Chapter 83: The Elites, Part 1

The battle was underway, with the Elites attempting to take charge, separating the two away from Stolas and the Sand Reaper himself, with the elites attempting to strike at Ennio and Zazel in all four directions. The one that possessed a skeletal hand would extract what looked to be bone marrow and had the arm extend, garnering spikes from its sides and front and wielding it as a mace, hoping to strike at the demon as a whip to maim the child like they were a fly. Zazel would have a sigil set up to block the attack, a defense to reflect it, whilst providing Ennio a chance to react, firing bullets through the bone marrow to strike at the source. Before he was able to, however, someone would get in the way of the bullets themselves: A Second elite that possessed bones across their eyes, acting as goggles to move easier across the sandy terrain, casting their own magic to stop the bullets by having their hands act as the point of impact instead. A third, the one with skeletal hands, used this to their advantage, making the fingers act as bullets themselves to shoot across and snipe the Cowboy. Zazel would try to defend by having the sigil he prepared, Stolas, to deflect the bullets, being in the same manner as his Space Magic, a cluster of stars and nebula-like debris to catch them mid-shot.

"Ok, one's got some sort of ability to teleport, and another has the ability to manipulate bones in one's body. You got a plan here, Lil' man?" Ennio would ask, being somehow calm despite being overwhelmed four to two. Zazel would nod as he'd remember the setup made by his friend amidst the sand itself, attempting to have the sigil throw itself down into the ground, letting it gain control of the stars being buried for a moment. As the elites attempt to close in, Zazel would trigger the Sigil almost immediately, having the Cowboy be pushed back to evade any damages as it would detonate, burning and blasting away anything in its radius, a pillar of light remaining amidst the destruction. As the Demon and the Cowboy looked amidst the scattered debris, they would take note of what has happened. Despite the large explosion and the sure-hit effect, they still stood, with the Elite wearing the goggles giving a sinister smirk as they'd direct the others to do an attack. Zazel, anticipating this, would toss one more sigil, this time directly towards the wearer of the Goggles, having him deliver a reaction to catch the sigil, watching it be absorbed in the process. Once again, he gave a sinister smug grin, as he'd began to speak.

"Aye, Aye, Aye! You brain damaged or somethin'? I thought the lack of damage should be enough evidence that you ain't hitting us!!" He'd gave a chuckle as he'd continue. "If you want to die so badly, you should've said so! GET 'EM, MATE-" Before he finished his sentence, he'd notice something was off with the demon. He was still composed. He was still confident. He was still smiling.

"You sure about that?" He would ask, as he would have the sigil be unleashed, taking note of one of the elites, the one with a skeletal arm, to have said arm contorting uncontrollably. The Elite with Skeletal Hands and the Elite with Goggles looked on to investigate the situation, seeing the appendage itself was coated with what looked to be lines. Lines tracing all across the bone and its inscriptions, containing the twitching and grueling arm, unable to harness its strength. Zazel would be giving an explanation, knowing his attack was a success. "I knew it! Your magic revolves around teleportation! You were thinking that every attack means a guarantee reverse at us, weren't yah? Thanks to that, I decided to be sneaky and lace a trap on mines so that the person who has it is gonna be really sorry! But hey, If you were looking to die so badly, you should've said so, yeah?" A cocky smirk was on the demons face, as the Elites realized what has happened. What Zazel didn't expect, however, was the drastic measure they took to preserve themselves.

SHIKK!!!

The very arm was lobbed off, being kicked right towards the Demon and Ennio, with the latter reacting by shooting his bullets at the arm, detonating it and making it explode with the contained attack. The cloak was damaged as a result, showcasing the Elite to be a woman, angered that such a weakness was exploited like that. She turned towards the others with such an enraged expression. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID, TALUS! YOU BLEW OFF MY BLOODY ARM, YAH DID!! THE-" Zazel's ears were quickly covered by Ennio as he'd quickly recognized her vulgar language, not wanting the child to hear it. The demon was a bit confused, yet the rant seemed to be quickly over, with the Elites being somewhat shaken.

"W-w-w-what do you mean, Maxilla? Y-y-you said our strategy was-" The Elite with Skeletal Goggles said, whimpering a bit at her tone, yet she kept going.

"I KNOW WHAT I BLOODY SAID, YOU IDIOT! I ALSO SAID TO NOT TAKE EVERYTHING AT ONCE!! DO YOU SERIOUSLY FORGOT HOW MAGIC WORDS, YOU ABSOLUTE INGRATE!?"

"B-bu-bu-"

"'bU-Bu-bU' NOTHING! You were the one doing the magic, so you're the one having the responsibility to NOT KILL ANYONE WITH IT! UGH, Whatever...Sacrum! You mind?" With her orders, the one that possessed Skeletal Arms would nod, initiating his own attack while Maxilla used her magic to regrow her arm again, this time taking a more draconic appearance, showcasing her style of magic in the process.

"Bone Magic...Warp Magic....Alright, yeah, that covers those two. We just need-" Ennio would have his words halted as Sacrum tried, and somehow succeeded, in slicing the man's throat, forcing him to stumble into the sand. Zazel took notice of this assailant and focused his attention on mending Ennio. Sacrum, noticing this act of healing, would attempt to strike at the demon next, hoping to incapacitate them instantly.