Chapter 299: Rituals

Both sigils emit their emerald glow, their appendages extending outward, with Harvard doing his chant as the beast becomes born. 

"Ardeat.....Ure omnia.....Detrahe iram lucis his qui tegunt in tenebris.."

"Pallium Absconde....illiausos dicere ad atra nocti.....nulla lux viva relinquatur.."

"Sol Perveniet!!"

"INTI!!"

The Massive dragon began to shine, the land illuminating as a mirror would lose such a solar body, shining down and roaring its powerful cry, the heads quickly escaping from the appendages to stare down at his opponent. Within the golden coliseum, Griffos would also unleash his beast, one which sported three arms, clawing their way out.

"Festum prope est....! Illuminemus ignem et saltare..."

"Saltare et saltare donec crura nostra frangant.....Cantemus et canamus donec iugulos minuamus....!"

"Rituale complebitur.....cum omnis venefica evanescit!"

"WALPURGIS!!"

The beast emerged in a black cloak, a miasma that swirled underneath it. Such hands possessed long nails, the fingers twitching as if it danced between playing the keys on a piano and puppeteering an invisible puppet. Harvard wasted no time in rushing forward, letting Inti dig through the earth to conjure up a massive cloud of debris to act as cover, blasting the beast with the rays of the sun's light itself. Griffos, however, was quick on slipping a spell into Walpurgis and letting its featherweight body drop down instantly, evading the beam, letting the hands crawl the figure across the bottom. Once Inti saw the shadow looming in the clouds, it merely flew upwards and aimed his attack downward, a heavy blast of light that would melt through the ground itself, the gold quickly becoming a liquid, in an attempt to drown the beast alongside it being burned directly. Walpurgis, however, was quick, using the hands to rotate and fend off the massive light into smaller ones, prompting both of the kids to dodge the onslaught of beams that were indirectly covering the area. Harvard would be setting up a spell on his hand, a seal that would let him catch the light beams directly, his arm glowing and pulsing through his veins, storing it for a later use. Griffos, however, was set on using the energy immediately, casting his own card to create a turret, letting it open to snatch as much solar beams as possible, all to pass it towards Walpurgis to use as a makeshift battery.

The child tried to close in while the monsters fight, guiding Inti across the debris to allow a flank shot, but both would stop themselves once they'd see something implanted on Walpurgis' center: A Top. A top that is surrounded by three cards, two of which were monsters, one of which was a spell. Griffos would be seen on top of his beast, snapping his fingers and allowing the top to spin, its face plastered onto the sides to act as the indicator of choice. Harvard would try to look through his deck, finding the spell itself, allowing his Dragon to intervene once he read its name

Ritual Top.

"Surprising, isn't it?" The Mirror asked, veering his beast away as the whirlabout was slowing down. "Usually such spells would require set-up or time to use it. The land around us and the toy in his miasma count as such. These spells, funnily enough, serve as my personal aces. Rituals. The practice of a sanctimony for such powerful effects. A perfect style fit for a perfect noble such as myself. Such class, such finesse, such-"

"Do you usually talk a lot like this?" Harvard complained, having Inti flank him on his side once more, trying to close in and bite down at the toy and the arms that Walpurgis desperately uses to strike back at the dragon's heads. "Seriously, not everything's one big speech dude!"

The Noble, despite being interrupted once more, merely sighed as he'd look down at his reflection, almost as if he was more disappointed at not being able to learn than being ignored. "Haaa....Once again, you've shown to me why I am superior over your basic 'sticks and stones' mentality. You've clearly haven't noticed that I got the upper hand here." He'd speak, as the one of the monster's arms began to shift, the top making its decision on a Monster; Alibaba. The arm began to grow flesh and muscle, the claw-like fingernails changing to a more bulky set, quickly grabbing ahold of the Dragon's neck, stealing the very energy of the sun in preparation to cast the ritual again, the two arms taking turns pummeling at the beast, striking at its center, cracking and breaking the sun itself, letting it slowly wear down with each barrage. "Walpurgis is a monster based entirely on Rituals. Once a Ritual spell has entered in its system, it can cast it as though it was its own innate magic. There is a limit, of course, but as the Noblest of the others, I can break through such limits effortlessly! This is the power of wisdom for the Codex Machina, little one! This is what you've been missing out!" Griffos would continue such elaborate dramaticism as he'd allow the top to form a new arm, whilst he would close in on the child with a spell, a set of thorns and vines to bind the boy and strike him in the face with a jump kick. "Your tricks are worth nothing less than copper and bronze compared to my silver and gold. It's over..." He'd finish, but as he'd connect, he would notice something was immediately off.

Harvard's eyes had an insignia on it. An insignia Griffos recognized immediately, but was too late to stop it. He's been caught in the boy's illusion. In truth, the Card Magician was quick on cutting the distance, a spell to dodge all of the bindings and close himself into the scuffle between the two beasts. If what he said is true, then it would be a perfect ally to add into his deck. The boy would cast his Final Gambit straight onto both monsters, letting the two bond and take a new form.

"FU! SION!!"

As the two beasts merged, the sun darkening into a blackish blue, the heads now converging within the miasma, replacing such stumps with its arms, generating a new one instantly to match the amount, Harvard would use his own Ritual spell and let the new combination blast down a beam straight into Griffos, testing to see how strong he was against a fused construct.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!

A cone of black light came down, melting the gold once more, burning off his fur coat. Throughout the smoke and ash, Griffos would still stand, albeit in a worse shape than normal, his body showcasing an undershirt comprised of feathers and scales, as if he was a man-made dinosaur. "Awesome.." Harvard would admit, watching his mirror casting a Potion to splash into his own body, letting it soak up such contents and heal him back to normal.