"Welcome back."
Lina could only stare mutely. Reilin's words and Gourry's warning echoed in her mind but she never took them too seriously. How could she, when it was so outrageously different from what she knew of him? But looking into that cold face with the eyes sparked with gold, Lina began to wonder what she ever knew.
"Who are you!" demanded Milgazia, glaring at the intruder. It was impossible for anyone else to get into the resting place of the Clair Bible unless they were more powerful than himself. And no human should be that powerful. "Release the Clair Bible at once!"
Lina resisted rolling her eyes. Milgazia's lack of concern for her well-being was touching. Not. She supposed the life of one insignificant human was nothing compared to the continued existence of the stir-crazy knowledge of a dead god.
"You mean this?" His voice was laced with contempt for the cracked, dark orb in his hand. "If you insist."
Deliberately, he let it roll of off his hand. With what seemed like painstakingly slowness, it fell through the translucent webs of lost power, shattering like glass as it struck the 'ground' of the dimensional pocket. That was it. The knowledge of gods breaking like a toy. No big fireworks, no divine retribution, only silence as two of the three people there tried to absorb the meaning of all of this.
"...impossible," Milgazia finally managed to gasp.
That about summed up Lina's thoughts on the matter as well except that she knew from experience and lots of raps over the head courtesy of her sister that nothing was impossible. She told Reilin as much about what? Perhaps not over a week ago. No wait, wasn't that about believing something? Whatever. The 'impossible' was never easy to believe.
"Zel, what are..." Lina's throat dried as those golden, yet somehow ancient, eyes turned to fix on her again. Flexing her fingers to get rid of the numbing sensation from his tight grip, she tried again. "Just what the hell are you doing here and where the hell have you been?!"
"You know him?" Milgazia said in a low, furious tone. "You lead him here."
Lina shook her head quickly in denial of that. "Were you even listening to what I was saying? I don't know how he got here either! Say something already, Zel!!"
"I will not tolerate interference," he said quietly, raising a hand toward Milgazia. The power coiled down his arm and fired so quickly Lina didn't have time to shout a warning. However, the Gold Dragon's reflexes were faster than hers but only barely. The impact against his hastily erected shield still threw the Dragon Lord back several meters.
"Where did you get that kind of power?" Lina demanded. "That wasn't a spell!"
"It is time to go."
"I'm not going anywhere!" she snapped defiantly. "Not until you tell me right here and now exactly what is going on."
Zelgadiss only looked at her with that numbing gaze. "You will come with us."
"What do you mean...us..." Lina stared at Zelgadiss, or that is to say, whatever was overlapping his image. Shadows that seemed to almost have substance, almost possessing human form, writhed and flickered around and over him. Was this what Gourry saw?
"Come."
She realized too late that the numbness she thought was due to lack of blood circulation in the arm Zelgadiss was griping had spread down to her legs. And they were moving to a will not her own. Numbness, shadows, gold, darkness...
"Night..." Her barely formed word was burned away by the bright sun as somehow Zelgadiss lead her out of the pocket dimension back into the real world. It wasn't the same way Milgazia had taken her in.
"Is that the one?" asked a rough voice. Whomever that voice was talking to must have answered because then it said, "Keep an eye out for trouble. I can deal with this."
Lina blinked rapidly to get rid of the blind spots in her vision. Zel apparently wasn't suffering from the same problem. The grip on her arm tightened though it didn't really hurt because she could barely even feel it.
"Get out of the way, boy. I have some busy with the little girl."
Someone very tall loomed over them. Lina could make out long hair, probably red, an orange overcoat, and a very long sword, most likely a claymore. Of course, she had never seen the person before in her life but that didn't stop other would-be killers of the Dra-matta.
"No."
Gaav looked down at the human whelp who dared to defy him. It was a somewhat comical scene if taken out of context. This violet-haired human barely came up to his chest to say nothing of the even shorter girl, Lina Inverse. Still, there was something familiar about him.
"Too bad then. I'll just have to kill you both." Gaav snorted, not sounding that reluctant about the deed at all. Just one swing with his blade and Hellmaster's plans would be finished. The once powerful Mazoku Lord swung his heavy blade as easily as he could swing his arm alone, faster than any human possibly could react to.
"I can't allow that."
The blade cleaved a boulder in two and made a crevice in the ground. But as Gaav noted even before he finished the swing, his targets, both of them, were already out of range of his sword. That boy was fast, even carrying the girl.
"Not bad," Gaav chuckled. "Looks like I underestimated you." He studied the 'human' boy. "But it seems that neither of us are as human as we appear."
Lina blinked. Now what did that mean? Sure Zel could move fast. Come to think of it, she never did get him to explain how he could still do that. He wasn't a chimera anymore. But examining his recent behavior, he may not be completely human anymore either. He saved them both from that maniac but somehow, it felt different, not like before when they first met Gilga. She felt more like a silly bauble being fought over by treasure hunters than...was that it? Was she feeling more like a 'thing' rather than a person?
"You're one of Hellmaster's lap dogs?" Gaav asked skeptically. He didn't think that the Mazoku were at such desperate straits to need the recruitment of their mongrel brethren.
"Hellmaster?" Lina squeaked, breaking out of her thoughts. "First Chaos Dragon Gaav and now Hellmaster Fibrizo? Since when did I become Miss Popularity among the Mazoku??"
"You should say, first Hellmaster Fibrizo, and now Chaos Dragon Gaav," Gaav corrected. "It began with him. So what does he want with you, girl?"
"How should I know! This is the first time I've heard of Hellmaster in this whole mess! And who the hell are you anyway?"
"I suppose you should know the name of your killer. I am - "
"Chaos. Dragon. Gaav."
"EH?!" Lina shrieked. Even trapped in a human body, he was still incredibly powerful.
"So you know who I am, boy."
"How did you know that? I swear, when we get out of this, you are telling me everything Zelgadiss!"
"Zelgadiss? That has a familiar ring to it." For some reason, that name stuck in Gaav's head so it had to have some significance. Kill first then sort it out later.
"I will not allow you to kill her. The key is needed for our release," Zelgadiss said darkly, again changing from the singular to the plural. Lina didn't miss it, nor did she miss the shadows growing around Zelgadiss again. He was gathering power to fight Gaav?
"Are you crazy? Even if Gaav isn't a full Mazoku Lord anymore, you can't have a chance in hell of beating him!" Lina hissed.
Zelgadiss only briefly looked back at her, something flickering in those emotionless golden-blue eyes. "You will remain here."
"Not like I have a choice." She still couldn't move with both legs and her left arm all tingly and numb. "I'll just sit here and wait for the next rock slide to kill me."
"You don't have to worry about that."
The numbness lifted from her limbs, drifting away as golden motes of light to form into a dome around her. Lina wriggled her fingers and toes, movement returning much to quickly for an ordinary numbness. So that golden energy had been inside of her, weighing her down. Was this power what she thought it was? From outside this world...
Something like a thunderclap, except a hundred times louder, boomed through the mountains and Lina threw herself to the ground. Sounds like that usually meant a big aftershock was sure to follow. The golden dome though stood firmly against the ensuing backlash. Cautiously, Lina looked up in time to see Gaav and Zel clash again, a sword of metal against a sword of shadows.
Sword, shadows, dark, Gilga's spellblade!
Lina quickly pulled the stone tablet out of her cape's pocket. The Clair Bible had translated the spell for her. If she could adapt it somehow to use the power of the Lord of Nightmares instead of whatever source it originally used, perhaps it could cut through this dome. She didn't know what was going on with the Mazoku and Zel and whatever, but she sure wasn't going to sit here like a prize to be won. But she didn't have her magic. To hell with that.
"Lina Inverse decides her own life," she said grimly, trying to ignore the colossal battle outside. If somehow she got her magic back, she'd need the spell finished and ready.
Xelloss smiled at the nervous ryuzoku assigned to watch over himself and the five other humans. That green-haired human girl hadn't been accounted for in the grand scheme of things but there didn't appear to be any way that she might cause the plan to go astray. Otherwise, everything was going exactly to plan. Lina Inverse should be returning soon with a better understanding of the Lord of Nightmares, as much as any human could understand that concept.
Privately, Priest Xelloss felt that this Lina Inverse was too dangerous as it was. A human should not know such things much less be capable of wielding it. That was not, however, the opinion of the one he currently served and called 'master'. His mind's eye turned to the human boy Rizo.
Rizo kept up the facade, even pretending that he didn't notice that Xelloss was studying him. Of course Xelloss would be loyal to him, if only to a certain extent. Zelas was still alive but if she wasn't... Rizo briefly contemplated the possibilities. But those were merely dreams of something that will never happen once his plan succeeded.
Very soon he would fulfill the reason for his being. The desire not his own that touched every part of what separated him from everything else would finally be gone. Then he could leave this pitiful existence and return to nothingness again. It'll be quiet and warm. That thought was likely utter fabrication, he knew, something to entice him beyond the foreign desire for destruction of the world.
Perhaps the Mother of All was getting impatient. Even if that human girl had made a spell that could cross into the regions beyond the narrow human concept of a world, the Mother could have refused the spell's request. Why did she grant the power to destroy one of her own agents of destruction? Of course, she would have known who was calling for the power and what purpose it would be used for. Did she want then a single complete annihilation? Rizo smiled dreamily to himself, he would give her that.
All of the ryuzoku guards snapped to attention as Milgazia stormed into the hall, making a straight line to Xelloss. His hand reached out to grab the priest by the neck but halted as he recalled exactly who he was dealing with. Slowly, he clenched the outstretched hand into a tight fist, no doubt with pleasant images of Xelloss's throat being in that fist.
"Welcome back, Milgazia-san," Xelloss said pleasantly. Something very serious must have happened to make this very old acquaintance lose his presence of mind to almost attack him. Pity, it might have been interesting. "Where is Lina-san?"
Milgazia looked at Xelloss sharply with his golden eyes but the priest's mask was unbreakable. Xelloss was only a mask, who knew what was truly there. Whether or not that 'priest' knew, everyone would have to be told.
"Lina Inverse was taken away by someone else."
Cries of disbelief and worry rose from the humans. Xelloss didn't appear to react at all.
"Is that true? Milgazia-san." Xelloss leaned closer to the Dragon Lord and spoke in a loud whisper that seemed to catch ever ear in the room. "Or are you just hiding her?" The 'from me' portion was left out but its implication remained.
"You dare to insinuate that Milgazia-sama would lie?!" roared the young ryuzoku guard who had brought in Xelloss. A wave of Milgazia's arm silenced any further protest.
"Lina Inverse was taken away," Milgazia repeated firmly, steadfastly meeting Xelloss's gaze. "It was someone she knew apparently. Someone by the name of Zel."
"Zelgadiss-san?!"
"Impossible!"
"He's here?"
Rizo, like Martina, had a partially blank expression at the mention of a person they really didn't know. Underneath though, his mind was working furiously through the repercussions of this development in his plans. It was unlikely that the human girl was taken outside of the Clair Bible because they hadn't heard anything. But to get into that pocket of reality torn away from the rest of the world took not only power but knowledge. Supposedly, only the Gold Dragon named Milgazia knew the path.
"That's quite careless of you, Milgazia-san. Did you lose her before you entered the place of the Clair Bible or after?" Xelloss asked in a low voice with a hint of mockery. That Zelgadiss was becoming quite the wildcard. Just what was he up to?
"Neither. He took her from within." Milgazia let Xelloss digest that piece of information. It wasn't just anyone who could find the Clair Bible's home. "He didn't leave by the path I took but another. Order the aerial scouts to search ever nook and cranny of this mountain range!"
Several guards bowed and flew off in different directions to alert the various posts.
"Is that really such a good idea? Milgazia-san."
"I suppose you have a better one?" retorted the Ryuzoku.
"Maybe," Xelloss smiled smugly, thoroughly enjoying riling up the stiff-necked Gold Dragon.
"Perhaps over there?" Gourry suggested. "Where part of the mountain just blew up."
Gaav grinned fiercely despite belabored breathing as he watched his opponent fall back from their last pass which resulted in a minor rock slide. A small cloud of dust rose from the skidding needed to slow him down. He hadn't had a fight like this, a real fair fight, for a very long time.
"Not bad, boy."
Zelgadiss made no reply, only shifting his stance. The shadows that hung loosely around him writhed in anticipation of their next command be it shield or attack. Unlike his opponent, he wasn't short of breath but then, he didn't seem capable of displaying any emotion or physical shortcoming at all.
"You're pretty good for a half," Gaav admitted before his face turned hard. "But that power you have...isn't something that should be wielded."
The golden intensity that had reduced to a faint shadow around Zelgadiss flared in defiance.
"What are you?"
"It's freezing!" Martina complained, wrapping her cape tightly around her. Everyone sweatdropped.
"No one forced you to come with us," Rizo pointed out.
"Milgazia-san didn't look to happy about having us go with the dragon scouts at all," Amelia whispered to her companions huddled on the back of a low-flying golden dragon.
"He and Xelloss-san must have some kind of history. Milgazia-san almost seems afraid of Xelloss-san," Sylphiel added.
"Probably with very good reason," muttered Gourry, keeping his eye on their destination.
"What was that?" Rizo asked Gourry.
"Nothing."
Rizo raised an eyebrow. Did that slow swordsman already know Xelloss's true identity? There was a heightened level of tension in Gourry since Xelloss arrived. He suddenly felt a power surge.
"Hold on!" roared their dragon mount as he suddenly swerved to avoid a blast from the ground. Having no means of being secured to the dragon's back, all six passengers were sent flying.
Rizo figured that the only good thing about pretending that he was human was that anything that normally killed a human wouldn't kill him. Still, a fall from this height was sure to cause a fair amount of pain. That might be satisfying. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
"Are you alright?" Amelia asked, having caught him while Sylphiel caught Gourry. Xelloss apparently has also cast a flight spell before becoming a pancake on the rocky mountains. Martina was clinging fiercely to him.
"Okay, I guess. But what was that thing that fired at us?" As if Rizo couldn't tell it was from a Mazoku. Most likely one of Gaav's. Did they know he was here? Unlikely. They were probably here for Lina Inverse. This was becoming quite a hunt.
"It came from over there," Xelloss pointed helpfully. "Shall we take a look?" Without waiting for their answers, he flew straight toward their mysterious attacker. The other two fliers with their respective passengers hurried after him.
"What pests," Valgaav snorted as the sky cleared of some pesky dragons. They were probably attracted by the fight. Well, Gaav-sama left him the order to keep out all interruptions and he would fulfill it.
"My my, fancy meeting you here, Valgaav-san."
"Xelloss," hissed Gaav's priest. The other priest landed unconcerned before Valgaav, dropping off the human that had been clinging to him. Some others could be seen coming to land from behind. "Need help this time?"
"Help? Not at all. I just wanted to arrive first to politely ask you to clear the way. There seems to be something happening over there. It wouldn't have anything to do with Gaav would it?"
Valgaav only snarled silently as four more humans landed behind Xelloss.
"Xelloss-san! Who is that?" Amelia asked. "That isn't another Mazoku after Lina-san is it??"
"Well actually..." Xelloss turned around to explain.
Valgaav unleashed a volley of blasts at the unprotected back.
"Look out!" Martina shrieked, diving for cover.
Xelloss only stood there serenely as all of the blasts slammed against an invisible shield. Turning only his head, his smile grew wider as he opened his eyes to look at Valgaav.
"A back attack? Too afraid to face me directly after last time?" "Minna-san. I'm sure you will find Lina-san past him. Go on ahead. I will deal with this Mazoku."
"But..."
"What's that over there?" Xelloss asked suddenly.
Everyone looked.
"I don't see anything. Are you sure - " Gourry looked back to see Xelloss pining that other Mazoku against the rocky wall.
"Please hurry everyone."
"I'll help you, Xelloss-san!" Amelia volunteered.
Before Xelloss could protest, Gourry did. "He'll be fine, Amelia. Let's get going and find Lina!"
Martina immediately scrambled past, disappearing in the twist and turns. The other four skirted around the Xelloss and his trapped opponent before running through the rough valleys toward the site of the continued explosions.
"Oh yes. Please tell Lina-san that she should be able to use her magic now," Xelloss called to the departing humans. "I hope they heard me."
"What kind of game are you playing?"
"Sore wa...himitsu desu."
Valgaav's retort was lost in the roar of a landing golden dragon.
"Hey, human priest!" he bellowed. "Where are the other ones? Milgazia's orders did not allow you freedom to run around our valley!"
"Ryu...zoku..."
"Yes, quite right, Valgaav. They're very annoying but so naive that it's laughable. Like now for instance." Xelloss grinned, waiting for Valgaav's scathing retort. It never came.
"Gold...Dragons," growled the other priest as tendrils of power began to leak from him. "Gold Dragons. Gold Dragons. Gold Dragons!!"
Xelloss frowned at this behavior, leaping backwards onto a rocky ledge as the force of Valgaav's rage grew into a gale-force wind. Valgaav had completely forgotten about him, focused solely on the ryuzoku before him. Sure, the Ryuzoku and Mazoku never got along but hostilities were usually initiated by the holier-than-thou Golds rather than the Mazoku. Valgaav was displaying an abnormal amount of dislike for the Ryuzoku, perhaps something to do with his mysterious origins. Xelloss figured he could spare some time to observe this as someone else was already present to make sure Lina Inverse didn't meet an untimely end before the designated hour.
"HOHOHOHO!"
Lina miswrote a portion of the spell she was working out. She crossed it out before rewriting it and then looked up at the annoyance of recent re-acquaintance. The scantily-dressed princess with a name only exceeded in grandeur and pomp by her own ego smirked at Lina through the golden dome.
"How the mighty have fallen! I see you're trapped like the rat you are, Lina Inverse!" Martina gloated, making faces at Lina on the other side of the dome.
"Shut up, Martina!" Lina snapped. Didn't Martina even notice the ground shattering fight between Zel and Gaav? Amazing as it was, they seemed equally matched. Lina didn't know exactly how powerful Gaav was trapped in a human shell but unless Zel happened to be the same, how could they be fighting on equal footing like this?! "I've got bigger problems than you."
"Nothing can be bigger or brighter than the Princess Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova of Zoana! HOHOHOHO!"
"Lina-san!"
Lina looked past Martina at the sound of Amelia's voice. The princess, along with Sylphiel, Gourry, and Rizo were hastily and carefully making their way to her on the edges of the devastated battleground. So all of the explosions finally caught their attention.
"Took you all long enough to get here."
"Who are those two?" Rizo pointed at the two fighting people completely oblivious to the five additions to their audience. That also meant that the new five had to be careful about stray energy blasts and feints that came a bit too close for comfort.
"Is that...Zelgadiss-san?" Sylphiel could barely believe the change in the prince. He seemed like an entirely different person. "But who is that other person?"
"Oh, just Chaos Dragon Gaav," Lina shrugged. The novelty of the fight had been lost within the first several passes. Everyone was shocked except Gourry who probably didn't remember who Gaav was anyway.
"What is this?" He asked instead, poking at the yellow dome. "And why are you in it?
"What does it look like you big ox?" Lina yelled at him. "It's something Zel did and I'm trapped in here!"
"I'll use a Flow Break and - " Amelia was interrupted by a stray blast striking the rock face above them. Several slabs of rock began to slide down. She quickly changed to another spell. "Bram Gush!"
Amelia's spell of shredding wind blew apart the several large slabs into many smaller rocks and boulders which still pelted everyone below. It was probably better than say being crushed to death or sheared into two.
"I thought I was going to die!" Martina wailed.
"We could only wish," Lina groaned even though Zel's yellow shield hadn't let any of the rocks strike her. "Damn it, if I could only cast magic I could get out of this."
"Go ahead," Gourry encouraged.
"What do you mean 'Go ahead'??" Lina yelled, striking the portion of the shield that was closet to Gourry. "I can't use magic remember!!"
"But Xelloss-san said you could now. At least, I think that is what he said," Sylphiel frowned, trying to remember his exact words.
"Xelloss? Xelloss is here?" Lina didn't like the sound of that. And how would he know when she got her magic back? He didn't act very helpful when she first found her magic was gone. Well, what did she have to lose right? "Get far away from this dome. I'm going to try to break it with a new spell."
"Did you get a new spell from the Clair Bible, Lina-san?" Amelia asked excitedly.
"More or less," Lina laughed weakly. Once everyone had moved far enough away, Lina began to chant. First was the words for these Demonblood Talismans. There was no telling how draining this spell could be. Next would be the words for this patched together spell.
"Lord who controls the darkness of four worlds, I beseech thy fragments; by all of the power thou possesseth, grant the heavens' wrath to my hand..."
Rizo leaned forward interested. What kind of spell was that little human going to try? Did she even recognize, as he did, the source of power that created that shield? The spell that was the reason he coveted her would be overdone for something like that.
He hadn't expected another one capable of wielding that power would exist. Even one existing was quite a pleasant surprise. His green eyes didn't need to be drawn from the concentrating Lina Inverse to keep track of the other battle raging in this valley. Two would be even better than one for the achievement of his plan, and he wasn't talking about using one when the other refused to cooperate. Both of them would be his.
"Unleash the sword of dark, freezing nothingness; by our power, our combined might, let us walk as one along the path of destruction! Laguna Blade!"
Lina gritted her teeth, her hands grasping the slippery, raging energy demanding to be free of the rough confinement as a blade in her hands. It was not as refined as either Gilga's or Zel's but it looked serviceable, if not utterly draining. She couldn't hold this as long as a Giga Slave.
"Let's cut this shield!"
She slashed at the golden dome, slicing a gash through it. The darkness that she had held in her hands rushed away as she slid weakly to the ground even as the shield shattered into golden glitter. Not that Lina was in any mood to do an analytical observation of the event. This Laguna Blade drew more out of her than even the Giga Slave! If she didn't have these magic amplification talismans, she could have burned out.
"Lina! Are you alright?"
"Just fine," Lina lied. "Never better."
"Then it's time to rescue Zelgadiss-san from that evil Mazoku Lord!" Amelia proclaimed. "As our hearts of justice can not stand either the unfair odds or ignore the plight of the beating of someone weak."
"Exactly who would be that weak person you're talking about?" Rizo asked. "They seem rather even to me."
"We can't just stand on the sidelines and watch!" protested the princess. "As evil never rests, neither can an ally of justice! No matter how much the personal cost, I must do all in my power to aid justice!"
A death cry rang out above them and they looked up to see the last vestiges of an energy blast dissipate. Beyond all logic of science, the arched dragon with a gaping hole through its chest simply hung.
"GET DOWN!!" Gourry yelled, shielding Sylphiel and Lina.
"Wha - "
The sky darkened as the large bleeding corpse of the Gold Dragon crashed into the valley in between the two combatants. When the dust had settled, only Gaav was still standing. And unfortunately, he was quite close to the human observers as well.
"I suppose even a near millennia couldn't erase that hatred," Gaav mused, noting the aerial firefight involving his priest and the residents of Dragons Peak. Then his gaze turned down, focusing on Lina. "This game has been drawn on long enough, little girl."
"You'll have to get through us," Gourry said, holding his Sword of Light at guard.
"We can not allow you to kill, Lina-san!" Amelia added.
"Why throw your lives away on a futile battle? There's no way any of you can even hope to best me, not even with lessened Gorun Nova."
"It isn't a question of futility," Sylphiel replied firmly. "We are her friends and we don't abandon friends. We are not heartless beings like Mazoku."
"Heartless? Typical human narrow-mindedness," Gaav shrugged. "Be it three or three thousand, I will kill Lina Inverse."
Three? Lina looked around, seeing only Sylphiel, Gourry, and Amelia. Oh well, Martina and Rizo were hardly fighters in any aspect. They probably would only have gotten in the way. But she knew the other three were also way out of their league. If she could just manage to use the Laguna Blade one more time...
"Get out of my way!" Gaav roared as he released a blast of force from his outstretched hand. Gourry, Sylphiel, and Amelia were blown off their feet and into the rocks but Lina laid low and wasn't as affected. She held tightly to the Chaos Words glowing in her mind despite the waves of fatigue and nausea washing over her.
"Unleash the sword of dark, freezing - " She choked on her blood as her body rejected the additional strain on its already weakened system. The first time casting a new spell was always more taxing than subsequent castings and it was too soon since the first time.
"It's nothing personal," Gaav remarked, walking up to her with his claymore resting on his shoulder. "You may understand later."
"I already told you."
Gaav whipped around, his blade weaving in a flashing pattern to deflect all of the golden-black bolts aimed at him. The attacker leaped down from the cooling corpse onto the ground, his shadows curling into two dark wings to slow the descent.
"I will not allow you to kill her."
"Persistent bastard aren't you."
"Elmekia Flame!"
Gaav immediately guarded his right but the spell flew up above him and into the Sword of Light wielded by the human coming down on him. With contemptuous ease, Gaav parried the clumsy attack.
"Fools." This was becoming annoying. Gaav looked to the cause of the fuss but saw only a dotted outline. He chuckled. "A distraction then? Only a small delay of the inevitable."
"Lina-san, I'll try to heal you so please stay still," Sylphiel cautioned before beginning the spell. "Why does he want to kill you so badly?"
"I don't know." Lina wanted to close her eyes to rest but with Sylphiel concentrating on the Resurrection, someone had to keep watch.
"Who are you, Mazoku?" boomed a Gold Dragon.
Valgaav didn't really care who it was, all Golds were the same to him. Even in his crimson-dyed rage, he noted that the other dragons gave deference to this one. A person of authority and prestige then. The Mazoku curled his bloody hands hungrily.
Valgaav's eyes blazed. "Murderer."
"What?!" roared Milgazia. "You killed my kin and you call me a murderer?!?"
"So? There's only about two dozen laying around. It's not even a pin in the bucket compared to you."
"In the Kouma War alone, Xelloss destroyed several clans which account to several hundred dragons!" Milgazia snarled, not even looking at said Mazoku who was serenely watching this all play out before him.
"He could have done better I'm sure," Valgaav snapped. "But it's nothing compared to genocide!!"
Confusion was widespread.
"Don't even pretend you don't remember! Hundreds of you, enough to form a golden wave crossing the sky. No reason, no warning, you just swarmed down and killed everyone! Hunted us down as if we were nothing but dumb animals!"
Xelloss's eyes opened to better see the aura around Valgaav. He had thought it was simply an overflow of power but perhaps he had been mistaken. It was taking shape and color, drawing into something behind Valgaav. Let's see, sleek four limbed body with feathered wings, all of dark indigo hue, equaled...
"An Ancient Dragon?!" Milgazia gasped. But that solitary single clan of Ryuzoku had been outside of the God-Sealing Barrier. He could only barely remember seeing one from afar that had come to visit the Water Dragon King's Temple before the Kouma War. But why was this Mazoku creating a vision of an Ancient Dragon?
Xelloss studied the image behind the enraged Valgaav. He always thought there was something not right about Gaav's priest. And Valgaav had only appeared after a trip outside of the Peninsula. It all fit very nicely that Valgaav might have originally been an Ancient Dragon, or more accurately, built from the pain and anguish of the decimated Ancient Dragons. He wondered if Valgaav could be tempted to swear allegiance to another Mazoku Lord.
"Xelloss."
His master's voice was audible only to Xelloss's ears.
"Should Gaav's servant show any signs of interference, eliminate him."
Hmph. Why didn't his master just tell him to destroy Valgaav when the amusement ended? It was a given that Valgaav would act once something happened to Gaav. Xelloss could sense where Gaav was. The former Mazoku Lord's power level was still much greater than his, but nowhere near that of his previous glory.
"You would have survived longer if you had minded your own business, Gaav," Xelloss murmured, returning to watch this interesting drama between Valgaav and the Gold Dragons.
"Just a little more." Sylphiel took a deep breath for just the last bit of spell.
"Thanks, Sylphiel." The headache was gone along with most of the leaden fatigue. The taste of blood in her mouth would take a bit longer. But once she was back, Lina was going to hit that Gaav with what can hurt him.
The four against one battle reached another pause. Gaav and Zelgadiss were unaffected though Amelia seemed windy and Gourry had been plastered into the ground.
"It doesn't seem like we're having much of an effect," Gourry winced, pulling himself up. "Not as much as Zel is at any rate."
"You mustn't give up so easily, Gourry-san!" Amelia reprimanded, leaping up to an appropriately high vantage point for her speech. "Justice is a weapon of good and good always triumphs! The machinations of evil will always be undone by the monkey wrench of good! Good leads those of pure heart and mind so we are on the correct path!"
"Oh please," Gaav rolled his eyes. "Nothing in life is an absolute."
"Good and evil are!"
"So enlighten me, human. What's an evil deed?" Gaav baited her.
"Killing Lina-san is an evil deed!"
"Oh? And what if I told you that Hellmaster Fibrizo wants to use Lina Inverse for some plan of his and by preventing me from killing her, you're helping him."
Rizo did enjoy the irony of it. Gaav most likely did as well. But that human girl who clung so desperately to her idealistic world to cover the deep scars of reality made by her own family wouldn't.
"So if you're helping him," Gaav continued. "You're an ally to a Mazoku. Doesn't that fall under your category of 'evil'?"
"But...that...that's not..." Amelia stammered.
Gaav smirked. "I do hate hypocrites."
"AMELIA!" Lina screamed as the energy from Gaav tore through the undefended girl. She scrambled over to Gourry, who being the closest, had been able to catch the princess before she hit the ground. "Amelia, you idiot! Why did you let your guard down?"
"Oi, Lina, she's dying! Can't you lay off?!" Gourry snapped before seeing Lina's teary eyes.
Sylphiel roughly pushed Lina aside. "Take care of Gaav! Leave this to me!"
"But..." Lina looked at Amelia's pale face. There was nothing she could do anyway. "Alright."
"Dead from just that? You humans are so fragile," Gaav snorted.
"You shut up! And you, Zel!" Lina yelled, standing up. "Why didn't you do anything! You could have reached her in time! Why did you just stand there and let her be killed?!?"
"That is none of my concern."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN, YOU THICK-SKULLED, SON OF A - "
"Excuse me for interrupting this catfight but I believe most of your defenders are occupied at the moment."
"You think you can kill Lina Inverse so easily?" Lina retorted.
"Well, I've kept one ace up my sleeve that probably not even your mysterious friend with no personality can anticipate." Gaav disappeared.
"Not so fast."
Gaav growled in frustration as that mongrel got in his way again. How could he have anticipated the dimension shift? Even if Gaav was less able at it in this shell, it should have been as undetectable as any other normal Mazoku. Only a Lord or higher could have detected where he would appear.
"Who are you receiving help from boy?" Gaav forced their locked blades toward Zelgadiss, knowing he wouldn't move as long as that Lina Inverse remained behind him. "Hellmaster? Dynast? Or Greater Beast?"
"None of them."
"Then who?!"
"...by our power, our combined might, let us walk as one along the path of destruction! Laguna Blade!" The writhing strands of Nightmare energy rose high into the air from Lina's hands. "Zel, get out of the way!" Now why did she warn that cold-hearted bastard?
Gaav gritted his teeth as the force of not one but two black blades of energy drove against his one of metal. That mongrel hadn't escaped as Lina Inverse had told him but only shifted enough not to be in the way. He was even against the mongrel but the addition of this other source of Nightmare, the forbidden source, was too much for what he could handle normally.
The claymore suddenly shattered under the force, leaving the two energy blades to cut into Gaav's own body. His roar of fury and pain echoed through the valley almost as tangible as a force itself. High above, his call was not unheeded by his servant, piercing even Valgaav's rage.
"Gaav-sama!" Valgaav broke off the battle with Milgazia to come to his master's aid.
"You aren't going anywhere!" The large bulk of one of the few Gold Dragons to have lived through the Kouma War blocked Valgaav's path.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" Valgaav didn't stop his dive, preparing to fire the power granted to him by Gaav into the ryuzoku at point blank range.
Milgazia's felt his mouth grew hot as his breath weapon charged beyond what he usually allowed. Many of his friends had died under this Mazoku. His eyes narrowed as Xelloss appeared in the air. Birds of a feather...
"Sayounara," Xelloss said simply, pointing his finger.
Their screams as his beam destroyed them both would have been impressive, if Gaav's outburst hadn't completely drowned them out and thrown everything in the air flying. A transparent image of a three headed dragon seemed to fill the mountain range but Xelloss knew, as he righted himself, that it was only an image. The true power release wasn't nearly as impressive but likely to be sufficient for its purpose.
And its purpose had been served, knocking back the two wielders of Nightmare away from Gaav. The damage from the energy cutting into him hadn't been great, it was after all only humans who were channeling it, but it had hurt like hell. To say the least, Gaav was hardly in a generous mood.
He gave that Zelgadiss only a passing glance. Those shadows had shielded him from certain death but he was unconscious for now. Long enough to complete his purpose finally. Lina Inverse was amazingly still alive. Gaav preferred finishing it with his own hands.
"This charade has gone on long enough," snarled the former Chaos Dragon.
"I agree," said a young voice.
"Who?! YEAAAAAAAAAARRGH!!!"
Lina forced her eyes to open, ignoring the blood that stained her sight, and gasped. Part of it was the pain running throughout her body. The other part was Gaav from which streams of black energy were coursing in and out of him.
"Wh-Who..." Gaav tried to close the holes created by the energy passage but new ones kept being made. "Impossible...not you..."
"You really are pathetic," snorted the voice that Lina could now recognize. "To imagine that I've been right here the entire time and you never even noticed!"
Rizo walked into Lina's line of sight wearing a very smug smirk that twisted his young face. He paused several yards from Gaav and looked at him before looking back at Lina.
"Don't you think he's pathetic? But I suppose it's not really his fault. The human shell is so restricted in its abilities. He's lost so much of his other side that he couldn't even notice I was here. You have my word that over a thousand years ago that wouldn't have been the case."
"Hell...master..." Gaav growled. "Fib...rizo..."
If Lina had the strength, she would have hit herself. Rizo was short for Fibrizo! Why didn't she see that! But then, she had no reason to believe Hellmaster was involved in this. Everyone, just because they were with her, got dragged into this Mazoku spat.
"Min...na..." Lina tried to look around for Gourry, Sylphiel, and Amelia. Sylphiel had been too busy trying to heal Amelia and Gourry couldn't have shielded Gaav's outburst. She couldn't even shield it. So then, how did she survive?
"You walked into my trap so easily, Gaav," Fibrizo sighed. "Your existence is just too pathetic to continue. Bye-bye." With a snap of his fingers, Gaav ceased to exist. "Now then, what else did I have to do?"
Lina understood the saying 'makes your blood run cold' when Fibrizo's cold green eyes fixed on her. All of this had been his doing, they were all puppets and he was the puppetmaster. She hated this!
"What are..." Lina grimaced at the pain.
"Don't hurt yourself even more."
"Like you...care."
"But of course, I do." Fibrizo smiled down at her. "You're very important to my plan."
That wasn't very encouraging.
"You probably want to know what I want you for don't you? Well, I won't keep you in any suspense. I just want you to cast a spell. One spell. That's it."
"Like hell."
"You think there's a catch? Hmmm, I guess I'll have to oblige you then." Fibrizo pretended to think as he looked around. "That's it!" he said, snapping his fingers. Lina's wince at that action didn't pass his notice. But the effect was different from last time. A oblong blue transparent crystal appeared next to him and in it was...
"Amelia!"
"That's right. Your dear justice-obsessed princess. Oh don't glare at me like that. She's isn't dead. Yet that is." He enjoyed her squirming and waves of pain and frustration. "You see, your friend was interrupted during the healing so this girl isn't quite recovered yet. And this crystal? It kept her from dying in Gaav's little macho routine, but the longer she's in it, the more her life is drained. Lesser of two evils is what you humans call it, I think."
"...monster."
"Such gratitude after I saved your life and that of your two worthless human companions," Fibrizo sighed. "I suppose I ought to take another one as hostage. We do want you to have the proper motivation after all. Now who should it be? Priestess or swordsman? Priestess or swordsman? The Gorun Nova would be nice and I guess I'll have to take the package deal." Without another snap of his fingers, Gourry appeared next to the encase Amelia wrapped in black strands of energy. "And now that priestess can heal your wounds. Yes, that works out nicely."
Lina looked sourly at the pleased Mazoku Lord. He was enjoying this way too much, making it seem like an everyday exchange at the market.
"And I can't forget your mongrel friend here. What he lacks in personality, he more than makes up for in power. That's what I love about window shopping, you never know when you'll find a bargain." Fibrizo looked at the unconscious Zelgadiss but the shadows wavered threateningly. He frowned and gestured. This time, the shadows faltered before his superior power. "There we go. This will help my plan tremendously."
Lina managed to get up on an elbow as Fibrizo and his three 'purchases' floated into the air into the vortex called forth by the Mazoku Lord. "Wa-Wait! Why do you want me? What is it that you want me to do?!"
"You're a smart girl," Fibrizo smirked. "See you in Sairaag!"
His taunting smile was the last thing Lina Inverse saw before darkness claimed her away from the pain.