Kore

Kore adjusted his goggles and assumed a combative stance. "Maybe you aren't as naive as I thought."

"Tch.." Noda glanced at Esten, Setsuna, then Resk. "Hey... you three ready to take this fucker on?"

"It doesn't matter. We have no choice in the matter, as he just confirmed. Regardless, even if we did have a choice, I'd be with you anyway. It's a necessary gamble I'm completely prepared to take." Setsuna answered.

"Same here! This dude scared the hell out of me. I mean, seriously, I can't believe he can speak! That's not good. But, it's more reason to take him on. We need to learn everything about these guys. Like Kore was saying, there's a lot we're unaware of. And if some Soarers can talk fluently, who knows what else they can do. So let's kick his ass and find out!" Resk smiled.

Looking at all of her comrades, Esten let an incredibly faint smile slip, before immediately hiding it. "Yes. It is as everyone has already said. If we do not face off against this Soarer, we will remain clueless as to what the Soarers as a species have, and are actively attempting to accomplish. The dirty bug may lie, but as the filthy berserker mentioned, the chance it is not lying is worth the fight itself."

"Heh. Alright then. Glad to hear we've all got the same thoughts on this. Just as I expected, I know you guys real damn well. In that case.. we'll get started." Noda sprinted forward and bashed his fist into the face of Kore. Kore didn't even move, and simply stood there. When Noda's fist made contact, Kore's face hardened into some sort of incredibly durable, metal like substance.

Esten elegantly dashed at him as well. Her blade skidded off of Kore's side, as he hardened again.

A sizzling noise filled the air when Resk swapped over to lava, and hugged Kore, who's entire body hardened in response. Resk had to leap off when Kore somehow suddenly had two large buckets of water appear within his hands. Resk then switched himself again so that he was made of water, and attempted to seep into Kore's body to overwhelm it.

As Resk attempted this, Setsuna called out with his voice, taking control of all the surrounding crystal material. The crystal structures that the area was covered in, split and shaped themselves into a variety of different dangerous molds.

The buckets of water Kore had, disappeared, and instead a lengthy, flaming, double sided blade appeared in his hands out of nowhere. He swung it at the crystal molds, knocking them away. The heat was so intense, that it forced Resk to yet again shift his form to something else. This time, into an extremely elastic material, that also held a considerable amount of mass.

Resk's arm stretched out, and went to strike Kore. Kore lifted his lengthy, double sided blade to block it, but Resk's elastic arm twirled and maneuvered around it, grasping the heated weapon, and tossing it to the side.

Immediately afterward, Noda landed a heavy punch to Kore's jaw. The hardening still occurred, but Noda put enough force into this blow, that it caused Kore to stagger to the side. Right into dozens of crystals Setsuna had brought over to smack and slash at him.

Kore took several hits. The crystal, transparent material was ridiculously sturdy, and actually managed to slightly damage his metal defense. He aggressively stomped his foot, and had gigantic gloves appear on his hands.

These monstrously sized gloves, weighed several tons, and Kore used them to smash and shatter the transparent crystals, before landing a heavy blow against Setsuna's ribs. This sent Setsuna flying into a nearby crystal built shop, which was subsequently destroyed by his limp body.

Noticing Esten approaching, Kore attempted to perfectly time and connect with another weighty punch. Being far more athletic than Setsuna, however, Esten sidestepped it, continuing her advance. She plunged her blade into the right side of Kore's goggles, gambling that it was his weak spot.

Esten happened to be absolutely right, and a lung burst from Kore's eye socket, blowing off his goggles completely. He simultaneously held his face and side in agony.

Noda took the opportunity to unleash a flurry of hard hitting punches and kicks. The more strikes he threw out, the more his eyes blazed a deep red, and the faster he hit in addition to hitting harder.

Joining in, Resk pulled his elastic arm backward more than an entire mile, using the tension to launch it back forward, slamming it against Kore with great force. He then began to swing his arm around in a loose, nunchuck like fashion, having it firmly hit Kore every so often. Grinding his teeth, and putting even more effort into himself, Resk was also able to add spikes onto his body. Combined with his elasticity, his attacks became even more damaging.

Even with his hardening, Kore was beginning to feel the attacks. Blood poured past his misplaced lung at a seemingly endless rate. Some also spurted from his mouth. He was hunched over in pain, before letting go of his side, tearing the lung from his eye socket, standing upright and saying. "Impressive. You all are indeed worth taking on. However, I believe it is time for me to stop messing around. If I keep doing so, I'm going to get myself killed..."

Kore had a massive club appear in his hand, and bashed it against Noda. Noda punched the club as it hit him, but the force of said club was too much, and blew him backward.

Next, Kore immediately tossed the club at Resk. Resk used his body to springboard it back at Kore, however Kore had already gotten a new weapon. An enormous bow with exploding arrows. He shot a grouping of arrows in Resk's direction. They all exploded, knocking away the mid air club, and blinding Resk's view momentarily. Once the debris cleared, Kore slammed his knee into Resk's gut.

Attempting to stretch and change his form in reaction to this, Resk failed to do so, as Kore grabbed him, and had a large enclosed cube appear all around Resk. No matter what he did, Resk was unable to break free from the cube. Lava didn't do it. There were no holes to seep through as water. Nothing.

With seemingly unreal speed, Kore had a twenty foot long staff appear in his hands, and used it to smack Esten into a nearby wall. He swung it the other way, looking to hit Noda, however Noda had other plans. Breaking the overly lengthy staff in two with a forceful jab.

Kore quickly had another weapon appear, a monstrously sized machete, however Noda reached him and smashed it to pieces before it could be used.

Before he could take advantage of this, Noda was blasted across the area with a hit to the jaw. Kore swiftly punched him there.

Now panting heavily, Kore glanced over to see Setsuna had recovered from the rib shattering blow he'd received earlier. "Do you plan on attempting to knock me around with more crystals? Go on. I'm prepared." He said, having a giant shield appear on his arm.

"Sorry to say, you're completely incorrect." Calling with his voice again, Setsuna took control of Kore's shield, and began repeatedly slamming it against his face.

As this occurred, from behind, Noda leaped into the air, yelling with passion as his eyes radiated a deep red. He thrusted his fist through Kore's back as he came down. Using such a considerable amount of strength, that it managed to pass through and break the metal substance. "I think you're just about done, shitface." He declared.

Esten came back from the blow she took, and pointed a blade at Kore's last remaining eye. "We are ready to hear all about this information of yours. So spit it out, sickly creature. You have lost."

"That does... seem to be the case." Stated Kore. He dropped his shield, and it fizzled away. The cube Resk was trapped in also fizzled away. "Very well. As agreed, I have plenty to reveal. Congratulations. You should feel proud. The strength you displayed was nothing less than extraordinary. Now, I'd appreciate being released so I'm able to discuss things with you for a lengthy period of time. Unless you believe our current position is more comfortable."

Noda pulled his arm from Kore's back, the broken metal substance somewhat sliced and cut up his skin. "I dunno. Something about havin my arm lodged through a piece of shit like you feels pretty damn good. But I'm an understanding guy. Setsuna will even bring us over some comfy seats to sit down on so we can have a nice long conversation. How's that sound?"

"Your personality has certainly proven to be... interesting. Yet also somewhat familiar. Yes, that is fine. Your heartfelt courtesy is highly appreciated." Kore showed no signs of pain, even as blood leaked and poured from the hole in his stomach. He had a huge set of cloth bandages appear in his hands, and began to wrap them around his stomach while Setsuna brought over some furniture from the nearby buildings to sit on with his ability.

Meanwhile, in a separate section of the city, Schalle and Dusk had been examining the spheres everyone was encased within.

"A fascinating collection of atoms indeed. Say... Dusk my bashful friend, do you believe there's a possibility this is the work of a third party who foolishly allied themselves with the Colossal Soarers? Ah.. well, I suppose I cannot call them foolish. The Colossal Soarers are some mighty foes after all." Said Schalle.

Dusk replied in a slow, low tone. "It could be a third party. But.. there aren't any known entities or groups capable of freezing an entire city in time. Especially the capital. That would mean there'd have to be another party or species we aren't aware of. I'd say it's more likely to be another Colossal Soarer variant, rather than an entire second enemy."

From a belt he wore, Schalle brought out a small, clear box. Within the box, thousands of tiny bug like creatures could be seen rapidly crawling around. He brought it in front of the eyeholes in his helmet, and gazed at it closely. "Your thoughts on the matter are equally as well sculpted as the rest of the Elite's would be. Today has truly been a tragic day, yes. Yet it has also been a momentous day, finally getting to see you contribute. Hah, but I believe the source of this mystery may be unveiled with the assistance of these here micro beetles. Created with some truly powerful magical strength, the micro beetles are capable of swarming an object, and assessing its magical output. And most importantly.... they're able to locate individuals capable of using said spell."

"Then we should be led directly to the source. The number of people who know this spell should be tiny. It would've been worldwide news if it was ever used on a somewhat sizable scale. It hasn't been, which means it isn't possible for more than a few people to know about it. As I said, it's probably the Colossal Soarers themselves."

"We shall find out before long, Dusk." Popping the lid, Schalle let all of the micro beetles out, and they were attracted to the nearby object with the highest magical output. Which was unintentionally, Dusk.

The beetles swarmed Dusk, scurrying and rubbing their antenna over every last section of his body.

"...they aren't controllable?" Dusk asked, gradually narrowing his eyes at Schalle. "I thought they were attracted to spells."

"It saddens me to say they aren't controllable directly. Though I've never needed to do so. I've never stood alongside anyone who surpassed the level of a spell I needed them to examine. Hahah! How impressive of you my power filled companion! It's truly fascinating to think the world was once filled with individuals of your caliber!"

"Just please, get them off. We need them to examine the spheres, not me. If you can't control them directly, then what? They aren't usable?"

"A fine question indeed. They normally return to the encasing I had them held within once they've completed their examination. Then, the succeeding time I release the critters, they head toward the closest individual capable of using the spell I had them inspect. I haven't a clue what will happen in this situation. Hahah, I suppose we should check it out once they've completed their work."

Dusk's eyes narrowed further. "When are they going to complete their work?"

"There's no need to worry. It takes a mere few moments. They should finish up here any second."

Twenty minutes passed. Finally, the micro beetles finished examining Dusk. They returned to their capsule, before immediately being let out again by Schalle. "The mystery in which inherits the air shall be revealed right here and now. How will our beloved micro beetles act after examining a living being rather than a spell? I have my theories, however the one true answer may only be discovered and confirmed through observing their actions in said scenario. So.... Let us do as such." he said.

Scrambling outward, both Dusk and Schalle watched as the micro beetles traveled along the smooth, stone ground, then swarming the transparent sphere that was directly in front of them. They departed from the transparent sphere almost as quickly as they swarmed it. However, one micro beetle remained on it, unmoving.

The rest of the micro beetles traveled to the next closest transparent sphere, repeating the same action. Swarming it for a brief moment, before leaving to go to the next. Having a single beetle stay behind. They continued this throughout Kuraran.

Schalle's demeanor shifted to a far more serious one. "Are they attempting to inform me.... that you, are capable of performing this feat of magic?" He glanced at Dusk.

Elsewhere, Setsuna, Noda, Esten, and Resk all sat around Kore, who was seated within a chair in the center, leaning forward.

"Firstly, I must reveal something to you." Kore said. His missing eye was patched with some cloth, as well as his side. "I've been planning to betray my kind for some time. I did not actually come up with the idea of revealing information to you suddenly, for no reason other than my own boredom. Things haven't been going ideally there for a while. As I grew smarter, it became clear how cruel, blind, and naive they all are. So, I had developed a plan to test the strength of the strongest known individuals this land has to offer, in order to see if they were worth joining. Did you have a shot at standing against my former allies? Were you even comparable to their level?"

The four members of the Elite silently listened closely.

"To execute this plan, I needed to convince my kind that coming here and attacking the capital directly this early on, was the ideal way of moving forward." Kore continued. "Clearly, I was successful with my manipulation. I can reveal exactly how I did so. But first, I must tell you all about the Colossal Soarers in detail so you know what I'm talking about. Some things would not make sense without proper knowledge. I will start from the very beginning. Our birth... all those years ago. How we remained undetected for all this time. All of it will be revealed. So listen well. The information you've been waiting for, will all be divulged right here and now within what I'm about to say."

Kore proceeded to tell the four, about the entire history of Colossal Soarers, and his own personal history with them.