"Well, shit" Orpheus stared at the large white tiger that was looming over him. "I can't do this shit no more"
[You little brat. Have a little faith, will ya?]
The circular wave that Orpheus had released beforehand began to rotate violently as it got closer to the colossal tiger.
~Even with the spinning, what can it do to a lightning of that size? ~ Orpheus sighed as he began to lose hope.
[Shoot a fire bolt at the rotating sword wave. Now!]
Orpheus condensed fire and lightning in his palm and shot it at the sword wave. The fire and lightning merged with the sword wave, increasing its speed and magnitude by a large margin
"I can't see it anymore" Orpheus peered in the direction that the sword wave was travelling
[It's spinning so fast that it has begun to drag the space with it. That's really surprising]
The lightning tiger released a roar that sounded like the rumbling of thunder and began to run towards the sword wave before jumping into the air. The spinning sword wave jumped towards the tiger as if it had a mind of its own. The two of them faced each other before colliding head-on in the air.
*Kaboom*
A large shockwave was released into the atmosphere, clearing the clouds in the sky and throwing everyone in its vicinity into silence.
"What was that?" the spies from the four families stared at the sky in confusion
"What is it doing here?" Matt stared at the sky as color drained from his face
"That is… the… the white tiger" Mr. Zissis stammered in shock "No, that isn't it. It's a replica made by the lightning trial. I have to see the person responsible for triggering such a high-level trial.
Orpheus stared at the white tiger in the air that was being torn apart by the sword wave with an open mouth. A while later, it seemed the sword wave won the battle and split the tiger into two as the two of them dispersed into tiny white particles.
"I'm really supposed to worry about that, right?"
[I don't know. Just focus on the trial for now. We'll deal with that one later]
"I don't know if it's just me, but I've been receiving a lot of 'I don't knows' lately" Orpheus mumbled before turning to face the sky, preparing for the next lightning strike
The sky began to turn black with black lightning flashing in it. The lighting couldn't wait anymore and shot itself at Orpheus in the form of the black tortoise while turning the whole environment within the field on hill completely dark that one couldn't even see a bonfire blazing in the dark
[SHIT!!!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTE DARKNESS!!!]
"Uhh, I can't see a thing" Orpheus stared around "Aella? Andrian? Anybody there?"
[Quick! Cast any light spell!]
"Which one?"
[Anyone, you fool! Now!]
"Shit!!" Orpheus instincts screamed at him as he immediately covered his blade with the light element and slashed his scythe in a particular direction
*Clang*
The space around his blade lighted up a little, revealing a black lighting bolt pushing against his blade. The two scythed transformed into battle axes while pushing against the lightning bolt. Orpheus used the axe in his right hand to reflect the lightning bolt in the opposite direction and covered the two axes in his hands with the light element.
With a yell, he threw the axes at the lighting bolt that was still traveling towards him, pushing it back into the sky. The two axes travelling in the sky looked like a spinning ball of light within the darkness that was flying into the clouds
"What is the that?" a bald old man stared at the light in the sky that continued to move unhindered, until it disappeared into the clouds, carrying the darkness with it.
"What… the hell… was that?" Orpheus called Cosmos back to his hands while panting heavily
[That was the absolute darkness. It's one of the strongest spells of the dark element, even stronger than most darkness domains. It snuffs out all your senses, turning you into a deaf zombie. Weaker magi would not even be able to cast a single light spell. Even if they try, it will be sucked away by the darkness]
"Shit! I just escaped death" Orpheus gasped "Hold on a second. You said the absolute dark-whatever snuffs out my senses. How come I was able to hear you?"
[I am in your head you idiot!!]
"Geez, no need to be that harsh" Orpheus mumbled as he readied his stance while staring at the sky "I will finish this in one strike. Bring it on!"
As if hearing Orpheus, a red lightning bolt shot down from the sky before turning into a large Phoenix.
The phoenix let out a large cry that sounded like the rumbling of thunder and spread its wings that looked large enough to cover a whole town.
The appearance of the Phoenix shocked the troops of the cardinal families and the academy.
"Now, it's the Vermillion Bird? What are the replicas of the four guardian beasts doing in this part of the world?" Matt exclaimed
..
"It seems this demi-god would be a little hard to persuade. I guess they'll have to do this the hard way" a bald old man muttered as he stared at the bird in the sky
..
Orpheus transformed the exes back to the two scythes and immediately joined them together as he focused on the large phoenix hovering over him
*Cry*
The phoenix let out another loud cry as it swooped down towards Orpheus, leaving a large trail of fire behind it
*Whirling Chaotic Slash*
Orpheus swung the black side of the scythe at the phoenix, firing a black colored sword wave that spun violently at the it.
*2nd Form*
Orpheus swung the scythe again, but this time, shooting out drill bits made of black flame at the phoenix
"Get ready. This should be the second to the last lightning strike" the commandants of various troops of the cardinal families began to ready their troops "Once he's done, we strike"
Meanwhile, Orpheus grinned to himself, completely unaware of the looming danger that was awaiting him
"Eat that nature! That's what ya get for pissing me off"
*Shriek*
The phoenix let out a loud shriek as the sword waves began to pummel it one by one before it dissipated into red particles
"Finally, the last one" Orpheus sighed in relief
[I don't think you should be celebrating yet]
"Why are you so negative minde… f*** nature, man" Orpheus stared at the sky with a demoralized look on his face
Lightning began to charge in the sky as the clouds began to flash gold repeatedly.
Suddenly a large roar resounded in everyone's ears, completely paralyzing every living thing on the hill top as a dragon's head surfaced in the clouds
*Whirling Chaotic Omni-slash*
A large number of spinning sword waves flew from the ground, towards the dragon's head
[That's not enough]
"You think I don't know that?!" Orpheus yelled as the double-bladed scythe transformed into tow sabers
*Seven Slashes of Nature – 1st Slash*
Orpheus jumped into the air as he swung his sabers, releasing two dark cross-shaped sword waves
*2nd Slash; 3rd Slash; 4th Slash; 5th Slash*
Eight more sword waves flew towards the dragon's head, following the first two sword waves
[When did you come up with this? It's pretty good]
"Just in the spur of the moment. Unfortunately, I have only five nature elements. I hope it's enough" Orpheus landed on the ground, panting lightly
*Bang*
A lot of explosions occurred in the sky, creating a cloud of smoke around the dragon's head. A while later, a thick lightning bolt shot from the dragon's mouth, tearing through space as it headed towards Orpheus. As the lightning bolt was flying towards Orpheus, little lighting bolts shot out of it with no particular direction in mind. The small lightning bolts struck the ground below it, instantly charring it black.
"Well, fudge faith and fate, man" Orpheus said after realizing he will not be able to evade the bolt of lighting
The lighting strike landed on Orpheus with a loud sound, creating a thick smoke screen that covered his standing position.
Orpheus opened his eyes and saw the lightning pushing against a white transparent barrier before him. The barrier had multiple cracks on it and was on the verge of breaking.
"What? I'm still alive?" he mumbled in shock
[Thank your blades, man. They even supplied you with energy]
"So, this is the benefit of being a saint" Orpheus stared at the two sabers in his hands
[Forget about that. How will you withstand this one?]
"Hmm," Orpheus stared at the barrier that was on the verge of breaking under the force of the lightning strike "I know what to do"
He gripped the two sabers tightly while pouring energy into their cores. As Orpheus began pouring his energy, the two weapons began to feed on it, trying to replenish the ones they'd lost.
Another lightning bolt shot from the dragon's mouth and merged with the former lightning bolt. The strength of the newly formed lightning bolt became so strong to the point that the cracks on the barrier began to spread rapidly.
"Bring it!" Orpheus concentrated the energies of the two blades into their tips before placing putting their blades together, side by side, and pointed at the incoming lightning bolt
The barrier could not hold anymore and scattered under the sheer force of the lightning, leaving it to be flying towards Orpheus.
*Cosmic Beam*
Two different energy beams shot out of the tip of the sabers and merged into one large beam after getting close to the incoming lightning bolt
The beam clashed with the lightning, cancelling it out immediately, before colliding with the dragon head
"Go!" Orpheus yelled as he increased his energy output
*Roar*
The dragon roared as it began to push the beam backwards. Feeling the beam being pushed back, Orpheus increased his energy output to the limit to the extent that energy began to flow out of him as water flows out of a broken tap
When the large amount of energy began to flow into the two sabers, they released an energy burst, making the beam grow stronger and thicker.
The dragon's head began to get pushed back until its head exploded into tiny lightning bolts that flew towards the earth, rapidly turning the whole area into a wasteland
"Aarrgh" Orpheus dropped his weapons on the ground and began to hold his head in pain
[Come on, man. Not now]
"Now!" the commandants of the various families ordered and different magi of different levels began to run towards Orpheus
"Woah!" Orpheus removed his ands from his head and looked around in surprise "I can sense more than a hundred magi below the hill… and why are they running here?
[Your perception increased drastically! What other things? Tell me?]
"I don't know. Maybe we would find out as time goes on" Orpheus said before turning around quickly. "Aella, I'm done with… wait. Why are there masks on your faces?"
"Just shut up and wear yours" Aella threw a wolf mask at him
"Okay" he immediately wore his mask "Why is a running towards us?"
"I don't know, but we have to go now" Aster said
*Lightning Teleport*
"Um, why are we still here?" Orpheus stared around confusedly
"I have an idea, but it's too late" Orpheus said
"Hold it there, demi-god" a voice yelled from afar as magi rushed out and surrounded them from all directions
"You hold it! The demi-god belongs to the North" another voice said
"No, it's the south" a bald old man walked forward
"I think it's the east" a man walked forward
"What the…" Andrian twitched his brows