[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[tex]

As Fotia ran through the green cloud of spores and swung around the room, Zelriane hopped over her blade, and planted the base of his foot against her chest plate. As if drawn by some magnetic force, the spores rushed towards the impact point and began to glow brightly. Zelriane flipped off of Fotia, and with a flash, his spores exploded with tremendous force. All the while, his Agoniki flowed into Fotia. Considering her properties, she might have been incapable of feeling pain. But as Oz has experienced in the past, the effect of his magic was tremendous.

"Toys," Zelriane muttered, landing on one foot and taking a new stance, "For petulant children."

[Necrophage]

Fotia knelt against the ground, raising her shield in a futile attempt to stop the exploding spores. Parts of her armor puckered inward and punctured. Fumes escaped through the holes. Her helmet as well had a massive chunk blown out of it. Despite clearly missing part of her head she rose back up, stumbling from an unstable leg. Red energy oozed out of the opening in her head. "Were you not my enemy this would be much more entertaining." She rigidly pulled back her sword, ready to swing again. "There is too much at stake, I need you to die. Even if it has to be at my hands."

A mist opened on the opposite end of the chamber, where Zelriane was just moments before. The mist billowed across the floor, obscuring the floor up to knee-high. A larger figure came out. He was clad in fish-scale styled mail with a massive bladed bow and a mask with a beard motif that swirled like waves. "Boreas, help your sister." He pulled back near the bow where a bowstring should have been. Wind acted in its place, pulling back the bow and conjuring a swirling mimicry of an arrow. Fotia swung her blade as Boreas shot. The synced attacks combined in a spray of billowing fire. "What would you do if Yzeira died and left you alone?"

[tex]

"Seek a new god," Zelriane said quickly, without a second thought. His right knee was taut, straightened like a pole that supported the rest of his body, while his left leg bent forward slightly. Both of his arms lay outstretched at his side, giving him a transcendent frame as his body once again started to levitate off the ground. "But you cite a paradox. His death is an impossibility." Rather than dodge, Zelriane floated slowly. A slurry of spores rose upwards and around him like an uprising vortex, eventually coalescing in front of him. He drew one arm back, and in an instant, threw it forwards, along with his entire body. The spores around him lit up, and lead his dash, exploding in series and granting the speedster safe passage through the apparent siblings' combined efforts.

"Baku'Hikari Yari," Zelriane whispered, his visage emerged from the green light moments after, at Boreas' side. Like a flowing current of air, he spun around and whipped his right foot into the side of the creature's head, and in the same moment, the spores that covered the ground, now floating only a few feet higher than the mist that Zios had created, rose up like a cyclonic torrent to meet his strike. Much like before, an explosion erupted, obscuring the point of impact, along with Zelriane himself.

"You and your cretinous allies are fighting an impossible battle. You know nothing of the gap that separates you from him." His figure reappeared at the room's center, carefully looking onto the two creatures that Zios had summoned. "I am strong. Nexus is stronger. Rajaka would be in another class entirely if not for his idiotic predisposition. But all of us, or rather, none of us could hope to even scratch the surface of that man's potential. This strength you've mustered, the power you draw upon even now- It may place you in our realm, but it is as I've explained many times in the past, to many others who fancy themselves heroes... There is no feasible way for any of you to stand face to face with a god."

[Necrophage]

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

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

[tex]

Zelriane struck the ground at his feet with one arm moments before the wave of fire reached him, dispersing it away from him accordingly before dashing through the resulting smoke, and under the incoming arrows. He arrived in front of Fotia and placed one hand upon one of her lower limbs. "You are right about one thing," Zelriane wheezed, digging his fingers into the strange creature's out layers like claws, "Everything can die." A surge of power erupted from his hand, flooding Fotia's being in an instant.

"Pāji"

Green light erupted from the openings in her body, before she crumbled to pieces. The technique placed little to no strain on Zelriane, but eradicated the being in an instant. "I lack the raw power that my fellow order members possess. The difference may even be vast. But my symbiosis with the void is unique." His eyes shifted from Boreas to the barrier's walls. "This green disease that I carry is not the same as the energy that plagues my brethren. It is a virtuous example of why I was even allowed to live." He rose his hand towards Boreas. The green moss that once covered it has faded from his attack that eliminated Fotia, but slowly regrew. "Show yourself, so that I may forcibly rip the void from your soul, and purge your essence. I offer you salvation." His hand finally regained its moss by the time he'd finished speaking. He clenched it tightly and spun around, facing his fist to the ceiling. "It is a kindness- One you will not survive, I am afraid."

[Necrophage]

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

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

[tex]

Zelriane huffed at Zios' words. This wasn't a game, and he didn't very much appreciate it being treated as such. The short moss-covered man waited patiently for the horse-like creature to approach. It was be easy to dispatch like Fotia was. But before it could get within striking range, Zios' fired another one of his destructive lasers, headlong and through his own creation. Zelriane's eyes narrowed, and he stepped aside with as much grace as he could muster, flanking around the charging unicorn and the Neo Ultima beam, towards where Zios stood. He was upon him in seconds.

"This." He rose his hand, "Is not." bent his arm slightly backwards, "A GAME!" and thrust it forwards, reaching for Zios' closest appendage as quickly as possible.

[Necrophage]

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

[tex]

Zelriane moved his head out of the arrow's path. It barely grazed the side of his mask, but tore enough fabric off to loosen it completely. As the black cloth fell away, he face was revealed, covered in the same moss that encompassed the rest of his body. He had no defining features. His facial structure was sharp and his eyes were narrow. With his foot, he kicked through the air and moved past the length of the deflected arrow, following after Zios just as quickly as he'd moved away. "Hikari-" He started, his right arm beginning to glow. But within an instant, the slow buildup of light erupted in a burst that covered his entire body. "-Akari" The second word left his mouth with a hiss. His body, much like with his earlier Akari, turned to light and thrust forward. But with each milometer traveled, hundreds to thousands from start to finish, a series of explosions erupted outwards from his body. He turned sharply several times, piercing though what remained of Boreas and Zio's silly little unicorn in his path. On his final turn, he aimed to hit Zios directly, regardless of whether or not his first pass did any direct damage.

[Necrophage]

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

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

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

[tex]

As Zelriane's Akari ended, the man clung to the edge of Zios' shield with one of his hands placed against its edge. "Paji," In an instant, the barrier gave way and Zelriane kicked himself into melee range with reckless abandon. All these defensive maneuvers and cowardly tactics were starting to irritate him to no end. Zelriane pulled his faded left hand back and reached towards Zios with his right. "Die."

[Necrophage]

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

[tex]

Ｚｅｎｐｏｕ

Time ground to a halt for a brief series of nanoseconds as Zelriane drifted through space with his hand outstretched. The moss at his fingertips began to sprawl outwards like small spines struggling against the flow of time as Zelriane grew nearer and nearer to Zios' immobile body.

𝓜𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹... 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓪𝓼𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻...

Half a second was cut from history, robbed by the lightning-quick martial warrior. His body felt heavy in the moment that he had to himself. Everything felt sluggish, like something was weighing him down from his shoulder, all the way towards his upper ribs. It felt like an anchor, piercing his upper breast and tugging back, trying to keep his body away from a certain victory. It did not prevail, but in the brief window that his mind was pulled out of focus, his form suffered, and his speed dipped.

The effect ended, and Zelriane had still not made direct contact with Zios' chest, but his body had drifted past the pole's initial point of impact. The fraction of his half-second that he'd wasted meant little, but the pain in his shoulder had returned like a stubborn parasite. He ignored it- He ignored everything, and reached forward without regard for anything around him. His eyes were wide, wider than ever before, with a seething rage. This abhorrent creature would die by his hand right now.

[Necrophage]

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

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

"Black Hole!"

[tex]

"Miserable bastard," Zelriane grunted, in an uncharacteristically coy manner. His right arm began to glow, and he pulled his left hand away from the sudden mass of hyper-dense matter that spawned in Zios' grasp. "Ōkī-Hikari" The moss that covered his entire body rose in brightness as the orb of darkness pulled at him violently. "I wonder how this will affect you at such a close range?" The shine from Zelriane's body began to change hue. "Perhaps it will work just as well..." His left hand struggled to form a sign, but once he was finished, the technique was ready to be unleashed. "Kai-"

In a brilliant display, Zelriane's body detonated in a brilliant jade tinted explosion. The Agoniki within his body poured outwards in all directions, looking for the closest conduit to latch onto, and in its usual fashion, eat away at. The explosive force itself was where the real danger lied. Zelriane was unable to follow through with his initial plan, but he did manage to get in close. Although his explosive techniques lacked the properties of his void-purge, the sheer raw power behind it was not to be trifled with...

...Albeit at a particularly draining cost.

[Necrophage]

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

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

[tex]

The light revealed Zelriane, battered by the blast, and knocked out of his mossy form. As the ribbons approached him, he moved quickly, aiming to shatter each spike before it reached him, panting heavily between each violent jerk that prompted his movements.

"...So...Durable..." Zelriane gasped quietly, constantly moving to defend himself from the onslaught with his Agoniki drenched hands. "...Why won't...You die?.." Zelriane's body tightened, and vanished, appeared behind Zios. He landed on the ground quietly and pointed his hands forwards.

"Akari!" Once again, he turned his body into a knife-like stream of energy, and attempted to dash directly through Zios from behind. "Fall!" He gasped desperately, "FALL, DAMN YOU!"

[Necrophage]

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

[tex]

Zelriane's technique ended early. His eyes widened as a searing pain ran across his back, and forced him to stumble forward. Blood finally ran freely down his bare back, and began to soak the top of his tightly bound shorts. It was quick, and effective, but he didn't tremble or falter from that single wound. It was just shallow enough to avoid severing his spine, after all.

"Bah.." He stood up slowly, and spun around to face Zios again, taking a step forward to reaffirm his stance. As he did so, he stumbled once again, before reaching a solid form. "My death will change nothing. If anything, it will bring your end quicker." He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. His stability was slowly beginning to fade with each passing second. "It is fortunate for you then... That I... Do not plan on dying here..." His mouth hung open slightly. "Why would you... Willingly join forces with that creature of the void I wonder... A creature who's values once sat not too far from my own..." He breaths were growing more shallow by the second. He felt something other than the pain sting him deeply, and looked away from Zios slightly. "Hmmm..."

[Necrophage]

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

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