Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was no pause before Claudia spoke up, but there was a brief pause before anyone replied to her, Nyru however placed his ebony helm back upon his head. As the last strands of his hair was carefully covered by his helmet there was a roar in the sky, one of the circle then seemed to hum with his voice, as if to say something but being distracted by the orange glow in the sky. It lit up the bottom layer of clouds with brilliant gold and red, and without warning came something none of them expected. A flaming, crackling, rocky meteor rushed past the hole in the ceiling. Nyru couldn't help but drop his jaw, they're dealing with more powerful Scarred than he first believed.

And then one of the circle looked directly to the girl and eerily replied 'Now'. His voice was followed by the rumbling strike of the meteor on the ground nearby, the floor shook ever so slightly as the sky lit up with many smaller meteor-like objects.

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At the outside walls of the city, it was like a war had been planned for weeks. Lines of weathermancers bordered between the grasses of the Shard and paths of Shard City. Lightning scoured the skies and sometimes it would dart towards meteors, winds were roaring and even some of the trees seemed worryingly alive. As Nyru and Claudia arrived, they stood upon the top of a tower some stories high, it was dark, it was stormy, and before them came ranks of Scarred. Men with scarred faces, some with red eyes, others with hellish weaponry and robes, other's that had lost entire limbs. These people devoted themselves to Hell, and though they could not reach it, they would try everything in their power to harness the power of the lords of Hell.

'Ready?' he asked Claudia.

((thats okay smile also i don't mind a little control of each other's characters here to speed up uber awesomeness of team slaying of amazingness hehe, there shall be plenty for us to kill wink ))

Finally, it was time. This was the moment they had been waiting for all afternoon, this was the moment that the conclave had been waiting for all these days, this was the moment... the queen had been waiting for all these years. War was upon us, and the drums of fire beckoned once again. Now, rain began to fall from the thundering clouds above them, it was a terrible contrast to that of the fiery balls of anguish that the Scarred were calling down upon them, this was powerful magic, they must have some sort of source of power. Though the Scarred may be powerful, this was the night of the conclave, and there was no better time for Nyru and Claudia to be at battle. Placing one hand carefully on his blade's handle he crouched ever so slightly. He was observing the crowds below them at the border, waiting for the unique moment in time where he would be at the advantage.

And to Claudia's last comment... 'ok' he replied quite simply. He then vanished with a tiny burst of what could only be compared to an implosion. The darkness had great effects on the two of them, they were some of the best trained and they knew exactly how to use the shadows to their advantage! Appearing back on the battle field everything moved in slow motion as one swift swpe of his blade horizontally left bodies falling tot he ground, in one piece or not. He was crouched ever so slightly and the ground below him let out a burst of air as he landed. His plan was obvious, to give Claudia some space to join the battle too where hopefully this fight sure be more than a piece of pie. The two of them never battled alone, usually, and were excellent at alternating attacks for maximum effectiveness!

The two shadowmancers were experts, they knew exactly how to battle. After all... they were Casters, they graduated Ravencrest Academy and became the final line of defence in Magic Earth (i believe Claudia did too anyway? haha). Claudia was most resourceful, never letting an arrow go to waste, they wouldn't be unlimited. And unlimited would be what everyone needs in this battle, everywhere Nyru turned he would be greeted by a deformed or bloody face. Looking to Claudia she gave a signal and running up to her readied his hands to catch her foot and thrust her into the skies. He then grabbed his blade and waited for a second as Scarred gathered around him only to be shot down faster by Claudia's volley of arrows.

However, one more stood in their way, what was it? It roared like a great boar being tortured, it looked to be 15 feet tall and had tusks, no, some sort of appendage coming from its mouth. It could be described similarly to an orc but this was nothing of this world. Its rib cage pierced through its own flesh and made Nyru prepare for the next attack. The monster was big, and managed to secure a hefty attack with a giant mace right atop Nyru! When the mace his the surface of the ground dust and dirt flung upwards. Nyru, however, was no where to be seen. Like a magician throwing his last act for the big night, he stood like a champion with his back turned towards Claudia on the monster's neck, behind his head. Blade dripped with blood at his side the abomination's head slipped right of it's head, it sounded moist before hitting the ground with a thud.

Rejoining his companion, they both knew the war was not over. But... it seemed like Shard City was winning, lightning was taking out more than they could count, vines were locking foes down into the grass and the shadowmancers were faster than all of them. Looking over into the distance though they both noticed something with a red glow like the descending sun. With a sudden shine a funnel of red fire burst like a gun shot towards the sky igniting the clouds with flames surrounding it! And then, the clouds began to spin and slowly follow the funnel of fire down towards the ground in the distance where a great roar could be heard. "Go" came a voice in both of their minds. It was the circle! Nyru stared over yonder towards the fire, swallowing he wasn't sure what to find but was reassured when the Circle added 'No one, can escape death'. Though the message itself was unclear, it was as if there was no point in hiding, that you had to do all you could in life... or it simply meant that the scarred can die just as easily as anything else can!

Sword on his shoulder, resting it there like it was weightless he stared to the distance. Claudia had readied a powerful arrow, as much as he would like her to use it he replied softly 'We don't know what we're up against' and at that precise moment a meteor crashed down just feet from the two of them. In a flurry of flames that barely touched them, luckily, Scarred and weathermancer's, hunters and rogues alike were thrown away. As the flames began to die out he then said 'For now, we preserve our power' and then he pulled down his blade to his side, 'but first, we're finding the source of that disaster'.

With a plan set out, the two began slicing their way through their enemies once again, Claudia was exceptionally good at close combat even with arrows. Better yet, to make things better the Circle began using their true ability, the power that was rumoured to have destroyed one of their own cities when its leader corrupted everyone within it. There was a moaning ache from the ground, as the two shadowmancers stopped in their tracks, a great, thick vine the width of a buss raised from the ground and flung enemies into the air. It was hard to think such a giant vine must have been growing under the ground for all these years. It gave way for the two of them to quickly get to the source of power in the flames nearby. However, their theories would probably be proven or disproved before they even got there, a giant, feminine, seductive voice roared through the skies.

"Rise my children! Don't let the mortals stop us! Maidens of Lust take their men!" and after a brief pause the voice came back as if speaking more directly to the war taking place, to the defenders. "Dare to withstand my Harbingers of Anguish, mortals! Tonight the legions of Torment will retake what is theirs and the burning Hells will once again reign supreme!", the lustful and angry voice finished with a maniacal guffaw. It was obviously coming from where the two shadowmancers were going!

Nuro couldn't help but remark with Claudia's last comment, with a blank expression, if only she could see it, he replied with 'some could agree'. Immediately after he dashed forwards almost like he was trying to avoid any passive agression coming his way as a consequence of his remark. Hopefully she wouldn't stay mad for too long.

As they came to a clearing, the great, menacing storm above them were nothing but flaming clouds glowing red with torment. Downwards from the flowing clouds cried and angry beam of solid fire. From its foot, climbed demons with horns, hordes of them walking on all fours, half the amount of them standing with staffs of fire, cursing the dead with renewed life. Flying from the center of the pillar of flame came succubi, tails like whips and lips like ecstasy.

And by the front of the madness stood one lady in particular, her physique was beautiful, it would make almost any man turn to lust for her body. She was obviously battle-ready too, with handles for blades pertruding from every crevice of her armour like spidery arms. Then, the woman laughed evilly with a sly expression, she didn't even appear to use her eyes, her armour covered everything but her seductive lips. And in one hand, she held a flaming jewel.

Funnily enough, Nyru appeared not to take any kind of admiration for the woman's body, he merely stopped in place and sighed 'uh' as if startled. 'Wha-what's that?!' talking about the jewel that seemed to emit immense power.

"Come to play, darlings?" the lady asked. "Welcome to the land of the Tormented! Valial will once again know what torment can bring to mortals!"

Torment? That's all this woman seemed to talk about, and she spoke of Valial... a cursed name that no one speaks of. Not everyone knows of the names of the demons of hell but Nyru had a personal interest. 'Wait! Claudia, No!' he flung his arm out to grab her but he was too late, once he had pulled her arm down almost in an embrace between the two of them arrows were firing across the dry land.

The arrows sung through the air like an angelic hum that would normally threaten the likes of the Maiden of Torment. Nyru then continued to speak through his helmet, concerned for them both, 'Claudia, we have to take the defensive until we get a plan! I have reason to believe we're fighting a Lord of Hell... a god' he meant god as a means of describing her power. At that precise moment En'radial heard the song of the arrows and as she turned to face them they turned to ashes.

No mortal or mundane skills will work on this seductress. Her armies seemed to continue past the two shadowmancers, she probably thought she could handle them both herself. But, will that be the demon's downfall? En'radial, Maiden of Torment then pulled out two blades to her sides.

Claudia did have a point, they were the best of the best, Casters... the title they earned from graduating Ravencrest, they were the last line of defence, the ultimate, single warriors. With a step beside her Nyru almost grumbled as he said "We have to protect this world" as he tightened his grip on his blade.

Then the demon spoke again, right to them. "Let me see, what do you fear most, no need to tell me for i'll find out. Inner torment... emotional pain and anguish. You will soon realise what maggots you are!". She proceeded to attack the floor before her letting loose several fiery blades that rushed for the shadowmancers! Dashing away from it they avoided being hurt, and Nyru decided he would make the next attack. Retaliating with waves of his own just like En'radials, except these were black with darkness instead of fiery with anguish.

En'radial became enraged with the sudden enclosure around herself by the two heroes. Not in a long time have there been people that would so hapilly confront a demon... not since the Jewel war when Injustira forged the Order of Injustira. And these... these two used powers from the Underworld, a perfect match against that of the realm of Hell. 'Enough!' she moaned as she threw up her many blades, perhaps a dozen into the sky as they shot intot eh ground and let loose a fiery explosion. "You mortals care so little for your own lives!" she then retorted!

"Let me show you what a true demon looks like!" and then... the ground shook, her blades glowed red as fire engulfed her feminine physique, her beauty shifting into something that was more disheveled and disgusting. She grew spidery legs and extra arms, she was a mirror image of what she was when she once had her true power without the damned Crimson Jewel. The jewel itself was now embedded in her skull. With the transformation finished she reflected whatever was coming at her and let out another burst of fire.

Focusing in on Nyru she then found what caused him inner agony. "Suffer the mental trauma of never being accepted' she guffawed, finally finding what truly frightens him and causes him emotional torture. "You will never find love, see it?' she shouted, trying to volley some flaming balls at Claudia with her spare arms, her others readying a spell for Nyru. "Do you not understand, look at yourself, hiding such a secret from everyone, even your supposed partner in crime! Your family will suffer and it will all be because of you!" and with that she flung a red aura at Nyru who instantly grabbed his head and fell to his knees. With a great roar he clasped tight around his helm.

He was suffering, she had showed him what truly made him emotionally unstable, what made him worry, fear and hate. She made him hate himself. Nyru... was suffering Torment.

((feel free to attack her again now hehe))