Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Sun Jun 21, 2015 3:52 pm

Now, after all this time Nix had finally been tasked in something Vanguard related. It had been almost four months when he had joined the organization, but till now he hadn't had almost no orders from them. Of course, time to time he needed to attend a operation or two, but it always ended up in him siting aside, while his boss did all the work. Maybe it was a bit his fault, as the male had took upon one after another private missions and was mostly unavailable, but when he was no one gave a shit. Well, this time for his luck, both, the leader and second in command had their own missions to deal with and it was left for Nix to take care with this small incident.

At hour 7:34:53 AM massive group of Demons, led by a creature named Dragon Scales, took over one of the countless flying cities which were scattered around the desert lands of Botswana. They were like small, green biotops, where life had actual chance to live. This city was though special with the fact, that it had seemingly invented a artificial Zanpakūto. Vanguards and even Soul Society wanted to get their hands on it for few years already, but always it had ended with failure, as Botswanas government didn't want to hear about it.

But now the city was under the control of mentioned Demons and the country was forced to ask for assistance from Vanguards. What was problem, the city had a force field. It was extremely powerful, being able to absorb and return any projectile landed on it. Hacking into it also had been tried, but for surprise the tech to operate it was so old no one had the ability to do it. As Nix had a few days off and he was specialist, when it come to hacking in different techs, old or new, he accepted to lead the mission and free the city. Of course they had also the clearance to retrieve the artificial Zanpakūto.

Soldiers, machinery and little tents surrounded the flying city. All of them were obviously under the city and a shining, green dome covered it. Nix landed in his giant battle hover, stepping out in his usual battle uniform. Black, tight one piece suit, on it black vest with many pockets, each holding some sort of tech or laser cartridges for his gun. A small laser gun was attached to his right side and a backpack was also strapped on. He liked to feel ready, even if it wasn't possible. His posture showed others self confidence. His face was calm, concentrated and a bit...Happy. The male quickly went to second in command in this operation, saluted him and asked for the situation. It seemed, that the Demons had tried three times to leave the city by land and sky, but every time Vanguards were successful to push them back, not letting to escape. The sword was probably in their possession and it was crucial to retrieve it.

Nix sighed to himself, seeing on how everyone was so coughed up by such small toys. Alright, he was too, but it wasn't that well seen...If one doesn't know what goes on in his closet. Listening to the end the soldiers report, Nix took the group, which was going to accompany him in this assault, put on a pair of jet boots, his preference, and went next to where the shield started. Raising his palm, the male put it on it and in one million part of the second his brain first, told him that this shield was energy based, second, that he was possible to connect with it. And so he shall.

His brains through the energy of the shield traveled up, in the cities wire system and then into the computer. Nix made a low whistle in amusement. The computer was as old, as the world itself. From...20.century, if not older. Nix was surprised, how it was able to sustain this defence, but it looked like the scientists had kept it in perfect condition and had put some extras for the task it had. His mind traveled from one piece of information to other one, absorbing it and reading what it carried. From a bystanders point of view it looked like he would be just standing, with one arm attached to the shield, and time to time talking about central processors or other computer related terms.

After a minutes ten or so Nix finally moved his hand away and simple stepped a bit back. Nothing happened for a moment more and some thought nothing will. The dry desert wind blew, a lone bird flew in the sky and sun was burning everyone in their gear. Then suddenly, like a glass vase, the shield shattered and disappeared into oblivion. Nix smiled in pleasure. He did burn everything that was burnable in the system, so now they won't be putting the shield back any time soon. The male turned against the soldiers.
"Lets move boys!"

And they did. In quick pace everyone turned on their jet packs, howercrafts and flew right up. Wind hit in his face, messing up the hair and making twigs hit in his face. From nowhere the sky quickly turned yellow and it could be seen, that some of the soldiers too covered with this color, as well, as all mechanic and world around them. Soon Nix landed in the cities, cursing to himself.
"Secondary shield, why I'm not surprised!?" Quickly calming down, he turned to see what had managed to follow the male. It could anyone and only him at this moment.

Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:26 am

Artist: Hanstone - Song: Mabinogi Halloween Login Theme - Word Count: 2000

James dropped from the sky, Carine holding his back like a backpack. They had no parachute. Nor did they need one. James' boots operated on a sonic frequency, and though unnecessary, as they could merely teleport into the place, he felt the alternative was too bland. He clicked on his boots with a whir, and the whirling plummet came to a halt as his body corrected it's descent. A massive cracking sound could be heard as James found himself hurtling towards the sky city. As he did, the barrier came tumbling down. Probably the work of the Arcanist squad that was supposedly here. Although James saw no need in reporting to them, anyone who could take down this ancient barrier was definitely of interest to him. That, and his mission required he go with them. Scanning the area for those with Vanguard Badges, he quickly located the squad he needed to see. Among them, was the Third Seat of the Arcanists.

Honestly, James wasn't surprised that the Vanguard wouldn't send the ArcSage himself out here, but he resigned his thoughts as he approached the man. Nix Shraik, a former agent of a classified organization called... Sabers? Nothing else about him would show up. Interesting. James didn't know the Vanguard hired such people. James logged it into his database at home, as he was definitely quite the enigma. He would probably have to do a little research on this Sabers organization. His contacts told him he was both human, shinigami, and a tad of hollow, and yet for whatever reason, his power level was registered as nil. James instead logged his biological signature, rather than his energy which appeared to be nothing. If that were true, he wouldn't have a seat in the Magic Institute of the Vanguard. He may prove to be dangerous. Landing beside him, Carine clung to James' back for a tad longer, then finally released him, her face turning a shade of red. It would appear she had lost track of herself. At any rate, introductions were in order. "Nix... Shraik..? An interesting name you've got there. At any rate, I'm James William Caldwell, the Vanguard's Dimir Lord of Whispers. This is Carine Carleau, the Vanguard's Dimir Arbiter. I've come to gather intelligence on the phenomena occuring here." Of course, James' real mission was to observe the third seat, and to make sure he could be trusted with delivering the psuedo-Zanpakutō, code named "Athena". It was an observation mission. Though that would be classified information to anyone else.

Reaching into his breast pocket, he retrieved his Vanguard badge as proof. It lit up, showing his intricate design of a knight helmet with two blades behind. "Fill me in on the situation. I take it you brought this barrier down?" James scanned the tower which the barrier came from. "But you didn't anticipate a secondary barrier?" James laughed, tapping buttons on his wristpad. In another moment, the second barrier came down. "The government here gave me the passcodes, although they were, of course, changed." James looked once again at Nix. "Well, at least you had me. That thing would have ripped us to shreds for having entered the city while the first barrier was down. Really intricate design that, but made on newer modeled computers, so it was doable." Carine looked the man over. Then, leaning in to James' ear, she whispered. "James... His blood... I don't like it... It doesn't smell right... Something's wrong with him..." For Carine to complain about an ally, perhaps there was something to caution about. James began looking over his face for microexpressions. Until such a time as he knew he could let his guard down, it would be almost as though he could read Nix's thoughts from even the slightest of his facial expressions. James waved Carine away.

"At any rate, let's get to business. There's demons all over the place, and a high ranking Demon under the alias of Dragon Scales has taken the city. It should be assumed he won't listen to reason, given the way he took this city." James loaded his most useful combat spell, Macro M-1-1. It was a fire spell that, when he snapped, a spark would fly in the direction of an enemy, heating them to close to 2200 degrees celcius. As always, James would not allow the flames to touch allies. Pressing more buttons, he looked at his HUD for ASRA's estimated time of arrival. Only thirty seconds now. "I've also been asked to take a look at the artifact here, and ensure it meets the specifications spoken of. For that, I've summoned my Artifact and Substance Research Android. Call it ASRA for short. He's a robot I control through speech." Of course, all of that was a lie. But there was no way Nix could know that, as James was very good at lying. He'd summoned ASRA to scan and reproduce this Psuedo-Zanpakutō, in the case that the real one needed to be destroyed. This was both to deliver a copy to the Vanguard, should they ask if he recovered it from a would-be thieving third seat's corpse, and to keep one for his records, as well as tweak some of the modifications for it.

If for any reason, Nix didn't do exactly as James said, James being his superior, he would quickly eliminate the problem, then tell the Vanguard that Nix had defected. Then, in a blaze of blue flame, Sai stepped out of the portal. In truth, Sai was short for Sentient Artificial Intelligence. Sai was not controlled by James' speech at all, but that information was classified. For the moment, she was in her high efficiency female form. "This is ASRA. It'll provide combat support for us, and it'll be the deciding factor in whether the artifact Athena is not truly a fake. It's not very hardy defensive-wise, but it's very difficult to manage in an offensive stand off. So long as we protect it, it'll protect us."

[CHANGE THE TRACK HERE]

Artist: Disturbed - Song: Another Way To Die - Word Count: 1370

And yes, not quite behind, but from above a stranger landed with a girl next to him. It wasn't hard to imagine that these two were from Vanguards. While James had his data base, Nix had his and while it wasn't connected to Yuudeshi Network directly, it also didn't lack behind it. Saying the truth, after this Network had been set up Nix rushed to do necessary preparations. He had control of old Saber satellite "BING" and as it was still in orbit the male used it, connecting it with the Yuudeshi Network and Sabers main system to gain access. While not completely full, it held enough information to make Shraik pleased. This was why he knew too who exactly was James.

He put his right fist to his heart and gave a respectful bow to one his status had earned.
"It is my honor that someone with such high rank is assisting me in this mission. I was already worried that I will be left doing something more...Knowledgeable should do." While those who knew him may seem this weird, those who knew him in war known that in missions Nix had always been disciplined, knew to who give the respect, as well, as almost always obeyed his orders. Of course, if the person hasn't lost his trust. When the Lord Of Whispers ordered him to speak, the male did.
"Yes, it was I. Just a simple overload, which destroyed the machine physically. The report I received upon arrival wasn't pleasing. After gathering the last information about this city it looks like they had few warehouses with old, forbidden weaponry. Radiation blasts, Spirit Erasers and such. Weapons that even were put as too dangerous at the time of our almost defeat. Without the shield the city for a surprise has Space Wirler. It is also a old device from the 22th century. It doesn't allow teleportation in the location, making those who use it to split, their body parts each appearing in different places. It isn't connected by any known computer now, but when I put it in here at 2107, it was in Sector 7."

Yes, one of the reason why Nix was chosen for this task was because he was one of those who set this highly militarized city. Then it was just another Sabers task. A big one, taking almost seven years, but in the end it made this place one of the most secure in Africa...And one of Sabers bases. Yes, this was once a Vault. Prison and lab for their secrets. After the big cleaning this city still kept all of the Sabers inventions as for safe keeping. Now probably no one even remembered this.
"The last thing worth reporting would be that in Sector 12 a large amount of around few thousand people had been tossed in a giant pile. It is the entrance of the tower and in truth I found it suspicious...Knowing the fact that this city holds only 800 citizens."

Then as he continued listening to James and answering his questions the machine ASRA came. Telling the truth Nix had never liked those machines which resembled humans. Probably from all those old Sci-Fi movies he watched in youth. This was the reason why he didn't feel very excited on meeting this thing. Shraik politely nodded, as he was listening on what was this objects mission. And then the machine spoke. And then all trust the Shape Shifter had for James died. Because if you robot first asks to kill or not, it wasn't normal. Nor better was when his life was ranked. It only showed that the person didn't understand its worth and those were the most dangerous ones. And because of that Nixes tone changed. Respect had gone and now he was talking to the guy like a equal...Or even lower.
"There I will positively surprise you, as I can do it myself and on my touch alone. As protection of a machine would only burden our operation, you understand why I suggest using my abilities! Or do you doubt in my skill to do my job?" Nix raised his eyebrow in question, waiting for a answer. If James tried to see, if Nix was lying he would see that he wasn't. He had ability to take a sample of energy and analyze it and even if it wasn't the main goal for it, Nix could do it as fast and even faster then this object.
"To focus in protecting a machine and then take time to let it scan a abject, if I can do it as fast and even faster...Wouldn't it be more efficient if we gather our resources in something more fruitful?"

Nix stepped forward, next to James, as he stared at the tower far ahead.
"And while I'm grateful for your assistance, this is still my operation. Your arrival wasn't reported and as I don't come even from your branch, I have rights to not obey you! But don't worry," Nix put forth one of his cockiest smiles "I allow you to take part in this mission!" And whit that he followed the male as he headed for the tower. Men under him did the same, following the third seat and Lord Of Whispers. The Shape Shifters brain system was now gathering all info about the man, who had made himself suspicious just in a blink of eye. Why was he here? What he wanted? And what was his task?

Nearing the tower and Sector 12, only possible way to enter the tower, Demon masses grew and grew. As James dealt with some, Nix removed others. Like boxer he punched them and in same time released Balas, making these things like Swish cheese. Until now no of them were a big problem. Most the weakest tier and if James would look how his companion was fighting, he would see that it was a child's play. Nix looked even amused. What would the Lord Of Whispers notice is that all these Demons were clearly fire type, which could also mean they are immune to fire. Though, it wasn't proven, as they were too weak to sustain almost any projectile attack without large damage.

Slowly the masses became less, as Nix, James and soldiers moved their way to the entrance. And then they reached it. As the report said in front of it thousands of dead human bodies, kids and grown ups, old and young, male and female, were naked thrown into one big pile, their bodies being in different decomposing states. The look was more then gruesome, making soldiers to turn away and many to even not stand the view and smell and throw up, falling on the ground. Four pillars stood in four corners around this pile and when Nix saw them his face grew even paler and in loud voice screaming, he yelled,
"THE PILLARS! THE...." But he was too late, as a overwhelming voice from nowhere spoke in native Demon tongue, causing air to fill with strong sense of death energy. And with it the bodies started to move, raise in sky, melt together, flow like water and form a being of Skyscrapers sizes. Huge and even more revolting, there was no name to compare its looks. The things arms were made of the arms of the dead bodies, eyes grew over eyes, creating something of light resemblance to a fly. Body looked as a melted vask and inner organs were floating in it. The things mouth, gap in its head, which was made of numerous faces, opened and in almost instant released a wave of black energy. Those Demons who were too close in momentum had been reduced in nothing and as it approached, the guy jumped in front, put his hands in prayer and said.
"Bakudo 81 - Danku!"
With that a transparent wall appeared in the same moment when suddenly others could feel how strong was the males Reishi levels. The blast hit the wall and put it in for test for almost ten seconds, before disappearing. The shield shattered in small fragments. In Nixes arm a gold greatsword appeared, on its end having a small Oni head, and golden energy slowly came out of it!
"Men, prepare yourself! This will be a hell of a welcoming!"

Fri Jun 26, 2015 9:38 pm

Artist: Max Legend - Song: Virus - Word Count: 1830-something roughly xD

James sighed. It was clear this man would be a thorn in his side. "Or do you doubt my skill to do my job?" Reading his expression, James could tell he truly had this ability. This could be dangerous for beings like ASRA. "Actually, if you think you can accomplish this mission better than we can, you go ahead. I'll be right there with you. And you'll have to excuse ASRA. I designed her to be capable in combat. She only has two modes at the moment. Combat mode, and research mode. You looked a little shocked at her." James laughed. "You can't take what she says with a grain of salt. She's programmed to be that way, in case I need help in combat." At any rate, he clearly wasn't human. James' contacts almost didn't know what to do. Having read people like Suzu Hebi, those with well more than one species to their name with the utmost accuracy, it was strange that he couldn't tell what this man was. Giving in to his time spent with the scientific Hebis, he wanted to research him thoroughly. He could tell Nix was getting suspicious. Clearly this would take a more delicate touch, or his cover would be blown. If the man wasn't to be trusted... If the Athena artifact didn't return to the Vanguard HQ at the least, James would take pleasure in cutting this man down slowly with his tendrils. Thinking reasonably, With a clearance level like James' it wouldn't be difficult to acquire it for research afterwards, with no problem. Turning to walk away, James went on communicator with ASRA and Carine on a private line. Out of earshot of Nix, he began. "Sai, Carine, call it off. The Vanguard can manage their own defectors. If it comes down to it, I'll cut him down. But for now, we may need him as an ally. ASRA, study his moveset. I need a detailed report of him when we're finished here. It's clear he's suspicious of you ASRA. We know he's not human. Let's figure out what the hell he is. For now, this guy's a little too uppity for a third seat. Perhaps we should nominate him for a promotion." James laughed, turning back to Nix. Once he arrived again, he gave Nix an update.

“Alright, then the mission will be this. We'll go check it out. This seems like something for the Arcanists. I'll sit back and provide support for your teams. That is, if you can't handle it yourself." Looking at the Yuudeshi network, he could see everything about him. He could even see where this man lived. An apartment somewhere in Karakura residential. The exact location was classified, even for James, but a curious thing appeared then. His co-habitant's name. Lydia Venes. This man just got more interesting. Could it be that girl from years ago? Back when James was with the Force Feedback? James for a moment felt a shred of regret. Not that he tried to kill her... but that he didn't succeed. James smiled. This would be fun. Honestly, he had forgotten her existence up until now. He might be able to use this information later on, therefore, he withheld the information from all but himself.

"Though it is true, I just made ASRA, so she's still got some tweaks to be made, but I am quite proud of my own handiwork, and ASRA's processors are some of the best in the world, as far as androids go. And though I would still like to hold the sword to have ASRA study it, as I do have my own mission from the Vanguard to fulfill, I don't mind letting you process it as well. The Vanguard can be strange with their missions... I'll trust you though, as you took down the barrier there. Let's get on the road now." Following Nix he fired off the macro at one of the demons. It continued to rush him, even though it was on fire. This could be problematic. With a name like Dragon Scales, James should have figured they would be fire resistant. "Manifesto Aqua Es!" James called as a small mass of water bubbled from the ground. As he raised it from the ground, he fired a large spike of water forward with the sharpness of a blade. He didn't waste much of his mana forging it, and it was something like beginner level in strength. In truth, it was several needles of water arranged into a large spike shaped mass. To the onlooker, a large spike would impale the demon. To those who looked closer, the many small spikes of water repeatedly stabbed through the beast one by one until there was nothing left in the area affected. The demon fell over, a large hole in it's stomach. Despite it being beginner level in mana consumption, James' knowledge of complexity in spells allowed him to execute something approaching master level strength using beginner level mana. The fire from his first spell dissipated. They present a high immunity to fire, obviously, as that was enough to melt even steel into a lump of molten metal nearly instantly.

"Nix. They're definitely dangerous. They can withstand temperatures higher than 4000 degrees fahrenheit." In truth, James hadn't had to invoke a spell without using his wristpad in a long time. He needed the extra bit of power that came from invocation in that brief moment. His heart was racing. That demon couldn't have hurt him, but it was unusual that James didn't notice this beforehand. Dusting himself off, he continued following Nix. Then they saw it. Piles upon piles of dead humans, just as the reports stated. James' knowledge of magic started him thinking through what doing this would accomplish.

[CHANGE THE TRACK HERE]

Artist:Disturbed - Song: Indestructible - Word Count: 1528

Upon seeing James going away to use com link, Nix smiled while starring at the one James gave the male. First, through his fingers the male scanned the object, on what bases it worked and made the guys brain be able to connect with this network without the need of the machine. In truth, the guy rarely used these things, as he could perform this trick with almost all communication devices. Next, he pulled from his back pack the Native African lion mask and put it on his face. If James would look in his direction, the guy would just in casual voice explain that he is putting last touches for preparation. Vanguards were filled with a lot of weirdos and this object shouldn't stand out too much.

But as being a Saber mask, he could now connect with any wireless object, if it was in his sight. With the knowledge of bases of the com link it was even easier and adding some gentle hacking, so the guys safety systems wouldn't notice the Shape Shifter, he received access to the conversation. And he didn't like what he heard. It was too....If Nix would be watching a shity movie with a generic bad guy, this Lord Of Whispers would meet all criteria. But nothing was to make the guy in actual villain...Until he mentioned cutting him down. If he could see the guys face, then it would show shock, anger and a bit of amusement combined. It seemed he was underestimated as James spoke so easily of killing him. Well, while now Nixes suspicions were at their peak, he knew this information, while valuable, wasn't enough to do anything regarding this male. In that case Shraik just saved this in his mainframe for later use. When James returned Nix pulled the thing off and nodded.
"Thanks! I appreciate it!" Then he looked at the mask, puffed sadly and put it in his back pack.
"Broken! Gonna fix it later!"

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As James used his powers to escape and go further, it drew attention of the beast. Even Nix could sense James entering his Soul State and for a creature desiring a strong soul to feast on it was just too tempting. Its long arm stretched further and then even further, becoming longer and longer, closing quickly for the guy. The Shape Shifter acted on his instinct. He jumped up high in the sky next to the things arm, the smell was unbearable, and raised his sword high above his head to land it down with all his strength. In the same time golden flames started to surround it, quickly covering the sword and making it be infused with raw spiritual energy. A Cero slash then came out of this blade, detached the arm of the creature and then went further, making a huge hole in the house further.

Now they were in the front of the corpse thing. While it looked durable and strong, it was obvious this thing wasn't a runner. Actually, it didn't have feet at all, just something similar to tentacles, made of limbs from the corpses. It looked that its first assault had confused the thing and that was the time Nix needed. As James appeared next to him, the Third Seat of Arcanists was already issuing silent commands. Maybe those out of branch would imagine that, but in Vanguards, even those specialized in magic, were highly military and organized.

The beast didn't react to the pain, but why he should, as hand after human hand sprouted outside from the stump and formed back into the limb in matter of seconds. The units had already split into six groups. One stayed behind Nixes back, while the rest five spread around the creature in safe distance, forming a hexagram around it. Nix looked side-way to stare at the dark figure of his companion. The males mouth formed silent words, which would read something like,
"Why everyone has so cool releases!?" Then out loudly, in a hard, experienced voice which gave no room for objections, he ordered James.
"Restrain its mouth! You are mage yourself, with your rank I hope you have the power to do it! If not, then all of us will die. Now it is your time to stall some time!" He glanced at him and with that felt, that this guys spiritual pressure wasn't as impressive, as Nix would like. Feeling the crawling tendrils of James power, he accepted it and, as it took over him, part of that power was taken and sealed away Nixes body for later analyzing. He was still suspicious.

While James was doing what he was, Nix this time shouted a one word command after each of the groups did exactly what they were supposed too. And it was to release mass amount of energy. Reishi, Soul Force, Mana, all types of energy was just being poured out, but if one would pay attention with their sensing ability, they could tell that this energy weren't just wasted in air, but was fusing with others. When there had formed six giant, synchronized energy pools, each of them then connected. Now it looked like each of the hexagrams corners were just a shining ball, not mass of people. Over all this energy Nix was who took control. While others were the body, he was the brain.

Using his imagination and knowledge of magic Nix changed it, formed it and morphed the properties this energy should have. Slowly near each hexagrams corner a white marble pillar formed. It was twice as high, as the beast and was drastically absorbing any kind of energy inside the perimeter. Mana, Death Energy, everything was being overwhelmed and drained. James probably would feel as in a vacuum cleaner, which was draining him. In the com link the Shape Shifer spoke in direct, hard voice.
"Leave the field! NOW!!!"
Then after this command which James could or couldn't obey, heavy, huge chains connected each pillar. The draining effect became more powerful, but with it this seal was also harder to control. Sweat
formed on Nixes forehead, his body started to radiate gold Reishi in quite immense amounts. The creature in this field tried to set it self free, hitting the pillars and chains, trying to push his hand between the empty spaces, but not being able for some reason. Then from each of the chains links another chain with a spike pierced in the ground. The energy draining effect raised again dramatically and it was easy to notice that the thing had became more sluggish and less powerful. Body parts had started to fall off and Death Energy came out in less amounts from it.

But then as the last resort the thing started to pump out of it all it had and in so the miasma was actually starting to eat away the seal. In so it started to become more energetic and Shraik was now sure this thing fed of power generated by souls. He needed to act. Entering his first Soul Evolution State, which didn't indicate any way for those around, he kicked off from the ground using Soul Dash and slowly attempted to get above it. Now the males energy reserves were filled full. This time he aimed his blade at the beast. A golden orb started to form at the swords tip, as the beast raised his head and attempted to open its mouth for a blast. The seal was still holding, even while two corners had already gave way, and it was limiting the things speed to a snails. Nix connected to James,
"Stop it! If the blast hits me you will be on your own to kill it!" Energy very slowly started to gather from the things mouth, but as well did Nixes attack. Seconds were passing. The tension grew as the seal crumbled. Feeling of demise was senseable in everyone. Their faces had mix of horror and hope, while the Shape Shifter carried a cold stare. And then it fired. It took all of the targets body, reducing it to nothing. And the blasts color was gold. And Nix had done it. He was first who released a blast in strength of three Gran Ray Cero and because rotting flesh wasn't that durable, he was able to destroy it without wasting everything he had.

Upon landing to the ground the males face was still serious. He looked at James, blinked and then released his breath.
"Worst Monday ever!" The group of soldiers returned, cheering the male and he smiled to them.
"Alright, now..." Then suddenly portals opened through out all of the city, smaller and bigger, Demons, miniature versions of the creature before and three of the real thing stepped out and raged on. The Third Seats eyes widen and he commanded,
"Now! In the tower! It as well can be our only chance! Now!" With that he then slashed his sword in direction of a band of these creatures and Demons rushing at them and released a wave of pure, gold Cero energy. They were reduced to ash, tore apart or just pushed away, but it was the opportunity for them to run and make it in the tower. The Vanguard band rushed in!

Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:46 pm

Artist: Max Legend - Song: Virus - Word Count: 773

James saw the beast turn it's gaze over to him, as his power drastically increased. It only made sense that it would want the soul energy of someone as powerful as he. A smile crossed James' face as he slowly began to slip into madness. "Restrain it's mouth! You are mage yourself, with your rank I hope you have the power to do it! If not, then all of us will die. Now it is your time to stall some time!" Sealing magic? Oh no, James had no such thing. Having primarily focused on swiftly eliminating the enemy, James had never thought to learn any. Of course, in moments like this, it was necessary.

In release form, anything James' anima manipulation corrupted would take the same miasmatic attributes of his tendrils. So, James corrupted roughly three hundred lamp posts from the surrounding area. Forming them together like rope, he quickly surrounded the entire beast in them. As they touched it, it became surrounded in James' Miasma, and the beast's movement was slowed to a screeching halt. James fell to his knees. "That's the best I can do for you. It should hold for long enough for whatever spell you have planned. Even if it's charging an attack under all that, it won't be able to even start until that miasma is all gone." Sweat crossed his brow. Even with his improved focus, such a massive amount of mana being used at once was almost insanity.

Through sheer will to live, when James heard the call of Nix, he managed to soul dash just outside the barrier, and collapse, the transformation dissipating. His reserves had been slowly charging from when he had transformed until now, giving him approximately 75% combat effectiveness for spells. "Manifesto..." James uttered slowly, gasping between words. "Aqua... Es..." With that, water bubbled up almost from the ground and surrounded James, turning him over, and holding him up in the air. "Alright." James huffed, catching his breath, then releasing the spell so he would stand upright. It had been a very long time since he'd exhausted this much mana. Back to battle. James felt slightly weak, and it occured to him that he may not have enough reserves left to combat the beast, as well as keep the buff on himself and Nix. "Finish it off, quick!" James yelled, looking at his slowly dissipating miasma. That thing was seemingly tanking it, speeding up to where it appeared the paralysis had only slight effects. At this rate, it would kill Nix.

James, through sheer willpower mustered up some wind using a manifesto. This time, sparing no expense of his reserves, he cranked it up to master level strength and fired a massive arcing blade of wind charged with the remainder of his dark mana. The blade flew clear, swift, and straight for the now slowly unsealing beast's mouth. Upon hitting, the blast of wind and Mana, if it didn't shred the entire top portion of the necrophage to black bubbling bits, it would quickly slow the movement of the beast entirely to a stop. Regardless of that, Nix would quickly obliterate the thing with a massive gold beam anyway.

James' anima stone could be heard cracking in his wristpad. It would break soon, if he pushed any further. This fight was turning out to be veeeeery difficult. Not to mention that there would be even more of those things to fight after this one... and a very powerful necromancer hiding amongst them... Well, whatever, Nix might be able to handle this himself. James thought to himself, as he collapsed from exhaustion. His body felt weak, and his HUD put his estimated mana usage at 98 percent, while his estimated remaining energy reserves were at 25 percent. "ASRA, assist me!" James called on comms. With that, ASRA quickly appeared before him, leaning to help him up. "Carine, your mission remains the same. Keep watch on the--" An explosion could be heard loudly through Carine's communicator. Was someone fighting her? James turned in the direction of the explosion, and saw Carine, flapping her way up using her succubus-like wings. "Just got a little caught off guard~! I'll be taking care of this one myself, so you rest up~" Carine said, clearly trying not to worry James. With that, he nodded at Nix in agreement that this was indeed a terrible monday. Suddenly, more of those impossible beasts appeared around the city... My god... They must have killed the entire city to get that many of them... James called Carine to him. There was no way she could face these things alone. Better they died together, James supposed.

Mon Jul 13, 2015 1:16 pm

Artist:Disturbed - Song: Indestructible - Word Count: 1152

They were in and with a just a nod from Nix band of soldiers shut the door and put a sealing spell on it.
"Even if not for long, this will give us a little time to recover. Some of us need it." Few soldiers, the newer ones, looked shocked. Others seemed grim, as death would be something they expect in the end. Some seemed just a bit tired, but there were again those who were simply worried. Like Nix. The man felt outmatched. The enemy got them by surprise and almost killed him. While one flesh golem was possible to kill, the man would be dead empty from energy after dealing with all of them. Not to mention that he wasn't sure if there just wouldn't appear more of these. And then there was the fact that while not so durable, those things had massive destructive power. And then....
"Blahhhh...." Shraik grabbed his head in anger "We aren't fighting Demons! Those pillars were Saber invention, but their life expectancy after crafting is two weeks so they couldn't have been from THEIR time. A Demon could just make it, but...To construct them you need to mold 100 Demons into 4 pillars. I need a drink!" He rubbed his templates.

The room they were in looked quite dark and old, but well kept and clean. All technologies were ancient, but worked perfectly. Electricity wires, consoles and monitors of alien symbols filled the room. Well, they should at least be alien for James, while Nix knew them as he was one of the people who set the system. With a melancholic smile he looked around and shock his head.
"They had kept everything like then! And I thought I can't get rid of the past!" Turning to James, the man didn't look pleased what he saw. Actually, Shraik hoped that someone with that high of a title would show more power upon fighting the creature. In the end he was easily detectable, demonstrated quite impressive improvising abilities, but then again poor powers. Yes, he saved his life and about that the man will always be thankful, but if another fight of large scale would start...Nix and his men would be on their own. Good thing he took over in time.

"So," he spoke in a voice as he had decided to live with the situation as it was "I hope you are feeling a bit better! Good job over there! You saved my butt! Now then, this building doesn't have stairs, only a elevator. We need to be careful about launching big blast attacks, as this place has a lot of easy exploding objects which can bring this whole city down. Hope you don't mind a little radiation!" The guy made a wide, amused smile and with it everyone who knew him good enough turned on their suits, which protected against most of energies bad for health.

With this he slowly started to move in the direction of one of the paths leading deeper in the first floor of the tower. Walls were quite close and the male didn't like it. Not enough space meant someone will be the target of most attacks, as well, as it made them generally into sitting ducks. Not to mention that darkness in this alley was more then annoying. Suddenly from this darkness a great amount of heat was blown into their faces and two flame red eyes shone in front of them, as well, as noise of little, flapping wings could be heard. Nix made his palm into fist, a white circle with different symbols appeared above it and upon opening it a ball of brilliant, but strangely not blinding, light flew high in the sky. It allowed them to see a Demon, similar to a humanoid dragon, in front of the Vanguards, as well, as thousands of little imps behind its back, glaring at the intruders and showing their vampire like teeth. One, two and three horns decorated their bald oversize heads.

The bat-like things attacked. They flew pass the Demon and assaulted the human party. Soldiers fought as they could, but with the room trapping them and knowing what will happen, if they will overdo it, the things with their numbers overpowered many. Nix saw as one of the soldiers was surrounded by the things and heard his dying screams. Cold sweat covered the males back and forehead and in shock he made a step back, accidentally hitting his back against James and touching the wristpad. A rush of information filled the mans head and with that the computer started automatically gather it and put it together. While only a glimpse, before the male pulled away, a plan had already planned in the males head. He quickly turned to the male and grabbed the arm wearing the pad.
"I will borrow it!" Holding his grip tight, Nix head was filled with all manifestoes James had ever loaded in the machine, as well, as any other information it held. At the moment everything useless was put asides, as he concentrated only on the spells. Hitting full gear to his brains in matter of minutes his brain analyzed everything and explained how to work with what. From a side viewers point it looked like he just was standing there, letting himself being surrounded by the small creatures. Blood started to drip from his ear, as the information was processed way faster, then it should, but he didn't have time to worry about that.

The imp mass from nowhere light up in bright fire, which consumed them all. Under it the Arcanist stood, smiling. Quite large yellow symbol appeared above him, then between the imp mass in different places. He put his hands in the symbol above him and shouted.
"Manifesto Catena Fulgur Es!!!" Chain of lighting was released from each of the symbols and when hitting each of the imp, bounced to the next one. Chaos was huge as the little things screamed in almost child-like voices and died, becoming burned baby corpses. The dragon thing had disappeared in the confusion.

What just Nix did was that he analyzed from the info he acquired how Manifesto worked and then created his own improvisation. While it took more energy, then one should, it worked as a charm and the male was pleased at least for that.
"That's done! Those Manifestoes are quite handy! Thank you again!" Shraik bowed in his gratitude, in the same time wearing a smile that showed something of a amusement. In truth it was quite pitiful that Nix again out did someone higher in rank then he himself. The males James existence became a bigger and bigger question in each moment. No matter that now, they needed to move.
"Alright! As we all can agree that was Dragon Scales! Now a question, what should be the smartest move? " His eyes went to the Dmir "What you think?" It was time to shine for the baby mage.

Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Re: Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Re: Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Re: Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Re: Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]

Re: Operation: Dragon Root [Open for all Vanguards and Demons]