by Nicol Terra
"I had him!" Rachel said.
"Obviously." Ahn said “Yo.”
“Hi, How is the city?" She asked.
Ahn blinked as he flashed Blue Energy. His eyes turned a solid blue like a wheel of swirling energy. A few moments later, he stopped.
"None, besides one more location. This city is mostly evacuated. Thanks to you, looks like a lot of the soldiers here are mostly taking a dirt nap." Ahn said.
"Thank god." Rachel let out a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, we just need to find Illevetar so we can leave." Ahn grumbled. “She should be evacuating another building.”
“Let's go.” Rachel said.
“No, Yas told me something.” Ahn said.
“That is?” She tilted her head. Ahn kicked a nearby piece of driftwood aside.
“There is a small neighborhood; there is a Major keeping a few thousand people.” He said.
“For what?” She asked.
“Execution, for someone. I heard he eats Souls.” He said grimly.
She shivered. “On it.” She bolted outward.
Minutes later, Rachel hid in the darkness and darted from side to side. The edge of the city had a few thousand people tied together. Each had their mouths sealed by white tape.
He was short, possibly five foot even, the same height as Rachel. She looked to see the man walk down the sides of the road, making sure none of them made excessive noise. Rachel darted around the perimeter.
She then felt a hand cover her mouth behind her. A man with a red tainted Aura reached to punch her, only for her to dart away in the last second. Aura weakens her primary ability and her elemental control. She flew backward to the dark tainted alley covering her in the dead of night. The other man rushed forward with a punch, only for Rachel to dodge a centimeter before it hit her face and shocked the man, paralyzing him in an instant as she grabbed his mouth to hide his screams. She sighed.
“That was a pain.” She said. "Although that was a close one." She admitted.
She felt her temporary Holosphere vibrate as she reached in her pocket and pressed the top button. She rolled her eyes, “Thanks Illevetar.”
“Yeah? Make it quick.” Rachel said.
“What is the situation?” Yas said
“What? How did you get my ID?” Rachel ti
“Illevetar gave it to me. Just lemme know your position.”
Rachel rolled her eyes. Despite being friends with Illevetar, she felt that sting; she preferred not to have people call her randomly. She sighed.
“Edge of the South Gate. One Major. Someone tried to knock me out, but I took him out."
“Any others?”
Rachel shrugged and closed her eyes, she felt no one nearby, but she couldn't tell, especially in the night.
“I don't think so.”
“All right, I have our only battalion with us. We will evacuate this last group of people while you distract the major.”
Rachel nodded, “I got this.” The Holosphere shut off.
Other then this one group of people, the city was quiet. Too quiet. The tension mounted into her as she took a deep breathe and then exhaled.
She walked in front of the moonlight in front of the Major. He had his mouth hidden by a mask as he pointed his gun at her. His black mask and his deep crimson eyes pierced at her. Rachel gulped, seemingly out of character for her.
Instead, however, the man locked his gun to his right side as he released purple fluid energy from his right hand. Rachel looked at it as she saw that his hand seemed to wail quietly in the wind, someone who has killed. She then intensified. Someone who killed for fun.
“So uh, nice day today, right?” Rachel asked. The man jumped forward with his right hand. Rachel bolted to the other side as she threw a bolt of lightning at him. The man turned to him as he threw a bolt of lightning with his left hand. Rachel's eyes widened as she jumped forward.
The man threw another, and then another.
"That is my ability!" She said. She jumped forward as the man reached at her, only for her to float above his head and kick his head, knocking him a few feet backward, completely shattering the wall within seconds.
Despite having Warping, he was still too slow for her. She was cautious, as he can pull out her soul in an instant. A few seconds later, she turned her head around as she saw a blast of Ether blast through the trees as Rachel turned into electricity via instinct.
Rachel then heard yelling appear behind the man as dozens of armed guards from the city watch appeared behind the man. The man turned as Rachel smacked the butt of her knife on his head as he was knocked out in an instant. The men slipped off the taped, eye bands and rope as the people ran in an orderly matter, heading outward, away to somewhere. Rachel smiled, proud of her new abilities and her accomplishment and then turned to the now unconscious Maldition.
“Oh, and should have looked in front of you.” She said. The few soldiers from the city watch flew past her to save their friends and family. She turned around as she looked to see a few thousand citizens, crying, defenseless. She then leaned on a tree as one of the soldiers walked up to her.
"You are the Flash of the West, right?" One of the soldiers asked.
She nodded.
"Then you have to go southward, Tenclo is in-"
"Not yet." She said, turning her head to the crowd of people. "I will keep watch while they safely leave from this hellhole."
“I am sorry, can you repeat that?” Duran asked.
“Hand those six stones in your pockets.” The man answered.
“What if I don‘t wanna?” Duran said.
“You do wanna though.” The man said, waving his hand in the air. Duran grumbled to himself.
“I am not easily mind tricked,” Duran said. He was too familiar with the skill, considering how Eraz loved to use it on him as a prank. Plus, his Zen allowed him to perceive most illusions. Eraz is the only one who sometimes succeeded, and it was usually for something funny later on. He always did try to sell me his Deathsticks.
The man sighed, shoving his cane once more into the ground. The shrouded man shook his head, snapping his neck from side to side as he stretched from side to side. Duran prepared his fighting stance just in case.
“I will ask once more, drop those stones or else I will have to kill you.” The man said.
The surrounding air covered itself with a dark purple shroud of energy. Duran scoffed, he was using Darkness. The man also had a distinct purple shine come from his coat, He was using a crystal.
Duran rushed forward. ‘If I can shatter it with my Aura, I win.” He said to himself.
He coated his hand with darkness and sliced forward. The distance between the two was cut entirely, Duran teleporting forward towards him. The man took a step backward and disappeared in the darkness.
"Did you expect that to work?" He said, the darkness around Duran warped space around him. Duran smiled, this time coating his other arm with Blue Aura and shined his crystal with a faint white light. Time froze around him. He had no time to think. He rushed to the left, cutting space with his Purple Aura. Time started again. The man was cut entirely in half. Duran smile, only for his smile to disappear in an instant.
His face turned white. He flooded his body with Black Aura as reality around him crumbled away.
"I told you, those Mind Tricks won't work on me." Duran said.
The surrounding desert greeted him once more, the two suns setting in the distance. He darted backward, dodging a laser of light attempt to pierce at him a meter away from his face.
“You nullified my Mind Spell with your Black Aura.” The man said.
“Care to comment any further about the obvious?” Duran growled.
The man shook his head. “I admit you are skilled, powerful. I sense you are a General. That explains your raw power.” Duran winced.
Duran rushed forward at the man, only for him to disappear. Duran then swung around, blocking a hand of light come from above with his Ether. The two jump
ed backward, a few meters now separating them.
“Nice warm-up, Considering you wanna kill me, how about we skip the warm-up?” Duran asked.
“I was about to suggest the same.” The man smirked through the darkness.
Duran then shrouded his body with green and blue energy and ‘pulled’ it from him. The two colors of Aura merged in front of Duran. The two colors formed a wraith. The wraith had a blue shroud that covered his body. He held a green bell, which the phantom shook to create a quiet gong. A thick, dark cloud shrouded the moons.
The clouds twirled and swung around the sky to form across the continent a large storm. The storm of cylindrical air crackled around, popping sound and distorting light with ease. The storm pushed around a full rotation in a second, snapping 60 times in just a minute. Duran flushed all of his Aura into his new Avatar, swinging around the storm as he faded into space.
Duran looked forward. The man muttered something under his breath as he rolled his eyes. He uses Unique Magic. This will be a difficult match. The real fight began now.
The man created a sphere of purple light around his body, a bubble of light engulfing his body. The surrounding earth cracked, every three meters with a new crater crackling below him.
In a few seconds, Duran noticed this change and flew upward, his wraith swinging his bell to lift Duran upward. The man was wrapped the five walled structure around himself as Duran flew up, his wraithlike avatar swinging his bell and forming spatial wormholes, teleporting Duran meters away. With his Avatar and Storm, he could teleport or Bend Reality anywhere across the continent, but he didn't need to know. Duran extended his hand forward with his Avatar slicing space at the shrouded man, who dodged. Space split as Duran tried again, and then again. Duran smirked as he then created a spider net of sliced space and slashed at the man. As he was split into pieces, he held his body together and snapped the blades of Darkness and Wind away. Duran scoffed as he flew down.
He looked to see the ground get progressively more and more fractured. There were five craters, each one protected by a wall of stone. The inner cavity was only fifty meters deep, but each hole grew bigger and bigger, wrapped only by a wall of earth. The cavity gave off white, a flowing light of Ether.
“Time to figure how his spell works.” He said. Duran flew forward with his phantom, riding the winds to the smallest crater and the one where his enemy was. The wraith swung his bell as Duran unleashed a gust of wind toward the man, slicing space. The man darted to the side, only for the blow to dart towards him to cut him. He coughed a bit of blood, and then innermost crater and the wall collapsed, merging with the next one. Duran then released a black blade on his right hand as he landed to the ground. The man, still staggered, released another beam of light from his right hand. Duran darted his head a few centimeters to the side as he sliced downward. The Wraith flapped his cloak up and down, creating a chill that froze the ground in an instant. The man however disappeared and reappeared behind Duran. Duran swung his head around, only to barely dodge in time a sword of light coming down on him. Duran sliced, another crater collapsed. Duran felt time slow around him as he intensified his Green Aura. When Time Froze, Duran restarted it. The man shaken as Duran punched him in the face, knocking him back a few dozen feet into the stone wall behind him.
The man staggered once more. Duran raised a brow. This was too easy. Nothing like the future told him. He flashed Yellow Aura, only to find it barely worked. Instead of seeing millions of futures, he saw at best a few. He sighed, must be the work of his Unicus Igneium. No, something is different about him, but he couldn't tell what.
"What if he exists in the present?" Duran asked. "Fuck, that explains why my precognition doesn't work."
“Come back Sazun!’ He said. He readied his crystal, only for the man to counter by creating a beam of light at the crystal, erasing it from Duran’s Neck, fading from time itself.
He gulped. ‘That is how his Unique Magic worked.” He took a step back, his back now on the wall itself. He controls Light and Earth, the light part of which grants him the ability to control time, the earth part created this structure.
‘Easier said than done.’ He said the light moved nearly seven hundred billion miles per hour. He then marched his gaze from right to left. He did not understand still what the Earth did to his abilities. What did his Earth Magic give him?
Duran shook his head, now is not the time. His Wraith swung his bell around, as gusts of wind came forward, slicing and ripping apart the earth beneath him. Again, the man dodged, only for this time, the gusts of wind to expand outward to slice at him still.
The next crater fell, Duran looked forward as the man stumbled and fell down the crater below.
Duran flew downward. He had one chance. He created a blade of Black Aura once more, only for the blade to fizzle out in an instant. Duran then felt a kick on the back of his head. His head started to ring as he coughed a bit of blood. The Wraith swung his bell once more, freezing time as he jumped backward to create distance. Time started once more. The two stabilized a few meters away from each other. He then looked at his wraith, unable to move
“Sazun?” He asked.
The man giggled, Duran turned to him with a glare.
“What is so funny?” Duran asked.
“You, I mean, can’t you read the literal writing on the walls?” The man shouted.
Duran raised a brow as he looked at the walls. Using Zen, he read the walls. The earthen walls formed holographic letters engraved on them. The lettering was unrecognizable, but Duran could still read it.
Thou shall not use Black Aura
Thou shall not create or mend Chaos
Thou cannot control a Blue and Green Avatar
Duran eyes and face turned ghost white. He then saw Sazun shake feverishly. He took a step back; the man took a step forward. He took another step back; the man took another step forward.
“I see now,” Duran stated. He rolled his eyes. “You created this structure of earth for a reason.”
The man said nothing. He created two blades of light as he rushed forward. Duran cursed, dodging and darting from side to side. He felt his heart race, his muscles grew tired, and his eyes grew weary.
“You created five craters, each having a wall on them. When you harm the caster, you create a law. The law in each crater and its field must be obeyed. Abilities will no longer work after you create a law. Combined with you stopping time and erasing time, you are writing and warping reality to suit you.” Duran said to himself. The caster seemed to be limited to five laws. He also thought to himself why five? He can create more if he wanted, create more rules. As long as the caster was alive, he can still develop laws, limitations and dictating consequences. Was it a limitation of his Unicus Igneium?
Something special must happen when you create five laws. This was Law Inscription magic. He shuffled through his mind; The structure was made of Earth and powered by Ether. Order Bend, the ability to create Law and Structure from Dark and Ether.
He tried to think of an answer. The man reappeared behind him. Duran flashed Yellow Aura in response, saw a few hundred futures and dodged to the side. He wasn't as proficient as seeing the future with Yellow Aura as he was with Purple, but he had to make do. He was low on Aura; he used up about thirty percent fighting this guy in just a few minutes.
He needed to decipher his ability. As long as he didn't damage the caster, he should figure it out.
He flashed Yellow Aura. He saw hundreds of timelines branch out in his eyes. He observed them all, all of which were lined up perfectly with his field of vision. He understood each ability his opponent can make. His opponent merely sighed, running forward at him, releasing large amounts of yellow light flying at him. Duran raised a brow, how come he was only using Light and Earth Magic? He shook his head; he didn't have time to think.
His opponent sighed, just like Duran knew he would as he ran over to him, releasing and shooting beams of light at him. Duran saw hundreds of balls of li
ght flying at him, each coming down at high velocity, he sidestepped, dodging each one carefully. He saw futures where he was hit, and that was it; the future stopped there. He couldn't get hit by his magic. Duran crushed his hand forward, Sazun released from his grasp.
Now was the time to be reckless. He had only two colors of Aura he can use, Red and White Aura. He grimaced. He would flash White Aura as he coated his hands with the flowing energy. He could use his crystal, but using only the basic elements would be suicide. Time Stop or Rewind with his crystal would be stupid.
The man scoffed ‘You may have great mastery with Aura, but you cannot beat me with your level of skill with it. My Magic will always beat your Aura.”
Duran ran forward at the man, his hand extended outward. The man also followed, his hand coated with a blade of light.
Duran grinned evilly. He stopped using Aura in his right hand, and instead coated his hand with white, sparkling energy.
The man gasped, but it was too late. Duran grabbed the air itself. A white stream of energy was coming out of the man's body. He pulled, the man then slinked to the ground; Duran pulled out his soul.
The surrounding spell dispersed completely, the weather above him cleared up as he dismissed Sazun. He smiled, but his heart was racing. He was lucky that bluff worked.
As soon as the environment shifted back to normal, Duran opened both of his hands and shot the soul back into the man's body. He gasped, Duran created a black blade of Aura to slice at his face, pinning the edge through the man's throat
“Let's see who you are,” Duran said he swiped the darkness with his free hand, slashing it away with his White Aura. Duran’s face turned ghost white
The man was not a man, but a demon. He had crimson skin, with a small horn sticking out of his head. He had sunken eyes as if his face was that of a skull. Only faint, yellow lights glowed where his eyes would be. He had no iris or pupils. He had black hair, blacker than even the ash of volcanoes.
Duran took a step back, a moment of weakness he never once expected to experience again.
“Who… are you?” Duran asked.
