(The Spirit Realm - Several Years ago)
(The Diamond Era)
The skies were littered with gently drifting clouds and the extensive plains below stretched into an unclear horizon.
In the middle of the grassy plains stretched a long dusty path and travelling along it were four souls.
"Ahhhh, why do WE have to take these rookies along with us??", a messy brown-haired girl scoffed. "This is a top-level task, right old man??"
An older soul smiled as he looked back, "Well, we're only supposed to do escort work today, correct?"
"Ugh", the energetic girl's eyes twitched. "Heh, we could still be jumped by dangerous super-powered high ranking SPIRIT BEASTS!"
A low, exasperated sigh sounded to the girl's right. Walking next to her was a silver-haired girl who had a rather annoyed expression on her face. She clearly wasn't fond of the noisy soul's presence.
"Too noisy", she muttered.
"HAH!?", the brown-haired girl stomped to a stop. "What did you just say!?"
"Now Now", a fourth voice intervened. "Xoese doesn't mean it."
A young man uttered as he stopped to try and stop another fight from ensuing. He had a charming aura around him as he chuckled and stood right between the girls.
"At this point, the only thing that would make this mission so dangerous would be the constant fights you two keep revving up", cold sweat ran down the sides of his face.
The energetic girl's eyes narrowed at the young man, "And who brought YOU into the picture, CIRCLE EDEM!?"
"Circle", Edem twitched.
"Tch! I've had ENOUGH of this one!", she folded her arms. "Always acting so DAMN collected and all!"
"Ati", the old man sighed. "We've been put together as a squad for now. Sure, Edem and Xoese may be new to the Spirit Warrior corps and perhaps they may have stirred up trouble for themselves a few times. However, it's no doubt that they're among the best duo in our ranks."
"Hmph", Ati scoffed.
"Ahaha, you didn't have to say all that", Edem playfully blushed.
"Creep", Ati's expression turned emotionless.
"Welp! We better get going then!", Edem returned to the old man's side. "By the way Bob, I'm interested in learning more about spells from you. And I mean EVERYTHING about spells! I'd be an honour to learn from a veteran yourself."
Xoese followed closely behind Edem in silent, gentle steps.
It made Ati confused. Why was she so quiet and reserved, yet appear so intimidating and confident.
She didn't want to admit it, but Xoese exuded an air of strength that she envied.
She also wanted to appear strong and intimidating to the other members of the Spirit Warrior corps.
Ati secretly clenched her fists and muttered to herself, "I don't want to be treated as some kind of annoying, noisy kid."
"Then get stronger", Xoese stopped.
The white-haired warrior's voice suddenly stole Ati's attention and bred confusion. How did she hear her?
"Don't be surprised", Xoese turned around. "The wind whispers to me. It whispers the pain and sorrow in the hearts of others, their deepest wishes as well as their joys and hopes. I'm always envying the transparents who don't have to always have to take up the duty of maintaining balance in this world."
Ati stared at her for a moment and then looked away, "Tch. Oh please. I don't listen to the old man's lectures. How much more you?"
Xoese closed her eyes, "Perhaps you should throw away that blatant ego of yours and listen to others. Listen to yourself sometimes and conclude as to whether you're being reasonable or not."
With that, she turned around and hurried to Edem's side. Edem smiled as she walked right by his side and patted her on the head.
Ati watched as the others faded away into the blinding light.
Once the others faded away, only one person remained. At first, she was confused as to who that person was.
But then, seeing the person fully clad in a bluish armour made her eyes widen.
Tears began to form in her eyes, "T- That's right. We've had our share of fun and sad times together. Xoese, Circle Edem, it wasn't bound to last... But maybe, it really would've been better if we never had anything to do with being Spirit Warriors in the first place."
The armoured soul's face turned to look back. To Ati, it felt like only a slight moment before he also began to fade away.
Tears rolled down her eyes, "Am I going to be all alone?"
.
.
.
(Present time - Ancient hall)
Increasing raging sparks of energy continuously leaked from the bounds of Edem's golden circles as the explosive power from Bob's suicidal move was becoming too phenomenal to deal with.
Strange symbols glowed on Edem's body as his cloak fluttered in the air. His eyes were ferocious with determination as he groaned, his palm pressing down on the golden circle on the ground in an attempt to keep the radial energy at bay.
"D- Damn it", he muttered between his gritted teeth. "How long has he been condensing this thing!?"
Cracks of light formed on his skin and his eyes widened as a bit of leaking energy blew his left arm right off!
Meanwhile, streaks of red and white clashed against a streak of yellow as Kekeli and Xoese took on Ati. The masked spirit warrior was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer power those two packed.
She had managed to wound Xoese enough so she wouldn't be much of a threat, but now that she had been healed... things got increasingly steep for her.
Several projectiles of light rained down on the area but pillars of fire would erupt in response, laying them to waste.
[Wind Spell]
Winds gathered around Xoese as she channelled her spirit energy in a familiar fashion within her soul core.
Rapidly rotating wind drills formed around her as she paused in mid-air and aimed at Ati, who was distracted by Kekeli's onslaught.
[Wind Bullet, mirrored!]
The drills shot forward, ripping through the surrounding air and parting the two. It didn't end there however. Each drill turned around and locked on to Ati, giving chase as she streaked around in a snake-like pattern, narrowly missing each one of them.
Ati's aura sharpened as several projectiles formed around her and burst outward in a radial fashion. Xoese flew out of the way, displacing a few of the projectiles with the wind that constantly shielded her while Kekeli directly melted each one with his flames.
The two parties landed on the ground, facing each other while panting heavily.
'We're both attacking and yet she's holding up pretty well', Xoese's eyes opened up a bit. 'Hm, I'm still surprised.'
"This is getting bit too repetitive for me", Kekeli sighed.
"You can just keep doing what you're doing then", Xoese suddenly spoke. "But this time, I'll need you to get her to forget I'm here. Even if it's just for the slightest time."
"Oh?", Kekeli smirked.
"The problem right now is her speed", Xoese's eyes turned sharp. "If you can slow her down and take much of her attention then-"
"Got it!"
Kekeli blasted towards the enemy at high speed, leaving the white-haired girl with a mildly confused expression.
"He didn't listen"
Meeoww!
The black cat on her shoulder yawned.
"Somehow, this cat gives me a far more different feel than before", she closed her eyes. "Well..."
She blended into the air and disappeared from sight.
Kekeli clenched his fists and flames ignited to engulf them. He closed the distance in a matter of seconds and raised his fist with a crazed expression on his face.
Ati heavily breathed in, 'Here they come.'
She channelled her spirit energy to go into overdrive, causing her to shift and contort into a blur as she travelled at break-neck speeds.
The flame warrior laughed as he immediately followed her into the air and threw a flurry of jabs, all of which missed by small margins.
'He's beginning to read my movements!?', Ati made a mid-air back flip and summoned two light spears that charged in her opponent's direction.
Kekeli punched a raging flame that engulfed the attack. An otherworldly pressure fell on Ati's shoulders as she witnessed the demon blast through his flames and charge at her in the blink of an eye.
'D- Damn it!', she frantically called her spirit energy to her aid. 'Even with heart's coalescence!? Why is it suddenly becoming so hard!?'
The crazy soul sent another flurry of jabs and each one of them missed.
"Oi Oi, your body must be sore all over by now!", Kekeli smirked. "Are you really just going to keep evading?"
Ati's eyes widened within her mask.
Perhaps... the pressure had made her forget. Her current form wasn't all she had to offer at all!
Kekeli closed the distance again, "This time, it'll be useless to evade!"
And Ati did exactly that and as the flame soul's jab missed, energy accumulated in his fist and spread outward. Ati felt a blow to her right rib even when there was no impact.
'W- What?'
Kekeli continued with a flurry of jabs and once again, they were evaded but each successful evasion would leave Ati feeling the force of a punch at the very location he missed.
Her eyes trailed to one of his receding fists, 'He's using the after-shock from his punches instead?'
"AHAHAHA! ONE MORE TIME!", Kekeli readied for another set of punches.
But then...
"Tch"
Parts of Ati's mechanical form began to shift, while others shrunk, suddenly transforming into a sharp and sleek battle suit.
"Soul Drive", she muttered and instantly, her body disappeared from the spot.
Kekeli was sent travelling forward with eyes wide open, "Woah!"
Thin traces of light shot around in varying directions and this time, Kekeli found it incredibly hard to pinpoint her location.
She reappeared above her opponent with a deadly silence as two daggers materialised in her hands.
"Full Evasion"
A sharp beam of light sped down as she swung her dagger and sent Kekeli flying straight into the ground with a resounding *BOOM!*
Flames promptly erupted from the impact site, causing Ati to evade. She landed right before the pillar with a daunting pressure.
She looked in the direction of the golden light that had almost illuminated the entire hall. The leaking energy brushed over her skin and she could immediately tell whose it was.
Her fists clenched, 'I have to get back there.'
Just when she was about to step away, a horrifying realisation dawned upon her. Her eyes scanned the area immediately as she searched for a missing entity.
'Where did Xoese go?'
The air suddenly went still as the flame pillar withered away and revealed a shining figure behind the dust.
Xoese aimed her right palm at Ati. five small spheres hovered above her wrist as energy accumulated within her palm.
'She's condensing a phenomenal amount of spirit energy', she stepped back and summoned her spirit energy. 'I've seen her use that before. I need to get out of here!'
"Tch", Xoese supported her left wrist with her other hand. "She's going to get away."
Just when Ati had gathered enough energy, something suddenly kept her grounded in place.
"H- Huh?", she stumbled as she felt something weigh down on her shoulder. "What's this?"
She turned to her left and was surprised to see a black cat carelessly sitting there. It yawned as its deep red eyes stared endlessly into hers.
Ati looked back at Xoese and noticed that there was another black cat on her shoulder as well.
"There were two of them!?"
A shaky hand rose up from the debris and gave a thumbsub.
"Tch!", enraged, Ati attempted to get the feline pest off her but it leapt off before she could move.
The sudden weight disappeared and she felt lighter than a feather. It was then that it dawned on her.
'Could it be.... the reason why that flame soul could keep up?', she looked up, her eyes widening.
'I'm not going to ask about the cat', Xoese thought as she gathered enough energy.
Four of the spheres that hovered above her wrist melted away, leaving only one to orbit it.
[Rising Wing-beat: First Rhythm]
The concentrated energy gathered into a sphere above her palm and shot towards Ati.
An ear-crushing *BOOM!!* sent shock waves rippling throughout the hall as the beam of energy made impact with the opponent. Large volumes of dust rose high up into the air and a strong gust of wind blew past the white-haired soul.
Xoese fell to her knees, breathing heavily.
Beads of sweat ran down the sides of her face as the cat on her shoulder leapt off and joined the other at Kekeli's location.
The flame warrior climbed out of the small crater with both cats on his shoulders as he walked towards Xoese.
He stretched out his hand and smiled, "Nice!"
Xoese hesitated for a bit and then accepted his offer. Flames ignited around her the moment he held his hand and majority of her wounds and fatigue dissipated.
"I guess you weren't a rank 3 for nothing", she dusted her skirt. "Also..."
Her eyes trailed off to the cats on his shoulders.
"Kukuku", a smug expression appeared on his face. "Meet Zuleika and Zoaide!"
The cats purred and cuddled their owner the moment he mentioned their names.
Xoese was only confused.
"That... I won't ask anymore. Right now, we need to go help Edem.", she looked in the direction of the golden light while thinking. 'There's something about my attack that didn't feel right. It's like- It didn't connect.'
"Right!", Kekeli slammed his fist into his palm. "Let's go-"
*Stab!*
A thorny tendril pierced out from Kekeli's side, dispelling blood from his mouth.
Shock gripped the two souls that instant.
"Uh- Uh oh", Kekeli looked down and strained a smile. "This is bad, isn't it?"
The tendril moved, carrying Kekeli with it and sending him flying in the other direction.
"She's still moving!?", Xoese stepped back. 'Tch. I felt her spirit energy dim down for a bit, but I mistook her reduced state for a zero state instead.'
The tendril ripped itself out of Kekeli and returned to a large pod in the midst of the settling dust. On the pod was the symbol of a skull.
[Soul Drive: Full Defense]
"I hate this..."
A voice sounded from within the pod.
"I hate this, I hate this! I hate this!! I HATE THIS!!"
The pod deactivated and revealed Ati, donned in a bulkier mechanical form. She continuously slammed her fists into the ground as she flew into an uncontrollable fit of rage.
"WHY!?", she slammed her fist into the ground one more time and scratched the dust towards her.
Xoese's eyes coldly moved over to Kekeli. Flames had already surrounded him and began healing.
Her gaze then returned to Ati.
"I'll be alone from now on...", she whimpered. "I don't want that. Why!? WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO LOSE EVERYTHING!?"
An unsettling feeling grabbed hold of Xoese. There was a murky undercurrent lurking in Ati's spirit energy. She began to wonder where that suddenly came from.
"It's all his fault", Ati's blurry vision shifted to the stage. "IT'S ALL THAT THING'S FAULT!"
Xoese followed her enemy's line of sight, "She's planning on disrupting the ritual??"
Ati's form changed into a sharp, sleek state and immediately, her body phased out of existence as she lunged at the stage. Her focus locked down on the unsuspecting Zanetor as she readied her daggers.
"I can't let her do that!", the white-haired soul activated her spirit energy and blended into the air. 'If she disprupts it, miss Leticia might-'
Xoese reached out, begging for more speed without realising it. Ati was way too fast in that form.
If she could only... reach her.
Would she make it!?