The First Step: Discovered [Closed]

It was three hours before the sun would finally set. Near a small lake, on the outskirts of a small town, blood washed down stream. The red water rushed along, passing through the path laid out for it, as if nothing had happened. The world continued on moving, people lived and they died. Here, specifically, people had died. Many of them, in fact. Mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters... all mercilessly slain because they foolishly trusted the woman in black. A heavy silence fell across the village, a dark breeze slithering through, caressing the dead as if to lift them again. And all that was left of this massacre was a mere shadow. A shadow off in the distance, it's back turned to the village as it walked away. It was the woman in black, heading North to exit the land of Cieria.

Hours later...

The sun has fallen, it was barely night, but it was dark within the forest. Now farther North, above the edge of Cieria, a woman was traveling along in silence. This woman was well-known, strong, talented, and she was beautiful, but she was corrupted. Her heart blackened by darkness, this woman, Eira von Zarkonheinz, has taken part in hundreds of murders. She has broken families, destroyed homes, and harmed innocent people all through out the Eastern territories. And now, after another spree of murders within the borders of Cieria, Eira was making her way North. She had no real direction, except forward. She had no real goal, except to kill anyone who got in her way. Many tried getting in her way, and so far they all fell just as quickly. Not many seemed to be able to challenge Eira. She was too strong, too skilled, and too unfeeling to care to hesitate when implementing the final blow. It didn't take long for Eira to discover cover in the forests. She was unaware of this forests name, nor did she care to learn it. She merely walked along, awaiting her newest challenge. Eira was known for her pale, cold eyes and the black armor she always wore. She never took it off. She was also known for the blades she uses to kill those she fights; it's as black as her armor with red markings up the blades metal.

It was unfortunate that so many people fell into the trap of a beautiful young woman. Eira had learned to use the kindness of others to her advantage and then slaughtered them when they were no longer needed. Tonight, she was unaware that a story had been set in motion. Her "destiny", as many people would call it, was going to change within the next few hours. How? We'll just have to see. For now, the beautiful young blonde made her way through the maze-like forest, her cold eyes staring forward, her body and mind constantly alert. Something was off. She could tell. Something... was watching her.

"...M....M...Mon...ster..."

The voice left the lips of the male, his eyes looking at the water that was flowing downstream. In the stream, there was red; red as the flames that emerged from his gloves. But that was not natural; water was never meant to be that red. And it was never meant to smell so strongly of... minerals. The blonde haired male's eyes had become mere pin points, his entire body turning stock still. "Th....This... This.. n-No..." He breathed out, shuddering breaths, testimony to the tears that were running down his face.

Without warning, a flame appeared on his forehead. However, the flame was not like most; it began to rise, and rise, and rise, rising a full ten feet in the air. His eyes could no longer be seen; flames were pouring out of his eye sockets, tears of flame pouring down as he threw his head back. His cloak, lighting ablaze as fire shot around him, his hands both becoming alight as the sound tore from his throat.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

* * *

"EIRA VON ZARKONHEINZ!!!"

The name shot from the male's lips as he shot through the trees, the speed he was travelling at absolutely incredible as the trees behind him shook as if a gust of wind had roared by. In reality, it was the male that was shooting forwards, both of his hands absolutely ablaze with light, the flame on his forehead roaring. He was only visible for an instant; indeed, the name he roared out would not be heard until a few moments AFTER he had reached his target, due to the immense speed with which he was performing his movement. His right hand shot forwards as a fist aimed directly for the female's face; at the same time, his body spun around, his left hand slamming into her side. Her blade could not be in two places at once, no matter how skilled she was; and that was not even to mention the flames that were roaring by her body, most likely scalding her flesh or destroying her clothing.

His body's movement was not just for show; as he spun around, the flames on his feet grew exponentially, throwing him away just as fast as he had arrived away from her, his feet pointed at her as he passed to throw the backwash of the fire onto her body. His body flipped around as he landed on a nearby tree, hitting it so fast that it rattled, before the entire thing began to shudder. It moved back a couple of feet, but by then the male was long gone, having flown high up into the air. His eyes could still not be seen; the glare of the flame on his head was so bright that the only thing which could be seen were the flames that were coming out of his eyes.

"WHY?! WHAT DID THOSE PEOPLE EVER DO TO YOU!" He roared out, throwing back a hand as fire flowed into it, condensing rapidly. "I KNEW THEM! THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE! SO WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DIE IN SUCH A GRUESOME FASHION?!" He demanded of the female below, his flames on his head becoming smaller, showing the indication of his raw and utter focus. His hands pressed together painfully, the flames that were contained there changing from their redish yellow nature to a pure yellow, showing tinges of blue; an immensely hot flame, enough so that the tips of the gauntlets themselves were beginning to burn.

"I AM PARIAH, THE DEVOTE OF FLAME!" He announce,d pushing the hands forwards. As he did so, the flame shot from his palms, as if launched out of a cannon; it roared downwards, shooting straight towards where the woman was standing. He would attempt to anticipate the motions she tried to make; and the speed at which the flames shot would make it difficult to handle them. Finally, when they reached where she was, they would explode violently, destroying the bases of any nearby trees within fifteen feet and badly destroying the ground as if a blast of dynamite had occurred there, pure force pushing the flames away to scorch the nearby ground.

"FOR THE SINS YOU HAVE PERFORMED, FACE THE CLEANSING OF FLAME AND FEEL YOUR CORRUPTED SOUL BURNED AWAY, EVEN IF THAT MEANS TAKING YOUR FLESH WITH IT!" He roared at the woman below, both hands coming together as bursts of flame shot from his gloves as he extended his arms, throwing him away from that location. He was like a fly, darting from place to place, before finally he darted to ground level again, shooting all around her. The only way he could be tracked, conceivably, would be to look at that massive flame roaring from atop his head, before he would finally appear in front of her, a single fist thrown forwards. The middle knuckle was jutting straight outwards, flames shooting out from his elbow as it went around the cloak he wore, boosting the glove immensely as it darted straight forwards, flame pouring from all over within it, the 'hard' flames on both ends of the attack, the flames that were known for their brutal piercing nature and intense acceleration.

After this attack, he would allow for the 'hard' flames to explode, throwing his body back as he threw his legs around him, touching down for a moment before flames shot from them, his body vanishing once more, moving around like a fly as he at last stopped in a tree, panting rapidly. However, despite his panting, the flames coming out of his eyes had not died down a bit; he was still looking directly at her, with that gaze of his full of fury, and more than that, for one of the only times in his life, the intent to kill. But there was more to that gaze than fury; there was also the tears that were streaming down it, gracing both of his cheeks in small streams of water, the muscles of his face pulled taut. Finally, he tore his mouth open once more, releasing all of his emotions, all of his feelings and all of the illogical natures of this situation on her all at once, explaining once and for all why he could rest knowing what he was planning to do.

"I REJECT YOUR HUMANITY!!"

It wasn't something that she had to do very often, no. She could sense him coming, the disturbances in the air, the Arcana he released. It made her armor, her blade, and her core shake. He was coming with the intent to do serious damage. He was angry. Eira did not care. As his first attack came in, Eira drew the black blade from it's sheath and brought it in the way of his fist and stopped it a mere inch from her face. This blonde man felt he could outwit her, out speed her, but his next attack was not going to get her that easily either. The thing about not feeling emotion; she had no fear. She had no hesitation. She saw his next coming and merely raised her side enough to bring her sheath in the way of his left hand. However, the story of his flame was different. Eira was had little defense to the elements; this was a definite weakness, but not a huge one. She felt her clothes burning, the fire attempting to reach her skin, so she took a moment to push back against her attacker. Doing this, she pushed herself into the air and back away from him a good twenty feet. She took a quick assessment of her body, noticing a few burns along her skin, the clothes under her armor being burnt in many areas, but still covering most of her. And then the blonde yelled and Eira looked to him with cold, emotionless eyes.

With every word he spoke, he got no reply. Instead, Eira raised her blade as if she were ready to fight. She awaited his next attack, but she knew he was different than most. He had skill. He wasn't your run of the mill weakling assassin type. He was a soldier; a warrior of justice. Eira, on the other hand, could be compared to the grim reaper. She moved from place to place and took life. That was it. He charged up what seemed to be a very focused attack, just because of the small size of it. She doubted he would release something weak on her. There was a reason that even strong sorcerer's could not take this woman down. She was a Scholar and had enchanted every item she had on her person. She waited as this cannon of fire was shot towards her. As it shot, Eira raised her left hand, her blade being held in the right, and allowed the Arcana based attack to strike the gauntlet. When the flame would hit the gauntlet, as if it had hit a trampoline, the cannon of fire would bounce off her gauntlet and was sent right back towards Pariah. As this happened, Eira glanced at her blade then, looking back up to this Pariah, Devote of Flame person, to see if he was struck by his own attack. Most people weren't expecting her to be able to deflect attacks like that, and usually ended up being hit by their own attack. She didn't know whether he would though, so she watched.

She was going to have to take a few extra precautions against him. It had been a very, very long time since she recognize the strength of an opponent. He immediately began attacking again, darting around like a bug. She did her best to keep up with him. He was fast and there were a few moments that she lost his location, but her eyes would catch sight of his body before it darted off again. Soon, he appeared right in front of her and sent his fist straight towards her her torso, which was towards her chest plate. This part was just a test of his strength, but Eira allowed him to hit her without any attempt at defending herself. His fist hit and hit hard. She felt a bang against her chest plate and was sent flying back. Her body slammed into a tree, creating an imprint of her figure. Eira took a second to just stand there, her body molded with her imprint on the tree. "My humanity?" she repeated, saying the first words she had said in a very, very long time. She pulled herself from the tree and looked up to him. She brought her sword up, taking it in both hands, and took her stance. At this moment, she began concentrating her Arcana into the blade, using the first of her own spells to get on the offensive. While this was happening, she would use her speech to distract him, knowing that he wouldn't be able to sense the activation of her corrupted weapon.

"Understand something boy, I do not remember the last time I had any humanity. I do not even know if I am a human or not. You cannot reject something I may have never even had." Eira said, her cold and emotionless eyes staring at him with a daring intensity. The air around them was heavy, as if the forest was sensing the destruction that was going to take place here. Only one was going to come out on top, but which one? "You charge into battle not knowing your enemies strengths and weaknesses. You aimed for my torso, my chest... intending to do damage. Are you not paying attention to the fact that I am wearing armor?" Eira said in a dull, lifeless tone that people just were not used to. It was like she felt nothing, a robot of sorts. "I will not be damaged easily." Depending on whether Pariah would attack while she was talking, there would be different actions. First, if he were to interrupt her through attacking, Eira would let the attack she was charging up go. If he waited to the end of her little speech, she would let it go then. The longer he waits, the more devastating the attack will be. The attack comes out in the shape of a beam. If he interrupts after the first sentence, the attack will shoot out at a high speed and be about as wide as a golf ball. After the second sentence, it will be the size of a beach ball. After the final sentence, it will be the size of her entire body. It will be shot out from the top of her blade and aimed straight towards him.

"…"

Without even thinking, Pariah's hands swept outwards, gripping the side of his cloak as he wrapped it around his body, the massive ball of flame slamming into him and pushing him back quite a few feet, but he was otherwise unharmed. That was the special nature granted from his cloak and gloves; the fire could not be used to burn him, he was immune to his own burning. It was a good thing he had done that; as otherwise he would have had some rather...significant problems occurring. The fact that he got no reply did not bother him; indeed, it seemed appropriate and in line with the words that he was stating towards her.

As his fist slammed into her, he felt the resounding feeling of her body flying backwards, the glove on his hand providing some protection against the back-force, though he could feel numbness in the tips of his fingers from his attack. When he heard her speak, however, it was not what he had been expecting in the least. Firstly, she was speaking, and using human words at that. It made him pause for a moment, perhaps even more shocking that then discovery of the corpses earlier. "Did you mishear?" He asked her, as he darted away from her body, reappearing on a branch in a tree.

"So many have said that.' He told her… as suddenly he appeared on her side, his left hand coming around as the back of his palm attempted to slam into her face as hard as it possibly could, like a steel wrecking ball slamming into her with such force that the tree behind her would shatter simply from the force he was releasing, in addition to beginning to becoming alight from his attack. "Number one reason stoic mages talk: developing Arcana." He proceeded as he reappeared in front of her, the flames on his hands and feet both blazing as his right leg swung, attempting to slam into the side that did not hold her blade, meaning that to use it would require the extension of her body. His leg was ready to burst just the other way if she did use her sword on it; he was being extremely careful of that black weapon.

As his leg performed this action, his other hand came around, attempting to slam into the shoulder of the same arm that held her blade, the flames roaring with the hard nature as he threw the entirety of his body into this attack, attempting the best he could to dislocate her arm or even break her shoulder and collar if need be. "And they also are prepared for anything while speaking…" He continued, reappearing in the tree above them, the flames across his body stopping except for the heightened one on his head and the ones that were constantly around the cloak he wore.

If she released her attack before then, then he would release flames all over his body, burning and breaking down everything around his body in order to press directly through it and enact his attacks, though it would cost him a good deal more energy. After this performance, his eyes began to close, as he thought about it for a moment, lifting both hands over his head as another sphere of flames appeared. Throwing down the hands, he flung the flame straight downwards, and unflinchingly performed this action another three times, serving her four different spheres of flame, all of which would descend on her person before exploding, singing everything that it connected with.

Finally, after these, he would be panting greatly. He perhaps had a reason for these actions, but it would be some time before he checked for sure that it was actually possible. Now it was time to wait and see what she did; the energy it had cost to go through her corruption blade had taken more out of him than he thought it would, so now it was time to see exactly what would result from his actions...

Indeed, the moment that he chose to interrupt her, she knew that he understood her plans. Just like she thought, he was not an ordinary weakling, unlike most she came across. He knew what he was doing and was prepared to counter her. Because of this, she did as she planned and the moment he chose to interrupt her, she shot out the beam from her sword. It had only been charged for two seconds, so it wasn't the smallest size, but it wasn't the largest either. It shot towards him as thick as a baseball and as fast as one could be thrown by a professional pitcher. Unfortunately for the corrupted woman, this Pariah's reflexes were up to par. He surrounded himself with flames, causing her beam to dispel, though it was not without consequence to his own energy usage. The advantages of being a scholar like Eira was, she could enchant her items and not have to worry about using up her Arcana. That was something sorcerer's had to worry about. Once the beam was completely dispelled and Eira saw that Pariah was unharmed, she narrowed her eyes at him. She had a sense of pride in her work that caused her to become slightly irritated with every attack of hers that was blocked, counters, or anything of the like. This situation was no exception and it only enhanced her focus.

“Did I mishear what?” Eira raised an eyebrow at him. Now that her spell was blocked they were at a momentary pause in battle, at least that is what Eira thought. Still underestimating Pariah's ability, she let her guard down. He had just backed away from her and landed in a tree, so she assumed he was going to speak to her again. It was how most people she fought did; they almost never shut up. It was like they were trying to distract her, but unlike them, Pariah wasn't stopping. He suddenly appeared to her side and for the first time in years, Eira's eyes widened. He was going to back-slap her? She knew she couldn't fully dodge this one either, but she could lessen the blow. She did this by taking a step back and away from his left hand and turning her face away. His hand slammed into the side of her face, sending her back a good ten feet and causing her to slightly lose her balance. She quickly regained her composure, cursing herself for allowing herself to drop her guard. She immediately brought him back into her sights and saw him move right in front of her. His body was emitting flame and she knew he was ready to attack again. Eira could see what his next attack was. He was avoiding her sword. It was smart to do so, but the fact was he had no weapon. Instead of going to block his kick to her left side, she lifted her left arm and allowed it to hit. When it came close enough, a very short moment before it fully made contact, Eira dropped her arm around his leg and grabbed onto it. She gripped his leg tightly, her gauntlets tightening around the muscles in his leg to cause pain, but that wasn't it.

“Fool. You don't listen.” Eira said in her cold tone as she gripped his leg even tighter and was raised her sword. Her first thought was to cut off his leg and punish him for thinking she was just talking to talk, without any meaning but deception behind it. She decided against that though. Instead, Eira took this chance of extremely close combat and having her at the advantage since she was holding his leg, and shoved her sword forward and into his stomach. When she did this, she did it slowly, trying to cause as much pain as she could. “I do not speak only to deceive. I told you to pay attention to the armor.” she said and wiggled her blade around a bit to cause even more pain, “You chose to ignore it. I can take a many hits from people like yourself without taking much damage if you refuse to ignore something so important. Because of that, you are going to die...” Eira narrowed her eyes at him and harshly pulled her sword from it's stomach.

The hit was solid; it connected. As it did so, Pariah's eyes widened... he had learned an extraordinarily important fact. She's not used to fighting... fighters...? He wondered aloud within his mind, the flame on his head growing even further as he sent her flying from his smack, the force of which had been great enough to shatter that tree that she had been slammed into. "...." He was silent as at last she gripped onto his leg, and for the first time he realized that things were about to become... dicey, to say the least. Alright, physical combat about to engage... The thoughts within his mind were hyper-triggering, going over her own words as they entered... well, his specialty. Hand to hand combat.

She seemed to thinks he had the advantage holding his leg; and that gave Pariah another indication. Her adaptability and perceptiveness... is low. He reflected as he smiled at her, actually smiled, as the flame on his forehead grew EXPONENTIALLY without warning... and suddenly the blonde haired male's entire body began to SPIN. Her blade that was going in towards his stomach pierced against the front of it, his black suit ripping as blood flowed from the injury, her words leaving her mouth as his body moved.

"I ignore important things?" He asked her as the acceleration all over his body, even out of his stomach, extended into HARD flames, the cloak wrapping around him as the acceleration away from her, by the properties of nature, forced her body DOWNWARDS, from the iron grip that she had on his leg. This pushed her and her blade downwards into the ground, Pariah's knee bending so much it felt like it would break as he ended up on top of her, both hands behind him as he used them to release more acceleration, pushing her into the ground with his body, before finally releasing the acceleration that he had been holding back to keep ehr held down.

The massive collected accelreation sent his hands flying forwards wich such force that he could feel the bones crack as he threw them into the top of her neck, the place where her armor was not as strong, attempting to completely knock her out with this attack. However, if this was not enough, and as if there were something possessing him, his hands would attempt to grip around her throat, flame pouring from his arms as the flames all over the back of his body roared, blowing and billowing the cloak he wore as he used the flames to press her into the ground with as much force as he could, effectively trying to trap her from her usage of pinning down his leg.

"I am a master of hand to hand contact, monstrosity." He growled at her, his amber eyes alive with an extremely uncharacteristic fierceness. Pariah was nto used to feeling this way; he remembered rage. He rememberd the way he had felt when his entire village had been decimated by a mage. And he had seen the same thing, again. "What matters with battle? What matters with slaughter? What matters WITH YOUR EMPTY WASTE OF LIFE?!" EH demanded of her, before finally throwing himself off, his body skidding on the ground as his feet kicked up sand, before wincing. He could feel blood pouring and spilling out of the cut on hsi stomach; it had gone deeper than he thought.

Without even thinking about it, he leapt back again, blood flying out as it landed in his palm, the palm laying on the wound, the flame absolutely ablaze.

"AAAAAAARGGGGH!!"

He roared, slightly disoriented as his feet shot him upwards chaotically, getting off the ground and into the sky as he cauterized himself, a massive burn mark appearing around his stomach as he gingerly, cringing, took the hand away from his stomach, panting like mad. The fact was that in that instance he was extremely vulnerable; if she took the opportunity to assault him, it was likely that he would end up in another jam, hence why he attempted to get himself into the air, even if it had been a clumsy action. He couldn't focus with that much blood coming out; and he could feel that he was going to need a special something in order to break through this woman if he had not already.

"Do you even have a reason why... Do you even think of what you do... Do you even have a mind...? Because from what I've seen..." He muttered, as the flames on his head began to shine, growing well past his head as he began to use his hands to control his flight, his breathing beginning to calm. "...Because to me, you seem brain-dead. So then, how is it you can move..." He muttered, as for the first time an idea came into his head. What if that's it...? What if... I'm fighting a corpse...? OR she isn't in control of herself... What... is going on here... Really...? He wondered, wincing a single time more as the pain in his stomach reminded him of the simple fact of his own mortality. That wound would sting all throughout the rest of this battle; but there was nothing that he could do about it. That was the cost of ending the bleeding.

This was new to Eira. In her previous experience, her opponents did not have such creative ways of avoiding her attacks. This was proven when Pariah actually spun his body to avoid her sword. He was not completely successful, but the fact that he was able to move enough to prevent the full stabbing irritated her more. Because of this, Eira had a new plan to bring about. Not once did she change the gaze of her eyes. She stared at him, her eyes narrowed in an intense glare, but so lifeless they did not seem human. Pariah began shifting himself, using his flames to apply enough pressure on her to bring himself up, while forcing her downwards. As this happened, Eira dropped to a knee and did her best to hold herself up. The pressure continued to build, but as this was done, she squeezed down on his leg harder and harder and harder. With this position, there was no doubt in her mind that his leg was going to break, which was the only reason she chose not to move out of the pressure he was causing. She waited for the perfect moment, watching and waiting for him to make his move. She knew it was coming. It was only a matter of time. She watched him so closely, it was like she could see the very essence of his soul. The worst part about it, she was staring right into his eyes, the gaze never breaking. And then he attempted to make his move. Their position gave him easier access to her head, neck, and back. She knew this and knew that was likely where he would attack. She only had to make sure she knew his target.

Luckily, she was able to figure it out and as he sent both of his hands to the back of her neck, she brought Excalibur up and placed the corrupted sword behind her neck and in the way of his attack. Because of this, instead of hitting her neck, his hands wound both hit the sword. At this same time, Eira, used the pressure that he was causing against him and leaned forward, still holding onto his leg. Now, by pushing herself forward and using his pressure against him, she pushed his knee backwards and breaking his leg. Once that was done, she'd finally let go of his leg, her piercing gaze still focused perfectly on his eyes. Monstrosity. she repeated what he called her, the word intriguing her slightly. She listened to him yell at her, asking her questions that she did not know the answer to. Was she supposed to answer what he was asking? Was that his intent? It seemed like it. “I don't know.” she said in reply to his questions, finally standing again, “Am I supposed to?” Before he answered, he suddenly began yelling and had finally realized that her cut got deeper than he had wanted it to go. He flew into the air, but Eira quickly followed. She charged forward and grabbed onto his ankle, and threw him into a near by tree as quickly as she could. Before he could get up to counter, knowing he was vulnerable at this point, she charged him with her sword raised. She went to stab her sword straight forward towards the middle of his chest. Whether that were to miss or hit, she'd still pull her sword back and swing it downwards towards his left shoulder without hesitation.

"…" His mind was calm as he laid his hands on the blade, his brain suddenly being invaded by foreign sensations. Tortured. He felt, scared by the sensation as he breathed out. Pain. Mental pain flowed towards him; and it was yet another sensation that he was not used to. Truth be told, mental pain, while Pariah was not a stranger to it, he was completely different than his state of mind that he now felt. Images passed through his mind. Plants. God, so many plants… Mom, dad… Dead… dead… deadeadeadeadead… The images that were sent back through his mind were those that he had buried deep within his subconscious, though they could never be erased. After all, every single time that his name was stated, it was a reference to it. He could never completely erase that memory, or allow himself to forget it. It was his motivation, his humanity, and his curse. Erase the self. He realized that this blade was definitely not normal, or natural. It was… A cursed blade… A cursed blade wielder….? And then he realized something, something that saddened him. She's been consumed… but more than that… As he felt his leg break, his mind was rattled by pain.

"...This used to be a holy sword…" He muttered as he tossed himself back from her, rising up into the air as he cauterized… before his leg was forcibly and unexpectedly grabbed. Crap. He thought, wincing from the pain in his leg and stomach, before he was thrown into a nearby tree, his body slamming into it as the cloak that he wore was thrown all about him, exposing the front of his body. However, as he laid there, something peculiar began to happen. His body… relaxed against the tree, his cloak seeming to almost meld to it as it melted down the tree bark behind it, using the living material to stick to it. As she approached him, his eyes opened, looking directly back into hers. However, something was different, the passion that he had showed so much had.. Vanished. The determination was the only thing left as the flames on his head diminished down to almost nothing, the flames sparking out in waves as the blade came towards his body…

And was met with both of his hands. They slammed down onto the tip of the blade, catching it between both of his palms, before the flame on his forehead became massive. The flames coming out of his gloves rose exponentially in power, his hands and "hard" flames pressing the blade with such force that it was as if it had been caught between two boulders, making movement extremely difficult. Finally, he threw the hands backwards, impaling the tree behind him with the blade as he pushed his forehead forwards, his good leg pressing against her legs to prevent her from using them to push him away. His other leg shot out flames as it whipped around her, the broken leg being used as a restraining device as the flames poured from his heel, pressing her body towards his as he threw his skull forwards. "You said I would die…. SO YOU WILL LOSE!" He roared as the sparking flame changed to a bright fire ,the middle of the forehead becoming a piece of flame as he threw his skull into hers, her entire face becoming exposed to the intense fire as well as the immense strength of Pariah's headbutt, his eyes shutting tight as he threw his hands downwards, clasping her blade with them.

"You say you don't know… and that is also why you have lost." He told her, gently, though it was as if his passion had turned from a blazing fire to a mass of coals, like a 'black sun'. "You are unable to give your all." He told her as finally the flames on his forehead completely vanished, something which wasn't normally possible and she would not have seen before… as the flames around her hands and blade turned into ice. The ice flowed around her hands and blade, wrapping around Pariah's arms and hers, freezing the two of them to the tree. "What a waste of a beautiful face and a beautiful mind…" He muttered softly to her, his eyes opening to half mast. "You aren't able to win because you can't regard me as a person to fight. I am willing to give it all, resolved to sacrifice my life if need be… To hold you here…" He told her, the flames constantly replicating as she would likely try to use force on it, refreezing over and over again. "...And that's not something that you can even begin to understand doing…" He breathed out.

That position; his legs went limp, as he focused the entirety of his spirit on holding her, and if she attempted to move from this spot, if she made him do anything drastic, then it could prove fatal… for perhaps both of them.

“Yes, it was once a holy blade. Years ago.”

Somehow, he was able to catch her blade and made it difficult to pull it back. He then caused her blade to pierce the tree behind him. That moment, she immediately began using her concentration ability, which allowed her to collect her Arcana within the blade and alter it to her liking. She narrowed her eyes, watching him use his legs to restrain her. When he did this, he moved his head forward and attempted to strike her with it. “He's insane.” she ironically thought as she leaned back as fast as she could. Leaning back caused him to miss her head and slam his head straight into the upper part of her chest plate, if he chose to continue the move. His fire was hot and seemingly wild, though she knew he had control over it. She tightened her jaw in anger and pain as she felt his flames burning her skin. Letting out a hiss through her closed teeth, Eira glared evilly at him. A moment later, the glare dropped and she looked normal, or at least as normal as she could get. “Explain to me how I am losing?” Eira thought as she stared down at him with her lifeless eyes. A moment after that, she heard a cracking sound and looked down to her armor, seeing that a crack had actually been made in it. That had never happened before.

“Something tells me you're not referring to the fight, Pariah.” Eira said expressionlessly as he grabbed onto her blade, “I have not lost this fight, so you must be referring to something else, correct?” Eira looked up to him and blinked a single time. She watched as ice began to appear and was actually surprised. “Ice?” she thought. Everything else he had used was fire based, so where did this come from? She watched calmly as the ice began surrounding her arms and his own. He was pretty much attacking himself while trying to stop her. “Sacrificing your life to stop me? And you call me a waste?” Eira said in an attempt to insult him, “There is no point of sacrificing your life to stop someone, Pariah. Doing that, you cause more of that pain you're trying to prevent by doing that.” It was obvious that she was trying to get to him, but what she was saying was true. Beyond that, a good ten seconds had actually passed and she was still concentrating her Arcana into her blade. The amount of power behind the blast that could come at any moment was massive. “It's time to end this...” Eira said and began to release the power within her blade. The blade beneath the ice began to glow brightly with dark purple and black energy. The entire thing began to vibrate at a high rate.

“Die.” Eira said and released the energy within her blade in all directions all at once. The dark energy shot out and destroyed the ice. For a moment, it stayed like an sphere above her blade. Eira took this chance to quickly swing her blade across Pariah's chest to cut him. It wasn't aimed deeply, but it would be a long gash. Since he was likely distracted and was also so close in range, she was hoping to take him off guard. A half second later, the sphere of dark energy would detonate and explode, sending the blast of harmful energy in all directions, including towards Eira. The blast was massive; it spread out over two hundred yards in each direction, sending both Eira and Pariah flying back until they hit something or left the blast range. The energy also had an acid like effect that only lasted for two seconds. Through out this event, Eira's body was thrown back and she rolled back until she hit a tree. She sat there, taking a few deep breaths and with her left eye closed. Pariah was proving to be a bigger pain in the butt than she originally thought he would be.

"You would think that... But I put value in the lives of others, because of what they could someday... be." He breathed out, his determined eyes still looking directly at her. "Your words hold no meaning... I was never fighting for myself from the beginning." He told her, though his vocal chords had changed; becoming almost... colder. Truly, his voice had become much deeper than it had been before. The time he held her there, the only thought that he could think was that he had to do.. something. As he did so, he remembered... the back-up plan.The broken leg. Flames consumed his boot as it completely destroyed the material, leaving nothing but his bare foot... and something strange between his toes.

He slammed the foot into her leg, and the small bug exchanged from his foot... and flowed into her body. "And even should I fail... There's another... Who will force you to understand... even if you don't... now..." He told her, as an honest smile appeared on his face. In this situation; he was smiling. This situation where his death seemed to be rapidly approaching. He was glad; in this moment, he was happier than any other. Why? Because he had done absolutely everything in his power to protect, to pursue his ideal. If he died, then and there... But then, he remembered somethin-

And the bomb exploded, his entire body was torn to shreds, the clothing he wore other than his cloak burning to bits as it enveloped around his body, protecting the majority of it from singing, but his legs and arms as well as his face became coated with burns. He winced largely in pain as he was sent flying away, his body finally landing as his back landed on the edge of a cliff. However, it was interesting; the ice which had covered her arms... was still there. Eira''s arms were bound together, as even though she had performed the blast, the ice had proven so hard that the energy had dispersed AROUND IT, blazing as if with a flame as it continued to 'burn' around her arms, refusing to disperse. ...You're kidding me... he thought to himself as he lifted up a hand, his eyes unable to see straight from the explosion. He shut his eyes tightly as he experienced the feeling of vertigo consume him... And was met by a face. ...I made a promise, didn't I... He thought to himself, realizing that... he couldn't die here.

...After all, Queen Liliana was waiting for him to finish the Noir base... in Arcadia...

...And if he died here...

...He couldn't...


..Thank...



..Her...




...

Pariah has Blacked Out.

"Another hero, huh?" Eira said in her lifeless tone and just stared at him. Over time, the attack was just building up and making it more and more powerful. He kept talking, so she took advantage of that. As he spoke his final sentence, Eira pushed up a fake smile that looked very, very sincere. This was all a part of her manipulation, but when she smiled she looked human. In fact, she looked beautiful. "I'm sure that it will all be worth it when your friends find you body and are forever devastated by your meaningless death." Eira gave no time for any sort of reply after that. The moment that sentence ended, she released her attack and the two of them were sent flying back. The destruction of the area around them was massive. At the epicenter, trees had been completely destroyed. Moving out, trees had been knocked over, all in a pattern that lead outwards away from where it had started. It was all destruction.

Eira was in pain. One thing about her, she had no sense of self-preservation. Well, that's a lie. She did have a sense of it, but it was so low on her priority list that she didn't react in that manner. She knew that ability was going to blast her away, damage her body, and it also left Excalibur with a single combination left for the day. With multiple burns and a dislocated shoulder, Eira pushed herself to her feet. Clenching her jaw shut tightly, she looked around for Pariah. She figured he was sent in the opposite direction of herself, so she walked that way. It was about two minutes before she arrived. In the distance, laying there on the edge of a cliff, was Pariah's body. She stepped towards the young man and came up beside him. He was unconscious. He had definitely taken more damage than she had. Eira grabbed her dislocated arm and took in a deep breath. A moment later, she made a jerking motion and relocated it. She didn't even scream; it didn't even seem like she felt it.

"And now you will die, Pariah." she said and lifted Excalibur, "I'm sure that it was all worth it." Eira's eyes fell back into their normal expression. She was uncaring for what she was about to do. This young man was going to die by her hands and she did not care. The moment she stopped speaking, Eira swung her blade downward and across. If nothing was done, the blade would slice into Paria's neck, cutting his head clean off and killing him for sure...

"Hmm, I wish Luxanna-kun had told me that sooner!" The male muttered to himself, smiling as he flew across the landscape. His wings, completely white in color, perfectly matched the snow colored hair on his head. His entire body had strange marks and articles of jewelry; truth be told, he was a Scholar, and made no mistake of it. This man was Amaro Delicatus, the one affiliated the hardest with the Noir, a smile permanently plastered to his face for all eternity.

That was, until he came across the massacre. "Hmm… He's going to push himself far too far." The male muttered to himself, before that smile returned, his body rising into the air once again with ease as he began to fly outwards, beginning to go towards the location where he had scryed the male was. "I'm coming, Pariah-kun… don't die…" He whispered to himself as he flew, his purple eyes open wide as he followed the path.

Eventually, he reached a… disaster radius. There wasn't a better word that he could think of for it; there was just so much decimation that it stuck out like a sore thumb. And there, at the edge of it, by a cliff… was Pariah! Oh good, he's just napping. Amaro thought to himself with a small smile… before the woman with the blade of corruption walked next to him. Wait a minute! He's not napping! He's being attacked by his assailant after struggling all alone and beating the ever living crap out of her! he thought as she approached him, before finally realizing. Oh hey, I can complete Pariah-kun's words!

While those were some of his thoughts, at the same time he was feeling fury. His friend was being messed with before his eyes, and well, he wasn't going to stand for that as he began to fly forwards. His wings turned into pure energy, pushing him forwards like a jet as he raced towards her. "HEY YOU!" He yelled at the woman as his entire body, the straps covering it, splaying out in all directions apparent as his body flipped around, his right leg pulling up and pointing his left foot directly towards her as he shot at her like a bullet.

"FLIIIIIIIIER KIIIIIIIICK!!"

He cried out as his foot SLAMMED into where Eira was standing with a force so devastating that Pariah's own body was blown away from the attack, throwing him ALSO off the cliff. "Oh crap, Pariah-kun!" He cried out as his body shot forwards, his wings triggering again as he pointed a finger forwards, a box appearing in his hand as he called out to the being inside. "RYU-SAMA!" He called out as the white dragon shot out, gripping Pariah in its mouth as it curved back around, the size of a small car as it laid down on the ground, before eventually fading.

Finally, Amaro looked down… and realized that he had lost the woman in the scuffle. However, he had a good idea she could hear his 'altered voice', so he opened his mouth, his words much louder than they would have been normally. "Oi, Zarkonheinz! You know why you lose? Because Pariah-kun has friends like me! Being alone like you're doing now only does one thing: make you weak… and pitiable. I know from experience…" He muttered, looking down off the cliff as his voice grew much deeper, losing all of its strange whimsy. "I've been there. It's not too late to walk back towards the light… It's never too late!" He called into the crater as he finally turned back around to where Pariah was, examining his wounds and preparing himself to return the male back to the base for treatment...

As her blade was swinging down toward Pariah's neck, something obnoxiously loud pierced the inner workings of her ear and she froze. She felt her left eye twitch and looked over to what it was. "What is that irritating noise?" she thought as something began yelling. As her head turned completely towards him, her eyes widened when she saw a white haired flash darting towards her. She quickly shifted her body out of the way of the kick, causing it to hit the ground, but the force behind the kick was outstanding. In her current condition, Eira had no way to prevent what happened next. She brought her hands in front of her face to block the debris, but she soon felt her feet lifted from the ground. She was sent flying back, but her body did not hit ground. She was now falling off the side of the cliff. Noticing that she let go of her sword, she quickly looked around for it and saw it falling behind her. She turned herself towards it and free dived towards it. She quickly grabbed onto it and suddenly her body hit what she thought was the ground. It was, but it wasn't at the same time. Eira's body had slammed into a protruding part of the cliff, weakening it's hold on the side of the cliff.

"Sh-Shit..." she thought as she looked down towards her armor. Blood began seeping from the cracks; a piece of it had actually stabbed into her side on impact. Beyond that, she could tell that she broke a rib or two. As she tried to stand, she heard the cliff giving way. "..." she blinked once and felt the ground crumble beneath her and once again she fell. She watched the ground come closer and closer, but the branch of a high tree came between the two of them. She hit it and grabbed onto it. It bent for a few moments and snapped. She fell and landed down on one knee. Quickly sticking her sword into the ground, Eira took a few deep breaths filled with pain. She glanced back up towards the cliff and narrowed her eyes. She knew Pariah wasn't dead at the moment, but she figured he'd die some time soon. No point in staying here to allow more of Pariah's friends to show up. Eira stood up and began walking away, leaving small trails of blood behind her.

-Closed.-