Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

The fiend has several layers of defense. It is complicated to ensure his defeat under a short notice ! says Ryoma. When attacked, he leaps forward to attempts to jump up the beast. If Pietro's attack fails to turn it away, he attempts to grab him before the jump, though his jump is weaker as a result.

Alright... but don't except me to just play second fiddle ! he says, already pulling out several arrows to try and neutralize the five aggressors and assist the girl. Oboro sees the fire coming and put distance between herself and the others to prevent the fire from converging, though her shield is burnt as a result.

As the dragon starts breathing flames, Sombra and Ana fly up and away from them, Sombra having once again created a platform underneath them that shoots up into the sky. He then continues to create floating rectangular platforms that look like tower shields, using them to gallop through the air and directly towards the dragon's face.

—

Meanwhile, at the Voile Library, a certain book-reading youkai can be found, wearing small reading glasses as she carefully studies a tome filled with incomprehensible (to others, not to her) glyphs by the light of a very curious lantern.

Edited by Arachnos on Apr 26th 2019 at 1:50:53 PM

Voile Library

A certain schoolboy in purple comes up behind her.

"Excuse me."

Tokiko turns her head towards the new voice, removing her reading glasses to get a good look at the newcomer.

"Yes?"

Klug adjusts his glasses.

"Have you seen a, uh, a lantern around?"

At mention of the word 'lantern', the ends of his book flap briefly like a butterfly flitting its wings while remaining grounded.

Upon hearing this and noticing the curious movement from the book, and in light of her discussion with Mr. Pew-pew, Tokiko quickly figures the situation. She quickly casts "Sense Magical Aura" and is nearly floored by the sheer demonic power wafting from the book. A shiver passes through her small mangled wings. It's only after a moment that she finds Klug's own aura, not because it's weak, but simply because of how badly the book's aura overshadows it.

"...I see. I suppose this would be what you are seeking." With a small motion by Tokiko, the lantern floats off the table and into the youkai's hands. "You seem like an intelligent child and you have a respectable magic aura, so I assume you are already aware of just what you are intending to unleash. From here, the question that begs to be answered is the why."

Klug will note that the woman's tone remains calm and even throughout. She is obviously aware of the properties of both book and seal, but she's not reacting with fear to his intention of unsealing a high-level demon, nor does she seem to be judging or berating him, with the "why" denoting only a genuine curiosity in his motives.

"My book here has three things described and pictured in its pages. That lantern is one of them, and as a scholar I can't help but wonder what will come of bringing them all together."

The book falls out of Klug's hand, but he doesn't seem to notice. He points a dramatic finger and shrieks, "MY THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE WILL BE SATISFIED!"

"...I see. I guess you are not aware of it after all. In that case, I can partially satisfy your curiosity right away. Having researched the matter, I have concluded that your book appears to be the primary material component for an imprisonment spell cast on an entity that appears to be of demonic nature, and if you succeed in undoing the spell, you will release the entity in question. It is significantly more powerful than you are and has a high chance of being... excitable upon release. Are you quite sure you are prepared to deal with the fallout of such a situation?"

"Wh-of COURSE I am! This demon won't do a thing I don't tell it to! On that, you have my word!"

Klug picks up the book with one hand as he adjusts his glasses with the other. The book seems to have turned docile...

"Hmph. No knowledge can be attained without risks and the courage to take them, but overconfidence will cause one to make mistakes and forego proper preparation. A student of the magical arts must at all times remain aware of this boundary, for many lose their lives and minds to the allure of knowledge they were not ready to claim."

She pauses. "May I take a look at the primary sealing component?" she asks, pointing at the book.

"Sure, alright!" Klug hands over the book.

Tokiko does not immediately touch it. Instead, pentacles and rune circles start appearing around her as she recites a battery of spells.

"Mental Wall. Status Immunity: Charm. Grand Protection from Curse. Twinned Magic: Protection From Species: Demon and Devil."

Tokiko then starts quickly flipping through the pages of the book, trying to find out what it says about the other sealing artifacts and the demon sealed within.

Brain gives not a whit of a shit about ambushes.

"What beye titlewise, comrade?"

Oh, he's asking Redacted his name!

Bardock picks at his teeth.

"... Man, this is getting kind of uninteresting..."

He tries to see if he can do that whole Hyper Saiyan thing he was told about.

…

He can't.

The book appears to be a largely ordinary spellbook, with the notable exception of an amorphous bright red mass being 'reflected within' its pages the way a computer screen using dark colors reflects whatever is in front of it, until...

The Record of the Sealing

It describes the origins of the book and the demon sealed inside, followed by descriptions of the Bookmark of Sun, Stone of Moon, and Lantern of Star.

You should not open this book near the 3 items I have written in the page before. The seal will be broken and there the "evil soul" will

The rest of the final passage is illegibly smudged.

"As I expected. This is a variant of the Imprisonment spell with three sub-components. I have in my possession the Lantern. What of the two others?"

Klug points to the bookmark sticking out of one page of the book - a page detailing the very spells Klug himself often practices (not that Tokiko would know that). "Bookmark's right there. No idea about the stone."

Elsewhere...

"REGULAR SWEEP OF THE AREA COMPLETE, MASTER. NO HOSTILES DETECTED. ONE ANOMALY DETECTED AND GATHERED."

"Anomaly? Detailed report."

Death On The Horizon

"ANOMALY APPEARS AS A SMOOTH STONE THAT APPEARS TO HAVE MILD LIGHT-REFLECTING PROPERTIES. SENSORS DETECT UNKNOWN ENERGY EMANATING FROM OBJECT. ANALYSIS INDICATES ENERGY MAY BE CHANNELED BY THE POSSESSOR OF THE OBJECT."

"Channeled..? How curious. Hand me the object."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Hm hm hmmm... yes... I can feel it. Yes, I think I can definitely have some fun with this. It's really been a while, hasn't it..? By now, the good people of the Arena have probably all but forgotten their superior. But with this... and the generous help of my friend... soon will come the time to remind them. Ha ha ha ha ha...

Spankety... spankety... spankety."

—

"Well. By all accounts, I suppose the sensible thing to do in this situation would be to deny you access to the Lantern and prevent the unsealing of a very likely hostile and dangerous demonic entity. However..."

Scion of Thoth

"...who am I to stand in the way of a fellow seeker of knowledge? The truth is, I too am curious. Even in the worst case scenario, if the research is carried out appropriately, there would be so much to learn from this. In the best case scenario, assuming you are right and the entity could be reasoned with, perhaps even controlled... much power could be gleaned. Yes, perhaps we could even make this a collaborative research project, you an I. There is only one detail to iron out."

Tokiko stands up to her full (fairly unimpressive) height, staring straight in Klug's eyes.

"In research like this, things can sometimes go wrong, and in such cases, we need to be able to clean up after ourselves. I need to ensure that you are aware of the sort of forces we are dealing with here, and that if the project goes sour, you will be willing and able to stand by my side and deal with the consequences of our actions. I don't think I need to explain to you what I mean by this."

Edited by Arachnos on Apr 26th 2019 at 4:38:26 AM

"You challenge me?"

Klug pushes in his glasses. "Very well, I accept. TIME FOR SOME PUYO PUYO!"

A Puyo stack begins to fall behind Klug.

Edited by KiriK on Apr 26th 2019 at 3:46:08 AM

"Not here. This is a library. Mass Plane Shift - Djehuti Arena 2."

After a short ritual, a portal swallows both Klug (along with his Puyos) and Tokiko, relocating them to...

The Wizard's Abode

...a huge platform which seems to be made entirely of magical sigils, floating in the sky above a calm gray sea. Not far from here, Klug can see a small island, and in the middle of the island, an immense tower, reaching out almost endlessly for the skies. Even from here, Klug should feel great magical power emanating from the tremendous structure. There are no two ways about it - this place is the very archetype of a Mage Tower.

Shortly after their arrival, an anthropomorphic snow macaque wearing a samurai's kimono◊ materializes next to them. The macaque bows deeply to Tokiko first, and Klug second. At a gesture from Tokiko, the creature vanishes in a blur and relocates into the air, just off the side of the platform, observing both combatants. It seems he's not here to participate, but rather as a sort of witness or referee to the duel.

"Now, we may begin."

Edited by Arachnos on Apr 26th 2019 at 5:01:59 AM

"... Oh, uh... Take 2, I guess. PUYO PUYO BATTLE!"

Nebula Step

Klug begins stacking Puyos behind him.

White Tower - Redacted Brain Hit

   "Good! I look forward to it."   

The warlock turns to the pair that had just arrived and has waves, a cheery squint in his eyes.

   "Greetings. You are the other two intruders!"   

He seemed a little too friendly.

Tower's Peak - Narktus

   "I can't leave Hell without the object I seek. I was only able to pull in your subordinate because of the book he so foolishly opened. If you can retrieve the object, and bring to me I'll gladly fulfill any request you have tenfold."   

Krampus continued to stroke his mask.

Oblivia - Yamoshi and Bardock

Gunnor is hit by the uppercut, a groan of pain escapes his helmet and the demon stumbles backwards. He steadies himself pretty quick, and rushes for a three punch combo to the chest.

"Strong hits, where did you gain such strength?"

Hit looks over at Brain and Redacted, remaining silent.

—

Narktus narrows his eyes.

"Very well."

Yamoshi blocks each punch with a palm held up in front of him and counters with a point-blank ki blast.

"I trained."

The Kraken is stunned by Pietro's attacks and temporarily repelled, allowing Ryoma to get on top of it, while the other remains resilient for as long as it can. However, the beast is felled shortly afterwards, and taken away by another portal.

Ninten, upon being exposed, unleashes his Final Smash. A giant 4th-D Slip portal erupts behind Ninten, big enough that people can actually see a small part of Magicant if they look inside. It looks surprisingly dark at the moment, with purple clouds covering the skies, lightning crackling at various moments. And if one looks very carefully, something seems to be flying through the air. Unfortunately, no more details can be seen though.

A sickly green psychic aura forms around Ninten, which washes over the battlefield. It passes through his enemies harmlessly, but his allies...

They get their wounds healed. And the two Krakens re-emerge from Magicant by Ninten's side.

His Final Smash fully healed all of his allies. Including the fallen ones. That's probably one of the best non-offensive Final Smashes anyone can have, but for the fighters this means serious trouble.

The aura dissipates and the portal closes again, with Ninten unable to make another move this turn. The two Kraken spew fire upon the battlefield though, trying to strike down Pietro and Takumi.

The Flying Man, while they were healed, are still kept at a distance thanks to Takumi's arrows, which prove pretty effective towards them. Pippi turns to him in a brief moment where she doesn't have to watch her back.

"Wow, mister. I never thought arrows could be this strong. You're awesome!"

They quickly resume their attacks though, and Pippi continues to fight back, though slowly but surely starts to lose ground, having to step back at multiple moments to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Lloyd finishes his Multi-Bottle Rockets, aiming them at the Dragon and having to wait until Ana, Sombra and Oboro get its PSI blocked.

"Just a little closer!", she says to Sombra, already charging up her PSI.

The Dragon tries to launch PK Thunder attacks at Sombra and Anna, attempting to break through their shields. Oboro isn't targeted this time around however, which'll give her a chance to perhaps distract the Dragon with a powerful strike.

The person who had noticed the battle is still running towards it, almost at the room in which the battle takes place. Anyone standing close by the door may actually start hearing his nearing footsteps.

   ... You are all going to die, and then me.   

Xander and Peri, content with spectating, turn around to see whoever is running for the battle.

—

Takumi swears in Hoshidian, as does Oboro. Ryoma, however, keep his cool, merely holding Raijinto up and taking a stance.

We will need to cancel his defense bonuses and attack together. he says. Stay sharp.

The crown prince of Hoshido begins to run for the flying men. In his mind, helping the PSI trio would help since they may have an answer to dealing with his buffs, and he may not be able to summon his Final Flash if he's not attacked directly, so there's no risks of him activating it they focus on the birds.

Ryoma goes for a large sweeping slice for the Flying Men with his sword, turning around in mid-air and sliding backward a little.

Takumi smiles when complimented and somehow manages to dodge the fire, though barely. This causes Oboro to get visibly upset, and she decide to take her rage on the dragon, leaping in the air, twirling her naginata several times and going for a critical hit on the beast's head !

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 26th 2019 at 1:24:19 PM