Battle on the Big Bridge (6)

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Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn!

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[Time remaining until Demon Duke's summoning: 59 seconds. Portal HP: 23%]

(What's that...? It looks like... Could it be from Manacor Island? It doesn't look good...)

Principal Reynaldis Snow was distracted as he saw a pillar of light rise, and the light begin to form many auspicious signs - Phoenixes, True Flood Dragons, Unicorns, Ancient Shamblers and Prismatic Wyrms!

And a split second later, countless stars streaked across the heavens to converge on the source of the phenomenon.

(No, it only looked like stars... But those were all gods avatars! So many of them...? F***ing fake bastard gods! Where are they when you need them! It's impossible that none of them noticed! It's just that they're too f***ing caught up in only their benefits to come!)

"Where are you looking...?"

The Demon Marquis materialised right behind Principal Snow - only to find that the human already had his right arm circling around the left side of his own waist; the gun in his hand waiting and aimed at Zusthra's stomach. He had feigned distraction.

Bang!

Surprisingly, the demon was unfazed; as if he had already predicted and seen through the trap.

He flickered; dematerialising and allowing the high-energy ice explosive mana bullet to pass through him. Then he phased back into the material plane and chopped horizontally at the Principal's head.

The Principal spun and fired his treasured weapons; the Ancient Firearms: Dual Berettas (Author's Note: if only he knew... How cheap those are...) repeatedly as he dodged once more.

(Tch... This is so annoying...!) The Principal had barely avoided the slash to the top of his head; and by the time he turned around, he knew that his enemy was gone once more.

The floating rainbow bridge was littered with holes, some melted at the edges by Zusthra's magma fists, while others were frosted over from Reynaldis' bullets.

The balding old man continuously spun around, constantly on the defensive and aiming his guns around him. He was also always revolving the handguns around him in gun-kata, a fighting style he had adapted from his mastery of twin daggers.

He was faced with the worst type of opponent for him - the kind who could instantly close the distance and appear anywhere, whenever he so desired.

What a cheat.

Also; an enemy who was his equal in deception, trickery and wit.

(What an irritating old geezer! Why don't you just go die already!) The duo shared the same opinion.

It might sound comical, but the counterparts minds were overclocked as they incessantly thought of different tactics, plots and plans; only to evaluate, assess, discard and start over again.

The most annoying part to Principal Snow was that the Demon Marquis was fast, tricky and vicious in his attacks, aiming repeatedly for his most sensitive weaknesses: his private parts, his eyes, his spine and his hair... The last attack had nearly removed one of his remaining 17 strands of baby hairs...

"Curse you, you thousand year old baldy freak! You're just jealous of my youth and hair!" Principal Snow yelled, trying to elicit a response and lock on to his ever vanishing enemy. He was uninjured, as he was no slouch in his close combat abilities and defence.

But neither was his infernal opponent injured.

They both specialised in agility and evasion; except that one focused on stealth and insubstantiality, while the other had reached the pinnacle of reaction speed and instantaneous movements.

It was now a battle of wits and stamina.

"Nyet nyet nyet..." ([Nyet is No in Russian, but also Zusthra's own unique way of laughing. It's annoying, I wish I could kill him off] Zusthra's voice seemed to echo from countless places at the same time.

"You fool! You lack all aesthetic sense! I'm not bald! I just shave my head daily!" The demon continued speaking; countering in the verbal and psychological war between them.

Zusthra silently appeared directly in front of Snow while his handguns were circling around him, temporarily in the Principal's defenceless spot.

But before the demon's molten fists could land on Snow's unguarded chest, the Marquis suddenly found a handgun right beneath his nose, trigger already halfway cocked and pulled.

Bang! And another miss - from both sides.

(This old baldy is so annoying!) The pair shared the exact same thoughts.

(I need to lure him into a trap... Looks like I won't come out unscathed...) Their thought processes coincided once more.

(But... That's probably what he intends to do... No matter.)

(I'll just have to set a trap beneath a trap. And one more under that.)

Having decided on the same course of action, both opponents were also cognizant that it was now a battle of deception; no longer one of skill, speed or power.

Zusthra materialised, standing 20m away from Snow. Then he approached in a zig-zag path; side-stepping the icy bullets one by one.

Once he was in melee range; he launched a head-on assault; not avoiding the shots but taking them in stride - blocking some with his burning hands and absorbing the rest with his body.

"Gotcha!" Despite being injured and slowed by his anti-thesis element; he managed to grab Principal Snow's neck; burning and singeing the man's neck and releasing a sickly sweet smell of burnt flesh.

"Ahhh!!!!" The Principal writhed in pain; before he lifted and directed a grenade launcher at Zusthra's chest.

*Plonk*

*BOOOOOOM!!!!!*

Fire and ice intermingled in a beautiful antipodean explosion; starting in flames; bursting in ice and frost; then ending in steam as the two elements collided and mutually cancelled one another out.

As the steam dissipated quickly in the strong winds; Snow was deeply injured; his neck burnt a crisp black.

While Zusthra had not a scratch on him.

The wiley old demon smirked. "You probably thought, "He must materialise to attack", didn't you? Nyet nyet nyet nyet!" He laughed, his expression no longer that of a gentle old grandpa, but now that of a perverted old grandpa.

Principal Reynaldis Snow was tottering as Zusthra stepped forward. He raised his handguns in gun-kata once more; firing ceaselessly and using his guns as batons; but Zusthra easily pierced his defensive perimeter and impaled the balding old man with a smoldering knife-hand.

"Die!!!!" With a twist of his right arm; Zusthra released an incendiary burst of magma; engulfing Snow's body. Snow, true to his name, desperately released ice elemental energy to extinguish the flames; but it was no use - the magma's heat energy exceeded what he could contain with his ice.

In moments, all that was left was a short, bald and pink-skinned old grandpa standing alone above 2 handguns.

Zusthra picked one up and examined the Ancient Firearm for awhile as he turned to walk towards the edge of the rainbow bridge.

(Hmmmph...! A cheap toy!) He tossed it over his shoulder.

(Let's see... 8 seconds left to the portal's completion... I wonder how my fledglings are coping...?) Then Zusthra was stunned; as he saw the Trickster Succubus Helena, his best pupil, pull out her trump card; and yet still fall to the puny humans trap.

(Insolence!) He prepared to descend.

Then the handgun that had never hit the ground; that was still floating in the air behind him - fired.

BANG!

A magical circle that was already there from the beginning of battle emerged on Zusthra's back - he had read ahead from before the battle even began that the clash would end at this point.

"Let's see - your real body was the gun after all?" Zusthra smiled; then spun around when there was no impact.

He saw a flag sticking out of the gun - "I WIN YOU FOOL!" - then gasped as his body froze instantly; and was burst open from the *inside*.

Before he died, he was still in time to hear Principal Snow say, "Go and die... Baldy."

* * * * *

As Principal Snow emerged from *within* the demon's body, he vomited blood.

He was missing some vital organs that would take months to regenerate. That was the price of suppressing his mana, aura and life-force to infiltrate the Marquis from the inside - along with sacrificing 80% of life-blood and body mass.

He would still survive and recover - a level 29 could regenerate even when losing 90% of their body; as long as it was not dismembered completely.

He had hidden his own ability of concealment and transformation until the end - and had taken advantage of the Marquis' lapse in concentration at the moment his simulacrum was burnt into ashes.

As the Marquis thought the trap was in the handguns; he had focused his full concentration and indeed found the residual mana on the firearms. But that had also diverted his attention away from the real trap.

Principal Snow himself was the ice that exploded and turned into steam - the same steam which the Marquis had breathed in victoriously without considering that it might be a trap.

Principal Snow prepared one last spell; as he collapsed, struggling to hang on to his consciousness and waited to see the outcome of the battle down below.

(We're counting on you, Sam...)

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[Time remaining until Demon Duke's summoning: 5 seconds. Portal HP: 23%]

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Sam panted.

(Am I going to die...?)

The Omega Dark Fireball was so close to her face that she could smell it. In fact, it was so close she could almost reach out and touch it.

(Goodbye... Grandpa, Snowie...) She felt sad to go; but resigned to her fate.

(...Good bye, R-Reeves...) But as she thought of the dashing, handsome and weak young boy; she began to cry.

(I-I... I don't want to die!)

A streak of white leaped in front of her...