[color=fff79a]How [i]delightful[/i]. The princess was formidable to be sure but she had her limits, limits which were [i]very[/i] quickly becoming apparent. Even from here the Varuna could see the toll her spells were taking, the Dimuran's breathing was ragged and her posture slouching. For all of her might it was all going to amount to nothing, she'd die having fought her hardest and it would make no difference in the end!

"Yes, fight! Fight! Like your flames you shall be snuffed out!" The others were hapless in their fighting, the boy with the white hair could do nothing to stop him and the Ydran, for all her summons, paled in comparison to his prowess. He would not fail again, they were on the brink of defeat and he could not wait to witness their downfall. The utter anguish on their faces as they were overrun, their cries of pain, how wonderful! 

[i]You know nothing, snake. I've plenty of fight left in me.[/i] Were these words not a complete lie Nymira would have shot back with them, her fighting spirit holding up far better than her body was. The flames were effective, yes, but to create fire so hot and to do so as frequently as she was proved to be incredibly taxing. As she melted away yet another slime she felt her legs threaten give out beneath her, her eyes barely able to stay open. Two more slimes, three more, was there no end to his witchcraft? 

"I will not die here... I have a duty to uphold," Nymira hissed through clenched teeth, taking aim at one of the slimes. Her arm was heavy like lead and threatned to fall, only by holding it up with her other hand was she able to maintain her aim. Gathering what magic she could muster she formed a pellet of white flame in her palm and unleashed it, reducing the slimes before her into nothingness. And much like her targets her reserves of energy were now gone as well, a sigh escaping the Dimuran's lips as she fell to her knees. She'd had it, her magic was utterly dry and she felt like she'd pass out any second. And yet more slimes still came, even as the Varuna fended off Asta's attacks and Ethan tried to divert them, still more were summoned.

There had to be [i]something[/i] he could do! Think, think, think! He had no flames like Nymira possessed and no summons like Asta, his wind magic couldn't do much against these creatures with their liquid flesh. Even using projecticles only served to injure them, actually killing one of the beasts was out of the question for him. Ethan's mind raced as he saw Nymira fall to her knees and he raced to her side to aid her, for what little good it might do. With more slimes coming he diverted his path and instead put himself in their path, amassing enough magic to cast a small gale at the slimes. Aside from uprooting a few and knocking them away it did little good, and casting such a spell left his lungs aching and limbs heavy as he tried to think of some way out of the mess.[/color]

Cecil was able to fight with all he could and yet he was still having to hold himself back, he couldn’t let what happened before happen again. He was struggling to find a way around it that didn’t involve him going off the wire and upsetting his friend. Nymira was starting to struggle, that was the only thing. He couldn’t let her suffer at the hands of this creep and his nasty slimed beings, he was the only one who was able to combat these things without getting hurt in turn. Just what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t do anything other than try his best to destroy what he could and hopefully encourage this being to leave; however, even as he continued to destroy them, the being wouldn’t leave. It only encouraged their behaviour to further his victory, he was going to win sooner or later as he showed no signs of tiring.
 
It just wasn’t fair. Everybody was suffering because he couldn’t move his machine behind and beat this thing to a pulp. It would help everyone, surely it was alright considering that. He was in such conflict that he didn’t even know anymore. He just had to try and figure out whether he was going to be able to keep it together long enough. If he failed then he was going to lose his friends and that would be awful. He would be on his own again and that would carry with him until his battery ran flat somewhere off in the future. Struggling to find even ground with his desires and what he had to do he growled in frustration as he pounded his gauntlets together, electrifying them before immediately leaping out of his own danger zone, smashing into several with an electrical explosion before swinging his gauntlets into more. There was just explosions of gunk going on as his attacks tore through the creatures, his electrical surge continuing as he simply rampaged through the horde.

[color=fff79a]"See?! Useless! Useless! Ssssssuccumb to the void, die!" How amusing, they were doing nothing but harm themselves in trying to fight him. His summons were doing all the work and already the Dimuran was out of the battle, the Muran boy quickly following suit. All that remained was the strange boy with his meddlesome gauntlets, not to mention that strange magic of his. What was it? The crackling it made almost suggested fire but its color was unusual, it was no flame he had ever seen. No matter, he and the Ydran woman were the only two left and they too would fold before long. 

Cecil and Asta were doing all they could to keep the Varuna's monsters at bay but would it be enough? Sooner or later Asta too would tire and it would leave only Cecil to fight, and putting it all on his shoulders wasn't fair. Nor could they let it get to that point, no way could Cecil protect all of them, fight back and somehow let them escape. If they wanted to get out of here they had to try and flee and do it now, which meant somehow getting rid of the Varuna. While he couldn't kill it Ethan had an idea, one that'd cost the last bits of his magic but just might work. 

Near enough to the cart and with Cecil temporarily distracting the Varuna he rushed to the vehicle, digging through its contents to find something, anything of use. The only thing inside he might be able to use was one of the spikes for the tent. He wouldn't aim to kill, just to injure, enough so they had time to slip away with some luck. Grasping the spike he turned and created a small vortex in his palm, spinning the piece of metal at high speeds before throwing his arm forward and the spike with it. Easily moving the speed of an arrow it looked to be on target, racing straight for the Varuna's thigh. It had nearly struck him too until one of the tendrils materialized at its feet and blocked the spike, flicking it away like nothing after taking the hit.

"You try and you fail! Pathetic, lie down and die!" the Varuna cackled, turning his attention back to where Ethan and Nymira were. "The girl diessss first, watch as she turns into dust!" Waving his cane about green energy began to gather at the tip of the weapon, massing together into a bubbling, noxious collection of magic and waste. It would melt flesh off the bone and melt the bone itself and, if she somehow survived, the disease within would kill her quickly enough. Sneering viciously the Varuna waved his staff once more before launching the attack at Nymira, cackling as it raced towards her. "Ssssssufer! Die!"[/color]

Cecil attacks were always hitting, even when the creatures tried to deal damage to him they simply couldn’t. He was on top of it everything, all except for the Varuna. While he had been tackling the slime problem Ethan was trying to disable him, but nothing was hitting the target. Trying to do his best he gasped when there was the sudden threat of Nymira becoming a victim to the being’s attack. He couldn’t kill the Varuna, he couldn’t let them kill Nymira either. He understood that death was permanent deactivation and to have that happen to Nymira would be a disaster. Panicking, he dashed with electric power trailing his steps, his feet sliding to an immediate halt as he threw his hands up in front of him. With crackling energy he turned himself into a shield as he gave himself very little option having already calculated the fact that if he grabbed Nymira her legs would surely get caught.

The energy was prevented from touching Nymira completely as it smashed into Cecil’s shield, his friend saved from a terrible fate; however, with the depletion of his energy and his inability to fight the Varuna to the death he had instead caused his own suffering under the strength of the attack. Electricity buzzed bright as the attack and his body collided, his shell unable to withstand it as his joints shook. Part of his outer skin melted away and his shell beneath partially corroded, his joints letting out sudden sparks before they slowly fell from their placings and his knees buckled before fully collapsing. His body fell from his knees as his legs fell the opposite way, the wiring barely holding on by its chains. While his gauntlets suffered the least damage they tried to force his body back up, but as he tried his shoulders shifted and his arms disconnected, leaving his body in a screwed heap.

[color=fff79a]"Cecil?!" When... Why had he done that? The idiot was going to get himself killed? Seeing the Machina literally crumble before them Nymira's eyes widened in shock, struggling to move enough to reach him. She was not going to allow another retainer to die protecting her, not so long as she drew breath. Reaching a hand out for him she recoiled when the Varuna blasted another spell at her, narrowly avoiding losing her arm as the ground before her rotted away.

"Yessss, that's the look I want! Despair! Grief! Anguisssssssh!" the Varuna screamed, rubbing his hands together with a twisted smile, "Know pain and join your friend in the afterlife. Vanisssssh into the dirt, like the worms you are!" Amassing another spell to launch its face lit up with excitement, eyes shining as the noxious magic grew larger and larger, large enough that it was nearly the size of the caster itself. This would be more than sufficient to kill them all, it would leave no traces behind of them. With almost a squeal of delight it threw its spell forward, the ground beneath it being torn and melted away as it soared towards the cart.

And promptly struck a large stone wall. Seemingly out of nowhere a slab of stone had jut from the earth and blocked the attack, melting partially but holding as the spell dissipated around it. For a moment the Varuna simply didn't act, its twisted grin still on its face though his eyes wide with confusion, not quite comprehending what had just happened. Lowering his staff and looking around it gasped when the earth at its feet began to shake, jumping back just in time to avoid a spire of jagged rocks that nearly impaled him, severing two of the tentacles it used in defense in the process.

"Who issss there?! Sssssshow yourself!" the Varuna hissed, looking about frantically for some sign of an enemy, anything. 

"Well, if you insisit!" The voice came from below and the Varuna was unable to react in time as a figure burst out from the ground, a fist soaring up and slamming into the underside of its jaw. The force of the blow knocked it well off of its feet and sent it flying, the tentacles racing to catch the Magi and narrowly keeping him from tumbling down an embankment. 

Lifting its head the Varuna snarled furiously, purple blood trickling out of his mouth as he struggled to his feet. "Who daressss interrupt?! Who-" That woman. He knew that woman. But why was she here? How had she gotten here? If she was going to fight then this changed everything, suddenly the odds were not so favorable for him. With a hiss the Varuna sent out five slimes after the woman, watching awestruck as each was promptly skewered by jagged rocks, their bodies being torn to shreds and killing them instantly.

"Would ya look at this, a fish is out of the water! Poor little fella, you must be so confused," the [url=http://i.imgur.com/4Z7phVx.jpg]woman[/url] teased, grinning as she began advancing on the Varuna. Again he tried to cast a rot spell and she easily deflected it, another pillar of stone rising up and intercepting the attack. "I'm not sure what smells worse, you or your foul magic. You're making me sick and you're making a mess of this road, how's about you quit shitting all over the place, huh?"

"You... YOU... HOW DARE YOU!" How dare she insult his magic, how DARE she treat him like he was nothing but a pest. He was a member of the Church, he was chosen to hunt down those who refuted His will. He was not going to be stopped, not even by this woman. "Burn! Burn in hell you wretch! I will melt your flesssssh from your bonessss!" Magic began to surge about the Varuna and became visible, like a wild wind it raced around him and began to spread out. From the ground behind it a large beast began to rise out of the dirt, seemingly a collection of different creatures and beings all mashed together, skeletons connected with no rhyme or reason and multiple limbs hanging off of its body. It would summon a greater beast and kill them all![/color]

There would be no chance for the beast to take full form, however. As it formed down came a torrent of wind, building at an almost gradual pace before it suddenly became engulfed in fire, encasing the beast. There wasn’t only one attacker but another, a red blur swooping out of the sky who appeared to throw some explosives which very promptly made the fire torrent worse. Once the blur came to a halt in the air it turned out to be a [url=http://68.media.tumblr.com/c428dceb7fad832e638a15520583969d/tumblr_oiif6vqNlI1qcvjqko1_1280.jpg]Dimuran male[/url] with a set of slender wings keeping him in the air. The fire torrent soon dissipated in a swirl of smoke, the Dimuran paying no attention to it from beyond his goggles. “Do you value your life or would you rather be the one to explode?” he spoke in a smooth low tone, his expression impossible to tell with most of his face obscured by his clothing.

[color=fff79a]Wrong, wrong wrong wrong! This was all wrong! This woman was not supposed to be here, and now to make matters worse another Dimuran had arrived too! The children were as good as dead but it couldn't fight these two, not now, not so far from water. Hissing furiously the Varuna summoned a handful more slims and sent them after the woman, inhaling as it did so before unleashing a cloud of poisonous gas. Letting the cloud engulf him he used it as cover and ran towards the embankment, disappearing into the brush at the bottom. Blast... He had to regroup and try again, he'd wait until the children were relaxed and then he'd strike again. They had to die, they had to be killed, for if he wasn't successful he'd be the one on the cutting block.[/color]