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And Ryugi would simply stand there as Giff floated about, Ragnarok at his shoulder. And as Griff dove towards him, he would simply move off to his right side, turning a bit as the birdman whizzed past him, punch missing.

Ryugi's hand was still in the handle of his blade, his eyes watching intently, an turn of charge moving into him...

Amidst the endless expanse of the Tree of Life, as it continues infinately above, and infinately below, another limb grew.

Upon this limb, which was over one hundred feet wide, there was a patch of earth cradled within the tree's grasp. Upon it was errected a cathedral and courtyard, and this was the newest stage of destiny.

(( And after Gaia killed me for a sec there. ^^; ))


The moment that Vahn passed the first pew, the deafening silence within the cathedral would be shattered by something other than his own heavy footfalls. From the rear of the cathedral, the sound of the church organ playing started; echoing off of the tall walls of the cavernous room, and stirring the pidgeons that nested upon the roof from their roosts in a flurry of motion.



The words echoed as well, above the sound of the organ. In the back, beside the altar, a man in a black cloak sat in front of the massive instrument playing.

The song played out for another few moments, trailing off as it reached its end...

The man stood, stepping to the side and around the dais at the head of the cathedral so that he stood opposite Vahn in the center aisle. He raised his left hand in front of him, and slid his right foot back upon the ground. There were no games, both of them were here for a reason.



The words, as well as a sharp snap of the fingers on his right hand, echoed as well in the silence. The organ began to play once again, under the influence of a small spell.

A tall male red headed angel wearing golden armour appeared for the first time in thosands of years on solid ground and the last place he ever thought he would see again was this place.
"Youngster, it seems that your the type that doesn't have much good luck, for I am the greatest Angelan Swordmaster that has ever lived, but you may address as Lord Ira. What is your name child?" he said.

((I have to go I can't continue right now..But later..))

The cloaked man grinned from beneath the black hood, the orange glow of the lighter illuminating the lower half of his face.




His left hand was raised in front of him, and it raised a little more when Vahn's knee strike came in. The forearm tilted to the side slightly, so that the metal sheets on the back of the arm bracer would serve to catch the underside of the knee when it came down. At the same time, the right hand came up from his side, to catch the wrist of the left hand to add support, while the weight of both fighters was now almost entirely upon the cloaked man's right leg.

Joshua shoved upwards as hard as he could with that left forearm; using both the strength of his left leg, which was beneath them both, and his right arm, which was adding strength to the left. This was not an attack of any sort, but a way of 'shoving' Vahn off from where his knee had come to rest upon the forearm.

With the slight difference in height, Vahn's flaming hand would strike a few inches higher than he had intended. The heel of the hand would skim across the top of Joshua's forehead, knocking back the hood of the cloak that had covered the man's face, and singing the hair at the top of his head. The flames left a small black burn at the top of Joshua's forehead, just below the hairline; they would have done much worse, had he not possessed a small resistance to heat damage due to the extreme environmental conditions in his homeland.


So it would be. The strike put a bit of force between them, combined with the upward thrust of Joshua's left forearm, and it was enough to push Joshua's weight back onto his right leg, even while Vahn was thrown a few feet back from the shove upon his knee.



The man moved back to his stance, holding his left arm in front of him with the forearm raised, with the right hand held down beside his right hip. Left leg forwards, right leg back, with his left shoulder pointed towards the opponent.



This time the words did not have time to echo, as Joshua would press forwards, taking quick, shuffling side-steps to close the gap between himself and the Vahn that would have landed a moment before.