Adventure of Astral Part 41: Barrier

'To be as beautiful as a dancer and as elegant as a skater, to be as passive as a wave and as mighty as the wind.' Astral opened his eyes as he watched hair fall to the ground. The red locks of Ruby's hair slowly drifted downward as Astral reached his mental state he needed to be at. The calm and eerie look as he was sent into the wall by the four of them combining a wind spell dazed him just for the moment.

Landing on his feet he watched them all look at him in panic. He couldn't touch them with his spells nor could he get close with his magic. But if he bypassed the one key thing that could defend the four of them they would be in a large amount of trouble. He could keep this going for as long as he wanted to, the question was how. He dashed around all of them in a circle as the four put their backs together.

"We will stop him. We have to, for the sake of everyone!" Ruby shouted as she took the charge. She stood firm as the other three got behind her. "Hellfire lashes!" she pointed to the ground in front of them as flames erupted from the ground. Astral watched as he flashed around the flames. Each one tried to strike him as he used his hard light spell to defend himself whenever it was close. He finally felt the room start to heat up as he looked at the pit directly.

"Penance freeze!" Sapphire shouted as she blasted Astral on the back of the head with a ice ball as he was held in place. Diamond and Topaz held their hands upward and together to strike at Astral while he was faced away from them. The fiery lashes caught onto Astral as they collided and burned black marks into his armor.

'They want me dead, not for the man I am, but for the man I was, and the man I can become.' Astral stared into the pit of hellfire as his senses returned. He flicked his body a full one hundred and eighty degrees as he saw the ball of pure plasma hurled at him just in time. He was hit directly by it as it channeled an electric current through his body. Causing him to collapse to the ground as the hellfire latched onto him as it slowly started to drag him into the pit.

Astral felt all of it. It pained him greatly. He looked upwards as his helmet started to show him a different fight. It was the one when he shattered. The moments before it as he was scarred and wounded. Fighting them all without an issue. He can do it, he just needs to remember it. Astral's suit vibrated as he passed through the hellfire. Firing his grapple from his right wrist and launching himself back to the mortal realm as the screams from hell filled his ears. He hung from the ceiling as the suit was acting on its own.

He looked down as he smiled. They were watching him and his abilities as he landed safely. His suit faded away as his cyan eyes sparked new hope and ability for him to finally be continually in this fight. He held out his hands and clenched his fists. "If I win, it will be due to me overcoming my abilities and fears." Astral hunched down with his hands still wrapped. He closed the gap and unsheathed Muramasa, slicing at the four with a blinding speed. He couldn't crack their barrier as he did not care. It was better to be in a state of applying pressure.

Topaz charged up a blast of energy and sent Astral backwards as he felt the entire energy shift. They could win, but they don't have the numbers they had beforehand. Astral flicked his skull upward as he noticed ember flowers on the ceiling. They began to spit fireballs at the speed of sound at him. Frost dynamo monk statues were formed as Diamond and Sapphire summoned them to fight Astral as he formed a hard light shield around himself. Why did this feel so familiar? 'There were so many people last time, their pendants, their jewels, it enhanced them. But why is there four, isn't there only two?' Astral almost entered a panic as he shattered his shield into shrapnel as he took down the ice buddha statues as he faced forward.

Tornadoes were in front of him as he looked at the others in confusion, space and room to fight is their ally, and yet they stay confined and cornered. "Shall we let the fresh air in ladies?" Astral compressed his hands together. He parted them before he clapped and sent a massive shockwave that blew out the walls and took down the entire ceiling. As well as knocking the four backwards into the back courtyard.

Astral laughed as he walked to the edge of the castle as all but the throne was blown away. He looked down as the four were hovering in place above the courtyard. Astral saw a barrage of hail coming down the size of boulders. They were enhanced with a fiery core as Astral defended himself with the hard light shield. He waited for it to stop as it kept pummeling his defenses. He held firm and confused. He made it worse for himself. 

A small flash of white shined on his thigh as he looked at his magnum, which gave him an idea, a weapon he has not used in the longest amount of time. Another flash of light was hidden by the barrier as the hail stopped. Storm clouds formed above as the four had their hands raised. Each were beaming their own element into the storm cloud as he smiled. They watched as he raised something they have never seen. "Try this on for size!" He aimed his custom sniper at Ruby as he fired one lightspeed round. Rapidly moving to each target he fired one at all four of them. 

Their shields shattered as the round dissipated around them. Astral stood impressed as they resummoned their barriers. With a light little flash of light his sniper vanished as he looked at the four of them. Overwhelming power can crush them if he got close. But that wouldn't be nearly as fun.