Deception Leads To Death (Open to One)

The two women would have continued with their verbal assault on the Silver Wolf mage but it seemed that they had finally caused enough damage to make the blonde attack them. A powerful blast of wind energy came tearing towards the two and Armina at least was taken slightly aback by the sudden attack. She had, perhaps foolishly, let her guard down due to the enjoyment of mocking Leona and the result could have been rather unpleasant. It was not as if she had not seen the spell cast before, just that she had reckoned that Leona had been so rattled that she would be able to cast it. Still, she was still defended by Medeia’s armour spell and she raised her hand in order to negate the spell, knowing that she should be able to do so when it made contact with her.

To her surprise though, that was not what happened, as much to her embarrassment she was lifted into the air by Medeia, the Warlord’s only powerful wings having sprouted from her back. The pair would fly over the attack, defending them from harm and giving the pair a nice airbourne view of their enemy. The maid almost felt weightless in the surprisingly strong grasp of the dark mage and Medeia soon spoke. “I think that perhaps it is time to take her just a touch more seriously. Her emotions are all over the place and soon enough, she is going to blow and not in the way that you are thinking of either. We have done so much damage to her mind that I doubt she is able to think clearly at this point and I do not about you but I believe that will only make her more dangerous. You must be careful now, my dear, as her blows will be even more powerful now.”

The maid, however, could not help but shout down at the raging blonde. “You should have seen your face just now, as red as a beetroot. Do not tell me that the almighty Wizard Saint is bashful about showing a little skin? We were not playing with you, by the way and I am sure that Mistress has a few images on her iLac if you want proof. Poor Suzhen was such an innocent girl and to wake up with lipstick all over her must have been quite the shock. I doubt the locals complained though, as they definitely got more than just an eyeful.”

Medeia’s eyes narrowed at that point, her purple gaze locked on to the orbs of her enemy, a sly smile crossing her features. “I wonder if perhaps there is someone in your life that should receive the same treatment? You do not seem to be the romantic type but I am sure that there must be some lovely girls out there who would find your authoritative attitude rather attractive. A beautiful creature who is able to crack that hard shell of yours. Surely even you must have someone to confide in?” She was assuming a lot and naturally the witch was not expecting a response. It was just another jab at the Wizard Saint, another way of attacking the blonde’s psyche. “Maybe if we capture enough of your guild mates, we might just find the answers we seek?”

At that point, just as the two angels were flying over the blonde’s position, Medeia would release Armina from her grasp. The maid wasted no time and used the momentum from the drop to unleash a mighty swing down towards Leona. It was a wild attack though and with Leona’s reflexes, certainly dodgeable but it would a hell a mark if it made contact.

As for the witch, she decided to make things a little more interesting by creating a bow of purple energy and firing an arrow towards the blonde as well. Up until now, the two had respected the idea of a one on one fight but such ideas were always temporary and it was not as if Medeia was known for keeping her word anyway. For the time being, Leona would have more than she bargained for, until the two dark beings decided to change the script of the fight again.

(707 Words)
(18230 Med WC)
(35758 TWC)

Leona watched as Medeia performed an airlift for Armina, lifting her out of the Wind Blast's way. Leona had not been expecting Medeia to have wings too. Then again she knew nothing about the Warlord other than her title, her name, her guild, and her attraction towards other women. It made sense that she would have capabilities that the Wizard Saint had no knowledge of until she used them.

The Wizard Saint blushed again when Armina boasted of having proof of Medeia's treatment of the hapless Suzhen. The deed that was done to her was bad enough, but proof of it being held on Medeia's iLac was even worse. That was another reason Leona had to win this... to keep from being even more of a laughingstock than she already was. The mistress and maid pair had already made a few jokes at her expense and she was going to do her best to put a stop to them.

That was before Medeia made a threat to give others close to Leona the same treatment that Suzhen had received. That threw off the blonde's concentration enough to keep her from attacking right away. While she did not dare say a name because that would give Medeia a specific target to track down, Leona thought of at least one person she wanted to protect from the Warlord and her maid.

Masha Dymonrel.

Leona frowned as she thought about what would happen if Masha fell into their hands. Aside from the humiliation they would inflict on the redhead, the sadistic duo might learn of the existence of their son Giovanni and attempt to abduct him. She could not let that happen. She had to win this battle for Silver Wolf's sake and for Masha's sake.

She looked up and saw the ax-wielding maid descending on her with the goal of giving the Wizard Saint a splitting headache, if not a split personality. Leona saw the attack coming and jumped back seconds before the ax fell, avoiding a deep cut to the head that likely could have cut through her body and split her in half. That was not the only danger the Wizard Saint was in, though.

She saw an arrow descend towards the top of her head and reacted quickly. Leona jumped back a second time and the arrow landed on the ground where she had been standing just a moment later. If she had stood still there was a good chance that it would have punched through the top of her head for an instant kill or a severe injury. While her brain was a small target, she did not want to take the chance of the arrow actually hitting that vital point.

She looked up and saw that Medeia was the source of the arrow. Leona frowned again at the sight of the angelic archer. While the latter could pose a threat, Leona decided to focus her efforts on dealing with the murderous maid so that she could eliminate the ground threat first. Whether that would prove to be a smart decision or not was up in the air, but she could always call in airborne summons to deal with Medeia should the latter prove to be a greater threat than she was first assessed to be.

Deciding to use her Meteor Jump Kick technique, Leona faced Armina and jumped straight up into the air, then at the height of her jump extended her right foot diagonally downward and descended with the foot aimed at Armina's torso. As the Wizard Saint descended her entire body began to emit a silver aura. Using the kick was dangerous because its primary shortcoming was that jumping straight up into the air was an obvious sign that the blonde was about to act.

Another shortcoming was that whether the kick landed or not she would be left in melee range of the intended target. The final problem was that the kick might miss because Leona was not in the best emotional state to aim carefully and Armina might be able to dodge it in time. Right now that did not matter too much to Leona. She wanted Armina out of the fight and she wanted the maid out of the fight as soon as possible so that she could deal with Medeia without any interference from her murderous maid.

[Post Word Count: 726]
[Leona's Word Count: 18,254]
[Total Word Count: 36,484]

Techniques Used:

There was no real surprise in the face of the maid as her attack missed the target. It had been an obvious and deliberate strike, meant as a way of getting the blood flowing and her adrenaline going again. As much as she enjoyed Medeia’s rather unusual way of doing battle, it resulted in a struggle to keep the momentum going. The purple haired maid would have to get psyched up again now but thankfully for her, one look at Leona’s face was enough to accomplish that feat. She still desired to smash the blonde’s face in, even if Medeia did not and the duel had become rather personal for the busty axe wielder. It had been between herself and the Silver Wolf mage for the most part since the start pretty much and she probably had more of a personal stake in the duel than her dark haired Mistress.

Leona was soon enough on the attack again, leaping into the air, before descending quickly down towards the waiting maid. Armina did not have much time to think of anything flashy and so she decided to face it head on. She surrounded her axe with her magic and slashed upwards, resulting in a powerful clash as the two forces met. The ground beneath her rumbled due to the force of it and eventually, despite Armina’s efforts, Leona managed to break through and knock the maid backwards a good distance. The warrior remained standing but she had taken some damage, her uniform once again torn, the defensive spell of her Mistress now fading away. For a moment, it seemed that the spell had run out but the maid put pay to that theory as she spoke. “I will fight with my own power from now on. Thank you for your protection, Mistress.”

Above the fighting pair, Medeia would raise an eyebrow at Armina’s declaration, momentarily considering whether she would agree with her decision or not. There was nothing stopping her from simply casting another defensive spell on her maid anyway and it would keep her in the fight for a great deal longer. In the end though, she reasoned that it was Armina’s decision to make and so she made no further attempt to boost her powers, instead focusing on herself. She replied with a small smile. “Very well but do not come crying to me about your wounds later.”

“I do not cry.” Armina briefly pouted, before moving forward towards the silent blonde, her axe screaming for blood once again. She focused on her dislike for the blonde, despising the fact that Leona repressed her emotions so strongly. Her Mistress had always taught her to say what you feel and act upon your impulses, which was exactly the opposite of this woman. The maid wondered how one could even live as the blonde did, a blank void who struggled to get the slightest hint of emotion out. She would be saddened by it if it was not so pathetic and the guardswoman was disgusted. As she charged in, she would leap into the air, similar as to how Leona did previously and come down towards her, again trying to cut her in two. It was almost as if she was making a mockery of Leona’s last ability.

Watching what was going on still, Medeia would pause her shooting and instead open her mouth and sing, sending waves of magical energy towards the blonde below. It would sound like a beautiful melody, an almost hypnotic song that would try and ensnare the woman’s mind. It was one of many skills that Medeia possessed which attacked the mind and as her will fought against Leona’s, she would try and instill one simple command.

To stay where she was, as the maid came down towards her.

(633 Words)
(18863 Med WC)
(37117 TWC)

Leona had taken a gamble when she used her Meteor Jump Kick technique. It descended on a diagonal trajectory and she had expected Armina to either swat her out of the air with her ax or predict where Leona was going to land, dodge the kick, and attack when the blonde was recovering from the missed kick. Armina stood her ground and made a powerful ax swing in an attempt to knock the Wizard Saint out of the air and possibly deliver a crippling injury while she was at it, but to the blonde's surprise she had managed to power through the weapon strike and hit the target. Leona landed on her left foot first followed by her right and felt a noticeable flare of pain in her left leg.

Armina was sent backwards a fair distance but remained on her feet, which was fine with the Wizard Saint. The Meteor Jump Kick had dealt both a hit to the maid's torso and had damaged her clothing a bit, a result which was mildly amusing to Leona. Normally the blonde was the one who tended to take clothing damage in fights, but right now her outfit was mostly intact. That probably would not last, though. Armina and Medeia had been handed a big hint that the blonde disliked the thought of showing skin and Leona would not put it past them for them to try to damage her outfit to humiliate her further and make another attack on her mental state.

Leona shoved that unpleasant thought aside to listen to the exchange between Armina and Medeia. The maid had requested that no further boons be granted to her and Medeia agreed but made it clear that she was not responsible for what happened as a result of that decision. Armina agreed to those terms and leaped into the air to perform a leaping strike aimed at the Wizard Saint. Leona prepared to dodge the incoming attack with either a backflip or a jump backwards when she heard singing and paused.

Why was there singing?

Was someone singing or was she closer to losing her grip on reality than she realized?

Leona looked up and saw that the source of the singing was not in her head but rather Medeia. Again the dark-haired mage had attacked from above while the blonde was distracted. Leona saw the visible waves of magic heading for her and quickly did a backflip to avoid them, landing just outside the range of the waves. However, Leona's left leg chose that moment to betray her and nearly force her to one knee. She staggered backwards four steps and stood awkwardly in place, unable to attack because of the pain.

She must have put too much pressure on her left leg with the landing after the Meteor Jump Kick.

That was what Leona got for attacking blindly without paying attention to her physical condition.

However, Leona had no choice but to keep attacking. She needed to get rid of Armina fast because the longer the fight dragged on the bigger the advantage that Medeia would hold when the maid was finally defeated.

[Post Word Count: 524]
[Leona's Word Count: 18,778]
[Total Word Count: 37,641]

The maid was rather annoyed that even with her Mistress attacking too, she was unable to deal anymore damage to the blonde. It was not as though she was surprised, it just bugged her slightly. Even without Medeia’s protection, Armina felt relatively confident at that point and was eager to keep up the pressure against Leona. What the axe wielder lacked in variety, she made up for in vigour and brute force, both of which she knew were vital in defeating the powerful Guild Mistress. Yes, the thoughts of victory were beginning to enter her mind. Perhaps she could survive until the end of the fight and get to witness every moment of the clash. So often did she fall before the end and it irritated her just a bit. It was always lovely to hear about their victories after the fact but it would be nice for her to actually be present for the entire affair.

Leona did reveal a sign of weakness though, as she made no effort to attack the maid again and instead remained where she was. Well, the purple haired woman had no issue with that and sprinted forwards once again to try and carve the blonde in two. The angel would not stop until she was forced to regenerate, which would inevitably bring the end of her role in the fight but until that happened or she and her Mistress won, she would continue to swing, hoping to score the decisive hit. The adrenaline was flowing so strongly within her and the look in her eyes were blazing with blood lust once again. Her blow would take the form of a low sweep, attempting to exploit the blonde Guild Mistresses wounded leg. There was blood in the water alright and that certainly caused her to feel a stronger buzz.

Flying above the pair like a circling bird of prey was the witch, watching and waiting for the right moment to strike again at the wounded neutral mage. The scent of blood was affecting Medeia as well, given her magical connection to the lovely crimson liquid. Her musical attack had not seemed to have done any damage but she could have sworn that for a couple of moments, Leona had been distracted. Perhaps it had been more successful than she had thought?

Refraining from attacking for the moment although her bow was still in her hands, she would decide to strike at the woman’s mind again instead. “I could not help but notice that when I mentioned the idea of going after someone close to you, your expression darkened rather swiftly. You have aroused my curiosity, my dear and I so desperately wish to meet the person who is able to affect you in such a way. They must be truly special. Since you are obviously not going to tell me who they are, I will have to find the answer out for myself, meaning a thorough interrogation of all the lovely ladies in your guild.” It was both a threat and an attempt at trying to gain information from her opponent. She had no idea if this person, should there even be one, was even a woman but the Warlord had a hunch and had learned many years ago to follow through with them.

(550 Words)
(19413 Med WC)
(38191 TWC)

Leona had dodged the last few attacks from her enemies, but her left leg was still hurting her. So was her mind. Medeia had skillfully played the Wizard Saint like a kazoo with the cat person trick from earlier and had played on the Wizard Saint's worst failure to reduce the blonde's ability to fight... or at least fight with a real plan. Now Medeia was threatening all of Silver Wolf's female members just to keep Leona in a bad mental state.

What was it that Medeia got out of wanton destruction?

Why was she so eager to destroy places and people?

Leona did not have time to ask because Armina moved in and made a strike aimed at Leona's left leg, employing a low sweep to either hit her or make her stumble back and lose her balance. Leona managed to step back just in time to avoid it, but she stumbled back and nearly lost her balance in doing so. She stumbled back three steps and almost fell over, visibly wobbling in place for a few moments before finally regaining her balance for the time being. However, her body was not the only thing that was obviously off-balance.

Her mental state was too.

"LEAVE THEM OUT OF THIS!" Leona shouted at Medeia in reference to the earlier threat to go after Silver Wolf's female members. It was an obvious cheap shot, but the blonde could not help but to take the bait. She was supposed to be the primary protector of the guild and its members and the cheap shot was tailored towards the blonde's sense of responsibility.

Mercury Arsenault was almost as strong as Leona and was definitely a lot smarter than her, so the Guild Ace would likely be able to give Medeia a good fight if the Warlord went after her. However, as tough and capable as they were, Aspen, Lehanna, Elara, and Masha might not be quite strong enough to fend off Medeia by themselves. Leona was particularly worried about Masha because the redhead was the guild member she was the closest to.

Leona would need more than strong words to make Medeia reconsider her threat. It was time to call in some help from a few old friends. Leona channeled magic into her body and raised her hands to the sky.

"O THREE SISTERS OF UNRIVALED MIGHT, GRANT ME YOUR POWER IN THIS FIGHT!" Leona chanted aloud. Once the chant was complete a giant tornado formed around Leona... neither Armina nor Medeia would be hurt by it if they were caught in it because it was just an effect of the summon spell, not an attack in itself. However, what came out of it would hurt them if given the chance.

The Furies were deposited in a triangular formation around Leona and stood up in unison. Armina and Medeia would see a red-haired woman, a blue-haired woman, and an orange-haired woman. The red-haired one was named Tisiphone, the blue-haired one was named Alecto, and Megeara was the orange-haired one... not that it mattered what their names were once they took to the sky and went after her targets.

"GO AFTER THE FLYING WOMAN!" Leona instructed them telepathically. The three Furies went airborne without a word, jumping straight up into the air and taking flight to begin ascending towards Medeia. Once her summons were airborne Leona turned her attention to Armina and took a deep breath.

Leona drew her Silver Longsword and rushed towards Armina, stopping once she was within range and swinging in a downward right-to-left diagonal slash aimed across Armina's body. if she acted quickly enough Armina might be able to dodge the strike or defend against it in another way. Either way Leona was going to be close to her opponent when the strike was finished and that was not a good place to be, but she could not afford to be passive any longer.

Spells Used:

[Post Word Count: 654]
[Leona's Word Count: 19,432]
[Total Word Count: 38,845]

There was a smile that crossed that witch’s face as Leona once again screamed at her, seeming to confirm what Medeia had been pondering about. It was becoming so easy for the Warlord to read her opponent at this stage, now that the blonde’s rock hard exterior had crumbled. There was a softer centre within this woman after all, it was just rather difficult to get to. Again, the Warlord silently praised whoever it was who had managed to sweep the Guild Mistress off her feet, so to speak and Medeia’s desire to encounter them was growing. Now, Medeia was certain that there was a special someone in her opponent's life and considering her last outburst, it apparently was a woman. So much the better, in the obsessive raven haired woman’s opinion. This was going to be an entertaining hunt and Medeia was going to make sure that the blonde would regret her decision in coming to Hargeon’s aid, in every way possible.

“Guild members, family, that special someone in your life. I have told you already that no one will be exempt and I am not one for idle words. I will make sure to leave a space on my bedroom wall for all the pictures, as I am certain that there will be plenty of them by the time I am done. It amuses me to see you crumble in such a way and I cannot help but wonder how you will react when you have no one left to defend. You cannot protect everyone Leona and I will strike at the weakest link.” Her tone was mischievous but underneath there was just a hint of malice. Leona might have believed that she was simply fighting another dark mage but Medeia oh so much more than that.

It seemed that Leona had another trick up her sleeve, one that was rather different from any that she had used before. A tornado of wind would briefly surround her foe, before revealing a trio of lovely clawed harpies, much to the delight of the witch. The Warlord was definitely not going to complain about having an additional trio of beauties to fight and as the three of them flew up towards her, Medeia tapped into her magic. An enormous tornado of sand erupted up from the ground, covering the entirety of the area around the mage in horribly cutting sand, it would attack any open orifices, not to mention shred at the clothes and bodies of any enemies struck. Not only that but it would affect the vision of her foes too if the witch was lucky and with her spell aiding her, Medeia would then use her bow once again and fire an arrow towards the closest fury to her, one whose hair was a lovely shade of blue.

While Medeia was busy playing around the furies, Armina had her own issues, as Leona came forward with her sword and lashed out with a powerful attack. The maid would manage to block it with her axe, resulting in a few moments where the two physically strong women would be rather close, before she thrust the two weapons downwards, resulting in the two ending up with their faces inches from each other. The purple haired woman would take the opportunity to throw another jibe at her emotionally fragile foe. “Who would have thought that even your heart could be thawed by the touch of a pretty girl? If you are lucky, Medeia and I might return her to you unharmed once we have finished with her.”

With her verbal attack made, Armina would then break the deadlock and start to spin in a circle, kicking off a dance of death with her axe that would slice through the blonde if she was not careful. Given Leona’s swiftness, the attack was hardly impossible to avoid but rather painful if struck by.

(650 Words)
(20063 Med WC)
(39495 TWC)

Leona did not dignify Medeia's spiel with a response. She had already said too much and Medeia had gleaned from what had been said that the object of Leona's affection was one of Silver Wolf's female members. Leona should have known better than to fly off the handle, but knowing and doing were two separate things. The blonde had been surprised by the cat person trick and her mental state was still in disarray because that trick had expertly played on the worst day of her life, a day of her life that was even worse than being exiled from her home village when she was sixteen.

Even if Leona were inclined to try a witty retort a sandstorm that had been whipped up by Medeia put a stop to any attempt to speak to her dark-haired enemy. Leona closed her eyes and shielded her face with her left arm and when the storm subsided the left sleeve of her outfit was gone. Only a tiny bit of green just below her left shoulder was remaining, but Leona's Furies had gotten the worst of it.

Their hair had been blown violently about and they were not flying quite as straight as they had when they were ascending towards Medeia. Sand must have gotten in their eyes. She also noticed that their faces were a bit red from the coarse sand that had been blown about at high speed, but aesthetics was the least of their concerns. Medeia soon aimed and fired a shot from her bow directly at Alecto. The blue-haired member of the Furies must not have been able to see well enough to dodge the arrow because she was hit directly in the chest and paused in place before rapidly descending for a few moments, pitching towards the ground head-first.

She righted herself after a few moments, but from the pained and unsteady flapping it was obvious that the arrow had hurt her badly. Megeara and Tisiphone were not about to let the wound go without retribution and moved swiftly towards Medeia with the talons on their feet extended and aimed at the dark-haired mage. Megeara the orange-haired Fury was going for Medeia's right arm and Tisiphone the red-haired Fury was going for her chest in a staggered one-two combination attack. The dark-haired mage might be able to dodge the incoming attacks with speed or she might be able to withstand them if she had sufficiently durable armor or magical shielding.

Meanwhile Leona was busy contending with Armina, who had managed to block her Silver Longsword and force the blade down. While the pair were literally face-to-face the blonde expected Armina to try and kiss her for a reference to her relationship with another woman, but instead the maid delivered a remark about what might happen to the object of the blonde's affection. Leona was not going to let this one pass without comment.

"Yeah, another young woman likes me. Life's strange like that." Leona remarked about her getting into a relationship with another woman. She was about to remark on the second part when the maid whirled around and lashed out with her ax, cutting Leona's attempt at a rebuttal short and nearly cutting the blonde in half at the chest. Leona took a big jump back but felt the bite of the ax cut just below her chest, drawing blood and causing pain. At the end of her jump Leona wobbled for a moment and put her left hand to the wound for a few moments before pulling the hand away.

The wound hurt a lot and exposed a bit of skin, but Leona herself was still in one piece. Mostly. Her outfit looked a lot worse than she did... not only was it cut just below the chest, she was now bleeding onto it. The left sleeve was also almost completely missing from the sandstorm Medeia had produced.

Leona did not have time to lament the state of her clothing. She rushed over to Armina, paused when close enough to hit with her sword, and raised her Silver Longsword behind her head for a two-handed downward power chop. As she raised the sword the length of the sword's blade glowed bright silver and that glow was visible, so Medeia or Armina might get a clue that something big was about to happen if they paid enough attention.

When the ability was ready Leona brought the Silver Longsword down in a Silver Strike ability aimed at Armina's body. Armina might be able to block the Silver Strike with her ax or she might be able to dodge the blow with her speed. Leona would not be upset if the murderous maid managed to dodge the Silver Strike because she still had plenty of attacks to use.

[Post Word Count: 800]
[Leona's Word Count: 20,232]
[Total Word Count: 40,295]

Weapon Abilities Used:

“Do you honestly think that summoning a trio of pretty harpies is the ideal way of defeating me?” Medeia mused to herself aloud, knowing that Leona was unlikely to hear her due to the sandstorm. Still, the threesome were amusing in their own way and even though the Warlord was able to shoot one of them, the summon was strong enough to be able to survive, albeit having taken some severe damage. The dark haired woman was somewhat surprised by that, fully expecting to have one shot the creature but she was not annoyed and would simply have to try a little harder in order to get rid of them. There were many spells in the Guild Mistresses arsenal that she had yet to use and truthfully, the ones she had used were on the low side in terms of strength. She was toying around with Leona, as she had been the entire fight and there was little in the way of killing intent at this stage. Yes, the blonde had struck blows against her maid which caused her to feel an immense amount of irritation but Medeia just did not sense that killer instinct from the blonde woman, even when she was breaking mentally.

The harpies seemed to be the vengeful type, with both of the others charging towards Medeia swiftly, their talons outstretched. Medeia would simply raise an eyebrow though and create a wave of blood that would travel from her position towards the two summons. Again, it was not the most powerful spell in the angel’s arsenal but it had a couple effects. Those struck would not only be poisoned by the blood, resulting in taking damage over time but they’d also feel their physical and magical strength dropping. The spell could, of course, be dodged or evaded if the harpies were quick enough but if they were not, then they were in for a nasty surprise, as would Leona, if she was struck by it too. Blood was not an element that Medeia used all that often but it was as potent as any other that she could wield.

Armina, much to the maid’s surprise, had been able to land a blow on the blonde, resulting in a rather unpleasant wound to emerge. Naturally, all that did was egg the purple haired woman and give her quite the confidence boost. Even if she did lose to Leona, she would always have the memory of being able to cut her, one that she would cherish. To score such a strike on a Guild Mistress was something to be proud of and in a way, it helped ease the pain of her defeat to Kensho. She had not landed a strike on him back then and had been little more than a sitting duck. How times had changed.

“There is nothing wrong with finding love in your own locker room, as humans sometimes say.” The holy being replied, preparing herself to try and defend against whatever Leona had planned next, knowing full well that the blonde would return fire. “Treat her well, Mistress of Silver Wolf.”

Soon enough, the attack would come but unfortunately for the maid, she was a tad too slow in getting her axe up, resulting in her ending up with a painful gash in her shoulder. The force of the blow pushed her back as well, causing her to become momentarily unsteady. Waves of pain soon began to pulse through her body but rather than allow them to take over, Armina would instead use it to fight back against the blonde. Of course, the pain would make attacking difficult but Armina fuelled herself with anger and hate, as she had been taught. Moving in towards Leona once more, she would channel her magic power into her weapon and launch a massive swing towards her enemy, wanting to cut her in half.

(647 Words)
(20710 Med WC)
(40942 TWC)

When she had summoned them Leona was not banking on the Furies winning the fight for her. Medeia was much too powerful and intelligent to be defeated by summons, even if they were the most powerful summons Leona could call upon. The point was to make Medeia waste time and energy fighting her own side battle instead of getting to fly around and take shots at Leona while the Wizard Saint clashed with the murderous maid. However, Medeia had likely figured that simple tactic out and was doing her best to end the side battle before she got bogged down like Leona was currently bogged down with Armina.

Leona stole a glance upwards and saw a wave of blood heading for Tisiphone, Megeara, Alecto, and herself. Tisiphone and Megeara were already on a trajectory towards Medeia, so they were unable to dodge the wave and were hit by it. Alecto managed to dodge it by dropping altitude, but her earlier wound made it difficult to quickly regain altitude and it showed in her slow recovery. Leona managed to dodge with a last-second sidestep, but it had been a very close thing. She had been so busy watching the spectacle that she had almost forgotten to dodge it, which was not a smart move on the blonde's part... still, it was hard not to have her eye drawn to the dark-haired mage's use of blood as an attack.

Once the flying blood wave had been dodged she turned her attention back to Armina before she paid for her lapse in concentration with an ax to the body or the head. When she faced the maid Leona expected to be facing an ax already descending on her, but she was met with something else. She was met with words from the maid that had an ambiguous meaning but nevertheless were not what she expected to hear, especially not when they were busy trying to kill each other.

Leona's mental state was so disorganized that she did not meet the words with a physical or verbal counterattack. She was not sure whether the statement was meant to be a jab or was a genuine piece of advice. Either one was possible. Leona was not the most intelligent mage alive and she was inconsistent when it came to thinking things all the way through.

"I will." Leona said to Armina without anger or sarcasm. This was a fine time for Leona to be feeling emotion. She had already fallen prey to one emotional sucker punch, but in her defense it was a very powerful one that was based on her greatest failure. She did not need to fall prey to another and leave herself open for an attack, one that might tip the scales in favor of Medeia and Armina.

However, it was hard to deny that getting into a relationship with Masha was something that had changed Leona.

Leona focused on the maid again and watched her go on the offensive, swinging the ax in an attack that would hurt more than a little if it connected. The Wizard Saint performed two backflips in a row, landing from the first one and performing the second just in time to avoid being cut. Her left leg was feeling somewhat better, but she had better not try anything fancy like a Meteor Jump Kick or Tornado Kick until it had recovered enough to support such stunts.

When she recovered she rushed in with her Silver Longsword and stopped, then lashed out with a two-handed right-to-left horizontal swing aimed at Armina's torso. It lacked the power of Armina's most recent attack, but Leona was going to try and keep pressure on Armina by keeping close to her instead of hanging back and letting the maid dictate the pace of the fight.

Armina could dodge the sword swing with her speed or block it altogether if she reacted quickly enough. Whether the swing hit or not Leona would have to be careful. She was in her enemy's preferred range and both of them knew it.

[Post Word Count: 678]
[Leona's Word Count: 20,910]
[Total Word Count: 41,620]

Again, her spell had been successful and Medeia was pleased with the results for the most part. Yes, the three harpies were still in the fight but all of them had now taken a fair amount of damage. One more powerful attack from the Warlord might have been enough to remove them but in a way, the dark haired woman was not in that much of a rush, as she found the creatures rather amusing. She would toy around with them until the time came to finish them off and with that thought in mind, the Guild Mistress would take her bow in hand once more and unleash an arrow towards Alecto, deciding to focus her first attack upon the weakest of the three. Her arrows were fairly powerful although noticeably average compared to many of Medeia’s spells. Since the other two harpies were already reeling from her previous spell, Medeia would then repeat the attack, launching a purple coloured arrow in the direction of each of the other harpies. They could be dodged or blocked but would leave a nasty sting if they connected. Yet, one look at Medeia would be proof that she was not taking the three all that seriously. They were just the appetisers for her inevitable one on one fight with Leona, where she would then unleash her more potent attacks. As patient as she was though, the witch did not force the action, keeping the battle at her own rather steady pace.

Her maid, on the other hand, was anything but patient and there was a look of irritation on the purple haired woman’s face as Leona again evaded her attack. The pain in her shoulder was still there and the axe wielder was beginning to feel it more as the fight wore on. Yet, she would not call on her Mistress for aid, the desire to fight by herself still there and instead she would simply focus on the pain, channelling it into strength, while imagining what she wished to do to the one who hurt her. Anger was her Mistresses domain and Armina had come to think of it in the same way as Medeia did. It was simply another source of fuel, one that could be used to ignite one's power and natural instincts. She would dig down deep and use every drop of it to cut the blonde woman before her to pieces or at least that was the aim. A part of her knew that Medeia would not like that result, knowing that the elder angel would desire the blonde alive but the maid had her own mind and right now, it was screaming at her to beat her foe to a pulp.

Leona soon charged back in to deliver another strike and Armina brought her axe up to block her opponents, resulting in another momentary test of strength as the two weapons clashed against each other. Her foe's blow did not seem to be all that strong but the maid doubted that was because of tiredness or anything like that. The Guild Mistress probably had enough stamina to fight for days and Armina was under no illusion about that. Still, it gave the maid some confidence and a smile crossed her face, before she swiftly broke the weapon lock and attempted to slam her axe into the ground again in order to release a shockwave. There was time to evade or dodge of course but it was a fairly potent ability and could knock the blonde back if she was not careful. Honestly, the maid was simply enjoying herself now, her smile growing by the moment. Her lust for carnage and battle was growing once more.

(618 Words)
(21328 Med WC)
(42238 TWC)

Tisiphone and Megeara had been hit by the wave of blood that Medeia had generated and were not looking very good. Alecto managed to dodge the arrow by deliberately losing altitude at the last moment, but it was clear that she was struggling to regain it once the arrow had passed. Alecto still kept going and managed to regain the lost altitude through great effort, but it was obvious that the effort had caused no small amount of distress because her face showed pain and her flapping was a bit slower. Leona looked up and had a choice to make.

Did she let them keep soaking up Medeia's attacks and keep occupying her attention or did she have them use Triad Beam in an effort to strike the Warlord while they still could?

Leona opted for the latter. The trio managed to dodge the arrows that had been sent their way with Alecto dropping altitude and Tisiphone and Megeara following suit, but Medeia had come painfully close to hitting them. The arrows passed by their heads by a very slim margin when the Furies had dodged the projectiles, a fact which made Leona feel justified in having them use their combination attack while they were still active.

"Form up and use Triad Beam! Aim for Medeia!" Leona telepathically instructed the Furies. Medeia would see the other two Furies unite with Alecto at roughly Medeia's level and assume a vertical triangular formation with Tisiphone at the top, Megeara in the left corner, and Alecto in the right corner. The trio then began combining their magic and it corresponded with their hair colors... Tisiphone produced red, Megeara made orange, and Alecto made blue. When the attack was ready the trio fired a triangular beam of red, blue, and orange magic at Medeia.

Medeia would likely get a hint that an attack was coming her way when the trio had formed up and would get another hint when they began combining their magic. When the Triad Beam had been fired there was a chance she could dodge it because the Furies had not been totally level with her when they had prepared the Triad Beam. Medeia might also be able to block it with a strong enough shield or armor if she could not dodge it.

Leona had briefly considered using Triad Beam to break the stalemate with Armina, but the situation was not bad enough to deliberately direct the attacks of her summons into her area yet. She could handle Armina herself, but that was going to be a challenge since the maid had proven more durable than the Wizard Saint had first thought and she could not use Silver Tempest or Razor Tornado to try and end the fight without causing a lot of property damage. Leona could not risk that.

Armina had not waited for the blonde to decide what to do and sent out a shockwave that raced towards Leona. Leona was able to dodge it by jumping straight up, but like the past several times she had dodged the maid's attacks, it had been a close one. The shockwave passed harmlessly under her feet and she landed on them with only a slight wobble to the left that Armina could probably see if she were paying attention. Her left leg was almost back to normal, but she had better not count on it to withstand any really stressful acrobatics just yet.

Moments after landing Leona did not waste much time standing around. She would only have a brief opening to attack before Armina attacked again and Leona was trying to not let the murderous maid control the pace of the fight. Armina was no run-of-the-mill opponent and it was apparent that she had plenty of fighting experience. Leona had quite a bit of combat experience herself, but with a few exceptions she had faced opponents who were outclassed by her speed and power, so she had difficulty facing enemies of equal power and speed.

Leona quickly sprinted towards Armina, then stopped in hand-to-hand range and channeled magic into her left arm and fist. When she was ready she used her Hurricane Punch technique, firing a flurry of fifteen punches aimed at the maid's torso. Armina would see the technique as Leona's left arm moving so fast it was a blur as the latter punched. Each individual punch was not very strong, but she was attempting to catch Armina by surprise with a flurry of them.

Despite the display of high-speed punching the Hurricane Punch was not guaranteed to hit. Leona was punching with her left hand because her right hand currently held her Silver Longsword, so accuracy was likely to be a little lower because of that alone. Armina could also dodge the Hurricane Punch with her speed or simply block it if she could react fast enough or had strong enough armor to withstand it. Closing in to punch the ax-wielding maid was far from Leona's smartest idea, but she needed to keep taking some risks if she wanted to break the stalemate.

[Post Word Count: 846]
[Leona's Word Count: 21,756]
[Total Word Count: 43,084]

Summon Active Abilities Used:

Techniques Used:

The harpies were rather durable and the angel was amused that they had managed to last as long as they had done against her. She was, of course, doing little more than just testing their strength and the fact that she had refrained from using any of her more powerful spells against them was testament to that. As it was, she saw no reason to strike them with anything more as it stood and until they were capable of forcing her into doing so, she would simply continue to use her weaker spells. There was no real malice in her purple hues and the smile on her face was more playful than malicious. It would appear as though she was simply toying around with the three summons and that was a fair assessment. Medeia was curious to see them unleash their more potent attacks though and she was more than prepared to throw up a defence or counter if the time came. For the moment, there was simply no need for that, due to the fact that one of them was already rather badly damaged.

That was until the three of them decided to perform some kind of spell together, with the trio taking on a triangular formation and beginning to channel their powers in synchronisation. A combination attack by the looks of it and as the three charged up and released the blast, Medeia would raise a hand and begin to chant in the same language that she had before, resulting in an armour of blood to form around her body. It was the same defence that she had used to protect Armina with earlier although now that it was around the Warlord herself, it would be rather more potent. With her armour in place, there would be a collision of her immense defence against the potent attack from the furies, resulting in a brief flash of magical energy that would leave the result of the attack in a state of mystery.

Yet when the magic did fade, Medeia still remained in mid air although she had been pushed back a fair bit by the blast. It had been a decent attack and enough to awaken the witch from her toying for a moment or two. She should have expected the trio to be able to conjure up such power, given the strength of their summoner and Medeia’s response was to create a dark sphere of energy, before she launched it towards the summons. Whether it struck one or not, it would eventually explode, dealing heavy damage to those struck, not to mention the surroundings. It was the Warlord’s form of receipt for the summons' previous attack.

Armina, meanwhile, was slowly beginning to tire, the wound from her shoulder having an effect on her axe craft. She believed that she had performed admirably so far and had lasted far longer than the purple maid had expected. To go toe to toe with a Wizard Saint was the ultimate thrill or at least, that was how she felt right now. Leona was clearly the stronger but the axe wielder had managed to harness her courage and fear, using them to fuel her power and keep herself in the fight. Win or lose, she would remember this fight and would thoroughly enjoy recalling it for her fellow maids back at the guild castle. It was a battle of pride and one that she wished to continue, until she was completely spent.

Leona dodged her attack again as Armina had assumed she would and was soon enough back on the attack, delivering a barrage of left handed punches that were incredibly swift. In truth, they were too swift and all she could do was turtle up, using her axe to try and defend herself. A few of the punches struck her arms and axe but a number of them hit more sensitive spots, striking her in the stomach, which resulted in a painful gasp. She was durable and did not fall but they certainly stung. Given the close proximity, it was difficult for her to use her axe so she allowed herself to be knocked back, before channelling her magical energy into her axe and spinning around with another bleeding slice. She was not going to let a few punches be the end of her. That would be shameful to both herself and her Mistress.

(733 Words)
(22061 Med WC)
(43817 TWC)

Leona stole a glance at the aerial action and watched Medeia's response to the Furies' Triad Beam. To her surprise it managed to hit the Dark Mage, but when the combatants became visible again after a momentary but powerful blinding flash the attack had been far from enough to end the threat of the Warlord thanks to the latter using a powerful defensive spell to protect herself from the full power of the Triad Beam. Leona was impressed by the Warlord's ability to quickly raise potent defenses... that was something Leona had to respect regardless of how grudging that respect was.

Medeia soon fired back at the Furies with an energy ball. Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megeara were able to dodge a direct hit with their speed, but as it turned out, a direct hit was not needed to harm them. The sphere went off with a powerful blast and all three furies were caught in the blast radius. Alecto vanished into thin air with a scream to mark her "passing" from this world while Tisiphone and Megeara were still alive but were so badly hurt that one more hit would be able to eliminate them.

Leona frowned at Alecto's "passing." While the Wizard Saint could revive any of her summons by casting the appropriate spell she decided against it because Alecto had done her job in diverting Medeia's attention from the action below. The remaining two Furies would have to stay out there and keep the Warlord's attention occupied just a bit longer, at least until Leona could deal with Armina.

Speaking of Armina, the maid had taken several hits from the Hurricane Punch and had been knocked backwards a short distance. She was not on the back foot for long; the murderous maid soon tried to strike back with a graceful whirling slash with the ax aimed at the Wizard Saint. Leona, who was aware that time was not on her side, took a jump back but was too slow to entirely avoid the ax because when she landed she felt warmth on her stomach and looked down to see blood running down a cut that had cut away more of her outfit, exposing more of her midriff. Leona put her left hand to it and looked at Armina.

Leona was starting to feel the temptation to let go of her self-imposed restraints and attempt to defeat Armina with a Silver Tempest. The blonde had held back for too long. She needed to end this fight so that she could enter the imminent clash with Medeia with as much momentum as possible. Silver Tempest was one of Leona's most powerful spells, but with that power came the potential for a lot of property damage because it was also one of her few crowd control spells.

If she cast it she could destroy a lot of Hargeon Town.

Leona shoved down the urge to use it... for now, anyway. The urge would always be present throughout the fight and she would have to fight it for the sake of everyone in Hargeon Town. She focused on Armina and resolved to keep using what was working and take the fight to her. Leona crouched down and used a Zephyr Dash to close the distance with the ax-wielding maid. When she reappeared within punching or kicking distance of the maid Leona had to act fast before her opponent seized the initiative... Armina had likely picked up on Leona's tendency to close the distance with a Zephyr Dash before following up with another spell or technique.

Leona took a split-second to think about what she was going to do and decided to use the Sky Hammer technique, one she had not used in years. Earlier Armina had tried to limit Leona's mobility by hurting her left leg. Now Leona was going to attempt to limit Armina's ability to wield her ax by attacking one of her shoulders.

Leona quickly raised her right leg above her head and held it in place for a few moments, trusting that her left leg would be able to support her body weight for the time it took to execute the Sky Hammer technique. When it was ready Leona brought her right heel down, aiming towards Armina's shoulder with an ax kick. The intent was to use a technique the maid had not seen yet to try and deal a powerful blow to the maid's shoulder.

While Leona was using her right leg for the Sky Hammer and that would give it a little more accuracy, there was still no guarantee that it would hit. Armina might have anticipated a close-range technique and could react to avoid it if she was fast enough. She could also block it with the ax, armor, or a defensive spell if she had one.

Regardless of whether the Sky Hammer hit or not the Wizard Saint was going to do her best to keep the pressure on Armina. As tough as the latter was, even she had to have a breaking point.

[Post Word Count: 840]
[Leona's Word Count: 22,596]
[Total Word Count: 44,657]

Spells Used:

Techniques Used:

It did not seem that the three summons were able to avoid her attack this time around and Medeia smiled as the already weakened one screamed, before vanishing into nothingness. The other two had clearly taken heavy damage as well, which brought a great deal of satisfaction to the dark mage.and as she tapped into her repertoire of spells once again, the purple haired woman would appear ready to try and deliver the killing blow to the remaining harpies. They had fought well and although they had not harmed Medeia, they had amused her, which was enough for the Warlord to feel at the least the slightest semblance of respect towards them. It was unfortunate in a way that they were summons rather than normal beings, as the Guild Mistress would have quite happily taken one with her as a prize, yet that was impossible and so the ancient being had no other choice but to send them home. Perhaps if she was successful in actually capturing Leona then she would be able to charm her into summoning them later although that was most likely wishful thinking on Medeia’s part. The blonde was not going to crack that easily, despite how effective the witch could be at breaking another when she wished to do so.

Tapping into her magic once again, Medeia would release a group of blood bats that would chase both the harpies and Leona if she was in range. They were not the most deadly of her creations but if they managed to score a bite then they would poison and infect whoever was struck with a nasty blood virus that would cause damage over time. Not only that but they would find their movement speed lowering too, an unpleasant combination of effects for those who were struck by the disgusting jaws of the bats. For the weakened summons though, they could prove to be the final nail in the coffin if the two beautiful creations were not careful. Medeia, however, remained relatively untroubled by the possibility of them surviving though, as it would just mean that she would be able to toy around with them for a little longer, which was a pleasant enough thought.

Armina was also smiling, as she managed to score another hit with her axe, causing a streak of blood to flow from her opponent. It did wonders for her ever increasing confidence and the red eyed maid was fully in the thick of the battle now. She was loving every blow and counter blow, revelling in the carnage that was occurring. The fact that she was taking damage barely seemed to register with her now, believing it to be little more than just an annoyance. She was just as determined now, as ever, to continue to fight and even when Leona dashed in again and delivered a powerful kick down towards her shoulder, there was little in the way of fear in Armina’s gaze. That time had passed.

Unfortunately, she was unable to get out of the way quickly enough and Leona’s leg came down on Armina’s already damaged shoulder, resulting in a pained grunt escaping her lips. She did not go down but it was a potent attack none the less, one that had clearly done some damage. The effect of the weapon would soon reveal itself, as Armina would attempt to counter with a rather clumsy strike, aimed rather awkwardly towards her opponent. It was not one of her best though and would be rather easy to evade.

(589 Words)
(22650 Med WC)
(45246 TWC)

Like she had done several times before Leona stole a glance up at the aerial conflict going on above her and saw that her two remaining Furies were faring poorly. Medeia had cast a spell that fired some bats made out of blood at the Furies and her. Leona managed to evade the one singling her out with a timely jump to the left followed by a timely duck that caused it to barely miss her head and fly left on a downward course before hitting the ground. Her summons were not so lucky.

Tisiphone managed to dodge the bat chasing her with a sudden diagonal dive, but Megeara was too slow to react and was hit in the torso by the bat. That proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back because the orange-haired Fury disappeared with a scream, leaving Tisiphone alone against Medeia. Seeing that made Leona upset with herself for not defeating Armina faster so that she could help her summons. As it stood Tisiphone would have to stay on the field so that she could keep Medeia's attention a little while longer.

"Tisiphone, attack Medeia!" Leona telepathically ordered the last Fury. The redhead did not need much prompting because she quickly regained enough altitude to be level with Medeia, then gained a little more before descending in a diagonal power dive towards the Warlord with the talons on her feet extended. Tisiphone was aiming for Medeia's torso, but Leona was not sure if the attack would hit... Medeia was rather fast and could likely dodge the diving attack with ease. Even if the attack did connect Leona was not sure how much harm it could do: if Medeia could endure Triad Beam without difficulty then it was likely that a talon attack would be a mild inconvenience, if it could even be that.

The blonde focused her attention back on the murderous maid, who had taken quite a hit from the Sky Hammer technique.

That hit was not nearly enough because Armina lashed out with her ax in an effort to cut Leona again, but this time the Wizard Saint was ready. Fueled by adrenaline and something else, Leona backflipped out of the way and landed on her feet. She made eye contact with the maid and felt a push on her mind that caused the Wizard Saint to feel another surge of adrenaline along with something else, something the blonde had been denying for a long time.

Leona had been holding back too much for too long because she was afraid of becoming nothing but a green-eyed monster who solved all of her problems with violence. She had wanted to do something other than fight. She had wanted to help the world by protecting the innocent and trying to avoid solving every problem with violence, but by holding back she had only ended up causing harm to others. The Ishgar Symposium was incontrovertible proof of what her holding back had cost herself and others. Countless innocent people were dead and Leona was mentally scarred and filled with guilt and shame because she had been too afraid to do what needed to be done.

Leona took a quiet breath as she squeezed the grip of the Silver Longsword in her right hand. If Armina looked closely she could see a flash of guilt and shame on Leona's face before the latter began to come to terms with what she needed to do to defeat Armina. There was no need for the amateur scientist and the barely competent administrator. There was no need for the Wizard Saint who wanted to help the world.

What was needed now was the green-eyed monster she had been denying.

Leona looked at Armina for a few moments before twirling the Silver Longsword around in her hand and sprinting towards her. There was no screaming, no dramatic vows to defeat her opponent, and no sudden change in appearance. Leona sprinted towards her enemy in silence and stopped when she was withing sword range. The Wizard Saint used her weapon's Silver Strike ability, causing the sword's blade to glow silver as she raised the weapon and brought it behind her head while holding it in a two-handed grip.

When the Silver Strike was ready Leona brought her Silver Longsword down in a two-handed power chop aimed at Armina's right shoulder. Leona had found a weakness to strike and she was going to strike at it for all she was worth. Even though doing that made her predictable the maid could not protect herself forever. However, just because she had found a weak point did not mean that she was going to be able to successfully strike it.

The Silver Strike descended along a predictable trajectory, a fact which might allow Armina to dodge the incoming sword attack or block it if she could react quickly enough. If she had any armor or a defensive shield that allowed her to endure the Silver Strike she could use that to withstand the attack. Whatever the outcome of the Silver Strike Leona was not going to stop attacking until her current opponent was defeated.

[Post Word Count: 860]
[Leona's Word Count: 23,456]
[Total Word Count: 46,106]

Weapon Abilities Used:

They were dropping like flies now and it appeared that Leona’s last summon probably did not have much left in the tank either. The time had come for the witch to finish her game with the harpies and the dark haired woman had no doubt that one final attack would be enough to eliminate the final one. Given the circumstances, they had fought admirably and Medeia felt just the slightest amount of respect for the trio, especially the redhead that had managed to survive until now. The Warlord’s knowledge of summoning was potent enough for her to understand that it was Leona;s strength that the harpies had relied on and it spoke volumes about the blonde woman’s power. There was no denying the Silver Wolf members strength and even as she fought with the harpies, Medeia could detect that her maid was struggling greatly now. Armina would not last much longer and although the angel wished to aid her companion, she knew that it was not what the purple haired warrior wished, so she refrained. The Guild Mistress had always respected her maid’s courage, if not her intelligence.

As the final harpy dived down to attack her, Medeia would surround her fist with flame and launch a powerful punch in response, resulting in a plume of fire that would deal severe damage to the winged creature on impact if she was not careful. The angel could have easily deflected it with her armour spell but the time had come for the dark mage to make a move and there was no further time for games. It would soon be time for her to face Leona alone and she would rather not have the flying summons causing her any irritation when the time came. It was time to finish them off and move on to the main attraction of this little skirmish.

Her words were accurate in regards to her maid, as the purple haired woman was panting rather heavily now. Armina was beginning to struggle and just wielding her axe was becoming difficult due to the damage she had received. The guard could feel her energy dropping by the second and she knew that her rage and adrenaline would only keep her going for so long. Again, Leona had evaded her attack and was already on the way back towards her, a look of silent fury across her features. Oddly enough, it was a look that Armina had seen cross Medeia’s face from time to time, when the playfulness faded away and the Warlord’s anger bubbled to the surface. It was an expression that could send a shiver down the spine of the strongest person and Armina could feel that sensation now. Leona was going all out now.

Desperately, the maid would bring her axe up in order to defend herself from the powerful sword strike but the blow was so potent that it actually broke Armina’s weapon and resulted in a horrible scream of pain to escape the guard as the attack connected with her wounded shoulder, causing angelic blood to spill once more. Her weapon was broken, her body was battered and the shock of it all snapped her out of her rage. She had fought valiantly but in the end, it had made no real difference. Leona was simply too strong for her and as she staggered back briefly, she would speak, her voice shaking due to the pain. “You truly are as much of a monster as we are.”

With that, her body would briefly shimmer, before bursting into a bright holy light. Armina, at least for today, was no more.

(605 Words)
(23255 Med WC)
(46711 TWC)

After defeating Armina and hearing the maid's parting words Leona did not feel much joy in her victory, only intense disappointment in herself. She should have defeated the murderous maid already, but the blonde had been holding back. She had not wanted it to come to this, but she had no choice but to let her violent side out if she wanted to stand a chance of winning.

She should have done this a long time ago.

Maybe the outcome of the Ishgar Symposium could have been a lot different had she stopped holding back when people needed her to step up.

Unfortunately for a lot of innocent people Leona did not step up. She was living with her stupidity now and she would live with it the rest of her life. At least today she had a chance to avoid repeating the same mistake that had doomed so many people in the past. Today Leona was going to give the threat she was facing everything she had.

Leona looked up at Tisiphone and saw Medeia hit the diving Fury with a flaming punch that surprised the Wizard Saint. While the attack was unexpected, the result was not... Tisiphone was weakened from the Warlord's previous attacks and the punch was strong enough to defeat the red-haired Fury and remove her from this world for the time being. With the Fury's defeat the fight would now be between the Warlord of Lust and the Wizard Saint of Courage.

That was OK with Leona, though. Tisiphone and her sisters had served their purpose by keeping Medeia occupied long enough for the Wizard Saint to deal with Armina. It had been nice to be able to fight without worrying about one or more of Medeia's arrows whistling down towards her head... while her brain was probably a small target no matter what angle it was attacked from Leona wanted to keep it in one piece because it was vital to her survival. Now it was time to use her brain and think of a way to take the fight to Medeia instead of sitting and waiting for the Warlord to attack.

Leona's first impulse had been to summon Winged Lion and climb onto its back. Winged Lion could suppress her fear of heights and let her focus all of her mental effort on dealing with Medeia, but that approach had one major problem. Any sufficiently powerful attack could knock Leona off of her summon and send her plummeting to the ground in what could be a fatal fall.

Another idea was to try and bring Medeia down to the ground. Leona might be able to do it with several sufficiently powerful attacks, but there was no guarantee that that plan would work because Medeia was as tough as she was smart. The Warlord had also not taken nearly as many hits as Leona had, so knocking her out of the sky would be a challenging undertaking even if several of Leona's stronger spells managed to hit the Dark Mage.

Leona needed to think of a way to take the fight to Medeia, but she would need a bit of time to come up with a good one. While she thought about it she decided to attack the Warlord with a spell just to buy some time. Backing up a few steps so that she had a slightly better shot, Leona continued to look up and aimed straight up at Medeia with her left arm, then pointed her left index finger at the Warlord before focusing silver magic onto her fingertip. When the accumulated magic had formed a ball the size of a marble Leona fired the Wind Bullet at Medeia.

The spell had a decent chance to miss because Leona was looking and aiming straight up and she was not used to firing spells straight up into the air. Medeia also might be able to dodge the Wind Bullet with a burst of speed or a sudden change of direction. Even if the Wind Bullet managed to hit Medeia could endure it with a powerful defensive spell or physical armor. In the end Leona was not banking on the Wind Bullet doing very much, but if it bought her just enough time to think of a solution to her current problem it would have been worth casting.

[Post Word Count: 724]
[Leona's Word Count: 24,180]
[Total Word Count: 47,435]

Spells Used:

If there was one sound more than any other which Medeia despised, it was her maid’s dying screams. They always had the same effect on the dark haired witch and there was a noticeable change in her body language as she looked down upon Leona. The amusement in her eyes had faded away, replaced by a cold fury which could send a shiver down the stoutest spine. There was very little that mortals could do to incur her wrath so swiftly but the bond that she shared with Armina was so deep that it simply triggered it. Her original plan of simply toying with the blonde was torn to shreds in her mind at that moment. Leona had made the same error that many of Medeia’s opponents had made, by wounding the one person that she adored more than any other. She was going to turn the Guild Mistress before her into a bloody stain and no other result would be satisfactory now. By the time she was through with the blonde, no one would ever utter her name again, except as simply another victim of the Warlord’s anger.

Her opponent seemed to be in a similar state of mind, judging from the stance of the Silver Wolf mage. It appeared that she had let herself go, so to speak and had finally decided to fight with all her might. One glance at her could tell Medeia that much and the angel had no issue with that whatsoever. The Warlord was not intimidated in the slightest and besides the sound of her beating wings, she was ominously silent. The sideshow was over and finally the two could fight each other on a one to one basis. She had no issue with that and simply waited for Leona’s attack.

Eventually, Leona fired a spell up towards her and Medeia decided to simply absorb the attack, her armour spell rather easily taking the brunt of it without much trouble. It did knock her back slightly although in terms of damage, it did next to nothing. The Warlord’s defensive abilities were as potent as her offensive and it would take more than a wind marble to break through her shields. Still, it was filled with killing intent and that she most definitely felt. That was simply perfect and another weapon that Medeia could manipulate to her own ends. The more furious Leona became, the better.

Earlier in the fight, Medeia may have offered a witty or flirtatious response to the attack but she was no longer in the mood for that and so she simply summoned her powers, before unleashing one of her versions of a god slayer’s roar down towards Leona. Fuelled by the element of sand, it was a fairly potent spell, roughly the same as the blonde’s had been. Should it make contact, then it had the ability to not only disorient Leona briefly but also leave a burn like effect behind, as well as weaken the Guild Mistress’s spell damage output. There was time and space for her opponent to dodge though and the attack was not even close to Medeia’s most powerful either although as usual with her spells, it was boosted by her immense amount of natural magical power. Even the weakest spell could make its mark when the Warlord was casting.

(555 Words)
(23810 Med's WC)
(47990 TWC)

Leona watched as the Wind Bullet made contact with Medeia despite her concerns that she might miss. The spell did not do very much to the Dark Mage, but that was to be expected when dealing with an adversary as tough as a Warlord. Perhaps Leona should have used something stronger like an Air Pressure spell. Oh well.

Despite that Leona had gotten the time she needed to come up with her plan. She was going to fuse with one of her summons and fly up to Medeia's level to have a duel in the sky. The plan was not without its risks, namely that this would be the first time Leona ever fused with a summon. However, it was her best bet because using Winged Lion would not give her the mobility she needed to fight the Warlord... if she used Winged Lion it would be more like a joust than a duel. Leona would be also not be able to dodge much of anything because her mobility would be tied to that of her summon, which was less agile than the Furies.

Aside from mobility issues there was also the matter of her summon being "killed" by a powerful spell while Leona was riding it. If that happened she would be sent plummeting to what would likely be a fatal impact with the ground. If by some miracle she managed to survive the fall she would be left in a state that would give Medeia a chance to finish the job with very little effort.

When all of those things were considered Leona would take her chances with the fusion.

But before she could do that Leona had to dodge an incoming sand-based attack. She did that by using a Zephyr Dash to sprint forward just in time to avoid being caught in it, then paused at the end of the dash for a few moments longer than the normal recovery time for the spell. Her left leg was still hurting, but it had recovered enough to be used just as long as she did not engage in fancy acrobatics like repeated backflips. However, if all went to plan that would not be much of a problem.

Leona put away her Silver Longsword, raised her hands to the sky, and channeled magic into her body.

"TEMPEST AVIAN!" Leona called out when the spell was ready. The rotund metallic owl arrived in the center of a tornado that was generated by his arrival... if it hit Medeia she would not take any damage due to it being an effect of the summoning spell. When the summon was finally in front of her he spoke to her.

"How can I help you?" Tempest Avian asked Leona.

"Join with me. I need your wings." Leona gave her answer telepathically.

"Understood." Tempest Avian answered without hesitation.

Once the brief telepathic conversation was over Leona crouched down for a moment, then jumped straight up into the air. Tempest Avian jumped straight up into the air and the two glowed silver for a moment before merging in a flash of silver. A tornado was generated, but if it hit Medeia it would not do any damage because it was just an effect of the fusion occurring. Once the fusion was complete Leona now sported a pair of brown metallic wings and a red beret on her head.

Leona balled her hands into fists and began flapping her new wings to gain altitude and soon reached Medeia's level, though the blonde made sure to keep her distance from the Warlord because she would need a bit of time to learn how to use her new wings. Leona's right fist shook a little and not just because she wanted to put an end to the Warlord's plans and pay her back for the cat person mind games earlier in the encounter. It also shook because she was afraid of heights and her ability to fuse with summons did nothing to suppress that fear. Leona's greatest weakness could be exploited by Medeia if the latter was observant enough to pick up on it and creative enough to find a way to exploit it.

As it stood Leona was ready for the next stage of the fight. She could tell that Medeia meant business. Leona meant business too. She was going to do her best to show Medeia why the latter should not have pushed her this far.

[Post Word Count: 740]
[Leona's Word Count: 24,920]
[Total Word Count: 48,530]

Spells Used:

Summoning Spells Used:

Tempest Avian:

After fusing with Tempest Avian using the Queen Of The Sky UA from Wind Summon Magic Leona has gained Tempest Avian's brown metallic wings and a red beret on her head. She also gains access to his Abilities.

There was not even a flinch from the Warlord as Leona activated her new form, releasing a tornado of harmless wind that briefly enveloped the area. It was apparent that it was merely for show and so she treated it as such, her gaze never leaving the form of her foe, thanks to her keen slayer senses. It was unlike any spell that the blonde woman had used so far and the dark haired woman mused that Leona must have been particularly skilled in order to be able to fuse herself with one of her creations. In truth, it was not all that different from how takeover worked although somehow Medeia doubted that Leona’s relationship with the summon was as close as her own with Priya. It was a bond that transcended any other and the two had become one, with the result being that the dark mage had unlocked a form that was beyond all other takeover mages. Medeia was at the peak of that particular magic, as Leona would soon discover for herself.

By the time Leona was facing her in the air, Medeia had been given the time to fully analyse the situation, her purple eyes still burning a hole through her blonde opponent. It was a gaze that was drenched with anger, passion and a primal lust that was almost animalistic in nature. The witch truly did enjoy playing the persona of a playful trickster and deceiver but beneath that lay someone else. A creature that could turn the very town around her into a crater with little more than a snap of her fingers. The temptation to do so was growing by the moment and it would only be a matter of time before she unleashed something that would threaten the lives of everyone in the vicinity. She had done it before during her duels and the results had been horrific. Today would be no exception, should she get her way. Armina’s defeat had to be avenged and it fell to her to do so. How many more would make the mistake of attacking her maid?

As she watched the blonde, the fallen angel could not help but notice the slight variance in her opponent's movements, as though the blonde was unaccustomed to flight. It was quite the intriguing piece of insight if true and the guild mistress was rather eager to test her opponents abilities in that area although she pondered that surely Leona could not have been brand new. To fight someone such as herself with an untrained form? That was simply asking for trouble but then again, Leona had already proven that she was not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. Perhaps now that she had lost her cool, rationality had completely gone out of the window?

Whatever the case, Medeia was prepared to make the first move and she would suddenly turn to sand once more, allowing herself to teleport behind the blonde and reform there. Once she had done so, she would surround her foot with flame and launch a kick towards her opponent, aimed for her midsection. It would be an effective measure of testing Leona’s dexterity in the air and if it made contact, a nasty burn would be left behind.

(544 Words)
(24354 Med WC)
(49074 TWC)

Leona studied Medeia's face and was not intimidated by the latter's facial expression. If the Warlord thought she could win just by looking angry she was sadly mistaken. Leona had faced down much worse than the Warlord... the Wizard Saint had gone up against cultists, demons, a mysterious gunslinger who wanted to kill her and mount her head on his mantle as a trophy, and Odhran Aegisbane, a Dark Mage with an odd personality who had nonetheless come very close to killing her. It would take more than anger to defeat Leona.

The Wizard Saint tried to think of how she was going to fight Medeia when the latter seized the initiative and disappeared by somehow becoming sand in midair. Leona blinked when she lost sight of her adversary. Opponents who could suddenly disappear were not entirely new to her, but one who could do so in midair was something she had not expected. It seemed that Medeia was full of surprises.

Speaking of surprises, Leona felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and awkwardly spun around to see Medeia's flaming foot on its way to her stomach. The blonde was too slow to respond in time to dodge or block the kick and caught the attack right in the stomach. Leona clutched the area with both hands and momentarily lost altitude thanks to the intense pain, but she focused on flapping her wings before she fell too far to recover and soon regained altitude, flying diagonally up until she was more or less level with her enemy again. Instead of closing with Medeia right away Leona had flown back a few feet to give herself time to think... and to keep the mindlessly aggressive side of herself at bay long enough to think straight.

It was a good thing Leona had not eaten or had anything to drink before this fight or she would have likely thrown up, adding to the already bad state of her outfit.

Flying in place while clutching her stomach with her left hand, Leona faced Medeia and began thinking of a way to strike back. She soon arrived at one and closed in on her opponent with a burst of flight, stopping when she got close enough to punch at Medeia. Leona drew back her right arm, then channeled silver magic into it before using her Hurricane Punch technique. Medeia would see it manifest as a series of fast punches aimed at her torso. As much as Leona would love to hit the Warlord right in the mouth, she needed to aim for an area she had a better chance of hitting, so the Warlord's torso had been selected.

However, Leona was in pain and was not perfectly balanced when she used the Hurricane Punch technique, so some of the punches might not hit the target because of that. Medeia might also be able to dodge them with her superior aerial agility or the disappearing trick she had used to get behind Leona to start with. Finally, if the Warlord had armor or a defensive spell in effect she could simply endure the Hurricane Punch.

Leona had been tempted to use a Mach Straight since it was a single fairly strong punch as opposed to multiple weaker punches, but she was going to try and send the message that getting in her face was not going to happen without a cost by using a flurry of punches. However, fighting Armina had cost Leona valuable time and energy, so she might not be able to win a protracted struggle. Leona needed to end this fast, so Hurricane Punch was intended to be the first shot she fired at her enemy in the next phase of the battle.

[Post Word Count: 620]
[Leona's Word Count: 25,546]
[Total Word Count: 49,700]

Techniques Used:

There was a glimmer of satisfaction in the eyes of the witch as her flaming foot made contact with her foe. She had been uncertain as to whether such a strike would actually do much damage to a foe as stout as Leona was but it appeared that it dealt quite the blow. It also proved that the blonde was a little unsteady when it came to flying after all, as Medeia had reckoned, which only showed just how bold her opponent was. Despite the dark mages successful hit, her foe did not appear to be put off from her attack and was soon flying up to face her once again. The Warlord expected nothing less from the Silver Wolf leader.

Not only that but Leona soon flew into close range, delivering a barrage of swift blows that the dark mage found a tad difficult to evade due to the close distance. Still, her armour spell was still in effect and it took the brunt of the flurry, however, one or two did manage to get through and the Warlord felt a slight weakening in her body from the attack. Perhaps there was an effect to the spell that she had not expected? Whatever it was, Medeia would have to put up with it for now and already she was planning her next attack. A part of her, the lust driven aspect, actually desired to try to slip under Leona’s guard and latch onto her but that was rather swiftly drowned out by the rage and fury that was pulsing through the Guild Mistresses veins.

Deciding to fight fire with fire, quite literally in her own case, Medeia would channel the power of flames into her fist and deliver a powerful flaming punch in Leona’s direction. It was a potent enough spell and should it make contact then it would not only leave a burn that would deal damage for some time but it would also lower the movement speed of her foe. For the moment though, that was not all that important to her and she was simply lashing out at her opponent, her anger fuelling her to the maximum. Generally, it was the rage of others that she used in order to strengthen herself but today was rather different. There was a desire to put her opponent through hell by her own hands that was not usually there.

While her thoughts were mostly dwelling on annihilating her foe, there was the slightest hint of regret in the dark mage’s movements. She was not all that pleased with herself for allowing her maid to be beaten by the blonde neutral mage, knowing full well that she could have put a stop to it. There was a protective streak in her when it came to Armina and the dark mage would have to have a talk later with her maid about such matters. Yes, having the purple haired woman be beaten was a sure fire way of allowing Medeia to become enraged but was that truly worth having to see her closest ally get killed every time?

(518 Words)
(24872 Med WC)
(50218 TWC)

Leona felt her midsection burning from the flaming kick she had been hit with earlier, but that burning sensation was the least of her worries. Medeia decided to repay the Hurricane Punch with a flaming punch that moved just a bit too fast for Leona to dodge. By the time the blonde could begin to try and dodge it was too late. This time she was anticipating being hit, so she did not plummet dramatically like she had when hit with the flaming kick, instead briefly flapping her wings in a short burst to maintain her altitude and stay somewhat steady.

Leona received the attack and immediately felt sluggish like she had bathed in molasses or was trying to wade through waist-deep water. That was OK, though. It would take more than a fancy melee attack or two to stop her even with the sluggish feeling she was currently experiencing.

The blonde was going to stand her ground and take advantage of her Wind Strike Magic, which was a combination of ranged spells and melee techniques. While she did not excel in long-range spellcasting or face-to-face slugging matches due to a lack of specialization in either area, she could hold her own at either range. That meant that she could not be easily forced to give up ground just by someone getting in her face.

Most of the time, anyway.

Leona was going to go for a hard-hitting attack at close range, but this one was not a punch or a kick. It was going to be her Silver Blade spell. If Medeia wanted to fight at close range a fight at close range was exactly what she was going to get.

Leona steadied herself in mid-air, then put the index finger and middle finger of her right hand together while curling the other three fingers together. She brought her right hand down to her side and channeled silver magic into them until the spell was ready. When it was ready Leona brought her right hand up and drew her right arm across her face until her forearm partially covered her face, then slashed diagonally downward with the two fingers the magic had been channeled into, aiming for Medeia's torso.

Just because Leona was at close range did not mean that the Silver Blade would hit. For one thing she was still under the effect of the sluggish feeling, so her speed was not what it normally was. Medeia could dodge the spell if she could react quickly enough to avoid it. The Warlord could also endure it if she had a defense that was strong enough to stand up to the Silver Blade, which was one of Leona's strongest spells for use against single opponents. Maybe Leona was using her best spells too soon, but if she wanted to have a chance of getting through this she needed to quit holding back and show Medeia what it meant to fight a Wizard Saint, especially one who was now fully focused on the fight.

Medeia had played the cat person mind games and made Leona revisit what was undoubtedly the worst moment of her life and her greatest failure as a Wizard Saint. She had made fun of the blonde's reaction to being duped. Medeia had also threatened Silver Wolf's members, particularly the female ones. When all of those things were combined the Warlord had given Leona every reason to focus on trying to defeat her.

[Post Word Count: 576]
[Leona's Word Count: 26,122]
[Total Word Count: 50,794]

Spells Used:

There was a significant amount of power behind Leona’s next attack and perhaps Medeia should have trusted her instincts a little more but instead of trying to evade the strike, the witch instead tried to simply shield herself using her magical armour spell, whose effects were still active. That would turn out to be an error of judgement, as Leona’s ability pierced through and left a bloody cut down the Warlord’s body, much to the latters displeasure. She was not pleased at all and as the dark haired woman briefly glanced down at her wounded body and dress, her right fist briefly clenching tightly, the smell of her own blood filling the air. It was not often that she took damage these days and she mused that perhaps she had forgotten what it felt like to be hit by a powerful adversary. She had become arrogant and overconfident, it would seem.

The wound, however, was by no means fatal and given her affinity for blood, it only drew her more into the fight, her pupils dilating for a few moments. She had expected Leona to be a worthy adversary for her and it appeared that she would not be disappointed. The anger that she felt towards her fellow Guild Mistress only continued to grow and the image of a helpless and immobile Leona flashed across her mind. It was rare that she truly desired to cause harm against an individual quite so strongly as she did now. Her days of revenge and vengeance had been ones that she had thought had been finished. Yet, here she was, as eager as ever to deliver some harsh punishment on a particularly irritating foe.

There was a part of her that wished to use her most potent form now, in order to put a brutal and swift end to the conflict but that was simply not how Medeia worked and she pushed that desire aside for now. She wished to make Leona suffer in the slowest and most painful way possible and her most potent abilities would simply not accomplish that. The blonde did not deserve a quick defeat nor was Medeia in the mood to deliver it.

So, she instead briefly tapped into her magic and summoned a purple coloured whip. In truth, it was not an ability that she could normally use without activating her weaker takeover but due to her immense level of training, she had managed to overcome that weakness. There was no greater takeover mage in Fiore or anywhere else than her and she had truly become the Mistress of the style. The whip was an unpleasant looking weapon indeed and as she cracked it in the direction of her opponent, it would give off a sound that could chill the spines of many people. The attack would be potent if it struck Leona and although it could be shielded against or evaded like any other attack, it would leave a horrible burn that would deal damage over time if it was not. It was not often that she used it in the air though and honestly, it had been quite some time since she had.

(528 Words)
(25400 Med WC)
(51322 TWC)