FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"For all of your supposed power, you are quite weak," the hooded man said coldly as he fired another greenish-blue energy beam at Strike. The General flashed out of the way, moving at a much slower speed than before. The energy-draining spell was finally starting to show its effects, weariness cleary beginning to appear on his face.

"Be silent and die, villain!" Rentor yelled, emerging from the wall that he had been thrown into. He opened his hand and materialized a lightning spear, but the man didn't even glance at him before flicking his fingers. Several energy spheres shot out to block the spear, exploding in a bright flash. Rentor was actually knocked back by the shockwave, but the man didn't move in the slightest, completely unaffected.

"Still weak," he said. "Basic usage of a basic spell. Try something else for once."

Rentor growled but didn't go for another attack. Instead, it was Strike who moved, accelerating to high speed and practically vanishing from view.

"Hmph, you think your little trick will work?" The man closed his eyes and spread his arms. "On anyone else, perhaps. But I can still sense your energy!"

He flicked his hand again and a pillar of magic shot out of the ground. Strike fizzled back into view, reducing his speed to dodge the sudden attack. He was immediately assaulted by a barrage of energy beams. Going to dodge, he was surprised when they bent in midair and turned to chase him.

The man shook his head. "Overconfidence will get you nowhere."

He turned just in time to look at Rentor, who was smashing down with his shield. Raising an arm, he formed an identical shield out of energy and the two collided, sending out a shockwave.

Rentor's eyes widened and he roared, putting forth a great deal of physical force. The man's eyes simply flashed, though, and energy began to run up and down his cloak, helping him to stay in place. The dragon finally faltered slightly and a fist of energy burst out of the man's shield and slammed into him, sending him flying into the wall once again. He slumped to the ground with a thud, wincing slightly from the pain.

"How is he so strong?" Rentor wondered, watching as Strike fired off a series of lightning bolts, only to have them casually blocked by another energy shield. I've fought demons and other mages before; why is he so different?"

Strike threw another attack and used the moment to flash next to Rentor and haul him up.

"He's strong because he's a Grandmaster Mythical mage. That's a stage that's rarely seen, especially in the people we normally go up against. Also..." Strike paused as he tossed Rentor into the air, then flashed to the side to avoid a beam.

Strike waited until Rentor had landed on the ground before continuing. "Also, we wasted too much energy in the fight with Nu. We should have taken more time to look at the situation and plan things out before jumping in."

"Is that what Deluge is trying to get you to do?"

"Yes but now's not the time for that! Head's up!"

Rentor raised his shield in time to block a salvo of mortars. The explosions ripped up the ground nearby, making the stadium look even more demolished than before. The man shook his head.

"If I wasn't dedicating a significant portion of my power to unsealing the Reguli, that one strike would have been enough to kill you."

He suddenly sensed something in the air and turned. "Oh?"

The figure of the Dragon General standing behind Rentor vanished in a flash of lightning and Strike's punch connected with the man's back. He was blown back and Strike didn't let up, instantly chaining a slew of new attacks before blasting him into the ground.

"Still think you're going to win easily," Strike said, appearing back next to Rentor.

The man let out a laughing cough, covered in injuries. "I suppose it will be a bit more difficult than I had imagined. But still not by much."

He waved his hand and a sigil appeared, glowing white.

"Replicate: Suns of Healing."

The dragons' eyes widened as they watched the man's injuries disappear. After only a moment, he stood up and faced them once more.

"Now, I believe I will actually start to try."

Numerous sigils appeared behind him and exploded into balls of energy. Strike and Rentor both jumped away, but when the spheres hit the and walls they turned into formless Magic before turning into beams of energy that chased after the two.

Rentor twisted in midair, charging his shield with energy. At the same time, Strike narrowed his eyes and flung out a hand.

"Let's see exactly what he's capable of now that he's revealed that spell. Sharplight Blade!"

The deadly lightning arced towards the man. However, he simply smiled and waved his hand again.

"Replicate."

An exactly identical arc of lightning collided with Strike's spell, creating an explosion. Strike and Rentor both landed on the ground, the Dragon General scowling.

"Gah, I've never really enjoyed fighting Mythical mages and now I remember why. And this one appears to be able to not only copy my own spells but also store them for later use. Just great. I wonder how many he's got in reserve."

Strike roared, scattering the remainder of the attacks. "Rentor, attack with me and distract him in any way you can. The only way I'll be able to do anything to him is if I get close. How much magic do you have left?"

Rentor thought for a moment. "Less than a quarter."

"You can cast spells, but mostly stick to things that he can't copy, like your spears. Try to force him to use his stored spells. Every Replicate has a limit to what it can do, not counting Master Dioul's of course. Once we figure that out we'll be much better off." The dragon sighed. "This is why I hate fighting Mythical mages."

"Understood, sir."

Rentor planted his shield and flipped his hand, generating a lightning spear. Strike narrowed his eyes and his armor crackled. He disappeared, moving at incredible speed to continuously circle the battlefield, waiting for an opening to strike. "I refuse to lose here to something as basic as a single mage. Cloaked villain, whoever you are, you have committed crimes against Reality that cannot be tolerated. Stand and deliver!"

---

As James made his way through the doors of the stadium, it got deathly quiet and most of the magical pressure he had been feeling vanished. At the same time, though, his bracelet glowed brighter, indicating that he wasn't safe.

"Jeez, this place is a mess," he thought, looking up at the crumbling pillars and hallways.

A rumble from overhead caught his attention and he jumped back, narrowly dodging some falling stones. Suddenly, the floor gave way beneath him and he tumbled down into the depths of the stadium.

Thankfully, it was not a large fall, and James landed on the ground in mostly one piece. He glanced around, finding himself in an area that he had never visited before. This area was also looking much more intact than upstairs, apparently largely untouched by the dragons' fight.

"Alright, so that man told me that I had to come in here to do something, but I'm not sure what that is. Though, I think I should probably find a way back up before I get... Oh. Dear. Lord"

While he had been thinking, James had also been walking around, trying to get a better sense of his surroundings. Walking through a doorway set in a far wall had led him into a massive room that looked suspiciously like the cavern that Salvor had been imprisoned in. Only, this one's entire floor was filled with an array of sigils, glowing an intense greenish-blue. Below it, golden light was flickering as though it was about to vanish for good and below that... James felt a chill as he noticed that the ground was cracked in an uneven pattern. It didn't only seem to exist in the rock, but instead penetrated through space itself, a doorway to an unknown place.

"Don't... don't look at it. The unfiltered magic of the Void is not meant for the eyes of a mage like you."

James' mouth fell open in shock as he saw a curled-up form in the center of the blue sigil array. A tiny dragon huddled in a ball, eyes glowing as it maintained a shield of lightning around itself.

"You're one of the dragons from before!" James cried. "Voltus, right? But what are you doing down here?!?"

The dragon scowled. "I was sent down here to find someone and got ambushed. He used the power of the array to seal me in here and now I can't get out. More to the point, what are YOU doing down here? You're an apprentice mage!"

James hesitated. "I going to evacuate, but a man convinced me to head inside the stadium instead. Something about important events that I was part of, although I still have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

Voltus scoffed. "A man? What, he didn't even tell you his name?"

James shook his head. "No. He had on simple robes and was carrying a fairly large silver pocket watch though. And he somehow managed to block the magic that was suppressing me and my friends."

Voltus sat there for a second before his eyes shot open. "A silver watch? That means... Alright kid, here's what's going to happen. We need to get you up to the main fight."

James was a bit stunned by sudden turn. "But what about you?"

"Me? I'll be fine for a while longer. Although that shield of yours won't. Here, take this."

The dragon opened his mouth and spat out a ball of lightning. It wrapped around James, forming into a barrier, before vanishing. The light from his bracelet dimmed considerably.

"That should protect you from at least one hit, even if it's from that Mythical mage," Voltus said. He pulled his body in tighter as his shield visibly shrunk. "If nothing's changed, the stairs up to the main floor should be right over there." He pointed at a doorway off to the left. "If HE thought that you were to play an important role in all of this, I can only give you some words of good luck."

"HE?" James asked as he walked over to the door.

Voltus laughed. "I don't know his name, only a rough idea of what he does and not much more. Strike might know, but I'm not sure that he even pays attention during our briefings, so it's hard to say."

James stopped before climbing up the stairs. "Thank you for the shield and try to stay alive. I'll come back to save you."

Voltus shook his head. "I'm sure that I can stay alive, so don't worry about me. Now get up there and make sure that Strike doesn't get himself killed, ok?"

"Will do," James said. "Thank you."

He started up the stairs, leaving the dragon to curl up even tighter, alone with the crack that split the world.

The path up to the stadium was small and cramped, but still surprisingly intact. James had a lingering suspicion that it was set up specifically to access the sigil array below and was reinforced to survive under virtually any circumstances.

The entire building abruptly shook and James heard an explosion echo from up above. As he climbed, he began to hear the sounds of fighting and magic. Up ahead, he could see a light that represented the end of the staircase and presumably the battle.

"I have to remember, I have no idea where I'm going to end up. I have to be ready to cast a shield as soon as I step out into the open. If I get myself killed by being reckless than there's no way I can help anyone!"

He extended his senses, recoiling instantly from the intense pressure of the Void that invaded the surrounding air. However, he could also feel a layer of magic keeping him free of its influence, as well as the power emanating from the bracelet on his wrist.

"Voltus was right, it was almost dead. That would have been bad."

The sounds of battle slowly passed him by and James was confused for a moment before realizing that he was climbing up higher than the main fighting level. Soon, he stopped just outside the entrance to the stadium. Swallowing hard, he gathered his wills and focused his mind.

"Here we go."

Peeking through the doorway, he saw that the staircase did not directly lead into the stadium, but instead was a side entrance to a large room with a chair on one side.

"I'm in the Headmaster's Box!"

The chair overlooked the rest of the stadium and so James crept over, trying to stay low and hidden. Below, a tremendous amount of magical pressure was being released and James knew that if he wasn't being shielded, he would be at best suppressed and at worst flattened like a pancake. He grit his teeth and looked out at the battle that was taking place below.

Right away, the power of a pillar of that same blue-green magic almost sheared the box right off of the stadium wall. James pulled back instinctively before looking back over. Down below, he could only see one of the dragons, Rentor, throwing lightning spear after lightning spear while dodging beams of energy.

"Wait, who are they fighting?" James was confused as he watched the cloaked man. "His magic feels familiar, but I can't place it. And where's Strike?"

He tentatively extended his senses again. The stadium was filled to the brim with magic of all types, although the vast majority was a combination of the blue-green power and Void. The crack in the sky was also radiating a terrifying presence but didn't seem to be producing actual magic yet.

The cloaked man and Rentor were lit up beacons, positively exploding with power, but Strike's signature was still not visible. However, in the same moment that James was beginning to think that Strike had somehow died, something in his mind clicked and suddenly the battlefield lit up with traces of an electric yellow aura. James followed the path that it created and soon locked on to the Dragon General. He was racing around the stadium, never stopping for more than a single instant, and the most amazing thing was that James could somehow keep up with all of it.

"How can he keep his magic hidden? Is it an ability of the dragons or is it related to his armor?"

Strike must have felt something because he abruptly shifted directions, tracing a path up the stadium walls and into the Headmaster's Box. Appearing out of thin air behind James, he narrowed his eyes.

"A student? The school is evacuated; why in the name of Alcyrion did you come here? Don't you know how dangerous it is?!"

"I... I..." James was shaken by the sudden questioning but got his thoughts back under control. "I evacuated with the others, but was sent here after coming back to rescue my friends."

"Sent here...?" Strike's question trailed off as his eyes widened. "Wait, I recognize you. You're that Pure Elementalist, the one from the tournament! James, right?"

"You remember me?"

"Of course. You're the first person to wield Pure Elementalism like that since, well since the Dragon God." He appeared to realize something and growled. "This timing can't be a coincidence..."

Strike snapped his head up and inspected James. "You said someone sent you here? To the stadium? Who was it?"

"I don't know his name, but he had a silver pocket watch." James roughly described what the man looked like and when he was finished Strike cursed.

"If he's involved, then you being here is most definitely not a coincidence in any way. Gods, I'm going to blast that idiot into a star next time I see him!"

"Wait, you know who he is?" James asked. "No one's been able to tell me his name."

Strike rolled his eyes. "That's because he doesn't want people to know, not because it's classified. He's called Enigma. As for the rest, I can't tell you now or Ignatius would have my hide, but after this, you might be able to... GET DOWN!"

Strike grabbed James and vanished in a flash of light. An instant later, the Headmaster's Box was blown to bits by a massive fireball.

The Dragon General appeared back next to Rentor, dropping James to the ground. The Mythical mage turned to regard him with a cold gaze.

"I thought I sensed something," he said. "Student, putting yourself in danger like this was not a particularly smart move. You can die with the dragons, then."

He clicked his fingers, sending out a wave of solid magic.

"Protect the kid!" Strike roared at Rentor before throwing out a wave of his own, this one made of lightning.

Rentor slammed his shield down in front of James just as the waves collided. An explosion rang out and sent wayward beams flying in every direction, tearing up the ground and the stadium. Strike dodged them all and opened his hand, shooting out several Sharplight Blades, as well as Arclight Beam. James' mouth almost fell open in shock to see such magic being cast, but his perception was quickly readjusted as he watched Strike jump into the air and bring down a thundering bolt from the sky as a finisher.

The cloaked man didn't even blink. He swept his hand out and James was shocked to see an equal number of Sharplight Blades appear, meeting and canceling out Strike's own. As for the Arclight Blade, he generated a shield of energy, blocking it, and for the massive blast of energy, he clicked his fingers again and a pillar of magic blasted out of the ground, stopping the last attack.

Strike demonstrated his abilities as a Dragon General at that moment, his body above in the sky dissolving into lightning as he appeared behind the man with a bang, throwing out a series of strikes. The man shot back, materializing shields to block each attack and the pair dueled for a moment. In the end, Strike himself disengaged, jumping back with a grin.

"I've figured out your weakness, villain," he said. "You try to make your Replicate seem like it's all-powerful, but you're not Master Dioul. It's true that you can store other spells, but you need time to pull them out and probably only have a few to use at best!"

The man cocked his head. "You would be correct about that, but what makes you so certain that you can still win?"

"All it takes is one major spell that you can't block or Replicate and you'll be finished," Strike roared. "You'll be blasted to atoms, just like your golem!"

While the pair were trading verbal attacks, James turned to Rentor. "Who is that? Where's Nu?"

"Right, you still don't know. Nu was defeated, but as we were about to claim the sigil for the energy-draining spell, he appeared. According to him, he's the mastermind behind everything and has been searching for the Reguli for years."

James frowned. "His magic feels familiar, but I don't recognize where it's from."

The man finally lost his patience, waving his arm with a glare. "Enough! Do not forget that there's still something that will allow me to win! And thanks to your incredible reserves, I finally have enough magic stored away!"

A giant glowing sigil appeared in the sky. James let out a gasp.

"That looks exactly like the sigils that made up the array downstairs. It must be controlling the energy-draining spell!"

The sigil began to unravel, the lines of magic that formed it twisting into a new shape. Soon, there were only 3 overlapping circles hovering in the air. The man opened his hand; sitting in his palm was a small sphere of magic that flashed intermittently with complex sigils. He crushed it, causing lines of power to flow up into the first circle, filling it with light. He then condensed some of his own magic into a sphere, going through the same actions until the second circle was filled.

Strike's eyes flashed. "It's combination magic. But there's no way he could possibly have the last component. We still have a good chance!"

With all the talking going on, James was confused about why Strike wasn't just attacking to seal from being undone. However, his magic soon picked up the reason. Strike's Flash Armor was filling with power, most likely charging up to cast a very, very large spell.

"He's trying to buy time," James realized and he was smart enough to try and keep his expression in check to alerting the man.

The man scoffed. "Are you so stupid, Strike? Why would I reveal this to you, now, if I was not confident in my success?"

Strike shook his head. "I'm no Mythical mage, but even I can see that you're drawing on the magic of the Primes. You'd need to have Temporal magic and we both know that's impossible to get ahold of. They'd see you coming from timestreams away."

"Very true. I spent many years trying to devise a way to get my talons on such an elusive power, but it was futile." He chuckled. "But who would have guessed that the solution would fall right into my lap?"

James frowned in confusion as he felt a chill run down his spine. Strike's eyes narrowed and his magical charging rate noticeably spiked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you forgotten? There is still one source of magic besides Temporal. Isn't that right, James?"

James' expression froze and the dragons looked back at him.

"How... how do you know my name?" he asked, a part of him not truly wanting to hear the answer. "And when did I ever give you my magic?!?"

The man laughed. "Since just after the day that we first met! You were so gullible; any other mage would have realized that something was off, but you fell for it completely! Ah, the ignorance of youth."

"What are you talking about!?!" James cried.

The man shook his head and outstretched an arm. A shining blade appeared in his hand, one with a red hilt. At the same time, his cloak dissolved into magical threads and vanished.

"Recognize this?" the elderly Griffon said with a cold smile.