*Starting Scene*

Adalia makes her way from the Royal Council's mansion, sticking out like a soar thumb since she decided to leave without switching the attire commonly worn by her for a more battle-oriented one, as the gorgeous dame's near the heart of Velkry, which is ironically absent of any rampaging goblins that are roaming almost every other section, and checks her surroundings while power walking due to her heels not allowing her to run much with no specific location in mind. Amidst her travel, the brown-haired woman halts her movement, facing what would be considered North based on the Holy Sanctuary's layout, and persists her analysis of the area as she debates to herself in a controlled volume, "I could either aid the Class S Spellcasters in their fight or I could ensure the citizen's safety... I'm certain Cassius and the others will fair well without my immediate assistance, however, I have this impending feeling of something terrible happening if I don't go to them." Adalia closes her eyes to let out a faint sigh with her head partially down and says in a stern voice via talking loud enough to be heard well, "Perhaps it's better that I contend with you first, member of the Saints Organization. Then, I'll resume my contemplation of what I should do. What's your opinion?"

Nothing's uttered in response to Adalia's words for several seconds until the abrupt arrival of a violet-haired man wearing thick-rimmed glasses toward her right as both of his hands' palms are placed onto his back while calmly observing the busty female. After that, eye contact's made between the two individuals with the priest-wannabe complementing casually via a somewhat deep voice, "You're very good. I even masked my magic, but alas, you knew I was here from the start."

Adalia doesn't bother replying verbally, and instead, swings her right hand horizontally to attempt a backhand slap upon her enemy's head. Unprecedentedly, the blue-eyed lady's appendage passes right through the male as if he wasn't actually there, despite his visual appearance remaining next to Adalia, and blandly inquires without being concerned, "An Illusion Spellcaster?"

The brown-eyed person shakes his head while exhibiting a nonchalant attitude. "Not exactly. Could an illusion successfully petrify your body even though your wits are generally intact?"

Adalia swiftly understands what her adversary meant by that as the extended limb she utilized to strike him continues to be elevated while unable to move a single part of her being, except her eyes and lips. Following that, the fair-skinned Spellcaster brings her attention back to the mask-owning adult because of her taking a moment to look at her halted body. "Immobilization Spell then?"

The muscular man gingerly laughs out of amusement prior to detaching his right hand from his back so he could caress Adalia's left cheek and promptly forces her head to turn toward him. "I'd be very fortunate to have such a spell under my control. It's the most difficult of the five basic spells to obtain and master, making it less desirable than the Teleportation Spell which is much more beneficial in many other circumstances while also having a greater probability of mastering. However, if one indeed masters the Immobilization Spell, he or she would be on a whole new level of power that could give the Einsburn Family and the Trailblaze Organization a huge obstacle to be afraid of."

Adalia emanates a displeased expression due to how the sleek-haired gentleman is touching her face as she comments with suspicion noted, "You sound like you're implying the Saints Organization has someone of that caliber. Also, you made a valid point about the Teleportation Spell. Teleport." She vanishes from where she stood with a mere second delay while some dust had kicked up.

The Saints Organization member slightly scoffs while keeping his focus forward and gradually puts his right hand upon his back again. "That explains why you're wearing heels. I shouldn't underestimate you, should I?" He veers his concentration to the left with confidence displayed. "Still, how well do you believe this will go if you're practically a statue? You may use the Teleportation Spell to retreat for as long as you have magic, but there's a ceiling to that." His eyes hurriedly widen out of surprise as the priest-wannabe witnesses Adalia with her arms crossed while slyly smirking, leading to the man uttering in a dumbfounded manner, "Impossible..."

Adalia giggles as she mildly weaves her body from side to side to completely let her foe know that she has regained maneuverability. "Well, now that I've determined what you aren't per se, I can make a more accurate assumption of your magical abilities." The stunning beauty inhales through her nose after shutting her eyes. "I've been wondering why such a strong aroma had plagued this part of Velkry when its scent tends to be much different. It's usually contains a beach-like smell because there's multiple stores in the region that sell things gathered from beaches, be it pearls, shells or even stuff found at the shops nearby. This aroma has a highly tantalizing essence that immensely contrasts and can be easily depicted by any veteran of the Holy Sanctuary." Adalia opens her eyes while giving off a tenacious demeanor. "So, would I be wrong to say you're responsible for it, resulting in the revelation of what type of Spellcaster you are?"

The dark-skinned fellow confronts Adalia with a lackadaisical behavior brimming. "Lying would be a sin, so I'll answer you earnestly. Yes, I'm precisely what you suspect. I'm a Stench Spellcaster known by the name Chester Isomer. I can produce and control many distinct smells that allow me to settle my fights with the least amount of physical effort, which is wonderful since I'm a pacifist."

Adalia directs a resentful glare at Chester while emanating a minor radiance of pink-colored magic. "Ironic. You'd be the only pacifist from the Saints Organization, and yet, you're lying through your teeth. Because if you really were a pacifist, you'd do everything in your power to stop even your own organization from getting involved in this war. You just sinned based on your narrow-minded logic, Chester."

Chester sharply nods without hesitation and removes both hands from his back to stationed them on opposite sides of himself. "Absolutely true, however, the reason for that lone contradiction, which sadly makes my self-titling a lie, is the fact I've had no choice other than to take part in what I wholeheartedly despise for the greater good. That's why I hope you'll accept my apology for all the lives I will extinguish after yours."

Adalia's body becomes petrified for the second time as she glances downward with a hint of distress and thinks, "Wait! This isn't like the one he used before! I cannot even talk now and it's beginning to get hard to breathe!"

Chester unprecedentedly appears on Adalia's left while fixing his glasses positioning atop his nose since it had slid down it a tad via his right index finger and intently stares at the councilwoman with minimal space dividing the two of them. "I can't really fathom how you rid yourself of the paralysis you were previously in, however, you shouldn't set your expectations too high."

Adalia commandeers her gaze to the left, overcome by a moderate sum of astonishment, before reverting her sights forth and sees that there continues to be a Chester several meters ahead, making confusion join in.

A third Chester takes form toward Adalia's right and gently grabs a hold of the dame's earlobe pertaining to that side with his left hand, tugging it a little, while teasingly whispering into that body part, "Are you at a lost? You're evidently baffled at the sudden change of events. You must have so many questions, correct?" The brown-eyed enemy starts mentioning each possible inquiry within Adalia's mind in a mocking tone as more copies of himself emerge out of nowhere and are stationed throughout the street's vicinity they both presently reside. "Why can't I dispel this one like I did the other?! Why is it becoming more and more difficult to breathe?! How is he making clones of himself?! How can I defeat him?!" Chester chuckles menacingly as he talks with his normal voice. "That last one is easy to answer. You ca-" He's instantly interrupted by the unpredictable occurrence of his left hand's skin bubbling from the inside that causes it to fluctuate uncontrollably. As a result, Chester releases a distraught gasp while taking his hand off Adalia and fearfully screams, "WHAT IN GOD'S NAME...?!"

Adalia calmly sighs with her vision momentarily set upon the ground, diverts her concentration to the Chester on her left, slowly lifts her hand closest to that copy and leisurely swings it across the mask-owning gentleman's head. The appendage then passes through the copy without any problem as she remarks while lowering her hand, "I thought so. It's a hallucination brought by my eyes, an illusion as a whole, but that doesn't need you to be a Spellcaster of that category. It's solely the effect belonging to one of the aromas you wield." The bracelet-wearing chick returns her focus to the panicking Chester via turning her head in his direction. "Only the real you can make physical contact, meaning you were indeed next to me after I missed my backhand, although it's probable that you weren't when I did it. My eyes and my sensory of magic merely tricked me into thinking you stood there the first time we locked onto each other. That leads me to believe you're a powerful man with nearly maximum control over your magic, hence why you can disperse it into the illusions and have them move accordingly to make it harder to identify which is real. I'm positive that took a lot of training to achieve, despite how absurd what I'm saying is. It's unfortunate you made the dreadful error of touching me. I guess you couldn't pass up that opportunity. You must be lacking the affection all men strive for." Adalia giggles, sheepishly grinning.

Chester cautiously draws his right hand toward the continually bubbling limb, evading physical contact since he's uncertain of what may happen if he does, with both poised in front of himself as he's very stressed out while trying to find the proper words. Not long after, the elite brings his attention onto Adalia due to realizing that she's speaking once more and notices the change in her head's composition. Now plagued by disbelief, Chester forgets about what is transpiring with his left hand, dropping the two elevated appendages toward his sides, while shouting in a commanding voice, "What sort of devil are you to shrug off my magic like it was something insignificant?! I'm a Class S Spellcaster and one of the Grand Elder's elite! Even if you're from the same classification as I, a servant of God should be triumphant in every circumstance!"

Adalia demonstrates a sinister personality prior to cocking her head to the right while still observing Chester as she sarcastically states,"My deepest apologies. I didn't get the memo of such an outstanding rule. I'll be sure to heed it next time, if any." The pony-tailed beauty winks at Chester. "Time for your curtain to drop."

The bubbling from Chester's left hand promptly spreads to the rest of his body, not giving the violet-haired person even a solid instance to react, as gurgling sounds escape his mouth while escalating in girth. He ultimately blows up with blood, guts and shreds of flesh scattering everywhere, resulting to the clones vanishing a few seconds later, while the real one's mask that was atop of his head hits the ground.

In avoidance of the flying chunks and blood, Adalia initiates the Teleportation Spell before effortlessly arriving at a spot much further ahead from where she was with her back toward the eradicated remains of what used to be Chester as they rain down upon the street unceremoniously while some splash on the masked left behind. Having done that, the blue-eyed woman briefly wipes the cheek and earlobe Chester had once touched via the back of her left hand, lightly agitated by the unwanted contact they shared, while muttering with her eyes repetitively switching to glimpse at the two regions, "Note to self: Take another dip in Deluxe Spring to fully cleanse myself of that guy after this all ends..." Adalia lets out an exasperated sigh while peering at the sky with both hands lowered again until regaining her bearings with determination brimming. "Well, enough of that!" She quickly looks forward. "Back to action!"

*Scene Change*

Several moments after Adalia left the Royal Council's mansion, Ilya entered through it's metal-poled fencing with Soren and Cali taking the lead until suddenly stopping at the path's halfway point that stretches toward the cement-based structure. Immediately halting, the white-haired dame becomes a bit confused while keeping the gold staff resting on her right shoulder with both hands holding it as the staff's rings persist dancing around its gem and questions in a slightly annoyed tone, "Why did we randomly stop here?" Ilya puts her left hand on her hip. "It was your idea for us to check in with the Royal Council, Soren. Is there something you need to say before entering? Because, if so, you could have told me while we were walking."

Cali turns toward her left due to being located on Soren's right so she could stand sideways and glare at Ilya with anger. "God, you're frustrating to be around! This is another reason we picked on you when we were little! You're so nosy and stuck-up for someone without real power!"

Ilya restrains her irritation as she wants to evade going into the usual argument with Cali while looking at the brunette out of the corner of her eyes prior to reverting her attention toward Soren, regaining her composure in the process. "Soren?"

Soren responds without confronting Ilya yet, however, Cali can see that there's a malicious smile while the white-clothed male brings out both hands, which were still in his pockets. "It's for the sake of my beliefs, Ilya... First Stage; Rock Body." His entire skin hardens into the brownish/grey rock material that pertains to that stage in a few seconds with his girth increasing a little. After that, the Velkry Spellcaster implements his Speed Spell to instantly stand a mere meter from Ilya as he's now facing her and has his left fist prepared to send out a cross punch at the hazel-eyed chick.

Ilya, even though she's quite startled by Soren's abrupt action, hops back enough to narrowly elude the strike and becomes infuriated once she stops about three meters behind with her left hand detached from her hip as the limb carrying the gold staff has been lowered. "Explain, Soren! Why did you just attack me at a time like this?!"

Soren neglects Ilya's inquiry as he readies himself to continue his assault via expelling a lot of magic while lightly lowering his left hand and sternly shouts, "Cali, give me a hand! This is your chance to finally put Ilya in her place! The place where garbage like her belong!"

Cali's briefly astonished since she wasn't expecting either Soren's assault upon Ilya and his request toward her after having moved toward the left to get a better view of both individuals residing ahead, although that doesn't keep her occupied for too long as a gleeful personality surfaces on the petite girl's face and nods at the bleached-haired boy in a hyper manner. "You have no clue how long I've waited to hear you say that!" She gives Ilya a menacing look with a sinister smile added while vaguely bending forth. "I'm going to enjoy beating that fat ass of yours like when we were little!" Cali begins radiating a sparkling essence, an uncommon thing to witness from a Spellcaster instead of the typical magic aura.

Ilya shifts her attention to Cali following the brunette's proclamation and is very concerned about her predicament until faintly noting that Soren had resumed his left-handed attack via lunging toward the accessory-endowed female. In response, the headband-wearing beauty hastily extends her weapon at Soren with almost no space at all while stating in a serious voice, "Burst!" The staff's gem is then about to launch a gold blast, but gets interrupted by an unprecedented change in the trajectory of Soren's left fist, landing an uppercut upon the weapon, and makes it ricochet upward while alarming Ilya significantly with the blue gem's light diminishing.

Soren evilly grins before commandeering his left hand backwards as he punches Ilya's stomach without much delay via his right hand that the brown-eyed gentleman just balled into a fist too and pompously remarks, "There's something I got to be honest with you, Ilya!"

Ilya's hurled backwards because of how much strength and momentum were put into Soren's strike, however, jams her staff's end in the terrain toward the right to remain on her feet with agony notably ailing the teenager while slouched forward after detaining her recession. Doing that, the white-haired individual briefly sets her sight upon Soren until viewing a handful of different-colored, small crystals instantaneously ascend to the air, each one sparkling profusely, as they dive onto Ilya and explode with only a foot of space for her. This has somewhat of an effect on Ilya, having closed her eyes amidst bracing herself for the scattering of crystal fragments and tiny shock-wave created, while falling upon her ass. Luckily, the hazel-eyed chick didn't get hit by any broken portions belonging to the crystals and was able to keep her grip onto the gold staff with her left hand resting atop the pathway for leverage as she steadily perseveres through her present discomfort.

Soren's output of magic increases while positioning both clenched hands to his sides as the bleached-haired person radiates cockiness. "I wanted to make you my bitch as a way to pay your brother back for never accepting my power!"

Ilya snaps open her eyes so she could focus on Soren with bewilderment displayed and then gets very annoyed. "What the heck are you talking about?!"

Cali, who continues emitting the same essence from before, veers her concentration toward Soren in the middle of lowering her left hand that had temporarily been raised with interest appearing.

Soren quickly explains himself to Ilya as his whole being goes into the stage of his Embodiment of Earth while some animosity can be detected from him. "Ever since we were little, Cassius always looked down on me! Making all my hard work seem pointless when I knew for a FACT that I was someone extraordinary!" He grinds his teeth a tad with his body completely becoming a dark grey color and is a little more bigger in size while thicker as arrogance overtakes his anger. "It was for that reason I made so many advances on you! With my charm, it was supposed to be a piece of cake making you fall for me, but you didn't even care! Ruining my plan to make your brother suffer the loss of his sister to the guy he deemed ordinary!"

Ilya narrows her eyes in scrutiny. "You really ARE that sensitive! Holding a grudge merely because my brother didn't find you impressive! That's freaking ridiculous and dumb!"

Soren finishes transforming with ferocity brimming and throws out his right arm to the side. "It wasn't only him though! He was the first, but all the other high classification Spellcasters didn't want to acknowledge my prowess!" The young man puts his outstretched limb back down as he hastily heads to Ilya with stupendous speed. "Only one person gave me the respect and rank-ups I rightfully deserved!" Soren reaches Ilya within a couple of seconds, having barely allowed her sufficient time to stand, and commences releasing a bunch of haymakers via both arms. "He believed in me and told me of a truly powerful man! A man that inspired me and I will forever strive to be like no matter what or who I need to sacrifice!"

Ilya dodges as fast as she can muster while backing away with a stressed out expression, having placed her left hand onto the gold staff's upper section and utilizes the weapon to block the attacks she's too slow to evade. "Soren, you egotistical jerk! You actually want to betray Velkry for something so simplistic?!" The headband-endowed girl directs her staff's gem at Soren for the second time. "I'm going to stop you, literally! Immobilize!"

Soren's barrage and entire body promptly stop, falling victim to Ilya's spell in a lone second, while overcome by a white outline as he urgently shouts, "Cali!"

Cali acts on Soren's outburst as the petite female runs toward Ilya's right from a diagonal angle and tosses several crystals forward via her right hand after saying tenaciously, "Get blown away by my Detonation Crystals, you pathetic excuse for a Spellcaster!"

Ilya turns to face in Cali's vicinity while swinging the gold staff toward her right, swiping aside a few of the crystals prior to them exploding, and fervently yells with her vision glued upon the remaining oncoming projectiles, "Trying to mimic my magic ability, huh?! I'll show you what a real blast looks like, you anorexic troll! Burst Explosion!" A gold outline overruns Ilya and then emanates a mighty radiance that obliterates the other crystals headed toward her.

Simultaneously, Soren's hit by the explosion due to still being unable to move, complements of Ilya's Immobilization Spell maintaining its effect, and soars backward with pain reflected on his face while owning some burns where the energy-based attack struck. Soon after, the stone-skinned opponent falls to the ground at a distance that places him around six meters from the mansion's doors via a rough bang resounding while groaning as he lies on his back in a sprawled position.

Cali looks toward Soren, extremely worried about his condition and had subconsciously lowered the appendage she launched the last assortment of crystals, as she cries out with dread in her voice while neglecting the explosion's progression upon her, "Soren!" The brown-eyed chick's promptly overtook by the gold mass while her hair and clothes fluttered uncontrollably because of the powerful wind that's currently produced. With that, the Burst Explosion persists its expansion as meager tremors can be felt and wipes out a significant chunk of the yard's confines, however, doesn't go any further than twelve meters in circumference. This inadvertently saves Soren from another run-in with the blast during his effort of regaining his composure while observing the circular mass fluctuate via his left eye since the other is presently shut. Not even a minute later, the destructive spell slowly disappears, allowing the now scorched terrain to be visible, as some nearby metallic fencing has suffered damage because of it, but managed to stay erect in the end.

Ilya emerges from the explosion after dropping her right arm, stares at the region where Cali was standing with no gold outline encasing her silhouette anymore as she can't help being amazed and feebly asks, "You're... Unharmed?"

Cali locks eyes with Ilya following a quick steering of her body to fully confront her rival and, just as the accessory-wearing dame inquired, doesn't have a single scratch on her person while exhibiting immense anger with her being continuing to sparkle. "Obviously! I told you a million times, you can't measure up to me and my Crystal Magic!"

Annoyance gathers upon Ilya before taking into account that there are many broken crystal shards located in front of Cali's feet, making her realize something, and solemnly reverts her focus to the brunette. "I see what you did. Using your crystals and having them blow-up, you protected yourself via a type of barrier. I can't really deny it. You've gone from a troll who could only create little crystals out of your magic with minimal difficulty to a troll who's able to make little crystals that you can explode whenever it suits you. Very good, troll."

Cali bites her tongue without sticking it outside of her mouth while profoundly enraged. "That was some really shitty praising you just pulled there!"

Ilya proudly smiles as she points the gold staff at Cali. "I kind of learned it from Dante. He has this way of talking that you aren't sure if you ought to be pissed at him for saying what he says or respect how naturally he can express his thoughts. Be happy though. Never in a billion years did I ever think I would compliment you in anything." Her personality swaps to one that's quite cynical. "Still, you got to come to terms with my capabilities. I'm not declaring that I'm the strongest in the entire world, but I'm far from being helplessly weak."

Cali scoffs while forming multiple crystals within both hands' grasp that are stationed next to her hips. "You keep on spouting how you aren't weak, but I want to see if you could back that up WITHOUT the staff! I bet you don't have the guts to do it! To abandon the only thing that makes you have any value! Because if you do, you'll finally realize that I'm telling you the truth!"

Ilya, not liking a single thing coming out of Cali's mouth, mentally debates whether to prove the aggravating girl wrong by complying and defeating her with no assistance from her staff or simply ignore Cali as it's more important to be victorious over the two traitors. Right when she was going to decide, the white-haired teen senses a big amount of magic flowing from the mansion's entrance while rushing to check out the source and finds that Soren's the reason for the sudden magical spike.

Soren, currently back on his feet with his posture upright, intimidatingly watches Ilya while brimming a mad behavior as his person mutates into the next phase of his magic's power. "Let her use it! She'll need it if she doesn't want to instantly die! Third Stage: Brick Body!" He immediately becomes a man with brick-material skin as he grew in stature and girth yet again.

Ilya keys onto the last thing Soren stated and demonstrates a hint of concern mixed with suspicion while murmuring to herself, "Didn't he originally call it his final stage? I'm pretty sure that's what he said when Dante and him sparred."

Soren opens and closes his hands in a maniacal way repeatedly until shutting them for the last time with intensity before bringing the two limbs above his head as they're a few inches apart. "Remember this, Ilya?!" The brown-eyed gentleman drives both hands downward and slam them atop the ground in a bent posture as an enormous tremor erupts while countless cracks spread forth.

Ilya's center of gravity is soon derailed, staggering from side to side, while briefly glancing around with urgency taking over and then replies calmly. "Yeah, I remember..." The staff-wielding dame zooms her focus onto Soren. "But you normally do this when you're in the second stage. I guess you've learned not to underestimate your opponents so much after losing to Dante, even though I know, somewhere in your mind, you can't help belittling me."

Soren arrogantly smirks prior to suddenly sprinting toward Ilya and almost gets to her location in no more than three seconds as he's ready to administer a right hook. "Yeah, but you should still be overjoyed! This right here, in all honesty, is too good for you!"

Ilya aims the gold staff at Soren again without hesitation, obtaining sufficient footing amidst the terrains continual trembling, as she asks irritably, "Really, the same thing from before?!" Determination exchanges places with her irritated personality. "Then, I'll just immobilize you once more!"

As Ilya attempts to make her declaration a reality with minimal space between herself and Soren, several crystals unexpectedly smash into the hazel-eyed girl's weapon while blowing up on impact. This forces the staff to recoil toward Ilya's left, no longer pointed at Soren, with astonishment emanating on the headband-wearing chick before swiftly directing her gaze toward the crystals' origin, and of course, sees Cali being the culprit behind the interference.

Cali, who had used narrowly managed to position herself toward her left so she could be at a better angle from Ilya's right, says out of accomplishment with her left arm stretched forward, "Denied!"

Ilya's extremely angered by both Cali intervening and her comment until receiving a ruthless, bulky, brick-skinned punch that slipped under the white-haired individual's right forearm upon the center of her chest, where the scar given to Ilya resides, while causing her to be lifted off the ground another time. With agony tormenting her, the staff wielder tries to keep her grip on the gold-colored weapon as her head's cocked backwards, her eyes currently squinting, and gradually begins flying away from Soren against her will.

Soren, rejecting the idea of permitting Ilya any separation again, fluently caught the teenager's left leg via his right hand while bringing her back toward him having Ilya properly face the transformed lad during her continuous airborne state, as a devilish demeanor joins in after relinquishing his ensnarement of her leg. "I've only started, so don't go too far, Ilya!" He distributes a vast amount of duo-handed strikes with nearly invisible limbs at the moment, displaying how fast he's moving. "You can't imagine all the things I wanted to do to you over these past years we've known each other! This is the greatest chance I have for every single dream I've ever had about you to become true! Please, let me realize it!"

Ilya cries out in pain with her eyes now shut since she couldn't sustain them being open from all the attacks successfully making contact, and hurting immensely in the process, as she remains in the air thanks to the rapid volley while unconsciously stationing the gold staff toward her right.

Soren's profoundly pleased to watch and hear Ilya screaming while resuming his method of speaking in addition to sounding very deranged. "Oh, I figured out what to do! Once you're incapacitated from my powerful punches, I'll consummate my initial plan, even if it's by force! That way I can STILL cause your brother suffering like I wanted to!"

Appalled at what was recently uttered, Cali's jaw temporarily hangs as far as possible with her left arm lowered and then struggles to issue a dispute via a feeble tone. "Consummate...? But Soren... I want to be your one and only..."

Soren abruptly ceases his onslaught onto Ilya, and with an instantaneous lunge ahead, wraps both arms around her torso while submerging his right cheek into the female Spellcaster's breasts as mischievous laughter escapes his mouth. "First, let me have some fun rubbing these knockers of yours with my face like this! Then, I want my little man that's chilling downstairs to experience the same wonderful pleasure! All the way to the point that I'll bust a-"

Ilya quickly reopen her eyes, interrupting Soren's ranting, prior to glaring furiously at the bleach-haired adversary as both arms are free to be maneuvered however she desires because of Soren prioritizing copping a feel over ensuring Ilya's immobility and makes him pay by putting the staff's gem against his left temporal region while sturdily shouting, "Finish that sentence and I'll roast you further than any terrible chef has ever done to a chunk of meat! Burst!" Her person immediately becomes dressed via the gold outline again, blasting every part of Soren that's touching her, especially his face.

Cali's completely baffled while mentally questioning with both hands gestured forth a tad, "What's the purpose of saying that if you're still going to fry him?!"

Soren, aching excruciatingly with atrocious burns hastily cementing upon his being once more, lets go of Ilya while dubiety surfaces as he feverishly yells, "No way! Your strength should've been zapped out after all those hits I landed!"

Ilya commandeers the ring-endowed weapon above her head, mounts her left hand right below the other that remained on it throughout the last couple of minutes, and rebuttals with remarkable gusto. "Goes to show that you're exactly what my brother and Dante figured you to be! Ordinary and weak!" She slams the bottom of her staff onto the pathway's area that's fairly close to her feet while concentrating on where she struck before firmly stating, "Burst Stream!"

The section below Soren's feet commence glowing, seconds away from shooting out the formerly mentioned spell, while the brown-eyed boy has trouble avoiding it since his body isn't at an optimal status and fails to act accordingly to his will. With his doom in clear view as he's peering downward at the radiating earth, the treacherous young man is spared of his painful fate via an abrupt embrace coming from his left that was administered by a worried Cali with multiple crystals forged around her in the air. After that, with barely a moment of their contact being seen, the pair are consumed by the Burst Stream's pillar of light while there's a horrid, feminine scream echoing alone inside.

Ilya can't bear listening to the terrible crying that plainly belongs to Cali, steers her head toward the right and closes her eyes with a hint of shame noted as she whimpers a bit, having the gold staff's bottom part continuing its plantation upon the ground ahead of the remorseful beauty. Not long after, her person halts its production of the gold outline, resulting in the putrid screams to quickly vanish, while Ilya hesitantly establishes her vision back to where Soren and Cali stand.

Soren blankly observes a heavily burned Cali, whose dress has gone from its originally white color to a scorched black with her dual straps and heels decimated like most of her hair presently is, while inquiring via only his head being turned to the brunette, "Why did you do that? Was it impossible to help me from afar?" He scoffs out of disappointment. "Relying on you was a mistake if that's the case. I don't know what in the world was going through my skull when I accepted you into my good graces. Well, I'm glad that you were wise to shield me with your own body and made yourself useful for the first time ever."

Cali doesn't let out a single response at all, her body in a limped position right now, as the Crystal Spellcaster measly clings to Soren's clothing via both hands' fingertips and has her head down with crystal dust sprinkled throughout the duo's proximity, meaning that they were utilized for protection while being disintegrated.

Soren's patience immediately grows weary after a minute had passed while heartlessly shoving Cali off him with his left hand, causing the unconscious, brown-eyed diva to hit her back onto the terrain hard, as he talks in a disgusted tone, "Enough! You know I don't like you clinging onto me, even if one of us is severely hurt! I let you off with a warning at the training facility! Don't push it!"

Ilya, despite knowing real well that Cali's also her foe, gets upset at what she saw and takes her left hand off the gold staff so the white-haired young lady could put it toward her right. "You're the worst kind of scum, Soren! I may not like Cali whatsoever, but I understand she merely wanted your love! That's why she would stoop so low to make enemies of anyone she thought would threaten her chances with you, hence mine and her senseless rivalry because, and I'll forever repeat myself if I have to, I DON'T LIKE YOU!" The headband-wearing dame gestures her left arm, having it poised to her left side, while leaning forward a tad. "Sure, it's illogical on her part, but that's the choice she made!" Ilya promptly veers her left hand forth and points at Soren. "You, being the jerk you are, never took a moment to think about how she felt though! All that matters to you is proving your superiority! It's always about you and no one else!"

Soren shrugs sneeringly. "And? Are you trying to make a point, Ilya? Because I don't see it." A sadistic grin arises on his face. "Everyone's selfish, so drop the righteous act. You can't say you've never been selfish. That would be a straight-up lie." The bleach-haired gentleman chuckles with a haughty expression and slants his head to the left as he cocks his right eyebrow. "Plus, a reliable source once told me, Dante's actually the epitome of a selfish person AND a liar."

Ilya's fairly surprised by Soren's words with her composition upright, having dropped her extended appendage to the left beforehand. "Who said that?!"

Soren tauntingly retorts following him restoring his head to its proper angle and persists his stuck-up personality. "Not... Going... To... Tell... You...!" He laughs maniacally while exhibiting another surge of magic that's ascending to an incomparable level to anything he's demonstrated. "Now, time to reveal my ace in the hole! The new final stage I achieved after Dante humiliated me!"

Caution emerges from within Ilya as she thinks, "That explains the change I noticed earlier. I better brace myself for whatever his new form is."

Not receiving a rebuttal from Ilya, Soren keeps pompously speaking while his brick-like skin starts morphing into a pitch black color, gains a greater density in terms of his body's durability and becomes even bigger, making him seem to be as large as Janet's entire carriage in addition to his outfit tearing apart significantly. "It took a lot of effort for me to discover this next stage and to make it a possibility. True Final Stage; Gem Body!" The bleach-haired individual declares that last part in a somewhat savage voice as the ground beneath him caves into itself, showing a drastic increase of weight, and finishes his fourth transformation that's much like an obsidian gemstone while coolly saying, "Want to know something ironic? Cali was the inspiration. Our magical powers, when you really consider it, aren't that different. I just needed a sample that I could take into my body and slowly mold its properties with my magic."

Ilya scoffs and mentions in a somewhat smart-ass manner, "That means Cali was already useful to you, contradicting your degrading statement from before. Of course, you're a bonafide jerk, so it doesn't surprise me that you ignored how much she helped you."

Soren gently chuckles with arrogance overflowing. "I don't care! I'll quote what Dante said to me that dreadful day of utter humiliation! I would use any method to become stronger! Although, the difference there is that I'm strong with or without assistance! Speed up!" He hurriedly charges toward Ilya as he's barely lagging at all despite how huge and heavy he's gotten, which is showcased by the terrain where his feet land caving in with each step. Soren then unites both hands to his right cheek with half a meter of space between the two opponents and creates a small crater under him because of his fast halting.

Ilya calmly stares at Soren, having mentally decided her next course of action, while maintaining the gold staff to her side. "Taking a chunk out of Dante's words that conveniently makes yourself appear similar to him, and not fully meaning what I know he actually meant by that, is really shameful, Soren."

Soren brushes off Ilya's statement as something unimportant and horizontally swings the clasped hands toward his enemy with an evil glimmer resonating in his eyes prior to passionately proclaiming, "I have no shame! Just the exact opposite because I'm the best there is!" The traitor's then a split second away from colliding his hammer-like shot upon Ilya, however, both arms unexpectedly explode near the light-skinned girl's face with shock instantly plaguing him.

That led to blood, bones and bits of hardened skin splattering everywhere while a tiny bit smacks onto Ilya's left cheek, who flinched at the contact a little but remained composed, as she's still focused on Soren.

Soren's totally stunned, now missing both arms with blood flooding out of the region containing the humerus since roughly half of it continues to be intact, while momentarily unable to register what recently transpired and doesn't receive the pending pain that would surely arise from losing the two appendages until snapping himself into reality as a mortified scream reverberates. Afterwards, the Caucasian walks aimlessly around, his eyes glued to the oozing stumps that now exist in place of his arms as he's creating two trails of blood, and complains in a ragged tone without detaining his screaming much. "FUCKING DAMN IT, ILYA! MY FUCKING ARMS! YOU BLEW UP MY FUCKING ARMS!"

Ilya witnesses Soren's plight with a hint of callous emanating as she gradually lifts her left hand up to the stained cheek, nervousness reflected on her person, and begins cleaning it. "Would you have preferred if I made your entire body blow up? That was an option, but you should know how I am. I hate seeing people die, so I chose to minimize the Burst Infestation to your arms."

Soren stops his stumbling so he can look at Ilya via turning his head to the right since he veered his posture toward the left during his haphazard movement, trying everything to subdue the incredible agony dwelling inside him, and angrily questions with bloodshot eyes visible, "Then what am I?!" The distressed boy displays his atrocious injuries as a pool of blood started forming in front of his feet. "I won't live long like this! You're the one contradicting yourself this time!"

Ilya pauses after putting her left hand down due to wiping the blood off her cheek, leaving a smudge of red on her palm, as she absorbs Soren's comment with her head partially lowered and suddenly remembers Dante again. Right after that, the hazel-eyed teen brings her attention back to Soren as a blank demeanor comes forth while coldly saying, "True... I guess I've finally accepted... That there are people who simply... Don't deserve life." She commences travelling around Soren to head toward Cali and has her staff disappear.

Having been baffled for a few seconds, Soren attempts to pursue Ilya, however, the massive deprivation of blood restrains his mobility while gradually losing his balance and slumps forward with a defeated groan as what's left of his arms are lowered. This is followed by Soren's eyes becoming vacant before falling down on top of the gathered blood and causes a mild splash.

Ilya barely saw Soren collapse out of the corner of her left eye and then concentrates on Cali as the accessory-endowed chick reaches her left side. After doing that, the white-haired Spellcaster crouches to grab onto Cali with both hands and tries to help her up while halfheartedly whispering, "Come on, troll. I know you'll hate me even more, but..." Ilya manages to drape Cali's left arm behind her neck and basically carries the weakly-breathing, petite female away from the Royal Council's mansion, pushing aside the original purpose of being there to get Cali treated, with her gaze directed ahead. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let you die for that selfish jerk. It's just impossible."

*Scene Change*

At the area near the Northern Gate, in the middle of an endless battle concerning Oscar's goblins killing each other for Lena's attention, Haley behaves extremely girly with her index fingers twirling her curly hair around while blushing uncontrollably and weaves around as she's peering to the right. "I've always wondered what kind of guy I'd married! I know I want someone passionate about God, but isn't a prude! That way I can do my favorite sex positions and even experiment more! I'll admit it, I did the despicable thing and had sex before marriage, but it was so enlightening that there's no way I should be punished! I've dedicated a lot to God and I'm certain He understands that sex will never make me lose my faith!" The orange-haired woman squirms with her eyes shut prior to abruptly ceasing, opens her eyes widely to watch the sky for an instance and glares at Lena, who keeps standing roughly eight meters ahead, while brimming a substantial quantity of rage."Knock it off!"

Lena giggles as her arms are currently folded together and had been enjoying every ounce of Haley's nonstop confessing while sarcastically uttering, "I'm not doing anything. All I asked was your opinion on love and you went onto blabbering about a whole bunch of stuff that don't necessarily involve love for the past ten minutes." A skeptical look takes over. "I'm assuming those stuff are your definition of love, yeah?"

Haley drives both hands downward, obviously displeased at the fact that she revealed so many personal feelings without her consent, and resumes manipulating the bandages covering her person by having them swiftly unravel. "You've embarrassed me enough! It's my turn! Let's see how you like being stripped! Wardrobe Malfunction!" The yellow-eyed dame's cloths promptly stretch toward Lena, and in no time at all, attach themselves upon different sections of the brown-haired beauty's attire. Once that happens, a confident smirk displays itself on Haley before the instantaneous shattering of Lena's cloak, allowing full sight of her brown, silky lingerie that's divided into two pieces like the Saints Organization member.

The last competing goblins located nearby, which were almost ripping one another to shreds with either their bare hands or clubs, notice Lena's half-naked state, temporarily detain themselves to marvel at the sexy purple-eyed adult and go even more wild from excitement until resuming their vicious fighting so one of them could eventually claim her love as countless grunts resound.

In the meantime, with the extended bandages hastily retracting, Lena veers her focus onto her exposed conditioned, saved her undergarments shielding her privates and the white belt continually encircling her slim waist, while saying in an undeterred tone, "Oh, you were being literal and not metaphorical." She unfolds her arms to plant both hands on her hips, sharply thrusts her upper body forth to have her breasts bounce briefly and smiles with determination radiating. "Is that it?! Hunny, you and I are cut from the same cloth, pardon the pun! It takes a whole lot more than stripping me to my underwear to flabbergast me! Truthfully, I'm the chick all parents would warn their sons to stay away from, instead of the usual bit of them being players! Though, that doesn't mean I'm a full-on minx! I merely like having fun!" Lena winks cunningly.

Haley's fury boils over profusely as her bandages flutter throughout in a crazed fashion. "Are you hinting that I'm some sort of sex addict?! I won't stand for criticism of my character!" The curly-haired woman releases a powerful, magical essence after elevating her arms to opposing sides like a crucifix again that conveys the rectangular-shaped cloths to rapidly soar toward Lena once more.

Lena faintly grins and effortlessly starts teleporting from all over the place, dodging every bandage trying to ensnare the busty individual, while casually advancing to Haley's positioning.

Astonished by the revelation of Lena knowing the Teleportation Spell like her, Haley concentrates her cloths to attack more precisely and steadily make progress as they are absurdly close in catching Lena with each attempt. Unfortunately, the bikini-wearing foe is ultimately unsuccessful in her conquest to lock down Lena's maneuvering and instantaneously finds herself only a couple of inches from the Velkry Spellcaster while letting out a scared gasp.

Lena gives Haley a seductive expression with her right hand's middle finger looping the center of the yellow-eyed dame's top so she wouldn't be able to retreat and teasingly mutters, "Here's an interesting fact I'd like for you to know. The reason I tried asking which team you batted for is that I happen to swing both ways and you caught my fancy, especially when our tits were pressed together. It's too bad you shut me down without permitting me a chance to rock your world. A lot of fun could've been had. You really missed out." The tanned woman cutely giggles.

Haley's dumbfounded for a few moments while carefully putting her arms down and then summons her bandages back to capture Lena from behind, or at least force her to dismount her hold, since the enemy isn't really paying attention.

Lena, suspecting what Haley's next ploy would be due to eliminating the probability of teleportation being an option because of her knowing if the orange-haired person used said spell that they'd both would beam over to wherever Haley planned on going and that would defeat the purpose, pulls her adversary even closer as she enticingly utters, "However, I'll give something to ease the pain of our missed opportunity. Enjoy." She suddenly kisses Haley on the lips while stating malevolently, "Love's Scornful Kiss!"

Haley's eyes widen as much as possible from disbelief until her pupils quickly roll to the back of her head, appearing to become severely depressed in the process, with the elevated pieces of cloth flying toward Lena stopping unexpectedly before floating down to the street.

Lena soon releases her grasp on Haley's bikini, making the elite fall backwards with minimal remorse exhibited, and smirks ominously. "Without love, we will all die. It's something many people will always dispute, but it's a fact. Love, even through the toughest of times, is what helps a person keep living on. When you kiss someone, you're giving them a fragment of your love. Whether you want to or not. That is the foundation of this spell, and if someone goes into a lip-lock with me, they better pray real hard that I'm not scorned or I'll be taking a whole lot of their love."

Haley continues lying on the ground, not moving even an inch, while still having her eyes rolled backwards as her breathing slowly decreases to the point of nonexistence.

Lena shakes her head with both arms crossed prior to mumbling unsympathetically, "Sadly for you, God didn't come to your aid. Look at what good being a Saint did." The partially nude individual draws her attention ahead as she finds a single goblin remaining ahead, all battered and bruised with multiple wounds seeping out blood. Taking a moment to acknowledge the situation, Lena contentedly giggles with her head tilted toward the right while shutting her eyes. "Congratulations! You're the winner! You managed to survive, although I told you all to kill each other! Way to go!"

The lone goblin throws its fists into the air in victory as a snarling sound escapes the green-skinned creature.

Lena repairs her head's posture without opening her eyes and enthusiastically speaks. "Now for the bonus challenge! You do this and I'll let you have your way with me for how long you desire!"

The goblin nods excitedly while sustaining its focus on Lena with both hands presently lowered.

Lena giggles yet again. "Great! All you have to do is make your head spin five times completely and I'm all yours!"

The goblin doesn't hesitate even for a second, firmly plants his hands on opposite sides of his head and forcibly twists it to the left, causing a disgusting crack to occur. Afterwards, the vicious creature collapses to the street, dead like his nearby brethren.

Lena sees the downfall of the last goblin that was attacking the north region of Velkry with a dull demeanor until shaking her head in disapproval. "Jeez... And here I thought the midget was gonna' do it. Such a letdown." The brown-haired young lady cheerfully grins.

*Scene Cuts To Black*

To Be Continued...