Minutes ticked by slowly as both, Asuna and Raizo, laid on the chilly ground - unconscious. As an answer to some kind of prayer, rain slowly started drizzling over the area from the dark grey clouds. Where were the others by now? Why aren't they coming out already?
Those were the questions that floated in the rainy air with the two misty men steadily approaching the two of them with their long nails leaving lengthy trails along the moist mud. One of them grumbled dully every time he took a step forward, steadily closing in the distance dividing these 2 parties.
Oh, how much fun he would have! The original body-less man couldn't exhibit his excitement, but indeed, deep down, he was dying from happiness. The other one followed in a rhythm as he merrily slithered forward.
Just as one of them was only a few feet away from Asuna and Raizo, a blue spirit flame shot towards his direction, blocking his path and generating an enormous pit. The man cocked his head to the side, looking dumbfounded and confused.
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From within the shadows came Yuichi, along with Mizore. Mizore hurriedly jumped off her icy path and searched the surroundings for Raizo and Asuna. Yuichi quickly transformed into the wolf and readied his hands with the flames burning majestically.
Mizore gasped aloud as soon as she spotted Raizo and Asuna - running towards them in alarm. Yuichi looked her way for only a millisecond before shifting his gaze towards the two men figures as they glided his way.
"...Figures, burn into ashes!"
Following his incantation, numerous amounts of spirit flames shot towards the mists, burning them towards the ground. Yuichi smiled slightly, but just as quickly as the men fell, they stood up, unharmed.
"...Tch..." Yuichi whispered.
"Heyyy, Yuu-nii! Mind if we join you?"
From above the dull sky appeared Natsuno, who was closely followed by Nikki. They elegantly landed in front of the annoyed Yuichi, sinking their feet in the riled up mud.
"...Be my guest." Yuichi answered with a faint grin as he motioned forward.
"I will take you with me to the depths of the Earth!!!" Nikki shouted as she summoned her spear from thin air, and readied it with burning eyes.
"Hey, don't go hogging all the fun!" Natsuno pouted, but Nikki just winked with a giggle before dashing towards one of the body-less figures.
Giving no reaction time to the man, Nikki thrust her spear right at the heart spot and violently twisted it before using the marbled earth to throw the man in the rainy sky like a rocket.
If only Asuna and Raizo were awake to see the heroic fight folding in front of them...
"Well, well, that's pretty good. But not as good as me!" Natsuno spoke in a boasting tone as he took off towards the other man.
Instead of taking the man head-on, Natsuno drew towards the clouded sky with the help of his wind powers, and summoned his bow and arrow. Within seconds, countless arrows hurled towards the figure, piercing through his misty flesh.
Both of them plummeted down on the ground, not moving or jerking a single muscle. As soon as Natsuno descended down, he gave Yuichi and Nikki a big high-five.
"Everyone! Come quick!" Mizore yelled as soon as the siblings rejoiced.
With a terrible feeling, they all jogged up to Mizore. As soon as the four came near the shrubs area, what they were greeted by was the unconscious Asuna and Raizo. Both were deeply wounded, their blood washing away with the rain and staining the ground beneath.
"Did those misty forms hurt them this much?" Nikki asked quietly.
"It seems so, but Asuna has different wounds than Raizo. See here? It can't be the same person..." Mizore analyzed as she pointed at various parts.
Natsuno continued in an anxious tone, "Then, do you think... there's someone else here?!"
"Before anything, let's carry these two out of here." Mizore replied back as she gave Yuichi a confirmed nod.
Instead of healing them at the open area, Mizore thought it best to first move them out of sight. Just as Yuichi was about to carry Raizo while Mizore and Nikki were going to hold Asuna, they felt an evil presence.
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*NATSUNO'S POV*
Nikki and I shrieked as soon as we turned around, only to be faced by, this time, four misty figures. We were equalized! Yuu-nii irritatingly rolled his eyes while Mii-nee sighed.
"...They sure are persistent." Yuu-nii muttered.
"Drat! I thought I got him for sure!" I complained.
"Well, at least I wasn't foolish enough to fall for that. I knew it wouldn't be over that quick." Nikki argued back which kind of annoyed my nerves.
At moments like these, I don't even know how we are related! Everybody thinks that we get along well, but they don't know about the amount of fights we have every single day! Nikki can be such a bossy girl at times...
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Anyways, no time thinking about that! It's back to the current situation.
There, mysteriously standing in front of us, were the men figures. It's as if they were immortal or something! I mean, they just came out of the blue, and so randomly without any signal or warning!
Can't us heroes EVER laze around? Looks like the saying 'A hero's job never ends' is true after all.
Without any further comments, the figures jolted our way, each one targeting one of us. I jumped upwards, but before I could even fall back, the misty form took me by my foot and spun me round and round as if I was in a tornado. I managed to blow him away somehow though.
If it wasn't for my wind powers, I barely would have survived! I fell on the ground, dizzy. When I poked my head up, I saw that everyone was having a hard time.
These creatures have gotten like ten times stronger than before! I am not kidding!
I gritted my teeth slightly, got up in a hurry, and flew upwards - this time without the hand clinging onto my foot.
Finally!
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I, once again, opened my palms and summoned a wind arrow towards the form, but he absorbed it like it was nothing! How dare he make me look like a weakling?!
"...Be careful everyone! ...Every time you kill them, they reproduce into double more. ...Plus, they can also evolve themselves!" Yuu-nii shouted as he explained from below.
Everyone couldn't believe their ears for a second, but it was my answer that snapped them back.
"Okay! Everyone, on guard!" I warned while directing my right hand in front of me as a commanding gesture.
"Natsu, since when were YOU the leader?" Nikki asked rather harshly.
"I-I was just following Yuu-nii! You don't have to nag me for everything, okay?!" I shot back as I glided down, completely distracted during the fight.
That's when it happened...
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Nikki was also preoccupied in arguing with me that she didn't even see the creature flicking his long, misty arm towards her back, making her momentarily hit me. We both fell on the ground, hard.
I moaned in pain.
"Are you okay...?" I did manage to ask with a mild smirk though.
Nikki slowly looked at me as she nodded, sounding unsure. She clutched her spear as she lazily stood up, and I did the same. We both got ready as soon as the two mists crawled our way. Nikki hastily jumped up to one of them even if I shouted 'don't!'
The man shielded himself and Nikki bounced off of him.
"See?! I told you to wait, moron!"
I scolded as I ran up to her, but before I could give out my hand, she simply answered, sulking "Ughhh, quit ordering me around! You aren't the boss of me nor you ever will! This is why I prefer Rai-nii over you!"
"W-Wha--!!!"
That explosive speech did hurt me a little.....
Can you believe her?! I am only a few hours older than her, you know! She is still a big baby in front of my eyes! She should learn to have more respect! I mean, come on!
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I couldn't move or speak for a while. I just stared at the ground while Nikki, once again, tried slashing the man, each time harder than before. She even incorporated fire like slashes to burn him a couple times.
Since I was so dazed by Nikki's words, I didn't even notice the other creature bolting my way until he smashed me towards the ground with his long hand, and then pressed his foot on my stomach. Coughing blood, I couldn't even breathe which was slowly draining away my strength... I tried pulling on his leg, digging my nails deep into the mist, but all was futile.
"Anhhh...! Get... your foot off of m-me!"
I kept trying to break free, but the man's hold was too strong. I even tried unleashing sharp winds or trying to hover heavy debris on him, but the figure always defended himself with the black, invisible shield.
Seeing as I wasn't going to give up soon, the man grabbed my neck from his free hand, suffocating me with all his might. He really was planning on fighting me seriously, or wait! Killing me instead!
My vision started to warp and twist, and I lost the ability to think straight. My wind died down, falling even the lightest of debris. I could hear Nikki in the distance, but my consciousness wouldn't give me a chance to understand what she was saying...
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"Nat.... Ho..... on...."
I could also hear the man growling creepily as he slid his foot down my stomach, before the field of darkness enveloped my vision.
~To be continued...