head to the ground. Grasidia's sheer strength had been keeping the monster from closing its mouth with her inside but the orange glow from its throat began to flare up again.

She stood unmoving, facing the orange glow with no hesitation or fear on her face. She felt heat and wind begin to whip past her, and then she saw the flames. Only they never reached her. The attacks on its throat from Holly had left holes, effectively venting the flames out the sides of its neck in several plumes. For the first time today a smile crept across Grasidia's face, a smug grin of triumph. She then began laughing almost maniacally as the heat whipped her hair and the fabric of her clothes around. After a few seconds of this she finally began to recompose herself, though the smug grin was replaced by an angry grimace. "Die, you pathetic imitation." She held her free hand out, her fingers contorting into red claws. She knew her guild couldn't see her hand from any of their angles and she needed something sharp. Something to draw blood. Once her claws finished manifesting she drove them into the roof of the dragon's mouth before sweeping them across and gouging out a large chunk of its flesh.

Blood poured out from the wound, splashing across Grasidia in a gruesome, gory fashion. This blow would surely be regenerated fairly quickly and didn't do much damage on its own but there was a particularly fiendish woman that Grasidia knew who could use this blood. The dragon's skull was too thick to fully penetrate with her earlier blood spikes that was only from the outside, but angling from the roof of its mouth to its brain would be a much easier shot for that same spell. Grasidia remained in the dragon's mouth propping it open while her guildmates continued their attacks to finish the dragon off. By the time Lavinia would strike the finishing blow the plant mage would be soaked in the dragon's blood. Only once the giant monster finally collapsed completely and stopped moving did Grasidia let out a sigh and step out of its jaws.

Once back in the light she finally realized the disgusting state she was in. Her hand had reverted back to normal by now, keeping her secret kept for today. Grasidia looked over the still corpse before her before looking up at Zenith atop its head. She gave the takeover mage a nod, confirming to him that the beast was slain. Or that she was okay, however he interpreted it. She began walking over to the makeshift bunker that everyone seemed to be regrouping at but stopped after taking a few steps. She looked back over her shoulder at the dragon's body to find that it was beginning to glow faintly. After a few seconds of glowing it began breaking apart, slowly disintegrating into glowing blue particles that drifted towards the sky. Ethernano. I was right, she thought, now turning to face this spectacle. It was an Etherious.

The giant body was dispersing slowly so Grasidia didn't bother to sit and watch the entire time. She quickly turned her attention back to her guildmates and continued walking towards them. Everyone was still alive as far she knew but first she approached Holly. "Uh... good work," she congratulated, patting her on the shoulder with a bloody hand. With that out of the way she continued past towards the rest of the guild. She could already see that Rune Knights were beginning to come out of hiding and starting to gather around the pavilion. She couldn't see any civilians coming around yet but that was likely because the evacuation efforts were successful. The pain still radiating from her body felt especially bad in her forearms, from the strain of forcing the monster's jaws open. She was strong enough to do it but not by much. She looked at her blood-soaked arms and frowned.

"Eden. Divine Blessing." She interlocked her arms, placing each of her hands on the opposite forearm. A small glow emanated from beneath the blood as her healing spell began to alleviate her pain. After a few seconds she felt that she had healed herself enough to tolerate the remaining pain so she returned her attention back to her guildmates. "Marduk, who is hurt?" she asked the old man as she approached, trying to get an understanding of the total situation. She spared one brief glance back at the disappearing dragon, its blue specks floating into the sky like ashes from a fire. It was almost fitting, an oddly beautiful scene amid the destruction it had caused. "Who needs healing?"

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Not Fungus

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Luke

Luke was planning on ceasing on hurling his hail of rubble at the flying beast once he either ran out of rubble or his strength enhancement's three minute time limit wore off. He would've probably extended the limit or look for more rubble, but he never needed to do that, for the beast was slain in a gory manner befitting of the guild's token evil teammate. 

Or as she likes to call herself, an evil witch who will take over the world like a cliché super villain. In Luke's eyes, she resembles a cranky old lady who didn't have a bunch of cats to stay with her, so she got lonely and made an act for the guild so she can draw attention. It puts a smile on his face and makes him happy a little bit. Of course, the rapid evaporation of his focus on the dragon was due to the fact that it was basically dead, and the fact that Luke may have a concussion or worse. 

He shook his head and a frown made its way to his face. He leapt out of the building that was forcibly made his temporary housing, and walked through the burning city. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils, which didn't really illicit any reaction from him. 

Felix... He was looking for the boy who was swiped by the dragon's tail. His eyes swept over the lingering destruction, looking for the reckless child. He barely saw him embedded in a wall that was heavily fractured. In a single motion, he pulled him out and carried him under his arm. 

Hm? Luke felt a noticeable heat that would've burnt him had his Conditional Variance spell had not still been in effect. That heat seems to be dissipating slightly due to the sudden rainfall. He continued carrying the kid. 

While walking towards Grasidia and everyone else, he brought up an arm to wipe the blood from his forehead clean. There's no need to worry his guild mates.

"He needs healing." He gently placed the unconscious boy down, making sure no injuries were aggravated. He tried turning his headphones up a smidge, but he realized they were damaged in the fight.

His arm drooped to the side with him emanating disappointment. He had those for as long as he can remember, but it's okay. 

Yeah... I'm fine.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Remram

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Wait, all of that damage and it was still kicking?! It was sending those damn spikes were all coming straight toward Zenith and he was desperately trying to avoid being turned into a pin cushion, ducking and weaving through each thing though not without getting deep lacerations all over him. Enkidu took way too much out of him and his body was paying for the price; it was screaming out in pain from the rebound of that form, not moving the way that Zenith wanted it to.

And then it all stopped. The beast suddenly collapsed and as that happened the assault of spikes halted. Wait, was it over? Zenith glanced around and saw Grasidia walk out from what he could guess was the jaw of the dragon. He returned her nod, assuming that it meant that this battle was over, they had slain the monster. It was quite curious that it was beginning to dissipate into Ethernano, which either meant that that's what happens when they die, or the more likely answer, there was something terribly off about that dragon.

Zenith hopped off the beast, not bothering to watch it drift off into the sky, to walk to the makeshift fortress. Along the way he noticed the Rune Knights coming out and he recognized quite a few of their faces though he was not sure if they recognized him. He had more important matters anyway.

"Hey, how's Felix?" He asked as he approached his guild members, looking down at the stupid, stupid boy that threw himself at a dragon. 

There was no point in being healed at this moment; everyone else needed way more than he did. All that Zenith required was a sit down, a drink, and some god damn peace and quiet. Well, his rebound shocked through his entire body, as if every muscle was cursing at him. He fell flat on his back and looked up at the sky. "I need a drink."

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by datadogie

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datadogie Cloak and Dagger

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Holly was glad to see that the others were still attacking the dragon, putting the pressure on the great beast. She continually applied momentum to herself to hold herself in the air and continue her flurry of attacks projected down onto the dragon's neck to deal damage to the beast. She saw it try to lift it's head to go for her but it was brought back down, and so she remained in position to damage the dragon's neck. She quickly saw that the blood pouring from the wound was being used by Lavinia for her own attacks, and so Holly did not cease; the more, the better.

Holly let the momentum cease on herself, and brought her sword up, letting it swing down as she fell toward the ground. This sent a larger attack toward the dragon, cutting into it's neck deep and letting more blood spill out for Lavinia to use, which was then promptly used to eliminate the dragon entirely by sending spears of the blood into the dragon's skull and presumably into it's brain. Holly waited, just for a moment, to see if the attack had managed to kill it, and then relaxed as she saw the dragon stop moving entirely. A few moments more, and Holly was comfortable enough to slip Shadowbane back into it's sheath and let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Her hand fell back to her sword, however, when she saw that the dragon was starting to glow a little. Once it started to break apart, Holly removed her hand from her sword once more, instead crossing her arms confidently and watching it fade away into blue particles that glowed as they drifted away. She kept her eyes on the dragon even as Grasidia congratulated her, giving the other S-Class a nod of the head and a thank you as a reply. Onlookers might have thought she expected the dragon to suddenly jump up in some final death charge, but those who knew her a little bit better might have been able to tell that she was lost in thought - and not just about the dragon or the particles that were drifting away.

Fenixtear had slain a dragon. Though, Holly doubted that it was a real one. Not by the way it disintegrated like that - she definitely hadn't read or heard anything about dragons doing that. The way it did so didn't make Holly think of a real, living creature that had died before her, but a shade, a phantom. It brought back painful memories of Crystal Shadow, and how they would fake real situations just for the income, how they lied. Slowly, Holly began to walk, making her way to where the jaw of the dragon was just starting to fade away, and stood there as it disintegrated before her. It was a little saddening to her, as if she was caught up in the same lie that she was once before. She refused to let it grasp her once more, though. Instead, she was going to take advantage of it, just the way that Torys wanted them to.

Fenixtear had slain a dragon. The citizens of Era would know it, and soon, word would spread around. The public didn't need to know that this could have been some kind of fake, some kind of false danger, because it definitely was not that. The dragon had done some serious damage, harmed everything that it interacted with from buildings to people. And now, it was deceased, eliminated, and the public was safe again. People were going to know that Fenixtear was a guild that they could rely on. It was going to grow in publicity, and people were going to look up to them.

Fenixtear had slain a dragon. That was something to be proud of. But somehow, Holly still felt saddened by the way it reminded her of her past.

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Renny

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Cloven Brevis

@j8cob | @TheHangedMan | @Sanguine Rose
Cloven was meticulous about keeping out of the way, unseen and unheard. It came from his many years of practice before this new chapter of his life. Of avoiding the hard punches, unsavory intentions, and often deadly aggressions of his ‘betters’. It came in handy now, even as he stood stark-still in the sudden rain, watching in something akin to horror at a butchering. Not the typical kind though, not the kind that caught your words or stifled your breath. But the vicarious kind; the type of horror that could only be empathized with dispassionately.

Sometime prior to the horror, Marduk’s words had been met with a bit of trepidation. Cloven wanted to lash out at the old man, outright tell him no. But he hadn’t, instead he responded. "Alright, I'll get to her." The dangerous mission had done something to the sticky dread in his gut. It had unhinged it with the possibility that perhaps the plant-wizard wasn’t an imminent threat to his life, that maybe, hopefully, she was just like him. A bit awkward, a little quiet, but ultimately human. 

After escaping that gout of flame by ducking out behind one of the dragon's spines; Cloven had bound away to find the plant-wizard. He leapt from cover to cover, till he was on the shattered ground of Era.

He found her standing inside the dragon’s mouth a minute or two later, he assumed. The dreads back, he noticed. A preternatural stillness numbing him; darkening his golden eyes. And in full force. It's hunkering down, latching on with ivory nails.

What he saw next could have been any number of plausible things; a secondary magic, even a magic-tool would be less scary but it felt very natural. In no way did it seem magical to Cloven. The claws, the blood, the gore; it was sadistic and a part of him was perfectly okay with the icky parts. It was the fear of the plant-wizard that drove the horror-nail into the coffin. 

Idiot dragon, why would you even want to fight that monster.

He waited for the plant-wizard to join the others before shifting his weight. The blue light raising from the dragon, like shards of sky, was an afterthought. Cloven’s mind traveled now, partly to escape the dread, partly to let the fear numb over. The subject that he contemplated was a sodden song, sung in a cheerful voice beside a lazy river. 

Cloven sat on a medium-sized piece of rubble not too far away from the others. The wetness was seeping through his tattered cloak and sapping the heat from his body. He let out an exhale and the exhale sent a fresh wave of pain through his deadened body and bleeding arm. I’ve had worst… much worst. This was sooo tough, he admitted dully. If this is the danger of staying in this guild, I’ll need to get stronger. Tougher than even you, Son. And the worst part is going back to the guild with her. That’s the real reason I need to get stronger. To beat my fears, cause I'm tired of being the joke. 

He found the plant-wizard's back, glared at her shortly, then quickly rectified the killer-instinct buried deep inside; finding the cracked concrete below his boots.

“Fuck,” he uttered.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Floch

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Bio

Surviving the Dragon's fiery wrath, Gwen sustained third degree burns due to the inconvenient elemental matchup. Everyone else managed to scathe the beast with consecutive attacks but to Gwen, this event just brought back scars found deep within her heart. Her vigor from earlier became a shell of its former self as black marks covered her skin.

The people she cared for were hurt yet thriving for life but darkness took a bite of Gwen's heart, voices in her head spiraled like crippling depression. She stood petrified against the nostalgic situation that whispered inside her head, she clenched her fists because of the essence triggered by the draconic fiend. The image of death projected from her hallucinating vision, she can hardly breathe due to the abominable fear throbbing in her chest.

Gwen continued breathing abnormally and unto her knees, she saw a vision of her little self who stood by and watched lambs, slaughtered. It's as if her younger self was condemning the present Gwen for her shortcomings. She flicked her wrist and erased these twisted imagery within her mind and found herself in an imagery where a heart was broken.

Freezing every image against her path, Gwen finally found herself in the ocean's shore. The black marks reversed and that includes her purple eyes. Before she knew it, the fight was over and felt bad for contributing nothing. 

For the first time, Gwen began to feel an inferiority complex against her guild members. Having that unwanted feeling, Gwen drenched it with her superiority complex within her thoughts.'Who am I kidding? They are S-Class, of course Grasidia and Holly defeated this Etherious Demon. Ha..ha...ha. I'm a Devil Slayer of all things yet I have again failed to kill a demon.'

Gwen held into her heart and trembled once more in her knees. They...I shouldn't even be here... The build up of her emotional stress and anxieties caught up.

Gwen fainted.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Spectral

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Asher

Shot after shot, Asher continued to fire more red hot spearheads at the dragon. The wall slowly started to shrink downwards as more material was lost with each shot. His eyes watch through the peephole, hoping that the overgrown lizard will finally be taken down in some fashion soon. “I can’t keep this up much longer unless I want to leave us open,” his head turning back towards Astoria, still in the middle of keeping her spell going behind him. But as his attention returns to the front, he spots through the rain and debris a fantastic sight. The dragon, the beast that has been taking hit after hit from their guild and kept fighting, falls over, collapsing to the ground. 

Seconds that seemed like minutes passed as Asher held his breath. The dragon did not move. It was finally defeated. And the ones who did it was their very own guild. Turning his back against the wall, he slowly slumped to the ground, letting out his breath as he could feel the adrenaline now start to fade and exhaustion began to sink in. For a minute, all he could do was sit there, a relieved smile on his face as the thought of victory now took over his thoughts. “We did it… we really did it, huh?” He speaks softly to the air, quite now except for the falling rain. 

Rain… right, he realizes, his head looking back up to Astoria’s form, still in a trance as she holds onto her spell. I guess she hasn’t realized it over now, huh?. Asher pushes himself up and off the wall, walking over to her standing position. Placing a hand onto her shoulder, he gives her a gentle shake to snap her out of the trance. “Astoria, you can stop now,” he softly says. “It’s over. The dragon… it is defeated. We have won.” A smile comes to his face as he reminds himself of that. 

His head turning back once more towards the wall, he then says to her, “We should meet back up with the others and see what everyone’s status is. I know several of them take big blows out there besides Holly, and I’m certain they would appreciate your healing abilities right about now.” He then takes his hand off her shoulder, turning to leave from behind their barrier. 

As he rounds the corner, he stops for a moment, before adding “Good work, by the way. If you hadn’t started that rain shower, it’s likely the fire would still be causing more damage to the city or hurt more people.” With that said, he continues out from around the wall, picking up his pace while hopping over and around debris in the street as he heads to meet up with the others.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Sanguine Rose

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It wasn't until she was shaken that Ria's concentration on the spell finally broke. She switched her footing to catch herself from falling at the sudden break in focus. What was once a torrential downpour calmed in mere seconds to a nice relaxing rain; it would clear up soon, but given the amount of latent magic discharged in the atmosphere that could be minutes or an hour. Her eyes shot open and her arms slowly lowered to her sides. It took a moment for her to process what the guy - Asher, her brain reminded her a few seconds too late - was saying. It was over? "We won?" she parroted as her brain fumbled to grasp the concept. The dragon was huge and powerful. No, not dragon - right, from what she read, dragons didn't do that. 

Her gaze swept out past the barricade, her brain only vaguely recognizing Asher said something else, to look at the rubble and death beyond it. The not dragon was turning into specks of light and drifting upward. Dragons didn't do that. Not from anything she read. Maybe Grasidia would have more information to share. When the time was right.

A soft dusting of pink colored her cheeks and a smile touched her lips at Asher's final passing remark. I actually saved people. I put out the fires. I chose the right spells, she thought to herself. Was it wrong to feel giddy at that moment? With so much destruction around them that she couldn't prevent, it felt like it should be wrong to be happy about putting out the other fires. That despite not going with her gut to put up walls to prevent further damage, she prevented spreading fires. A shake of her head brought her out of these thoughts. They wouldn't do well to dwell. She'd just let herself feel happy about what she was able to do.

With a little jump, Ria trotted off to follow Asher to the others gathering with Grasidia. She slowed from the slight skipping steps to a more subdued walk as her gaze scanned the members gathered. The smile slowly faded, and her brows pulled together. "Luke, where's-" Her attention turned to Luke, only to spot Felix definitely hurt and definitely unconscious near her brother. The question froze in her throat. 

Rushing those few last steps, Ria knelt beside the boy. She reached out to check his pulse but pulled back sharply and shook her hand. Too hot to the touch. Her head snapped up to Luke first, but her gaze traveled to the others. "Where's Gwen? He's burning up. I'm going to try to cool him, but please, someone find Gwen." 

She turned her attention back on the boy unconscious before her. She didn't feel strong enough right then to use rejuvenating waters; she'd get the spell off but it would do basically nothing. She'd used too much energy for the storm. Her brain raced through a dozen different options in a few seconds before she summoned up a small bubble of water entrapping air around it. She placed the bubble over Felix's mouth and nose before holding her hands out over his body. Her eyes closed. The rain falling around them pulled toward her hands, collecting to grow larger and larger and encase him in a sphere of water that lifted him off the ground to suspend him in the liquid. The air bubble over his mouth and nose would allow him to keep breathing, and let the water do it's work. 

Her brows furrowed as she concentrated on the water around him. It was growing hot from the heat radiating off him; that wouldn't do. She touched the water and focused on the sensations she felt of diving in the frigid northern seas, the chill of the water; she focused on that memory and forced the water around Felix to chill like the water she thought about. She wasn't sure when, but at some point she'd started shivering. Her skin felt clammy, and it was getting harder to focus on keeping the water around Felix cold.

It wasn't until she gasped for air, not realizing she'd been holding her breath for - well she didn't know when it'd started - that she finally dropped her hands to her sides to catch herself from falling over. Each breath came as a thirsty heave. The shaking didn't stop, and she wasn't entirely sure she could even move one of her hands from being braced beneath her without falling over. Her gaze weakly focused on the unconscious boy before her.

The water encasing Felix would slowly wash away, lowering the boy to the ground rather than violently dumping him. The air bubble around his mouth and nose washed away with the rest of the water to collect in a puddle underneath him.

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Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by TheHangedMan

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Marduk

It... was over? By the Dragons and Saints, it was truly over?

Marduk looked at the where the 'dragons' corpse lay battered into the ground, defeated by the herculean efforts of his guildmates. The beasts body slowly began breaking apart and dissolving into the air. There his eyes narrowed. That wasn't natural, and in that instance he concluded that this was no dragon at all, but rather a construct. From that conclusion he reached another one - that if the dragon was indeed a construct, that meant there was someone behind the constructing. There could be more of those things lying around, or more in production.

He let out a deep breath. This bore investigating. For now however, he would simply enjoy this victory properly. With a grin, Marduk raised his arm into the air, and let out a cry of victory amidst the pouring rain.

Speaking of rain, he'd tend to Ria and the others. They needed to deal with the aftermath as well. It appeared Grasidia was of the same mind, as she immediately approached him. "Felix was badly hurt. Holly pushed herself too far as well. Gwen still hasn't shown up," he replied, neglecting to mention his own injury - there was nothing they'd be able to do about that. His heart ached as he looked at Felix. The fool boy! Why did he have to be so hard headed? 

He sighed. There was nothing to be done now, except deal with the aftermath, and hopefully he'd learn his lesson. His eyes narrowed upon noticing Ria; she was shaking badly, and had to catch herself from falling over herself as she tended to Felix.

The old man threw his cloak over the girl, his left hand on her shoulders trying to stead her. "Easy Ria, don't push it. Take a break for a moment. I'll go look for your sister." He nodded at Grasidia, leaving her with the others as he found a place on top of a building to look for their absent member.

It wasn't long before he found her, lying down and surrounded, the ground around her covered in a thin sheet of ice and hoarfrost. Wasting no time, Marduk took a portal to her side, and placed a hand over her face, checking her vitals. Though it was shallow, she was still breathing. Her vitals were also fine. She had no signs of obvious injury, which puzzled the old man. Did she perhaps faint from exhaustion?

He placed a palm on her forehead and clicked his tongue, picking the girl up and making his way back to the others.

"I found Gwen, but she's out cold." Cold was an understatement. Her body was freezing!

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Anza

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Lavinia
”HA! HA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAH!”

Taking full advantage of the two S-Class mages’ efforts, Lavinia set about her murderous business. Blood poured from the dragon’s neck and shot off towards its mouth, forming long red spears that thrust themselves past Grasidia and up through the monster’s soft palate. Somehow even its brain was tough, but that didn’t matter if Lavinia just kept stabbing it faster than it could regenerate. Once she had enough of her spikes in, she started using them as injectors, flooding the cranium with fluid and putting an end to any last vestiges of conscious thought.

Even then, she did not stop. With her hands swaying like some kind of manic puppeteer, she kept on plunging her thorns into the dragon’s head, carrying on well after it had gone completely limp. It was only once the beast started dissolving into glowing dust that she finally stopped stabbing it and paused in her cackling long enough to take an actual breath.

I did iiiiit! Pumping her arms up and down, she did a little happy dance across the half-destroyed roof she’d been perched on, before suddenly remembering how an evil empress was supposed to act and freezing in her tracks. After a moment, she drew herself up to her full height, staring down at the battlefield and trying to come up with a clever one-liner.

”With this, the uppity lizard is finally… dra-GONE!”

No, wait, that was terrible! And it wasn’t like anyone was listening anyway. For the first time in a while, Lavinia decided to dispense with pointless theatrics and focus on something actually important, namely finding out if everyone was still alive.

A minute later, the rest of Fenixtear would see a dark silhouette looming out of the smoke and wreckage, growing larger and more menacing as it approached.

”That monster was the last thing standing in my way… And now you’ve helped me finish it off. With this, there is nobody left who can stop me.” A low, drawn-out chuckle punctuated the chilling statement. ”What fortune that I should find you all here, battered, beaten, broken… A perfect opportunity for me to tie up some inconvenient loose ends.”

And then Lavinia stepped out into the open and rushed towards them, her sopping wet robes flapping around her like ungainly fins. ”Ufufufufu, did you see me finish it off? I was so cool and scary, right?!” She threw out an arm, pointing dramatically at Grasidia. "Even you managed to be useful, you uncourteous trash! For this, I absolve you of your past transgressions… Be thankful for this gracious mercy, I shall not grant it again!"

Without even waiting for an answer, she swept past the plant mage, making her way towards the unconscious Gwen. ”Give her here, you wrinkly bag of bones! A weakling like you should just bow down and make way for a superior mage.” She had plenty of enrgy left for healing spells, after all. And once Gwen was back on her feet, that would be all the loose ends done with, and they could all go back home and Lavinia could change clothes and curl up with a book and a blanket and possibly also Ria... 

Yes, she was only helping now for her own sake. Those so-called comrades of hers had better not start thinking she was trying to be nice or anything.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by j8cob

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Grasidia

The blood-soaked woman nodded at Marduk in return before turning to look at the approaching Lavinia and her usual theatrics. I suppose she would be feeling quite full of herself after all this, Grasidia thought to herself, simply watching Lavinia as she ranted. They should enjoy their victory. I think most of them believe they killed a dragon and that would be for the better. Nobody needs to know the truth. She looked back down at her bloodied hands. The rain had helped somewhat with the blood problem but she was gonna need a real bath or shower to get clean. She then looked around, noticing that the Rune Knights were approaching the disintegrating "dragon" in force and even civilians were starting to reappear. It was only going to be a matter of time before someone approached the Fenixtear mages and asked who they were, then someone good at speaking like Marduk could retell the story, then they could all go home. Since Marduk returned with Gwen and Lavinia claimed she could help her, Grasidia returned her attention to the old man. "Alright Marduk, let's t-"

A loud boom interrupted Grasidia as something fell from the sky, piercing Ria's rainclouds and slamming into the shattered ground hard enough to kick up a cloud of dust. While this startled Gras enough to stop talking she only turned her head to look over her shoulder at the quickly dissipating dust. The hole in the clouds above began to expand, speeding up the process at which the rain halted but for the moment created a sunbeam over the giant demon's vanishing corpse. From the newly formed crater stepped a gigantic man, easily a head and shoulders taller than Grasidia and twice as wide. He wore black cloth armor with black steel plating, a large katana at his hip. His eyes seemed almost golden and glowing, further standing out from a large scar across his nose and his short black hair. Whoever this man was he already radiated intimidation and power. Though Grasidia hadn't a clue who this man was or what he was here for it seemed that the nearby Rune Knights could recognize him and perhaps several of her guildmates may know him too.

This man was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, a supremely powerful group of mages handpicked by the Magic Council. His name is Ajax Thera, the 2nd ranked Wizard Saint. The giant man's gaze was upon the "dragon", watching as it continued dispersing into Ethernano. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at the sight before looking down first towards Holly, as she stood near the corpse, and then turning over towards the other members of Fenixtear. Even from this distance Grasidia could tell what he was thinking. This man knows. Ajax then began walking forward towards Holly, each step over the destroyed ground creating a resounding thud as he stomped through any small obstacles in the terrain. Grasidia, too, began marching over to Holly. She detected a danger to this man and didn't intend on leaving her guildmate alone with him. Though Ajax reached Holly first, towering over her as he looked down with what appeared to be contempt.

"What happened here?" he finally spoke, his voice deep and just as intimidating as his look. By now Grasidia caught up, standing beside Holly to face this man. The nearby Rune Knights finally approached in an organized volume, surrounding both the decaying dragon and rest of Fenixtear. Beyond the Rune Knights a crowd of civilians began forming as well, all trying to see what was going down. Before Holly could answer the Wizard Saint, Grasidia spoke up first and took another step closer to him. "We have slain the dragon," she said simply. Her boldness seemed to catch Ajax off guard, who now turned his attention from the armored girl to the blood-soaked woman. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, as if they were burrowing into Grasidia's very soul. A normal human of normal constitution would've been an unnerved wreck before this monster before them, but Grasidia simply stared right back into his soul. Whether he was intimidating by nature or by intent it would not work against someone like her. The silent standoff between the three mages near the dragon continued for a few uncomfortable seconds longer. Tension filled the air almost like a fight was going to break out. The nearby Rune Knights and civilians certainly could feel it.

Grasidia and Ajax's staredown finally ended as he glanced over at the rest of the guild. "I do not recognize your guild mark. Who are you?" Once again, Grasidia wasted no time in staving off this man's questions. "We are Fenixtear." Now it became clear that she was beginning to bother this Wizard Saint. His gaze returned to her. "That is no guild I ever heard of. Girl, take off your helmet when I'm talking to you." Now his golden eyes settled on Holly, but Grasidia stepped to the side to put herself between Holly and Ajax. She didn't know who this man was, but she knew this man was strong and she knew this man was about to bully and accuse her guild, her family, of staging this event. Talking to humans always was difficult for her but something inside her knew that this man before her was barely human at all. And she wasn't going to let him treat her family with disrespect. "You're talking to me," she told him plainly, continuing to stare directly into his eyes.

From the nearby Rune Knights she heard a single gasp but she didn't care. "Had we not arrived and slain this dragon then the Magic Council would've been destroyed. You arrived too late." Ajax looked over his shoulder, as if he was only now realizing just how close they all were to the Magic Council headquarters. They were quite literally on its front lawn, so that had Fenixtear arrived but one minute later it really would've been razed to the ground. He turned back towards Grasidia and Holly after confirming. "It would appear so." His right hand reached down towards his sword, resting on the pommel as he took another step towards the two. Grasidia didn't take any steps back, instead holding her bloody arm out in front of Holly to protect her. Grasidia and Ajax were merely a few feet apart now and she had to very clearly look up at him to maintain eye contact. Was he getting frustrated that they weren't being intimidated by him? "Don't come any closer," Grasidia demanded, creating visible shock in Ajax's eyes and practically stunning all the nearby Rune Knights. After a second of silence the big man finally let out a chuckle, removing his hand from his sword and taking a few steps back.

"My apologies, ma'am," he said, his voice now noticeably lighter and his tone more polite. "I wish you and yours no harm. I came here to protect the Magic Council from the dragon and I was surprised that a guild I never knew about had managed to save the day. My name is Ajax Thera and I work for the Council. Dragons are my specialty, you see, because I am a dragon slayer." This confirmed it for Grasidia, that this man could tell the Etherious they fought was no dragon at all. But he seemed to be playing along? "Fenixtear, yes? I am impressed by your resolve. There are great things in your future." A quick flash of light from the side surprised both Ajax and Grasidia. She quickly turned to see that a strangely ecstatic man with a camera had pushed past the Rune Knights and snapped a picture of the three standing near the dragon's head. Though the one picture was all he got as the Rune Knights finally grabbed him and began to drag him away. Ajax chuckled again before looking back at the two S-class mages before him. "It appears that your victory today will soon ensure that others like me won't ask your name anymore."

With that he finally turned away from Grasidia and Holly. He began marching towards the Council headquarters building, offering no further words for goodbyes. The Rune Knights that were in his way parted to allow him to pass with no trouble. Grasidia continued to stare daggers into his back, all the while wondering what he was going to do. She knew that he knew this wasn't a real dragon but he made no accusations to Fenixtear. Was he going to tell the Magic Council? Was he going to keep it a secret? Why would he say the things he did about their future? It was all so puzzling to Grasidia. This strange, powerful man fell from the sky and made her question this day more than this "dragon" already did. She finally lowered her arm from before Holly and looked over her shoulder at the armored girl. "We need to talk to Torys about this," she whispered. Surely Holly had figured out that something was strange with their whole interaction with Ajax.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Cello

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@Gittarackur

Leon had spent the remainder of the battle crouched in the debris from when the dragon had sent him flying with its tail. His eyes were puffy with dried tears, his trousers stained with his own blood from the gash he had since patched up with a bit of restorative magic. The wound wasn’t that deep, so it had healed up nicely with minimal effort on his half. Meanwhile, Lorelai was still alongside Lilianna, making sure she was recovered enough before returning to Leon as per his request.

Gritting his teeth, Leon clenched his fists with such intensity his nails began to dig into the palms of his hands. Slumped over, the young mage let out a pained wince, but it was not physical pain he was feeling right now. His first chance to prove himself useful to his guild mates and he had spent most of the battle frozen up. When Marduk had dropped Felix off beside him, he couldn’t even muster the courage to help the boy through his own self pity. Luke had stopped by to pick the boy up, bringing him back to the group. 

If not for the droplets of rain sending an invigorating sensation along his skin, Leon may have stayed where he was for quite some time more. Blinking, he caught a glimpse of his guild mates converging around the disintegrating dragon's corpse. Among them, he spotted Holly and Marduk. The former looked pretty worse for wear. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. How could he face them after failing them so spectacularly? Felix lay unconscious before the entire guild, and it was entirely his fault. He was so desperate to look useful that he ended up abandoning the only thing that was asked of him.

Now, drenched from head to toe under the sudden downpour, he would have to face the music. Raising himself from the ground, he held his codex firmly under his arm and began to approach his comrades. As he got closer, he took note of their injuries. They all got off so much worse than he did, yet they held the line. He didn’t deserve to stand among them. Once he was close enough to lay eyes on Felix’s still body, the boy’s wounds became much more apparent.
“I’m…” He choked on his own words, eyes darting between his peers. “I… I can help Felix. Please, you’ve all done so much.”

Please, let me do this for you at least.

Crouching besides the boy, a cursory glance at the amount he was perspiring confirmed him to be overheating from some unknown cause. Perhaps it was magical? Leon admittedly knew very little about Felix’s magic. For now he thought it best to proceed with his aid as normal. He first went to unzip the boy’s jacket to free his breathing of any restriction. As his hands got closer though, he felt an intense heat. His first instinct was to pull away, but Leon was determined to push through and help this kid. Taking the pain in stride, he managed to open up the jacket. Hopefully this would help him cool down a bit.

Opening up his codex, Leon lay his hands above Felix and began to channel Physick. The familiar green light swathed over the boy, pulsating back and forth along the length of his body. With less distraction, Leon’s healing worked a lot faster than it had on Grasidia during the battle. Once he had done all he could, Leon let his arms slump back down to his side with an exhausted sigh. He wasn’t sure when Felix would wake up, but at the very least he had stopped his condition from worsening. By the amount of power he had to exert just to stabilize him, it was clear things could have gotten worse if left unchecked.

All of a sudden Leon felt the familiar touch of sunlight against the back of his head, followed by an intense crash that shook him into a standing position. Fearing the dragon’s brother or cousin or something had decided to pay them a visit, his immediate reaction was to clutch the sides of his head in panic. Only for a man with a commanding, powerful voice to address the group.

Leon watched the standoff between Grasidia, Holly and this man - who would eventually introduce himself as Ajax Thera. The tension in the air was palpable. He hoped he would never find him on the receiving end of either Ajax’s or Grasidia’s intense presence. The conversation eventually came to a stop, with Ajax leaving the S Classes behind him in a stifling silence.
“Uh, what now?” Leon questioned, looking to the other guild members for direction.

Hidden 4 yrs ago → 4 yrs ago Post by Renny

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Cloven Brevis

His guildmates were a riot-and-a-half. A congregation of very real, very animated emotions. There was a sense of worry sitting between them all for the idiot-boy, Felix, was his name. And that perplexed him a bit. Everyone had warned the boy, downright spelled it out for him, ‘Be careful superhero, this isn’t no comic book’ and yet he went and got himself hurt anyway.

The pain will teach him what no one else could. Cloven wrapped himself tighter against the rain; vehemently ignoring the dread. I’m too close to her, can’t wait to get back and put space between us. It would have to sit there and ruminate within, it could eat all it wanted while he distracted himself with the doleful views and that gentle haunting song.

There was a shifting in the air or energies. It was odd and nearly imperceptible but it drew his attention skyward anyway. Even still, he missed whatever had parted the clouds and could only shield himself from the wave of dampness and debris that smacked against him. When the dust had wafted away, a herculean figure was revealed. Cloven had no idea who the man was but he stood from his rock-chair in defiance. He stayed the trembling of his wounded arm, kept them hidden beneath the folds of his cloak, and lit them softly with his dark magic. 

Good, he thought grimly. Finally I can really lash out. Just attack the guild. Kill, Holly or better yet the plant-wizard. That's what Son would call a two-for-one; I get rid of her and I get to vent.

But it never came to that. Even when the tension was at its worst, when the Rune Knights and civilians had them encircled; at the end nothing had happened. Cloven couldn’t help but feel cheated. He grinded his teeth silently, put distance between himself and the plant-wizard, and listened for the ethereal noises of Earth Land. Listened to that melody that so fiercely clung to him now. 

Then like magic or perhaps he just wasn’t paying attention, faraway with the others, was Astoria. The idol of the haunting song, a weaker version of herself. Cloven felt a pang in his chest for... for what? Her cheerfulness. No, it went so much deeper. Of that he was sure. He steadied his gaze on her. The cracks are showing, Astoria. Your song is starting to gain substance to me. Questions are flooding; what kind of past did you have? what was it about this destruction that could have shaken you up? was it the dragon? Maybe you feel helpless right now. 

He pulled his attention to some empty distance. I sure do wonder…  I want to know more, he finally admitted.

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