William stared at Joseph being obliterated, yet still not giving in. "Joseph...!" William forces himself up on his single list. Ripping off his leg sleeves, he wraps it around his leg tightly. Whether or not it forced his leg into place was unknown, but he clogged up the blood flowing from the wound. "Here I go..." William limps forward, magic surrounding him. He knew his flames might hit Joseph, but he wasn't sure how much. He didn't want his friend to be hurt by his own magic.

"Omne Flammans Flamma Purgatus, Domine Extinctionis et Signum Regenerationis, in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! Flagrantia Rubicans Quinculmen!" William chants as flames erupt in front of his hand. Aiming it at the man, he knew the blast would incinerate him and knock him out, at least it highly likely would injure him severely, but the aftermaths would result in Joseph being singed largely, as well. The man took note of what William was doing, throwing his sword forward at William without worry.

"Kokuu Shundou! Nina, get up! I'm counting on you...!!" William shouts as he leaps into the air with his safe leg and blasts forward a massive stream of spiraling fire.

Nina had to intake everything all at once as she regained consciousness. Her body ached so much, pain shot through all areas of her body. "Ack...!" Looking at William, he clearly had a broken leg that needed helping fast. And Joseph? He was oozing blood from his stomach at life threatening amounts. "A-Ah... Right...!" Nina shouts to everyone. Looking at Joseph and William, she quickly got to recognize what was happening.

"Locos Umbrae Regnans Scáthach! In Manum Meum Dedo Iaculum Daemonium Cum Spinis Triginta! Arenae Fulgoris!" She first chants, as she summons her artifact at the same time. Spears of sand form above Joseph and the man and pin them both down to the ground. "Don't worry, Joseph...!" Nina smiles at him. "Sand, laqueus meus inimicus!" She chants once again as her artifact and the huge amount of sand all over the floor quickly begin to form a jail and surrounds Joseph in a perfect defense. It was unlikely that it was going to protect him from William's attack, but she hardens the sand with her magic. "Haaaaaaah!!" She screams as she lets out all her magic she possibly could, draining herself completely to as the sand hardens to extreme amounts. Whether or not it would destroy the barrier was up to whether Will could hold back and create the correct amount of pressure needed to protect Joseph and defeat the bandit leader.

"Thanks, Nina...! Rrrrrrgh...!!" William shouts as he looks at the barrier to see its width and strength. Throwing the massive fireball it explodes and bursts the bandit leader with amazing strength. Smoke rises and fills the room. He prayed for his allies safety, as he notices a dark silhouette. A large one too. It was the bandit leader.

"You brats... I am... the bandit leader... Gorozo..." He falls into a deep coma. He wouldn't be getting up for awhile with his severe burns and injuries. Now for Joseph's status...

Joseph couldn't really tell what has happening around him, all he could hope for was that Will and Nina could pull this off. He did not know how he ended up inside a sand barrier but figured it had to be work of Nina, and he could feel immense heat coming from the outside as for a moment it was getting hard to breath and any oxygen was getting burned up. The moment the fire stopped the sand barrier dropped down as Joseph saw the leader fall to the ground unconscious.

Joseph was now laying on his back smiling as he gripped his mortal wound, he was happy that the two of them could've survived this even though it seemed he wasn't. "Good job... Will... Nina... I guess we made a pretty good team after all... I guess you showed me... who's the strongest out of us two Nina... keep on getting stronger... And Will.... thanks... please tell Kagami and Jess... thank you aswell... for everything..." Joseph started coughing up blood. "Now you two have to escape... and leave me... here...This here... is my casket... So go... I'll take care of the rest... I'll protect the two of you... and the city!" Joseph said as he could barely make out what was infront of him.

William was shocked. Dumbfounded. He didn't know what to do, how to react. He could see Joseph's wound up close. It was definitely fatal - he was succumbing to the lack of blood, the injury and the lack of breath. "N-No...!! Jospeh, man...!" William shouts, wondering if he could burn the wound close. No. It was impossible. Even if Leila, Ashraeh or even Umi were here; none of them could heal the fatal wound. It was a helpless situation. William felt awful. He couldn't protect Joseph. It's the same. He never got stronger. It's just like when he couldn't protect Ashraeh, couldn't protect Jess, couldn't protect himself...

"Nina... say what you need to." William pauses briefly, gulping. It's his last words. "Joseph, you're a great man... I'll let them know. The town in Utopia... that you are their saviour. I-- no, no one will forget you." He grins at him, forcing a strong, firm smile however unable to stop his eyes from getting misty.

(Sorry Nina, I ain't waiting no more)

Joseph gave Nina and William a few minutes to escape as he took in his last breaths, "Rumpere et destruere... omnia praeter... terram concutiat! Repelite... me in terra... inimicorum gluttientes... omnia transeunt!!!" The grounds started to shake as if a strong earthquake was happening, consuming the whole area. It was just like he said, this was meant to be his grave. Outside the room he could hear bandits screaming and running in chaos.

Joseph started remembering his adventures in the magic world as boulders came crashing down burrying everything around him. He remembered meeting Jess for the first time and all of her students he was gonna miss.He remembered all the people he had helped to protect and all the people who protected, from Umi, to William, to Nhieling, to Nina just now. He also remembered when he first met Kagami and wished he could still see her one last time. And finally he remembered all his time he spent with his father. Many tears began to come out, but they were tears of happiness, for Joseph did not regret one thing from his life. "Goodbye... everyone." Those were the final words that came out of Joseph as the roof came crushing down on him. Outside you could see the hideout caving in, as it was being destroyed.

Pushing the rubble off his back, he shakily gets up, holding Nina's arm as he helps her. "Joseph...? Where is he...!?" He mutters slightly. He had made it out in time, albeit hit by a few rocks, but he had no clue where his friend was. "Where are you!?" He forces himself to shout, out of breath and tired.

Tairus was sitting on a moutain top when he heard a loud quaking noise. Tai shot up and faced to direction of the boom and ran toward it.

On the way to the quake there were people running from the site. One of them decided to swipe at Tairus, and Tai evaded the swipe of the blade including a chant to conclude the engagement. "Aoru! Come at me fool!" Of course he didnt, he continued to run. Tai, after a few mins was the only one left and the quaking eased. Tai ran for the site of the quake.

When he arrived, there was massive debris all over the place and there was a man screaming something. He approached the guy and asked, "hey... you alright?" obviously that was a dumb question since he was looking absolutely shitty...

~END~

Rewards:
William: 3 SP, 2 MP and 180,000 Drachma.
Nina: 5 SP, 3 MP and 160,000 Drachma.
Joseph: 6 SP, 4 MP and 190,000 Drachma.
Crypt: 4 SP, 4 MP and 50,000 Drachma.