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The strand of light-energy chain that was the farthest ahead wrapped tightly around the shadow Azriel, holding down its arms and wings and keeping its legs together. It appeared to do nothing more...until Chiaro flicked her hand to the side. Then, it was as if the restrained doppelganger was tossed aside by a psychic force. It was really Chiaro exercising such over her chains. The copy struggled and even tried to dematerialize, but thin, undulating strands of light flared from the chains out to wrap around each particle trying to escape, unrelenting. At this point, it was reduced to lying on the ground, immobilized.

The rest of the chains continued their way toward Dameo, wrapping around his neck, wrists, and ankles. Then in a flash of light, another chain appeared, one end of it in Chiaro's hand, the other split up and and attached to the five that were on Dameo. She yanked sharply, willing the one around his neck to tighten even more in an attempt to asphyxiate him. "Just. Let. Up already. You. Mangy. CUR!"

Grunting in frustration, Chiaro wanted to have another try at Dameo, but heard what Rhone said. "And leave you here not knowing whether or not you'll turn out alive? I'm sorry, but the three of us are not standing for that," she replied with a gravely serious expression.

~

Kratos' eyes widened at the sight of the aura. He could also sense a large amount of mana about to be displaced. "Things are seeming more serious by the second. We should go after them now," he told Regal, before unfurling his wings once more and taking to the sky.

Eloysio, relieved that Chiaro exercised some smarts to keep the same thing from happening to Azriel again, continued watching intently through his monocle...until he had to remove it due to seeing Rhone glowing so intensely.

"Blast zone..." Chiaro droned out in a whisper as she narrowed her eyes. And she was about to hit that mark where she would start draining from Azriel's life again, it seemed. Too unsafe to end manifestation here...she had no choice but to comply. "I'd hope you keep to your promise...Azriel doesn't forgive herself for this already. She never will if you don't." With a huff, she took off and dove for the foot of the mountain, slipping into a forested enclosure. Once she touched ground safely, she ended her manifestation, leaving Azriel to pass out on the grass.

Kratos lowered his arm from eye level, having used it to shield his sight from the flash as well. He was left hovering for a moment, then flew on to catch up to Regal, giving a nod of agreement. Finding himself near the peak now, he began to descend upon the charred surface. He landed nearby the bloodied Rhone and after making a quick examining look, began to cast the most potent spell he had..."Healing Stream." A glyph of blue appeared beneath where the dark elf lay, winds of healing energy swirling about the surface. Wondering whether or not he was conscious at all, he began to ask, "What happened here, Rhone? And where is Azriel?"

That does not answer my question... thought Kratos of Rhone's vague answer. If he had been attacked here and the threat were not entirely gone...but he supposed Rhone would speak more of this in due time. "Down the mountain...I'll go on ahead and search for her. You two should return to the mansion." He walked over to the edge of the surface, released his wings, and jumped down.

Just as the two had left, Kratos had finally touched down at the foot of the mountain, before the forested enclosure Chiaro landed in. He began to walk in and search for Azriel.

Near the spot where the winged girl lay, someone was watching her from the shadows, grinning deviously. He looked around, finding the coast clear...then carefully stepped up to her sleeping body to examine.


"Have I found you again at last...heheh...'Fractured Soul'?" He used his foot to turn over her body so that he could get a better look at the collar she was wearing. Identifying that it was the one he was looking for, he let out a soft, but sinister laugh. "Why, indeed it is! Finally, I can continue my experiments to purge the demon out of it...but first she has to die." He raised the end of his glaive above his head. The glowing jewel that hung from his neck pulsated a signal, causing all those green-colored metal devices floating around him to form into spikes and point toward Azriel. At last, he made the slightest move, starting to swing it down...

"Air Thrust."

"Hua---AAARGH!!!" A glyph appeared beneath him, and winds that felt like fine blades circled all over his body. However, his jewel pulsated again, and his assistant metal devices pointed themselves at Kratos now and shot forth. At this point, it was apparent that the jewel and the devices were connected, and that they worked off the stranger's thoughts.

"Guardian!" Kratos exclaimed as he put up his force field. He timed his shielding well, as the metal spikes bounced off before they could touch him. The attack canceled, they floated back to their owner.

All the while, this bought him time to jump back as the Air Thrust spell ceased. He then took an offensive stance, holding his glaive in both hands, staring warily at Kratos.

The seraph dissipated his force field. "Who are you and what do you want with her?" he demanded.

Choosing to ignore the first question, he replied, "...I'll have you know, that girl has a demon lurking within her." He clearly hoped his challenger was ignorant of her situation.

Narrowing his eyes, Kratos shot back, "Having already met the dark being within her," he emphasized the words "dark being" as if to correct the stranger, "I beg to differ."

The man's eyes widened in surprise for a split second, then his expression turned into a keen glare of annoyment. "I'll prove it to you. Just let me end her life first to disarm the demon. Honestly, she's better off." I am not going to let this whelp stand in my way! Not when I'm so close!

Kratos stepped in front of Azriel's body protectively and drew his sword. "Do you earnestly think I'll let you do that?" Clearly no longer tolerant of Kratos, the man dashed forth with an angered cry and attempted to bring his glaive down on him, his devices floating around him. The seraph deflected his blow with his shield and countered with a "Hurricane Thrust!" pushing the man back with his blade, then blasting him back even further with a burst of wind mana. Though when the enemy landed on his back, the metal spikes shot off again in reflexive retaliation...which he intercepted with a "Fire Ball!" making them stop in their path and drop to the ground, smoldering.

"Hrmph," he grunted, as he got back on his feet. Now, Kratos was running toward him, hoping to land a close strike. However... "Photon!"

Rings of light appeared around his body midway in the run, and a concentration of light mana enveloped hi torso and exploded. "Hkk---" Kratos grunted as he took the blow, although not appearing to be very phased by it. His attempt interrupted, he jumped back to close the space behind himself and Azriel.

"Urgh...resistant to light," the enemy grumbled, then spoke up, "I suppose I'll admit you are formidable. And that continuing on like this will only waste my time and energy. As much as this displeases me, I'll have to bide my power and bid the Fractured Soul adieu for now..."

While Kratos perceived that he was wasting time with all his talk, he was concentrating and preparing a spell, now unleashing it as "Grave!" However, just as the stone spikes closed in on the man, there was a blinding flash of light, which Kratos had to shield his eyes from. After lowering his arm, the spikes retracted back into the earth...and the stranger was just gone.

He looked around cautiously, expecting a sneak attack. But after a minute, all was still calm, and the man's presence seemed far from the reach of his senses now. With that, he took the unconscious Azriel into his arms, extended his wings, and flew off toward the mansion.

Eloysio was still on the coffee table, at the center of all the parchment laid out around him in a circle. By now about half of them were filled with writing in black ink, not just of words but also of intricately drawn glyphs. He was still in fervent concentration when Rhone addressed him, and the sound of his voice startled him. Along with his body making a jolt, his energy hand mishandled the pen it was holding, making a blot upon the parchment it was writing on.

Regaining his composure, he shook his head and turned to look at Rhone with a smirk. "And don't you forget that." Turning back to the place he left off, he noticed the blot. "Ay, misericordia!" he groaned while throwing his arms up in the air, before pointing a glowing finger at the blot and appearing to make the mistake..."rewind"...with his magic.

~

At halfway point in the air, Azriel woke up in Kratos' arms. Wondering why it was so windy... As she blinked and gently turned her head, wondering where she was, she could see the earth faaaaaar below her. She was in the sky, but she was not flying...? Slowly, the realization that she was being carried settled in. She turned her head to look up at who could possibly be handling her... "Mmph!" 0____0 ...and sort of froze.

Azriel went so still that her otherselves were under the impression that she was holding her breath.

O.o;; "Azriel....Azriel...?" ;;o.O

...And the seraph wasn't even aware she was awake as he kept his sights focused on the mansion in Meltokio. Soon enough, he landed at the mansion and entered through the back door, making his way back to the living room and laying her down on the couch across from Rhone. She still seemed..."frozen".

It was then he noticed her eyes were open, making a slight double-take. Looking down at at her and blinking a couple of times, he finally spoke up, "...Azriel? Are you all right?"

No response.

"...Azriel?"

"... ...Azriel?"

"... ... ...Azriel?" Finally, Eloysio hovered an energy hand over to her, lightly poking her in the shoulder.

"NNNOTHIIIIIIINGGGG!!!" she finally screamed as she sprung up in her seat, breathing heavily. Her face was quite red, but she wasn't aware of it. Catching her breath, she continued, "All right, where's Rhone?!" O_______O;;