THROUGH THE MADNESS WE GO~ WHERE WE STOP, NOBODY CARES~! (OPEN)

Nacora who had just entered the city himself, landed on the roof of a small building. He reached onto the gray cloak that had covered his body and ripped it off, tossing it on the surface of the roof. He wore a school uniform that had been placed on his gigai, for he had taken a rather liking to it. On his side rested his families treasure: RukenJen and on his back, his trusted partner: OmniUnni. He stood up on the roof to overlook the city. To investigate in other words.

.. The sight was Horrific.

The street had been all but red from the blood, and the small town had been wrecked by it's own inhabitants. Nacora shook his head silently. How gruesome. This.. so called Madness is more dangerous than I thought. Just as his thought had ended, the horrific yell of man pierced the somber cries and laughter of the people below. Nacora stepped quickly towards the southern edge of the building. The scream had been much more civil, or rather distinguishable than the other mumbles of the crowd. No, The one who had yelled this had not been affected by the Madness. His crystalline eyes shivered as he looked on. He was shocked by the beheading that he was witnessing. One by one their heads fell, the thuds of bone against ground filled the air for a short time.

The people had no fault in this. They were not themselves, how could someone simply kill the innocent like this ? Nacora searched the gore-filled streets until he found the source. His hand tightened against the concrete, crushing the blocks under their grasp. This man... No this demon was killing these people, and reveling in their demises. Maybe he was wrong, maybe this man in black garbs was affected by the madness after. He couldn't had been the man who had spoken earlier.

Once the ceros had been released and the buildings collasped around him, Nacora drew Rukenjen from his side before leaping down onto the street below. Amidst the others filled with the madness, he approached the man slowly until finally they stood twenty ft. from one another. The city held a foul odor and a even fouler feeling. The madness was dense, he could feel it attempting to weigh down on him. Nacora didn't want the man to feel threaten by him, so he let RukenJen fall to his side. " Enough ! Stop slaughtering these people. They have no idea what they're doing. " he said, tightening his grip on RukenJen and allowing a pause to go by. He wanted to end this peacefully but he feared the Madness wouldn't allow it.

ENTER POST

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Kokuryuteshi Commander would yell out in a laughing fit.

The one known as Yako stood on the streets far away from Justin and Nacora but wouldn't be long before he reached the, as he traveled within the shadows. If either of them saw his face they would be able to tell from the smile that he was infected but he showed no sign of getting cut and certainly this man couldn't of gotten scared. Althrough Justin Washi would know this to be a great healer known as Yako Grim, both were members of the Akatsuki and excellent scythe users. But that didn't matter the mad men right now as Yako's goal was quite obvious since he was actually infect with the madness. Another question through was what would the madness do to him, would it make Yako the normal joking fighter he has usually been or awaken the true fighting capabilities within instead.

Either way he made his way from the shadows into both of the other's view as he watched his fellow infected get chopped to bits by Justin. Yako didn't seem intimidated at all with that smile on his face and he was about to engage when he heard another that stood out to him and he looked around to spot the normal sugiura. The human healer showed his own scythe as he rushed at Justin Washi taking out the closer target would be simpler for him and he would enjoy this target more he thought inside. He would pull back his scythe and take a full swing at Justin from the right side and he began spinning around and around not bothering if he were stopped or avoided he just keep on spinning making himself like a spinning top of death. But this wasn't the end as it would eventually end with a little dizzy Yako but he quickly regained focus on his targets again taking the moment to share his emotion of madness with laughter.

Defeating Yako wasn't going to be a easy task today fro either of these men so the battle should get under way right now as Yako was not only a healer and a scythe user but also a very good pain taker as he can stand even sever injuries in the middle of battle. How would they react to his entrance would be a question that the normal Yako would ask but now he didn't and he watched with full focus and even said something in the end.

"Lets play a fun game of war, any takers?" He would ask both of them.

Unlike the others with madness Yako actually wasn't purely filled of blood lust but then again how much paitence can a madman have and that was something that was going to be tested. It was time for Justin or Nacora to make their move. If they don't this won't end very well for them as it only took so much they will either be one of a few thing when this ends and something like how Yako was is one of them.

Spoiler:

A dark figure, black hair, black eyes, darkness within his being. That would be the first impression of anyone coming across this man moving towards the city - at least, if the person was not too mad to even realize what they were seeing. These black, deep eyes stared upon the sign for a short moment - they were closed half-way, giving him a strange, removed look from the world, while also making him seem incredibly... uncaring. That this was not actually the case, nobody would know here - for nobody knew him, or what he was. A single, glittering tear ran down his face, as he stepped from the cold of the north pole into the warm, thawed out area of Madness City.

"Oh you mortals... What is it with you, and madness? What is it with living, yet desiring others to die...?"

A small sigh escaped from his mouth, after Zeref asked a question that nobody could hear, and nobody could answer. But now, that he stepped into the city, the weirdest thing about him was revealed - his clothing was anything but appropiate for this climate, yet he didn't even have snow clinging to his robes. Looking back for a short moment, Zeref saw a burned put path on the ground - where his own steps had literally killed the snow and cold. The world still rejected him - but this beacon of madness was too strong for him to simply ignore. Every next step, he felt as if his insides were twisted around by the violent air surrounding him - it was not the madness, it was the evil, the killing, the murder that got to him. The dark wizard never wanted to come here, but he had to - his own nature forced him to see the evils of the world with his own eyes.

Because he, Zeref, was the mind of All the Evils of the World. He was the mind of Cubia, the end of all things, the shadow of life.

As the border of the city was crossed, a sudden burst of raw madness and evil almost literally punched Zeref in the face - clenching his stomach, and nearly collapsing, he looked up. His black eyes then saw it - a Sugiura stopping a man with a scythe. The Sugiura - they had always been his second favorite, for they were a race that loved peace more than others, in his personal experience - and this man seemed to protect innocents. Perfect, this madness had to stop, one way or another! But who had been this first, murderous creature?
Not much time was there to think about it, considering ANOTHER scythe-user suddenly appeared - and attacked the first one! And not just him, the Sugiura was also in danger. Forcing his gut-feeling back, Zeref straightened out his back - and the melancholic face was replaced by a serious, dangerous look, as his energy flared up right behind the three! it was a weird energy - similiar to Reiatsu, yet different enough for anyone to tell quite easily. And if one stopped to care a bit more, it was almost as scary as the madness surrounding them, if not more so.
"Stop this idiocity at once! Nobody else will die today!" With that shout, Zeref raised his right hand above his head, and the next word from his mouth hit the world around him like thunder, from the loudness of his sudden outburst alone. "RAVE!"
A bright, flashing light from the necklace that he wore - and suddenly, Zeref was holding a gigantic, metal sword, the 'Eisenmeteor', the first form of the Rave, his personal weapon - quite like a Sacred. Feeling the grip of the sword granted by his sister, Zeref's mind shortly regained his sadness, and tears were running down his face without him even noticing, as they often did when surrounded by death and destruction.
"Silfarion!"
With that, the Rave transformed - from greatsword into cutlass, from weight into wind, Zeref dashed forwards - faster than the wind, he simply passed by the one clearly afflicted with madness and the beheader, only to stop next to the Sugiura - standing besides him, he raised his weapon towards the two. For a short moment, his eyes went over to the Sugiura.
"I hope you don't mind a monster helping you out, kid."

"...What."

Justin Washi asked, his head tilting as he was stopped on his glorious praise by some heathen. "TRASH THEY GOT EVIL BLOOD, CURSED BLOOD. I'M GIVING IT UP FOR LORD JASHIN! I AM JUSTIN WASHI, ARRANCAR, PRIEST OF JASHIN AND YOUR SALVATION TO HIM!" He said, a huge smile on his face as in one hand appeared his telescopic spear, as with an easy cut he slit his right wrist, the one holding his scythe, holding it up for the man before him to see. His blood was completely red, totally normal. This was just how Justin was… He was truly insane already.

However, even as he was showing off his blood… His scythe came around the kid from the side. Or rather, the top notch of Justin's scythe, the part with the three scythe blades on it, as they came forwards from his side, side firing him and trying to slash at him and draw blood. If they did draw blood, that would be simply fantastic for Justin.

However, he didn't hear the other one as suddenly his eyes widened, beefore wincing in pain and screaming. "HEAAAAAAAAATHENNNNNN" At the top of his lungs as his right ribcage was nearly slashed wide open, as Justin winced havily from the pain. Then, his body began to manipulate, as a strange dark red energy appeared around the wound. Then, he gave an audible sigh as the flesh melded back together, fully healed as he looked at Yako. He didn't think about what was wrong with the boy; he knew he was a fellow scythe wielder, but if he wanted to make himself a sacrifice to Jashin that was fine by Justin.

His eyes narrowed as he began darting forwards, his blade Breaker appearing in his right hand as suddenly he was holding the blade high above his head. It was an extremely large blade, with over a foot in length on it. His eyes flashed as he brought the blade down, an insane amount of speed behind it with how large it was. As it hit into the ground, or even Yako, a huge amount of force would emit all around the blade; it would leave a solid crater in its path, having pressed its exploding outwards energy against it.

But Justin was not done yet as he looked up at Yako, leaning forwards as he rose himself up, sliding Breaker back into its sheathe on his back. In his hand, his scythe descended once more as with a demonic look in his eyes he slashed the scythe forwards, aiming for Yako's chest, neck, and head area. However, that wasn't all that he did as he sidestepped around Yako, narrowing his eyes as his tiny black pike suddenly shot forwards, telescoping to its full six feet in length…

Aiming right for Nacora's heart, without any warning whatsoever of his intent to attack the young man.

"And now a man of ceaseless death appears." Justin said, his head turning after his actions had been executed. "A unique man; a man who sends more than just other men to my Lord. Tell me, Harbringer, what are you doing here?" Justin asked, that ridiculous smile still on his face. However, he was not afflicted by the curse that was the black blood…

That was just the way Justin Washi was.

ENTER POST

His first attack had succeed in making a hit on Justin Washi, this made Yako Grim only continue to hold that unusual grin on his face. Even through Justin had his injury healed, the human was still feeling good that he got in the cut well. His pinning had most likely gotten the sugiura and he was satisfied as he would stop and back away from the other two people that were present to his knowledge. It was quite a surprise as Just brought down his blade on his previous postion showing that he had moved a just the correct time to dodge and got to witness the crater it had made. This was just so enjoyable for Yako to watch he's wasn't quite sure just yet how to react to the actions happening in front of him. He decided it was best for the moment to just share his laughing with the world around him and did so.

Then Justin rushed at him with his scythe to his head and neck area but were blocked by Yako's own scythe. But then came the attack on his chest which got past slicing into him but Yako's healing capabilities kicked in as the bottem of his scythe touched the ground. His pain endurance allowed him to act quickly without hesiation and his madness only made this even easier too. A green ring formed around him sealing any sort of injury left by Justin's attack to his chest.

"So much fun, I was bleeding, but now I'm not" he would yell out with laughing to follow.

Eventually Justin went past him and continued to strike at the pervious person, with yet another different weapon of choice. This scythe wielder definately had a lot of different tools beside just the scythe, the same was said for Yako. Althrough he didn't have actual tools at his disposal except for his scythe. Yako had his soul claw, a scythe, his shadow scythes, and healing abilities to give him a fighting edge in this large skirmish againist multiple foes. About this time, the ruby cross commander took notice of the forth person present of the group. He wanted to infect this person as well but Yako wonderd if it was possible a bit as he had attacked Justin yet he wasn't mad like him but then again he was definately acting strange. So it was concluded that Yako would leave him alone for now unless he started attacking the commander again.

This new person had a sword and probably had a bit of experience in using it as well. He currently made no move beside revealing himself and his weapon of choice in combat. Justin spoke to this person asking a question and Yako only listened wanting to attack but something within him told him to hold back for a moment on this person before him.

"So another is interested in joining my game of war!" He would exclaim.

"Well everyone, the rules of the game are simple, the last one still around in the end is the winner. Good luck!" He wold say to everyone.

Yako now erupt in a fit of laughing as he released into his second stage where his healing capabilities were extended and it would be much more difficult to end this human's laugh. Some minor changes were made to his coat that he wore and his scythe now had a long chain connected to it's bottom. He wondered if he should make the first move or if one of them would, for now he would only react to those that went againist him at the moment. If Zeref decided to attack Justin then Yako would most likely assist the fellow scythe user in combat. He wasn't quite sure if the same would be said if he was attacked first but it was certain that he was just looking for some fun in this madness city. With his final move for the time being he formed a second scythe of pure black energy that also had a long chain connected to it's bottem that Yako could probably use to swing it around or bring it back to him if it were tossed.

"So shall we wait or play this game?" He would ask.

Zeref's face usually wasn't easy to read, as his emotions had the habit of hiding underneath a mask of sadness and regret... But this time, it was easy to read both surprise, as well as anger from him. His eyes were still pitch black - like the darkest night, they reflected no light at all, eating it all up and devouring it.
"So you know who... no, what I am?" His voice was not trembling at all - the attack directed at the Sugiura hopefully didn't kill the boy, but if the dark wizard wasted his attention on blocking it, he might've ended up badly hurt himself. One of the two scythe-wielders was clearly infected by the madness, and would not act rationally - although it was questionable wether the one without madness would. Most people that knew of Zeref's existance were either his own Apostles - which this man was obviously not part of - or the Servants of other gods.
"I don't see why you deserve to know... but being curious, that is part of being 'mortal' and 'alive', isn't it? Very well then." The wind-sword in Zeref's hand was lowered, the tip touching the ground slightly - but even in this relaxed posture, something foreboding was in the air around him. "Listen carefully, for I will not repeat myself. You are right about one thing - I send more than just humans to the void. And my target... is within the heart of this city. The madness here is an abomination that has to be purged from the human realm. And if you think to abuse this state any further to kill innocents infected with the madness..." With a quick movement, the blade was brought up again, the tip pointing right at Justin Washi - and a slight burst of wind accompanied the sword of storms. Even though Zeref did not appear that dangerous right now to the untrained eye, the black mist surrounding his feet was clearly not a good sign...

"If you wish so badly to sacrifice lives to the lord you gave yourself to, take out those that are tainted within to begin with. Like your little... 'friend' here, for example. His heart... Just looking at it makes me sick. But if you kill even one more innocent, you'll see what it means to disobey the dark wizard. Understood?"

Justin's eyes widened as he successfully pierced Yako in the chest, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as it hovered above his weapon, looking at the black blood suspiciously. Hmm… I'll save it as a last resort. He thought as he pulled out a vial from his many folds of clothing, storing the blood within it.

However, as he hard Yako's exclamation one eye began to twitch. "HEY HEY HEY!" He said loudly, looking at Yako. "Let's get ONE THING straight. This is LORD JASHIN'S game, not a mere semi-immortal's." He exclaimed simply, proclaiming the truth of his Lord Jashin, before turning around to face Zeref once more as he spoke.

Stop slaying innocents…? His eyes widened, as if this possibility had never quite occurred to him before. However, he easily thought of a solution to the dilemma, as he began twirling his scythe around at his side. "Fine then…" HE said, smiling as he looked up at Zeref. "I GUESS I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO PLAY WITH YOU THEN!" He exclaimed as his feet pushed off the ground, sailing towards Zeref as the latter attempted some wind thingy to slow Justin down; it didn't really work, though, because Justin's natural strength was enough to overcome it as he landed in front of Zeref, throwing one hand back and gripping the latter's head with both hands, before bringing that head down towards his knees, as out of his sleeve and directly towards Zeref's torso a black spear appeared, the Toothpick of Jashin slamming towards the man's shoulder and attempting to touch him. Then, Jashin spun around, before suddenly stopping, one open palm towards Zeref before he smiled widely, firing a Gran Rey cero from one hand as he attempted to blow the Dark Wizard away, the blast consuming whole buildings behind it as it went off into the night sky.

How long had it been? Since someone defied him, Lord Zeref, the dark wizard of the void. Longer than he could recall, in fact. People that knew of him usually did everything they could NOT to anger him - because who would honestly fight a being of the end, if it could be avoided? Zeref wasn't known to search out conflict, and that may have been one of the reasons why prior to this, such... defiance had been unthinkable. But Justin did not care - he simply charged him. The dark wizard tried to lift his blade into combat position - but he was also hopelessly outclassed by the speed of the Jashinist. It was rare for a wizard to wield a blade to begin with, and even the legendary Ten Commandments sword could only compensate for slow reaction times until a limit was reached. There was not even time to reply to the threat spoken by the semi-immortal being.

Without any chance of dodging, the head of the black sorcerer was grabbed and slammed against the knee of the scythe wielder - no audible crack of a destroyed skull could be heard, it sounded more like two incredibly hard stones meeting each other. Then, a darting spear shot forward - right into the shoulder of Zeref, who was either too slow or too stunned from the first blow to react. The weapon pierced both clothing, skin, flesh and blood vessels without stopping, but it only grazed against the bone, which for some reason, seemed way more durable than humanly possible.
Obviously, that wound was bleeding - but it was not normal, red blood. But also not the black blood of the infected, no. It was certainly a shade of red, but a terribly dark one, and even laced with slight blue - this was not the blood of a Sugiura or human. It was the blood of a true immortal running down the blade, the essence of life of something far older than Justin could even understand. Not that he probably cared - but this blood was also a carrier of Zeref's unique energy, the energy of the void at the end of all things. Interaction with such a liquid should always be carried out with caution, as the side-effects could be varied and devastating - and no scientist so far ever explored what exactly this void blood could do. Erasure of whatever came into contact with it was obviously not the case, but every sane mortal soul would feel sickened by viewing it, thanks to being so incredibly alien.

Then, the final blow of this brutal, swift assault followed. A Gran Rey Cero - quite the dangerous and powerful technique, and it hit the wizard without any apparant, visible defenses. The eyes of the black mage were obstructed by the shadows and his hair, and his face showed no emotion - no pain, no fear, nothing at all, just a blank slate, before the light from the explosive energy obstructed all vision.
As the dust settled, Zeref was seemingly gone. Rubble was behind the impact center from the collapsed buildings and molten objects, and if one focused the eyes, they could easily find Zeref again - on top of one of the piles of rubble, forced down onto his stomach. Was he defeated? Dead, so easily?
Of course not, this story was not quite over yet. Slowly, both arms of the wizard moved - his hands slammed onto the ground, he lifted up his body from the rubble that had become his resting place for a short while. The Rave had disappeared, returning to the form of a pendant around his neck the moment he stopped holding onto the blade within the blast. As Zeref now lifted himself from the ground and stood up, the wound on his shoulder did not seem to concern him at all - in fact, he didn't seem even that hurt to begin with. No constant stream of blood from the wound on his shoulder, and while a slight stream of the sickening blood had colored part of his face black, the rest of his entire body seemed dirty and slightly bruised - his mage robes torn in places. But all in all, for someone just blown away by a Gran Rey Cero, he looked way too much like someone who just had too much to drink and simply fell over - the damage was not on the scale it should've been.
And something had changed now. The foreboding aura around the wizard? Oh, it was still there - but thicker than ever before. Instead of just being foreboding, it was now an aura of raw terror that induced fear into the hearts of any normal mortal - and behind the curtain of black hair, his eyes had been revealed once more.
A thin, black ring, surrounding a blood red center that was glowing from the darkness of his body and aura. This was the Corrupted stage, no doubt - but nobody knew about this besides the dark Wizard himself. Basicially, the curse of Acknologia made him unable to access his power while he cared for human life - but when threatened by someone like Justin, who completely lacked that concern, this mindset wandered into Zeref's being and awakened his 'sleeping' self by corrupting his mind. This was why this state carried the name 'Corruption', the first step towards Zeref's true being.



At first, there was still silence, apart from Zeref's feet moving on the ground, until he spoke once more - in a cold, commanding voice.
"Semi-Immortal? What a joke you are, pathetic little mortal. Thinking to play in the league of those that existed since the beginning. You're nothing but a child, throwing an angry fit at an adult that told you to stop playing." Raising his right hand, the dark Wizard gestured Justin to come at him once more. "Now, I'll give you two choices. Fight for your life, and die - or beg for mercy and die. Hate Spike." From the hand that had just gestured a 'Come at me bro' fighting invitation, the first real attack of Zeref on this day followed - and a black, thorny tentacle shot out of the air infront of the dark wizards hand, dashing towards Justin like the thorny grab of a rose.
"Let the Shadowlord embrace you, Jashinist."