Flea The Wrath of The Elephant

Ryu and Shredder could have done much more than they were currently doing, despite the fact that they were more refined in using their false innate abilities. However, upon contacting Buio via their mental connection, he requested that they not do so.

Which is why they were now fighting a seemingly endless horde of demons with their hands basically tied behind their backs. Sometimes the original's decisions could seem nonsensical in the moment but when you really took the time to consider, it would all make perfect sense.

Hive was a very powerful mage. Her abilities were nowhere near as devastating as Buio's when it came onto raw power and destructiveness but were lethal and dangerous nonetheless. What the tyrant had displayed so far was in no way unimpressive, however Buio wasn't convinced that she had shown all her cards yet.

He was very powerful so much so in fact that it was highly unlikely that most demons could take him on at his full power. So he didn't fear much, especially not for himself... and yet he was hiding his full power.

So why wouldn't Hive be doing the same. As rumor had it the woman was smart, very smart. Smarter than him at the very least and very strategic. If Buio was capable of planning ten steps ahead, then Seishin might be able to plan 20 to 30.

It would be totally idiotic of him to put everything he was capable of on display, especially in the presence of someone who could pick up new abilities like they were pokemon. He would only be allowing her to potentially find a counter to all of his abilities... if counters existed for all of them.

It didn't take long for Ryu to realize all of this, seeing as all of Buio's Permaclones shared his mental acuity.

After coming to the realization that they couldn't just outright kill all of Hive's minions, the original had decided to use a different tactic which could allow them to more easily incapacitate their opponents without being lethal.

The idea was formulated around the utilization of two beast bonds. One was the flea and the other was the elephant. More specifically the innate speed, agility and size of the flea and the weight of the elephant.

By using both beast bonds in unison, he could easily create temporary clones capable of using their abilities. So while the shadow clones stalled for time ensuring none of their opponents escaped, one of the other Permaclones created the temporary beast bond clones.

With Chisei and the others now having better control over their ability to alter time, the temporary beast bond clones were quickly created and released. With their mana completely shrouded, plus the massive wave of mana already permeating the atmosphere, they were rendered almost completely imperceptible. When that was coupled with their very small stature, Hive's underlings were rendered nearly defenseless against them.

Now him and Shredder didn't need to put any of the originals other abilities on display, which also prevented them from revealing the fact that they could use his abilities without limitations.

At the moment Ryu was under relentless unslaught from several opponents at once, so were Shredder and Death Web. Bane's leader was definitely after the girl, however it was likely for a completely different reason than what she had in mind for him and Shredder.

For some unknown reason, even though Hive was clearly on the hunt for beings with powerful and versatile abilities, she seemed to be in no hurry to attempt to capture and soul manipulate him or his fellow Permaclones or their original.

Which was strange, even though they were all just as powerful as the original Buio, she had most definitely soul manipulated other somewhat similarly powerful beings before.

Was it that they were too powerful for her to soul manipulate or was it that her soul based abilities had limitations which they surpassed somehow? As Ryu continued to ponder several matters at once, he siphoned mana from every opponent in his vicinity. He then temporarily opened a portal on one of his arms, pulling several opponents towards him.

After which he swiftly dismissed it, created a large hand out of pure darkness and slammed the demons caught in it's grip into the ground.

Several of them had gotten clean out of the way as soon as he dismissed the portal. The rest who had been slammed into the ground were swiftly rendered unconscious by the temporary beast bonds.

Things were going smoothly for the time being. Despite the seemingly inexhaustible horde which their enemy had gathered, both him and Shredder had several means of fortifying themselves.

While Death Web was more than capable of defending herself as well, she obviously had massive mana reserves and she used it quite well. With her ability to seemlessly change from her solid form to light particles, her opponents were finding it extremely hard to touch her. Let alone harm her, not that Hive's vessels seemed particularly eager to do so.

He had realized this fact for some time now. Hive definitely wanted the Supreme Magi's daughter to become one of her vessels... or an hostage to possibly force Tamashi's hand at the very least.

Ryu's pier was doing just fine at the moment and had added an innumerable amount of her share of foes to the unconscious body count. However it was highly unlikely that she would be able to keep this up for long. At her current pace she would definitely run out of mana soon.

When that inevitably happened it would place a much bigger burden on him and Ryu to protect her. Especially seeing as there would be no backup and they were actively trying not to annihilate the entire horde at the moment.

All of the other Permaclones had recently become preoccupied. Apparently Bane had initiated a multi stage attack on several fronts in rapid succession. This was likely a strategy to ensure that Buio and similarly powerful foes would be unable to assist each other in an attempt to defeat them.

Their leader was indeed a master at her craft. It was best not to allow her to acquire anymore ammunition to use against them. Just then Ryu sensed a massive pulse emanate from below him, spreading outward in a very wide radius.

For some reason it seemed very familiar but he couldn't tell where he remembered it from. Was it from his own experiences and memories or was it from memories of the others or the original which had been shared with him at some point?

An idea quickly bloomed in his mind and he activated his elephant beast bond abilities, then landed on the ground and spread his senses far and wide.

It felt as if there was a massive being beneath the frozen ground breathing... taking very heavy labored breaths.

'Hm, what is this?' He thought intrigued. 'This is certainly not from my own memory, i would definitely remember experiencing anything like this before.' He thought his curiosity growing. 'I better share this with the others and find out whose memory this is from.' He decided eventually. Then did just that.

Within a few seconds a reply quickly came to him. "Begin Siphoning as much mana as you can out of the ground and get Death Web out of there now!" Ryu's eyebrows rose in surprise. He had rarely ever heard the original's voice display such alarm. This was likely due to his concern for the safety of the Supreme Magi's daughter.

Whatever it was Ryu didn't hesitate, knowing it must be of dire importance for Buio to express such urgency. So he turned in the young lady's direction. "Hey, Tahma!" He shouted as loud as he could, his voice amplified with the use of mana. "Get the hell out of here immediately, use the portal. You'll be fine, don't ask any questions. Go now!!!" He yelled making sure she got an idea just how serious the situation was.

Moments later a wave of searing heat washed over the entire battlefield, Death Web had apparently unleashed one of the effects of her multifaceted light manipulation. Ryu sensed as one of Death Web's arms passed through the entrance of one of the portals, then she abruptly stopped.

Several other humanoid figures had caught her three other limbs in their grasps. Her mana flared once more and Ryu felt as several body's hit the floor, he continued to siphon mana in the meantime. However the pulse seemed to be intensifying with every second that passed.

Shortly after the humanoid figures had hit the ground he sensed as Death Web finally finished entering the portal. Buio began to close it along with all the others. However, before he could finish dismissing them, he sensed as several humanoid figures passed through to the other side in pursuit of Death Web.

'Hm, they'll die soon enough, one way or another.' He thought slightly amused at their stupidity.

Buio who he was still sharing his senses with quickly drew him back to reality. "Leave that spell alone, that explosion can't kill any of you and the girl is safe. The supposed civilians aren't however. Knock out every single one of those humanoids over there, use whatever abilities we've displayed before... now!" He snapped.

The original was pissed for some reason. Ryu disappeared from the spot immediately. Activating several beast bond abilities at the same time, he began taking out demons in rapid succession.

One flicker and a demons skull was embedded in the ground with a deafening boom. One reappearance and another was left with all of it's limbs broken. Ryu was now using the mantis shrimp, elephant, flea and the flat of the dragon scale projectiles to quickly damage his opponents as quickly as he possibly could without killing them.

After doing so he would quickly open a portal or several at once, sending the body's tumbling into the open void of space. Where they were quickly trapped in translucent containers and robbed of their perception of time by Chisei.

Now that only he and Shredder were present, the temporary beast bond clones began attacking the demon horde mercilessly. With the assistance of Ryu and Shredder their opponents numbers dwindled swiftly.

After quite some time several of them began to flea. The explosion which was being prepped earlier had died out abruptly at some point, however neither Ryu or Shredder had discovered Boom's body yet.

Maybe he had escaped with the few who had fled into the portal in pursuit of Death Web. Maybe he was among the remaining demons which they were in pursuit of. Buio had given specific orders to take him out without fail, which was understandable seeing as he was clearly capable of causing much bigger explosions than he had put on during the Elite Force tournament.

If he was allowed to roam free Xaymaca would soon incur losses of ghastly proportions. So they had to catch him now, at all costs.

Hive's perception was currently being shared among so many vessels that it would undoubtedly drive a regular person mad. She was no regular person tho, she was one of the scariest beings in all existence. Plus she had multiple minds, courtesy of her beast bond which had several brains, numbering the tentacles it possessed.

With those assets and her trusty ally who could help her compartmentalize all the memories at her disposal, she was a humanoid super computer. Xaymaca's defenders had no idea who they were dealing with. That damn Purple Coat tho, he was becoming extremely annoying.

Imagine having to take flight after amassing an army the magnitude of the one she had just used against him. Even if she was still hiding several cards up her sleeve, this was completely unheard of.

What on earth was the ability he had those fleas using earlier? How could they carry such speed and force with their little bodies? They felt so heavy when they hit her vessels but seemed to be able to dismiss their mass at will.

Was he somehow using gravity via the flea beast bond clones somehow? That didn't even make sense. Was it possible to remove gravity from something once it's applied? Even if he could somehow manipulate gravity via his darkness manipulation it shouldn't be able to function that way.

He must have utilized something else to apply that mass to them. Was it a beast bonds weight perhaps? Maybe he had a whale or elephant beast bond or something of the sort.

Until she found a way to counter that ability on the battlefield if or when she recognized it being used again... whichever battlefield it was she was certain of one thing. To preserve the functionality of her vessels she would make them flee.

Speaking of counters, she had an idea in mind. She had a means of countering several abilities no matter how powerful they were... which was just about ready to be put into play.

Apparently Purple Coat and Tamashi thought Osoi was safe, so they would never see it coming. Seishin began to chuckle, accidentally sharing the action among several vessels. She quickly controlled herself before it was noticed by the individuals who were in close range noticed the abrupt change.

What a disaster that would have been. 'Hm, she loves that guild master... killing him should do the trick. On second thought that's stupid, he's rather powerful too. I should make him my vessel too. Let's just pretend to kill him. That worked fine before.' She thought while trying to form a sinister grin. 'Damed cat, can't make it as good as a human face would.'

She thought as the feline purred at Osoi Abajo, who was putting it down to go assist the Gold Badgers who were with the members of her own guild.