Operation Rose Pruning (Nox Animus Guild event)

Now free from her fear of heights, it was hard to keep her out of the clouds. She learned to use her Armor Manipulation to give her the ability to soar higher than she ever dreamed. She observed the city from afar, its lights twinkling as she tucked her knee up to her chest. She sat on a tall tree branch, her eyes filled with excitement and envy. Oh the pleasure of being able to be down there, especially when the havoc happens. The amount of blood that would be spilled..screams that would have filled the area. She assumed it was time to head back to meet up with her brother and the group.
Just as she was ready to go, she watched as the bombs fell. Ah the hard work she had put into helping them into place. The sound was beautiful, the deep explosions as they hit the ground. The sounds of screams and chaos, she could even hear it beyond the outskirts of the city. Something else she could hear, and see; Was a large dragon like creature. Viola. Oh.. this was not going to end well. She knew about her feelings towards hurting those that were innocent.

Leaping off of the tree limb, she extended her arms and her white skin tight armor formed large bat like white wings made from the fabric. She used these to glide over to where her brother stood with some of the remaining guild-mates. Landing fast and upright she had seen land as well, just in the nic of time. Her voice reigned down on them, scolding them about their ' Humanity '. What a pitiful scene; The dragon racing off, running off into the city. She better not ruin their plans.
She looked at her brother with reassuring eyes, " The city is filling with Rune Knights just as expected. " All of this was going as planned, and they should be able to keep everyone busy. " Do you wish for me to locate out our special prisoner?" By this she was referring to Fancy Mel, a very up most important person in the Magic Council.

Marceline walked in the middle of the havoc in Rose Garden. It was beautiful, seeing this city die, burn and convert into ash. A smile appeared on her face as she saw the bodies on the ground, laying, lifeless, blood spilling everywhere. The scent of blood filled the air, making a delicious scent for the nose of the Vampire Queen. However, she did not drink blood from dead people...

She enjoyed killing them herself.

The Memory Make mage walked silently around, watching the disaster develop, until she stopped right in front of the guildmaster, a smile on her pale face. Her fangs, usually hidden, were perfectly visible, giving the Vampire Queen the air of fear around her. '' I am not late, am I?'' She asked, stretching.

As the explosion began to settle down Mizuko could help but laugh. Slowly at first like a chuckle then became increasingly more like a maniacal laugh. It was so exhilarating, how he wishes he was the one to set off such a marvelous device. "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." He said with a smile on his face. Yes for once Mizuko was showing his face for what he was, an Atlantean and not some demon they Magic council has claimed him to be. This was his first chance he has had to get back at the Magic Council for all the wrong they have done to him. They were about to see the monster they had created. The operation had begun. "I want everyone on my six until we enter the city's premises" Ethan said as he began to head towards the city. "Right behind you!" Mizuko shouted following Ethans lead.

Codemaster was a souless vessel, he was only driven by his heart. He looked at Yuna's small childish face. "Why would a girl like her be here?" thought Codemaster as he followed the others. "This is no place for someone like her."

Codemaster chased after his comrads. He glanced at his hands from time to time. "I still don't have my parts. I have no spells that I can cast. No matter, I'll have to do this the hard way.With brute force!"

The young nature fairy's vision blurred as tears began to stream down her face. She closed her eyes tightly in hopes of opening them and find herself back in bed with all this just having been a bad dream. But deep in her heart, she knew this was real. That this was happening right then and there. Yuna's lungs screamed for air and she struggled to breathe; she had lost the ability how. Her knees gave way beneath her and she crumpled to the ground. Yuna began to sob in dispair and horror in the middle of the corpse-and-debris covered street. Her ears would not stop ringing, but perhaps it was a good thing for she could not hear the screams that plagued the place.

She had heard of the evilness of Nox Animus, but she had been blind and deaf to it until now. She had defended the guild from everyone who spoke ill of it for she had seen, or had thought she'd seen, the goodness in it. "No..! Th-they're good..! She sobbed trying to fiercely wipe away her stubborn tears, "They...Th-they're good..! J-Just not today..." She knew better than to think Nox Animus was really bad. They were good and she knew it. This act, though, had severely wounded her. How could she have so blindly agreed to such a thing? How?

You will be adding this to the water... They had said, But Yuna, you will be defending...

If only she had paid more attention, then perhaps she would have seen the warning signs and avoided this whole ordeal. She found this unforgivable, not unforgivable for her guild but for herself. Her guild, she had forgiven for this was soley her fault.

The tiny demon slayer barely heard the orders given to them all by the leaders, when she stood up from her position. She had no more tears to wipe away for she had run out of them. Yuna slowly made her way towards the guildmembers feeling... nothing. She was an empty shell. Yuna reached her team making sure not to look back at the streets. She wanted to avoid the accusing, blank stares of the corpses that, oh so beautifully, decorated the streets. "I...I'm ready..." She whispered before fully retreating to her quiet, secluded self. It would be a long while before she could smile and laugh again. Even then, she would not be the same. She was going to go along and complete the mission, she had given her word. "I d-don't want stuffed animals anymore..."

"In 2 minutes the device will detonate. Beware of the Eternano concentration in the city from that point on. It will be low. You will feel weaker. But that sensation will vanish after your bodies adjust to the amount of magic. But for the first few moments, do not exert yourself too much."

Ray's attention was shifted to the man who'd introduced himself as Lyserg once before, and had spoken about how the current action would shift the entirety of the world, bringing them to notice the mercenary group that was to be Nox Animus. Ray hadn't really paid attention to his speech, his thoughts rather going on around the tumultous topic of intelligence, as he chose to mull over the spectacular awards given to those to displayed true intelligence in one form or the other. The person in retrospect would always be unique, and yet, his deciding factor would always be something he hadn't yet thought of. As the countdown edged closer, just as in the Doomsday Clock, Ray was immersed again in his thoughts, them taking a definitive form this time.

"Every person has their own strength and weakness. When there is a perfect balance of both only, we become a unique person.

Sometimes the strengths would be greater than the weakness and sometimes the other way round. No matter what we all have our own share of weakness and yes that is our side of weakness.

Individuals differ from one another in both physical and psychological characteristics. Each man is unique. Men differ from one another in their color, height, weight, size, strength, hairstyle, and even in their mode of social interaction. Varied are also their mental abilities and behavior, i.e., some me are found to be very alert, witty, sensitive, and quick to react, whereas others are average and even are found to be dull.

There are outgoing extroverts as well as quiet, shy, withdrawn, and very passive individuals. Many are social and friendly, whereas others are exclusively self-centered and inhibited. These are reflections of their differences- in mental abilities.

In a classroom set up, a teacher comes across very bright, intelligent, and creative student as well as students who are just average or dull or even very dull. The intelligence is synonymous with several other concepts such as talent brilliance, sharpness, clear-sightedness, smartness, reasoning, judiciousness rationality, adeptness, prodigy and man of mark etc.

Intelligence has been explained in various ways. It is conceived as a complex universal ability to understand the world, to profit from past experience training, to imagine various possibilities, to surmount difficulties, to protect self when life is physically and psychologically endangered, to be engaged in abstract and innovative thinking using concepts, symbols, and logical reasoning.

Intelligence is an abstract concept. Individual's intelligence is expressed through his intellectual activities, which can be measured formally or informally. Informal assessment of one's intellectual activities can be made though some acts, such as simple puzzle solution, filling up of a gap, answering correctly short but problem-questions, simple numerical abilities, explaining a concept, and adaptation to a novel situation.

However, this wouldn't change the fact that Intelligence would, normally, dictate all other nuances of a person's life."

Ray's mind jolted back to present reality as the Doomsday Clock that was ticking in his mind ticked one last time, and a huge surge of magic could be felt emanating from a mysterious source, which then went out. His eyes were attacked by bright flashes of light as the city before them was illuminated harshly by the various explosions that littered it. Screams echoed, and frantic wailing could be heard from everywhere, making Ray smirk. He felt the decided absence of a major magical component from the atmosphere around them, and his body retaliated by teetering towards a fall. Steadying himself, and waiting till his body got used to the lack of magic, Ray closed his eyes, an Arcana aura surrounding him, surging outwards when he opened them. Instead of being their normal hue, they were now a bright, blood red, emanating a soft glow as they glared at the exploding city. Ruffling a hand through his hair, Ray started running forth, towards the city, vaulting over the objects that now littered the streets as he noticed a very good vantage point. He ran to the opened door, speeding up the stairs, almost reaching the roof of the building, when suddenly an armed guard came in front of him, swinging a meaty fist-and a silver butt at the end of it. His reflexes kicking in, Ray ducked underneath the swing, and uppercut the man's armpit, causing his arm to pop out. He then twisted that arm, and shot the man with his own gun, all in a smooth move. Stepping away from the pool of blood, Ray went up to the point, and joined his hands together, releasing a surge of Arcanic energy which manifested in the form of a greatbow.

Wanting to add his own fireworks to the show, Ray summoned a quiver with only five arrows, which were the size of two arrows combined. One by one, he unleashed those arrows at random points wherever he saw the scared citizens, explosions caused by the arrows rocking the city once more...

Spoiler:

Alexander watched slowly as the bombs descended at what was once a beautiful city. The pretty lights shutting down one by one as if to represent life being snuffed out one by one. It was actually quite sad to see all this chaos and destruction happen to such an innocent city of Fiore. The chaos of people running around looking for help and shelter, children becoming orphans in a heartbeat. So much life lost, but it was a means to an end. A way to go after the real target in this whole city... Fancy Mel. To Alexander, her capture was the first step towards going after his own goals, but was it worth it? No, but the methods towards accomplishing this task was not his own either. It was the customer right next to him: Lyserg of Tartarus. He would have preferred the chaos of simply bombing Rune Knight buildings and wiping communications. Surgical, clean and effective. Not this, but it was already in motion.

The fires of the city were big, the chaos indescribable and the disgust in Alexander's stomach was beyond compare. There was no reason to get the city involved beyond fear of their lives, but at same time the 2 traitors should have voiced their concerns. Hell if their argument was sound, they could have even convinced Alexander to go Legal. However to wait till last second and then disrupt plans was unforgivable. Alexander sighed, "You two have committed the greatest sin of all... Silence. If you had just talked to me, I could have done something else. Well to be honest you 2 never did quite fit in a Dark Guild, but this is no place for heroes. So I wish you farewell." Alexander rubbed on the guild tattoo that he put on his wrist and caused the 2 traitors guild symbols to flash and catch on fire. Alexander was screwing with their teleportation ability that allowed them to pop in the ship. Instead with a flash the 2 would no longer be in Fiore anymore, instead the overloaded guild tattoos sent them to the hell on earth known as the country of Sin. And not even together, but separate from one another. Alexander sighed, he knew they would make it out. However that friendship is gone now.

Alexander looked up to the city one final time and said to everyone, "If anybody else have any problems that they would like to discuss then say it right now. Anybody that wants to back out of this job can do so now without going through the 2 fate. You all are free to leave or ignore this job. I will accept that gladly, but to leave with threats is a different manner entirely. So I implore you all to speak your peace." Alexander would listen and accept their comments, departure or otherwise complaints. However job was on and Alexander sighed, before his body flashed in holy fire and and jumped into the middle of the city. He was on the search for Fancy Mel, and had full confidence to those that stayed in his guild.

"And if they dont, to hell with them."

---------------

Post Order

Alexander
Ethan Ran
Lyserg
Viola (If she wants to RP exit)
Priscilla (If she wants to RP exit)
Daemon
Ray Ignazia
Hana Suzuki
Shaku
Saranade
Raven
Mizuko
Codemaster
Sonya

Ethan's onslaught upon the city would have to wait as a dragon suddenly approached through the air. He knew all to well who it was due to the certain rumours concerning how Viola appearently had the ability to transform into a dragon. She accused them of hurting the inoccent people of Rose Garden, which they had. Though in the end he could only pity her, they were after all mercenaries in the end. There's no honour or moral in their line of work, you do whatever pays the most. If Viola and Priscilla couldn't see that than perhaps it would be for the better if they simply left. With that he saw in the corner of as his eye as Zenneth rubbed his own tattoo and the two deserter's tattoos suddenly caught fire. With no time left to spare on idly watching he finally made his way towards the city. What happened to the two wasn't any of his business in the end.

As he reached the disaster, the screams, the fires and the chaos as a whole something sparked within him. He couldn't really explain it, he just wanted it all gone. He had this overwhelming sensation hit him as all crumbled around him. It seemed to burn away at his very essence as he realised he would need to do something to get some sort of output for whatever this was. He could barely handle it as it was. He eventually supressed it as well as he could and made towards the main reservoir as part of his initial assignment. He had no intention on taking it easy as he approached his destination thought as he brought his arm towards himself in an X like formation leaving his hands coated in a shroud of his venom. Shaped like that of ferocious claws he made his way through the streets towards his detination and lashed out at pretty much anyone who happened to be in the way. He slashed to the right in what seemed like a wild frenzy, leaving straight cuts in the concrete, already crumbling structures and in some cases people. He could swear there was some guards mixed in with the things he happened to cut through but didn't really pay attention. He wasn't sure why or how this sensation had surfaced but he knew for a fact that he enjoyed it. In his murderous frenzy he slowly but steadily made progress across the city, leaving a trail of claw mark in buildings as well as the people unlucky enough to have crossed his path, still with a straight face as he did. It was after all part of the job, he could might as well enjoy himself.

The screams of chaos and the cries of children. with his heightened sense of hearing the sounds quite deafening to our friend Daemon. The pain from the screaming caused the shadows under Daemon's control began to twist and contort around him trying to silence the screams. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Daemon grabbed his head and screamed at the top of his lungs as every shadows within his fifty meters exploded with energy causing the shadow of any living being to lash out wildly ripping and tearing it's victims to nothing but heaps of body pats and organs.

As Daemon's anguish grew so did the unpredictable tendencies of the shadow he controlled. With a growl Daemon leapt to streets bellow using the shadows created by the setting sun he created platforms for him to make his descent.

As Daemon's feet hit the ground he took off running  towards the closest shadow using it as a portal to the once again the edge of his current range which happened to be the center of rose garden.

a large group of grunt rune knights attempted to surround the enraged Daemon. sadly for them the only way this would end is with their limbs sliced off. Within half of a second Daemon let out a beastly roar and used their shadows to slice their sword arms off  and pierce their abdomens.

It appeared that the two Blue Pegasus wizards were all ready to go, their respective elements enshrouding them as Marick approached them. It seemed the pair were all ready to go, but had waited to see if anyone would follow. After seeing Marick it seemed they were satisfied as the woman turned to lightning and shot off into the distance. The young man enshrouded in darkness gave Marick a smile and a cheeky wink as acknowledgement, before he too set off into the distance. In his current state there was no way Marick could keep up. But in another state...

Well then...I suppose it's time to use my family trait again. he thought to himself with a grin. He removed his jacket and shirt and dropped them to the ground before willing up the ancient magic that flowed through his veins. A black magic circle appeared on his back and after a few moments a pair of large black wings emerged. Almost immediately after, the Solitaire kicked off of the ground and quickly pursued his two legal comrades in the direction of the Rose Garden.

Marick landed gracefully beside Ayeseru, something which was in vast contrast to the sight before him. The sheer destruction of the once glorious magical city was somewhat hard to take in. The damage caused was reminiscent of Era over a year before. No...this was far worse. The Paragon could almost feel the death hanging in the air around them and the stench of smoke and what was probably burning flesh and boiling blood was enough to make most men's stomachs turn. Indeed, it seemed that the younger woman was taking this sight incredibly hard. Ayeseru attempted to soothe his guildmate while Marick took an initial scan of the area for any signs of the culprits. As expected there were no suspicious looking people in the vicinity right now.

"What's the plan?" The Solitaire asked, his eyes still scanning, still taking in the mass destruction. His tone was deadly serious, something that was a rare occurrence for him.

Ray's position atop the building was, he had to admit, a perfect vantage point, as it allowed him to see most of the Garden, as he was still in an apparent corner of the entire area. His eyesight was further augmented by the glowing remains of the magical explosions, and he could very clearly see that the entire city had been painted red with the blood of the innocent. The fresh smell of blood still hung in the sated air, not a single current of wind moving through the heaviness. It was quite the unusual, for a place like this, because, under normal circumstances, this area would be light hearted and bustling with life. Unfortunately, that very life had been drawn out of even the remaining survivors by the piercing hands of the Night's Soul, the Nox Animus. That was highly poetic, yet, to those who had never felt the bloodlust, highly disturbing. Ray's mind instantly deviated off the current event, going into another thought process.

""Death is the inevitable and unavoidable conclusion to life. Someone long ago said that upon birth, we’re committed to a life sentence. We never know when we’ll die, or how, but we know it will happen. The gaping maw of the Grim Reaper stalks our every waking moment and movement. Death can also be an instrument by which we measure the value and worth of our lives. Have regrets and surely death will be frightening. Live a good life and the question marks that engulf the other side no longer seems dark.

We react differently to death. Some are so consumed by grief and agony that they nearly succumb themselves. Others take a moment to reflect on life. I tend to put my thoughts into words, as I don’t emote physically often. I’ve known people who look at death and laugh. They’re so amused with the grand irony of life — that no one escapes alive — that their attitude is sometimes perceived as callous and cruel. I don’t see it that way. It takes a brave person to see the face of death and respond with a one-finger salute. Perhaps because they, too, will one day find themselves groping in the darkness."

Ray's mental process ended, as he was brought back to the current even with what could be stated as a jolt. He looked down, seeing a light brighter than most. It was an extremely brilliant flame, and that could only mean one thing, that the guild master had decided to join the fray. However, this would also mean that there would now be people coming in to, ironically enough, "catch the wrong-doers". As if the legal mages were any better. Ray had seen the darkness in their heart, he knew about the darkness in their heart. Sighing, he decided to activate the ability his...bloodline, gave him. The reason for his almost insatiable bloodthirst. He was, after all, Viktor's Descendant, and therefore, he'd have to utilize Viktor's Blood Vision, the ability that allowed him to see all enemies within a large range, regardless of who or what they were. However, the stronger the enemy was, the brighter their blood aura would be to Ray. Ray closed his eyes, focusing his magic, and then opened them, the irides now a glowing red.

Ray was almost taken aback by the joint exuberance of three mages, who's blood aura was the brightest. One of their's blood aura was at a level comparable to Zenneth's very own aura, and those three had appeared just some time back, as was evidenced by the magical signatures left behind by them. Ray had to act fast. Ray vaulted over the side of the building, however, he turned halfway, allowing him to cling on to the ledges and drop himself down safely, whereupon he ran at his maximum speed toward's Zenneth, the bow dissipating as he willed it to. His blood vision was still active, so he'd be able to see any advances made by these mages. As soon as he reached Zenneth, Ray assumed his normal stance, and spoke quietly.

"Hello, Guildmaster. There seem to be three new mages who might pose a problem. Two of them are highly strong, as evidenced by their blood aura, and one is a little more than my level, in terms of aura. I think this is something you ought to know. Based on your orders, I will now bring forth more destruction, or any other work you might deem fit for me. My heritage is playing it's part."

With that in mind, Ray would wait for Zenneth to give orders, all while keeping the three in his vision, making sure any advances would be relayed as they had to.

The "Familiar" City:

"Hm? Chaos I see? I think someone has made quite the playground for me."

She could feel a disruption in the air. She felt silenced. As if he magic had begun to fade away. But that didn't matter to her, she would find a source of power somewhere.

The ghostly figure stood within the burning remains of the Rose Garden. It was a sight for her to behold. Just a few hours ago, perhaps more, her partner, Kaseki had told her to go find something to do. "I don't care what, you must find something to do." She would ask him why she could not accompany him to his guildmeeting. He replied, "I am sorry Xiaowei, but you are not a mage, they would not recognize you, and if they did... why I'm not sure what they'll do. I will call you when I am ready, you'll know." She had asked him the limits on what she could do. He simply replied, "Go terrorize a city, I don't care. Just don't get yourself killed or lost." She had smiled and wandered off.

She stood in the streets of the burning city, she looked for one familiar face, but found none. "His daughter must be here. She is of Nox Animus, and I know this is them." she thought to herself.  She looked around and saw the destruction and killing. It made her smile. "Amateurs."

She ran to the nearest Rune Knight. To her surprise he told her to stay back. "The city is under fire! Everyone is dying! Please, run while you still can, there's killers out here!" he said to her. She laughed. She held the blade that Kaseki had lent her, and she ran at the man. She leaped up and hit the man with the downforce of her sword. The man looked up to his amazement to find the same girl that he tried to help, try to kill him. He reached for his weapon but was interrupted by the piecing of his face with the edged weapon.

Graphic (?):

She pulled the sword from the dead man's head and proceed to venture the city. She saw a strange aquatic creature sprint after a man. They had appeared to be both from the same guild, Nox Animus. "Interesting place. A perfect playground." she said to herself.

She laughed. She had found the perfect place to be as she waited for her friend.

Not long after the entire operation began, the raging fires that were all over the city had somehow lessened, as if they had been eaten or put out magically. Rune Knights had begun to flood the city as well, some trying to rescue the civilians while others attempted to fight off some Nox Animus members that had already jumped into the fray.

Impossible... Is that? Hana's eyes widened upon seeing a dragon, a real, living dragon, enter the scene. The smell of blood, not from the civilians but from the dragon, filled her nose. She had a feeling that she knew the creature from somewhere, as crazy as it was, but she couldn't quite recall.

"Disappointing."

Hana arched an eyebrow upon hearing Asarael speak, finding it unusual for him to be speaking that way. In what way was she disappointing? Pushing the matter aside, Hana listened in silence as Priscilla, the peculiar blonde girl, said that Alexander was a liar. The pink haired slayer couldn't help but think about her words. Indeed, he had said that this would only be a mercenary guild free from the council's ruling, and she didn't recall him saying that they'd be conducting massacres, but... They were simply doing their job, weren't they? Mercenaries did what paid them best, and this paid them a generous amount of jewels. Plus, Priscilla was somewhat wrong about Alexander being a liar. He did keep him promise. He had made sure that the Magic Council never hurt anyone, hadn't he? Besides, they weren't the only ones that killed people. She was sure that even legal guilds did so too, when it came to missions.

Mizuko had entered the outskirts of the city with Ethan and was itching to have some fun. He glanced around the area and saw that there was little action to be found here and decided to run off in search of some fun. "I'm going to have a look around the area and have some fun I'll meet you at the reservoir in a few." He yelled to Ethan. After a minute or two of looking around Mizuko finally found some Rune Knights that have been hiding away from the action on the front lines. He decided to drop in literally and say "Good evening boys. Lovely day today." He said with an evil smile along his face and his mighty Masamune in hand. The Rune Knights nearly jumped out of there skins at the site of Mizuko screaming bloody murder "A DEMON!" They cried. "Now that's not very nice." Said Mizuko as he swung his blade at the Knight cutting him down then looked over to the other one. "I'm just here as a visitor from Atlantis here to show the Magic council what it means to judge people by what they look like."  The Rune Knight fell backwards onto the ground as Mizuko cut down his friend. "YOU MONSTER!" He shouted. Mizuko took his blade and placed the tip of the blade on the Rune Knights chest. "I'm only what the Magic Council has made me." Said Mizuko with a dark low toned voice as he slowly pushed his blade through the Knights chest.

Alexander watched silently at the destruction of the city and how the guild responded. No more deserters... That was a good sign, but Alexander still did not like the actions that they were committing. Mercenaries were tools and customers were the actual hand that killed them. Why did he feel guilty though? Why were his hands stained with blood again? The screams of children was what hit him the most. And those that weren't mercifully killed would live as orphans. This was not how he would have done it. It was too late now, plan set in motion and dice cast. Alexander looked up as Ray spoke, the 3 mages were evident to see. He needed to act fast and decisively.

He squinted his eyes and noticed 3 people, the ironic part is he knew all of them. Marrick who sent Alexander to hell, Sango and Chaotic were scheduled to duel in the guild. Ironically enough Alexander wanted to duel the winner of the 2... Now it was looking like he was going to have to fight the 2 simultaneously. He muttered, "Oh bloody wonderful... Ray we are going to have to deal with this problem. Everyone else keep attacking and find Fancy Mel. Ill keep the 2 strong rank mages distracted. Ethan you and your team knows what to do. " Alexander took a deep breath and smiled evilly for a second. He did not like death of innocents, but betweer mages and one being a Wizard Saint? Bring it on!

Alexander looked at the nearby manhole and devised a plan. He channelec his connection to the starts with Meteor, causing him to glow white and float in the air. He had only a few minutes this could be kept on, so he had to make it count. He then took control of the fires that were burning a nearby chuch and shoved them in sewers. The contained menthane exploded, but Alexander was in control as the fire that started it was non-magical. He would have to keep focus to maintain control, but charged forward causing series of explosives at 12,000 mph head straight for the three mages. Buildings collapsed as the ground shook and the city split in 2 different elevations as it became unstable.

The glow of white headed straight at the 3 mages when finally the ground beneath Alex bursted in flames and a giant explosion of flames tailed behind the Flame Demon Slayer. He would then arrive at the 3, and decide to take out weakest link first. He would attempt to tackle Marrick at 12,000 mph and have the giant explosion behind him hit the other 2. Easily defendable? Yes. Distractable? Yes. Regardless there was one comment that Alexander stated as he did his drive-by, "You guys take too long."

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HP: 100%
MP: 78%

Heavenly Body duration: 13 posts

Magic:

Fancy Mel enjoyed her day off just fine. That was until the chaos happened. She looked up to see a ship and she shook her head. "What a hot mess..." Mel said as she got out of her bath and got dressed in the explosions. Mel closed her eyes as she walked out of her door and down the halls. She worked her way through. The evacuations had already begun.

"Fourth Chair," a rune knight said running down the street he stood there stressed with a look on his face. "You have to get out of here. The town is falling to pieces." Mel nodded as she followed the knight. "Nox Animus has used a bomb that makes it so that we cannot use magic. You will be unable to as well."

Mel nodded. "Then we have to find a way to the docks. We will find a boat out of here..." Mel said then the knight shook his head. "That bad, huh... Let's take to the sewers then." Mel said stopping over a manhole. The knight looked at her and nodded. "Our goal is to keep me hidden from Nox Animus. As long as we can endure through this, we can get back to Era in one piece." Mel put a hand on the manhole, but her hand came back burned. "This isn't good. There's no escape."

The knight looked around stressed beyond all belief. They were in the center of the town. No where near the shopping district and they still have yet to run into anyone else. "Ma'am... What are we going to do?"

Mel sighed as she looked up. "What do we value most, Knight?"

"Life... You trained us to value our lives and the joy of magic. Without life the joy of magic is meaningless."

Mel nodded and smiled. Her blue eyes softened as she looked up at the ship. "Then we must get these guys to stand down with a bargain. This loss of life is unreasonable." She looked at her burnt hand that had second degree burns. It was already healed. She sighed. And it looks like they lack the capability to kill me as well. Magic sucking bombs does not affect potions. She turned to the knight. "Go to the other bodyguards. Guide them to safety. I will be fine." The guard nodded and ran in the opposite direction.

Mel sighed as she looked up at the rooftops. There had to be a way to the top where she can announce to Nox Animus that she was there and to stand down. She saw an officer helping with evacuations. Mel made her way through the crowd and stopped in front of him. Perfect he was holding a megaphone and it was still working. "I am Melissa Sewelle, fourth chair of the magic council. I am commandeering that megaphone." She said, grabbing it from his hand. She walked around to find a building she could use to climb up the rubble to the top of a building. She climbed to the top to see what was going on. Mel made a sad look. If there was anything, she could hear her name be repeated several times by the innocents screaming that she come out. Without her magic, Mel was just a useless person. Mel pressed the button on the megaphone and screamed into it so that all of Nox Animus could hear her.

"NOX ANIMUS! THIS IS MELISSA SEWELLE, FOURTH CHAIR OF MILITARY POLICE! CEASE THIS USELESS BLOODSHED AT ONCE! I HAVE GIVEN MYSELF UP! DO NOT LIFT ANOTHER FINGER! I WANT THE GUILDMASTER HERE!" She fell to her knees. The rabbit ears on her hat slumped as she dropped her head looking down at the ground showing her surrender. She closed her eyes to await those that would come to gather her useless self. She smiled. Daemon, do not think that this is your fault... She thought then screamed one more time into the megaphone before dropping it. "KNIGHTS I WANT YOU TO HELP THE CITIZENS THEN DEAL WITH THOSE OF THE GUILD NOX ANIMUS! LIFE IS TO BE VALUED OVER ANYTHING ELSE! DO NOT WORRY ABOUT ME!" Mel had briefed the knights before when she was on her off duty days that she could recover from just about anything really fast. This was one of those orders where they did not question her.

Immediately, all of the Rune Knights backed down and started helping the civilians instead of fighting due to Mel's surrender.

Ethan had taken his time mowing through the masses in his onslaught. It's what they expected of him after all and in all honesty he was probably enjoying it a bit more then he was supposed to. Even if he missed a person as he passed by the things that fell apart in his wake took care of them for him. To anyone watching him he would seem like nothing but a mindless killer without a particular purpose but he had a very certain spot in mind and was meaning to get there as soon as possible without raising too much suspicion. He was soon helped in this endeavor as a voice was heard throughout the streets. It introduced itself as Melissa Sewelle. He knew enough about her to know how important she was. He was more shocked to as how she seemed to surrender to them. He had expected a lot out of this job, but this? He figured he should get his part done already so he can go and check how things turned out on the other ends.

He kept running through the streets and he was quite positive that he was getting close to his goal now. As if to assure him of that his goal came into view as he passed a corner; the main reservoir. The one place which connected all water distribution in the city. He walked towards it slowly and noticed an injured woman caught in the rubble as he went on. He considered if he should perhaps just put an end to her too. She seemed to be in pain as it was so maybe she would consider it a favour. He raised his Venom coated hand which resembled more of a claw now and looked coldly at the lady as he suddenly realised a knight had taken stance next to him with a small rapier. Now that he thought about it, perhaps it would just go faster if he left the woman to her fate with this knight. The council member had stated that she wouldn't tolaerate anymore bloodshed so it should go faster if he just stops and walks right in. With that though cleared in his mind he simply took hold of the thin blade and shattered it before throwing the knight to the side. "Leave" And so he resumed his course towards the main reservoir.

He opened the door and was met by a surprisingly rusty iron chamber with various levers adorning the walls. What stole his attention was a circular valve in the middle of the room which had seemed to rust eyond any hope of ever giving way to anyone or anything. Ethan approached it and got on his knees as he dug his projected claw beneath the valve and pulled hard. It wouldn't give away so easily though and he had to spend a few seconds crouching before it loosened and was ripped from the floor; revealing the clear water hidden underneath. He threw the large valve to the side and bent over the now open valve. "This should do just fine" He then took his Venom coated right hand and stuck it down the clear water which was soon more alike that of oil spill than actual water. The cold water against his skin made him shiver at first as he let it stay in there for a few minutes. He eventually pulled out as he figured he was done. The black oil like substance soon dissipated as it spread out with the water current. There was no visual traits to confirm it's nature now. "I suppose that's enough out of me..." With that he was done and proceeded outside once more to meet the flames and screams but the only thing on his mind was what he should get for dinner later. Though he supposed he should find a way out of the city first.

Yuna walked solemnly down the streets of Rose Garden, her tears long gone. There was nothing to smile or even laugh about to pass the time, not anymore. Her green eyes remained trained on the stampede of terrified survivors running from the bloodthirsty mercenaries of Nox Animus. Their bloodcurdling screams filled the air as they were pounced upon and finally ended after a serious of torturous encounters. The powerful, angry flames slowly engulfed the land giving it a dramatically, horrifying affect to the onslaught occurring.

Her head hung low and her hands trembling in anger and sorrow, she stepped over debris and bodies. The breeze fluttered around her bringing the stench of blood swirling around her, making her sick. There was no escaping the war. She had missed her chance to leave a long time ago. Unlike the people who would soon tell this tale, she knew why Nox Animus had done this terrible deed. Furthermore, she understood and yet she did not blame them in the least. They were but puppets in the bigger picture. Someone was pulling the strings. She stopped in her tracks, did knowing and understanding mean she was okay with this? No, not even in the least; knowing and understanding was entirely different from approving and accepting. It just meant she viewed the bigger picture. Yuna continued on her walk through the bloody streets. This was genocide, a war of none she had ever seen nor did she ever want to see again. Mercenaries? Assassins? Yuna made a tiny fist and placed it over her heart, her nails digging into her skin. She was scared, but not of the guild but of herself. Would this change her? Make her into something she did not want to be?

Far off, she noticed a damaged rune knight lurking from behind the shadows ready to strike her ally and friend. Without thinking, she grabbed a fistful of earth she always carried on herself, ran closer them, and ate. Instantaneously, she was filled with the rush of the Demon Force. Upon reaching her proximity, she stomped her foot, causing the Earth to rise in jagged spikes around her. She was unsure of what her decision would cost her, but she wanted to save her friend. The earth rose and, as she had hoped, hit the knight knocking him out. She sighed thankfully and sank to her knees. She weakly put her hands to the ground and put the spikes back. Yuna slowly raised her head to inspect the damage she had caused. No one except the knight had been hurt by the spikes and for that she was thankful. She noticed her team leader, Ethan, make his way towards the water systems. She tried to stand up, but she was weak; even with the hum of the demon force running through her veins. She scanned the area and knew that he, Ethan, was safe. Nothing and no one would be getting in his way, Ethan had chosen the perfect time to poison.

Not far from where she was, she saw Codemaster walking towards her. His hands rose up in a warm greeting. "C-Codemaster..!" She cried, struggling to get up and run to embrace her dear friend in a hug. What she had not foreseen was that her spikes had caused a nearby lamp post to wobble. As fate would have it, a rune knight was slammed against the post by one of team. The extra force caused the post to come crashing down. "CODEMASTER!" She yelled in an ear splitting scream. She watched helplessly as the post took out her dear friend in a single swoop. In her mind, the scene replayed and replayed. Cursing her and mocking her for not being able to do a thing. Newfound energy found its way to her, and she shot up from the ground. She ran towards the lifeless body of Codemaster and fell besides him, weeping. It seemed like an eternity before she was able to look at her friend again. She brushed her newfound tears away with her dirtied arm and inspected the scene. The post had caused the android’s system to crack and shut down. His body was damaged beyond repair. She tugged at the android’s arm, but no amount of strength would cause him to budge. Instead, she crawled atop the lamp post and delicately opened the android’s chest area and looked inside. Wires and chips decorated the inside; things that would never work again. Yuna plunged her hand deep inside the opening and took out the main chip. “…Codemaster… you’ll be back..! I p-promise..!” The nature spirit placed the treasured chip in her pocket; she would find a way to bring him back. Yuna knew that the chip contained all of the data Codemaster had acquired, he had told her not so long ago. She climbed off and noticed a shard in Codemaster’s hand; a shard from the explosion, the bomb. She struggled to open the closed hand and took the shard. It would serve as a memory. A memory of what Nox Animus, and she, had done.