The Uzumaki kin-slayer loomed over Rossweisse as she cradled Ruto in her arms. She had to move, escape and get back to Ruto's house. Her eyes widened as the glow of the immense and complex magic circles at the killer Magician's back glowed even more intensely, a violet light illuminating the night. The man's eyes danced with amusement as he watched fear and hopelessness overcome the Valkyrie. He began walking towards her, and Rossweisse knew she had to get out of there immediately. She used all of her willpower to stand with Ruto in her arms and spread her wings. The man raised an eyebrow and smirked. He wasn't going to let her get away so easily now was he? She took off as fast as she could, pushing herself to the limit to even have a chance of getting away.
"So you're gonna run? Alright then." Apparently he was. "But take some of these with you." Okay maybe not. Purple magical orbs surged at Rossweisse and Ruto in a salvo of arcane devastation, some of them hit trees and some hit the ground causing huge explosions with raging fire-storms in their wake. Others relentlessly pursued Rossweisse, their sole intent was her destruction. She went to a wooded area where she hoped to lose the destructive orbs, only to be followed still. However, the woods served her purpose as many of them were stopped dead by the trees, resulting in an intense inferno of magical fire as a series of deafening detonations erupted from the woodland. She looked down at Ruto to check over him. He was still unconscious and bleeding profusely. There was some hope though, the wound was not as big as it was a few minutes ago, so it was healing and remarkably quickly too. She looked back up to stay on course, knowing at least three of those orbs were still following her.
Just who the hell is this guy? Rossweisse thought. He called Ruto "brother", but there's no way. Right? she shook her head to stave off the distraction. I have to get Ruto back home. That's the only place he'll be able to recover safely. She was suddenly broken from her thoughts when she saw the Magician flying below her with his back to the ground. He had a smug grin on his face as he looked up at her. She immediately noted that he was frighteningly fast and was hardly breaking a sweat keeping up with her. Her sense of urgency to get as far away from him as possible spiked sharply and adrenaline surged through her veins.
A question that gnawed at her was how was he able to get the drop on them so easily. Her senses were sharp, and she knew Ruto could sense varying types and magnitudes of magic from a mile away, so how? Was he some kind of Magician that went beyond what she understood them to be? Or something more? At that time though, all that she was concerned about was getting away from him and keep Ruto safe. She would take blows for him if it really came down to it, she promised that much.
"Hey." The man greeted easily. Rossweisse snapped her attention to him, her eyes watching for any sudden movements. "You good up there?" he asked with amusement. "You know you're carrying some dead weight, right? I can lighten the load if you want. I mean, it looks like he's slowing you down." The Valkyrie ignored him and focused on separating her attention between finding a way of losing him, and making sure he made no sudden attacks. With how close he was, she knew another attack like those homing-orbs would be nigh unavoidable. "Uh, rude." he said flatly. He was still ignored. With a scowl, he rapidly approached Rossweisse who was startled by the sudden action. "I'm talking to you!" he growled as he spun around her until he was above, and smashed his elbow dead centre into her back.
The air was knocked out of her along with a strangled scream. Pain surged along her spine and throughout her chest as she was violently knocked spiralling straight out of the air on a collision course with the ground. Her arms still gripped Ruto tightly as she managed to turn herself around in the air to make sure she landed on her back. Her landing was painful and not at all smooth as she bounced and skidded along the ground, becoming smeared with dirt and grime, her dress being torn and dirtied, and she held on to Ruto for dear life. She came to a stop near a path which was not to far from the exit of the park. She winced and slowly looked up to see the street lights up ahead. Hope suddenly blossomed in her chest as she made the effort to stand. However, she was harshly and quickly pressed against the ground by the Magician, who stood over her triumphantly, a sick look of smugness on his face.
Rossweisse quickly looked around, frantically searching the surrounding area for Ruto, who had rolled away from her on impact with the ground. She couldn't let the bastard get to him, not while he was injured. If she couldn't get to him first, he would most certainly be killed. It was clear the man's intent was kill Ruto and be done with it. The man took note of the way she was so desperately looking around and smirked wider.
"Looking for my little brother, eh? Don't worry." he pressed his foot harder into Rossweisse's back. "I'll tend to him. He'll be fine. Maybe. Probably. Nah he won't be." He took his foot off of her and violently kicked her in the ribs, making her roll over and hunch over in agony. "I'm gonna kill him, you know." he said. "But you're probably wondering why, right?" he strode over to his unconscious younger brother and hoisted him up by his hair. His legs were limp on the ground and his arms hung down loosely. "You're wondering why I'd kill him. After all we're brothers, aren't we?" he then viciously threw his arm up over his head and smashed Ruto into the ground and stomped on the side of his head, grinding his heel into his head.
The Valkyrie eyed him fiercely, the fires of hatred raging in her sapphire blue eyes. She couldn't let him do any more damage. She couldn't afford to let Ruto die. She wouldn't stand to see someone like him go out face down in the dirt without putting up a fight. "Don't you touch him you bastard!" she ground out as she struggled to lift herself from the ground. The man looked at her and merely chuckled. He stomped on Ruto again, and again and again, over and over until he gave one last kick to his head which snapped his head back and rolled him onto his back.
"I didn't see you trying to stop me there. You sure you like him as much as you seem to? Cos it looks to me you're not too bothered about it going by your actions." he taunted. Hopelessness began to seep into her very being. They'd been caught unaware, Ruto was near death, and she was powerless to act. She couldn't fathom just how powerful he was if just a single elbow strike was so devastatingly debilitating. The man walked casually towards Rossweisse and looked down at her.
"I feel I should introduce myself, and don't worry, I'll get back to monologuing in a minute." he did an overly dramatic bow and looked craned his neck up from his bowed position. "I, am the one and only Uzumaki Yato, head of the Uzumaki Magician House and Lord of the World Spire." he cast a disdainful glance at his bloodied younger brother, then turned back to Rossweisse. "I see you're well acquainted with Ruto. How did that happen I wonder? How on Earth did a weak, spindly little shit like him end up with one such as yourself?" he spat scornfully. He then settled back into his taunting grin. "He using your nudes as blackmail to date him maybe? He slide into your DMs?" he cackled cruelly at her expense.
Rossweisse had never hated anyone so quickly or so intensely. She wanted nothing more than to pick him a part and make him scream. Had she the power to, she'd cave his skull in without a second thought. Thoughts of brutal murder and sadistic, gleeful torture stormed through her mind like a bloody maelstrom. She realised that she'd never thought like that before, and with such palpable desire either. This did not go unnoticed by Yato. His blue, serpentine eyes danced with delight at the expression on the girl's face.
"I should probably explain just a little about why I want him dead." he began, pacing around in front of her with his arms behind his back. "You see, I want power. Plain and simple. But he," the snake whipped around and pointed at his brother, "is an obstacle. A pretty big, annoying one too." he placed his arm at his back again. "My younger sister has already been dealt with, but he and that bitch Mito are all that remain of my family line. A family line I want gone." he scowled and kicked Ruto again.
"Mito, Teto and Ruto, all family, all a pain in my ass!" he stared at Rossweisse and paused in thought. "He did tell you about himself, didn't he? About the Uzumaki family?" he cackled and held a palm to his face. Rossweisse said nothing as she didn't want to dignify anything the serpent had to say.
"You wanna know what I'm gonna do once I'm done killing him? Go on, take a guess, come on." Rossweisse remained silent, glowering at him with unrelenting hatred. "Ugh, boring. I'll tell you." he smirked widely and pressed a foot to her throat. "I'm gonna use all of his little friends, you included, as a means of summoning the World Spire. Now you can't tell me you haven't heard of it. There's hardly anyone in any of the factions that doesn't fear the damn thing. But for now I'm just gonna—"
Rossweisse had never thought she'd be so happy to see someone wiped out by a motor bike, and she enjoyed it perhaps more than she should have. She was filled to the brim with relief as Rias, Akeno, Haru and the others came rushing towards herself and Ruto. Asia crouched next to Rossweisse and looked her over. However, she knew she was in far better condition and could wait for healing. There was a series of deafening explosions followed by a storm of blue flames from where Mito had ran Yato down.
Siris ran towards Rossweisse, nodded to Asia and bent down. She grabbed her by her arms and pulled her up, then slung the Valkyrie's right arm over her shoulders. A firm scowl was on her face as she surveyed the situation, and she decided that it was, in short, fucked. "What the hell happened here?" the Knight asked tersely. Rossweisse shook her head, shock finally setting in. Siris noticed her sudden withdrawal and decided not to press her, opting to get her away from the battle about to unfold.
"Asia, get to Ruto, please. If he doesn't get help, he's going to die." the Valkyrie said frantically. The ex-nun nodded quickly and moved to the downed White Emperor. His injuries were grave, she didn't even need to give him an extensive look over to see that. His hair and face on the right side were drenched with blood and dirt. The hole in his chest, while slowly healing, was still bleeding at an alarming rate. His breathing was shallow and his skin was becoming incredibly pale.
He doesn't look good at all. I need to act quickly. Asia thought as she willed Twilight Healing to activate. A green glow emanated from her hands, enveloping them with the healing energy. She set to work and held her hands over the gaping wound in Ruto's chest. She'd never thought she would see him in such a defeated state. Sure she'd seen him passed out after fights like after he defeated Ruval and helped Haru finish off Riser, but at least he won. But this time, it looked as though he hadn't stood a chance. He always seemed so strong and self assured, almost unbeatable. This just served as proof that despite how he seemed and how he conducted himself, no matter his power, he was still as human, and therefore fallible as any other human. She was suddenly startled when the man responsible came flying past her and into a small body of water a couple of hundred metres away.
The others looked towards the wall of flames and saw the dark silhouette of Mito step through the azure flames, eyes blazing a furious icy blue. It was like seeing a monster of nightmares. She strode forward and passed everyone, dead set on destroying the serpentine Magician. Rias watched her intently after ordering Akeno to create an illusory wall around the park. She could recognise when someone was beyond even her level of power, and Mito's magical aura was a good measure of that. Power rolled off the eldest Uzumaki in waves as wrath, hatred and the want to destroy permeated the air around her. It was there she decided that the Ruto family was indeed a scary one.
"Come out you piece of shit!" Mito bellowed, striking the water where Yato landed with a bolt of purple lightning. When nothing stirred besides the steam rising from the water, she leapt over to the pond-side and created a white magic circle around her hands. A bubble of highly pressurised air burst in the middle of the pond with a mighty sonic boom and blew all of the water out in all directions, leaving it empty with a small crater at the bottom.
He's not there. she thought with narrowed eyes. She then felt the air rush behind her and she was suddenly locked in place, chains of purple and white energy wrapped around her arms, torso and legs and went into the ground, anchoring her to the spot. Yato grinned at her with wide, psychotic eyes as he casually strode up to her.
"You know just looking at you still sickens me. Seriously I don't know if it's your face or just you as a whole, but you fucking disgust me." he taunted as he stopped just a metre from her. She sneered at him and struggled against her chains. "It's pretty funny actually. Here you are after… what? 8 years? And all you have to show me is how to fall into a trap? What are you, fucking stupid?" he cackled and crossed his arms. He had every intention of tearing her to shreds now that she was finally vulnerable. "Seems like all those muscles didn't do you much good."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You done?" Mito asked impatiently. "If you don't stop doing your cliché villain routine I will just break out of these chains." everyone could see her muscles expand and strain the magical chains. The crackling of energy filled the air and the chains snapped and dissipated. "See." she said nonchalantly. With the speed and lethality of a pit viper, she struck out and seized her brother by his face, her entire gloved hand wrapped around most of his head.
"Now, how about we change things up a little?" she said with sheer evil intent. She rapidly lifted him from the ground and pumped her mana into her right arm until it began crackling with arcs of electricity. Volt after agonising volt then coursed through Yato's body, making his body spasm violently. Mito then lifted him over her head and grabbed his robe at the torso and flung her arms downward with her right leg forward. He struggled intensely but her grip was like iron around his face. A sickening crack rung out as Mito ruthlessly snapped Yato's spine over her knee, and let him flop limply to the ground. She did it all with a very pleased smile on her face.
Yato hacked and coughed hoarsely as the breath had been knocked from him with the pain. He raised himself up on his forearms and began laughing, much to the confusion of everyone present. Mito only chuckled to herself and grabbed him by his blonde hair. The man still had it in him to cackle slightly despite what Mito had planned. She dragged him over to a tree near the pond and slammed his head against the tree several times before grinding his face into the bark.
"You thought I was done?" Mito asked evilly. She was far from done.
"Alright girls, you can come and help me out now!" Yato yelled. Nothing happened, leaving the others slightly confused. "Girls!" Suddenly, a loud clang of steel against steel rang out behind Mito as none other than Siris intercepted and deflected a gargantuan axe blade that was poised to cleave Mito in two.
"I know you're pissed, but stay focused." Siris said curtly before raising her blade at the attacker. The enemy opposite her stood with another girl at her side.
The axe wielder looked as if she was perpetually pissed off. She was short in stature, with short, fiery red hair and pale skin. Her hair was short with a long fringe that covered one of her green eyes as it was swept to the left. She wore a German Gothic breastplate with a plackart on the lower half. She wore steel pauldrons and a gorget on her neck. The only other protection was a pair of boots with steel sabatons and greaves, the rest of her legs left exposed with the exception of a short skirt. Her arms were covered up to the elbows in fingerless leather gauntlets.
"We heard you the first damn time you fucking loudmouth!" the fiery haired girl spat, vitriol saturating her tone. She rested her enormous axe on her right shoulder and placed her left hand on her hip. She grinned savagely at Siris.
"I'm pretty surprised you managed to parry that so quickly. Colour me impressed." she said cockily. Siris narrowed her dark eyes at the girl and increased her grip on her sword.
"I'm a Knight, and as well as our typically above average skills in weapon use, we excel in sheer speed." Siris explained. "So don't be too hard on yourself if you can't keep up with me." she taunted. The other girl's expression turned both furious and excited.
"Oh my. I was gonna let you off easy without a fight, but I can't rightly turn one down when challenged. Alright bitch, let's go!" the two seemingly vanished as their after-images vanished as the sounds of clashing steel broke the silence.
The girl who was behind her stepped out of the shadows. Upon first glance, one could tell she was the more reserved and refined of the two. She was similarly armoured, but opted for a full set of Gothic plate armour, somewhat slimmed down from a traditional set. She carried a backsword with an intricately crafted golden basket-hilt at her hip, in an equally intricate sheath.
She had lavender hair tied in a bun with plaits acting as the ties. Her expression was calm and collected, with eyes that one would assume were permanently closed.
"You'll have to forgive Kyoko. She's not one for social graces or discipline. In fact I could go into a tirade about it, but I feel as though it is not the time. So now, let's see..."
She swept her closed-eyed gaze across the group until it settled on Kiba. She gave a small hum of approval and placed her left hand on her sword's hilt.
"You are a swordsman, no? " she asked rhetorically. "My name is Octavia." she gave a polite bow. "I would like to test my steel against yours, if you would be so kind." Kiba drew his sword and bowed back.
"As your friend said, I won't refuse a challenge." he responded as he raised his blade. Octavia smiled widely and drew her sword, light danced along the true edge of the blade. Her closed eyes opened just enough that her pink irises could be seen.
The two of them vanished into blurs as they initiated their battle. That just left Yato and Mito, not to mention the others who waited for either Mito or Rias to give orders. Yato capitalised on the distraction and in a twisted, disturbing display, hooked his fingers into the bark of the tree, swung his lower half; which previously hung limp and useless, up and wrapped his legs around Mito's waist. He then grinned and mustered his upper body strength and pushed his body up and out. With a vicious tug, he pulled himself towards the tree again and flung his legs, along with Mito up and her face collided harshly with the solid wood.
The impact came so sharply and unexpectedly that she let go of him and fell to the ground. She quickly recovered while Yato twisted and contorted his spine in a disgusting manner as the bones and cartilage realigned and repaired themselves. He dropped down from the tree and dramatically jumped away with a twirl to gain some distance.
"Anyone see that coming? Anyone? Anyone at all?" he looked at the group of devils expectantly. "The aliens from Men in Black spring to mind? No?" he spat on the ground in disgust. "You kids are fucking boring, you know that!" he was then punted hard in the back which sent him tumbling across the ground. He came to a halt with his ass in the air.
"We're not done." Mito growled, cracking her knuckles. He sat up and rubbed his back, releasing a pained hiss.
"Do you mind, just got done fixing that." he then mumbled something about magic chiropractors. Mito's eyes narrowed fiercely and she started striding towards him. "You're gonna grab me again aren't you." he stated flatly. He was proven correct when he was hoisted up by his throat.
"Are you planning on taking this seriously fuck face? Cos you know I'm more than capable of making you." the golden haired woman threatened venomously.
"Oh, ominous." Yato chortled and smiled deviously "You see, I've no need to be serious. Let's be real for a moment sis, it's me you're dealing with. Now, use that shrunken, ape-like brain of yours and think. Think real hard. What would I, your younger brother and most accomplished Uzumaki Alchemist, have in place in a situation kinda like this?"
Moments passed as Mito wracked her brain for any possible answers, and while nothing definite sprung to mind, she had several ideas. However, she knew just how her brother operated.
"You wouldn't tell me if I was right even if I was. What a waste of time." she nonchalantly gripped his right arm and tightened her grip.
"Whoa, whoa whoa, what're you—" he yelled in panic before being cut off by the sound of his own flesh being torn from his body as his arm twitched violently at the sudden separation. "Ahhh! Bitch!" he screamed in agony. Dark red, slightly luminescent blood sputtered and spurted from the wound.
"A fucking Homunculus. I knew it." she said distastefully. "I suppose it's not beyond you to make a makeshift version of yourself. Hell, this piece of shit isn't even your best work."
Yato gritted his teeth and snarled. "But still real enough. Heh, you must be pretty disappointed."
"You wouldn't imagine. But tearing apart a fake like you will be enough catharsis for now. She looked over her shoulder and spied Asia with a horrified look on her face. Rias got the message and ordered Rossweisse, Asia and Koneko to look away. "Let's begin."