~Skirmish~
Apophis nodded. His eyes stopped opening and closing, leaving them to shine brilliantly without letting him even notice it. Lily? Was that her name? Lily... Frightendale? She sure did seem like someone who would be frightened "by the likes of him."
Maria Ann Cross was certainly an interesting individual. She had correctly predicted his intentions, though he had a feeling that she would have seen through him. However, what these true intentions were would be things that never should be revealed. For he not only had plans with both Lily and his lord, Lucifer, but also for some things he needed to clean up.
"............."
The man blinked. He then crossed his arms, simply staring at the woman in front of him.
Suddenly, his smile grew widely. He, however, did not add in the signature laughter he always boomed out.
"...You will regret it if you hear my reasons."
The hollow deity suddenly burst out laughing, his brother's eye seemingly popping out of one of his face's fake eyesockets. He laughed, laughed, and laughed. And laughed.
"Oh, it is an HONOR to meet you, missus," Apophis said. "As for me, I am simply here to analyze this girl! Both for my lord and my own database located in my skull. If I even had a skull in the first place..."
The hollow man twitched, letting a jolt of energy fly through his veins for a split second. He really wanted to just stop the starvation he was experiencing. Patience, however, would reward him with a whole village's worth of souls.
"...It is an honor to meet you as well, Apophis. And..." She paused, giving him a serious glare, her eyes clear and purposeful. "If you are done, you can leave, can you not? There she is and you won't see much of her. Maybe... some other time?" She spoke, tilting her head slightly, a bright smile on her face. She wasn't about to let this mad man even make a move to touch the angel. She was tasked with protecting her and she'd do so with her life. Whatever that meant for this being... As Maria was yet ready to die today.
She crossed her arms and smiled at the man, unaffected by his ploys. "Well then?" She asked, raising her brows at him.
Apophis moved his arms away from each other, letting a little more of his energy flow freely through his body.
"Done?" He asked, as if he were confused by what the woman had just said. "My approach in analytical research involves three things. To delve into their emotions, to become one with them, no matter how painful it is..."
He closed his eyes, as if to treasure moments of courageous bravery.
But there were none that actually saved anyone. His eyes opened again, the very thought of getting his hands on the angel corrupting his mind.
"...And maybe a physical check-up would do as well. Painfully! Not in any other way. I'm no ravager- I simply do the tasks my lord permits me to do."
More and more energy began to crackle from his body, particularly around his hands.
"Oh, can't I just touch her for a second?" Apophis asked, his grin becoming as wide as a beast in the dark.
Her eyes grew wide at his words, her anger rising even more. "No, you may not." Electricity cackled around her, forming in the air. Maria Cross glared at the man wearing the skin of others.
"And what if I do?" Apophis asked, finally using the energy he had been generating. In fact, he had just summoned his halberd with the energy. It had once belonged to his family and kin... and with it, he slayed them all. Like the worthless rats they were. No, they were not even rats. They were as dirty as c-
The hollow man decided not to think about it.
"Then, you shall find your fight occuring a lot sooner than you anticipated, sir." She explained. It took all of her will power to keep her voice calm and collected, trying not to raise her voice. She stood in front of Lily, as if forming her own small barrier between the small child and this beastly man, the electricity still sparked around her, gathering slowly as they spoke.
Apophis smiled.
Suddenly, a tremendous amount of energy gathered around his left arm. Violent pulses of demonic aura surrounded him, and his glorious halberd had begun to change its shape. The glory and honor it once had, stored for centuries for the sake of justice, began to melt away, only to become an old myth. It took the shape of a more demented weapon: one that Apophis favored. Retaining its blade, the halberd had turned into what appeared to be a dangerously sharp lance.
He then raised his other hand, letting a burst of corrupted energy barely contain itself from exploding out of pressure. Then, with full intention, the energy took the form of what appeared to be a hand axe made of his own energy.
The hollow man laughed insanely, his eyes burning with competition, as he threw the axe straight towards Maria Cross's head.
With a simple string of words, a shield appeared before Maria, bearing the Cross family seal. The axe rebounded off of it with a loud, resounding 'Klang!' She snorted, a smirk on her face. "Old Cross family magic. As much as I'd rather deny it's existance, it does come in handy." She spoke, a hand on her hip now, as if this man were simply an annoying bug in her home.
Apophis grinned. As he expected, she apparently had strong defensive abilities, which he learned from the barrier Maria cast upon the angelic girl. He caught the axe from its plight, absorbing its power and making it vanish. With a crooked, smug grin, Apophis tilted his head at Maria.
The hollow man suddenly began to rain down a barrage of energy blasts. One by one, each spell was disintegrated by the shield. Apophis began to walk toward Maria as he cast this ability, his halberd beginning to glow.
She raised a brow at the mans attempts. What was he trying to do? All of his attacks were useless. Even the might of Lucifer couldn't get past the barriers of the Cross family. Still, she glared at him, wary of what he was planning. She didn't trust him and didn't think he didn't have some ridiculous plan.
Apophis felt somewhat surprised that she did not move her ground. After all, he knew that she was aware of his unpredictable nature. With that taken into note, that was exactly what he was going to do: something unpredictable. The man raised his halberd as he approached the woman, whose barrier protected her from the barrage of spells he was casting.
With a single strike, Apophis smashed the halberd in front of her, causing the ground beneath them to falter. This would also reach Lily's barrier, though this particular action was not meant for her. Utilizing the now strangely-shaped ground they stood on, Apophis chanted a forbidden melody that had been long forgotten by mankind, as well as the gods that had forsaken him.
Apophis began to absorb the air around him...
With a speed one wouldn't know a human could possess, Maria spun a spell, a spell of speed. In the next second, she had Lily, with the barrier in her arms and then she was gone, Lily a safe distance away, away from the dangerous man. Within the next second she was back, standing on the rough terrain around the man. With a glare, she slowly spoke, spinning more words into a spell. She gave the demon a small smirk as a small bubble glint over her mouth.
"My spell index is rather electic, if you must know." She spoke, her voice thick like syrup. She grinned widely and within the next second she was right in front of him, her smile gone. "Test me. Fool." She taunted, glaring at him intensely. With that, she shot back a few feet from him, back behind the shield yet again. She stood simply, with her hands on her hips yet again.
Apophis smiled deviously.
"You intrigue me, human," he said, his voice grown deeper, though his attitude did not change. "You bear confidence, yet you do not strike me..."
The demon suddenly snapped his fingers.
And out of nowhere, from the ground beneath the academy, something shot out straight out of the main building.
It was the energy Apophis had sent into the ground. And there was bound to be people in it. Everyone inside of it were blown away, though none of them would die. So technically, Apophis had not broken the rules yet.
Yet.
"Will you be able to defend your students from this?"
A funnel of black energy flowed up to the skies. And right before it was sent plummeting toward the ground, it stopped abruptly in the middle of its drop.
Suddenly, four figures fell from the darkness that had been created. One of them came out of a fiery portal, roaring a deathly scream that seeked vengeance. In fact, this scream came from his burning heart, genuinely wishing that he claimed his revenge as soon as possible. It echoed throughout the entire academy.
Thane, and the three soldiers, were sent directly into the decimated building. There, they would quickly pack up before directly searching for students they can face.
"Thane is not a nice person, you know," Apophis taunted, his eyes no longer glowing, making him seem like a hollow shell of what he really was. "With that said, you going to that academy means that I can start analyzing your students. Or maybe even that beautiful, precious, preciouspreciousprecious virgin of an angel."
Maria watched with cold yellow eyes as the demons poured towards the school. A smirk appeared on her lips as she turned back to Apophis. "I think they can handle themselves." She told him. She took in a deep breath, legitimately tired of this whole thing.
She turned her head to face Apophis directly, her eyes narrow. The smirk on her face disappeared as she walked closer to him. "Touch that girl and it'll be the last thing you do." She told him, glaring intently. She wasn't going to attack him, no. She would only do what it took to protect. She didn't want to give him any reason to attack them anymore than he already did. And... She took another breath. She knew she probably didn't have what it took to kill the demon. She could only hope that he left and sooner rather than later.
In truth, she wished she could go to Brako and the students and protect them, but she couldn't very well lead Apophis to them. Two strong demons were two too much. She'd have to hope Brako could deal with the other while she stayed, protecting the girl. She swallowed. What was so important about this girl? Was it really just Lucifer's pride doing this? It was just a small girl. Maria honestly couldn't see why they had such a grand interest in her.
Oddly enough... She had to admit, she almost liked Apophis. He was a sharp individual and knew what he was doing despite his unpredictable nature.
Apophis stopped grinning. Did she just... threaten him?
She threatened him. That threat made him remember something, though he was unable to tell what it exactly was.
It did sort of anger him though. With that said, the demonic pulses began to grow once more.
Except Apophis looked quite aggravated at this point.
"Why am... I even standing here in the first place?" He growled, his brother's skin beginning to vanish. "Why the fuck am I the one being mocked again...?"
It aggravated him. No, it angered him. It boiled his blood. It enraged him. He hated her. No, he loved her. He loved this woman for making him hate her. Something about what she said ticked him off. Something about how easily she trusted the students... Something about how arrogantly she was in splitting him apart from the girl he desired to analyze. He just wanted to touch, observe, analyze, riptearkill-
Kill.
With a huge burst of energy, Apophis roared with a maniacal laughter as his halberd suddenly grew twice in its size. Lifting it up, he brought the weapon down upon Maria Ann Cross as he screamed,
"TO HELL WITH YOU!!!!!"
A spear blasted through Apophis' skull, instantly silencing him.
The demon twitched erratically, cursing violently before his movements ceased to be. The chaotic deity of disorder's words grew silent...
...before he went unconscious.
"That's one way to shut him up..." Maria spoke softly, watching with mild curiosity.
A portal of fire suddenly grew out of the ground behind Apophis, the man's eyes blank and lifeless. He was far from dead, but it surely felt far more painful than what most demons could do to him. In fact, the very idea of Apophis being ambushed was out of the ordinary. After all, he was a mastermind when it came to devising strategies.
Needless to say, masterminds made mistakes as well. Especially when they lost their composure.
The spear connected to the rope literally dragged the limp demon's body into the portal, a fiery, malicious roar screaming through and within Athalia Academy,
"TO HELL WITH YOU!!!!"
Apophis flew into the portal, vanishing from the face of the Earth... for now.
Thane had always wanted to do that.
"Uhm... Thanks?" She said, a bit unsure of what had even transpired there. She blinked, looking around her. There was nothing save for the remains of what Apophis had left. She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. Without another thought, she walked over to where she'd stashed Lily. She was surprised to fine the Angel just waking, looking around at the ruined earth around her, nevermind the barrier encasing her.
"Wh-what's going on?" Lily asked, looking up at Maria.
"There will be time enough for that. Come, we need to help the others. And you... Stay out of harms way?" She pleaded with the angel. The barrier fell and Maria let out a small sigh of relief, glad that the demon was gone. Though, she hadn't the foggiest of who had saved her.
"GG no re, dude."
