Welcome to Gaia! ::

Teufel looks around, before finally spotting the human. A brief flicker of anger came across her features, as if she had smelled something foul. In truth, it wasn't a scent, but a sense. There was something about this human that she felt herself drawn to destroy. Whatever it was, she wanted to rend it into tiny pieces, and burn those pieces to ash. Then mix that ash with salt and sow it over a battlefield. Whatever this oddity was, she loathed it.

Even if she hadn't already been expecting a fight, she would have wanted to battle this human. She wasn't sure of the reason, and that troubled her. But not enough to stop herself. She pulled her scythe off of her back and sank into a ready position. It was all she could do to not simply charge this human and lay into them. But she was better than that, she wouldn't be pulled into a berserk state and lose control of her faculties.

"Ware, human. Your death waits on the blade of my scythe. Withdraw and you might see another sunrise. Though I am loathe to allow one who possesses such a foul taint to go forth into the world, I will not begrudge you a coward's option."

She shifted her scythe to a one-handed grip and tucked the flag away in a pocket, ripping it off of it's pole with a flick of her wrist. She was still in her partially Demonic form, furred goat legs ending in cloven hooves, and a pair of sharp horns curling back from her brow. Her eyes glowed faintly red, even as she met her foe's gaze. She hadn't lied, she would let them go if they wished. If they didn't, then she would do everything in her power to utterly destroy them. That was simply how it had to be.

She knew that she might be attacked at any moment. Just because she had proclaimed her own intentions, she didn't expect the same from her opponent. That was why she had chosen her location very carefully. She was in the center of the clearing, there was plenty of room to swing her scythe. But the trees of the forest were only a brief moment away, if she felt the need to duck into the woods during their upcoming battle.

(68,800/74,000)

Teufel let a portion of the irritation and hatred she felt show on her face. So this human knew what she was, then. If that was the case, she could hardly afford to simply let them go. She had originally offered mercy, but her plans had changed. Now she would have to break them. Her frown deepened when she felt the earth shift underfoot. It hadn't been from natural forces, she knew that much. But what caught her attention and solidified her will to destroy were the white wings that burst from her foe's back. So they were one of the Angels, that explained her fierce hatred, even without knowing what they had been. They were natural enemies, neither could allow the other to live.

As if to prove her thought, Bismark had already attacked. It had started simply enough, with a crack in the earth forming and bits of stone and gravel launching out like shrapnel from the force of the sudden wind he had called forth. He was manipulating the elements, the land and air. A fearsome power, but she held fearsome power as well. And now it was time to find out which of the two were more skilled.

She could have simply weathered the assault; stood her ground and waited for it to finish before she attacked. But that would be surrendering the initiative to her opponent. Instead she let her own energy rise up. To someone as pure as an Angel-touched, her energy would seem horribly foul and tainted, an affront to everything it held dear. Could it keep a calm head on it's shoulders, or would that head be removed by her scythe?

She let her energy build up still more, before she released it in a sudden burst. It would have an almost instantaneous effect on their surroundings. The grass would wither, the trees' leaves would fall. The sky would begin to darken, and the wind would taste like soot and blood. Bit by bit, she was transforming their arena into a field fit for a Demon. Even if the Angel had yet to take a single wound, she was already dragging them into Hell. Or if not that, then at the least, she was dragging Hell to them. And at the same time, the burst of energy deflected the shrapnel of Bismark's attack, knocking the bits of stone away from her and splitting the wind into two, the gusts passing to either side of her.

But she wasn't done. The crack that Bismark had formed began to bubble with foul-smelling much, sulfur yellow, bubbling and boiling. Thick mud that spewed up, and began to slowly encroach upon the already tainted landscape. Soon it would cover the entire arena, save for the already stunted trees which ringed their field of battle. She pointed her scythe toward the winged foe that stood before her, and allowed a manic, feral grin to come across her face, even as her body began to warp. Spikes erupted from her shoulders and leathery skin spread over her arms and torso. Her eyes, now fully red, met Bismark's glowing orbs, and all that was shown in her gaze was one word. The Frenzy. "Come, then, Angel. Come and find yourself amongst the Fallen, pulled from the light, kicking and screaming."

(67,800/74,000
(Area is Unhallowed, Chakra corruption will begin in two posts.)

Teufel felt the ground shift even more fiercely than before, was another fissure going to open? The answer was revealed as she watched the trees seem to shrink a moment later. Only when she felt the slight wind of passing did she realize they were actually being lifted up, the entire area upon which they were standing was literally scooped up, like it was nestled in the hands of a giant. An impressive ability, and her opponent had barely seemed aware of it.

He tried to purify the corruption she had wrought, but it was no use. She had claimed this land, rendered it Unhallowed. Life simply couldn't come back to such a desolate landscape. All that Bismark's light did was make the land's pain more apparent. Shining a spotlight on it's gaping wounds. He had better luck combating the muck from the Swamp of the Underworld technique, however. It hadn't been fueled by such dark energies as her own abilities, and as such it was vulnerable to such things. All the same, she felt that Bismark had yet to show his true powers, if this was all that he was able to put forth.

"You are one to talk, Touched-by-light. Why does your kind even exist? The humans have made their choice, they prefer my world." This was true. Humans had long since settled into only paying lip service to the gods, nothing more. Behind closed doors, they were every bit as foul as Demons. They had forsaken the Angels and the End of Days. Why would an Angel even need to exist anymore? It was only right that she should purge this creature from the world, put it out of it's misery.

She rushed forward, splashing through the ankle-deep water and lingering traces of muck, readying her scythe. It was time that this fight became personal, before Bismark had time to discover the true threat of her strength. He was superficial, like all the other Angels. They saw what they wanted to, and that was why they had become so few in number. They possessed a fatal flaw, one she saw no reason not to take advantage of.

(67,700/75,000
(Area is still Unhallowed, Chakra Corruption will begin in one post.)

Teufel frowned as she felt the orb of light manifest. Even before seeing it, she had felt it, like a wound on the edges of her perception. It was giving off a radiant white light that was banishing all that she had wrought. The water was already cleaned, but now the plant life was growing back lusher than ever, fresh sprouts and leaves blossoming in a flurry, the heady scent of thousands of flowers bursting into bloom in an instant. It was uncomfortable, like a sore tooth or a splinter.

Even without investigating the orb- and she didn't want anything to do with it!- she knew that it was connected to the change. It was obvious, the light it was casting off was somehow purifying the Unhallowed land she had claimed. The force she could feel behind the light was strong, insistent, implacable. She wouldn't be able to shrug off its effects. But it was not her opponent, the Angel was. And he was seemingly preparing for a more direct battle. Angels. Always to the point, in such a hurry. They missed so much in their zeal. After all, the devil was in the details...

"So you plan to take this land back, even though the humans reject your kind. As foolish as ever. Let me lift the scales from your eyes." Teufel threw her free hand out to the side in an expansive gesture, designed to draw the eye. At the same time, a clamor grew from the dense foliage as a flock of birds burst out, flapping up and away. But not just any bird, these seemed twisted, misshapen abominations. Their feathers were limp and ragged, exposed grey skin hung thin over skeletal frames. Their beaks and claws almost seemed to be coated in ash or soot, like they had perched on a fire-baked wasteland. Their eyes were still beady black, staring soullessly at everything. The small flock flew directly for the large orb of light, their ragged wings still somehow keeping them aloft. These were the birds that had been victimized when Teufel had Unhallowed the area, the children of the earth that had escaped the Angel's notice. So concerned with the land, he had ignored its inhabitants.

But she wasn't done there. She let a slow smile come across her face as she relaxed her posture. She met his gaze coolly, one eye glowing red in intense scrutiny, while the other seemed to glow a sickly yellow. In an almost conversational tone, she spoke once more, all the while keeping an eye on the bow and arrow of light that her opponent had drawn forth from a scroll. "They say that the devil's arms are best suited to fighting the devil's works. Let us see if the opposite is true." With that, she seemed to shift, transforming in an instant into an exact duplicate of Bismark himself. Complete down to the smallest detail, the same glowing white eyes, the same three pairs of pristine wings, the same bow and nocked arrow ready to let loose in an instant. She waited then, ready to move, to try to dodge if the real Bismark tried to fire first.

5000/80,000
(Area is no longer Unhallowed, but a further 1000 of Fel Chakra is dispersed. Bismark would now begin absorbing Fel Chakra each post, at the same rate.)

"And that is what heaven is, then? No suffering? What peace can you feel without suffering? What joy can you know without sorrow? You offer nothing but a vast expanse of nothing, of endless lies and eternal stagnation. And you think that the humans would willingly choose this? You're foolish as well as blind!" But despite how Teufel's voice rang out, the copy of Bismark had only moved its lips when the real Bismark spoke. And even as the real Bismark raised his hand toward the copy, the copy did the same. But at the same time, the copy seemed to spin slightly, until his hand was pointing off to the left. Even so, the copy seemed to be performing the same skill that the real Bismark was doing, pulling forth a dank black mist from the direction of his outstretched hand. The copy even managed to shift his bow into a set of scales, seemingly mimicking the real Bismark's actions down to the smallest detail. The mist coalesced into a small bead, which was set in one scale of the balance, matched by a feather from the copy's wing.

Teufel had felt the insistent tugging as something integral to herself had started to be pulled from her. The very instant she felt it, she felt the cold finger of death run down her spine, and she had known just how much danger she was in. Even without knowing exactly what was happening, she had recognized it as a threat, far more than any other action Bismark had taken up until this point. That was why she had had to act, even though it meant jeopardizing all of her progress. Already, she felt herself feeling drained somehow, by that orb of light most likely. But destroying it would be more difficult than she had expected, the birds' sacrifice had proven that much. Still, she could hardly give up, not with her natural enemy standing before her!
--
A moment later, the scales would seem to find their balance. As expected, the small black bead weighed more than the feather. An instant later, the sound of crackling flames bursting into life could be heard. But the copy of Bismark seemed singularly unaffected, no flames were evident on his raiments, no smoke arose from his frame. Even so, the sound of crackling flames could be heard, for surely something had happened as a result of the twin scales moving in unison. Teufel could even feel the heat that came from the flames, and knew that they were no ordinary fire. "Bah, Celestial fire? Dare to try to reforge me in God's own furnace, sun-touched?" She scowled, even such a close call was far more dangerous than she would have liked, if those flames had actually burned her...

4,999/80,000
(Area is still not Unhallowed, but Bismark would still absorb another 1000 Fel Chakra.)

Just as it had done with everything else up until this point, the apparent copy of Bismark continued to mimic every action of the original. Reaching up to pluck the string of the bow, which had reappeared in lieu of the balance, it formed an arrow of light. Holding the slender shaft of light in his hand, he plunged it into his leg without hesitation. Though he gave no voice to the pain, it certainly seemed to affect him just as strong as it had affected the other Bismark. Yet that was all that it did, it didn't peel away an illusion to reveal a wounded Teufel, nor did it purify her own Fel Chakra by any discernible amount. All in all, it seemed to have had precisely the same effect as on the real Bismark.

Teufel let a slow smile come across her face, as she witnessed Bismark's predicament. He had yet to understand just what had happened, and as long as that held true, then she held the advantage in this fight. His purifying techniques were annoying and bordering on the edge of painful, but if she could just withstand their effects for a little longer, then perhaps the opportunity to overcome the wretched Host would come. She could already tell that simply trying to corrupt this foe would be an arduous task, better to lure them into lowering their guard, and strike from the shadows. Far from honorable. But she was a Demon, what did he expect? She kept her attention on the angel, ready to continue doing her part toward maintaining the deception that was currently working rather effectively. Already, she could tell that the angelic spirit possessing the boy had exerted itself by a solid margin; she could almost feel it's irritation that it hadn't overpowered her already. Humans thought it was Demons who were arrogant; how wrong they were! It was the Demons who best understood humans, who knew how to appeal to their true desires, who knew the secrets of their hearts. The Angelic Host were so wound up in their own radiance that they barely perceived humans at all, as anything other than the sad, flawed beings who had rejected the gift of the End of Days at the birth of Creation. Oh she knew the purported history, many Demons did. But did the Angels deign to know anything of their ancient foe's history? Doubtful, and that was why they would lose.

Rasengan - 1500

3,498/80,000
(Area is still not Unhallowed, but Bismark would still absorb another 1000 Fel Chakra, barring however much his light arrow would purify.)