The return of Venerus.

[Edward Judorne]

Edward got an ominous feeling as soon as he entered the room. He didn't need anyone to tell him there was something wrong here. The room seemed utterly empty, but Venerus seemed pretty sure that they would die there. Still, not even Edward could have guessed how much trouble they were in. As he started swinging his rapier around over one of the tiles in an attempt to feel his way around, he heard the sound of a Guillotine coming down and before he knew it, all he had left of it was the hilt. As if that weren't enough, when the blade of his Rapier hit the ground, it set off another trap, exploding it into nothingness.

"Damn!!!!!" Edward swore loudly as he was still trying to figure out what had just happened.

Thinking quickly, Edward attempted to figure out where the traps were by setting them off with a blast of his electrical missle, but the spell fizzled due to a strong anti-magic barrier... Or at least one strong enough to cancel out Edward's spells.

"Double Damn!!!!!"

[Cyrus the virus]

Luc walked to the edge of the entrance, just before the tiles began. His eyes were focused and his jaw was steeled.

"Edward, come here," he said, grasping Venus' hand with his own gloved appendage. When Edward arrived, Luc grasped his arm, and all three of them became wind.

They soared effortlessly over the tiles, but Luc could feel the strain on his energy. Venerus's anti-magic was almost powerful enough to overcome his Windwalk spell, but not quite. In a moment they were at the other end, and they became solid once more. Only Luc was exhausted from the strain.

Before them was a door with a golden handle. "Let this end now. For the good of Althanas, for Suravani's Oasis. For us."

He turned the knob, and walked inside. It was brighter than anything he'd ever seen before in his life.

[2-in-1]

Venus had been to all sorts of bright places, but this took the cake. The light in the room was blinding, so she had to use her other senses to feel her way around. She felt a few walls, but other than that, it was an empty room, with one exception... Venerus. She could sense his presence in the room, but she couldn't pinpoint his location.

He didn't stay hidden from her for long, though, because suddenly a fireball hit Venus hard sending her flying across the room and into the wall knocking her unconcious... That's right, unconcious. No transformation into Delta or anything like that. She was bleeding pretty badly too.

Venerus just laughed.

"I knew it. Once I captured that other girl's soul, that woman is a weak fool. no more invincibility or switching. Best part of it is that if I destroy her body, both will be down for the count."

The brightness in the room faded as Venerus finally showed himself for what he truly was, a powerful Necromancer.

[Edward Judorne]

As Edward took in this information, he started to lose his cool. Venerus had been playing them the entire time. Venus and Delta were out of comission because Venerus had removed the one thing that made them almost unbeatable. Edward had no weapon and Luc looked extremely tired because of the last room alone. There was one tiny problem, though. Edward still had a bit of strategy up his sleeve.... If you can call it that.

Edward charged in and hit Venerus with a strong elbow, knocking the breath out of him. It was an unexpected strike that Venerus wasn't prepared for. After all, nobody was stupid enough to attack a more powerful being without a weapon, right? It was the fact that Edward knew that way of thinking that made the strategy work... Too bad he didn't have much of a clue as to what to do afterwards.

Venerus grabbed him and tossed him aside like trailer trash before approaching Luc.

"Come on, Wizard. Let's see what you've got. I just hope you are more of a challenge than these fools."

[Cyrus the virus]

In the time it took Luc to recall the incantation to his Truesight spell, Venerus had done away with both Venus and Edward. As the enchantment took him over, dilating his pupils until they were mere freckles in his eyes, Luc took a quick survey of the room, looking for the source of that incredible brightness. He couldn’t find it straight away.

Venerus’ command was as demanding as his presence. He radiated power as profoundly as fire radiated heat, an aura of blackness about him. He stood a foot above the ground, black hair, black pants, black cloak orbiting his body as if by wind – yet Luc did not feel or sense any. Even the wizard’s eyes were black. Just looking at him seemed to drain any remaining energy Luc had. He suddenly felt as if he should give up and accept death.

The wizard before the mage seemed to pick up on the feeling, to bask in it. He was the supreme force in this realm now; no geomancer was going to strike him down in his domain.

That didn’t mean no geomancer was going to try, of course.

“I know no cantrips with which to duel you, boy,” Venerus laughed. “Forgive me if my spells overwhelm you utterly, but I’ve never been one to dwell on learning the simple things.”

Around the mage, air turned to wind and in turn to blades. Venerus reacted quickly, conjuring a barrier as black as night itself to absorb them. One by one the green shards of razor wind disappeared into the liquidlike wall, swallowed as if thrown into a deep vertical puddle. As quickly as it had happened, both were conjuring again. Venerus finished first, lifting his hands to summon a trio of skeletons from portals in the floor. Armed with crude bronze weaponry and shields, they charged. Luc’s finished spell was abandoned when he saw the threat, and he began chanting something else.

The skeletons got close, but his spell was off before they were within striking distance. The summoned creatures halted for a moment, seemed to waver, then spun and rushed toward Venerus, directed by Luc’s mind as he enslaved them. Venerus, shocked, fell back out of reach, but was hit by the reaching blade of a sword. Enraged, he threw a hand out and blew the skeletons away with a blast of darkness. Obliterated bones tumbled across the slick tile floor.

Luc took the moment’s respite to look about again. He could see perfectly thanks to his spell, but knew the light in the room was near blinding to his allies, both of which were injured. It took him a moment, but he located the source, a sphere at the very center of the dome ceiling. A wind blade shattered it, and Venerus’ reaction told him everything he needed to know.

The room was now pitch black. Luc, however, still saw perfectly thanks to his Truesight spell. His pupils had grown to enormous size.

“It’s too bad you don’t know any simple cantrips with which to create light, Venerus,” Luc had to say. He was too exhausted to mount a powerful offense. “My friends will slay you in the dark, and end your rabble for good!”

[Edward Judorne]

Edward got up, he was battered and bruised, but he was not about to give up the fight. The battle was not going at all well, and he had no clue how to turn it around, at least, not yet. Edward looked on as the skeletons were summoned, turned on venerus and destroyed. He had hoped that one of them would leave a weapon behind, but all the weapons were destroyed with them. He began to search around the room for another weapon. His eyes finally settled on the sword Venus was carrying.

Edward snuck behind Venerus while his attention was still turned towards Luc, and took the sword into his hands. As soon as Luc put the lights out, Edward took a slash at Venerus. The blade cut into his back, but Venerus hardly seemed to feel the pain.

"I'll give you this kid, you have guts." Venerus said calmly.

Out of nowhere, one of the walls formed a fist and punched Edward across the room. Another wall attempted to grab at him, but Edward instinctively ducked.

"What's the matter? Did you forget how much control I have over this place?" Venerus said in a mocking tone of voice, obviously unable to see that the wall had not successfully grabbed him.

Edward took this information in and formed a strategy.

"No, I remember that all too well." Edward said, Shooting an electrical missle at where he had last heard Venerus's voice. The electricity gave Edward enough light to figure out where exactly Venerus was in the room. He had not moved at all.

Edward knew what came next, and he was ready for it. Venerus deflected the shot and sent the wall after him again. The wall shot off at Edward quickly, but Edward was quicker. He ran and slid underneath Venerus, forcing it to hit him instead.

Venerus hit the opposite wall hard.

"Guess that even you can get lucky sometimes, kid. Guess I should get serious now."

[2-in-1]

"Guess that even you can get lucky sometimes, kid. Guess I should get serious now."

As Venerus finished saying these words, Venus's body lit up the room as she transformed into Delta. You see, Venerus had stored Delta's soul inside himself to prevent anyone from freeing it during the battle. He had expected to only have to deal with magic, but due to the cut he endured from Venus's sword while it was in Edward's hands, and the fact that he was hit hard against the wall by another wall, (which opened the wound more,) Delta's soul was able to escape his body and return to Venus's in time to make the switch.

Also, due to the change into Delta, Venus's sword dissapeared from the scene entirely.

Delta pulled out her spetum and got ready for anything.

Venerus had had enough.

"I will deal with you later, Miss Delta."

Venerus used a wall to keep Delta in part of the room where she could not interfere.

"Now then, who's next."

[Cyrus the virus]

Luc watched the events unfold, a powerless observer in the one-sided struggle against Venerus. A deep cut into the wizard's back did nothing but release Delta's spirit, seeming not to harm the necromancer whatsoever. Though they fought in the dark, Luc could observe that the three were all at least somewhat in control of what they were doing. Even Venerus seemed to know where to send his spells. Perhaps his walls could do all the seeing for him.

Exasperated, the mage fell back and retreated backward toward the wall, too distracted to be wary of Venerus’ abilities. Seeing through the dark, Luc watched as his hopes were crushed by the wizard’s iron grip.

“So is that all?” Venerus asked of the room’s inhabitants, inviting a response. When he received none, an audible bah was what he followed up with. “I’ve ascended past the level of mortals, especially in this plane. You were fools to follow me here, and now you will die for it. But not too quickly.”

Venerus was talking big, but Luc could see he was a bit confused. Though Luc was able to see thanks to his spell, Venerus and the others were still enshrouded in black. There was little Luc could do to capitalize, however, so he was left dumbfounded, staring absent-mindedly at Venerus’ floating figure.

Suddenly, in a flash of blazing orange, a fireball spawned in Venerus’ upraised hand. Using it as a source of light, the wizard held it before his face and squinted. A grin on his face, Luc mentally bade the flame to expand and erupt, assaulting Venerus’ face like a reaching squid.

The wizard squealed and clutched his face, the fireball dancing around him, having become several streams of flame. He writhed away from the burning strands, growling louder with each passing moment. Luc, meanwhile, stepped forward, determined to keep the wizard busy.

Enacting his Whisper spell, Luc sent a silent message to Edward, not wanting to yell out and reveal his position. “I’ll keep him alit with the fire, Edward, but you need to finish him! I don’t have enough strength left to duel him. Go now and do it!”

[Edward Judorne]

Edward nodded. This battle had been tiring on everyone. He had to finish it with one blow. The problem was that even he was low on techniques. and without his rapier, he was really limited on what he could do....unless.... He looked around. It was hard to see anything in the darkness, but all he needed to know was his surroundings. Edward started to take in as much electricity as he could. He only had one shot and he was not going to waste it.

Venerus looked over at Edward as he saw the electrical glow coming from behind him, but it was too late. Edward charged in, elbowing Venerus right in the wound he made earlier. As soon as he connected, Edward released all the electricity he had stored up into Venerus's body by using Tempest Tantrum. At first it had no effect, but after a second or two the fireball in Venerus's hand blew up in his face, and thanks to the fact that Venerus was using his full power to make the fireball, the explosion finally had done the trick.

Venerus was defeated, but Edward had used almost his entire lifeforce in the blast. He fell to the ground unconcious but do to the death of Venerus, the Castle started to crash to the ground.

[2-in-1]

The castle walls were collapsing, freeing Delta just in time for her to roll out of the way of a stone from the ceiling that was falling towards her.

"We have to get out of here, NOW!!!!!" Delta said as she grabbed up Edward and ran out the door. "Man, this guy is heavy. Mind helping me out here?"