The Red Hand

Chapter 253 –  Zephiria v. Elna.

"Alright, everyone, we're back!" Akagi reactivated her stream and let the audience know that the arena was repaired. "Our local Magical Girl did a number on the arena, but luckily, my team of expert construction workers managed to get things back up in running in such a short time!" At her words, the crowd cheered.

"I'm still surprised that she managed to make such a mess of things. I suppose that girl is a bit more interesting than I assumed." Silfana shrugged.

{Then again, that power was given to her by Akagi, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.} (Silfana)

"Magical Girls always have some interesting abilities, that's for sure." Akagi snickered, knowing that she was more than a bit responsible for Mika's current power. "But moving on to our next match, I've brought on a familiar face! Everyone give it up for everyone's favorite Samurai Oni, Superbia!" She smiled as the Oni waved to the camera.

"Hey, everyone, it's good to be here." Superbia gave a bright smile as she took her seat.

"Congrats on winning that last match, though I'd say it was more of a stomp than a match." Akagi laughed.

"That girl was simply out of her league is all." Superbia shrugged. "The one I'm really looking forward to beating is that cat!" She smirked.

{I'm going to send that cat back home in a box! And not the kind kitties love to play in!} (Superbia)

"Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for that." Akagi replied. "And for now, I'd like you to turn your attention to the next match." She pointed to Zephiria and Anle, who were making their way into the arena.

"Ah yes, your little pet is going to face off against the mysterious competitor who nobody knows who she is." Superbia rolled her eyes.

{I'm not surprised that you broke Elna out and took her, but I'd at least like to know why you did it. Not to mention, I'd like to talk to her at least once. Excel... he has a lot to say to her...} (Superbia)

"Hiding identities is perfectly fine here. I allowed it for the Magical Girl, and I'll allow it for Anle." Akagi snickered.

"I must admit that I'm quite interested in seeing how your little Warlock fights." Silfana broke into the conversation. "I've seen plenty of people sign their souls away to Devils and Demons for power, but this one in particular seems quite interesting."

{From what I've seen, Akagi's contract with that mage gave her a tiny amount of Akagi's power. Even in such small quantities, such Demonic power ought to place her in a league of her own. That is, if she can use it properly of course.} (Silfana)

"Zephiria is an interesting character, that's for sure." Superbia sighed. "More than anything else, she cares about magic and magical knowledge. That girl has gone to hell and back to get even scraps of information and has stopped at nothing to discover new and unique ways of manipulating magical energy." She recalled an instance where she caused a boss monster to dance to death via the use of a magical spell she crafted.

"I believe it is a common theme among mages for them to eternally seek out power and knowledge, even where it is clear they shouldn't." Silfana rolled her eyes as she recalled a few people that she'd met over her life. "Many have come to me for knowledge of ancient magics and artifacts, only to be ripped to shreds by the power they sought." Her lips showed a nasty smile for a moment before returning to normal.

"Well, Zef here is probably one of the most extreme examples." Superbia commented as she pulled a pack of cookies out of her inventory and began snacking. "Not only did she sign away her soul to Ol' Spookey over here, but she's been running her own crazy ass laboratory at the South Pole where I've heard unconfirmed rumors about the very ethical experiments she runs."

{At this point I'm waiting for her to announce her invasion of the world where we have to defeat her like some kind of cheesy movie villain...} (Superbia)

"Zef just likes to have fun." Akagi snickered. “Don't sweat the small stuff.”

“I don't think our definitions of 'small stuff' are matching up...” Superbia sighed.

"Is this fight even going to be fair?" Superbia asked as she glanced over at Akagi. "She has your power fueling her, so isn't that kind of cheating?" She figured the Demon's power would tip the scales too far in Zephiria's favor.

"If she was able to use what I gave her all the time, then no it wouldn't be fair." Akagi nodded. "However, that power is currently far too much for her to handle, and she can only use a small portion of it for a limited time before she starts dying." She'd been working alongside Zephiria to better understand her own power, and part of that required testing its effects on the Warlock. So far she could only use small amounts of it a time, but Akagi was sure that she'd get the hang of it eventually.

"Warlocks typically need a great deal of time and training to use their patron's abilities to their fullest, so it makes sense." Silfana nodded. "From what I know about her, she's been able to make some use of the power your contract gives her, and if she combines that with her own innate magical ability, she should be reasonably competent in battle."

"But Zef was always a support caster." Superbia recalled that the crazy Wizard never fought directly in the front lines or in duels. "She mostly just buffed us or sat in the back and lobbed shots, so I'm not sure that she can handle something like this."

"I think she's got a plan." Akagi shrugged, not knowing what Zephiria was going to do. "If Zef is anything, it's prepared."

{And crazy...} (Superbia)

"And then we have her opponent." Silfana looked down at Anle. "From what her information said, she's a Monk and uses elemental Ki to augment her attacks. I've seen their kind over the years, and while they can be strong enough, they're usually overshadowed by their peers when it comes to damage dealing and survivability."

{The Lacque Temple Monks didn't stand a chance when we burned their Monastery to the ground, and I've never ran into a martial artist that could compete with a weapon master.} (Silfana)

"Monks were an underpowered class in FWO." Akagi nodded, agreeing that they were among the weakest of the martial choices. "They required a very specific build to work properly and even then the only melee class that did worse than them in average damage was the rogue."

"She says that, but Akagi was able to one-shot people with her 'underpowered' rogue abilities." Superbia sighed. “So I don't really know if Rogue were actually weak in practice.”

"This is me we're talking about, so that skews things quite a bit. I just optimized the hell out of my kit until I got the results I wanted, not to mention my build was pretty specific. If you look at the pure average, Rogues were actually the worst performing damage dealing class in the game." Akagi commented as she sipped on her coffee. "That's not to say that Monks have no redeeming qualities, and the Elemental Monk was actually quite good due to its special abilities nullifying some of the shortcomings of the class as a whole. So I think Anle will be quite an interesting contestant." She knew that Elna was actually quite a competent fighter, its just that her hot-hotheadedness tended to drag her down.

"Even still I'm still betting on the caster." Silfana guessed that Zephiria would win. "No matter how powerful a warrior is, magic will always be stronger." Her opinion wasn't born from arrogance, since she herself was a martial-caster hybrid, but rather from experience and cold hard facts. Martials in FWO were generally weaker than casters and magic was incredibly unbalanced.

"Oh? But didn't you lose to a martial twice?" Superbia smirked.

"I lost to a fucking Dragon that uses magic to augment itself during combat. That's still magic being used, Superbia." Silfana glared at her, not appreciating the sass. "You are not a purely martial fighter either, as your Oni magic and forms all rely on magic to fuel them. Hence why I don't think a pure martial fighter will defeat a caster, especially one like her."

"I know, I'm just being a smart ass!" Superbia snickered. "And I would have to agree with your assessment. Martials tend to struggle heavily against casters. Just look at Eris v. Alice to show you what kind of disparity can exist." She'd actually put money on Alice winning and was enjoying the 'I told you so' that she'd earned as a result.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to see what happens!" Akagi cheered as the match began.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"I didn't expect to see you walking around again." Zephiria chuckled as she and Elna approached the center of the arena. "But I guess our shared master has taken some kind of an interest in you." She, as well as most other players, had quickly figured out that Anle was Elna and decided that spreading said information to the public was not in their best interest.

"It's not like I had a choice." Elna sighed beneath her mask. "It was either stay in custody and get killed or become the pawn of Akagi, and well... Death kinda sucks..."

{Both choices were bad, but I don't want to die, yet.} (Elna)

"Yeah, I heard she messed you up real good too." Zephiria chuckled. She'd been told by Akagi what was being done to Elna and she was facinated by the data collected. "I got some of the data on how her power messed with your soul, and I must say I'm impressed."

"Impressed?" Elna didn't understand her meaning.

"You didn't break!" Zephiria replied with zeal. "Almost all of my test subjects shattered after exposure to such power for even a few days, yet you stuck it out for all those months! Congrats!"

{Oh, right, Zef is just as crazy as Akagi...} (Elna)

"I wish I hadn't, to be honest." Elna said. "I don't remember all of it clearly, but the parts I do remember..." She shuddered.

{It was as if my entire being was being torn apart and put back together over and over again. Akagi said she was intentionally keeping me around for testing, so I can only imagine how much WORSE it would be if she went all in... I guess that's what Armalthy is getting as we speak...} (Elna)

"Look at it this way. You get to serve the Demon Lord and have a bit of fun rather than becoming her little pet. It's not the worst outcome, all things considered. Especially after what you lot did." Zephiria shrugged. She figured that Elna was actually quite lucky since Akagi was originally going to eat her like she'd done to the others.

"Yeah. Our biggest mistake was letting that idiot go off and poke the bear. I suppose we couldn't have known what she'd become, but even still, it was stupid to provoke her like that." Elna didn't regret her actions during her time with Libra and was still bitter about her Mother's treatment of her, but she did think they acted like idiots in how they went about things.

{Herlex was right, attacking the Americans like I did was stupid and all it did was give Akagi the chance she needed to get involved and take home her prize.} (Elna)

"Yeah, attacking Yumi is the quickest way to find yourself in eternal damnation." Zephiria laughed nervously. "I got to see a bit of what's happening to Armalthy, and man is it fucking bad." She snickered. "The poor man is being forced to endure all kinds of torment while being completely conscious and sane! I really need to up my game if I'm going to replicate something like that!"

{Yup, she's fucked in the head...} (Elna)

"Anyway, enough about that!" Zephiria decided to move on to the fight. "We shouldn't keep our audience waiting too long. Otherwise, they'll get annoyed, and I'm also itching to toss you around a bit." She winked.

"I'm surprised you even wanted to do something like this." Elna said as she moved into a stance. "You were never much of a fighter, and you always stuck to the back. I hope you know that the moment I close in on you, it's over." She knew that, while powerful, a caster like Zephiria who didn't wear heavy armor would be in for a world of pain the moment she got her hands on her.

"Hah!" Zephiria giggled at her comments. "You can think that if you want, but I don't anticipate that being the case.” Her eyes snapped into a sharp glare. “You have no idea what I'm capable of, Elna." For a moment, it was as if Elna saw Akagi's shadowy form flash behind Zephiria before vanishing just as quickly as it came.

"I saw the recordings of you from the Serval fight. You didn't really do much other than sling spells at a distance and cast buffs like you always did." Elna tightened her fist. "Not to mention, I fought alongside you on plenty of occasions. I'm fully aware of what you can and can't do in a battle, and one-on-one duels like this won't end well for you."

{You have magical defenses but your body is frail. One good punch from me and its lights out.} (Elna)

"My performance during the Serval fight was quite poor, though that has less to do with my actual ability and more that I was ordered not to do that much to help." Zephiria smirked. "However, this fight has no such restrictions, and I can use my magic as freely as I desire."

{Akagi made her hold back during the Serval fight? Why?!? Did she just want to fuck with everyone that bad, or is Zeph just playing mind games with me?} (Elna)

"So what? Are you going to tell me that you can take down Serval all on your own or something?" Elna scoffed at her claims.

"I suppose you'll just have to see my power for yourself." Zephiria giggled as she readied herself for battle.

While she couldn't take down the Dragon Emperor alone with her power, she was far more capable than even Hishya knew. Akagi made her hold back during her previous fight since she was interested in seeing how the other players acted during such a large scale engagement, and she wanted Hishya to 'earn' her eventual victory. Not to mention, the Demon was simply having fun at everyone else's expense.

"Are the contestants ready to battle?" Kira interrupted their back and forth, wanting to move things along.

"As I'll ever be." Elna sighed.

"Yup." Zephiria grinned.

"Then, begin!" Kira signaled the start of the battle, and Zephiria decided to begin things with a bang.

"Twin Maximize Magic, Reality Slash!" Zephiria channeled power into both of her index fingers before swiping them at opposite angles and sending a set of nearly invisible slashes toward Elna at high speed.

{Really?!?} Elna knew that taking such powerful magic head-on was tantamount to suicide, and with the brief moment that she had to react she leaped into the air and contorted her body so that she went into the gap between the strikes.

As she landed, Elna could hear the sound of Zephiria's attack carving into the arena behind her, and she could only imagine how deep of gashes they each made.

"Are you trying to fucking kill me?!?" Elna screamed at Zephiria.

{Oh wait, this is Zef, so PROBABLY!} (Elna)

"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Zephiria lazily waved her off as she teleported backward some distance with the snap of her fingers. "That was only a weak sixth-level spell. I'm sure you would've been fine taking that head on."

{Yeah, she's definitely nuts. That kind of attack would end me in one strike! Reality slash is far too much for something like this!} (Elna)

"Here comes the next one!" Zephiria flicked her hand and sent a torrent of fire towards Elna, who countered with a blast of flame of her own.

*WOOSH* *SWOOSH* *BOOM*

The flames collided together and exploded outward. Zephiria's magical ability was incredibly high, but Elna's Ki was more than a match in a clash like this.

As the two poured more power into their attacks, Elna decided to try and get closer to her target.

"Wind Step!" She activated one of her speed-boosting abilities, which caused her legs to become wrapped in high-speed winds. "Air Blast!" Once she was ready, Elna changed from fire to wind as she unleashed a massive blast of air that temporarily halted Zephiria's fire, which gave her a chance to maneuver to the side of the arena.

"Oh no you don't!" Zephira began to flick a barrage of fire blasts toward Elna, who jumped and dodged out of the way as she rapidly approached the caster.

{I won't let you keep me at a distance!} (Elna)

"Let's see how you like taking my fist to your face!" Elna screamed as she punched toward Zephira, only to have her first stop a few feet shy of its target.

{Dammit!} Elna swore in her head as she recognized the barrier she'd slammed into.

"Nice try, but mages do have the ability to cast magical shields." Zephiria winked as she put her hands in a cone and channeled a large formless blast which struck Elna dead center mass and sent her flying away.

"ACK!" Elna cried out in pain as she was thrown to the ground, but she quickly righted herself and attempted to charge back in.

"Really? A head-on charge, again." Zephiria sighed as she stuck out her hand and created a torrent of water, which she blasted toward Elna. However, rather than stopping her, Elna channeled her Ki to take control of the water and send it right back to its creator.

"Oh shit! I forgot she can do that!" Zephiria panicked momentarily as she quickly waved her hand to dissipate the water, but this misstep gave Elna the perfect chance to get close once again, and she began pounding on the Shield that was protecting the caster.

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

"Come on, open up!" Elna howled as she unleashed a massive flurry of blows. "I promise that I'll make it quick!"

{I never thought I'd actually need to use this spell, but I guess now's the time!} Zephiria reached out her hand and grabbed onto Elna's wrist as she allowed it to pass through the magical barrier. The Monk was confused for a moment until she felt a surge of energy rush into her body.

*ZAP!*

"FUCK!" Elna screamed as she was electrocuted, and while it didn't do that much damage, as the spell was a low-level cantrip, it was very painful and surprising. "I'll bash your fucking skull in!"

"You can most certainly try!" Zephiria laughed as she teleported away moments before Elna's fist met her face. "But that will be a bit more difficult now." She snapped her fingers and her form blurred as three other copies of her stood in a square formation.

{Oh great, Mirror...} Elna sighed. Mirror was an annoying spell used by castors to create illusory duplicates of themselves. They couldn't actually do any damage, but it would make it harder to figure out where the real castor was. Though they couldn't move very far from the original, Elna would now need to fight RNG in order to land blows on her opponents.

"Cheeky bastard!" Elna growled at the four images of Zephiria that were laughing at her. "How about you knock off the tricks and fight me properly!"

"I'm a mage, 'cheeky tricks' is our entire method of fighting." Zephiria laughed as she began channeling magic for her next spell. "And if you think this is bad, then you've got quite the rude awakening!" She spread her hands apart and channeled lightning into her palms before sending an arc straight toward Elna who jumped out of the way.

"Hah, you missed!" Elna smirked, but her smug attitude quickly ended as she was smacked from the back with the same bolt of lightning that she dodged. "AHH!" She cried out in pain as Zephiria continued unleashing more and more bolts at her, some of which managed to hit her.

"Homing bolt combined with Twinning is quite neat, isn't it?" Zephirira giggled as she hopped backward and continued to shoot more lightning toward the Elf.

"AH!!" Elna screamed as she was struck by countless bolts of lightning. Even as a Monk who could control the Elements, being struck by such power was not pleasant.

"Maybe you should just give up?" Zephiria laughed as she hurled more bolts at her. "If this small amount of magic is enough to stop you, then it's already over." She snickered.

"I'm not done yet!" Elna slammed her right foot into the arena floor and created an earthen shield that surrounded and protected her from the lighting.

"Well, you stopped the lightning, but you're now trapped in a box." Zephiria stopped her attacks since the grounded structure made them pointless. "Is the plan to try and wait me out? Because I can explode that little box with-" Her words were cut off as Elna manipulated the earthen shield, formed it into a suit of armor, and began charging at Zephiria. "Huh, neat." Zephira was unimpressed and lazily flicked more fire toward the charging Elna, but her attacks did nothing. "Well, no matter, I've got plenty of spells that are far more powerful than-" Again, her comments were cut off as she was struck unexpectedly from behind and launched across the arena, smacking her head against the floor and causing her illusions to dissipate.

"Hah!" Elna laughed.

"W-What the hell?!?" Zephiria wobbled as she tried to stand up. "How did you get behind me?!?

{She charged me, didn't she?!?} Zephiria was thoroughly confused, but when she caught sight of Elna standing next to the earthen mass that she'd been attacking, it clicked.

"That was a fake." Zephiria clicked her tongue in irritation.

{Son of a...} (Zephiria)

"Yep." Elna laughed, and the smirk on her lips was audible through her mask. "Don't forget that my ability to manipulate earth goes beyond attacks." She tapped her right foot against the ground.

"I see. So you went under and sent that fake at me, and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker." Zephiria cursed her own mistake. It was something that she should've seen coming, but she'd gotten far too comfortable for her own good. "Though you failed to capitalize on your opportunity." She spit blood onto the arena floor. "I'm still standing, and it will take more than that one punch to take me down!"

"Don't worry. That will be far from the last bit of damage you take from me." Elna took a fighting stance again as she readied herself for the next bout.

{Well, this is annoying. I suppose I have nobody to blame but myself for that blow, so I guess I should start taking things a bit more seriously, lest I find myself unceremoniously defeated in the first round. At least Elna isn't the class of Monk that can send undetectable vibrations into their opponent's body with one strike. Otherwise, I'd be doomed.} (Zephiria)

The look of irritation was clear as day on Zephiria's face, and Elna decided to chide her a bit more.

"Did that little love tap rattle you that bad?" Elna laughed at her. "What a baby! But then again, you casters are just a bunch of wusses that cry the moment they take any damage!" She'd always disliked casters since they mostly sat away from danger during fights.

{Oh great, she's going to start her usual bullshit...} (Zephiria)

"Come on, Zephiria!” Elna waved her hand at her, beckoning her to attack. “Everyone always called you the most powerful mage in FWO, but so far, all you've done is send some cheap blasts at me! Any half-wit with magic can do the crap you've done!" She laughed. "Some mage you are if all you can do is fling a few low-level spells! At this point, I'm starting to think that Spellhauser was right about you being pathetic!" Elna's words caused Zephiria's eyebrow to twitch. "Hell, I'd bet the only reason Akagi even took you on as her Warlock was because she pitied you!"

{You absolute fucking...} (Zephiria)

The Elf's attempt at getting under Zephiria's skin had worked, and the mage bit her lower lip in frustration. "Alright, fine." Her face darkened over, and her usually cheeriness and eccentricity dropped out of her voice. "If it's magic you want, then it's magic you'll get." Zephiria snapped her fingers and vanished before Elna's eyes. "Just don't blame me if you get hurt."

Zephiria prided herself on her magical ability, and her status as the best mage in FWO was something that she took seriously. She'd dedicated years in-game researching magic, and once she returned to the real world her work only intensified. Elna's comments had gotten under her skin, but not in the way that the Elf expected.

"Force Barrier." Zephiria's voice rang out, and a wall of force surrounded Elna in the shape of iron bars.

"Really?" Elna sighed. "If you want to try and contain me me while you do all your buffs, then you're out of luck!" She pounded on the cage but found herself unable to escape. "Then I'll just go down!" Elna attempted to dig her way out of the cage using the same method that she used to attack Zephiria, but found that the cage went below ground after a few inches as well.

{Well damn.} (Elna)

"Too afraid to fight me?" Elna called out to Zephiria. "Are you gonna just stick me in a box until I die of thirst or something?" She was starting to sweat a bit as she got a bad feeling. Casters allowed time to prep were very dangerous, and she knew that Zephiria was likely preparing something big.

{I guess I'll have to teleport out with my Ki.} Elna channeled her inner power in an attempt to invoke her short-range teleportation ability but found that the moment she tried to go beyond the edge of the cage her ability failed, and she smacked into the bars with a loud bang.

"What the fuck?!?" Elna cried out in confusion. “What kind of cage blocks teleportation?!?”

"Isn't it great?" Zephiria's voice seemed to come from all around Elna. "Force Barrier is a seventh-level spell, and it's utterly broken in terms of what it can do."

"What the hell kind of spell is this?!?" Elna growled as she continued to pound on the cage. "Why can't I get out?!?"

"If you'd read up on magic at all, then you'd know that not only is Force Barrier indestructible, but it also prevents teleportation in or out." Zephiria answered her.

"So you really are just planning to stick me in the box!" Elna tried pounding on the cage again.

"I wasn't, at first, but then you decided to be an asshole." Zephiria's words were laced with irritation and a hint of anger. "This was supposed to be a fun match where we'd both show off a bit of power and have fun..." As she spoke a small orange ball began to float toward Elna's cage. "But then you had to run your fucking mouth, Elna." Her words only grew more irritated. "So I'm done. I didn't want to end things too quickly, but I don't care anymore, and now all I want to do is shut you the fuck up." Zephiria's words made the hair on the back of Elna's neck stand up. "I see having your mind nearly broken did nothing to right that toxic personality of yours. So perhaps a trip to the afterlife and back might make a difference?”

"W-Wait!" Elna started to panic as the orange ball of energy entered the cage. "Zef, it was all just a joke to get under your skin don't take it seriously!"

"Sure, a joke. Hah-hah!" Zephiria gave a fake laugh. "Look, I'm laughing because it was just so funny." She was in no mood to entertain Elna's bullshit. Trying to get under her skin during a fight was one thing, but insulting her skill as a mage and bringing up Spellhauser, somebody Zephiria hated, was a very poor life choice. "Any last words before I atomize you?"

{Holy shit, she's serious!} (Elna)

"No? Then I guess I should detonate this-" Zephiria's words were cut off by Elna.

"I SURRENDER!" Elna screamed. She may not have been a magic caster, but she knew exactly what the spell that Zephiria was threatening her with was.

{Is she fucking crazy?!? Nova is a tenth-level spell, and she's supercharged the fuck out of it! If she lets that go off, not only will I be vaporized, but that entire arena might go too!} (Elna)

"Elna has surrendered, so contestant Zephiria, please withdraw your attack!" Kira appeared next to the cage, and there was a tense moment where it looked like Zephiria might choose to blow them both up.

"Fine." Zephira snapped her fingers, and both the cage and the orange ball vanished before she reappeared next to Kira. "And Elna, the next time you decide to run your mouth, how about you just don't, okay?" Zephiria turned and began walking to the exit.

{I guess that was a bit petty of me, but that idiot just had to bring up Spellhauser, didn't she? Whatever, Akagi ate that bitch, so it doesn't matter anymore.} (Zephiria)