Fantasy Hunter's Moon: The Sin & Sentence [IC] [CLOSED]

[Breadman]

"Oh you got what's inside me alright." Henderson spat out as he observed his double's healing. Before they continued their fight, the turned their attention towards Edward's demise.

The necromancer had stumbled right in front of the succubus's weapons. The shots rang out as Kassidy emptied everything she had into him. The bullets took full chunks out of his body, leaving large gaping holes, allowing his blood began to either spray like a fountain or ooze like a leaking pipe. Edward dropped down to his knees, staring forwards in disbelief. Kassidy could feel just about every emotion coming from him. She could sense his fear, his distress, his anger and indignation, but even still after all of that she could practically smell his...frustrations. Some souls were very odd with their priorities. Might as well give him something on his way out. One last bullet aimed straight to his head. She winked playfully towards him before pulling the trigger. The shadow raised it's hand by reflex and muttered something unintelligible before the bullet obliterated the beaked mask and destroyed half the face underneath it. Edward's corpse collapsed backwards and his minions followed only a moment after and the miasma began to fade into nothingness.

"Pathetic as always." Henderson commented on the death of the shade and turned his attention back to important matters. "Right now. Your turn." The double grunted and roared. It had full intention to fight to the bitter end.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Loque throws a fist in the air as she watches Kassidy finish the job. "Yeah!" she cheers at her as she's had more than enough of poison gas and undead already from the last shadow they fought. Now it's time to deal with Henderson's shadow. She's overheard Vincent telling Henderson where to hit him, and while his gauntlets look absolutely bone-crushing, she wonders how a bullet will fare. With a slap on the bolt to load another round, she aims carefully so she can test her little theory.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

The foul air was some of the worst she had dealt with. It was up there with the sulfur mines and the base of Mt. Yakahoni, a location that was known for its fine springs and equally acidic pools. She didn't trust those waters, not when someone slipped in and was roasted within a minute. They never did figure out if they dissolved, or simply sank to the bottom. But the fumes there, as badly as they stung at her throat and nose, weren't as distinctly... rotten and pungent as what was filling the cave. She was glad her snout was as burned as it was. Had it been normal, she might have been doing a lot worse than coughing. Still, it wasn't long before they ended their pathetic little foe. Kassidy did quite the number on him and she chuckled, wiping her watering eyes with the back of her arm.

The shadow of the big man was left, lumbering around like an enraged troll. It certainly looked like one. Some devilish oni from the mudflats, or some dark cave somewhere.

Inari rolled her shoulders, watched the shadow fight with Henderson, and when there was an opening, she launched herself towards it for a low, deep strike.

 

[Damian0358]

Watching the undead fall inanimate once more brought a small smile to Takato's face - the po spirit of their bodies can rest once more, no longer to be controlled by another. He observed his allies once more, and noted the continued effects of the miasma despite the death of the ones using supernatural arts. Senya seemed in need of some healing, so he turned his eyes on her.

As he moved to heal her, Takato brought out some of his projectiles, charged them with qi, and fired them against the shadow when there is an opening.

 

[Doomevil]

Senya could still feel the rancid miasma in the air, as this affected her aim badly. Once Edward was down she took a step back and lowered her sword so she can clear her throat, despite how useless it seemed. The last remaining foe was Henderson, instead of getting close Senya cast small fire ball projectiles using her free hand, haul sending them towards the enemy.

 

[Viper Actual]

Seriphine silently thanked Takato for the healing with a quick nod. Yet again, the Oni provides for us. Ironic.

Her continued assault on Edward alongside the other members of the party served only to prepare the necromancer for what Kassidy had in store for him. Like any other meaningless and foul creature deserved his death was swift and incredibly anti-climatic. A fitting end. Seeing Edward and the undead creations of his perish side-by-side made Seriphine smile briefly before skipping over to Henderson and his shadow copy.

Sprinting, Seriphine delivered a couple of quick blows before running away. The absolute worst thing she could do at this point was to stop and let the shadow grab her. Having seen Henderson's strength up close she knew all too well what a melee strike of that size and power would do to her.

 

[Infab]

Sagath's Territory - Zalmakul's Isle - Shadow Battle (Henderson) - TURN 4
Henderson = 8. Does 3 + 13 DMG (16, Hellish Gauntlets, Only a Copy) to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 46.
Loque = 10. CH Roll = 8. Does 6 DMG to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 40.
Inari = 4. Misses Shadow Henderson.
Takato = 2. Misses Shadow Henderson.
Takato attempts to heal Senya (Like Water.) D6 used. Chance Roll = 6. Chance Successful. Senya regains 6 HP. Senya HP = 15.
Senya = 6. Does 3 + 1 DMG (4, Dragon Knight) to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 36.
Seriphine = 9. Does 3 DMG to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 33.
Gwen = 3 + 5 (8, Falcon's Eyes, Spiteful Survivalist.) Does 3 DMG to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 30.
Wesley = 3. Misses Shadow Henderson.
Kassidy = 4. Misses Shadow Henderson.
Vincent = 5 + 3 (8, The Huntsman.) Does 3 DMG to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 27.

Sagath's Territory - Zalmakul's Isle - Shadow Battle (Henderson) - TURN 4 (ENEMY)
Edward's Miasma fades to nothingness, but Seriphine, Inari, and Senya cough out the last of its effects! Does 1 DMG. Seriphine HP = 12, Inari HP = 13, Senya HP = 14.

Shadow Henderson = 1. Misses Henderson.

---
​

The group directed their attention to the last enemy standing, the shadowy copy of Henderson. And soon they unleashed their attacks at the large foe. Henderson battered the shadowy copy with his gauntlets, the spikes tearing flesh as they impacted. Loque fired off a shot, aiming for the joints as Vincent had pointed out before, but it seemed his joints had healed enough to prevent further damage. Still, the shot did quite a bit of damage. Inari moved in low, intending to carve a gash out of the monster's flesh, but the creature managed to avoid her swipe just in time. Takato fired off his projectiles, but they also missed as the shadow demon avoided Inari. After firing off the projectiles, he put more focus into healing Senya which proved extremely successful.

Once healed, Senya fired off some of her fireballs as she gently coughed, which seared the hide of the shadow copy. His recoiling from the blow managed to move him into Seriphine's range, which she struck the demon several times with her blade. Gwen fired off a shot as well, which ripped through the demon's neck flesh. Wesley's strike would miss, however, as the demon saw it coming and moved. The same occurred with Kassidy, as he dodged her pistol shots. But he wouldn't avoid Vincent's shots, which sounded off and hammered into the demon's torso as he went to strike Henderson again. Forcing the shadow demon to miss and stumble.

 

[Breadman]

Henderson smiled sadistically as his shadow flayed around trying to hit him and his allies. The creature was out of it's depth.

"ME...KILL...YOU..."

"Mhm." He prepared to punch it again. Now he had a focus on where. Straight through the rib cage.

 

[Infab]

Sagath's Territory - Zalmakul's Isle - Shadow Battle (Henderson) - TURN 5
Henderson = 10. CH Roll = 7. Does 5 + 13 DMG (18, Hellish Gauntlets, Only a Copy) to Shadow Henderson. Shadow Henderson HP = 9. Chance for Execution. Chance Rolls = 8, 2. Chance Successful. Shadow Henderson dead.​

 

[Breadman]

Henderson's punch tore through his copy. Tearing through muscle and sinew, smashing through bone and allowing him to get a good hold of what's inside. The smile had grown as he pulled the hand free. In his palm he held some pulverized remain of whatever organ he grabbed. Looks like it was the heart. He couldn't resist his better nature and took a bite. Tasted just like he thought his copy would. Mediocre. He spat out the piece and looked it straight in it's eyes. Still just a dumb animal. Still trying to keep in the fight.

"No..You're done." He said as he waved a finger. The mutant lunged both his hands inside the gaping hole in the copy's chest and began to pull in opposite directions. The cavern's still air began to fill with the sound muscle tearing and bone cracking. The demon began to let out whailes of pain as he realized what the original was doing. Taking a step forward to get himself better leverage, Henderson tore the creature's upper body in half as he let out a triumphant cry. There was one last thing left. He grabbed it's head with his gigantic palms and began to squeeze. A few cracks were heard between pained gurgles before the skull gave in and was crushed between the demonic gauntlets.

The corpse or what remained of it fell to the ground and would soon begin to turn to dust. Henderson admired his handiwork for the few brief moments he could, but would need to get back to business soon. The brute turned to Vincent as soon as he was done.

"Sorry about that. Got carried away." He said with a dry tone before switching to a more chipper one "But I'm ready to get back to work and I feel more energized that ever!"

 

[Infab]

As the black, soot-like dust gently blew and absorbed into Henderson's large shadow, Vincent looked up at Henderson. A bit disgusted by the display that had just occurred, but otherwise focused. "...Good, we'll need that energy in a little while most likely." responded Vincent, looking back towards the others. Edward's corpse still laid nearby, and various undead were scattered around the large rocky cavern. The bodies of the undead were similar to those outside, likely part of a group that had been sent to assist in moving the field gun as well as teaching them to use it.

The other end of the cavern was near pitch black, decending further into the volcano's side. And they could hear faint noises of movement inside. Skittering, and what sounded like voices. Likely the cult.

There were various other entrances leading farther into the volcano as well, also rather dark. Torches lay scattered about the cavern floor, likely dropped by the dead demons before Edward and the shadow copy of Henderson snuffed out their lives. They would likely prove useful for those without fire manipulation abilities.

Kassidy reloaded her pistols, before tucking her secondary back into its holster. "...Well, I guess we're gunna figure out how ta kill Zalmakul when we fight it...Which door we takin'?" she asked, motioning to the closest holes. There was the large one, dead center before them, while there were two smaller alternative routes to the sides. One was on the same level as them, while the other was up on a wide ledge, accessible via a smooth walkway leading up to it.

 

[Doomevil]

Senya coughed out the last remaining traces of the miasma, getting a hold of her bearings as Takato used magic to heal her up. Once she sighed, Senya turned to him and gave a quick thumbs up before saying something. "Good work. All of you," She said tiredly. The battle came to an end, with no members deeply wounded. But that may soon change on this isle. They came upon a decision to follow three routes, but she soon made up her mind.

"The center door." Senya pointed out.

 

[SniperComZero]

Gwen grunted, brushing herself off and having mostly managed to avoid the splatter of gore that the rest of her team had made of the two shadows. A hand gingerly rubbed over where the undead had struck her. It was sore, but she'd live, easily. Straining to try and hear what was behind the centre door, she decided that she didn't like the sound of it, grabbing one of the torches off of the ground and beginning to climb to the topmost door.

"I'm going up here. It'd be silly to only have one way into the main chamber, right? And this'd give me a better vantage."

 

[Breadman]

"Center seems like the most direct way in." Henderson scratched his chin with a finger. Gwen had a point however, only one way towards there sounds unlikely. But there was the possibility of a dead end. "We could split up, but how good of an idea that is would remain to be seen."

 

[Damian0358]

After the absolutely brutal display shown by Henderson, with a nod to Senya after her thumbs up, Takato turned his gaze at the other end of the cavern. As the others discussed which way to go, he decided to instead try to sense which way would be best through aura - though he wasn't fully comfortable with the qi of this realm yet, he has gotten better with each passing day. Hopefully, he could sense which way the cult was, and from there, figure out which way to go to. If not, he'd just go with whatever the others decided, given that not growing up underground meant that he wasn't as predisposed to cavernous travel as other oni.

 

[Viper Actual]

Much like Senya, Seriphine coughed out the last lingering presence of the foul miasma. As she did she also watched Henderson finish off his copy. May my own shadow fall just as easily as his.

When it came to the matter of choosing a door to enter Seriphine grimaced. The central door did indeed seem to be the most direct and the top door would indeed prove a superior advantage in range and planning though personally Seriphine felt like one of the doors on the side would be a better pick. She raised one of her swords and pointed it towards one of the smaller and less conspicuous doors.

"I will go through there. With enough skill and luck we may be able to strike the enemy from several sides at once, a sound strategy no doubt."

She looked at the others. "Anyone is welcome to join me on this endeavor."

 

[Infab]

Vincent looked between the entrances, and eventually nodded. Divide and conquer, right? And if they came to a dead end, they could return back to this room and use one of the other entrances. "Alright...I'll go with you, Seriphine. Everyone else, choose your routes....and be careful." he said, looking around to the others, before moving towards the side entrance that Seriphine pointed out. The group soon divided up, some picking up the torches from the cavern floor as they moved. And soon, they slipped into the tunnels leading into the volcano.

Takato's aura sensing was overwhelmed the moment he attempted to do it. There were so many auras scattered around the volcano, but that wasn't what was bothering him. It was the massive one that lay ahead, deep inside the volcano. Huge, and lying in wait. The multitude of other auras scattered about were demon in origin, but were strange. They gave off a similar feet to the massive one. Babies, perhaps? There were several ahead of them in each tunnel, but only time would tell as to what the auras belonged to.

As Henderson and those that followed him ventured down the main tunnel, the skittering and voices grew closer. Then, suddenly stopped. As if they knew they were there. Kassidy glanced towards Henderson. "...That ain't good." she whispered, before looking back down the tunnel into the blackness. Auras were approaching now.

And soon, some thing emerged from the darkness into the dim light of their torches. Then more of them. The others as they moved through their own tunnels would soon encounter the same creatures.

 

[Doomevil]

Senya immediately ignited her sword again and came prepared, swinging Dark Shard to the closest enemy. If any of them came close would earn a shield bash.

 

[ANIMAL MOTHER]

Whichever cave the group chose to go through, it didn't matter to Loque. This is Zalmakul's territory so there's really only one thing ahead: cobwebs, cobwebs, and more annoying cobwebs. She crept alongside Vincent using her own fire magic to guide the way in place of a torch and burnt down any web that caught itself on her clothing. Soon enough, the deeper they went, they encountered them. They had many eyes unmistakably like Zalmakul's and a creepy looking mouth also just like Zalmakul's, yet still look more elegant than she does. Their sudden appearance still frightens her however as they have them surrounded.

"Vincent?" she whispers to him, giving him a nudge. "...What do we do?"

 

[Viper Actual]

Seriphine smiled and looked down briefly as Vincent offered to go with her. She waited to see if anyone else cared to join her on the flank before moving forth into the tunnel. She clutched to a torch in one hand and a blade in the other though the latter would turn out to not be needed at all as Loque accompanied the two of them.

When the demonic cultists appeared in front of them Seriphine had just passed through the burning remains of a large cobweb. She glanced at Loque and Vincent. "We eradicate them."

That said Seriphine leaned back slightly before hurling her torch at the cultists followed by pulling out her second blade in anticipation for the enemy counter-attack.

 

[Damian0358]

Takato noted the variety of auras. It didn't compare to aura sensing in the oni underground, but had he gotten used to that, he would probably be fine with this. But nothing could've prepared him for the overwhelming aura deep inside the volcano. He could only imagine that it was Zalmakul. However, the multitude of auras surrounding that massive one were strange - they clearly seemed demonic, but they also seemed reminiscent to that massive one. Were they just the cultists, the latter sensation wouldn't be manifest, yet the concentration was so dense that the demonic aura seemed to embody it too. Those seemed to be ahead within the tunnels, though he noted too some instances where that demonic nature didn't seem so dense, and more purely akin to the massive one; offspring, perhaps?

Looking to the others, it seemed they were going ahead with splitting up. As long as he didn't have to share a path with Inari, he was good. He manifested a qi orb for light as he entered one of the tunnels. As he ventured down, as likely the others heard, cobwebs manifest themselves more frequently, and the voices grew closer, before stopping. Takato could feel their auras moving, before he saw them approach. He got into a defensive position, watching their movements, anticipating how they'll react.

 

[Breadman]

Henderson sniffed the air. The succubus was right. Something was coming and it was coming quick. It didn't take long to see what.

"Adona's balls! These things smell terrible." He swung a punch at the first one that got near. The creature's head practically exploded from the hit as it's body flailed around and dropped. "Heh. These might not be so hard then." He told the others "Come on then, lets stomp some bugs." Henderson swung at another of the creatures and squished it against a wall and he moved on to another and another after that.

 

[Doomevil]

Senya couldn't help but chuckle a little as they fought the pack of creatures, mowing them down like bugs. She shield bashed one creature, stabbing it by the end of a blade while she moved behind Henderson. "Probably my first time dealing with spidermen. Makes me wonder if this Zalmakul ends up being a giant spider." Senya smirked as she pushed forward, bringing her sword down vertically, killing one as its guts fell out.

 

[Emperor Sagan]

Inari chose the more direct route, following behind Senya, one hand resting on the hilt of her spirit blade as they moved along. Caves were dirty places and she didn't like them much. She much preferred an open field, or any forest for that matter, where the wind blew through the trees and the wood creaked around you. Beautiful and challenging environments in their own right. Underground was... well, underground. Hardly a pleasant place to be.

When the things appeared, she readied her blade in a horizontal stance. "Why people look like bug? More demon?" She queried. If there was another thing she didn't like - it was bugs, save for butterflys, such as the poisonous ones. As the creatures neared and the others engaged, Inari paired herself to Senya, keeping the woman at her side or back.

 

[Breadman]

Probably my first time dealing with spidermen. Makes me wonder if this Zalmakul ends up being a giant spider.

"I bloody hope it isn't!" Henderson grabbed one of the creatures and pulled. Like his shadow just minutes ago, it was torn apart. He then threw one half and used the other as a makeshift meat bat. "Do you know how much I hate spiders? A lot!" He swung again SPLAT! "Can't stand the things."

Why people look like bug? More demon?

"Possibly. Likely. Wouldn't rule it out of the question." At one point his 'bat' broke off. Henderson frowned as he threw the stump away.