"Huh? Selene?".
"Hm, quite unexpected but oh well".
Ishmael accepted the challange and in moments she was standing before him, the first thing he noticed was the complete exhaustion plaguing her reserves.
"Ah, you should probably recover".
Selene smiled and closed her eyes as she got to meditating, minutes passed and soon enough she was restored to her peak condition.
"I'm not what you expected huh".
His eyes flashed with a look of worrry but he gently shook his head and replied–
"But i have no qualms, you can still be dangerous in some form".
She laughed softly at his honest attempt of acknowledging her, though sounding malicious at the bare surface level to a listeners ears she knew it to be without, the red dragon's inborn natural pride if not being greatly suppressed as it were now would have kept his words honest to a most destructive level.
"For a red dragon you're quite a big softie" she teased.
"I'm not fragile you know, don't hold back for my sake".
"That would actually hurt more than anything else".
Ishmael still had a look of hesitation on his face but in the end closed his eyes for a moment and opened them determined to respect her wishes, his crimson red iris shone with a bone chilling light as his vertical pupils expanded just ever so slightly.
"I'll try to end this fast".
Selene smiled hearing his declaration and put her hand through her chest and into her heart to pull out a little multicoloured crystal in the shape of a drop and ate it, the air grew heavy and vibrated with such a great intensity it caused small visible tears in the space around them as her mana rose to unprescedented levels with a potency incomparable to what it once was.
Yet standing before this violent and mountanous pressure was Ishmael looking like he was experiencing nothing but a cool breeze, a pillar of mana shot out of Selene's body and around her the faint silhouette of a beautiful mermaid woman looking down with gentle eyes and arms wrapped around her condensed, her hair flowed like a violent sea of storms and right on her glabella a blue marking taking the shape of a trident formed.
Violent and stormy cloudds formed high above with harsh streaks of lightning striking wildly down bringing a downpour of rain and with outstretched hands she reached high above, streaks lightning gathered in one spot and struck down at her as a great bolt carrying violent destrcutive power beyond compare yet in that small moment she caught it with her bare hands and struck it down with great force into the sea of lava causing a momentarily bright flash of light as a gaint dome of condensed electrical energy spread out for miles eviscerating everything in it's path.
Standing before him now she bore a blue trident in her hands, it's great power mountanous and suffocating. He closed his eyes as she raised it high summoning two great magic circles sending the mana around them into a great uproar as she whispered–
<
In moments he found himself standing in a sea of water, a thundering pulse thumped once out of nowhere followed by another seconds later and another. In the end everything turned perfectly still for a few moments, then in one loud bang forcefully compressed and shrunk, it shrunk again a second time and a third as little by little everything including sound itself faded away leaving nothing but a void of black in it's trail as it continued devouring with no remorse and in moments there was nothing left but a pitch black still darkness.
From that darkness there was spark, it died pretty quickly but soon it was followed by a new spark and after multiple sparks had died out finally a flame was born. It burned so weakly looking like it would go out at any time to the devouring darkness but yet it persisted, not just that it actually grew. Bit by bit the flames grew pushing back that bottomless pit of black until the very moment it snapped, and just that a powerful tsunami of flames uncontrollable in it's violent rage expanded and burned it all leaving behind a blazing trail in it's wake as the world returned to normal.
He stood now in the same space as her looking perfectly unharmed, a tall endless sea of flames burning around them unmoved by the rain yet also not eviscerating it. Ishmael opened his hands and condensed a little ball of flames then spun it around a very high intensity with the heat rising the longer it spun until it reached a point and then shrunk to the size of a rice grain.
"Begone".
And then he flicked it, for a moment it was like the sun itself had descended upon the world followed by a thundering sound as a pure beam of concentrated heat fired off in Selene's direction travelling for many miles and lasting for a few seconds before suddenly a blue flash of light passed dividing it in two halves.
She swung the trident a second time releasing a powerful slash of blue Mana mixed with lightning and reaching many meters high travelling towards him but he simply flicked it to pieces. His pupils contracted a little seeing her utilising some strange movement to suddenly vanish from his sight almost as if teleporting and appearing behind him with the trident poised and ready to skewer him from behind.
"Hm?"
Selena looked on in shock finding him suddenly facing her and stopping her trident with one finger, in a slight panic she utilised the same movement once more to attack him from high above but once again he stopped it. She continued utilising the movement and even implementing fakeouts all just for a chance of getting in that one single attempt on him and in but a fraction of a second she utilised nearly one hundred movements yet he stopped her at every turn.
This made no sense to her, Ishmael wasn't anything like Avistro in terms of sensory and her movement was damn near the closest thing to teleportation but yet he was tracking her. Was her movement really that slowed down in the moments after appearing or was he genuinely just that much faster than she was.
Suddenly hecaught her hand at the last movement and stared straight into her eyes–
"Enough".
She tried utilising the same movement once more but found that she couldn't, she only kept partially blinking in place but couldn't move away from him. Selene looked into his eyes and surprise as she felt a most powerful heat rising all around her, suddenly he let go and immediately she backed away to a safe distance then raised her trident high.
<
<
<
Summoning magic -: <
<
The whole space looked like it had fallen into total chaos facing the bombardment of great spells, everything was completely enveloped by water and the very centre of it splitting into two equal halves as a disastrous and violent storm raged all around flowing endlessly with powerful bolts of lightning
Yet in but one moment, this seemingly endless and powerful tormenting which was tearing at the world simply just vanished. There was nothing left, not even steam nor tiny droplets as proof it once existed, it was simply gone. Ishmael's body regenerated from it's wounds and his halves reformed as he took one step forward–
<
Instantly a mountainous pressure descended upon Selene nearly forcing her to into the sea of lava but she persisted, then he took another and it doubled yet she still persisted. The faint silhouette of the gentle mermaid protecting her cracked at the third step and with that little bit of exposure she felt flesh tear and her eyes bleed, her regeneration wasn't kicking in to help her and at the fourth step it was completely shattered forcing her to take the full brunt of it but only for a moment as the spell was suddenly released.
That small moment was enough, her bones had cracked and were shattered in some places, her face was covered with blood and yet even then with every last bit of will left in her she forced her body to stand tall before him. Ishmael took in the form of her under his gaze, her eyes looked glazed yet had never shone brighter than it had now, her hand still holding on firmly to the trident and on her lips was a smile.
"Go on then, finish it" she requested.
Her voice was weak but the determination in it was unmistakable, he gently placed a hand to her cheek, flames rising off them moments later yet they did not seem to harm her as it enveloped her entirely in a blaze. She closed her eyes in complete satisfaction as the flames reached all the way into her core burning away at her still rising Mana faster than it could generate and to the point of exhaustion. Her consciousness left her as she slowly lost her balance but Ishmael caught her and gently let her float comfortably in the air as her bed, his eyes held a myriad of mixed emotions looking at her but at the end all he could do was smile.
"What a stubborn girl you are Selene".
He wiped the small trail of blood from his lips and waited a few seconds as the mini-announcer popped up, the options were presented to him as always and he glanced through the list.
[A little while ago].
Noctis felt his annoyance growing with every new fake that popped up after he slaughtered the last, at some point he just sighed and stood still.
"You're quite a pain you know".
Mordred grinned as he dispelled his multitude of fakes and vanished in a puff of red smoke appearing before Noctis–
"I know, that's why I'll keep at it".
He sighed again "at some point you'll run out of mana".
"Sure, but I'll outlast you".
Noctis raised a brow "I posses much more Mana than you".
Mordred agreed with a nod "sure, but this little trick of mine costs so little and your attacks are very much less cost effective in comparison".
He clicked his tongue in annoyance but could say nothing in retort to that but Mordred continued–
"And besides, you're not the only one who gets the right to complain here".
"My power of illusions is completely useless against you, I've been cleaved of over half of my winning cards here".
"I mean I could trap Ishmael in a loop, though admittedly he was casual and defenseless and took nearly everything I had but it's still a feat I'm very much proud of".
"To be honest, I'm starting to understand Rozaria's dislike of you a little more now".
After a period of silence both of them came to one perfect conclusion–
"We shouldn't have met at all" - Noctis.
"Oh most definitely" - Mordred.
With another sigh both got back to settling themselves into a battle ready mode with resolve to end this drawn out fight, Mordred knew from this point henceforth he could no longer depend on that little trick to save himself.
Though great against most attacks be they AOE or concentrated, ignoring his little bluff of before, the real strength of Noctis lied in something far worse than he had the confidence to deal with and with half his arsenal permanently out of commission for this fight his chances truly were abysmal but that did not mean he was completely hopeless.
"It's best we end this fast".
Mordred proclaimed, from beneath him a giant black magic circle spread out on the sea of lava.
<
Noctis flew away in a flash leaving a gentle golden trail of mana as multiple giant spikes made of shadows and reaching tens of meters high shot up from beneath, his senses got alerted to something behind him and he flew out of the way again as another round of giant shadow spikes missed their target but it wasn't over yet.
Wherever he went a new magic circle would be quickly summoned releasing the same spikes and as it continued Noctis could feel that the spell was actually getting faster and more cunning to the point it felt like it was predicting him almost like a great hunter learning and adapting to it's prey's patterns to better corner and finally catch it.
Knowing that his plan of dodging couldn't go on anymore Noctis finally decided to retaliate, the sky was already full of multiple golden trails and to end his pursuit he simply flew down like a meteor shattering the spikes below causing them to lose form.
<
An effect like never before was produced by this simple spell, a golden wave of mana washed over the entirety of this place breaking the spell and even Mordred felt mildly threatened by a spell never designed to cause harm in the first place, like something of him could be undone. The nature of Noctis along with his power worked so unbelievably well that it took it well over it's limits, far beyond what any of his peers with no exceptions could hope to achieve at current even if they were to amplify beyond it's basic state unlike Noctis who had intended for the spell to be weak and controlled yet still producing such an exaggerated effect.
In short, this was simply another spell that would never work the same it did with another being like it could with Noctis who hadn't even begun to understand the limits and boundaries he could push with this in time to come.
'Ishmael is terrifying and all but Noctis is....dangerous'.
Mordred thought to himself with a slight shiver, his gaze turned focuse as he clamped his hands together and whispered-
<
"Huh?".
Noctis looked down in suprise as a void-like crack was formed on his chest and in a scene of pure horror he watched as a shadow in the form of a hand pushed it's fingers through, in an instant a second pushed through grabbing onto the edges of the crack and widening it as a multitude of hands varying in size suddenly rushed out grabbing at him from head to toe.
Smaller hands pushed out the sides of his eyes and covering them, another covered his ears, a multitude spilled from his mouth and slithered down his body like a snake to cover and restrain every bit of him until there was nothing left.
From beneath a pool of shadows formed springing forth five giant hands, two grabbed at his legs holding them firmly down while the other two pulled down at his wrists and the final grabbed onto his head from above pressing it down.
"Devour and grow" he commanded.
From the pool of shadows beneath a mouth like that of a beast arose, giant tooth like that of a blade sunk into his torso draining him of his power and as it devoured, thorny branches made of shadow began growing all over his body bearing reddish ethereal leaves. The branches kept growing and growing bearing the same leaves until it started looking like a gigantic tree with the body of Noctis serving as the trunk of it, this was the true nature of this spell.
Bearing a vampiric nature that would never allow it to stop feeding and growing until it drains you of everything you have down to your soul and only when there was truly nothing left of it's target would it fall apart and end.
It's natural sealing and disruption effect, which grew in power as it devoured also serving to greatly reduce the possibility it's target be they organic or inanimate breaking out of it's hold, with the added boon of the caster also strengthening it on the outside by supplying the spell with even more mana the reinforcement was double.
In short it was a true nightmare of a spell with almost no weaknesses to exploit, but the true endgame of this spell was for one final thing, a most special fruit it would bear after devouring all it can from it's target and unfortunately for Mordred he would not be getting to see that happen today.
Suddenly the air started vibrating intensely and a crack formed on the cluster of shadows, Mordred's eye widened a bit but he acted fast in increasing the supply of mana to constantly reinforce it.
The crack healed but just moments later it reopened again and this time even bigger, it spread quickly all over forming a web of cracks constantly healing and reopening until finally rays of light burst out tearing the shadows to pieces as the form of Noctis clad in a bright light was revealed along with a strong burst of golden mana which pushed a portrait of the seemingly immovable and indestructible sea of lava upwards like a world ending tsunami eviscerating the rocky formations for miles on end.
Mordred in a desperate attempt to save himself from the overwhelming power he sensed building up just before it's release hurriedly took on a less material form and summoned millions of fakes to work together in weakening it while also putting up more than five defense spells yet even with all his preparations upon release that overwhelming power tore through it all like a hot knife through butter even burning him greatly through his immaterial form forcing an involuntary release as he fell to his knees atop the turbulent sea of lava.
Fortunately his preparations weren't entirely in vain, the portion of the power that had hit him was indeed greatly lessened leading to these minor injuries he had sustained now at the end of it all, his right arm had turned to ashes and one-third of his body was black as charcoal along with the fact Noctis's mana was currently was running amok in his body destroying his pathways, preventing his regeneration and had severed his core in half which would take some hours to heal later.
He smiled and looked up at Noctis heading towards him, his eyes were a burning gold and the light around his body still persisted though having died down a lot.
"You don't hold back huh".
Noctis tit his head to the side "don't try anything stupid, it's over".
Mordred's smile grew to a terrifying grin "Sorry, unfortunately I still have a lot more in me".
<
In an instant everything that had been inflicted upon Mordred's body was perfectly reversed onto Noctis who now stood with a near destroyed and crippled body while Mordred was back to what he once was.
"Phew, how lucky I am".
"If I had 'died' from that attack this spell wouldn't have been triggered in the end".
"My mastery isn't at the level where I can reverse such a thing yet".
He laughed for a few seconds before finally turning his attention back to Noctis, a smug grin on his face.
"How is it".
"Not feeling so good I'm betting, yeah your power hurts like no other".
He raised his hand to cast another spell but caught a smile on the face of Noctis.
"Tell me, what am I?"
Mordred raised a brow not understanding the question but Noctis repeated the question again.
"What am I, do you remember".
He looked to be lost in thought but caught sight of something peculiar from Noctis, bit by bit his form began losing bits of definition and little flares of mana began rising off his body like an extension until he was fully transformed into a being made up of finely shaped energy resembling a humanoid form.
His eyes snapped wide as the answer finally hit him- "dammit".
He cursed under his breath and flew a distance back, Noctis was a wisp, not just any but one that stood above the pinnacle of the highest possible grade. A spiritual being made of the purest mana accumulated over a period of time undisturbed from the world itself and therefore nearly indestructible, of course losing his form or core meant nothing. Even before they had discovered themselves to have possessed the gift of immortality, Noctis already was by virtue of what he is.
The reversal by all accounts was made useless on him, his arm reformed and everything else just vanished to the wind. He stared straight into Mordred's eyes, his gaze piercing as he increased the pressure around them.
"It would be much better if you surrender, i can overhwhelm you in every possible way".
His warning seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as Mordred simply laughed, his eyes carrying a hint of mischief.
"I do not deny that, but you see.....the word surrender doesn't exist in my vocabulary".
Silence reigned between them for a bit and in the end Noctis simply just smiled-
"We learn every day don't we, no worries then".
"I'll teach it to you, listen closely".
He took a step forward sending a massive pillar of pressure down upon Mordred who grit his teeth as he fought back against it, his eyes and senses were focused to extremes looking at Noctis who stood there burning like the sun.
"There shall be not extravagant attacks, no spells or nothing of the sort".
"I will simply. Beat. It. Down. Into you".
It felt instant, just one moment Noctis was standing before him and the next he was already in the air above, the imprint of his image still haven't left his eyes fast enough to recognize the new one and his senses not fast enough to have detected the movement still only registering his old position in it's radar.
He never knew when it hit him, all he could understand was that his view was suddenly turned upside down and his body was bouncing off the sea of lava, he couldn't even recognize when the fists hit him in the face, chest and abdomen. The impact and pain only registered moments later and he could do nothing but keel over in agony, all three points of impact inwardly deformed and his breath uneven as his eyes dashed from side to side, up down and center trying to figure out what had just happened to him.
"Get up"
The voice of Noctis rang in his ears prompting him to look ahead as if on instinct-
"I'm not done yet so get up".
"You will come to understand just how annoying this immunity of mine truly is".
His heart shook and his eyes shone with understanding that what had just occurred to him was the doing of Noctis, a well of anger was building inside him causing his mana to flare to high extremes like a volcanic eruption.
"You bastard".
<
Four giant black magic circles were summoned in the air around him and another which dwarfed the first four combined was summoned right above, his eyes burned with mana and the space around him was distorted terribly. Shadows began imposing themselves over the 'world' and a black liquid tar-like substance began rising up from beneath turning the very sea of lava into something of an abomination, the liquid tar-like substance rose higher and fused together forming a multitude of endless creatures from beyond the grave wailing in absolute agony, it moved like the turbulent sea and moved as if fused with the very space itself causing it to shape, deform and reform in uncanny ways.
Even the very essence of Noctis began getting corroded, it steadily creeped into every part of his being changing and twisting it into something else, the light around him was dying and Mordred smiled feeling the hour of his victory at hand but in an instant that look turned to one of distraught.
His spell suddenly paused, the moving sea of black frozen and he looked around bewildered at the occurrence. Then suddenly without warning the magic circles cracked and burst to pieces ending his spell with immediate effect as it fade away almost like it never was in the first place.
Mordred stood there watching in silence, his face nothing but a blank look as he slowly took in the entire ordeal. Corruption was one of the greatest ways to overcome pure spirits, it was like a true weakness and his spell took that power to new heights in consideration of what Noctis was and yet seeing it simply fall apart like this....
"I lost".
He sighed and got down to lay on his back atop the sea of lava, Noctis returned to his former state and levitated over to him then sat down. Silence reigned between them for a few seconds until out of nowhere Mordred chuckled and then broke out into a small laugh, Noctis just smiled.
EnD.