'Herbivore Soul: Blue 'Roo!' Sniff took on his kangaroo form and ran at the demon behind Dante and Terry. Just how strong was this thing? Would just battering it even have any effect? How much damage could it do in one hit?
The three mages attacked simultaneously. The demon laughed as they leaped for him, then blew out, sending a powerful jet of air from its mouth towards them. Its turned its head so that it struck all three of them one by one, sending them back where they came from.
Sniff gritted his teeth as he rolled across the dusty earth. Damnit, they needed some kind of plan. Just charging in wasn't going to work. But what could be done? Dante's arms didn't work, and was Okami in any mental state to fight? If only they had a healer, they could at least get Dante back at full strength.
Suddenly a fireball came out of nowhere and struck Azazel on the side of the face. As the smoke cleared, they saw that it had done little more than bruise the creature, who laughed maliciously at the attempt.
'Everyone on their feet!' came a commanding voice from behind. Athena came running up to them. Beside her was a man in a strange, red feathered chicken costume. As she stopped beside her friends, the Celestial Spirit leaped towards Azazel, flying through the air towards him, firing of balls of flame at him as he did so.
'You heard me!' said the S-Class Mage as Phoenix began flying round the monster's head, doing its best to avoid the swinging of its huge arms. 'Everyone get clear of the immediate area! Anyone who can't fight, stay clear! The rest of you need to come up with a plan to beat this thing! I'll hold it off for as long as possible, but I don't think I'll last longer than five minutes! Now move!'
Sniff looked hurriedly around to assess the situation. Okami and Trex were with Laymia, Alica and the unconcious Ari. Footsoul was unconcious beside them too. Terry, Tora and Dante were okay to move, but Dante wouldn't be able to carry anyone. There was another unconcious guy a little way away from them, whom Athena had beaten. Naru and Kiri? Sniff looked round for them. The pair had overcome their fear long enough to move.
'Speed Magic: Overdrive!' yelled Naru, his tired legs glowing with power. He picked the surprised Kiri up in his arms, and disappeared from sight. Just a moment later he reappeared, empty-handed. 'Don't worry about the injured!' he yelled. 'I'll get them to safety!' 'If my legs don't give way first,' the injured young man thought as he picked up Footsoul and ran with him over to where Kiri was.
With the ruins destroyed, the round clearing with high walls on all sides where the Wild Hunt and Children of Zeref had first clashed was now the battleground. Naru was dropping the injured off on the opposite side of the clearing behind a small outcrop of rocks.
As Sniff hurried over the rubble towards Okami and the others, Athena did battle with Azazel. She had resummoned Jupiter, who was throwing lightning bolts at the demon whilst Phoenix narrowly avoided being smashed apart by beams of magic coming from its mouth. The pair didn't seem to be doing much damage, but they were at least distracting it for now.
'Okami, we have to go!' yelled Sniff as he approached.
