Flames Vs Water

Far from the battlefield taking place before the great Lunastray manor, laid a Graveyard of Chimera of varying monstrous combinations.

In such a place were two men standing against one another in the midst of a battle.

 Krim was sent sliding across the graveyard before coming to an immediate halt as he slammed against a Chimera corpse.

 "How? How did you obtain such strength?" He asked as blood dripped from his ears.

 "That's easy." Toan answered as he approached Krim at a leisurely pace. 

 "The Orochi Isles consists of five Islands, right?"

 "Of course, even I know that!" Krim lashed out in annoyance. 

"Drasil; the northernmost island and also the capital. Torik; the largest island which is located in the center of the isles. Kume; a southern isle famous for its heat and beaches. The second southern Island Kocu also known as Chimera Island. And Knut, the third southern Island and the smallest in The Orochi Isles, it's famous for its native a beautiful flora. What does your strength have to do with that?" 

 "Absolutely nothing. Because there are actually six islands in The Orochi Isles." Toan explained, as he rose six fingers.

 "The sixth island is actually the real southernmost island; it doesn't have a name and is simply referred to as 'The Tartarus Island'. Everyone knows the story of Konchu Torrikkusatu, and how with the newfound power of Ether he banished the monstrosities of The Orochi Isles and liberated the islanders from them. In reality the monsters were just forced to retreat, down into that very island, now when someone who poses a threat to the Council of Exorcist or the Isles, they are sent there. Nobody has ever escaped. Well almost nobody."

Krim struggled to his feet only to fall off balance of collapse again, his ruptured eardrums made it, so he was unable to stand as the world began spinning before his eyes.

"And how does that relate to your powers?" He mustered with great effort.

"My parents apparently killed three Exorcists and were banished to The Tartarus Island where my mother gave birth to me." Toan stated causally.

" You see, my power isn't any stronger than yours, in fact you are probably stronger than me, however, I was raised in conditions where I had to use my powers perfectly, or everyone around me would die. I mean, they still did, but I made it out just fine." he ended with a chuckle and a grin as he cocked his head to the side.

Krim could swear that the devil himself lived within his foe.

'What is this feeling?' He thought to himself 'I've never felt so helpless, so hopeless, my legs, they're shaking. Is this fear? Am I about to die?'

Toan looked to the dark cloudy sky, illuminated by the subtle glow of the moon and its accompanying stars.

"It's probably been ten minutes by now." He spoke as he looked back to the quivering Krim. "Best I send that signal."

Toan flowed his black Ether into his fist, similarly to Robius, only his was hyper focused, not even the smallest fraction of it wasted.

"Black Noise."

Krim was suddenly enveloped in a dead silence. He felt as the warm blood trickled down his face pouring from his ruptured ears.

"You should be thanking me, The Tartarus Island would kill you in less than an hour, and it wouldn't be as painless as this is gonna be."

A massive Mana Shield erected in a mile radius around the two stretching indefinitely into the sky.

Even with such an impressive shield the blow shook the entirety of the Orochi Isles sending a thunderous explosion of sound through the Island of Kocu.

Toan fell to his knees after such a blow.

"Holding back that much sure is exhausting." He said as he stood in the middle of a mile wide crater. "And to think he managed to escape, being able to travel at the speed of light must be nice. He won't get away this time though, nobody will ever hurt my family again."

********

The sound Brought a temporary respite to Jex's nerve wracking battle with his former friend.

"You really are a degenerate scumbag. Why won't you just let me kill you! You don't deserve to live after what you did to me!" Leo exclaimed as he launched a blade of pressurized water at Jex, yet because of its small size Jex was able to evaporate it with a wave of flame.

"Maybe you're right. I've made my share of mistakes, if not for me Merkia may still have a queen, Kenki and Cloris would still have a guild, you wouldn't have endured what you did. I'm sure I've messed up even more too, I just don't know it yet." Jex said as he clenched his hand into a tight fist. 

Leo raised a towering wall of water before himself.

"Tides of Vengeance."

"Then let me kill you! Redeem yourself! Perhaps we can be friends again in the afterlife!"

'That wall. It's too tall, I can't evaporate it without harming my nearby allies, but if it falls the weight will not only crush me but also everyone around me. If only I had Nosora's speed.' 

"Die!!!"

The wall of water crashed down with all its weight, yet a brilliant flame shined through.

"Flare Shield." Jex shouted as he held back the weight of the tides with a tower shield made of flames, for the moment the element canceled each other out as the loud hiss of steam nearly deafened Jex. 

"Run." He shouted to those behind him, even those on Lunastray's side took advantage of Jex's shield and evacuated before the tides weight could crush them.

"Why do you save them!" Leo shouted as he conjured more water forcing Jex to buckle.

"Because I decided a long time ago. Nothing is more precious than the lives of my friends. Whether I have to kill my enemies or save them, whether I must die myself for their sake, and most certainly, I promised that I would never sacrifice a friend's life for revenge again."

"But why!? Why couldn't you save me? Why did you burn me? Why did you have to wait to that I was more important then revenge! You were like my older brother, I trusted you with everything, I would've done anything for you, and I thought you would do anything for me!" Leo roared passionately his eyes filled with emotion, yet his tear ducts had been burned away. 

"But you didn't, I have to kill you, before you hurt someone else."

Jex's shield began to steadily shrink in size as his flames began to extinguish.

"I'm sorry Leo. I can't die yet; I still need to make up for my mistakes. I may never be able to repent for what I've done, but if die now, I'll never get the chance to try." 

Jex looked around as his surroundings.

After so many years he would finally be able to use his powers without worrying about hurting one of his allies.

A skyscraping twister of flames erupted into the sky bright as the sun itself, it evaporated the massive tide and casted a wave of nigh unbearable heat across the whole battlefield.

Leo's eyes widened as he stumbled back.

"Those flames. They really are the same."

"Infernal Twister." Jex spoke as he approached Leo with a tri-bladed dagger he grabbed off the ground.

"You bastard!" Leo shrieked as he conjured an orb of water that dissolved in an instant. "You're gonna burn me to death again!"

Jex simultaneously dispelled his Infernal Twister and lunged at Leo Imbedding his dagger in his chest. 

"No, I won't make you hurt anymore." Jex spoke as he cradled Leo's body in his arms. "Little brother, I hope you find peace in the afterlife."

Unfortunately, Jex wouldn't have time to waste, he was still in the middle of a battlefield after all.

"Now!!!" One of five members of the Lunastray shouted, signaling an ambush.

"How distasteful." A familiar voice spoke.

The man maid Benedict himself fought off the ambush with the greatest of ease.

"Jex was it? We both share a love for women though our ways of displaying such are night and day. Regardless, I believe we could make a good team with our shared motivation." He spoke.

Jex immediately shifted his attitude, he couldn't let anyone see that side of him.

"So that's why your cross-dressing? To show your admiration of women?"

"Nay! I don my unique choice of clothing for the sake of my guild. I show my admiration by protecting them."

"I show my admiration with a good lunch and a climax of a dinner. Regardless, I'm pretty low on Ether so I can't turn down your offer. Let's do this Man-Maid."

********

I couldn't help feeling a little left out. 

Jex had just finished an epic battle, Cloris was fighting with some sick blue flames, Okami and Shade were wading through the Smilers and even Aceil was just as strong as when we started.

Yet with each combo I performed my Ether was running shorter and shorter.

"Damn it. I don't think I can keep this up, I don't have Ether like Aceil, and my combo is taxing." I panted as residue electricity crackled off me. "I don't get it, I thought I was stronger than this. Did that fight with Krim really damage me that much? I thought I recovered."

Six smilers surrounded me each with bloodlust in their eyes.

"No time to complain, I won't be outdone by Aceil! Bring it on!"