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Torment stepped out into the light, and the crowd went absolutely nuts. Where he usually had a blazing set of wings at the start of the fight, he had none for this wizzard's duel. A staff half his height with a semicircle on the upper portion made entirely of what seemed to be blue flame given solid form was held tightly in his left hand and an ice blue trident just large enough to fit in one's hand was hanging from a loop on his belt.

His attire was the norm, and as he began a slow pace towards the center his eyes flashed and a hand raised to the crowd, thrusting the Fist of Forgotten Sin into the air, causing another roar of cheers from the crowd. Of the five pyramidal diamonds on the semicircle the second began to glow a brilliant blue as a specific type of counterspell began to blaze within the artifact, amplified by the focus it was receiving by the Fist, its primary purpose.

Magical energies seemed to leap up around Torment as he dashed forward, sending both arms out wide. His opponents were still quite some distance away, which was to his benefit, seeing as most spells would need time to traverse the distance. With a few arcane syllables he slammed his fists together, the FoFS blazing with grey light as a volley of ten missiles blasted outwards. It was the most basic spell in the book, Magic Missile. Knowing Torment, however, the simple spell had been twisted and contorted beyond all reason, infused with dark magic to consume spell energies and split in order to produce a second casting, the FoFS providing a burst of magical energies in order to quicken the casting beyond hope of a direct counterspell.

The glow seemed to fade from the second pyramidal diamond on the FoFS and pass to a ruby on one side of the short staff that began to flare with a blue light, making it seem purple. Slowly the pyramid began to take on another glow, shifting between many shades of blue at once. Torment, meanwhile, was not at all happy as a clam, noting his first volley simply absorb into the shield and pass from existance. In his hands a swirling orb of pure magical force gathered as he continued to close on his opponent. The force exploded over him in the form of an Armor of the Archmagi.

((A note to the readers. All spells are to be noted as attempts, and Mage Duels are interupt style. Some spells have quickened states allowing them to bypass counterspelling unless one is ready at hand, but otherwise are attempts that can be responded to before completion, cutting the post relating to that short. If there are more sections to the post, those may or may not be nixxed based on wording.))

The second counterspell fell away and reformed in a ruby on the opposite side of the staff, and still Torment ran. His left arm raised to act as a shield in the storm, the right coming forward with the index finger raised, slowly spinning just below eye level. With a last shout of an arcane syllable associated with illusions Torment seemed to warp and distort, splitting into twelve Magi all darting directly for Errtu. Each deflected sands, touched the ground, and even gave off the scent of the illusionary master. In all ways but Arcane might and intelligence, they were the real Torment.

((Pfft, bite me sir ^_^))

Torment's advance slowed to a crawl, and finally a dead stop. The sands struck each of the twelve the same, and slowed them just the same. As noted, they seemed to be the real deal in all respects, and unless some anti-illusionary or dispelling magic was applied, it would stay that way

Each of the Magi that stood within the onslaught brought their arms up in unison to cross above their heads, screaming out arcane syllables as the FoFS of each blazed with light and flames errupted from their back. Two of the Images pulsed for a moment and passed from existance, consumed to help fuel the spell. Arcane might flowed through each of them, rising up and erupting in a blast of hurricane force winds charged with weak electrical currents and dark magic as each thrust their arms out wide as if such a motion created the winds. Not only would the sands be blown away, to an extent where such a tactic would be difficult to recreate, but the dragons would have a hard time doing much but fleeing.

The winds continued to rage around Torment, doing little but creating a nice wind wall against incoming fliers and nonmagical projectiles, the latter of which were banned anyhow, so it mattered little. Being the Archmage that he was, Torment could identify the most basic types of spells, if not exact spells as they were. Beyond this, spells to dispell other magic were unique in their own right, and this, of course, could not be allowed. Each of the Torments thrust their FoFS forward and a pulse of blue light passed outward, focusing on the incoming chain and unraveling it as it passed back, coming apart at the seams all the way back to Errtu.

While the left arm was thrust forward to unleash one of the two counterpsells held within the Fists arcane energies began to gather around the right hands as ancient syllables were uttered from the Archmagi's lips. Even as the blue light began to fade from the Ruby in which the counterspell was contained the second pyramidal diamond began to glow once more. The spout of flames from Torments' backs seemed to be diminishing with each spell cast.

As Errtu attempted to divine which Torment was the genuine article, he would find his attempts in vain, they had all been giving similar auras as Torment, though a few did seem weaker than the rest. Unknown to Errtu, one of these weaker ones was actually Torment.

The Torments continue chanting their spell and unleash a tidal wave of transparent energy. Half way to Errtu it will seem to fail, sputtering out for a moment before continuing towards him, though all the power seemed drained away, in an attempt to wash over him and the dragon whelp, though no immediate effects would be felt. In reality, however, it would slowly transmute Errtu's aura so that any spells affecting himself, such as a shield, potion, or other likewise enhancement, would either begin to fail, or create a reciprocal feedback loop to damage the mage.