Necrophage

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The violent explosion of energy sent Zios careening into the wall. The chamber filled with dust and debris for the moments between the expulsion of energy and when Zelraka next spoke. Fierce wind from outside drafted through the chamber and cleared much of the dust away to reveal the fused order member. It only took their joining to break a wall that was previously thought unbreakable. The fusion of Rajaka and Zelriane was certainly incredible but was it stable? From their promptness of union it would almost seem they had done this before.

Zios pressed himself off the wall and stepped forward. Despite his protections that expulsion of energy was vicious. Tendrils of spectral energy flicking back and forth from his left shoulder coalesced together, knitting like muscle as they formed a clawed arm. Blood still dotted Zios' form from the various injuries he had suffered from fighting Zelriane. He ignored them. Most of them had been superficial at best: flesh wounds, surface bruising and various burns. Nothing to stop his fight unless it prolonged too long. Zios coughed through the floating dust and with a flourish of his hand sent a gentle wave of force outward that cleared the room of floating debris. He glanced briefly at Jeff, who was likely bewildered by Oz's drastic change in appearance, before returning his attention to the grave new threat. "I'll take you on."

Raising his right arm, Zios chanted. "Neo Ultima!" The beam of deadly energy flashed toward Zelraka.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Blood dripped from Zios' tightly gripped hand as he held the bladestaff vertical behind him. "You speak of Oz. Know that I am no longer he even if he makes me. I do however understand what he felt. There was no joy in his decision. Only dedication and fear of what was to come. Oz was confident that the void creature's values had been sufficiently swayed. He reconciled that the eventual doom of the world by my hand was preferable to the immediate doom by yours. He had a certain admirable hubris that his will would win out in the end and that the immediate growth would win him victory for today." He swung the blade to the side, spattering Zelriane's loose blood from the tip across the black stone. "Those things remain to be seen."

With no further alarm he took a step forward and swung the staff for Zelriane's midsection.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zios spun around and raised his spectral arm against the akari, it delayed very little as it shred just like everything else in front of that technique. Using his other arm he leaned the bladestaff against the ground and vaulted to the side. The shredded arm wisped around as no more than ineffectual smoke. Blood from earlier wounds ran down Zios' face and touched his mouth. He spat some to the side and grunted as he spun the bladestaff through the air and whipped it around toward Zelriane's back. "Death is a cheap escape and I've barely started."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zios was blasted back, interrupting the black hole's growth as it dissipated in a cloud of purple matter drifting with the direction of the explosion. Zios used his spectral claw to rake against the ground and stop himself from being blown any further back. He had managed to shield the majority of his body in that instant but his right arm was burnt. He flexed it and blood welled in the cracks between his fingers. His face and left shoulder had singed gashes from where the sudden shield failed to fully block the explosion. He glared furiously at Zelriane.

"Each move a check on the board." He swiftly pointed down with his spectral arm and the intact parts of the shield around them plunged a barrage of ribbon-like energy at Zelriane in the form of spikes. He brought his right hand up and the fallen staff jolted off the ground to him. He spun it in front of him causing each side to spread out into bladed tips. He centered it in both hands in front of himself like a balancing stick a tightrope walker would use and began walking toward Zelriane while the dome barraged him.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zios dropped his arm from the staff and let it fall to the floor. He snapped his hand down, just barely catching Zelriane's forearm before the speedster made contact with Zios' abdomen. The grave expression on Zios' face said it all. Zelriane had nearly landed a death stroke. Every movement from here on out would be dancing around the edge of oblivion. All Zelriane needed to do next was use his withheld hand to strike with and this fight would end.

The constellation of stars in Zios' eyes flared up. "The intensity!" Translucent purple energy ruptured out of his left shoulder. Even as the energy bled outward it gained form as a clawed appendage. The familiar color and form lent it an air of how Geode's spectral form appeared. Motes of dark purple energy collected at the claw as he brought it forward. "Allow me to reciprocate your enthusiasm." The dark orb growing in his claws pulled at an increasingly alarming rate.

"Black Hole!"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zios brought the staff up, gripping it tightly and holding it along the length of his forearm. The way he moved was graceful and completely alien to the methods Oz had used. He took a deliberate step back and thrust the staff forward at the incoming Zelriane. It carried excessive force behind it which meant that despite being a blunt weapon it still had enough concentrated energy to impale someone.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zios projected a prismatic, multi-faceted shield around himself. The explosions swarmed around him as Zelriane did his pass but failed to inflict any damage against the shield. Being well aware of what Zel's light techniques were capable of, Zios pushed himself aside and slid around in a semi-circle to face the speedster again.

Killing Zelriane was quite viable at this point - assuming he could land a direct hit. Opening himself to an attack to draw the man in would likely work. A feint like that usually did work against Zelriane but it also put Zios at risk of another severe injury or death. Trading lives or damage was out of the question. That being said he would need to outsmart the man.

A glowing staff materialized in Zios' hand. He held it straight up-and-down behind his back and stood tall. It was a defensive posture any way you looked at it. How was he going to wield a staff properly with one hand?

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Boreas drew back on his bow once more and fired an arrow of energy at where Zios intended to be in a scant moment. "I thought you would know that we're all pieces in someone else's game. I have understood it as a game from the start. You underestimate how serious I am." Zios slid to the side using his power to push himself out of the way faster than it took for his electric nerve signals to reach his legs. He batted his hand through the air, deflecting the shot from Boreas at an angle so it would zip right back toward Zelriane. Zios kept sliding back like he were skating, trying to keep out of reach of Zelriane.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Zios saw both Zelriane's strength and weakness in that moment. "Impressive. I was hoping to see more from you. Have any more techniques?" The speedster was vulnerable when he needed to touch his opponent to use his deadly Paji. Whether he was vulnerable or not his skill would still make short work of his enemy. Such a predicament only made Zios crave more knowledge from this old adversary. "I have more. Volume is however becoming redundant. You are worthy of a greater challenge than these can offer." The noise of grinding was heard from where the hoof beats were moments before. "The challenge you deserve shall be met." The wall shattered like glass from the creature that charged through from the other side. It looked like a horse with silver, reflective fur and a purple crystal growing far out of its head. Arcs of lightning arced between the prongs of crystal. It rushed headlong after Zelriane, intent on impaling him.

Zios stepped into the opening left behind by the pseudo-unicorn. He had the horse between him and Zelriane to offer a superior distraction. Raising his hand straight after his creation he chanted. "Neo Ultima!" The triangle of symbols appeared before his hand in an instant as he shot the beam straight through the pseudo-unicorn toward the speedster.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The kick that slammed into Boreas arched his neck hard to the side. He managed to keep on his feet and shielded himself with his right arm. As the smoke cleared that arm was nowhere to be seen. Boreas' armor was blown apart in places. Like Fotia, his element of mist bled out of open wounds. Wind funneled around where his arm had been, providing a barely visible swirling limb.

"Strength is relative. Everything can die, even gods." A shimmer of light shifted around the outside of the barrier. Zelriane would definitely notice the movement. What sounded like the beating of hooves hammered in a semi-circle around the outside before pausing on one end. Fotia swept her blade across the ground, laying out a low sweeping wall of fire that sped across the floor. Boreas held his bow sideways and drew three arrows through it, launching the wind arrows in a spread through the middle of the room in anticipation of Zelriane jumping. The hooves ground heavily against the stone just outside as whatever it was anticipated entering. "This world is full of anomalies. Exciting things are happening. Jenso will prove stronger than me. Stronger than you. He will beat Yzeira. I know it." Zios prophesied confidently.