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Divine Intervention Vincent Zeng leaned against a tree. The stars illuminated the nighttime over the trees of the Trioustan Forest. Vince took a look around, saw nothing, yawned, and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a small blade flew at Vince from his left. A flash of fire, and Vince was the Dark Fiend of Fire, spraying flames from his hand to deflect the blade. A gust of wind shook the branches of the trees above him, and down came hundreds of tiny purple orbs came down. Vince easily sidestepped to avoid the orbs. However, as soon as they hit the ground, they bounced right back up, and they always bounced toward Vince, as if they were magnetically attracted to him. Vince fired off several fireballs to intercept the orbs before they could get close, but he was too slow. One pounded him in the back. Another, the stomach. As one purple orb smashed into his right thing, Vince, with a gesture, sent forth a shockwave of flame to incinerate them all. A nearby tree caught fire. A black figure sped across the forest and bashed the flaming tree, causing it to fall on to Vince. However, Vince merely shattered the tree with a flaming uppercut. Then, he quickly blocked a kick from the black figure, the Dark Fiend of Air. Lydia continued her attack, a barrage of quick kicks and jabs. Vince blocked every offense in the series with a precise defense. The pair moved so fast, to any normal human, the fight would have been a blur of arms and legs. Suddenly, a whirl of wind swirled around the Dark Fiend of Air. She flew upwards, her trail of wind tearing through the ground like a motor-saw through wood. The Dark Fiend of Fire quickly crouched down, and a layer of flame covered him and protected him from the cutting winds. The Dark Fiend of Air landed on a tree. "You've gotten a lot better since I started training you three weeks ago," she said. "Before, you'd be caught off-guard every time I snuck up on you like that. Now, sensing my attack is second nature to you." Vince nodded in agreement, making a guttural noise. "And your martial arts skills are much better, as are your magic skills." "Plus," Vince said, "I now have total control over changing from human to Dark Fiend and back. See?" A brief wave of flame, and Vince had reverted to his human form. Lydia, noticing, replied, "Yeah, you're getting much--" Suddenly, a bright flash of light and Lydia falls off the tree, as if knocked down by some force. Vince quickly transformed into the Dark Fiend of Fire and caught the falling Dark Fiend of Air. As he helped her regain her hold on the ground, Vince looked up and saw man floating behind the now destroyed tree. The man wore white robes with a cross on the front of his shirt, engraved with gold stitching. He had his arms stretched forward, as if he had just fired off a magic projectile from his hands. "A Mystic..." Vince said. "From the Holy Order of Alliatus," Lydia finished, giving the Mystic an angry glare. "Two Dark Fiends?" the Mystic said. "I only expected to find Fire, but looks like I get to kill Air as well." "It's two on one," Lydia said. "You think you can beat us?" "No problem," the Mystic replied, drawing a longsword from his belt. The Mystic landed on a branch of the tree and quickly used it as a springboard to launch himself forward toward the pair of Dark Fiends. Vince and Lydia ran in opposite directions as the Mystic landed right between them, plunging his sword into the ground. The plunging of the sword sent out a bright shockwave. Although Lydia withstood the force of the shockwave, Vince was knocked right down. As Lydia and the Mystic stared each other down, Vince climbed to his feet. He made a dash toward the Mystic, charging in for an attack. As Vince came close, the Mystic turned around and swung his sword around at Vince. Vince, seeing this, let his feet slip from beneath him, letting himself fall on his back. The horizontal swing of the blade was only a few inches above Vince as he fell. The Mystic plunged his sword down toward Vince, but Vince simply rolled. As the Mystic slashed his sword across the ground, Vince did a quick backwards roll on the ground to get back on his feet and away from the Mystic. Lydia fired off a slicing gust of wind toward the Mystic. Reacting, the Mystic turned around and raised his sword, now glowing, to defend. The swirling winds went into the sword. Vince threw a few fireballs at the Mystic, but he quickly turned around and blocked them with his sword, still glowing. When the fireballs touched the sword, they seemed to go into the glow of his sword. "What?" Vince asked, surprised. "It's a Holy Sword Technique," the Mystic said. "I use the Angelic energy to absorb any magic you try to throw at me." "Then, we disarm him," Lydia said to Vince. "Exactly what I was thinking," Vince replied. The winds coalesced and wrapped around the Mystic's sword. Lydia's hands were up, controlling the snare. The Mystic tugged on his sword, but it wouldn't move. Vince made his second charge toward the Mystic. This time, he got closer than he did last time. However, he never made his attack on the Mystic, for at that moment, the Mystic's sword glowed again, and absorbed the ensnaring winds. He quickly bashed Vince in the stomach with the end of the sword's hilt. As Vince crumpled to the ground in pain, the Mystic raised his sword into the air, preparing for a downward slash. Vince let off a shockwave of flame, throwing the Mystic back several feet. Lydia, seeing her opportunity, ran in and attacked, slamming the Mystic's back with a quick combo of punches and kicks before he had a chance to land. Suddenly, one of her punches hit steel. The Mystic had regained his composure and had managed to turn around the put his sword between them. The Mystic slashed. Lydia tried to jump away, but since she was already so close, she didn't make it. The sword barely cut a shallow gash in her abdomen. The force of the swing knocked Lydia backwards, throwing her to the floor. The Mystic quickly made his move, stabbing his sword through Lydia's chest and into the ground. Lydia screamed in pain. "Lydia!" Vince cried. He charged at the Mystic, throwing a slurry of fireballs at him. The Mystic quickly removed his sword from Lydia to absorb the attack. Suddenly, the Mystic found himself face to face with Vince. They stood right next to each other, and Vince had the sword between the two palms of his hands. "That won't work," the Mystic said. Where Vince's hands touched the sword, there was a sizzling and a small amount of smoke. Vince's hands were burning, not the way fire burns, but the way something Holy burns a demon. Vince gave a mighty yell and tightened his grip. Then, he gave a quick hop and kicked the Mystic with both legs. The Mystic went one way. The sword went the other. As Vince fell, he let the sword out of his singed hands. The sword hit a tree blade-first and stuck. The Mystic sat slumped against a tree. "Lydia, are you okay?" Vince asked as he ran toward the downed Dark Fiend of Air. "I'm okay," Lydia said weakly. "Shadow Vitality." Then, louder, "Vince, look out!" Vince turned his head toward where he last saw the Mystic just in time to see a brightly glowing bolt of energy. It smashed into him and sent him flying. The bolt of energy sent Vince right through one tree and into another. The Mystic was standing, his arms extended. "Hmmph!" he said. "My sword." He began walking toward the tree that Vince had stuck his sword in. "Oh, no you don't," Vince said as he climbed to his feet and dashed toward the Mystic's sword. Right as the Mystic was about the grab the sword, Vince shot in between the sword and the former wielder. Vince let loose a barrage of punches and kicks, all of which were blocked by the Mystic. However, the attack was not in vain. To defend himself, the Mystic had to back off. Still, Vince backed away from the Mystic momentarily, holding his arms out. His hands began glowing with fiery energy. He gave a quick one-two to the Mystic, who caught both of his hands. The Mystic's own hands were covered with Holy energy. The two had their arms clasped in a battle of strength and magic energy, Shadowy Fire against Holy. Suddenly, the Mystic began chanting a strange chant. Suddenly, bright thin strands shot out of the air and wrapped around Vince's limbs, ensnaring him. The Mystic grabbed the sword. Vince struggled, but could not break free from this snare. The Mystic, with some effort, began to pull his sword out of the tree. Then, Vince let a soft flame cover his body. The bright strands burned away, and Vince was free. He grabbed hold of the hilt of the sword, before the Mystic could pull it out completely. Despite the Holy burning of his hand, Vince pushed with all his might to lodge the sword back into the tree. Abruptly, Vince smashed a fireball into the Mystic's face. The Mystic took several steps back, clutching his face in pain. Vince charged at the Mystic. However, the Mystic simply chanted again, and the bright strands returned, ensnaring Vince again. Once again, Vince simply released a soft fire to burn them off his body. He ran toward the Mystic and swung a flaming fist. The Mystic simply hopped back several. "I see you found a way to counter the basic form of the Angel's Snare," the Mystic commented. "Who cares?" Vince said as he viciously ran in for another assault. The Mystic quickly knelt down and began chanting quietly. Vince ran toward the Mystic with his arm ready for the attack. Just as he reached the Mystic, just as his punch was but inches from the Mystic's face, a bright glow of energy surrounded the Mystic. Vince's hand hit something stiff and solid. Then, the glow inflated to form a bubble-shaped shield around the Mystic, throwing Vince back a few feet. While the Mystic continued chanting, Vince ran up to him, and began punching away at the shield with vicious, fiery punches. Although a loud thud was heard with each punch, Vince didn't even make a crack, not even a slight dent, on the shield. Mysteriously, a white feather landed at Vince's feet. Suddenly, it blew up, knocking Vince back a few feet. The sky began raining white feathers, each of them hitting the floor around Vince and exploding. With effort, Vince regained his balance, knelt down, and put up a layer of flames around himself for protection. Suddenly, a giant bolt of lightning from the sky smashed into him, piercing the shield of flame. Vince yelled in pain. Then, all around him, holes in the sky opened up and bright lights began flashing, blinking down on him at odd angles. These lights pierced him light gigantic cannons, going off at irregular intervals. At the same time, the sky above him continued dropping its electric rage on him. Feathers continued to rain and explode. "This is--" Lydia said. "This Holy prayer. He has summoned forth the Holy Lightning, the Lights of Heaven, and the Angel Feathers." Her eyes were open in shock. "No doubt, he is also a highly skilled Holy mage." Vince was in pain. The barrage of Holy attacks was knocking him around, knocking him off balance, knocking him senseless. "Steph!" he cried. "Help me! HELP ME!!!" "Fool," Lydia said bitterly. "Stephanie's not here, and even if she were, she'd never be able to save him. No, I'll save him instead." A wrap of winds lifted the Mystic and his shield off the ground and brought them just over the fallen Dark Fiend of Fire, lying flat on the ground, face up. Vince opened his eyes and saw that the Mystic's own shield now protected him from the lightning, the lights, and the feathers. Vince shifted his head a little and saw Lydia, barely able to sit up, with her left arm on the ground for support and her right arm in the air controlling the winds that protected Vince. She nodded. Vince nodded back. Lying flat on his back, Vince began to focus fire into his arms. With a loud yell, he released it, sending upward an incredible blaze. The flames completely engulfed Vince, then the Mystic's shield. Then, the forest floor around him was consumed in flame. A few trees caught fire, caught in the fiendish inferno. Lydia scooted back a few feet to keep away from the flames. A bolt of lightning came down from the Heavens with the intent on shocking Vince. Instead, it smashed into the Mystic's shield. "Hmm?" the Mystic asked. He looked up. Then, he looked down at Vince and found his sanctuary of Holy Magic floating, now protecting the one he sought to vanquish. "What? What trickery is this?" "It's not trickery," Vince yelled back. "It's courage. It's determination." Then, accompanied by an even louder warcry from Vince, the inferno grew at least twice as large. The Holy shield shattered. The Mystic was thrown upward in the midst of the flames. The Mystic landed, hitting a tree before falling onto the ground with a loud impact. Vince climbed to his feet. It started to rain--water this time. Vince slowly walked over to the wounded Mystic, sitting against a tree. "Who the hell are you?" Vince asked angrily. "Why did you attack us?" "Don't you know?" the Mystic replied weakly. "You...and the girl over there...you are both Dark Fiends. Everyone knows that Skias created the Dark Fiends simply for destruction, so that the world would be more fit for his coveted reign. In other words, my friend, you are a pawn for Evil." "Liar!" Vince screamed with rage. "I'll--I'll incinerate you!" Even in the rain, Vince managed to create a concentration of fiery energy in his hands. The concentration glowed brightly, reflecting Vince's anger, his determination. Vince threw his hands forward and the blazing inferno flew toward the Mystic. "If you kill me, you'll only prove me right," the Mystic said. The flames, close enough to lick the Mystic's face, simply stopped and evaporated. Vince was in his human form again. "Wha-a-at?" Vince said, with a shaking in his voice. "You've never killed anyone, have you, child?" the Mystic asked. "The Dark Fiend Energy has turned you into a vicious, cold-hearted killer. You are nothing more than a weapon." "My, god!" Vince said quietly to himself, his body still shaking. Vince collapsed to the floor, kneeling. "He's right. He's right!" He remembered the Hybrid hanging on his back, and he pulsed a flame all around his body. The Hybrid caught fire, screaming. "I almost killed him," Vince said to himself. He remembered his little sister Alice saying, "It's a monster!" He remembered his best friend Robert saying, "What the hell are you?" "I'm a monster," Vince said to himself. "That's what I've become." He turned his face skyward and screamed a loud, prolonged scream. When he finally closed his mouth, the Mystic's sword, wrapped with winds, flew through the air and impaled the Mystic through the throat. "Ah! What the hell?" Vince yelled, obviously surprised. "Why did you kill him? What he said--" "Alliatus propaganda BULLSHIT!" Lydia yelled bitterly. "I hate Alliatus! Don't listen to what they say." She began walking away, clutching her chest. "I'll need some time to recover from this. We won't have training for a while. When I'm ready again, I'll find you." After Lydia had left the scene, Vince looked around him. All around him, he could see that the battle had left a scar in the forest. The formerly grassy floor was severely burned. Several trees were completely destroyed and several more were badly burned. There was even a dead body in the middle of the field. Vince looked down at the dead Mystic and said, "Still, what you said sounds like the truth. I think I am a monster, a cruel, killing machine." Vince stood up. "I'll have to go find out for sure." Vince began to walk away. Then, he turned around, pausing to look one last time at the corpse. "Goodbye. Thanks for the eye-opener." Then, Vince walked away, never looking back again. |