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Post by othus on Feb 18, 2021 3:24:30 GMT
The Map Arthur was given had no indication of the structure, it was almost centered to the volcano, if they moved past the temple, they would probably reach the crater.
"Well, we won't know what that is about until we get closer! ready?"
As Hyun and Arthur moved closer, they would notice there were multiple people at the foot of the temple. Up close, the structure was completely massive, easily the size of a large modern building.
"Hm??! It's those guys that were with Ainu! what are they doing here?!"- Hyun held tightly to Arthur, the five mages that moved around the area were clearly protected by a fireproof spell.
Right when they were at the foot of the temple one of the mages stood in front of them
"What are you doing here? You were supposed to be clearing the Wyrm's nests"
If Arthur looked past him, they would notice the mages were removing seals off the temple and setting some of their own instead.
"What are we doing? We are the ones who should be asking that y'know?!"-Hyun told the mage defiantly.
"We don't have time for this, begone"-The mage turned his back on them but Hyun moved forward with Arthur
"No, your boss already betrayed us once. whatever you guys are doing here it can't be good"-Hyun froze the grip she had with Arthur so it wouldnt break up easily and looked at him
"We can do this, let's stop them!"
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 18, 2021 22:12:25 GMT
When the pair got closer to the temple, they ran across Ainu's robed cronies.
"We're in the process of clearing them. But Hyun has a point. What ARE you doing here?" An ice sword formed in his free hand. But he held Hyun back for just a moment. Ainu was willing to slaughter non-humans for power, but she gave the human Hyun a chance to leave. So maybe they were doing something actually useful. "Waste time explaining it to us or fighting us, your choice."
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Post by othus on Feb 18, 2021 23:17:07 GMT
"...Alright, I will listen to what they have to say"- Hyun told Arthur and relaxed her posture.
The mage looked back for a second, then towards Arthur and Hyun. if they fought here, the consequences could be catastrophic.
"Fine. I shall explain, but you must return to your duty afterwards"- He motioned them to follow him into the temple. Massive pillars held the japanese structure, statues of unknown periods adorned the path towards the inner structure while lava fountains decorated the surroundings. After a couple minutes walking, the mage stood right before a 10 meter tall golden door. A large seal stamped on it. the room was massive, easily 500 square meters around.
"This temple is ancient, dedicated to a shinto deity. examining the seals, we can tell Susanoo sealed this Shinto a thousand years ago, its location lost. Thankfully, Master Ainu finally cracked the location. You see, Master Ainu felt the power of the Shinto and decided to build a village with a research center in the area a few years ago. After trial and error we decided to bring Black and Red wyrms to settle around the power source a few months ago. We couldn't pinpoint the exact location, but the creatures diligently made tunnels and nests around it. Now that we have managed to trace a straight path around the caves, the access to the temple is simple. We will replace the seals created by Susanoo a milennia ago with new ones made by Master Ainu. The seals will syphon the Shinto's power and add it to our master. with that power, she will rule over death."
The mage turned to face Arthur and Hyun while two more telported to the room. they reached for Arthur and Hyun's shoulders.
"It's time for you to go back and eliminate the remaining pests, half of the other agents are working on it as well"
Hyun looked at Arthur worried. He had held her back to listen. after all that explanation, what would be his answer to this?
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 19, 2021 20:31:35 GMT
Arthur listened to the plan, nodding along attentively. "Okay, let me see if I got the gist. You found a shrine, built a village full of people around it, and then brought in a bunch of wyrms. And now, you want to syphon the powers of an unknown deity sealed by one of your most famous gods to feed it to the person who admits is at risk of losing control of her own power."
Arthur looked at Hyun and squeezed her hand twice. Then he kicked backwards, at the guy holding his shoulder, then swung his sword at the man in front of him. "With a plan that cruel and idiotic, I'm afraid we have to stop you. For all you know, you could be unleashing hell on Earth!"
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Post by othus on Feb 19, 2021 21:07:38 GMT
As Arthur kicked the mage holding his shoulder, Hyun immediately froze the hand of the man who had grabbed hers, she moved with him to strike the mage, which met Arthur's blade with a black dagger of his own.
"Always low faith in our master! the Musashi would never approve of the project, so we needed cash flow from outside, everyone involved in this is just means to an end. that includes you both"
The mage Arthur had kicked quickly recovered and equipped what appeared to be a set of metal gauntlets, he dashed to strike Arthur in the back of the head but Hyun deflected the blow with a kick that froze his arm.
the mage that had originally touched Hyun found his hand was not forzen in a regular fashion, she had completely crystalized it. He removed his entire hand to stop the necrosis from spreading to his arm by slicing it with a wind spell, then he aimed to repay in kind, sending a concentrated gust of air that threatened to slice both Arthur and Hyun.
The esper deflected the gust of air with a TK shield, but blocking such an attack taxed her mentally, her nose began to bleed slightly.
Meanwhile, the mage Arthur was facing summoned a dark long sword, if Arthur looked at his ice blade, he would notice it was starting to turn black just from ealier contact with the dagger, if that energy touched him, it would spell bad news. The mage swung wildly for Arthur, clearly looking to bypass his Ice weapon.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 20, 2021 22:00:27 GMT
So, the Musashi didn't even know about this plot? While killing these idiots might make the Musashi mad, at least now Arthur saw a better course of action for dealing with them once this was over. Letting Akane know this was going on would sort them out really fast. Still, that was an issue for later.
Fighting hand in hand made this fight a lot harder than it usually would be. At least for Arthur, it limited his movement, one of his favorite tools. But it also had its benefits. Hyun seemed to be a defensive master, keeping all the attacks at bay, though it was very taxing on her. Then Arthur will focus on the offense completely.
He hurled the blackened ice sword at his opponent's leg, then two large ice spikes grew out of the ground that were supposed to wrap around his wrists and bind them together. If those worked, an ice block would come from below to knock his feet into the air and hold them in place as well. Finally, an uppercut to the solar plexus should put him out of commission.
He would quickly turn around then, throwing an iceball at the wind using mage. As he pulled his arm back, he'd beckon a shower of ice shards into the back of the man's legs, aiming to knock him to his knees and bring his head into perfect roundhouse kick range.
If all went according to plan, the couple would be able to devote their full attention to the gauntleted man.
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Post by othus on Feb 22, 2021 1:23:32 GMT
Just as Arthur landed the combo on the first mage, the one wearing gauntlets interfered, striking Hyun once in the face and then punching her in the stomach, his gauntlets got frozen each time he struck the esper, but he broke out of the ice by smashing them against the ground.
Hyun went to her knees and spat out a molar along with plenty of blood.
"Ow...not again"
She knew her face would look horrible for the next few days from experience.
In the same span of time, the ice ball Arthur threw at the mage was met with a wind barrier, Arthur's kick would never come to happen as Hyun was still down on her knees, feeling the brunt of the attack. The wind mage took opportunity from this and lauched yet another flurry of wind cuts aimed at the couple.
Hyun encased herself and Arthur yet again in another TK barrier. she reached for her head, which now hurt like hell after blocking too many attacks and having taken a straight punch to the face. She looked around the room, maybe she could do something about it.
"I'm only slowing you down...fly up when I tell you to."-Hyun told Arthur as she set her left hand on the floor.
"Now!"
The second Arthur's feet left the ground Hyun would undo the grip she had on him, setting both of her hands on the floor. In what was essentially a second, the entire room was completely frozen. the Mage Arthur had knocked out was completely encased in ice, while the other two managed to barely dodge the attack. the entire room was now sealed in a thick layer of ice, the temperature inside easily colder than that of an industrial fridge.
"I'm...gonna take a little nap, i'll leave the rest to you..."-Hyun said as she felt her eyes slowly close, now she had done it. when was the last time she had used her powers so much they put her to sleep? The esper fell headfirst to the ground, nose bleeding and face swollen. The mages while initially surprised by the attack did not hesitate to retaliate, the one with gauntles going for Arthur's head, while the wind mage looked to put down Hyun for good with an air slicer. Hyun had bought Arthur time to deal with them, as the ice room would no doubt eventually melt from the heat outside.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 22, 2021 21:57:53 GMT
The first mage fell to the combo, but in the meantime, another managed to get in on Hyun. Arthur was just thought of grabbing Hyun and flying up to give them some room to breathe, but Hyun had a different plan.
Arthur flew up as she commanded and she froze the room. The move reminded him of something his teacher did. Heh, she really was much stronger than she looked. But it took a lot out of her. Hyun collapsed onto the frozen ground while their two opponents were still in fighting shame.
Arthur raised a cocoon of ice around Hyun, just in time to protect her from the wind blades, and landed on top of it. Icy wings unfurled impressively behind him as he cracked his knuckles. No reason to not put on a show for the soon to be departed. "You hit my girlfriend. I'm... Quite agitated." He stared at the gauntleted mage as he spoke. And he accepted the challenge, charging Arthur and aiming a punch at his head.
An icy wing covered Arthur to protect him. A loud boom echoed through the room. The ice cracked from the impact and pieces fell to the floor slowly. But there was nothing behind it. Arthur took the moment when he was obscured to slip away and run behind the wind user. He tried doing a liver blow from behind, followed by a kick to the back. He was going to give the last mage a proper mano-a-mano challenge and he didn't want any distractions.
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Post by othus on Feb 23, 2021 1:52:33 GMT
As Hyun was dreaming of last night's hot cocoa, Arthur battled the remaining mages, the wind mage was caught by surprise of Arthur's new mobility, his full combo sending him to the ground, he fell and squirmed in pain as the last mage stood before Arthur.
"Not half bad, monster. but you are running against time. that woman was doing all the fireproof for you, wasn't she? what do you think will happen in the next couple minutes?"- The mage pointed at the ceiling, which was already dripping, the blazing heat threatening to invade the area entirely.
Taking a combat stance, the mage finally decided to enhance himself using magic, a dark aura surrounded him, creating an ominous effect. He teleported right before Arthur and aimed to strike him in the solar plexus with an uppercut, in the same movement, he would go for an elbow strike to his nape, looking to knock him out cold.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 23, 2021 22:02:59 GMT
Arthur was aware of the ticking clock, but he would only need two minutes, tops. Well, seeing the dark energy gathering around his enemy, it might take three. "I don't wanna be called a monster by a guy wrapped in a black fart cloud. Make this easier on the both of us and just let me beat the snot out of you already."
The mage teleported right in front of Arthur. Unexpected, but Arthur managed to guard from the uppercut with his hands. The elbow was tougher. Arthur couldn't block it, so he did the best he could to not get hit in the back of the head. Twisting his body made the hit connect too far to the side, but it hurt like hell and made Arthur stumble to the side. He blindly kicked to the side, where the mage had been standing a second ago just to keep him at bay for a second. Then he jumped and flipped in the air, this time making an aimed kick as he spun to the side of the mage's neck.
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Post by othus on Feb 25, 2021 2:30:01 GMT
Arthur kicked thin air, the mage had teleported again to his right, him blocking with both arms Arthur's spinning kick. It was far heavier than the mage expected, so it still made him stumble, as he jumped backwards he waved a rune spell and clones appeared right next to him, counting five total
"Tch, How's this?!"
The mage and the clones teleported, circling Arthur, all attacking at the same time. Arthur would notice the clones attacks would go right through him, only the real making any damage, Everytime the real got a hit in, it would swap positions through teleport. A barrage of heavy hits aimed to pummel him until every bone in his body was broken.
At the same time, the wind mage sat up, slowly recovering as he cast a healing spell on himself.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 25, 2021 20:41:01 GMT
Arthur's enemy teleported away, so he took the opportunity to nurse his sore neck for a bit. Until he summoned clones. Just wonderful... He could handle one of him, probably two, but five might be a problem. The mage and his clones wanished into darkness again and, predicting they'd all teleport to him, Arthur raised a dome of ice around himself. That's when he noticed four hands got into the dome. Not by breaking in, but by passing through the ice. Heh.
The dome exploded, scattering shards everywhere around Arthur and he tried to uppercut the one who got hit by the shards. Then he formed a wall behind his enemy and pulled it back, aiming to smash it into him and carry him into his recovering ally. Finally, he'd leap on top of them with a frost-bound kick aiming to freeze them both solid.
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Post by othus on Feb 25, 2021 23:48:05 GMT
The Ice shards blinded the mage, who took the uppercut and was then pushed by the ice wall, the wind mage dodged out of the way as Arthur froze the one using gauntlets right in place. As the mage took aim for Arthur's mid section, a hand grabbed him by the head.
"I think we had enough of you, have a nice dayyy!"-Hyun told the mage as she froze him solid as well. The esper ran towards Arthur and hugged him.
"Sorry for leaving you alone with these brutes, you ok?! of course you are! ah. that guy made me lose a tooth...is there any um, magic remedy for that? also um, my face is not the best looking right now so don't look at me too much"-Hyun reached for her swollen cheek and tears came out of her eyes, that had hurt quite a bit.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 26, 2021 20:58:26 GMT
These guys were all quite slippery. The gauntleted guy and his teleporting shenanigans had finally fallen, but the wind homage seemingly recovered. Only for Hyun to freeze him solid. "Hey, I'm just glad you're up already," Arthur said, returning the hug. When they finally separated and he could see her bruised face, she said: "I've seen much worse before, trust me. Plus, the wounds are fresh, so I should be able to patch you up right away."
Arthur snapped his fingers and cast a healing spell on Hyun. Then he pulled out a handkerchief and started gently clearing away the blood. "Are you feeling better?"
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Post by othus on Feb 27, 2021 0:20:06 GMT
Hyun could feel her face slowly returning to normal, magic was definitely great when it came to recovery after all, she held his hand as he wiped blood off her face
"Thanks! I am, now that we have dealt with them anyway. I knew they were up to no good y'know?" Hyun said as she looked at the door, her powers had managed to freeze the entire room, yet the door itself was undisturbed by her ice, something hit it violently from the other side, making the seal shine, Hyun jumped slightly as the entire temple shook.
"It seems whatever they sealed is still inside..."- Hyun got closer to the door and set her ear against it, trying her best to listen
"Hey... won't you...free... me?"- A voice called, chills immediately ran down the esper's spine as she hopped back
"No thanks! whatever is inside just asked me to free it!"
Energy started being siphoned off the temple, the remaining mages were clearly still replacing the charms.
"Ugh, these guys are quite persistent! if the others haven't finished with the wyrms then I guess there should be two more mages outside...although if the rest is done there could be seven....what do we do?"-Hyun asked Arthur as she touched the walls of the room to keep the temperature.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 27, 2021 22:03:57 GMT
Hyun pressed her ear to the temple. Arthur watched the color drain from her face before she jumped away.
"No thanks! Whatever is inside just asked me to free it!" she said.
"Um, right. Let's not do that? Usually not a good sign. But if the rest of the mages are doing the same thing, we need to stop them, too." He paused for a moment. "Uh, how do we find them?"
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Post by othus on Feb 28, 2021 15:57:06 GMT
"Yeah, let's not...I suppose we can explore some more around the temple, ready to get out in the heat again?"- Hyun told Arthur as she extended her hand towards him. just as they left, they were interrupted yet again
"W-w-waitt! at least listen to me!"-A girly voice from the other side of the door replied as it banged the door desperately
"I know you won't set me free, but would you listen to my plea? spare my shinto, I see you are already stealing my life energy, take it all if you want but...please don't touch my kids"
Hyun walked back to the door and stood right in front of it
"Just so you know! we aren't the ones taking your energy! don't worry about it tho, we are gonna stop that and save everyone in the village!"-She proudly announced.
"...Then, wouldn't you set me free? I could be of help"- The being inside the door replied. Hyun looked back at Arthur to see what he thought, for all they knew, it could all be a ruse.
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Post by TimePuppy on Feb 28, 2021 21:30:47 GMT
Arthur and Hyun listened to the being's requests. When it promised to help if released, Arthur had to shake his head. The being had not told a sobstory to invoke pity and even if it had, they should hear out Susano'o reason for locking her up.
"Sorry. We will do everything in our power to protect the other shinto and you as well, but we can't release you without at least hearing your captor's story. Although, I would like to hear your side first, if it's not too long. We can't waste much time after all." Arthur was genuinely curious why the being had been trapped. He had a lot of talking to do with Akane, from reporting this situation to asking her if she could found out just what was behind here.
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Post by othus on Mar 1, 2021 0:09:01 GMT
"Huh?! Susanoo doesn't talk to humans! I'm getting stuck here forever, aren't I? well I suppose I can still tell ya...the last thousand years have been kinda lonely, so it's nice being able to talk to someone if only for a minute...Long story short, I am one of Izanami's kids, and well, Susanoo kinda hates all of us for that. But isn't it a bit unfair?! A child shouldn't have to pay for the sins of their parents!"
The room made some silence before the being inside the door decided to speak again
"Well, anyway, you have my thanks. and uh, don't worry about saving me, most of my power has gone in the last thousand years, and living in here is just a nightmare. I guess I would just rather stop existing at this point, no one has ever really wanted me alive anyway. I wish you all luck! and uh, no hard feelings, I understand why you won't let me go"
Hyun reached for Arthur's hand and got ready to leave, Arthur had pretty much made it clear he wasn't gonna just set whoever was behind this gate free. which was the most reasonable way to go admittedly.
"I'm sorry umm..."
"Kagura"
"Kagura, We are still stopping this person, she is dangerous so, forgive us again"
No reply was made. Apparently, Kagura had heard enough and thus, Hyun and Arthur had been left to their own.
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Post by TimePuppy on Mar 1, 2021 19:16:15 GMT
Arthur felt really bad listening to her story. She was absolutely right, a child shouldn't suffer for their parents' mistakes. Maybe releasing her wasn't such a bad thing... But what if she could tell how he'd feel and was trying to manipulate him? Maybe he could justify it if he recognized her name, but it didn't ring a bell. Argh, why did leaving a sealing god behind feel so difficult? But the choice they'd already made was the most reasonable and he knew it.
"I promise, I'll look into releasing you. I'll do my best, assuming you're not lying. Stay strong in the meantime." He hoped he at least sounded sympathetic. He took Hyun's hand and they turned to leave.
"Let's go. We have some assholes to beat down." He turned to look at Hyun again, remembering she was just knocked out for a bit. "Assuming you feel well again."
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