Welcome to Gaia! ::

From a dark corner of the temple steps forth a single man. Ashen grey locks cascade down to obscure his violet eyes, doing little to hide the two pristine balls of feathers and fluff that protrude from his skull. Wings of violet wreathed in azure flame span behind him to a total wingspan variable between five feet and what could possibly be infinity.

The depiction of a phoenix in tears is mirrored both upon the back of his loose fitting grey shirt and upon the tatoo on his back, the flames thereof almost moving as the tears seem to actually flow. Within his cargo pants a series of magical components he no longer truly needs are on hand, along with a few special pieces of equipment he saw fit to bring along, notably two travel sized grenades from his Aegis days.

Several components about his body seemed rather...unique. Floating about his head a series of planes of magical force deflect light and energy, almost as if they are intended to block not only physical assault, but mental assault as well. The strand of azure orbs floating about his neck glow with an unearthly power, a powerful aura of arcane magic hanging about them. A similar aura hangs about the chain wrapping about his arm and hand, the azure tint following the same line as the end of the chain flicks about his upturned palm, a metallic feather with jagged edges. The last two components that seem out of place are the pinpoint of bright blue light which flits around him randomly and the cerulean glow about his boots that seems to bounce about out of sync with his own boots.

The ashen haired man stared across the temple to his opponent, saying only one thing, "I do hope you're prepared to suffer on the receiving end of my fearsome magical spells." It was as if he was trying to hard to be cocky and arrogant for a mage, the way he mentioned his magical means of penning berks into the deadbook just slightly old fashioned and...wrong. Despite this, he raised a hand and fired off five globes of magical energy, single shot orbs that travelled in a straight line and exploded on impact. These too had something off about them, as if he was masking their true intent. The flames about his wings were quickly growing white hot, though they did not actually give off heat. His aura seemed to be expanding by leaps and bounds every moment, a powerful pulsating thing that blinded otherworldly senses.

The orbs of magical force seem to slide past the blade, reacting slower than theu usually would otherwise, but are still deflected to do no harm to Dante. Their detonation seems almost lackluster, as if they had carried no true power and the man was simply blowing smoke. The man began to growl as he apparently had not only failed to kill his opponent, but had lost track of him as well. He called out, "You can't hide from my infinite power! I control all the demons of all the underworlds!" He threw his arms up and scavengers began crawling on all fours across the ground, small demons stepping from the shadows with large blades, and draconic figures wreathed in cool black flame falling from above. Had he summoned an army? Meanwhile, the pulse of his aura continued to grow, streams of white evaporating off of his massive wings to make a thin cloud around him.

The demons and scavengers began advancing on the pillars that supported the roof, having seen where the ninja had gone as they had been summoned everywhere. As they began to climb the massive aura of the mage continued to grow in strength as he threw his arms around wildly. He called out, "MY MINIONS WILL CONSUME YOU!" Two dragons suddenly appeared, filling much of the lower reaches of the temple and crushing several summoned allies. Each of them seems to begin drawing in air for a massive breath weapon attack.

((Summoning issue addressed via PM to both Tenma and Vintrict, for any that read this fight.))

The pure black orbs would fall to the ground amongsts all of the summoned minions, most of them not even noticing the objects in the slightest. The scavengers would notice, and would move to stare at them, even weakly paw at them. Those dropped near the mage would sadly detonate much further from him than a yard, perhaps even before the left Dante's person. The pulsing aura had been growing by leaps and bounds, and the evaporating cloud growing from the wings was merely a visual manifestation of the extreme presense near the mage. However, should they slip within range to do any harm they would find themselves knocked away by a shaft of white light, whereby they would simply explode instead of be deflected. The shaft seemed to come from nowhere, the mage's features blurring to the point of leaving behind the image of a mage in his rapid movements. The two massive dragons continued to draw in breath for their devestating assault.

The lower level summons simply pop in a spray of gore that evaporates before it can truly hit anything and be left behind. The two dragons are interrupted in their assault, white flame leaping into the air as they cry out in pain, though they remain. Blood pools around them with white sparks running across the surface, the elemental energies locked within crying to be released. As the orbs neared the mage he threw his hands up, "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" The dragons seemed to pour their entire being out through their chests, deflating and stretching out towards he mage. A great white barrier was erected around him, stopping the orbs dead in their tracks and crushing them into oblivion. All the while the pulsating aura continued its growth, the overwhelming sense of vitality surging outward from his form. Hidden within his shell of white light he unleashed five streams of the same white light into projectiles that would circle out from his body, hanging in the air around him.

The mage's face seemed to blur as he threw his hands up, the sphere around him condensing into a single point of light between his palms. With a yell he called out, "KAAAAAAMEEEEHAAAAMEEEE-----HAAAAA!!!" What in the name of unholy ******** was that? The light lanced towards Dante's general direction, apparently incinerating much of the temple as five strands of light curl around the outside of the beam, following its path. In reality the temple was not being destroyed, but it was a grand illusion to make it appear those parts that were now being damaged had been destroyed. Just how much had been an illusion thus far, and what else would be an illusion in the moments to come?