Snippet #2345035

Kanna held on tightly to the one who was carrying her, allowing her eyes to pan slowly across the vast, blazing landscape beneath the two white-haired warriors as they flew before finally letting them come to rest on the window before them. Even as they neared the opening, the young Blademaster was already selecting a few choice weapons to use on whatever was on the other side. But, interestingly enough, as they grew close to the aperture, Kanna overheard several words spoken loudly by a voice on the other side...

.....

The next floor was somewhat odd, consisting of a circular room with tapestries hung all across the walls, complete with countless arcane glyphs and gleaming symbols, all of which faced inwards toward a small, stonehenge-esque ring within a depression at the center of the room. At each juncture in the stairs down into this druidic circle, there were large braziers, burning with a dark blue flame, the dim azure light of which clashed with the scarlet beams of radiance piercing into the dark, misty room from the high windows, one in the center of each wall. As the party of three entered, these braziers flared up far brighter than they had been before, and, from amidst the ring of deep cerulean light, their enemy appeared. A tall, thin man, he was clad in robes of black and scarlet, matching the red hue of his skin quite well. His hair was surprisingly long and straight for a male, and was colored a pale blue-white. His weapon, a large, circular-headed staff with countless different rings and crystals adorning its end, clanked loudly with each step he took towards the group. At last, he came to be standing at the center of the ring, facing off with the party at the brim of the stairs.

"I am known as Reneus, the Red Priest. Tell me, which one of you will be my opponent?" He asked, his voice resounding throughout the chamber. All around him, the azure firelight began to gather, spiraling inward to form a towering humanoid shape behind his back, slowly coalescing into the shape of an armored figure of pure flames. The Familiar's name appeared, reading as Phoenix Knight, and several health bars filled out over its head, to the probable surprise of Kahlan, Tatsu, and Shineda. For, despite its status as a mere Familiar, this creature had stats on the level of a Major Boss. But, that wasn't the only thing that was surprising. More astonishing still was the fact that the Familiar was, in fact, a perfect copy of a rather infamous boss that the three of them likely remembered all too well. With its tremendous speed, strength, and magic power, and its ability to continuously switch weapons and battle styles as it saw fit, the Phoenix Knight had been one of the most difficult bosses in recent memory. And the one who had defeated it... Was none other than the mage who stood before them now, who, in exchange for the Last Hit Bonus, had managed to gain a skill to summon that terrible being to serve as his Familiar. However, the three of them needn't have worried about which one of them would face the creature, for, in the next moment, something even more unexpected occurred.

"I will!" A voice suddenly resounded through the hollow chamber, coming from outside the room. The Red Priest only had just enough time to turn in surprise to look for the source of those words before he found his answer, in the form of a sudden flashing of steel as countless large projectiles streaked in through the window, a piercing whistle ringing through the air as several dozen swords rained down upon him. Reacting quickly, he directed his Familiar into the path of the attacks, and then leaped back. The mighty knight of flames crossed its arms before its head, causing its fiery gauntlets to expand outward, forming a single vast shield of blue luminescence against which the incoming tide of blades broke in vain, scattering across the room and stabbing into the walls and floor, creating several large cracks in the stone, and sending a part of the Red Priest's druidic ring of standing rocks crumbling down to the floor. The very tower itself shook as the heavy objects were dislodged, tumbling down the stairs and coming to a stop.

"Who in the world...?" Reneus murmured in astonishment, only to have his words cut off in his throat as the flames cleared, his Familiar stepping back to his side largely unharmed, and exposing the duo who had just landed. The white haired girl gave a somewhat uncharacteristic grin as she gently slipped her legs down, standing up and stepping out of Asher's arms in one smooth motion. Smiling cheerfully, she didn't bother to draw a weapon, instead walking purposefully up to the edge of the ring and hopping down onto one of the fallen stones. The Red Priest dropped into a defensive stance, his Familiar taking up a position in front of him as he came to realize exactly who the new arrival was. "What are you doing here, Sparrow?" Reneus asked calmly and coldly.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story," Kanna said quietly. "You see, I heard something strange was going on here, and I found that two acquaintances of mine were right in the middle of it. I'm not sure what exactly the BA is doing, but if you've made enemies of my friends, then I'm afraid that I'm your enemy, too."

"That's... somewhat unexpected. From what I'd heard of you, I didn't think you the type to trust so blindly in others. Or, if you'll pardon my rudeness, to have acquainted yourself with these two." Kanna gave a slight laugh at this, smiling wryly and nodding.

"Yes, that's true. I'm not very good at trusting other people, and, if I'd had my way back then, I probably wouldn't even remember them. But, what can I say? I guess I've changed since then. Even I don't really know what to expect in my own actions."

"I see. Having heard a few of your proposed strategies at frontline meetings, I never had pegged you as the reckless type. Still, I suppose I understand your sentiments, and your reason for being here. Alright, then. Although you're not part of the original deal, out of respect for your bravery and your devotion to these friends of yours, I'll acknowledge you as my opponent. Besides, I must admit... fighting such a unique opponent is probably a chance I'll only get this once, and I'd hate to miss out on it!"

"Agreed!" Kanna said, grinning. "It should be interesting, taking on a boss and a powerful mage at the same time! Don't hold back now, alright? I want to see exactly what that Stand of yours can do!"

"My what now?" The mage asked, raising an eyebrow. However, his question remained unanswered, for in the next instant, a deluge of swords abruptly took shape, already raining down upon him. Instantly, he raised his staff, and chanting a spell in a language that sounded like German, he released a truly staggering barrage of lightning which, coalescing itself into countless different lances, streaked towards the incoming barrage of blades. As the magically augmented swords and the overwhelming torrent of power collided, a tremendous explosion shook the building, a sudden surge of white light filling the room as swords and wayward magic were sent flying in every direction by the struggle of power. However, in another moment, the light cleared, only to find Kanna already streaking towards the mage. Reneus reacted quickly, raising his staff just in time to intercept the blade that flashed out of the sheath on the young warrior's back. Vermillion Talon screamed as the air surged around it, slamming into the mage even despite his attempt to block the attack, and sending him skidding back several feet. He grimaced, hastily chanting another spell as the girl once again came at him, blade raised to strike. In an instant, the fire on one of the nearby braziers changed colors, turning to an amethyst hue and ripping towards the girl from the side, forcing Kanna to leap backward to attempt to dodge it. To her surprise, however, she found herself suddenly cornered as a shadow suddenly fell across her vision. She heard the hissing of flames and the whining of a blade cutting through the air only just in time to twist in mid-air, spinning out of the way as a gigantic sword of azure fire came carving down from above, slamming into the ground she'd just occupied. Hastily, Kanna leaped back, landing across the arena from both the spellcaster and his familiar as the Phoenix Knight raised a gigantic zweihander constructed from the same flames as itself.

It was this ability that had made the boss so dangerous: its power to create any type of weapon, and to wield it with ease. With its battle style constantly changing, it had been nigh impossible to predict, and even harder to counterattack. But, worse than that was one more fact: it, being made of pure magic, was immune to most forms of damage, both physical and arcane, save for water spells. Kanna realized that her wind abilities might be able to scratch its surface, but she also knew all too well that her enemy would be able to heal it much faster than she could damage it. In short, unless she could take out Reneus, or else somehow sabotage his ability to control his Familiar...

Her thoughts were cut off, however, as the giant braced itself to leap forward. Kanna grimaced. One thing she couldn't allow Reneus to do was push her into a corner. If she didn't keep him occupied with controlling and healing his Familiar, he'd be free to rain spells down upon her as he saw fit, inevitably overwhelming her through sheer power and numbers. On the other hand, if she continuously damaged the Phoenix Knight, keeping it on the defensive, she could at least buy herself time until an opportunity presented itself. And, besides... Kanna was fairly sure that a fight like this had definitely happened before in an anime somewhere. A nimble but weak opponent versus a powerful, seemingly impervious giant and its cunning master... There could be only one outcome to this situation! The laws of Shonen Anime dictated that she was sure to win! She had the unstoppable twin powers of friendship and love on her side! Or... something like that. Anyway, the point was that she needed to attack the invincible thing even though it was pointless, and it was going to be awesome.

Leveling the narrow, long blade of Vermillion Talon before her, Kanna darted forward, activating a single hit Linear skill to close the gap between herself and the giant enemy almost instantly. With a loud clang and a surge of pressure, followed by a flash of blue light, the Sparrow's blade slammed into the giant's leveled Zweihander, only to be deflected easily. The backlash was more than enough to pick Kanna up and send her flying to the side. However, to the surprise of the magus who was already directing his Familiar to move in and finish her off before she could recover, the young warrior actually used this force, deftly flipping over mid-flight, spinning around, and landing in a battle stance, her sword already raised before her. As the knight's Zweihander came crashing down upon her, she suddenly accelerated, moving so quickly that she was but a mere blur as she spun out of the way of the descending sword, raising her own weapon and swiping it across the back of the Phoenix Knight's leg. The creature momentarily lost its balance, staggering forward as the solidified flames that made up its body flickered around the area of the cut. And yet, its health bar barely reduced at all. Well, that was fine, Kanna supposed. If hitting it once didn't really accomplish much, she'd just hit it a dozen more times and see what happened then! Leveling her blade as the knight dropped to one knee, unable to support its own bulk on only one leg, Kanna activated yet another skill: Diamond-Dust Hurricane. It was a comparatively old ability by this point, but it still remained one of her mainstay attacks, as with the tremendous speed granted by the System Assist combined with her own ridiculous stats and the buffs from her weapons and armor, she could dish out over a dozen hits in a matter of two or so seconds. Spinning around and around, she attacked again and again, raining blows on the back of the stumbling Familiar. A stab towards the center of its back was turned aside by its sheer defense, but, undeterred, she turned this attack into a horizontal slash that spun about into a second cut, which in turn continued its rotation into a third, diagonal uppercut, which then reversed into a diagonal cut in the opposite direction. Sparks flew as her blade rebounded upward, turned aside again by the howling giant's thick armor, only to descend even faster than before, a vertical strike connecting as the knight tried to rise, sending it staggering forward from the impact even if its health bar still had yet to be majorly reduced. The mage stopped chanting in the middle of a spell, and began to divert his full attention to trying to shake off the girl as Kanna moved like lightning, continuing her furious attack. A stab, a slash, a stab, a slash, and then three more piercing lunges all connected as the beast at last braced itself against the stone framework of the druidic ring, hauling itself to its feet and whirling to attack the girl, but yet again, it failed to catch the Sparrow, who instantly chained on another quick skill, Sword of Cycles, turning her last slash into an upward cut that collided with enough force to launch her into the air, at the same time causing her to spin around, allowing her to deal out an even stronger upward cut. The air screamed and exploded outward in a tremendous shockwave, and yet, the knight merely grounded itself, refusing to either fall or recoil as it spun about, wielding its gigantic sword one-handed as it dealt a staggering horizontal sweep towards Kanna, forcing her to block directly. The force of the impact hurled her backward, sending her streaking like a bullet through the air and then across the ground as she landed, skidding backwards until she finally came to a stop.

"Great. A giant knight with a huge sword, massive strength, and almost impenetrable defenses. Why does this all seem familiar?" Kanna muttered, grimacing as the huge enemy leaped with astonishing agility, raising its enormous sword over its head and bringing it down upon her, forcing her to roll to the side as the tower once again shook with the tremendous impact of the knight's blade colliding with the ground. "Well, at least I have both my arms this time," She sighed, jumping back and flipping head-over-heels as, with a groan of earth and crackling of flames, the huge weapon swept back up again, carving through where she had just been. To her surprise, however, the enemy abruptly accelerated, reversing the momentum of this strike and sweeping its blade back at her as she landed. She grimaced with realization as the huge weapon came in much too fast for her to dodge, forcing her to block it head on. A tremendous crash resounded through the chamber as the giant's Zweihander impacted with her own sword. Even despite the air around her absorbing part of the force of the blow, Kanna found her body wracked by a sudden surge of pain as she was sent flying backwards, rolling for several feet across the ground before she at last regained herself, rising shakily to a kneeling posture as she struggled to regain her breath, the sudden blow having knocked all the wind out of her. Her body screamed in protest, a sudden surge of pain filling her perceptions as her health bar decreased significantly. The knight roared in triumph, and braced itself to continue its attack as its target slowly rose, grimacing as she realized the full extent of the perilous situation she was now in. With no way to damage her enemy or his Familiar, how exactly was she supposed to win this duel...? She needed a plan. She had to find some weakness, and exploit it! She needed to take out the Familiar, and then corner the Red Priest, all in one fell swoop.

She knew exactly what she needed to do. The question was... how was she supposed to do it?

(Alright. This was dragging out a bit, so I decided that I'd cut the post off here for a few reasons. First, since we're suddenly showing up out of nowhere, it gives Kahlan and Shineda a chance to react to Kanna and Asher's appearance. Secondly, it gives Asher a chance to actually intro himself, instead of just saying "He showed up, he watched the fight, he left." Thirdly, it gives Licht time to actually get to us and meet up with the others, so it allows us to actually get our party together. And, since Refa now has something to watch on the viewscreen, she should be able to do stuff again too. Besides, I also wanted to show that the opponents were getting more powerful, so a tough, uphill battle seemed like the best way to do that. And, finally, because I have to go soon and I don't want to delay you guys, and because this was just getting too freaking long.

Sorry. X.X I'll be sure to finish the fight either tonight or tomorrow, once some people have had time to observe what's going on and react to it, if they choose to do so.)