"What a foolish child," Etto hissed from his crouched position, his gleaming dagger held to the ground as Darius stumbled back. "To waste such potential pains me."
But it didn't go quite as the assassin expected, as he grunted in shock, leaping away as a blade of glass cut across the back of his neck, narrowly avoiding his head being cleaved from his shoulders.
"The hell?!" He roared, "You should be begging for you accursed life by now! How are you not gasping for breath?!"
Darius cocked his head to the side, cold eyes glaring down at Etto as he landed upon another pillar of glass. The gap across his chest began to crystallize, sealing over the wound as though it had never existed.
"Is there crimson upon your blade, assassin?" Darius spoke coldly.
Etto glanced down at his dagger, and in that immediate moment, Darius appeared beside the mage, his fist rushing down to meet their skull, but Etto swiftly blurred out of existence as Darius's fist crashed into the glass which shattered, the shards rushing about Darius's body and merging with his form, streaking spikes growing from his shoulders and arms like elegant plates of prismatic armor.
Darius dropped down upon a crystalline spire that rose up to greet him, and there he stood, arms crossed as his head turned to Etto's new position above him.
"Your body.." Etto spoke in disbelief.
"Now you're figuring it out." Darius said, tapping his arm with a soft clink. "This isn't armor. It is my body."
"A mage who cannot bleed. Well, that's no fun." Etto hissed, standing up and flipping his daggers in his hands before strapping them into his belt. "I had hoped to eliminate you swiftly, but it would seem that won't be happening. Though, I must say I'm impressed. Never have I seen such a young mage so powerful, aside from one time in my king life. But that's different."
Darius's eyes narrowed as he stared down Etto. 'I need to find a way out of this..' he thought. 'I might have the upper hand now, but it won't be much longer. The more he takes me seriously the harder this will get, and I can't hold this spell for much longer. I need to find a way out.. and soon.'
"I doubted your capability. That was my mistake, but it won't be happening again." Etto spoke. "Slip upon a stone once and your next step shall be firm."
Darius lowered his hands, preparing himself as he watched Etto crouch down, raising a hand to his mask as he reached for the sword upon his back. Shadows began to coalesce about his body like a storm of ravens as chains of black arcana shot out from his figure.
"I do apologize, boy. It is not often I deem a target worthy of this, and it is a rather unsightly thing, but I see no other way to end this quickly." Etto removed his mask, which then disappeared into the black as he lifted his head, his face pitch black as hollow white pits stared back at Darius and a cruel grin glowed across his face like a scar across his expression. His body was made from pure, black arcana. A real demon, a specter. It would seem Darius wasn't the only mage with ability to change his body's form, but this, it seemed as though it wasn't by choice. It was likely a biproduct of Etto's power, hence why he can change form, and why he wears that mask.
Shadows suddenly propelled out from Etto, consuming the world around them as though being swallowed by the abyss. Black chains shot through the air, crashing through Darius's crystalline spire and toppling them as Etto drew his blade, becoming a blur.
Darius acted fast, slamming his hand down on the glass at his feet which then collapsed, bursting outwards as it created a wide plataform, it's edges rising up into the air and forming massive blades that began to topple into the platform as Etto blurred into existence before Darius, his foot planting into his chest and sending him back before his sword flashed across the air. Darius threw his crystallized hand through the air, gritting his teeth as the formed blade shattered beneath the sword which crashed to the platform, shattering it like a mirror.
Etto spun upon the falling shards as Darius lost balance. A black chain shot out, latching to his ankle and yanking his feet out from under him, launching him skyward. Etto flashed above, his heel swinging down onto Darius's skull, sending him flipping through the air as he crashed through shattering glass and slammed to the earth headfirst. Etto gave no breathing room, rushing down and stomping the earth as Darius rolled away and leapt across the ground as the earth split apart, a crater forming where Etto hit, and from there he dashed at Darius who had no time to react, a fist crashing through his chest splinting his crystalline body as he flew back and the back of Etto's sword crashed into his throat, his body spinning across the forest floor as he slammed once more to the ground and rolled to a halt.
A sinister laugh reverberated through the trees as Etto strode towards Darius, forcing himself up onto his knees. Etto's blade blurred as it came to meet Darius's throat, stopping just short of taking off his head.
"I wonder," Etto spoke, his voice distorted and cruel. "A mage who does not bleed, does he die if you take his head from his neck?"
Darius's mind ran in a thousand directions. What could he do? He was outpaced in every way, he just couldn't keep up with Etto's speed, he couldn't even follow his movements. How could he counter his attacks if he couldn't even see him?
Etto's smile spread across his black face as he pulled back the sword, readying to decapitate Darius. In that moment everything he'd suffered flashed through his head. He couldn't die like this, not here, not when he was so damn close.
His eyes flashed with light as the sword came to greet him with cold death, and as it did, his body shattered apart into shards of glass that flew towards Etto, reforming just before meeting the mage as Darius's fist rushed for Etto's face, his crystalline crashing into the mage's skull, the earth splitting where they stood as Etto's head flew back and his body folded. A shockwave crashed forth from the attack, erupting through the forest, decimating the trees and rupturing the earth as Etto flew across the chasm formed from the attack, his body slamming into the carved earth and pressing a crater into the ground upon impact.
Darius stood straight, lifting his head as he glared towards Etto, his cracks forming across his glass body as his arm began to shatter. He looked down at his hand; within the crumbling glass, he could see the skin of his fingers.
"Well, that was quite the surprise, to be certain." Came Etto's voice. The mage stood from the crater, his head lifting and snapping back into place as he rubbed his neck, his sword hanging limply in his other hand. "You just keep on surprising me, kid. I can't say I dislike it. It's rather fun, in fact."
Darius gave no response, in desperation, he raised his other hand, glass forming about his arm, extending into a massive blade that extended to the sky.
"Oh please." Etto spoke, his body disappearing and reappearing in front of Darius, chains floating about him as his sword met Darius's chest, glass shattering through the air as he folded and flew through the air, slamming into a tree and slumping to the ground in pain.
Etto stood crooked, his head hanging lull at the side. "You are out of tricks, kid. I can see your veil fading, you're at your limit."
Chains shot from Etto, clasping onto Darius and wrenching him back to the mage who planted his foot to Darius's chest before stomping him to the ground which shuddered from the force as Darius let out a growl of pain. Etto's sword plunged into the earth beside Darius's head.
"It's been fun, thirteen. But I think our game has come to an end. It's really too bad, you could've been so much more, if only you weren't tied to pathetic morals." Etto hissed.
"Except for the fact that when we lose our morals, we lose our right to be called human." Came a voice.
Etto shuddered, his eyes widening as his grin faltered. He lifted his head, Darius following his gaze. Standing a ways off, a tall man stood, watching. He wore a red cloak beneath golden plates of armor, the hilt of a sheathed blade latched to his waist. The man stood there, a hand resting on his sword's hilt, staring blankly at Etto, who lifted his weight off of Darius.
The man had short, spiky gray hair and scruffy beard. His gold eyes seemed as though they were peering straight through anything they came to rest upon, and he carried the air of a prestigious king, one without fear or doubt.
"Why.. are you here?" Etto growled.
"I heard a commotion. One would have to be quite ignorant not to sense the amount of arcana here, it's simply oozing across this land." The man said. "I thought you of all people would've been more cautious, Etto. Let me guess, got caught up in the moment?"
"Alabaun.." Etto hissed, "Damn y-"
Etto disappeared. Darius's eyes widened shock.
'Where did he..?' His answer would be found shortly as he sat up, seeing the stranger holding up Etto by the throat, lifting the mage off of his feet. Chains shot from Etto, but what seemed to be flames erupted from the man, and the chains melted away like shadows chased away by the sun. Etto screamed as the flames burned him, then the stranger effortlessly tossed Etto into the air before his fist rushed upwards to greet Etto's stomach, a pillar of flames erupting from the assassin's back as his stomach burst open and he hovered in the air momentarily before the stranger grabbed Etto's head and brought it down on his knee, the metal slamming into his face as his body slumped to the ground.
"You.." Darius wanted to speak, but he couldn't form any words as he stared on in awe.
The stranger turned his head towards Darius and smirked, his eyes warm and greeting despite the absolute devastation he just delivered to the mage who had only a second ago had Darius pinned.
"You're the thirteenth mage, right, kiddo?" The man spoke. "I am Alabaun. I've been waiting to meet you for a while now."
The man turned his eyes back to Etto, his eyes flashing as flames consumed the mage's body and he faded to ash.
"Is he..?"
"Dead? No. That wasn't the real Etto, only a specter. He can create weaker versions of himself to scout enemies and deem their strength to gleen whether they are a threat or not. I'm afraid, if that were the real Etto, he would not have gone down so easily, and you would be dead by now."
"You're Alabaun..? The real Alabaun? The first mage ever made by-"
"Yeah, yeah, we don't need to go over the whole thing, there's a lot of drama and a lot of things that are not quite accurate so let's just, like, ya know, not? For now, please?" Alabaun waved his hand, furrowing his brow in annoyance.
"Look, kid, let's cut to the point. You are the thirteenth mage, I've been waiting for you, you are here, woohoo. Okay? For now, that's all you need to know." He pointed down at.. all of Darius? "Your veil is quite literally falling apart, so, for one, go ahead and turn off your magic before-"
Darius's vision blurred then, and the glass around his body shattered as he collapsed.
"Yep. That."