|
|
|
"I'm not dealing with your bullsh!t right now." This article, What the Friends Brought About, is the sole property of GuyCivic, and cannot be mentioned, used or edited without permission, unless you are part of a collaborative work. Please don't touch. |
Time flies by faster than one can comprehend sometimes, Nero Atosaki had just come back after having another photoshoot over at Crocus for Magick Monthly and he was just about to open the doors to the Guildhall. But as he reached out for the door handle, someone else opened it from the other side. It was a raven-haired girl that he had never seen before, probably a new member, who quickly made a small jump when she almost walked into the man that had just arrived. She apologizing quickly and held the door open for Nero as he walked inside, the Phoenix Slayer giving her a slight nod as a way to say "thank you" before continuing inside the building. Once inside he removed his hat and took a look around, it had been two months since Stellara Nocte was officially formed by their Guild Master Gai Diyos and a lot had happened during this time. Plenty of members had already come and gone, the guild had been accepted into the Toveri Alliance and, surprisingly, even a fair amount of well-paid jobs was up for the taking. But despite all of this progress, there was still something that was bothering Nero and he wanted to discuss it with his Guild Master. He made his way up to the top level and knocked on Gai's office before making his way inside. It would appear that he was interrupting something as the Guild Advisor was currently in the middle of lecturing their Guild Master about the importance of sleep as he had apparently fallen asleep during his last meeting with the Toveri Alliance. "Am I interrupting something? I could come back later." Jin had given up and simply made his way out of the office. "I guess not."
Gai was sitting patiently in his chair, his face unchanged from Jin's scolding. He politely sat upright with both his hands on his lap, feet put together in front of him. There was something strange about Gai, this wasn't his usual behaviour especially after being told off by his grand guild advisor. He continued to stare at Nero unwavering as a single sweat tricked down from his scalp down the side of his face. An awkward silence filled the room as both the guild master and guild mage looked at each other in confusion.
This kept on until it had reached about a minutes time, Nero finally breaking the silence by opening his arms to both sides as he asked his Guild Master: "What? Did I miss some kind of announcement or do I have something on my face?" Nero proceeded to look down on his suit if he had gotten dirty along the road, as he couldn't see anything he looked back up towards Gai. "I know that I wasn't on a guild job but I was expecting at least a "Welcome back" y'know. C'mon, talk with me here."
Gai lifted himself from the chair and bowed to Nero, furthering the confusion of the White Phoenix Slayer. Never had Gai ever shown some sort of respect like that before, so something very strange was up with this 'guildmaster'. "WELCOME BACK NERO!" a voice shouted from behind the door to the office before it was kicked open. Another Gai stood in the doorframe, clothed in his usual attire with a distinct smell of alcohol drifting from his position. The Gai who was sitting in the chair began to sweat nervously, his hand slightly shaking as a drunken Gai began to make his way into the room to Nero. "I honestly don't get enough for my job..." The nervous Gai whispered in his voice before the ring on his left middle finger glowed. His body began to vanish from Nero's eyes and soon all present life that was left in the room was the Phoenix Slayer and the drunken Spirit Slayer.
Nero stood bewildered for what seemed to be an eternity. He knew that he wasn't dreaming, he couldn't get drunk so it wasn't his eyes playing tricks and illusions don't work either on him. He opened his mouth as he if was about to say something before closing it again. Pointing towards the chair and then towards the door, and then back again before finally looking at the drunken man called a Guild Master. "I.. What.." He stopped for a moment again just to process everything. "Care to explain that?"
The drunken Gai burst into a short laugh before slapping his gut, "Of course I will, you've got to meet my new friend here." Gai said as he slammed the door behind him. A small eek could be heard next to Gai as the guild master reached and grabbed the thin air in front of him, "Nero. I'd like you to meet Atwell, my personal assistant". The Gai copy emerged from his invisibility right into Gai's outstretched hand, turning slightly to sort of face Nero with a weak smile. "Hello..." Atwell greeted Nero who was in the corner of his eye.
Still looking oddly at the pair for a moment before nodding towards Atwell "Eh, yeah, hey. Nice to.. is thus the first time we've met?" Looking back at Gai and trying to get back on the reason for why he came up here: "First things first, I never thought you'd have a twin Dai. Secondly, we need to talk about something that has been bugging me." Before letting Gai get the chance to respond, Nero reached out to reach grab his shoulder and lead him to his chair, once there he put down the daily newspaper. "Did you know that the newspapers often talk about the big and popular guilds, do you see anything about us here? No, you won't find anything, I've checked." Nero suddenly drops down to all four as desperation had taken hold of him. "We haven't been mentioned since the guild joined Toveri, it's cruel." Quickly making his way up again and slamming his hands onto the counter: "Please Bai, sign us up for the next Grand Magic Games. It would surely make the public notice us." This was the first time that Nero actually begged Gai for something, even if he still couldn't get his Guild Masters name right.
Gai crossed his arms as he let Atwell go, smirking at the idea of joining the Grand Magic Games. "What do you mean we were never on the newspaper? Of course, we've been on there, I mean haven't you seen the issue three weeks ago about the time Autumn was able to take down a robbery on that flying cruise ship?" Gai reasoned out smiling. "Oh yeah, she did take out the robbery as well as the cruise ship itself in the process..." Atwell mumbled. Gai walked up to Nero still crossing his arms, the smell of alcohol getting stronger with every step closer he took. "Besides, we don't really need the Grand Magic Games to get more attention from the public. So many dark guilds are out there are doing it right now. The Grand Magic Games are nothing but an excuse to boost a guild's ego and reputation. And why would we need to be popular? We'd get attacked if we were to be more known to this human world..."
"Yes, Autumn was in the newspaper. But you forget that they never once mentioned that she was part of this Guild!" Seeing as the chance for popularity wasn't working for Gai, Nero knew that he'd have to say something that could potentially get his Guild Master's attention. "Did I hear that right? You don't think we can do it?" A smirk forming on his lips as he put his hands up as if giving up a fight. "Fine, fine. I'll just go ahead and tell everyone about how much faith our drunk master has for us and that's he's afraid of a little popularity." Turning around and making his way towards the door.
"Nero..." Gai sighed with a warning tone, his hand ready to strike at Nero if he continued to make his way past the door. A black flaring arrow forming in his left hand as he signalled to Atwell to stay away from whatever the guild master was going to do next. "Fine. Alright, I get it. Here's a deal, how about if you win then we can enter the Grand Magic Games for the sake of the 'popularity' of the guild. If I win, however, then we do whatever I say and you have to get me a drink. Sound fair?" Gai tried to reason as Atwell ran out the door and down the hall.
Nero stopped in his tracks and let Atwell run passed him as Gai was giving his proposal. The killing intent felt to be almost radiating from across the room, gnawing at the back of his neck. Before giving him a straight answer, Nero had to think. Do I run ahead and turn back around as he comes after me and to get a cheap shot in or go straight to it... He finally turned around and made eye contact with the man, seeing him sitting there with the black arrow in hand. "Sounds pretty good t-..." He cut himself off as he pulled up his hand, formed as if pointing a handgun he began to fire: "White Phoenix’s Radiating Bullet!"
The bullets speeding towards Gai's direction, Gai quickly slammed the arrow into the ground underneath him. Destroying the floor beneath his body, Gai dropped down to the ground floor of the building as he narrowly escaped Nero's light attack. Gai was able to land on his two feet despite being under the influence of alcohol, though did lose his balance for a few seconds before regaining a sense of where he is. Keeping track of Nero's location on the upper floor, Gai once again threw his hand back to form another black flaring arrow. With a smile on his face and his heart racing, Gai threw the same arm and arrow forward, his Abyssal Arrow came tearing through the ground right at its target without hesitation.
An ordinary Mage would certainly be having issues comprehending how accurate someone like Gai can actually be in a situation like this, Nero is indeed blocked out of sight but not out a Slayers reach of sound and smell. Both of these individuals have their very bodies modified due to the Slayer Magics that they possess, tracking someone like this isn't a hard feat. Hearing that something was on its way towards him, Nero simply had to take a chance and hope that it wasn't a spell that covered a large area. Leaping forward, the arrow comes through the floor from where he once stood and takes much of the remaining level, and Nero, down to the second floor. While being in a leap of faith, Nero spots Gai and realizes he has to make a move or he'd be a flying duck waiting to get shot. He takes a deep breath before unleashing a White Phoenix's Screech towards Gai's position. Most of the guild members haven't realized the situation yet and would appear to be rather oblivious to it, could be the new members.
Feeling the magic rush towards him, Gai embraced the attack by facing it and flicking his wrist towards the laser. As soon as Nero's attack had hit Gai's wrist, it immediately deflected to the side of the Spirit Slayer, destroying one of the walls of the room that Gai was in. However, due to the strength of the attack and the pace that it came by, Gai, in turn, was pushed back with his feet buried deeper into the ground. A manoeuvre using Immune Touch would seriously need more time to prepare for such a strong attack. Sniffing faintly, Gai tried to concentrate on both Nero and his next move of attack. Using the shadows beneath him, Gai quickly summoned Vile Black Tempest beneath his position in order to gain some height. As the tornado formed under him he could see Nero just reaching the ground before shooting right into the air and straight into the roof of the guild hall. Moving through the floor-less office and breaking through the ceiling, Gai quickly landed on top of the building for a breath of fresh air from the fight as he needed to plan his next moves carefully with Nero.
"Really? We're already playing the cat and mouse game now?" Nero sighs as he takes a moment to look around, they'd ended up in the main hall leading to the apartments that plenty of the guild's mages resided in, including a room for himself. Interested to see which one had been caught in the crossfire, Nero peeked inside the room that had just been hit by his White Phoenix's Screech, seeing an abnormal amount of pink shades in every corner of the room, Nero knew exactly whose room this was. "Ouch... she is not gonna like that." Luckily for Nero though, this particular room was one of the few in this building that had access to a balcony, walking through the mess and rumble, Nero went ahead and opened the door and took a few steps back. Taking a moment to create a pair of wings by casting White Phoenix's Solidification: Archangel, Nero ran towards the balcony, jumped outside and began falling downwards towards the green grass below. Using the gust of wind, and his wings to manipulate his abilities as a Phoenix Slayer, Nero plummeted down before manoeuvring himself upwards again, finally reaching for the skies and flying high above the building itself. Seeing Gai down there on the rooftop, Nero simply waved his hand towards him.
Carefully watching Nero, Gai smiled back at his wave as he begun to slowly walk to Nero's direction. "Wow, you know what? White does look pretty good on you now that I can really see it. But I guess I still stand that black looks better." Gai announced. Shaping both his hands into finger guns, Gai aimed directly at Nero in mid-air before firing several shots of Spirit Eater at the flying Slayer. There was little to no words that Gai had for the situation, words wouldn't help him prevail from the fight so easily.
Seeing the magical bullets reaching towards him at a rapid pace, the distance between them and his superior eyesight made it quite easy to spot and manoeuvre around the incoming attack. He could feel his blood pumping as he was finally having a fight for once, he enjoyed the easy life but these moments are always a good distraction. As Nero was making his way through the skies, he deliberately positioned himself so that the sun would be behind him and Gai in front of him, being as far up and away from Gai as to make the sun appear to cover his whole body in that blinding light. Hoping that this would be enough of a distraction and that the sun would keep him blinded, Nero started to cast White Phoenix's Holy Path and once it reached his opponent, he appeared on the other end and struck out with a White Phoenix’s Talon in a diagonal movement, aiming upwards and towards his head.
Knocking and turning him backwards, Gai could feel the abrupt force of Nero's kick colliding with his head. Stumbling, his head began to pound due to the mix of alcohol influence and cranial damage, somehow still able to laugh it off as if it was nothing to him. Quickly turning his body around in order to face Nero, Gai activated his Gluttony mode which drew in an aura that blazed around him. "I'll probably need all this magic, just trust me on this..." Gai cautioned as he stretched both arms outwards to the sides to the forests that surrounded the guild hall. In just a matter of seconds, groups black tentacles shot out of the shadows of the trees right at from either side of Nero's position, cutting through the air as if it was nothing with the intent to strike down. As the tentacles reached the guild hall they continued to strike through, smashing through the walls and emerging through the roof to tower over the White Phoenix Slayer. Gai who watched Nero from a safe distance then clicked his fingers as the tentacles immediately descended down onto Nero without warning.
Nero was happy about the fact that he landed the first real hit so far, but he couldn't help to feel a little uneasy about his situation. He had to move quickly and the first thing that was noticeable to him was that the ground beneath him had become severely damaged and unstable because of the surrounding tentacles. Seeing this as his only way out, he stomped the ground beneath him, causing it to break and him falling with it. As the wings were still active and to the fact that he had received the necessary pocket of air, Nero attempted to make a dive and then glide away from the tentacles. But the tentacles was descending faster than his body was diving, causing two of the tentacles to hit one of Nero's legs as he was trying to glide away, resulting in him going through the second level and down to the first floor. The damage was severe and his leg was broken due to the force and lack of defence. Cursing under his breath, Nero's eyes were hazy at first before he got a clear view of his surrounding. Most of the guild members had already left the building, with only a few remaining. Nero knew that the fight wasn't over so he started to move, only to feel the damage made to his leg surging throughout his body. "Really Cai? You son of a gun.." He had no choice but to focus his magical energies and regenerative abilities on his leg, healing it enough so that he can walk again. Given a few moments, the leg will be as good as new. Finally able to stand up, Nero yelled out towards the rest of the guild members: "Get out, this isn't safe for anyone at the moment, let me handle this."
As the guild members started to make their way out of the vicinity, Gai would emerge from one of the shadows nearby after having made his way into the building and hiding within the shadows to see if Nero was done. "Oh come on now, we had an audience here Nero." he sighed in disappointment, clicking his fingers once again to signal the Black Tentacles their next attack. Just as before, the tentacles followed their commands without hesitation and pulled themselves from the building, leaving several holes of where they broke through and severely weakening the structure of the guild hall. Smiling, Gai looked at Nero with pure delight, "Now let's see how fast you can escape a building twinkle toes". Outstretching his arms to the sides and tilting his body on an angle, Gai's arms transformed into sharp black blades that extended outwards right into the walls of the room and to the outside. His Black Spirit Reaching Blade tore through the brick walls as if they were butter, it was clear that Gai was planning to take Nero and the building down at the same time. With one quick spin of his body, Gai was able to slice in a clockwise direction as his left blade sliced through the wall and right towards Nero whilst the right blade made its way in the other direction.
"Twinkle toes, wow, that's a new one." Gai's attack was coming fast, so Nero had to time his actions perfectly or he'd lose more than just his room on the second floor. He chose not to continue healing his leg completely as he was going to need both it and his head when for he's getting out of there. When the first blade came, his body gave off a bright white light, activating his Holy Body, as the attack simply swept through him like it wasn't even there to begin with. Nero has started to move away from Gai when the second one was closing in shortly after, forcing him to dodge the incoming attack by moving downwards. While Nero wasn't too keen on making a run for it, he knew that Gai was seriously intending to collapse the building around them. Hope that alcohol hits you back from spinning around like that. Nero didn't have eyes behind his neck, instead, he had to rely on his other senses for anything that'd come after him next. All he knew was that for the time being, he needed to get out of this building and fast, he was regretting that he didn't activate White Rise before the fight, life would be so simple.
Retracting his blades so that he may use his normal hands again, Gai stumbled about dizzy from the alcohol. Laughing loudly, the building around Gai and Nero started to rumble as the walls began to slide. The supports soon gave way and the guild hall's ceiling came falling down, raining down upon the two Slayers. Looking right at Nero's direction, Gai sluggishly saluted before dropping down into the shadows beneath him as chunks of the roof fell unto them, leaving only Nero in the disaster. The walls of the building started to collapse inwards, leaving Nero with several danger points heading his way.
He could hear Gai moving behind him, laughing, but also that his magical energies were disappearing. Sure, just leave me here in the mess you've made! The building was coming down fast, he was getting close to one of the windows that would lead him to outside but he was never gonna make it without a huge chance of him being buried just before leaving the building. Feeling frustrated about his leg and lack of options, Nero took a deep breath, consuming as much of the surrounding light energies as possible before unleashing another White Phoenix's Screech right above him, but this time covering a wider area compared to the usual laser-like screech. From outside, it would appear quite visibly as Nero was destroying large parts of the building above him, creating a hole and a safe-space for himself. When it was finished and the building had finally collapsed, Nero could be seen on the far right side of the building, taking a moment recover his energies. His leg was healed and despite his previous actions, he should be in top-shape in just a few seconds, as is the nature of a phoenix. He couldn't help but boast though: "Hey scaredy pants! Is that all you've got?"
"Oh come on now Nero, I thought by now you'd know that I've got more tricks up my sleeve." A voice corrected from behind the man. Emerging from the shadows of the trees, Gai arose slowly with a smile on his face. "I'll have to say, however, maybe I'll need a few extra hands to take you out," Gai announced as his body began to be consumed in darkness, becoming a silhouette in daylight. A smile could be sensed on Gai's face even though it was black as night, with black arms reaching out from his body, pulling bodies out of Gai's. Exact copies of Gai's black body emerged from his own, one by one falling to the ground and standing back up as they grouped up in front of Gai. "Shadow Clones, time to put the little birdie to sleep," Gai ordered all five of Gai's clones began running towards Nero's position with their first pulled backwards. Utilising Black Spirit Fist all in unison, the clones leapt forward and struck their fists forward in a single strike of power against the White Phoenix Slayer.
Five clones? So now there are six people on this earth that look identical to Jai.. Nero thought to himself when they first appeared, but there was no room for mistakes in this fight as his Guild Master looked as if he was fighting with the intention to kill. Being finally forced to activate White Rise, which causes his entire body to release an aura of white light, and immediately cast White Phoenix's Yang as to avoid the incoming attack and give him a chance to get a jab on Gai. The White Phoenix Slayer would begin to rotate his body and start lifting his left leg just as he was performing the spell, disappearing from the clone's view while just as quickly appearing before Gai, while finishing his rotation and ending up sending a Spinning Back Kick towards him. Should the kick hit its mark, then it'd easily send the man flying.
Gai, however, was not able to process the information in time for him to block Nero's attack, consequently being forced backwards metres from Nero's latest position with great force. His body crashing into the forest behind him, Gai grunted as he laid on the ruined plantation for a moment to catch his breath. "Bloody hell, can't you just go a little easier on me Nero? After all, I'm not in the best shape as of right now." Gai politely asked as he clicked his fingers, signalling the black silhouette clones to turn their heads to Gai and nodding. Lifting himself up, Gai turned over to see his back, feeling a sharp pinch as if he was pricked by pins and needles. "Bloody splinters". As the clones approached Nero, they were sure to surround the Phoenix Slayer with four covering the north, south, west and east sides each and a single clone standing back to make sure Nero doesn't escape. The single clone on the outside held a finger gun aimed right at Nero, ready to fire as soon as Nero left the ground whilst the other clones prepared their move. A moment of silence as a Mexican standoff commenced the clones and Nero, with all four clones starting off by firing weaker versions of Black Spirit Harangue directly at the Nero, coming from all four sides. The combined forces that were moving inward felt intense the closer they got to the single position, with Gai even feeling the strange power from where he landed.
Not wanting to waste more magical energies than necessary or come off as repetitive, Nero refrained himself from using White Phoenix's Yang again in order to escape, he simply had to face whatever was gonna come for him. Which was in this case, not something he was expecting. "Goddamnit!" the White Phoenix Slayer uttered to himself as all he could think of was creating a barrier around himself as to protect himself. When the Black Spirit Harangue's hit its mark, it caused an impressive explosion of dark magic that not only gave away a huge impact but also completely sealed away any sights of the Phoenix Slayer. Once the dust had settled and things became clear, not only had the magic vanished but also Nero himself. While it might look as if he'd become vaporized, he had in fact cast Aórato shortly after the impact and already started making his way towards Gai. The barrier had managed to block out much of the damage but still torn through both it and torn off several parts of his suit while giving Nero a good battering, yet even now minor wounds were beginning to heal themselves. Once within arms-range of the Black Spirit Slayer, Nero revealed himself by casting White Phoenix’s Brilliant Shine and if successful, he would continue by sending another roundhouse kick aimed just below the man's right ear.
Having watched from a distance, Gai saw the disappearance of Nero and continued to dispel his shadow clones in order to preserve magic energy. He was quite annoyed with the man as he was well too familiar with the Phoenix Slayer's regenerative properties. The sudden bright light didn't help as well, Gai quickly blocking his eyes with both arms in the form of an x with each hand sticking out on both sides of his head. Luckily, the balled up fists proved useful in the strained moment that Gai was blinded as his fist was able to absorb most of the impact from Nero's incoming kick, saving the Spirit Slayer from a headache. As the two fighters came into view of one another, Gai smiled behind his crossguard, "D7 Pawn to D5" he grinned. Moving away from Nero, Gai popped his neck by tilting it side to side, showing signs of better control over his body despite the state he was in earlier. "Look at this, seems as though I'm sobering up now kid." Gai laughed as he lifted his leg up only proceeding to slam it into the ground. As soon as his foot touched the dirt, a force of energy violently burst into the solid floor, immediately cracking it under both Nero and Gai, with Gai keeping complete balance as the force uneven the ground.
Nero returned the smile as was just the thing his Guild Master could come up with during a fight. "You do realize that White goes first right?" Notifying Gai's remark about how he's sobered up as he lifted his leg, prompting Nero to make a slight jump as he knew about Gai's raw strength at this point, the ground beneath him shook. "Fine, fine. A2 Horse to C3...You do owe me a new suit though." He followed up by charging at Gai as to engage him in close combat, wanting to take full advantage of his White Drive, and close their distance with yet another kick sweep towards his left side. Should his opponent grab it then he'd follow up by using that as leverage while throwing up his other leg, along with his body, and slam it towards the right side of Gai's face.
"G8 Horse to F6" Gai smiled as he braced for impact, allowing the kick to push Gai to the right with his feet still planted on the ground, making a trail as Gai slid across. "You'll have to try a lot harder than that Nero... The only thing that is just as fast as light is darkness." he smiled before holding both hands out from his body on both sides and forming two black flaring arrows in each hand. Once again using Abyssal Arrows, Gai hurled the arrows directly at Nero as the two flew through the air and over the ground which ducked down from the energies making the projectiles.
"E2 Pawn to E3." He responded just as quickly as he revealed five long, blade-like feathers of white colour growing out of both of his forearm, ruining parts of his suit in the process, before sending out one from each arm to intercept the incoming attack and two new ones growing out in their place. "I guess I must be holding back then, White Rise is estimated multiply my capabilities by a factor of ten... Either that or I really got a long way to go... Nah I must be holding back." Nero smiled as he took off against his opponent, firing off three of his feathers each while doing it, only to follow up by a Light-Infused punch towards him once close enough- making sure to put all of his strength to it.
Gai himself was quick to react, however not in a sense that he knew what was going on. Powering up Black Spirit Fist in response to Nero beginning to move, Gai allowed his body to do what it so wished and struck out with his powered fist at the incoming Nero. Allowing the feathers to tear his clothes and strike his skin, Gai was more focused on attacking Nero rather than think about the damage that he welcomed. As luck would have it, Nero and Gai's fists came into contact, countering each other as a blast of force and magical power rang through the area, making sure to push against the two Slayers before it reached further out. "Holding back? Well if you're going to be like that then, I guess I shouldn't be holding back too I suppose..." He said before leaping backwards, putting quite a bit of distance between the two of them. A hint of confidence flavoured his look as Gai smiled menacingly at Nero, an aura beginning to flare up around him. Black energy being sucked into this shell forming around Gai, right from the forest around, with the source of the element being the shadows produced by the dense trees. "Come on Nero, this is where the battle gets interesting! Let's see what you Phoenix Slayers really got," he called out before the aura got even fiercer. His body was slowly changing, his height was slowly getting taller and his skin was delving into a bluish colour. Black hair sprouted from around parts of his body and his feet curled into hooves. Golden horns protruded out of his head and a flowing black mane covered his neck whilst gold metal formed on his shoulders, decorated with bright jewels and gems. A purple snake slithered from out behind his body, complete with a sentient mind, and claws grew from where Gai's fingernails once were. Gai had decided to bring out his Spirit Force during the battle after Nero's comment, with a booming laugh coming from the minotaur creature, vibrating through the forests around them. "Heh. B8 Horse to D7." He called before roaring again; "Black Spirit's Harangue".
Seeing his Guild Master transform for the first time, Nero's eyes turned wide as the very sight of it was breathtaking, taking the liberty make some more distance between them while he was transforming. Gai had proven himself to a much stronger opponent in terms of raw strength, Nero normally held the upper hand in terms of speed however but in these conditions, Gai would undoubtedly surpass him unless if he powered up so himself up yet again. While part of him was telling him to think rationally and make a run for it, another part of him really wanted to beat Gai. Nero had adopted a fighting stance by the time Gai had finished transforming and it was clear his Harangue came as no surprise, but it came out much wider, stronger and faster than anything he'd previously seen and desperately made his escape using White Phoenix's Yang, going as far as possibly could from the Guild Master, which ended up being on the opposite side the forest, leaving only the remains of the Guild Hall between them. He took a moment to catch his breath, despite his physical condition being top notched at all time due to him being a Phoenix Slayer. Knowing full well that Gai would be able to find him by tracing his magical energies, Nero decided that this would probably his only chance at transformation. Focusing his mind and body as he started to inhale not only the air but also light around him, consuming it to the point that the very surroundings almost seemed to lose some of its light. As he did, his own body didn't undergo such a dramatic change as his Guild Master but still growing feather-like markings on his face while also gaining talon-like nails on his fingers and toes, this power-up made him a appear like a living beacon as while his outward appearance didn't seem to change much, but his atmosphere did. Any traces of shadow or darkness on his side of the forest seemed to have vanished, unable to appear within his presence. Without a moment's waste, Nero would suddenly disappear and then re-appear on top of Gai, hunched down on his great mane as he whispered: "F1 Bishop to B5." Only to disappear once again and standing where the first left off. Nero had shown part of his hand, now he awaited for Gai to reveal his.
Gai was impressed with Nero's transformation and saw that the battle was levelled to a very high standard. "Trying to sneak your bishop? I don't think so. C7 Pawn to C6". Preparing to charge forward with his horns aimed at Nero, Gai sped off directly as his hooves pounded into the ground, causing thunderous vibrations in the dirt to slightly shake the area around them. As he neared Nero however, Gai quickly switched position and mimicked what Nero had done many times earlier within their battle; flowing into a roundhouse kick as soon as he stopped just in front of the white bird. His hoof being lifted and incoming towards Nero's left side, the hoof was raging with energy as shown by the black particles rapidly radiating off, Black Spirit Metal Hoof.
Recognizing the move instantly due to his prowess for martial arts and his heightened state of both speed and reflexes, Nero takes his opportunity to make full advantage of his immunity to any physical attacks in this form and steps forward, getting close enough that only Gai's leg makes contact with Nero, causing it simply slip by as only his foot carried any magical powers. Not stopping there as while the blue bull still had his hoof airborne, it left his other leg completely defenceless and open as Nero pushes himself against his Guild Master with both his arms crossing one another in an X-formation while being infused with Light Magic in order to even make contact, which at this point he's counting on that Gai won't be able to hold his balance. By doing this, Nero follows up by slamming his a White Phoenix’s Talon into the lower back side of Gai's leg and using that to take advantage of Gai's own weight against him in order to make him fall to the ground. Declaring "D1 Queen to F3." just as he finishes, before following up with a White Phoenix’s Scattering, a spell normally made for a wide area but instead focused to aim for the Guild Master's entire body.
Tripping up, Gai felt that his body was falling towards the ground due to Nero's move, descending with the weight that made up his body. Seeing the shadow presented before him, Gai held his palm out and cast Vile Black Tempest. As the black tornado began to form, it forced Gai upwards, and into the air the more energy inputted into the spell. As he left the ground, Gai swung his body so that he was upright and removed the tornado when he had quite a bit of distance between him and the stationed Nero. Looking down, Gai could see that Nero narrowly missed the minotaur with an attack, relieving Gai from panic before taking the time to think of his next move. Clapping his hands together, his hooves began radiating black particles once again like before, this time with both hooves. As he descended, the black particles began to radiate faster, signalling that Gai was channelling more energy into the attack whilst he fell down directly towards Nero. "E7 Pawn to E6."
Keeping track of Gai's position while he was airborne, Nero went ahead and clapped his hands together before placing them on the ground beneath him. As a white symbol emerged from his touch, Nero made sure to keep his sight on Gai before smirking as he announced; "F3 Queen to G3... Goat!", and disappearing from the spot. An easy feat for someone moving in about Light-Speed. "You've got put your head in the game Master, I'm starting to think that you WANT me to hit ye," Nero spoke to himself as Gai slammed into the ground as if he were a giant cannonball, while it did severely change the environment, it also triggered the Stigma that Nero had placed just before: One very familiar to any White Mage. While the Stigma itself wouldn't last for merely a second or two on someone like Gai, it did create a small opening for Nero to attack, which he did by appearing just in front of the Bull and firing off a White Phoenix's Screech at point blank range.
"Goat. What the-" Gai inquired before being rudely interrupted by the attacking Slayer blast firing at him. Being forced back, Gai regained some control over the situation by moving his arms to the front, absorbing the force from the blast despite suffering quite a bit from earlier in the attack. A roar of pain was let out before Gai could side roll his way out and slam his arms into the ground in a way to numb the pain. "Cheeky bastard. But sure, keep hitting me, you'll see in the end." He chuckled before pulling himself back up and roaring into the air. "Actually? Hit me all you want, there's plenty to go ALL AROUND!" He announced as black energy consumed the body and shape of Gai's minotaur form. With his Shadow Clone spell once again, two black minotaurs emerged from the silhouette of Gai, both climbing out a second after the other. A playful laugh could be heard from the middle minotaur, "Now then little birdie. Care to show us what you've got?". Before either Gai or Nero could react, the two shadow clones appeared on either side of Nero thanks to the speed provided by the Spirit Force. Simply throwing a middle finger at Nero, Gai watched as the two minotaurs threw two palms charged with Black Spirit Charged Palm each at Nero, with one clone having to position their hands one above the other, and the other clone with their hand's side by side. This provided the chance to hit as all directions were covered by at least one palm. "F6 Horse to H5."
Shit! Nero thought to himself as all he could think of was not getting smashed, there wasn't enough time to cast a spell and these clones were are made up magical energies, thus it would be impossible to let anything they do pass through his body as it wasn't merely physical attacks. He threw himself against the ground beneath him, causing the attack to narrowly miss him, but as both palms collided with one another in response it caused two effects. At first, they cancelled one another out but then there was the force that came with it, at this stage it was enough to tear through the environment and ending up creating a crater. The shockwave alone was devastating as Nero was pushed even further into the ground and feeling almost as if his bone inside his ribcage could break at any moment. As it finished and the dust created surrounded them in a dust cloud, Nero used White Phoenix's Yang to get out of there and create a safe distance between him and Gai, enough space that he'd be able to react to any new tricks. But as he appeared on the spot, he couldn't help but crunch down a little as his entire body ached in pain. The shockwave had broken or fractured a few bones for sure, leaving his body to concentrate on getting those healed up by not only consuming the surrounding light but also that of his own, at this rate he'd be functioning soon enough. Seeing there is a pause between their attacks, the White Phoenix Slayer took the liberty to chat: "You know what... that fucking hurt man... FUCKING G3 QUEEN TO G4... How the hell can you even keep those fuckers up? I dunno how many times I've hit that fucking head of yours and... fuck..." Nero was getting a little frustrated, he had exhausting way more magical energies that he'd hoped for at this point, escaping so many time was consuming work even with the constant regeneration given by his phoenix status and the light around him. Phoenix Ascendance might be the only way, but given my current situation, I can't miss it or else I'm probably done for. Nero thought to himself as he awaited Gai's next move, his reflexes being completely focused on responding while his body recovered.
All three minotaurs looked directly at Nero, "Why are you surprised? Thought at this point you would've already known that I was thick headed from the beginning?" Gai said as he clicked his fingers. The two minotaurs retreated and dispersed as Gai himself returned back to normal to reuse energy. "H5 Horseback to F6. Why are you so determined on getting us in the Grand Magic Games anyway? I would join but I heard that Koma Inu wasn't participating this year..." he inquired. Approaching Nero cautiously, Gai himself charged his palms with Black Spirit Charged Palm on both just as the clones did before, the black particles emitting off from the hands. However, with a simple grunt from Gai, the energies within the palms were getting intense by the second, it was obvious Gai was focusing more power into the spell which gave some sort of opening for Nero to attack. Moving the palms together, the force of the energies became significantly more notable, destructive vibes could be felt in the area all coming from the palms. A with the palms so close together, ready to clap into each other, a slight clap could detonate the attack and send shockwaves through the forest. The Guildhall was already destroyed and Gai was prepared to take down the forest around them as well just to win the fight. Gai watched Nero's movement steadily and as soon as Gai could sense Nero coming right to him, he was prepared to strike.
The situation was getting tense and out of hand. Fearing for the lives the guild members that might still be in the area, in Nero's current state he could probably make an escape but they wouldn't, even if he attempted to stop it, it'd leave him at a critical state it only meant laying in bed for a few weeks or so. I guess I don't have any choice on now... Nero thought to himself as he activated his White Rise, causing a tremendous amount of white light to suddenly burst forward before quickly settling as Nero's appearance almost made him look more like a male harpy than anything else; yet his appearance was not to be taken lightly as he'd entered Phoenix Ascendance, a form greater than Gai's own, and made his move. Instead of striking out and risk getting someone in the crossfire, Nero appeared before Gai in the fastest way yet and grabbed ahold of his wrists and put the two of them in a struggle of strength and endurance- Nero trying to prevent Gai from clapping his hands while Gai obviously trying to achieve just that. "Because..." Nero began to speak as they were struggling, "I want to show the world what we can do... Not only as a guild but as a team dammit!" While Nero might have the upper hand in terms of speed, this was a battle of strength and both of them were in a lockdown after Nero's power up. "G4... Queen... G3!" He couldn't help but snicker, Nero was giving his all into stopping Gai from performing this attack. "Can I tell you a secret Gai?... This form... It scares me."
The struggle between the slayers continued and Gai was struggling just to get his hands together. The minotaur smiled as he twisted his wrists and hands so this palms would face towards's Nero's front. "A7 Pawn to A6," he calmly smirked before quickly pushing his palms towards the front of Nero's body, hoping to cripple the bird for a while. Using the force of Nero trying to pry his hands away, taking this opportunity to take him by surprise and quickly strike forward with the charged palms. The strike would not only send him flying metres away but also give Gai some time to prepare for any attack that Nero had in store for him whilst the bird regenerated.
While this chaos had been going on, a red-headed mage had made her way towards her guild, humming a song to herself. It didn't take long to see it in shambles. She noticed a few guild members not only staring at awe at the broken guild but some trembling. Sakura dropped her shopping on the ground and ball her hands in a fist, ready for combat as she stared closer into the guild, expecting some sort of intruder. What she witnessed was far worse. Sitting in tatters was a room filled with pink as she noticed that none of it was intact part of the guild at this point. Rage overcame her as she furiously looked for the culprit. It didn't take long.
In the distance, a beacon of white clashed with black and Sakura knew exactly what was causing this. Putting two and two together she let out a scream as she stomped over to her so-called teammates. A burning glare in her eyes. She wasn't sure what annoyed her more, the fact Gai and Nero were fighting or the fact Nero was back and the first thing he did was fight the Guild Master.
With the pace, she went and the warmth of her rage, it only took a few minutes to catch up with them. At first, she didn't recognise the two and she thought she had made a mistake, the purple minotaur was not the most regular sight and a blinding white man with a tattered suit was also something she didn't expect. She paused for a few seconds before it clicked to her what this was. She shook her head, more rage than what seemed normal for a human to hold flowed as her magical aura took shape.
Chains erupted from her hands. Four escaped from each hand and gripped onto the two mages legs. Curses could be heard as she stomped over, attempting to trip and pull them on the ground before her fist went to met there head. Most of her screams were so fast and chaotic that barely anyone could really hear what she was saying but snippets and the way she was glaring at the two showed her anger and distaste in them not only destroying the guild but supposedly ruining her day.