Prodigal Son

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya grunted in exhaustion and anger. The spell she had just cast wasn't her most powerful spell, but at the current level of mana she was drained to, it was the most powerful spell she could use and she at least expected some results. Soon after Stockton negated her spell with his own, she felt a powerful burst of mana behind her. She turned around to see a naked Zuri in what looked to be a black manaegis, it might have been a different spell than the manaegis, but it held some stark similarities compared to Felix's own suit of magical armor, the only differences being that it looked more sparse than Felix's full-body armor. Soon after she assumed her form, she also conjured up a cloak to cover her new armor, which made Raiya cock an eyebrow at but didn't say anything. 'Well, it seems like they do have a plan after all. That's a bit of a relief,' Raiya considered, 'I'm not sure what they are planning, but I would suppose these teammates of mine will be looking for some sort of opening, I better not keep them waiting then.'

Raiya was now down to a little less than a quarter of her total manapool, at the current rate of descent, she would only have ten more minutes in her God Slayer form, even less if she was casting spells. Raiya was angry at not figuring out her enemy's tactic sooner. Her current form specialized in defense against offensive spells, while it did provide her with an offensive boost, the idea behind her form was one of a form that could negate miracles and curses to slay gods and demons. The only spell that she had that could truly stop Stockton was her most powerful one, the 8th head of Yamata no Orochi, a spacial spell that traps the user and the enemy inside an aether spacial field that prevents all magic from being cast. With Raiya's combat ability, most enemy's would die within that space, but it was not something she could use on a whim. It would wipe her entire manapool out in a single cast, leaving her absolutely defenseless against a strong foe and it only lasted fifteen minutes, as soon as it ran out, Raiya would be too exhausted to continue a battle against a tenacious foe. She had the perfect tool to end this nuisance, but she had no way of knowing that this was the perfect fight to use it in. Now it was too late.

Raiya had a decision to make, to act fast and create an opening in her current form, betting everything on the plan of her teammates, or drop her current form and conserve her mana for a longer battle. She decided the former was her best shot. She dropped her sword, and stretched out her fists, whispering, "Izanami no Ken," as she channeled her mana to her hands. A white ball-like glow surrounded her fists, empowering them with spell-shredding capabilities as well as concussive kinetic shockwaves that would emanated throughout whatever she struck. After she empowered herself, she used another blink technique to quickly get behind Stockton. She took an offensive stance known as the horse-stance in gungfu, and as she threw out a quick snap-punch, she twisted her body to give it extra leverage and strength. The punch wasn't enough to kill someone with a barrier, but certainly enough to disorient them and wind them for a short time.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya saw the hammer and immediately blinked upwards, the hammer flying harmlessly under her. It wasn't until Raiya continued to watch the trajectory of the hammer that she realized the hammer's true target was Travis and Zuri. Raiya gasped, the hammer would cause an immense amount of damage even if it missed and hit near them. Raiya had to act fast; she dropped her sword into her inventory in an instant, and blinked right in front of Travis and Zuri as the hammer drew very close to slamming into the group. "IZANAMI NO HOGO!" Raiya shouted as she ejected her hand forward, she pumped twice the amount of mana into the spell than before, creating a stronger version of the runic circle shield. It's not enough! Raiya thought as she exerted herself, the hammer stopping at the shield. It was dissipating much slower than the other spells she stopped before, the shredding effect of her shield was not efficient at dealing with manaegis.

Manaegis was a solid dense form of spell, having physical properties while being made entirely from raw mana. The density was too great for Izanami no Hogo to shred through without expending an immense amount of mana that Raiya couldn't afford to expend. She grunted under the force of the hammer being pushed upon her spell, her feet slid back on the stony ground as she was pushed back. I've got to do something fast before I burn up most of my remaining mana Raiya's mind raced. She had a risky idea but it would take some finesse. Raiya dropped her Izanami no Hogo, and instantly the hammer resumed its initial trajectory. Raiya would surely be struck point blank if she didn't react within that second, immediately she flicked her wrists opening up a large portal in front of her which swallowed the hammer. She didn't have time to think too hard about where to place the other side of the portal which ended up being created above them faced upwards. The hammer smashed into the ceiling raining chunks of debris upon them. Raiya activated a white physical dome barrier around the group, which held up against the raining chunks of rock. After about 15 seconds the rocky precipitation ceased allowing Raiya to drop her barrier.

Raiya turned back to the other two, "Sorry about that, I didn't have enough time to think about where I would put the hammer after I opened the portal." Raiya felt her mana quickly falling below the halfway point, "I hope you guys have come up with some sort of plan, because I don't have much more time left in this fight. This bastard is tougher than I thought." With those last words, she turned back to engage her enemy once more.

"Enough is enough, I am going to show you why they call me the Dragon of the Yakuza." Raiya planted her feat squarely on the ground and crouched into a stance, her face stern and convicted. She began to channel her mana into her right arm, her white aura filled the flame colored tattoo of her right arm. She held out her right hand in front of her and exclaimed, "Yamata no Orochi ittō! (The first head of Yamata no Orochi)" Immediately after she released the spell, an immensely hot flame in the shape of a massive sleek snake burst forth from her arm. It was slightly larger in width than Raiya's body and was about fourty feet long. Its trajectory was hard to read as it weaved its way through the air but it was becoming increasingly clear that Raiya was controlling its movements through the air. There was no dodging away from this spell, and the flames were hot enough to melt through reinforced steel. Even as it passed over the rock below it, it melted a path, leaving a molten trail as it found its way to its target. It was moving fast and coming straight at Stockton at about twenty feet per second. Even if he dodged, Raiya could change the path of the spell in a moment's notice.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya used her Izanami no Hogo to block the mana bolt, but as she landed she was met with a shock wave that pushed her back 10 feet, rubble shrapnel scraped her skin as she was pushed back but she remained standing. A few trickles of blood came out of cuts on her arms and from her forehead but these wounds were quickly sealed up by her empowered form's healing factor A manaegis with real weight? How is that possible? Manaegis is supposed to be close to weightless. Unless... Is he using gravity magic in tandem with the manaegis to give it weight?"

Raiya couldn't afford to focus on her teammates in this fast paced battle. She quickly threw out two softball sized white manabolts that zipped through the air with a sound of rapid vibrating like an electric razor. The bolts were made of the same type of spell that the Izanami no Hogo was made from, they shredded other magical spells and would cut through most barriers as well as pierce flesh and were headed straight for the right arm and leg of Stockton. She flicked her left wrist towards the ground, opening up a white portal a little larger than the bolts she just fired and then fired a third into the portal. The portal was connected to the wall just behind Stockton and would pierce through the small of his back.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Hmph, a flash of mana energy as a flash bang. That would not only disorient eyesight but temporarily disorient inexperienced and sensitive manalysis users as well, interesting. Raiya thought as she rebounded from the force of colliding with her opponent's shield. While she hung in midair, her opponent quickly joined her, quickly blinking in and following up with a short ranged concussive attack. None of this was a surprise to Raiya, though, as she had been tracking her enemy easily this entire time without eyesight. Her enhanced senses allowed her to not just hear, but also smell her enemy's location and proximity. Raiya quickly extended her right hand out to her side, using her own small magic concussive blast to launch her out of the way of Stockton's attack. This sent her in a bit of a spin that might have been disorienting for others but not her, she used the spinning of her body to launch into another attack, an iaijutsu slash charged with a bit of mana for extra cutting power. The attack was on course to connect with Stockton's left shoulder, and would split him diagonally if he did not dodge. Raiya also charged up an aura around her body which she was ready to disperse into a doppelganger illusion just as she did in the fight with Dawn and Dominick before. If Stockton dodged, she was ready to use her blink technique at the very moment she released her clone, she would blink behind Stockton while Stockton would be focused on the mana outline she left behind and follow up with another Hachimantai no Yamata no Orochi to her unsuspecting enemy.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

@ShiningSector we are waiting on a post from you, friend.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya wasted no time debating what she would do against the attack, it was clear that she would need a barrier to deal with that blast, as someone who delt almost exclusively in destruction magic, she didn't have many barriers that would withhold an attack like that. She knew what she had to do, normally she would save her ultimate form until she had been dwindled down to a last resort, but she was angry, and she wanted to end this as soon as possible. With her manawaves still at full throttle fulling the room with an intense pressure, she shouted her incantation to enter her iruzumi God form, "ŌKAMI WO NATTE IRU!" Within an instant her tattoos began to release a pink electrical glow. Because of the outfit she had modified earlier, the low-cut tanktop with a fishnet undershirt, her allies could see the bottom portion of her back iruzumi tattoo which were snake scales drawn in black ink, as well as her two sleeve snake tattoos (her right arm covered in a flame red snake and her left in a black snake). This pink electrical glow rapidly changed to a white electrical glow as startlingly as her aura transformed from pure electricity aspect to aether aspect. Her hair also changed colors from the tips of the roots downwards to stark white. Finally her left eye which was blue changed to look exactly like her right eye, a yellow eye with a slit pupil. Anyone with any shred of thaumaturgical knowledge that was keeping an eye on her aura would be awestruck. Her runic tattoo seemed to have given her the ability to temporarily switch her aura's aspect. Not just that, but her reflexes, physical strength, and senses were all sharply enhanced as well. This was Raiya's God Slayer form.

With the change in Raiya's aura aspect, she was now able to perform the best barrier spell she knew how to use. There weren't many lightning aspected barrier spells, the few their were had to do with electromagnetism and would not stop a magical spell. This meant that Raiya, when learning the basics, had to go outside of her aspect to learn barrier spells, which unfortunately meant that these spells cost her too much mana to spend on a barrier in an actual fight. Fortunately for her, though, one of the best barriers in existence was an aether aspected barrier, which meant she now could easily block the oncoming blast. Raiya held her right hand out at the now massive blast just a few feet in front of them and shouted, "Izanami no hogo (Izanami's protection)!" Immediately a vast white runic circle about the size of the blast constructed it self around where Raiya held her hand out. As the blast came into contact with her runic circle, it began to shrink and dissipate, particles of blue mana shredded off of the blast as it was being dissipated, the surrounding air filled with harmless deconstructed raw mana now completely disconnected from the user.

Raiya looked back at Zuri, "Let me handle this, I cant guarantee your safeties if you two get involved," Her voice now had an oddly calming soothing effect to it, mostly due to the aether aspected aura her body was letting off now. "I can only maintain this form for so long, it passively drains my mana pool, so I will need you both to formulate a back up plan in the event that I do not end our enemy before my pool runs dry." Raiya explained. Raiya then held out her left arm from her side, summoning her sheathed blade. She then took an offensive stance toward Stockton, and in an instant she was gone from where she was standing. This wasn't any normal speed enhancement like the one she normally used, this was full on close proximity instant teleportation, known as the blink technique in the Catholic Arcanocracy. In an instant she had jumped from her position right next to her allies, to a position slightly in front of and above Stockton. She slashed downwards as she fell using all her strength and the force of gravity, channeling mana into her sword she shouted, "Hachimantai no Yamata no Orochi! (Eight strikes of Yamata no Orochi)" As her blade came down seven more blades of mana light radiated out from her blade creating an almost inescapable range of immediate effect. The mana blades were highly dense and intensely sharp most barriers would not withstand the force of precision.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Every word that left the lips of Father Stockton amassed anger within Raiya's heart. There was a time that she once believed every word that Stockton was speaking, which is why her anger was being kindled to such a degree. He was touching on feelings within her own heart that she had long since discarded, reawakening her resentment. If this were happening a year or two ago, his provocations would have succeeded in bringing forth all her emotions, but she had spent years mulling over what she felt, years cultivating and amassing evidence to support her theories, and she was now ready to lay them all out. Raiya straightened her posture and dropped her sword back into her inventory, a gesture of diplomacy rather than contempt. She wanted to put this member of her most hated organization on trial, and she felt that this was the best time to do it.

"It's funny you bring these things up, because I actually wanted to discuss a bit of them," Raiya pursed her lips and brought her right forefinger up to her chin, "First, I would like to straighten out your intel on me. If you think I simply spent all my time gallivanting with the yakuza and wallowing in the sorrow of being discarded from my adoptive family organization, you'd be wrong." Raiya began pacing back and forth, her sides facing her enemy as she paced, "I sure did hold a large amount of resentment for everything I have been through, especially to individuals such as Felix. I would be lying if I still didn't feel the burn of betrayal from how Felix discarded me like the rest of you." She stopped pacing and faced her enemy, "But I also spent a lot of my time looking for my parents killers, sleuthing for information, putting together theories. And no matter what theory I conceive, there is still one constant." She pointed her right forefinger out at Stockton, "The catholic arcanocracy." Her eyes narrowed as she began to formulate her hypothesis, "After picking through profiles of who my parents were, delving into records and archives for every shred of information that was on the books, the one thing that jumped out at me was motive. Who could have gained the most from my parents' death? They weren't magi aristocrats, they held no political sway as far as I could tell. But what they did have, was a daughter, a daughter with a massive... what was that word you used again?" She paused for a brief moment, "Potential?" She smirked as she let that word hang in the air, "Now I can't prove anything, this is all vigilante justice for me anyway. I honestly do not even care if you or the arcanocracy you represent had any hand to play in my parents murder. The fact of the matter is that I had decided long ago, as soon as I was excommunicated that I would bring down your organization. It was your organization that held our hearts captive, it was all those politics, the promise of power, the sunk-costs that kept Felix on your side. The truth is, your very presence pisses me off. From the very moment I was tossed out my anger was kindled, and a bit of it was towards Felix, a bit of it was towards God, but the brunt of my anger..." Her brow furrowed as she paused, "THE BRUNT OF MY ANGER WAS KINDLED TOWARDS YOU! TOWARDS THE ORGANIZATION YOU REPRESENT!" She yelled in contempt, her mana burst forth from her well as her anger rose, a massive rush of pressure escaped her body and filled the room with surging winds, the full glory of her manawell was on display. "I HAVE SPENT MOST OF MY RESOURCES SINCE THEN FINDING OUT HOW I COULD BRING YOU ALL DOWN, MY NEW TECHNIQUES, MY TRAINING, MY LIFE HAS BEEN DEVOTED TO TWO THINGS: FINDING MY PARENTS KILLER AND ENDING YOU!" Her voice was being enhanced by the mana she was surrounded by, the conviction of her rage was clear. Her offer for him to leave was a lie, she was never planning to let him leave this chamber alive. Raiya was ready to prove her convictions.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

The room the group entered was much more elaborate and intact than the previous bottomless corridor they had traversed. It was becoming exceedingly apparent that the layout of the palace they entered was intentionally intricate. The bottomless corridor as well as the sprung arrow trap they had passed was certainly to keep the incompetent out, only allowing for those who either knew about the traps or were proficient enough to surpass them to enter. It was clear that wide runic door in front of them was the piece de resistance of the counter measures installed within the compound. 'If I had to make a guess, beyond that door lies the paragon, which means that this door and Father Stockton is our final hurdle.' Raiya thought.

With his back turned toward the group, Raiya was certain that he knew they were there and that Stockton was confident in his abilities. When he spoke, Raiya immediately summoned her sword, scabbard and all. Her right hand on the handle and her left hand on the scabbard, she took a defensive stance. "Now, Father, in my time within the Vatican, I had only seen you and heard of you in passing so I don't know much about you, but I am certain you know everything there is to know about me," Raiya cut to the quick, "So let's not beat around the bush here, you know full well what we are here for, and at least what I was capable of. I am much more powerful now than I ever was," Raiya stated confidently, "I will give you one chance to leave here and go back to the Vatican or I will end your story here." Her eyes narrowed and her muscles tensed as she empowered her body with an aura of mana, ready to cast her speed enhancement spell.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya let out a huge sigh of relief, "Good. For a second there, I thought I was going to have to throw each one of you across with a concussive blast of destruction magic. I was even thinking about using this one earth spell I know to throw you across on a boulder. I mean, it probably would have been fun for me, but I doubt it would have ended with a healthy result." She joked, "You would have ended up like that raccoon I hit while riding my motorcycle those one times, and all those cats too. What? If an animal is dumb enough to be hanging out on a road, it's fair game." Raiya said with a bit of levity. "Anyway, go on ahead and do what you need to do. Let me go across first and then you cast your spell. I'll wait for you on the other side." Raiya replied.

Quite adeptly, Raiya began to hop from one column to another, her movements swift and calculated. Within a few seconds she was on the other side awaiting her teammates.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Raiya looked out over the abyss, certainly it would seem that the only path forward for the group were the pillars interspersed in front of them. Raiya was perfectly confident in her own ability to make it across, I could hop across this in my sleep, however, the rest of the team is not quite as agile as me and I can't just leave them behind... What to do... Raiya pondered as she looked out at the pillars and back towards her motley crew.

"Well, I must admit I am a bit stumped here," Raiya spoke out, breaking the silence, "I know I can easily make it across by myself, but I am quite doubtful that the rest of you can make it safely across," She expressed her concern. "If I had specialized in creation magic instead of destruction magic, I could easily cast a spell to form a bridge for everyone, but there is no use dwelling on that now I suppose." Raiya thought out loud. "Yeah, I got nothing. Any of you have any ideas?" Raiya asked Travis and Zuri.