The steel of Virulina's sword clashed with the heavy shaft of the Cindarr-Phantom's hammer. The Phantom then looked at Virulina gravely as he reached forward to push her back.

"Hey... Don't think you can get away wasting all the hard work we put up..." the Phantom said as he glanced to the suffering Lexor before putting his full attention to the Darkling Lord,  charging with the intent to knock her down, "To think you would figure this out so quickly makes you a threat we have to deal with now!"

"BIG, PLEASE~!"

A large fist smashed through the door, punching the Phantom towards the wall of the confined apartment before retreating back out.

"Looks like I barely made it in time..." an unusual individual stepped through the damaged doorway, garbed in a combination of armor and robes of yellow color. His face was covered by a helmet that resembled as square topaz for the face plate. An unusual belt with an open palm buckle could be noticed, as well as various rings dangling on a chain on the individual's right side.

"I apologize for the mess, but it sounded like you are in need of some help?" the armored man said as he looked to Virulina, also noticing Lexor's condition as an oddly-dressed young man came in to check at the despairing man.

"Haruto! We need to hurry - it doesn't look like he has much time!" the young man called out as he helped pull Lexor out to safety.

With her blow parried and then herself sent sprawling by Cindarr's counter charge, things didn't look good.  But Virulina rolled sideways to reclaim her sword and footing.

"I'm always a threat.  Now lets test your abil..."

She didn't get to finished her sentence, due to the arrival of some strange folk.  Virulina didn't lower her blade, not until she was sure that Cindarr was gone.  And given Lexor's condition, whatever sort of hocus pocus cure they had... was better than anything she could do.

"Grr...! So you're the Ringed Magician!" the Cindarr-Phantom growled as he pulled himself out of the wall he was sent flying into, his body growing in size as jagged spikes protruded from parts of his body to form plates. The walls of the apartment crumbled on contact with the spikes as he charged forward at the armored magician, swinging his hammer wildly with the intent to crush the man.

"Oops, I believe that's something I don't want to get hit with," the Ringed Magician remarked as he quickly backed away, replacing the topaz ring similar to his face plate on his left hand with a sapphire one and placing it over his belt buckle.

"WATER, PLEASE~!"

A magic circle appeared from the man's right side moving towards his left, changing his yellow form into blue. He quickly pulled out another ring to place in his right hand and activated it over his belt just as the Cindarr-Phantom was about to swing the hammer down on him.

"LIQUID, PLEASE~!"

The hammer went through the Ringed Magician as his body turned to a liquid form, fluidly moving along the shaft and around the Phantom's arms and face to disorient him. The watery form traveled quickly to the Phantom's legs, pulling them together and sending the creature onto its back before reforming into the magician.

"Time to finish this up, there is someone waiting for me to set things right," the Ringed Magician then declared as he switched the ring on his right hand and placed it over his belt.

"Great! BEST!!!"

The Ringed Magician unleashed a blast of freezing air at the Cindarr-Phantom, causing him to turn into ice before shattering into pieces.

Whatever spells or totems the 'Ringed Magician' was using, Virulina made damn sure to keep clear.  However even she was somewhat surprised when the stranger shattered Cindarr into pieces.

"You killed him?  I did not ask for that."

It didn't matter that Virulina would have (hypocritically) used lethal force to save herself.  She was more miffed about not being in charge.  Part of her felt sad that Cindarr was no more... but life went on.

"I think you had better explain yourself.  Who are you, where do you come from, and what do you know about the White Robed man?"

"I'm sorry, but once a Phantom took over a Gate there was no turning back," the Ringed Magician said before he introduced himself, "As for who I am, I am called Kamen Rider Wizard. I'll make sure that no one will lose hope while I'm still around."

"The White Magician was the one who gave me my powers, but was actually the one sending Phantoms to find Gates and turn them into Phantoms," the one called Wizard explained as he quickly moved to his associate's side who was checking on Lexor's condition, "He was trying to find people who can overcome the effects of becoming a Phantom like me, using our store of magic for a ritual to revive his daughter."

"I can stop the effects, but it would mean destroying the Phantom that resided inside a Gate and making them lose their magic potential," he further explained as he took out a ring and placed it to Lexor's hand, then placing the hand over his belt buckle, "At least, they will no longer be targeted by Phantoms."

"ENGAGE!"

"I may need help with this one..." Wizard then said to Virulina as a magic circle formed above Lexor, opening what seemed to be a portal that lead into the despairing man, "I'm not sure what the White Magician wanted in this world, but you seemed capable of managing by yourself despite Phantoms invading."

Virulina tired to process the answers she had just been given.  Gates were people with potential, Phantoms were 'corrupted' Gates, and the white robed man was trying to collect 'incorruptible' Gates...

"That helps a little, but answer me this... how did the white robe 'rewrite' the world and can it be reversed?  This world is not the way I remember it."

Pursing her lips in concentration, Virulina tried to see how she could benefit from having a wizard (magician) on hand.

"Can you put a destroyed book back together with your magic?  I'd very much like to see Lexor's journal and why it was so important.  I could also give you the names of other people who are likely Gates.  The White Robed man has beaten me to most of them, but perhaps a few yet survive."

"He must have entered your world at a crucial point of your world's history, changing it to suit their needs," Wizard said as he started to float above the portal over Lexor, "I should be able to put the book back together again, but first let us save this man from his despair."

Should Virulina join the Ringed Magician, they would find themselves traveling through a portal into what looked like a memory of Lexor's. The place resembled an abandoned warehouse with two groups of shady people finishing what looked like an important deal, the leaders of the two groups shaking hands before one of them turned to a younger-looking yet unmistakably, Lexor. The man handed the young Lexor what looked to be the leatherbound book, still in good condition, before giving the young man a pat on the shoulder.

"So this is his Underworld..." the Kamen Rider remarked as a audible crack could be heard and seen around them, with a giant armadillo monster crashing through the memory and proceeded to rampage about the whole place, "This is bad, the Phantom will break free if it shatters the Underworld completely."

Virulina tagged along with the Magician, if only to learn more about what was going on.  In regards to the leaders in the warehouse memory, Virulina tried to get a good look at them... to see if she knew them.  The armadillo gatecrashing the memory was a little unexpected... it was Lexor's totem and should have been friendly.

"That is Lexor's totem, a creature he could turn into.  Can you pacify it?"

Just in case her request couldn't be granted, Virulina readied herself for combat.

"Haven't met a Phantom that can be tamed. Their primary drive to take over their Gates in this stage drives them to destroy anything in sight," Wizard replied as he used a ring over his belt, summoning a winged dragon by his side to fight against the armadillo Phantom. Cracks have spread all over the place, creating holes as the summoned dragon tried to subdue the rampaging creature.

"Armadillo!  Remember me?  Don't make this hard on yourself, submit to us."

Virulina spoke forcefully in a commanding tone.  Even if the Ringed Magician turned out to be correct... she wasn't going to enter a needless fight when guile and charm could achieve the same result.

The Armadillo Phantom turned to their direction upon hearing Virulina's voice, pausing to first figure what it was looking at. It then let out a roar and rolled towards them at full speed. Wizard called upon his dragon companion to move in the way and keep the Phantom from running them over.

"I haven't seen it work before, but we'll have to decide quickly if we want your friend intact," Wizard said as he then summoned a motorcycle with a similar motif to his armor and got on. Even with the dragon pushing the Armadillo back, the ground underneath was breaking away under the pressure exerted by the Phantom.

"Blind it, slow it... do something."

Virulina waved her arms to signal the armadillo and become its new target.  She didn't even know why she was protecting some faceless men in a memory...

"Come at me, phantom.  Awww are we scared?"

The armadillo Phantom roared as it caught sight of Virulina, giving chase by curling into a massive ball of armor and spikes. The whole place was cracking away on contact with the Phantom, even the ground was shattered to reveal purplish light underneath in the same manner plaguing Lexor outside.

"Worth a try, but I'll have to go for a quick finish if things go bad," Wizard said as he used a ring to produce chains from small magic circles around the giant Phantom, restraining it in place. The giant monstrosity roared angrily as it pulled and tugged at the chains, straining the magic bindings with its size and strength.

Taking advantage of the chains, Virulina vaulted up onto the armadillo's back (now that it was no longer in a ball) and secured herself a riding position.

"Heed my orders, beast!  I'm your only chance at existence."

Virulina prepared herself for a bull ride.  Using the chains as reins, she hope to control its rampage... and hopefully wear it down into submission.  She just had to be mindful of it curling up or trying to knock her off.

The Armadillo Phantom bellowed and roared angrily when Virulina got on to its back, bucking with as much force as it could muster and stamping down onto the floor underneath its feet. It clearly refused to listen even when things seemed to go badly for it. Cracks spread quickly as the Phantom continued its wild struggle.

"Ma'am, your companion's Underworld won't be able to take any more punishment than this..." Wizard said as his dragon companion stood by waiting for its host to give the word, "It's either saving him or ending up fighting another Phantom!"

"Do it then, take your shot wizard!"

Virulina reared back the armadillo to reveal an exposed belly... so that her companion could do whatever he intended.  Presumably he planned to slay it.

"Dragon, let's go!" the Kamen Rider called to his companion as he got on his motorcycle, rushing forward and taking to the air to land on the large dragon's back. The vehicle transformed into a harness that fused with the dragon as the creature took to the air.

"The finale..." Wizard declared as he activated his ring's power on his belt, and the dragon transformed into a giant foot. The Kamen Rider took a flying kick pose as his kicking foot then docked onto the dragon foot, then descending towards the Armadillo beast at full speed.

"Jump away!" the Ringed Magician called to Virulina as the kick made contact, magic energy violently forced into Phantom's body in the process. The Phantom let out a pained bellow when it finally collapsed, exploding into a shockwave of magic power outwards.

Virulina jumped away when told and brushed herself off when the magic display was over.

"I've seen spells before, but never something that looked so... odd.  Riding and kicking just don't seem to belong in the spell casting I am accustomed to.  Still, it worked.  You said something about repairing this book, wizard... when can we make that happen?"

"Unfortunately I don't have such a spell," Wizard answered as he guided them both out of the Underworld and back to the real world, "That aside, they will no longer pursue your friend here since his Phantom has been destroyed. For now let's-"

The Kamen Rider was interrupted by flames suddenly engulfing the building. He used an unusual magic that allowed him to assume a liquid form, then carrying both Virulina and Lexor to safety as they saw a fiery Phantom in the air razing the building.

"Hey Wizard! Medusa told me I can fight you if I help turn the people of this world into Phantoms!" the Phantom said as he descended to the ground before the two, "But I suppose she couldn't say anything if I end up killing them in the process!"

"Phoenix... Looks like they're not just intent at making Phantoms..." the Kamen Rider said to Virulina, handing the still unconscious Lexor to him, "He looks more powerful than the last time I fought him. It would be best to run. I'll hold him and anyone else that tries to get in the way!"

"Where am I suppose to run 'to', wizard?"

Virulina had no issue with retreating from 'magic stuff' that she was ill equipped to handle.

The Kamen Rider had his hands full when the Phantom charged at him, even from a distance the Darkling Lord could feel an unbearable heat emanating from him. Objects around the monster started combusting on their own.

"... Fair point, one moment," Wizard remarked as the thought crossed his mind, using his might to repel Phoenix away for a brief moment to use another ring to cast a spell at Virulina's direction.

PORTAL please!

A magic circle formed on the ground beneath Virulina, with gravity suddenly causing her to fall into... water? The last words she could make out before the splash was the Kamen Rider telling her to give his regards to someone, the last part was hard to catch once you're in the water. It was unusually dark, and the Darkling Lord couldn't feel her companion with her when she fell into the portal.

"Whoah!"

Virulina wasn't sure what sort of water she hit, but she quickly kicked to the surface... and looked around for a shoreline.  The Darkling Lord sputtered curses about wizards and their spells... she'd endured this sort of thing with Merklyn.  But on the bright side, she was now in her element.  Spreading her hands wide, she summoned the power of her Shark totem and transfromed into a green colored sea predator.

Let someone try and stop me now! she thought to herself.

Diving down beneath the surface, Virulina circled the area to see if she could find Lexor.  She was pretty sure he didn't come through with her to... wherever this place was.  But a small search didn't hurt.  There could even be underwater structures down here.

From the sense of smell of her shark form the Darkling Lord could find out that the water stretched about quite far from around her and down. The surface wasn't far away and if she did go up for a look she'd find that she was no longer in her world. The half-sphere of water was floating in space that stretched out for miles. Behind her was a bright red light coming from a planet - a pillar of fire that reached all the way up the atmosphere and scorched the surrounding area.

"While the sight is indeed worrying, this damage would be at best temporary if you could restore the world to the way it was..." a mysterious voice echoed in Virulina's head - a man garbed in heavy robes that covered most of his features stood on the surface of the water observing the sight as well.

Great, ANOTHER Merklyn quest.  She thought to herself.

Virulina was used to this sort of thing however, even if Merklyn gave 'better' briefings and usually a reference point to start from.  She couldn't just approach this pillar of fire and just duel it.  Someone had to know something, so that someone was the person that Virulina would find.  But since the robed image was here, she'd at least ask a few questions.

"Alright, point me in the direction of civilization, Wizard.  Am I going to run into any more Phantoms?"

"A wizard, not exactly," the figure turned to look to Virulina and bowed with respect, "Most have decided to call me Darkness, and thus I decided to adopt the name."

It was clear to see why against the light of other heavenly bodies as the pillar of fire faded away. The mysterious man's robes were darker than a shadow, and the armored plates he wore underneath gave no reflection against the light. It was as if light refused to touch Darkness.

"As for directions, I believe it would be easier to just bring you there," Darkness said as he motioned a hand. The Darkling Lord felt solid ground underneath the water, supporting her slowly up out of the mass of liquid in the shape of a disc.

Another wave and they soon found themselves near a strange planet with a tall tower whose roof was open as if welcoming their arrival. The sensation was disconcerting at best, especially when one's perception had to adjust with the sudden change of scene.

ooc: you may proceed to post at the Nexus of the Void. :3c