Decaying Flames

Draneeve was in the middle of his speech when it happened. He had just called the subhuman half breed boy to the front of the pedestal, holding up the elf princess' prone body. He got exactly the reaction he expected: cries of outrage, gasps of fear, and most importantly, the sheer despair.

That was when it all came crashing down.

Invisible flames hit the barrier with so much force that it cracked. As if that wasn't enough, a gout of dark grey flames melted what remained. His eyes widened, those flames were only used by…

He moved quickly when a black blur headed his way. His jaw fell, those black spikes confirmed his suspicion.

"My Lord!" He raised his arms placatingly, hoping to calm down the boy.

"There you are, bastard." But another took his place, his blade wreathed in fire crashing down on him. He felt his shoulder sting under the flames the boy produced.

"STAY OUT OF THIS, UNGRATEFUL BRA-!" His outburst was cut short when a dark spike lodged into his shoulder.

"Please, my Lord. We are not your enemies." he implored. He could not fight one of them.

Elijah narrowed his eyes, "Certainly doesn't seem like it."

As Nathan charged again, Draneeve snapped. His palms poured out crimson flames that would burn any student to a crisp.

But, the flames didn't hurt him. He watched in shock and horror as the boy near effortlessly manipulated his own flames back to him.

At the same time, the dark grey flames of Elijah impacted his back. He grit his teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of making him scream. His clothes had all, but burnt away, his skin charred; even melted in some areas.

He grimaced, the dark flames had begun eating away his life force. He could not hold back against them. These weren't kids, they were monsters.

Yet, he was never given that chance. Nathan was above him before he could recover, having propelled himself with flames and wind which mixed to look like a pair of wings behind his back.

Elijah's arms were covered in a black miasma as he wound his fist back for an uppercut.

Draneeve saw red; while some people despair in the face of death, Draneeve raged. "ENOU-!"

"Shut up already."

"Die."

His body was once again wreathed in orange and grey flames and he vaguely felt a spike stab deep into his abdomen.

'The Dicathians…are much stronger than we thought.'

In his final moments, he could swear he saw a portal open up and his master walk out.

But the look of sheer apathy on his face, killed him before his wounds did.

.

.

.

Arthur Leywin was toying with the peculiar orb he had received from Windsom when he felt it. A presence familiar enough to send his mind back to his time with Sylvia.

"A Vritra." he breathed out.

He yelped when the orb in his hand twitched, glowing with an iridescent hue. As it shot towards his core, Arthur felt his core forcefully advancing. He was taken aback when his core skipped the high-silver stage altogether.

He wasted no time in pondering, activating Dragon's Awakening as he shot out of the manor.

With his core in the white stage, he would be able to help, right?

.

.

.

Elijah roared in defiance, coating one of his spikes in his grey flames, using it as a rapier. The Vritra barely glanced at him, swatting away his weapon like nothing.

"I see, you are the one He was talking about. What was your name again? Nico?"

Elijah froze up, how did he know that name.

Was there a traitor among them? No, that couldn't be, Fayden was the only one who knew his identity. Had someone spied on his conversations with Fayden then?

Someone slammed into him, pushing him out of the way of a Vritra spell.

"What are you doing?!" Nathan yelled. "Get up, we need to hold him back until Fayden returns."

Elijah shook his head. 'Right, that monster's the only one who can beat him now.'

A blast of ice hit the Vritra in his face, not even managing a scratch on his ashen skin.

Elijah cursed, glancing behind at the Disciplinary Committee. They just had to arrive at the worst moment.

However, it could work in his favor.

Elijah stepped back as the rest began attacking the horned man. His ring glowed as a pair of horns and a mana core appeared in his arms. He began absorbing the mana inside furiously, sucking in all that he could.

And then, Elijah's eyes began flickering red.

Feyrith Ivsaar conjured dozens of blades of razor sharp water, cursing as none of them managed to even scratch the being.

He moved in closer. If projectiles wouldn't work, maybe physical force would. A blade of water manifested in his arms, exerting his will into the blade as he managed to freeze a part of it. Ice still didn't come to him naturally.

Beside him, Claire moved like a wraith, her rapier looking more like a flaming tornado than steel. He knew Theo was behind him, his gravity magic making his blade heavier than a building for anyone other than him.

Doradrea walked past him, covered head to toe in earth as she began pummeling the being with punches and kicks.

Feyrith too began his assault, finding it difficult to maintain his blade near Claire's flames.

He looked up, hoping to see him in some sort of pain. But, his heart jumped into his throat when all he saw in the man's face was annoyance.

It came like a blur, his counter attack. Feyrith suddenly found it hard to stand. Beside him, Claire shot back, a blade of darkness stabbing into her gut.

'Ah, that's why.' Feyrith looked down, his body on the ground. In place of his left leg, there was a bleeding stump.

Something rolled up to him, and Feyrith almost puked when he saw it. Doradrea's face still sprouted a look of rage, even in death.

The barrier quivered.

"NOOOOO!" Theo's guttural scream shook the very ground he was laying on.

The Vritra merely flicked his finger, and a dark spike pierced through Theodore's shoulder, separating his arm from his body.

Curtis roared with his bond, splitting apart the earth as he unleashed his World Howl spell. A single spike arose from the ground, splitting the beam in half.

Nathan lunged, his blade wreathed in an invisible flame. The Vritra narrowed his eyes. He could feel something in the boy.

He moved, his fist shattering Nathan's sword, as he was sent flying into the clocktower.

The barrier quivered once more.

Nathan groaned, wobbling to his feet. He brought out Beelzebub's core to replenish some of his mana, but to his surprise, it wasn't just mana that came out.

The silhouette of an amber-eyed man appeared behind him, and his eyes began flickering between red-gold, yellow, blue and crimson. His shoulder blades heated up, searing through his flesh as twin gouts of golden-black flame melted the rubble around him. In an event of untold margins, he integrated with the will nigh-instantly.

Nathan felt something swirl inside his core, a familiar welcoming feeling. Something was festering inside him.

He shot forward, the flames behind his back acting like wings. As his fist connected with the confident Vritra's smirk, he felt the bone crack.

The man was thrown down, surprise evident on his face. He spat out a glob of blood, grey flames covering his jaw as they worked to heal it.

He was given no time to rest as a black spike almost impaled him. He looked at the part-Vritra boy. In his hands, a core and two horns were crumbling away. He recognized the horns to be that of Uto.

He had forgone his glasses, his eyes now a deep red. Two stubs poked out beside his head as immature horns had begun growing. His initial silver core was now in the low stages of being a white core.

'I'll need to thank Fayden next time we meet.'

The retainer noticed a half-elf boy cowering nearby, his hand grabbing onto an elf girl's gunmetal hair. "You! Keep him busy while I deal with the other ones."

Lucas could only nod silently. He glared at Elijah, picking up Tessia's unconscious form. "I wonder, how would he react if I just went ahead and defiled her right here and now?"

The barrier cracked, a heaven sundering roar making Lucas falter.

Elijah narrowed his eyes. That was Fayden's little sister, and loathe was he to admit it, they were allies. So protecting his sister should be reasonable, no?

Blazing blue fire moulded itself into a lance. "CREATION FORM!" Lucas yelled, hurling the weapon at the reincarnated boy.

Elijah glanced at him, disinterested as the conjured lance flew his way. He waved his arm, a black spike piercing through it effortlessly and impaling Lucas' chest, shattering his core so fast he didn't even realise what had happened.

"Worthless scum." Elijah spat. "I'm tempted to let you live just to let Fayden have a go at torturing you."

Elijah sighed, glancing at Nathan fighting the invader. "But I suspect he has a more worthwhile battle to partake in.

Lucas' eye's trembled as grey flames wreathed Elijah's leg. Those grey flames had bested Draneeve. He did not want to know how they felt.

Elijah smiled, sending a shiver down his spine. "Although, I think he would approve of what I am about to do."

Lucas barely saw it coming as Elijah's leg struck right between his legs. He howled in pain, the agony of feeling his genitals being turned to mush almost breaking him.

As the grey flames ate away at his being, he could only see Elijah walk away without throwing a single glance his way.

As Elijah joined the fight he noticed Nathan's battered form, his body still sporting the grey flames the retainer had conjured. With a wave of his arm, he blew the flames away, possibly saving his life.

"Thanks." Nathan panted, his eyes back to their red-gold colour. The wings of flame had also disappeared from his back, it seemed he could not keep the will up for long.

Elijah nodded in acknowledgement, glaring at the man.

"Not bad." he commented, genuinely impressed by their strength. "But you are still much too weak."

"We'll see about that." Nathan said confidently, a blade of gold flames fabricated in his hand.

"..." Elijah silently conjured up a grey fire blade himself.

The man's eyes narrowed at the gold flames, "It seems I can no longer hold back." He sighed. "And here, I thought I could enjoy myself a bit."

Nathan tensed, preparing to move when a fist struck his side. Elijah moved, holding his blade up in a defensive stance.

The retainer's fist passed through his sword, decking him hard, sending him crashing into the main building.

Nathan groaned, picking himself up from the rubble. "Won't lie, that hurt…a lot."

"I'm barely getting started."

Nathan moved, his blade swung by behind him in a flaming arc. However, there was no one there.

"That's a troublesome sword you have there." The man appeared, grabbing his hand.

Nathan's eyes widened, and he screamed as he felt the bones in his hand be ground to dust.

Letting him go for just a moment, the man sent a powerful blow to his chest, shattering his ribs.

As he stepped out, a black blur sped his way. His hand moved too fast for Elijah to comprehend, grabbing the missile mid air.

Before Elijah could conjure up any more spikes, he moved to grab the boy. Elijah leaned back just in time that the retainer missed his throat, and latched on to his uniform.

Without another word, he threw the part Vritra boy at an airborne Nathan.

He held his arm up, a massive lance of grey flames manifesting above his palm, strong enough to destroy the entire academy if he so wished. While Nathan and Elijah were still recovering, he threw the soul devouring spear.

And the barrier shattered.