Despite the several minutes taken to cool down, Danny realized how much attention the three of them were already drawing. Many of the citizens or other wielders at the park have been walking away, satisfied enough to witness an intense battle to go about their business. A few others straggled however, waiting patiently in prediction that another battle is soon on its way. Newcomers were stopping by, using the current congregation of a crowd as an excuse to risk their time wondering if another battle was about to start.
Soon it will begin. Danny and Taylor stood apart from each other only by four meters, with Jane on the very far end of the invisible boarder lines of the battlefield. Jane wants to fight them both at the same time. Danny already thought about a couple of tactics they could use to fight Jane, such as Molecular Boost glyphrings, and a few other skills. But in truth, it has actually been a while since Danny and Taylor fought together. That trip to New York has made them both rusty.
Taylor pulled out her Glass Daggers, but her thoughts were chattering away like a noisy storm. It's hard to concentrate while figuring out what is the best way to fight. Taylor also wondered why Jane wanted to battle so hard. What is she training for, really?
I have to get stronger, without the help from this symbol. Jane knew she could tell herself as many optimistic assurances as she wanted to, but the sinking feeling deep inside always managed to take over one way or another. This mark inside of her, something that Mainne calls lunastasis is capable of utilizing pure lunar magic without harm to herself. It can however cause great harm to those hit by it. But is that really what happened all of those times before, when it activated on its own and gave Jane a boost in stamina or healing? What happens if Danny is right, and she cannot control it as well as she wants to?
The Scarlet Syndicate gave her this power. Well, not really on purpose. So long as this mark remains on her, there is no possible way she can fight people fairly, right? Perhaps Danny and Taylor are evidence to the contrary. Maybe they can both really defeat her at full power, and prove that this symbol isn't all that dangerous. "Please, you two. Show me how strong you can be together." Jane didn't project her voice loud enough for them to hear at this distance, but she meant every word.
The people that Danton's team is fighting against, they're very powerful, and they use the forces of dark magic to reject the veil's protection on their targets. They're dangerous, and they could kill anybody with a single bolt of magic. Jane cannot be the only person left to protect Taylor from this threat. Danny knew that his job and duty as a Leray wielder is going to be protecting Taylor at all costs, and the only way to toughen up his abilities are to test them against somebody currently stronger than himself. Jane Venn, you may have the power to use lunar magic as Danton suggests, but that doesn't mean you are immune to damage. "Taylor? We're going to fight Jane together. Get ready!"
Taylor had not seen Danny this fired up in a long time. Is he really all that serious about making sure he doesn't lose a silly bet? Taylor had to wonder to herself what the reason is that she is so deeply involved in Leray magic. Sure, Leray magic is cool, but... Even Taylor knew that she was lying to herself earlier, to say that she enjoys this as much as Jane does. Jane is addicted to Leray magic and combat. What does Taylor really want out of this? It's hard to realize what you really want when you think back and realize that everyone has a desire for everything to be great or perfect. Helping Jane has always been a heavy goal since she first arrived in Sprawn Valley, and that is because we're the best of friends, but it has to be more than that. Taylor knew deep down how hard she has been trying to figure out this Banshee problem. How do you take care of an issue in a separate country without relying on magic to do so? It would help if her parents were on her side.
"Snap out of it Taylor," Danny barked. She seems to be locked in some kind of trance again. That's been happening twice as often since Danton announced war against the Scarlets. "I need you."
He really is serious about this battle. "I'm ready for this, Danny. Shall we then?!" Taylor has been ready the entire time. It's up to Jane's agreement to start the Siriean dome.
Jane prepared herself and her energy, generating the Siriean dome as well as her personal energy scope. Her friends did the same from the distance, while everyone already had their weapons drawn. As soon as the holographic text from the updated reward spoil system faded away, the battle begun.
Chapter Theme Shift:
"Let's strike first!" Danny shouted. Without even coordinating with Taylor, the first order of business will be to hit Jane before she could react. If she does use a power shield, there will be another way to counter it. Jane must already realize this by now. Danny charged up his MP energy quickly, but it wasn't ready to be released into the spell just yet.
"Air Strike!" Taylor already charged her MP energy from before, and released it into her spell. This area attack will prevent Jane from doing something crazy to dodge the attack, and as soon as the spell started, small projectiles began to rain down from above. As soon as they make contact with the ground all over Jane, each projectile will unleash an explosive payload of shrapnel.
"Earth Glave!" Danny was used to using Earth Glave, but Jane wouldn't see it coming from behind! Danny generated an Earth Glave to hit Jane from behind, which only required a little extra amount of MP energy and concentration. It looked as if Jane was about to move, but Danny's strategy and Taylor's timing proved to be an effective combo, because the first attack knocked Jane forward, straight into the effective downpour of explosive shrapnel. The combination worked because it was too fast for Jane, and the damage stats were proving how awesome that was.
Jane forced herself back up while ignoring the bruising pains everywhere, dragging out her dagger blades to reiterate her plans. For a simple combination attack, that was a very effective way to attack Jane, using her blind spots to their advantage, but these two obviously don't know who they're dealing with. Charging the energy into both of her daggers, Jane launched them forward with a great amount of energy, testing one of her newer skills. "Shotwhirl!" The daggers spun forward with a red disk of damage similar to Flying Guillotine, but Jane knew the difference.
Danny and Taylor tried to jump out of the way to dodge this, but as soon as the spinning arc came close enough to nearly graze their skin, the material stopped and shot out an explosive burst of pure energy bolts in all directions, several of them piercing through Danny's and Taylor's body like phased bullets. The damage and pain of this attack alone were devastating. Danny and Taylor both nearly screeched in pain while trying to hold their balance and stances ready. If Jane gets in more than one attack at a time, she will be the winner.
As soon as Jane received back her Rigel Rune dagger blades, she used only a small amount of energy, and initiated an invisible aura. "Charge Attack!" Jane began running forward on foot, brave and prepared to use her close combat tactics against the both of them.
Danny noticed it quickly however, while pulling out his Seeker T-sword for protection. "Get ready!" he hollered to Taylor. "We attack at her together!"
"I'm on it!" Taylor held up her Glass Daggers, a similar weapon to Jane, which might not be as powerful on a physical level, but Taylor has had some practice with these blades already. Now it's totally up to their speed and reaction timing. Taylor stood a few lines away from Danny, but not too close. If they get in each other's way, Jane will win it right here.
Jane lost her grin while running. Danny and Taylor are both standing their ground ready. They aren't afraid of anything anymore. Still, Jane knew her speed and style were more than enough to handle two fast enemies at once. "Raaagh!" Jane went first, slashing her daggers towards Danny in two places at once, using all of her momentum and force for an added effect of damage potential, but the loud clash of metal echoed out instead.
Danny blocked Jane's first strike with his saber, so perfectly placed as if he knew where Jane was going to strike. He then quickly pushed away with a spinning force, allowing himself to quickly spin, duck down, and swipe at Jane all in the same move. Jane however was just as fast, enough to jump away to avoid taking the hit. That's when Taylor involved herself as well, slashing upwards towards Jane, forcing her to block dagger blade against dagger blade.
Danny thus cut in with his sword, slashing Jane just lightly enough to deplete her health a few points, but his slash left him open to one of Jane's high kicks, launched at his lower stomach with enough kick to push him back. Jane then spun around twice while twirling her ankles in a certain direction. The motion allowed Jane to dodge Taylor's slashes and move in right behind her at the same time, thus did Jane get to cut into Taylor a couple of time before Danny jumped in again to stop her.
This crazy parade of close combat danger went on for more than a minute. Jane was losing all of her breath, even though she could hear it in her opponents at the same time. When did the two of them get so fast? When have they had the time to properly train with this much skill? Jane did everything she could using the tactics that she trained to use, but Danny and Taylor both were avoiding more than half of her physical hits, while Jane took a few stray cuts and punches as well. Against two targets at once, this fight was impossible to win!
Danny had to block another one of Jane's crazy speed attacks, having her slash her daggers in wild directions though coordinated enough to prevent Danny from blocking everything. He had to dodge some of the kicks as well, all while knowing when the right moment would be. It didn't always turn out in his favor. He figured that he of all three took the most amount of physical damage, but once Jane started to single him out and focus on Danny alone, he realized what more openings this left him with. Taylor isn't jumping in, but that can be helpful as well. "Power Blast!" Danny launched his charged sphere of energy quickly, slamming into Jane and sending her flying backwards by dozens of meters. The blast wave was powerful enough to force Danny to slide back in the grassy terrain, and knock the wind into Taylor as well, but Jane suffered the most since she just jumped into the air right before taking that attack. Danny watched as Jane was dug into the ground, her close combination sequence canceled. "I'll back you up Taylor!"
Taylor didn't know what Danny might try in order to help Taylor with her next attack, but it better be something excellent. It isn't always wise to rely on newly mastered spells to get the upper hand. It might fail to work, or backfire completely. Still, this is worth the risk! "Ice Rain!"
"Molecular Boost!" Danny held his arm out steady and controlled his MP dispersion carefully. He never heard of that spell before, but it should go smoothly with this boosting glyphring in front of Taylor's spell. He placed the support glyphring just in front of Taylor's left hand, since she was also using a glyphring of her own.
Taylor welcomed the support glyphring, since it will ensure her spell reaches Jane without a hitch. Jane is still getting herself together. She must hate it when Danny uses Power Blast or Push Wave against her, but this time, Jane will have something new to worry about. "Now!" Taylor coaxed the spell out of herself, launching the large and bright blue sphere of frozen water through her own glyphring. The bolt became twice as luminescent once it traveled through the center of Danny's support glyphring, the power level effects amplified. Taylor never got to test this out on a live target, but the moment was already exciting for her. Taylor couldn't give up on her concentration though, since this is one of the spells that requires focus all the way through.
The enlarged Ice Bolt zoomed quickly towards Jane, and homed in on her position. Just as Jane was standing prepared to dodge, the Ice Bolt suddenly shifted its course and flew higher above Jane's head instead. But instead of passing her for a near miss, the bolt of ice suddenly exploded in synchronization to Taylor's hand gesture, closing her palm with her fingers into a tightly compacted fist. At that moment, the bolt of ice exploded, shooting out hundreds of high energy frozen needles down to the ground, most of which penetrated through Jane was she stood there helpless and confused. Just like that, Jane's health took a massive dive, but the incredible shooting pain of high intensity needles got to Jane even faster. Since the element of ice was involved, Jane's entire body temperature also became dramatically lower, making her shiver in the absence of her own heat, and cringe in the painful aspect of this new spell. It hurts twice as bad as Needle Barrage, and the sensation sticks without fading too.
Taylor isn't the only one who can make up new spells during a battle. Jane shot away her pains as best as she could, focusing on her keen ability to warp her location while generating a particular aura around her. "I'll update my own skills to make sure you don't win. Dark Strike! Version 3!" Jane decided to change up an existing ability to get her own advantage against the two of them. She shot herself forward with the aura of Dark Strike, side slashing into Danny, then warping to side sweep into Taylor, but this time, Jane shut her aura down temporarily, following up her skill with a few physical kicks and slashes into Danny and Taylor both. Used just after they've taken a fair amount of damage from Dark Strike slashes, Jane knew they would fail to block or evade her hits due to their inability to focus right after receiving a painful gash at light speed. Jane entered her aura again, performing a similar action, warping twice to score a second hit on Danny and Taylor both. She stopped once more between both of them, launching a low powered Ice Ball directly into their faces. Jane then finished her skill by warping far away from the two of them. It was hard to concentrate this much with such little time to execute the skill while shutting on and off the same aura, but the results seemed to be a little more effective than before, while the MP cost in total remained unchanged.
Jane took another examination of herself, surprised by the minor though visible red gashes appearing underneath her dress sphere. Ice Rain really has this much power to it? Danny did boost the power level, but if these cuts appear this visible, shouldn't the energy scope report real time damage? No, this must still be Leray damage. Jane never realized until now how improving one's endurance over time also increases the amount of punishment a person can handle before entering vital drain, or something worse.
But now isn't the time for that. Danny and Taylor are becoming more aggressive now. Even after sustaining that damage, they're not even fazed from their exhaustion. Jane thus prepared more of her MP energy to be ready this time.
"Back me up!" Danny coordinated with Taylor, proving how effective team work is against Jane. "Crimson Blade Charge!" Danny knew how powerful his blade can be when he needed it to. The blade burst into red flames of special energy, all while Danny was charging forward on foot. Jane won't be able to resist the power level of a blade encased in magic flames!
Taylor charged her own energy more slowly, running in behind Danny. It wasn't certain what Jane might try to counter their move, but she began thinking of powerful ice elemental spells to use for the moment.
"Power Shield!" Jane knew there was going to be a good time to use it. After encasing herself in a transparent shielding aura, Jane expected the two of them to stop running to reassess their strategy. Instead,
"We've got her now!"
Jane felt more confused by the second. Danny and Taylor were still running towards her, despite the presence of her power shield. They can't really expect to overpower her aura, could they? They wouldn't be stupid enough to wait out the seven seconds it would take for the shield to fail on its own. Jane would be ready to counterattack the moment it drops. How is he so confident?!
Danny could feel Taylor dragging herself behind, but it was fine as long as they could both take down this shield. Jane cannot counterattack from dropping her shield during a moment where she is being attacked. Danny let out his gasps of strength as he slashed his blazing sword down into Jane's power shield. The strike created moderately sized holographic hexagons at the impact site, though Danny retracted his blade to try it again and again, putting all of his physical strength behind each sword slash. Danny followed up his plan with a lengthy combination attack, relentless against Jane's power shield.
At first Jane thought their idea wasn't going to work. Even though she knew Danny's combination attack with Crimson Blade would never be enough to break through her shielding aura, his eight hits so far were messing with her ability to concentrate on keeping the aura going. It wasn't too hard though, considering he was hitting her quickly as to not draw out the shield's natural time limit.
Danny jumped away with a spin after his ninth hit against the shield, instructing Taylor to go next. "Switch!" Danny got his distance away from the shield, and all while powering a new spell in his right hand with tremendous amounts of MP energy, something that would be needed to execute the high power level ability.
Taylor knew what Danny meant by switch. It was her turn to attack Jane while she was still shielded. Normally, Jane would have used this moment to drop her shield and stop Danny's secondary attack since he needs time to charge that energy and invoke his spell, but Jane cannot do anything now that Taylor is unleashing her own attack at a quick moment. Still rusty in her practice with some of her new spells, this one should have enough power behind it to get to Jane. "Ice Glave!" Inspired by Mainne's demonstrations of powerful ice spells, Taylor unleashed one of her own, a spell very similar to Earth Glave, using ice glaciers instead. The large chunks of ice slammed into Jane's personal aura with an incredible force. It wasn't as strong as Taylor wanted it to be, but the generation of hundreds of small hexagons all over the aura meant Taylor had done it. In the last second ending Taylor's attack spell, Jane's personal shield collapsed downward to the ground, leaving her drained of her stamina.
That's when Danny decided to strike. "Prone Strike!" The Shadow Wave aura Danny launched in Jane's direction was already close to his position, thus did he and Taylor back away the moment the spell invocation was successfully used. As expected, Jane was helpless to do anything about the Shadow Wave coming towards her. At the moment before impact, the entire Shadow Wave jumped into the air above Jane, and exploded into a high energy barrage seeping through her skin. That ability is Prone Strike, and it can deal a lot of damage to a single target.
Jane felt the burning and bruising sensations everywhere following up the explosive damage done to her, a blast that knocked her backwards and into the ground. Her face drilled into the earth with the sheer force of the blast wave, and Jane had to pull herself back up from a heavy attack yet again. These two are showing such effective coordination. Danny is remembering his last defeat, and using what he learned already to exploit Jane's weaknesses. Meanwhile, Taylor is a good supporter in a moment's notice.
Jane shook her head, trying to focus. There are spells that she knows how to use, spells that will always get the best of them in battle. There is always a way to win! "Stalagmite!" Jane unleashed her ability with her right glowing hand, using extra MP to force the spell through since there usually needs to be a ceiling for the ability to spawn the massive stalagmites to come crashing down on her targets, but as expected, Danny and Taylor utilized a special energy, creating thin auras around their feet, and enabling them the ability to jump impossibly high into the air. They both have seen Jane jump on top of these stalagmites before, so of course they would try something similar.
But the idiots don't realize what mistake they've just made. "Zero Zone!" The moment Jane shouted her skill and unleashed her energy, the aura of a colorless time void shot outward from Jane at the speed of light, freezing everything in time except for herself, and making it harder to see. Jane could catch up to them now. Danny and Taylor are both currently standing on top of separate stalagmites, which also are now frozen in time. Jane followed up with her plan, shooting out two non-elemental energy bolts towards each targeted stalagmite in order to break up and destroy the structure. She then calculated where Danny and Taylor would fall down from the moment Zero Zone ends, and charged both of her hands with each a separate electrical glyphring, draining most of her remaining MP energy. "Electro-Blast!" Just as Jane shot off the energy bolts, she intentionally shut down Zero Zone's aura, and waited for the results, but she waited with a third tactical advantage.
Energy Cycle. Jane didn't need to chant the name aloud anymore, so her entire body was now coated with a purple aura that will increase her natural MP regeneration, giving her more time to use powerful magic spells. Neither one of them can do the things Jane knew she is capable of.
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As soon as the stalagmites of Jane's choosing broke apart, Danny and Taylor both found themselves falling down off their balance, Jane's interruption too quick to counter. Then, an Electro-Blast sphere each slammed into Danny and Taylor while they were beginning to fall down, the bolts each expanding instantly into the sphere used in a Thunder Flare spell. The attack electrocuted both of them, keeping them high in the air during the discharge and zapping their nerves of their energy. As soon as the attack was over, Danny and Taylor were both so stunned from the powerful shock, that they crashed into the ground without the necessary consciousness alert level needed to try and break their fall or protect themselves. A short-term of low-grade paralysis got the better of both of them, and Jane assessed her current plan while waiting on her aura to rack up MP energy for her to use again.
Though it took more time than before for Danny and Taylor to recover themselves, Jane wasn't actively attacking either one of them. She needed to milk that Energy Cycle for everything it is worth. By the time Danny and Taylor were back on their feet, it was finally time to invent new strategies to take Jane out.
"Taylor," Danny instigated. "Another boost please."
Taylor didn't know what Danny was about to do, but he was specifically asking her to use Molecular Boost on his next spell. Luckily, Taylor is good at using that skill too. "Molecular Boost."
"Spirit Arrow!" Danny generated the bow and arrow into his hands since he didn't have a bow to switch to. Then he loaded the arrow, infused with spirit elemental energy. It should do a small amount of HP damage to Jane, but more so should it confuse or disorient her. Who knows how it will react with another Molecular Boost aura?
When Danny released the arrow, it immediately traveled through the center of Taylor's special glyphring. Instead of improving the power level, the arrow's flight speed instantly shot up to the speed of a bullet, piercing straight into Jane's left shoulder over the distance. Because of her Energy Cycle aura, Jane lost a small amount of HP and gained a larger amount of MP from that spell.
"Now!" Danny charged forward with his blade, needing no aura to be able to reach Jane this time. Taylor followed behind Danny with her dagger blades, soon realizing how different this Charge Attack sequence is going to be.
Jane suddenly watched Danny and Taylor disappear into a mist, then reappear again even closer, a phenomena that continued to happen on and off. She knew instantly what this was. While the pain in her shoulder wasn't that intense, spirit elemental damage can have this psychological effect on the person affected, but Jane has dealt with this kind of confusion before. There are more than two ways of dealing with targets she cannot visually track. "Gyrobreak!"
The earth quaked violently, while the ground felt as though it were shifting planes on a fulcrum. Jane could see Danny and Taylor struggling to keep their balance now, easier to track them due to their lowered mobility. Jane then took care of them with a follow up area attack spell, driving her MP back downward to a dangerous level while disrupting her Energy Cycle aura. "Fiery Plume!"
Admits the loud quaking of the earth, small explosions of geysers shooting out hot fire lifted from below, landing into Danny and Taylor both. Danny knew Taylor was hit when he could hear her loud and painful shriek of painful first degree burns, but Danny was being hit with this painful spell too. It divided his attention for the entire time Gyrobreak and Fiery Plume lasted.
Danny turned to Taylor, who shared with him a glimmer in their eyes. Her determination to win this is perfectly fit for Danny's barrage of well-executed plans. Jane won't be able to stop them if they both have the same boosted power levels. "Now to each other." Danny held out his hand with a glowing aura familiar to them both. "Molecular Boost!"
Taylor had to guess what Danny wanted by his words. "To each other?" she repeated. Danny must want to try and stretch Molecular Boost to its limitations. It works on personal aura too with enough practice, not just individual spells. Taylor thus held out her left hand aiming at Danny, mirroring the same spell. "Molecular Boost!"
Jane watched in amazement to yet another new kind of power. Danny and Taylor are using Molecular Boost on each other at the exact same time. It's a known fact that you cannot chain multiple uses of Molecular Boost, but they're not using it in that way.
"Crimson Blade!" Danny charged his saber with a red fiery aura with power unseen to his eyes before. The aura was much thicker, making the blade heavy with magic.
"Power Drill!" Using an artificial name for an unofficial skill, Taylor copied Danny, infusing both of her dagger blades with non-elemental energy to give them a bright, thick glow for damage potential. Then at the same time, they both charged forward at Jane, their energy potential raised to an unknown level.
It was enough to panic Jane into using another Power Shield. Danny knew how to make short work of these by now, but Jane wasn't sure what was going to happen anymore. Her attempt to block out the damage is all she had to defend herself.
Taylor practically jumped blade first into Jane's shielding aura, while Danny took a massive swing of the glowing blade in the same direction. The moment both of their weapons impacted against the shield, Jane felt a kind of drain she wasn't expecting to experience so soon. The tiny hexagons forming everywhere from their double strike collapsed Jane's shield in one blow, and she nearly fell to the floor from the loss of focus and energy.
Danny didn't stop there however. He continued slashing into Jane relentlessly, switching with Taylor, who used magically charged dagger blades to add damage into Jane. The combination against Jane was different this time, as she could offer little to no resistance. In short of a few slashes to the target, both of their efforts knocked Jane down into the ground. With Jane's stats now so low, it was affecting her desire to continue battling.
Though Jane couldn't tell, Danny and Taylor retreated to a safer area, exhausted by their constant attacks and heavy energy usage. As for Jane, she was facing a new problem. A whirling hazy sensation came over her, and the inside of her head felt heavier, as if pressure were added around her skull. With that, a tingling sensation emerged strongly at the top of her right hand. Jane knew she had no choice but to try and block it.
"What?"
"Look at that!" Danny didn't want to point it out, but the very thing he feared was now happening right in front of him. Jane's right hand is glowing like a sun right now, so bright and easy to detect. All of the people gathering outside the dome shield would see this too, even though they should already know this fact about Jane by now. Her symbol is activating against her control.
Chapter Theme Shift:
"More energy! More stamina! I'm not going to faint from battle!" Uncertain of the words she was saying, Jane was now giving into the natural ability installed to her genetic structure, lunastasis. The symbol finally revealed itself in a strong holographic display above her right hand, revealing the mark once again to everyone around her, but Jane couldn't think about anything else right now, only the parameters of battle! She stood back up on her feet gracefully, rejuvenated from the cure of the mark.
Danny and Taylor exchanged a nervous glance with each other briefly. She had to ask for confirmation whether this is safe anymore. "Do you still want to fight her with that kind of advantage?"
Danny knew he made Jane promise to forfeit the match if that symbol allows her to cheat... But even with that symbol working to heal her stats, there is always a way to win against such odds. I need to be stronger! "Does it look like I'm ready to give up?" Taylor's expression seemed to be oddly satisfied upon Danny's rhetorical question, and now wasn't the time to ask.
Jane charged a clear green aura around her body, enhancing her invocation speed by a factor of four. "I'm going to make you wish you had given up sooner!" Utilizing the effective aura of Blitz, Jane chained her next several skills behind it for improved effectiveness and speed. Her energy drained much faster than before, but that is because these next set of spells is designed to be overkill. "Photon Burst!" Jane unleashed her Photon Burst spell, causing it to rain down blue photons of non-elemental energy over a wide area to cover Danny and Taylor together, but just to make sure they don't get to try anything to dodge it, Jane activated another skill with her glowing daggers ready, prepared to continue the battle despite her bright glowing symbol revealing itself to everyone. "Dark Strike!"
Danny miscalculated only one thing. Upon Jane's symbol activation, she might get a little more aggressive than what is recommended for a Leray battle. While he and Taylor were being bombarded by a Photon Burst barrage, he also got to feel the stinging heavy force of a light speed slash coming from Jane's second version of Dark Strike.
Jane turned herself into a single line of light, warping over and over until she scored additional damages to Danny and Taylor using her blades and special speed auras. As soon as her Dark Strike had ended, she warped to another safe distance with her Blitz aura still active, and spawned one large Shadow Wave for each free hand she had, one for Danny, and one for Taylor. By the time those two got themselves back up, they were too late to dodge or block the Shadow Waves, or so Jane thought.
Danny at least got smart enough to try and use his saber to block the Shadow Wave, shoving it into the earth and holding his strength against it, but the Shadow Wave was stronger this time, and it blew Danny backwards, stumbling on his feet in a failing attempt to hold his balance strong against Jane's relentless attacks.
Caught off guard, Jane carefully tracked Danny's failed attempt to block the Shadow Wave, even though he did get a slightly reduced damage sentence for trying it. Jane made short work of that effort by creating a bright purple colored glyphring around her right wrist, one indicating the use of spirit elemental energy. "Spirit Bolt!" By the moment Jane successfully launched her Spirit Bolt, her crest lost all its light and stopped functioning to help out her stats in battle. The instantaneous healing only affected her the moment the symbol came online, with the dramatic boost in focus being the effect of the crest's current assistance.
Danny finally recovered, but not quick enough to do anything about the Spirit Bolt about to slam into his face in the next second. "Cold Spin!" Taylor intervened just in time, launching her own Cold Spin twister attack to spawn just in front of Danny without damaging him at the same time. As a result, the Spirit Bolt was quickly swept away and dissolved into useless energy. Of course, Taylor's Cold Spin wasn't going to harm Jane Venn either, but it did buy the both of them some more time, despite their heavy damages.
Covered and protected by a temporary twister shooting out freezing air, Danny and Taylor huddled together for another new plan, which might end up being their last one if it fails to take Jane down in the next shot. That symbol really is something useful to her. Danny put his sword into his back hilt, freeing up both of his hands. "Get ready Taylor! I'm going to throw you!"
Taylor almost winced with how reckless that idea is, but she complied upon realizing which spell she could personally combine to make this work against Jane.
Danny held out his hand, grabbing Taylor's firmly. His strength was already above average given all of the practice he had holding that heavy blade, though lifting Taylor into a spin was something even more challenging. Danny however pulled it off, lifting Taylor off the ground while rotating his alternating feet to drag her around for extra momentum. As soon as the angle was correct, Danny let Taylor go in a desperate attempt for a final strike against Jane.
"Flash Kick!" Taylor had her own way of making sure this would work, the white aura around her feet creating a blunt damage modifier, while the invisible aura around her body accelerated her movement speed tenfold. She quickly became a shooting bolt of light drilling through the tornado of her own spell, emerging from the other side quick enough to surprise Jane. Taylor flew through the air at a tremendous speed, her feet far out as the weapon force to be used in conjunction with her flying kick. Taylor ended up using a naturally boosted Flash Kick against Jane, landing her glowing shoe straight into Jane's stomach, and knocking her back by several meters, while Taylor fell on the ground with little resistance or damage.
Jane sunk to her knees frozen by the pain of that unexpected blow to her stomach, and having the wind knocked out of her for a temporary blockage to inhale more air. But even in this condition, Jane launched powerful bolts of energy from her hand towards Danny without effort.
"Summon Hell!" Danny already charged his saber with fiery energy after throwing Taylor; now it was time to hit Jane while she is down. Danny slashed his sword through the air sideways, launching three fiery bolts of energy forward at a quick speed. One of the three bolts intercepted Jane's magic bolt attack, causing it to explode, while the other two went on and slammed into Jane while she was already down and exhausted.
Even before Danny could calculate the damage of that impact, he knew his last attempt wasn't good enough to defeat Jane. Taylor was already backing up quickly to obtain a better distance. Danny knew what to do next. "Another new spell." He'll just have to have faith that this skill will work without ever testing it extensively. "Juvinile!" Using a made up moniker to a made up spell, Danny combined elements of Star of Darkness, Downstrike, Laser Storm, and Power Drain all into one super spell. Its invocation speed is also unmatched by anything he has ever worked with before.
Once Danny unleashed Juvinile, Jane found herself sitting on top of a holographic circle, about half the size of Star of Darkness, and designed in the center with an unusual kind of artistic marking. Then, eight electrical arcs of energy covered the ends of the surrounding circle, with two arcs high and low connected to the same circle to trap Jane in and surrounded her with electrical energy. Whatever this spell is, she knew this was not a recognized ability. Before she could shield again, Jane was suddenly bombarded from above by hot painful lasers barraging from the same spell, each of which were equally painful enough to stop her from moving or interacting entirely. As soon as the laser barrage ended, Jane noticed that the surrounding electrical arcs were moving closer to the center of the circle, closer to her.
Just then, Jane was hit again with two bolts of energy which, instead of dealing any damage to her, drained her of all of stamina in the same instance. The next moment later, all eight bolts of electrical energy began zapping Jane's health away in a painful electrocution lasting for 2.7 seconds. By the time the electrocution ended and the circle underneath her faded, Jane found herself drained and unable to move from the stunning effect of electricity.
Danny noted already how much trouble he was now in with his MP counter reaching zero. He already felt lightheaded and dizzy. Luckily for him, Taylor was backing up for a good reason.
"Storm Echo!" With Taylor waiting out Danny's spell long enough to invoke her own, she had to ignore how cool it was to see something new coming from Danny, and her Storm Echo skill should finally put Jane to sleep once and for all! Twenty glyphrings all surrounded Jane from random positions and angles in the air surrounding her. Once Jane realized what was about to happen to her, it was already too late. Taylor unleashed her payload of twenty separate Thunderbolts, all sequencing one after the other, over and over, the timing followed by the noise shocking Jane numerous times and adding meaning behind the name of the official spell. The sounds of Thunderbolt echo out over and over with a dramatic effect. Taylor knew this would drain all of her remaining MP energy, but it would all be worth it now.
Jane could see herself trembling, in her arms and in her legs. She already felt like she was at the brink at passing out, but even right now, even after having her energy drained, she could read the other two energy scopes in the distance. Those two have drained themselves of MP energy, and she hasn't! Jane stood back up, disregarding her intense pain, and she thought of the only way remaining to win, to defeat her enemies once and for all.
"You're open!" Jane drew her daggers out, and charged forward in a wild sprint to catch up to them. Danny and Taylor both weren't sure what to do in that moment, but Jane could tell that Taylor was attempting a weapon switch to use her arrow techniques, while Danny was planning to hold his ground with that saber. It won't work. "Firesurge!" Jane unleashed a fiery Shadow Wave in Taylor's direction, then shifted her aim and balance to target Danny, matching her focal point of vision perfectly with his position. "Mize!" Jane's right hand created an instant glyphring which fired a burning beam of color faster than any other known spell. Mize fired a beam of energy similar to Splice, drilling through Danny's body like paper, and sending him to the ground. Taylor was also slammed by that Firesurge attack, launching her backwards. Even after that double attack, they still had some health in them. Jane's thoughts began racing faster, her heart pounding in an attempt to keep her conscious.
They've still got health! They've still got potential! Jane held in the last of her MP energy, charging it into an unusual sphere of energy building in between both palms of her hands, but it put an enormous stress on her everywhere else.
Danny couldn't believe it! Jane hit them both last, and now he and Taylor are at Vital Drain status. Any additional damage done to either of them could be dangerous, potentially lethal... So why is Jane charging more spells?
Taylor noticed it before Danny did. Jane's empty and confused eyes; she isn't paying attention to her surroundings anymore, curtsey of her own low stats maybe? "Jane! We give up!" Given everything Taylor just said, the Siriean dome around them collapsed quickly, with the reward spoil system text showing up for a brief moment.
This sentiment however didn't change what Jane was about to do. Danny couldn't really imagine why she would still threaten to harm both of them even after she promised not to lose control again. She must be forgetting where she really is. Danny stood up slouched, barely conscious himself, but he tried desperately to stop Jane Venn before everything ends in a very unfortunate accident. "Jane! Stop this! We're not your enemy!"
"You wouldn't hurt your friends, would you?" Taylor knew her added words might not reach Jane. In reality, Jane never threw her energy sphere. Instead, she seemed to be frozen, holding the ball of light until it dispersed in her hand, Jane drained of energy and unable to sustain it.
My friends? They're... "Danny... And Taylor." Jane held an expression of detachment from reality, but her thoughts were finally beginning to stabilize again. Danny and Taylor are here. This is the battle Jane is in right now.
Jane didn't seem to be very responsive anymore, so Danny let his body relax. Was she really about to launch that heavy attack at them both? Jane, did you almost lose control again?
Chapter Theme Shift:
The realization came to Jane several silent moments later. The color of their energy scopes have changed, and Vital Drain status was being reported. Even after checking her own, Jane's energy scope was normal and orange despite her low stats. "Ah! What am I doing?!" Jane realized another moment later that the dome shield around them was already disabled. Guilt panicked her rapidly as Jane struggled to use her trembling hands to reach her supply sphere, and pull out three healing orbs. She used one on herself first to regenerate her stats, more of a precautionary measure to stay sane before something else could happen. Jane then rushed to her two friends with healing orbs prepared in each hand.
"I'm so sorry you two!" Jane's face began glowing red with worry, but Danny and Taylor were still conscious enough to speak and move, even with the lowest stats.
Danny and Taylor both used the healings orbs as Jane gave it to them, and by the time their stats returned to normal only seconds later, Danny let Jane have it. "Idiot. What are you apologizing for?"
Holding back her gasp, Jane refused to let herself off the hook for this. It was so hard to remember right now, but Jane felt so hazy a moment ago, more like she was angered into a state of auto-pilot. "But I almost brought you both harm! Why didn't you stop the battle when you saw my symbol activate?"
Speaking of which, Danny became a bit more nervous when remembering the presence of all of the spectators watching. They weren't clapping or cheering this time. Instead, they were huddling together, whispering in people's ears, some of them rushing off like they'd seen a ghost. All of them witnessed Jane's symbol activating, and perhaps a few of them have never seen it before. But that isn't the biggest concern right now.
"I told you," Danny reminded "I couldn't resist a tougher challenge."
Jane finally lost her nerve, and slapped Danny one, her hand stinging to his jaw. How could he be so blind?! "I wasn't in the right frame of mind anymore, stupid! I could have killed you both!"
"And you didn't!" Danny reminded.
Taylor had to drag Jane back away from Danny, before they both get into a fight. Taylor couldn't agree with him on this. They should have called the match way earlier than she did before. Jane wasn't coming to her senses even with the Siriean dome put down, and that proves that what she was seeing and processing in her head were two very different things. Was that the low stats to her energy scope causing this? Or is it this thing inside of her? "Stop fighting! It isn't going to happen again." Taylor had to look Jane in the eyes for this. Her face is so full of shame, it's clear she didn't mean to get carried away. "We're not going to die."
Jane knew she should have listened to Danny earlier. Why did he ignore his own warning in the middle of battle? "I couldn't stop this stupid crest from activating again. I don't even know what happened to me."
Danny didn't dare share his dark theories with Jane, less it only serve to panic her into paranoia. It's very obvious what might be happening to Jane. Her symbol is a dangerous weapon, one that amplifies the abilities of the user, but only by pushing them to their limits. He has seen this symbol activate before. And every single time it does...
Danny flashed back every intense battle he got to witness. Jane's symbol wouldn't always activate, but every time it did, she fought five times harder, as if her life was on the line. No, it's even worse than that. She's put into a mixed state of aggression or stress. In that moment, it is too easy for her to mix up the difference between an opponent and an enemy. That night in New York only adds to the proof before him today. Jane's symbol, when activated makes her far more aggressive than anything else ever could. It's amazing she can even fight with something so strong pushing her stats so high. It's unnatural!
So of course she may lose her mind during battle. Jane will simply let that marking do all of the hard work for her. If she loses focus even for a second, her mind will belong to that power too, as if melting into some personal madness. It's a form of unconscious fighting, as far as Danny could theorize. And yes, this was a dangerous idea, to fight Jane while her symbol was active. It was stupid, and Danny knew he deserved more than a slap on the face... But Jane doesn't need that kind of worry right now. She cannot handle it. "Don't get all bent out of shape! We're all to blame for ignoring that potential threat. Besides, what's even to show for it when Taylor and I both lost anyway?"
"You just don't get it!" Jane was speaking through her teeth, ready to throw magic at Danny anyway. Taylor seemed shyer about it than Jane predicted. "You don't understand how much it would kill me inside if I end up causing either of you real harm."
Danny knew all too well, and yet, during the fun of battle, he let that responsibility slip out the door. Even now, he isn't doing anything to prove Nyar wrong, or to ease Jane's frustrations. There is no other option left then. Danny let out a heavy regretful sigh. "I'm really sorry, both of you." Danny didn't want to have to present himself this way, but there isn't any other way to calm her down now. "I promised not to let this battle get carried away, yet I did." Taylor was about to interrupt, attempting to share that blame with him. "We're both going to figure this out Jane."
Figure what out? Jane felt relieved after Danny proved that he really is sorry about this. It can be hard to understand him sometimes, but this is also Jane's fault for failing to control her own symbol.
Danny elaborated on what he meant given Jane's confusion. "You're not going to be controlled by some dumb symbol for all your life. I already promised you this several weeks ago, though I doubt you've remembered. Meanwhile, we'll watch over you to make sure you get that support."
He sounds like a councilor right now. Jane held back her laughter, but failed when her thoughts circled back to the bet he just lost. Taylor found her reaction confusing, and Danny found it worrisome. "I can forgive you Danny. After all, we're going to have a fun day in Gross City playing dress up!"
"Grhmmmm." Danny rejected his stare to Jane for bringing that back up. That was the other only way of calming Jane down, having her humiliate himself, which doesn't make any sense to him. "I guess we did kind of botch that battle."
Taylor exhaled with a close laughter, and remembered the fun bet Danny had on the line. "Don't blame me for losing," she reminded.
Jane found it strange that in spite of their failure, they really don't understand how close they were if Jane's symbol had to come online. Her stats were very low at the end, compared to both of theirs. "You both almost defeated me. Or did you forget?"
But Danny and Taylor were both in denial this time, assuring Jane that they were not even close. "Come on Jane! We both went into vital drain while you mopped the floor with us. Even if you would have stopped attacking, we both would have given up anyway because of the red energy scopes."
Taylor is right, but also wrong. Jane stared at her right hand while proving to Taylor that it was never that simple. "If it weren't for my symbol, you both would have beaten me fair and square. I never thought you would get so close to defeating me in battle, even as I went all out holding nothing back." Jane knew her slight praise was accepted when they went silent and modest. "You're both a lot tougher than I thought. I know that we teamed up together and defeated that Gaia creature in Alpha Zero, but even now, you've both improved so much."
Are we really that impressive to Jane? Danny found it strange, Jane giving him any praise at all. Perhaps he really is catching up to her level. Though most of his new skills were a large coin toss. With new spells, it can be hard to correctly invoke the ability, more so to do it quickly. With Jane to fight against, there is plenty of urgency to get it right the first or second time. Maybe Jane is right. "You know Jane, I..." Danny couldn't see it any other way. A person by themself can only be as powerful as they train, but a team of wielders fighting either together or right beside each other, it does something wonderful to people. There isn't any other feeling like it in the world. "I think that—"
"What are you doing out here?!" Everyone looked to him, the guy in uniform hovering closely to the three young adults planted into the grass. They all stood up nervously upon his arrival, but it was also clear that nobody recognized him, as they wouldn't.
Danny stood up, but he held his tongue with caution. It wasn't hard to tell that this man is a Leray agent, given the badge and uniform. However, he is also a stranger, and that makes him untrustworthy enough. What is a man like him doing here? Does he know Danton? He seems to know who Danny's team are. Either way, that wasn't the only concern Danny now had. He remembered now that the few people who stuck around to watch the battle were now also wondering that that symbol business was about earlier. A couple of fans were already shouting out that Jane is marked.
The stranger introduced himself, seeing it necessary. "I'm Clint. I'm one of the agents tasked with repairing Gross City, but I'm also a messenger for Danton. Now why do I find the three of you blasting magic around when you should be reporting in to your boss?"
Who does this guy think he is? Danny stopped Jane from replying to this piece of work. "Last time I checked, flaunting Leray magic around is still legal. Besides," Danny pointed directly to the agent. "You say you're a messenger for Danton, but how do we know any of us can trust that you don't work for someone else?"
Jane and Taylor looked at Danny, uncertain if they should agree with his precautions. When is too much uncertainty too much?
"I see," he realized. They really want to play this game right now? "Well, we could simply walk into the Leray agency located in Tilsit Port, present my credentials, and prove that I am who I say I am."
Sounds like a lot of work. Jane didn't announce that little detail though.
"Or, you could all just do your jobs, and allow me to teleport you three back to Eldora Tower. I realize that there are not many pending clean-up tasks for you do to here anymore. However, that doesn't mean you're services are not needed. Danton has been bothering me to take you back to his chambers for the past two hours. You never waited in front of the north exit as instructed."
He seems real enough. Danton is the kind of person who would pester his own staff to make sure something gets done. If the guy is willing to present his own document before a building full of Leray agents, he can't be a liar. Jane felt it is best to just agree with the guy and find out what Danton wants.
"What does Danton want now?" Danny knew he had to ask.
"I'm not sure what a champion of Leray magic would want with three teenagers. However, it must be something urgent, judging by the fact that he wants me to drop everything I'm doing just to teleport you three to him."
Urgent? Danny felt a dark wave of dread wash over him. "What happened now?" Sprawn Valley really can't just be a peaceful place for twenty four hours? Must something always come up so urgently? Danton, what kind of war are you starting with these guys?