“Za. Kronous’ beasts are gathering on the western fnk. We have no information about why, or the specific amounts that are mustering, but the forces are there. And they have a Greater Hellhound at their head, so we need some reinforts”

  Kiko retty sure she was meant to be out cold. Probably talking to her father. But instead she was here, in some unknown pce, looking out of some unknown eyes, being told things she did not know. She opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but it was not her voice that spoke. It was a deep, powerful voice.

  "Mmm. I'll give them a hand. Tell the Maiden to expect a Sending” he replied, before drawing the beautiful sword she had used to butcher that bull creature. He cut his palm with the bde, and then held it up and began to speak. While speaking she got a feeling resonating through him, something of great power and of great elegance.

  “This silence offends me. I desire the vibrancy of noise. Reag my hand across the Ether, I extend it to you, for the beautiful cacophony you offer unto me. Take my hand, and bring joy; Tai Zahai!” the elegant power shuddered from the very core of her – or his? – being, ran up the arm, and then swelled at the point that had been cut and vanished. A few seds ter, a thunderous roar erupted from the west, followed by the man smiling.

  “That should hahe greater, if nothing else. How’s the front, Sagi?” The man asked. Sagi looked back, and her eyes…were different. One was a gentle red colour, as if transitioning from pink to crimson, and the other was a soft blue, the same colour - if not shade - as the sword.

  “Not great. We've lost Astor City. Last reports I got was a Balor appeared and trashed the garrison. Takanuva is mustering some Grey Maws for a repisal, but a Balives pause to most. We are spinning our bloody wheels here, where the hell is Sean in all this?” Sagi was, opposed to Za, a vulgur and brutish woman in tone.

  “The Universe is a big pce, Sagi. And there are creatures far beyond our ken that would be to us as we are to ants. He ot be everywhere at once, and he ot appear in every battlefield to sweep away the ants that ihe piic of Creation. That is our job” the Kitsune – Za, he had been called – was one of sound mind and firm vis, to pacify Sagi as he did.

  “Tsk, I get that. It’s just, seeing so many people die, knowing he could take this entire p by himself and not even notice there were forces arrayed against him…It’s frustrating. So! I am going to take my Bloodmoons and frustrations, and head over to Astor. There is a Balor to kill, after all” Sagi nodded, striding off and the him to his Kitsuning.

  Kiko watched Za take a seat and then, look to the bright blue sword.

  “Though I am sad, Ka’za’lie. Knowing you are in fights so far beyond us does not help the despair of knowing that you could still end this inside a day” Za spoke to the sword, and sighed softly, before entering a meditating pose. Kiko, between astohoughts of what kind of being could be so powerful to end aire war in a day, felt what he was doing instantly, as if it was her own body. Every deep breath in flushed new power into her body, and every exhale released exhausted power from her body. She could feel something, separate from her own body, flux and grow with each breath, until arasensory alert pinged in her mind, and her eyes flew open. She had beelded with him, his words were her words, his as were her as. She was Him.

  “Goetia” Za’s gentle whisper sent a shudder through his body, and from there he stood. A few gently spoken orders were given to Tvk. Bck wings and bck armour, the man was one of Lucy’s soldiers. Not anyone of note in the gaxy, but Za respected the man’s skill and discipline. and the off, at a great pace, releasing some half-visible light from his feet with every step and granting him exceptional speed from that. Eventually, he was in range of the oning horde. A Goetia would not move alone, even if they wished it. Za grasped the sword firmly, the energy he had been inhaling filtered into the bde, and it turned from a deep crystal blue to a strong yellow colour

  The horde rushing towards them was made up mostly of Hellhounds and Squawks, c air and ground. Seeing this, Za exhaled and swung his sword. The words resonated in his soul, and Kiko heard them though they were not spoken. Soris Paragon Artarius. The ssh of the bde hissed, water boiling and air turning to psma for a moment as the incredible heat raged through the air, and cut through anything in it’s way, creatures exploding in gouts of steam until it cleared a hole through the horde to a woman standing in the middle of it.

  “What’s one of the Ziaia doing here?” Za asked, pointing his sword to the elegant woman with toned muscles and surprisingly prestiy. She was mostly humanoid, and of normal height. Surprisingly humble for a being of magic, but the Zian ever bothered with such trivialities. It was fighting they wanted.

  “I do love being reized. It makes all the effort I put into this so worthwhile” the woman flicked a hand and the horde of monsters charging towards Za stopped iracks. Howling, baying and svering, but stopped iracks. “But if you know who I am then you know why I am here. It’s a huge fight, of course the Zian are going to be represented. Besides” the Zian ulled out a wooden tablet, and on it, strange symbols were carved. “I’ve already been paid”.

  “The Oracle of Delphi” there was surprise in Za’s voice. A touch of avarice – that was a hundred king’s ransoms – and a touch ation. “Then I shall speak no longer” Za nodded, a into a stahe yellow crowing deeper. The Zian woman, for her part, spawned a pair of greatswords from bursts of fme from her hands. While most supernatural warriors ehe drawing-slice a of the katana, the Zian preferred and focused on size and crushing force to best use their overwhelming might against the enemy.

  And then it began, the Zian Woman moved with preternatural speed, the first greatsword swinging and hitting Za’s parry. Though the force was too great and after an attempt to keep his footing, he was blown back, the sed bde ing swinging to slice him in half. It never got there, however, as three of his tails moved in to intercept. The fur of the tails fttened against the tail and cshed against the greatsword, stopping its movement. Kitsunes were so hard to fight because the elders had many tricks for bat surrounding their tails, and so you had to fight five to nine ‘people’ for every Kitsune you went up against. She came up against the sed lot of tricks as three more tails rushed in, the Fox Fire held at the tip and fur focused into a point that jabbed at her while Za regained his footing, and then slipped through the windoened in her guard and cut a surprisingly small gash in her side. All the Ars were strong magic users, but the Ziahe best at physical enha, and so had skin to rival a Deimos.

  Seeing that this man ecial man, beyond the normal, horns sprouted from her head, feet morphing into hooves and her whole body swelling out. It reminded Kiko intimately of how Queenie looked. Of how the "Demons" of the South looked....was this woman their aor? Za was clearly a Kitsune, and they were here...

  Kiko's ps did not stop the fight, however. With a new swing, The Zian Woman blew Za off his feet and up into the air. While he tried to roll and recover his form, the Zian was there, right in front of him. Void Step made this fight so very difficult, and the kick to the sternum that shot him bato the ground and blew away some of the smaller beasts was also not really a good thing. A lumi fsh of blue light exploded from the impact point. The Zian woman stepped dowly and smiled at the Kitsune, who was standing surprisingly upright given the blow he had just taken.

  “A Magi as well as a Cultivator. How rare~” The Zian plimented Za, grinning to herself most enthusiastically.

  “I am Za, protector of Algaza. Herald of Va, Lord of the Kitsunes. So having several different tricks up my sleeve does make sense, no?” he replied, flourishing his sword and casting a spell into its depths to be used ter.

  “Mmm~ Trick or two of my ow yet. Never mahe inner calm you o be a Cultivator though” The Zian shrugged softly. She didn’t know why, but there was a culture between warriors to have polite chat between trying to murder each other. Probably to keep the fight in polite, civilized grounds. A prht should be done for personal reasons, but not out of hate er e, which a proper versation helped to ensure.

  “It takes some work, to be sure. But, if you are ying cim to titles like Herald of Va, Lord of the Kitsunes and all that, you o make sure you are the best. When you are peting with Bloodmoons-” he would flick his sword and bisect a Shriek that tried to dive bomb him “-You gotta be good” he finished.

  The Zian womauro look at the horde. Being a respectful man, Za waited for her, as she had a few sparks daween her fingers and then engulfed the entire horde with a raging inferno that stripped the flesh from their bones. Clearly, she wasn't best impressed with the interruption. Turning back to Za, she would nod. And almost in reply, eight tails blossomed and gathered into form, charging a burst of energy between them.

  Not wanting to let him get such a thing off, The Zian exploded towards Za with a speed one would not expect from a woman of her size and girth. Iurn, Za acted, spontaneously casting the spell stored in the bde and ripping flesh from the bone as the Fulgar Ultima exploded from it. It caused some severe damage, and then he released the Fox Fire. The Zian threw both swords at the bze and then belched a gout ing inferno, but both were overwhelmed by the Fox Fire.

  The cataclysm that followed was enough to take Za off his feet, were he not to cast a barrier of wind around him to spiral the explosion and direct it away from him. That kind of blow would definitely y the woman low, and half the horde with it. Though, it was a funny thing. Young Kitsunes could fire off their full tailed fire a lot before exhaustion took them, but as a Kitsu stroheir tails outstripped their mana, and they could easily exhaust themselves by overusing the tails. Eight-strike along with a Paragon, an Ultima, and charging the bde...He was gd for his training. Taking heavy breaths and reag his hand out, he’d pull the sword back to his hand.

  Though it wasn’t to be, as the Goetia crawled out of the crater, coughing and spluttering, glowing with a bzing crimso disarmed.

  “Damn, were y to kill me?” she asked, shaking her head aing the fme fade away. Woman wasn’t kidding about having a trick or two of her ow…

  “Mmm. Let me try harder this time!” Za would then unch off, an explosion of semi-visible light throwing himself at the woman. But, then suddenly she was right there and smashing his skull in with a palm strike, using the momentum of Za against him and smming him into the ground, burying him some thirty foot in the floor.

  “I’d appreciate it if you tried...weaker? Is that even a word?” she fused herself towards the end and frowned. She didn’t get a reply, and ihe ground exploded around her, Za rising up from the earth and ung the sediment at her. It didn’t work, the woman just weathered the storm with fury and passion, and then moved into cle again, her greatsword fshing into her hands and smashing into Za’s sword. It was a very heavy handed disarm, but a disarm all the same.

  “I prefer” she excimed, the greatsword vanishing where it came after ripping the sword out of Za’s hand “My fists!”

  Rolling her body down and then stepping forward to throw her entire bodyweight into a gut punch, Za reflexive cast the “Mirror Of Yami'' Sed Tier spell and reflected the blow into the woman’s gut. From there, he grabbed her head as she rolled from the blow and smashed her ko it, using localized Stutter to smash into her face a dozen times in the same moment. Then as the woman rolled up from the blow, he’d step forward and thrust his fists out intut, pung as if to punch through the woman, and sending her off so he could have a moment’s rest.

  And by the gods he . This fight had dragged on lohan most. People of the retively same level didn’t fight long because their equal attack potency often outstripped their durability. But, the Goetia was just so damned durable he could barely break her hide except with the most powerful of attacks, and then she just recovered from those with a flourish. It was truly vexing. And just to prove his point, the womaurned sauntering up to him and shaking her hair to get the debris out.

  “Ohh, I would love to have a hundred children with you, dear. But you look pooped already. Need a nap?” she teased, grinning broadly and biting her lip. The implication of the nap being located in the woman’s bed to get those hundred children, did not escape him.

  ‘Va, give me an hour from tomorrooke to his deity.

  ‘It’s not a healthy thing to do, you know’ she replied, sliding into his sciousness like a perfectly fitting glove.

  ‘It’s not healthy to get my face staved in by a Goetia either’ he retorted. Va sniggered at that and slid her hands into Za’s temporal existence, pulling tomorrow into today aalizing him to the brim.

  “As a Cultivator, I must thank you a thousand times for showihe power of a Goetia. It is not to strike with all one's for the opening moments, but I shall respect your overwhelming capabilities” Za spoke, giving her a light nod and then sliding a foot back. His shadow seemed to get up and around him, c him so that he was no longer a Kitsu instead some vaguely humanoid blob of bess.

  Then he moved, appearing instantly and smmed into the Zian woman, shoulder and elbow ramming into her torso at the same time, and then the blow ing again immediately from his shadow. Driving the Zian back with the force of the blow, he would sweep around her bad leave tiny cuts with his cws all across her body using the sed of the nine profound teiques; Cirg Nine es, moving with her as she was forced back from the Void Strike. When she finally got her footing bad won against the iia, Za threw her off bance again with the fifth of the nine profound teiques; Shrieking Mountain Wind. His palm smmed into her face, and the namesake wind would strike at her a huimes over.

  The Zian woman threw off Za’s flurry and unched a punch at him, which he tered by headbutting the pund using Flow trol to steal it's force, and then the sixth of the nine profound teiques; Soul-Crushing Strike. His two fingers were like a caress against the wrist that they hit, but that did nothing to stop it from crag uhe force. The Zian woman would let out a raging snarl and sh a kick at him, which was tered again when Za leaned bad threw a ki return, crag her shih the eighth of the nine profound teiques; Splitting The Sky. Havi up well, he would dip low, touch his fio the ground and activate the Earth-Defying Array. Four shining lines would spread out from the point of tact, eae in a cardinal dire and each representing the profound teiques utilized against the Goetia.

  She tried to back away, the Array sealing her Void Step but not her natural movements. However, it was useless, as Za went through the motions and threw his punyway. Though she was on the cusp of the northern line, she took the blow to her sternum as if she was right in front of him. The wispy form of one hundred a Dragons crashed into her chest - probably where the name “One Hundred a Crashing Dragons” came from, martial arts could be very self-expnatory at times - and she crumpled on the spot, winded and with a broken sternum.

  Broken sternum. That she was already in the midst of rec from. Goetia truly were creatures of the God King, iructable by the efforts of lesser men. And he was lesser.

  Having been saving this trump card in case a Telekine came down or something ridiculous, this woman was definitely something ridiculous. So, Za drew out a lustrous golden and threw it at the woman, quickly ing her up in a harie and binding her arms securely behind her back.

  “Gah...kinky~ Seems you took my offer of a bedroom fling seriously” the Zian woman coughed up some blood and then grinned and flexed her muscles. Though, it did nothing and the s ed tighter around her muscur form, ripping into the clothes aenuating her physical assets far more than she liked. “W-wait...I ’t…?” she was stu the fact that these s wouldn’t break from her strength. She took a deep breath and forced her muscles to strain, but the held tight and even added a crotch strap for added support, pulling tightly as she exerted herself. “Hey! Get out of there you damned perverted !”

  Gring at Za, who had recovered his sword and put it away, allowing his shadow to melt off him aurn to it’s natural position. She tried to point but her hands were really well tied up.

  “What the hell is this, ya damned fox?” She demanded, barieeth at Za.

  “No idea” He replied casually, to the shrieking fury of the woman. Giving a grin, at the vexation, he would tio talk. “There was a tale a long time ago of a guy tying up a giant bull so his friend and possible lover could cut the thing’s head off. But old tales have a way of getting lost in time. Bits added, bits removed, bits from other bits brought in to spice stuff up, bits ged to back up your cims about what this God do to yod if you don’t follow him. This could be the he used to bind the bull, could be a made while inspired by the tale. Could just be a . What is known is that it has a special entment on it that makes the grow stronger and tighter the more the captive writhes and thrashes against it. So, loose up a little and it might give you a bit of sck down there” Zarh would flick his eyes down to the woman’s crotch, and she blushed at it, knowing the damned had ripped through her clothes down there. The glorious fox man had defted some, no doubt suffering the backsh of his flurry. She’d have been able to ter such a rush to begin with, and leave him helpless, but he had fought her to get a grasp for her rhythm and flow, and then struck very precisely....

  ‘Tsk, Mother mother always did say I relied too mu being a Goetia and not enough on skill and reading the oppo…’ she thought before shaking her head.

  “Fine. You have defeated me, Talia’Zian. You ...who’s that ing up behind you?” Talia asked, frowning. Za, fident in the , would look over there and see a Tengu flying in, probably drawn by the age.

  “Akaka. What news do y?” Za asked, waving him down. Though the Tengu was not in a chatty mood and just stepped up to Za. His arm shifted forward, and KIko’s vision ehere and then, waking up abruptly in a cold sweat.