Fantasy Swords, Sorcery And Whatever That Monster Torching The Town Is

[Zerohex]

"BUSY!? D'I LOOK BUSY!? NAW LASS BE WID YE IN JUST A SEC!" was how Mickey McRory, Knight of Seven, answered his compatriot.

It was honestly hard to say if he'd gotten cross with the question or even if he looked busy or not, given that yelling seemed to come natural to him. On the one hand, yes he looked busy, he was a furious whirlwind of violence. Each of his mitts held a particularly sturdy or well armored undead creature by neck or limb and he whipped them around as one does a simple pillow, smashing enemy with enemy as he twisted and turned and swung up and down and hither and tither, and any that managed to escape the thrashing were met with a boot to chest or head that knocked them clear off their feet so that only a Knight or the most mindless of foes would even think of approaching the wrestler.

On the other hand, Michael looked like he was having the time of his life, screaming and smiling as he tore a path through the foes so effortlessly that they might as well not have even existed for all that they were accomplishing. In this way he didn't seem particularly busy, and he had the most casual air as he peered through score of decomposing bodies to see who was adressing him. "His" soldiers, though still unhappy with being under the "command" of a savage on whom strategy was lost, were certainly thankful for the reduced workload as they held defensive positions and watched him rampage across the field, stopping only when he felt he'd made enough room to have a chat.

"Aye, twas me who chucked the beast but not I who dun killed it, that I sware. Woke up from me nap all tied to it like a bag of grain I did and that gits to ye", he explained to the girl out of politeness, feeling that anyone actually doing things down there must be worth some salt. He hoped. He wasn't thrilled at what he'd seen of this whole Knight gig so far but at least he'd gotten a good party and a good ole brawl out of it. "Uh, righty Trin, me name's Mickey, Mickey McRory, Knite o Two if ye can believe it. Ay dunno what's goin on but I'm getting right bored with these dead'os so I'm all game fer somethin big". Still holding two barely functional undead, he punctuated his statement by smashing them against eachother overhead.

Freshet

 

[Juju]

At the knight's question Yuki’s ears flattened in offense. She let out a growl and opened her mouth to say a retort but a light tap from Kuto gave her pause. Instead she settled on glaring at the knight while he asked for their cooperation.

‘As if…’ she thought, her tail trashing, ‘why would Kuto keep around a weakling like you? You don’t even go for fleeing prey.’

Kuto went silent and gave the man a steely stare. This was it, he was as good as dead. With tail tips twitching, Yuki waited for Kuto to begin combat and prepared to slice open the man’s armor.

Then the unexpected happened.

“Fine.” His response was calm and collected as he turned around so his back was facing the knight.

Yuki cocked her head in surprise at Kuto’s response, her ears perked up inquisitively. Yellow eyes followed him as he turned his back on the knight and continued the conversation. She couldn’t understand.

“Wha-” she mumbled, but went quiet as soon as Kuto placed a hand on her shoulder and told her to start the attack. ”Right… im on it.”

The kitsune dutifully turned around and began walking in the direction of the tree, which took her directly past the bloody knight. With ears pinned back, she kept her distrustful gaze locked on him as she slowly walked past him. At the edge of the forest she gave one last glance backwards at the nameless man before sprinting off into the snowy forest.

--

Climbing up the tree was effortless for Yuki and before long she was perched amid a cavern of snow laden pine branches. “Better get to work” she muttered to herself and closed her eyes, picturing the creature she was about to create. Her tails unfurled behind her in a furry bloom while she planned out the lines, swaying gently like the boughs beneath her. Then she got it.

All nine of her tails began to trail black ink, each adding a delicate stroke to the floating painting in front of Yuki. In moments the completed image of a squirrel-like creature emerged from the ink and hung in the air. Ever so slowly the ink began to move on its own, filling in the spaces with color and form. Then, with a surprised squeak, the squirrel fell from the air.

Yuki's hands shot out to catch it, and once it was safe, lifted it to her face for inspection. The creature was small enough to fit comfortably within Yuki’s cupped hands and was covered in plush white fur, save for the black markings under its eyes and the stripe down its back. Its tail was almost twice its length and wrapped around Yuki’s thumb for support, but the most striking feature was the furred membrane that stretched all the way from its hind to front legs. Kuto had said squirrel but she couldn’t help but add a few artistic touches.

“Scout ahead.” Yuki whispered to it. The squirrel blinked its beady little eyes once before it leapt from her hands and glided to the next tree, heading towards the village.

(Yuki’s report will be ready by the next post.)
Gohan510 KnightOfNight

 

[KnightOfNight]

Hildebrand thought about the stranger's question for a moment, and once the girl left he responded. "My message is that the common folk can no longer rely on someone else to protect them. They have grown weak and I wish to push them to greater heights." He looked back in the direction the girl left in. "Since I have answered your question, I feel it is only right for you to ask one of mine. Why is the girl with you? She seems pure and you are little more than a black hearted cad."

He looked back to the stranger before him and looked at him from head to toe. Strange garbs to hide his identity, perhaps he was important somewhere. "Names, that's right. You may call me Hildebrand. I will not answer to something such as 'hey you' as it is beneath me." The knight stood motionless while he waited for a response from his new ally, his ears listening out for any tricks from the beast girl.

Gohan510 Juju

 

[Gohan510]

Yuko continued to look off into the distance and smirked once the knight asked why Yuki traveled with him. “Sadly that is not a question i can answer. Only she can tell you the real reason for that. I personally keep her around for assistants, she aids me in my goals as she has somewhat similar ones.” He stated as the wind blew by. Kuto looked at the palm of his hand under his hood, as he knew the answer the real answer why. Also the real reason he even deals with the Kitsune to begin with.

The man was right but wrong at the same time. Yuki is pure in very little ways, she’s almost as blood hungry as the next wild beast once a human inflicts any damage to a wild one. He thought to himself the countdown it was two minutes that went by already. Yuki will soon come back with a map and locations pin pointed to all the whereabouts of each villager. The knight was strange for even wanting to assist Kuto in capturing a priest. The priest name was Sir Galvion a noble priest who believed in no one but the almighty lord himself. Pitiful he thought to himself. Once he gained this artifact he can have kitsune take him to sacred Kitsune land to find one of their many ancient Artifacts.
KnightOfNight Juju

 

[ColdCash]

"COMPANY- ah, er, LEGION HALT!", St. Rosario called, raising a hand to signal the end of a march as they met with the Third.

"Captain Eco, organize the troops to defend the Third's sappers as best you can, but keep them three ranks deep at absolute minimum. I shall meet with Third company- er, legion's commander to plan our next move."

"As you command, sire."

"Very good."

With that, Rosario strode towards the tunnel.

____________________


"Why do we call it a legion, anyway? We're a cohort at absolute best.", one of the frontliners asked, battering a zombie backwards with his shield arm.

"So it sounds more impressive, I think.", The soldier behind him followed as he skewered said zombie on his pike, "You know how the king is. Drags us out to crush some two-bit evil overlord 'cause it's the only way he can get it up and not even so much as a 'thank you'."

"'An 'e's loud, to boot!", another frontliner added, taking a moment to crush a fallen skeleton with his boot before continuing, "Ye cannae get any sleep with 'im practicing them blasted titles of 'imself all night. TA YE, I AM DEATH!"

A snicker arose from the men.

"Feckin' eedjit."

"I've heard - ungh! - his other titles aren't - argh! - much better. Stay down!", yet another soldier added as he kicked apart some sort of dog-sized insectoid of indeterminable origin

"How do you figure?"

"Well you know how - gotcha! - you know how we call him Yamato-Izuru?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's pronounced like that, but the spelling can also be read as 'coward among dunces'."

"I'll never understand how you people read."

"Quite well, thank you."

____________________

Rosario, meanwhile, had found the second and third-ranked knights quite easily, mostly because of the helpful gore-tornado marking their locations.

Maybe these ones won't be weird and horrible, she thought.

She carefully picked her way through the lines of the Second Legion and soon found herself face-to-face with a man soaked head-to-toe in rotting viscera and some kind of midget on an exceedingly fluffy horse. Saint Rosario assumed these must be the knights, partly because they had been at the coronation ceremony, but mostly by virtue of being the silliest looking people in the immediate vicinity.

I was wrong to expect anything

Nonetheless, Saint Rosario had a sworn duty to fulfill The Prophecy and The Prophecy made it very clear that she had to work with these people if it was to be fulfilled. She took a deep breath to regain her composure, then spoke.

"I am Saint Rosario, Fourth Knight of Sumaru and loyal defender of the throne. Please allow me and my compa- legion to assist you in any way we can."

 

[Freshet]

While many of the Third's pikemen were starting to fall prey to exhaustion, as stabbing zombified creatures over and over again was exhausting work, the sappers seemed relatively fresh. Of course they were still hard at work digging, as was a sappers wont to do after all, but they at least didn't have to deal with shattering bones and worrying about what happens if undead jaws clenched on you. One of the many pikeman just collapsed in on himself trying to get some breathing room after stabbing another creepy (ex) coffin-stuffer.

At least there was some light to be gleamed for these soldiers, who all had a collective metaphorical sigh of relief -as they didn't have the time to properly and literally have a sigh of relief-, when the much more armored soldiers of the Fourth's unit arrived and began to help them fend off the creatures.

With that the sappers continued to set up the ground work as was their task.

______________________________________

Trinity beamed a smile at Mickey McRory. "Great! Especially since you didn't ask about what you were game for! It's a secret you know!" With a smirk on her face she raised up her index finger, with the metal gauntlet, and placed it against her mouth to mime the idea it was a secret.

Shortly thereafter she and the undead-slayer were greeted by the most holy Saint Rosario; after all you had to have some holy spark to be a Saint.

Trinity Tercet Thricecoined spun her head to look at the armor-clad man; "Hiya! Trinity Tercet Thricecoined, Knight of Three of the Knights of Sumaru!" She raised up her non-armored hand and placed it against her forehead as she took in the scene.

"Yeah cool! Bit, chilly, but that's to be expected. But yeah, yeah, Cool, things are looking good~." She noted as the swarms of undead monstrosities were being held back by the forces of the Fourth, and that she had plenty of room to work thanks to the force of the Second.

Casually holding letting go to the reigns of her alpaca steed, she kicked out her feet from the stirrups and popped off from the alpaca...

...Into the snowbanks where she sunk a fair depth, before climbing her way out.

Gazing up at the knights she pointed at them.

" 'Kay, so you two, you'll know when to follow. Basically I just need you and whichever guys you were able to scrounge up, considering we had like five minutes of prep time, to keep me and a few others able to do what we do best."

With that Trinity made her way to the sappers who were digging and beckoned them to get away from their area. Coughing into her hand she began to speak.

"Okay so you don't know me, and I really don't know you. BUT!" She dramatically thrusted her metal arm upwards, as it began whirring with a distinctive orange energy focusing upwards to a point where her fist was. "What I do know is that we know the abyss!"

"It has tried to gaze into us, to make us think that the inky, black void is a place we can never escape from! It wants us to think that the unknown is something to be avoided and feared."

"IT LIES!"

"The abyss, that darkness of the unknown is the source of much more than supposed misery! For if you search deep enough into that darkness you will find the glistening of treasure, of secrets long past, of peoples knowledge long forgotten."

With a huge smirk on her face she clutched her metal armored arm into a fist; "AND I SAY WE ARE GONNA DIG GREEDILY INTO THOSE DEEPS AND COLLECT WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS! WE SHALL NOT BE TORMENTED BY THE FEAR OF WHAT UNDEAD CREATURES MIGHT LAY BENEATH, FOR WE WILL KICK THEIR BONY BUTTS AND OBTAIN GLORY IN VICTORY! NOW LET'S MAKE A MOLEHILL OUT OF THIS MOUNTAIN!"

The sappers began cheering ecstatically, alongside a few of the pikemen who were charged with guarding them. Whether it was due to greed or the fact the speech was actually inspiring was left up for debate. With that Trinity began punching at the ground furiously; each strike of the fist making a loud whirring noise and producing an even shinier glow of orange drilling energy as the hole being excavated quickly began tearing deeper into Mt Snowden and growing in size.

Grigori would have no idea of what was going to hit him...

 

[Blood Born Angel]

ϛ»Ω«ϛ ıllıllı Sᴛɪɢᴍᴀ ıllıllı ϛ»Ω«ϛ
"Emissary of Oblivion"
Knight of Six

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ Ω █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁​

The soldiers under the Sixth's were doing alright despite how green they were. At a glance, they were terribly unorganized. The frontline spread thin and wildly varying in distance to the gate, and the rest sporadically grouped in loose squads here and there defending against pockets of undead as they popped up. However, despite this lack of coordination, they had gotten into a rhythm that seemed to be working quite well for them; partially in thanks to Stigma's way of fighting.

None of the soldiers could hope to keep up with the Sixth Knight of Sumaru. She was a blur, spinning and slashing like a flaming tornado across the battlefield. What they did catch onto was her selflessness for their safety. Whenever an individual would stray, or a group get pinned down, she was there in a blaze of blood and fire. She'd redirect their advances one by one, slowly pushing them forward a bit at a time, keeping their casualties to a staggering minimum considering the odds. So far not a single soldier had lost their life due to her diligence. Walls of flame would protect those who fell back to safety, and firestorms would rain upon their enemies at the slightest hint of their strength recuperating. While not exactly a great commander in terms of warfare, Stigma had given her men the moral they needed to push harder, and soon they found themselves all fighting in an attempt to match their superiors ferocity.

Soon, the East looked more like a volcano had erupted than a snow covered plain. Huge plumes of smoke rose from all around showing their progress through the hordes of dead. Where snow had once lain, blackened and scarred earth now crunched beneath soldiers boots as the undead could barely push past their onslaught. Soon, they were upon the gates, and Stigma was breaking them down with the help of those who found their way to her side amidst her chaotic frenzies.

"Sir! Er.. Ma'am... Knight.. uh, Commander!"

Stigma stole a glance at a young man, covered in soot and breathing heavily as he ran up to his leader. "Take a deep breath, and just call me Commander for now. What is it?"

The man stood a little straighter and nodded as he took a moment to catch his breath, just before relaying what he came to say. "Commander, the South gates have fallen and the Emperor is already inside. If we don't hurry he may not have the full support he needs for the plan."

Shit.

Without a word she turned back to the gates and snarled viciously. Her men had already made a decent crack in the gate that a man at a time could squeeze through, but that wasn't enough for the now very impatient Knight of Six. Pulling the soldiers aside she reached into the crevice and took hold of either side. With bare hands she began to pry at the giant wooden doors. The sturdy wood groaned and iron bars that reinforced the gateway made a sickening grinding sound, but the well built portal didn't seem to be giving even under her exemplary strength.

"Ah, to hell with this..."

Under her hands the wood began to hiss and blacken as heat poured out from her body. Her crimson eyes burned with a supernatural light, and an inhuman growl rumbled in her chest as the back of her armor seemed to shift and protrude slightly.

"尺乇ﾚ乇ﾑ丂乇 ｲん乇 ｱのW乇尺 のｷ ﾶﾘ ﾑ刀ᄃ乇丂ｲの尺丂!"

A foreign tongue emanated from her lips that sent a shiver down the spines of those close enough to hear it. Heat billowed from her body before the back of her armor tore open to reveal feathered wings as black as coal. They even seemed to glow faintly under their folds, like embers lie hidden there. The unbearable heat only seemed to nail home that observation as well. Stigma braced against the stone under her feet, and with a battlecry pulled at the gate with all her might. Her boots sank into the flagstone as it cracked under the pressure, and the wood splintered as the crevice grew from where she stood. Many stood in awe as they watched this feat of strength play out before them, but the majority began to cheer as the enemies great gate was sundered before them; iron rent to twisted pieces and wood left in charred splinters. Once a hole large enough for a war chariot was left gaping in the enemy portal, Stigma reverted to her normal state with a huff from the exertion. Wasting no more time, she began to stride deeper into the fortress, calling out to those following.

"Secure the breach! Only those who do not fear death follow me, the rest, guard our exit till the siege is over!"

A chorus of acknowledgement echoed behind her, and an actual decent amount of men followed her inside, while the rest of her men took positions around the gate to keep it secure as long as they could. Stigma would soon meet up with the Emperor, though she feared she was running a tad late.

Gaius Danius Griinia

 

[RubyZoo]

Skyler woke up to the sound of fighting. She quickly go up and grabbed her bow and arrows. she headed of toward the noise of fighting but was careful to not be seen or not stumble into the battle field. As she neared. She peered out through the trees and saw the battle happening. She started in amazement at how big the fight was. She had the urge to grab her bow and get ready to shoot at anyone or anything. She didn't know who the good guys were and relaxed. 'If I don't know who to fight for, then I won't fight,' she thought as she headed farther away from the battle, going to leave this part of the forest.

She started packing her things when she saw the line of soldiers blocking her way away from the battle. Thinking that is was a sign of they weren't allowing anyone through, she laid her stuff down and looked around for stuff to do, trying to block out the noise of the battle. She soon started falling asleep, bored of trying to figure something out. Sleeping on her "portable house," she slept soundly as if their was nothing that could disturb her.

@ no one

 

[RatKing]

As the battle outside the fortress pressed on and the undead continued to march forward, Septimus started to notice that the once tightly packed hordes of zombies that they he and his regiment had been fighting seemed to have diminished in size. No longer did they need to constantly cut through an oncoming wall of undead to ensure they would not be overwhelmed. The plan to spread out Grigori’s attention certainly seemed to be working. "Men! I shall return, hold off these undead while I speak with the Knight of 1!" he called out to his regiment before making his way over to Kai to better continue the conversation with him. With the amount of undead finally starting to lessen Sep was fairly sure that the beastfolk he was in charge of would be fine for the time being without his lead in the combat.

“You sound a bit disappointed that we were put into a defensive position here Kai. I take it that slaying countless undead is a tad monotonous for...you…” he trailed off at the end as he looked past the knight, squinting in order to get a better look at a glowing orange light that was increasing in size in the distance. “Huh, looks like something interesting is going on over there by one of the other knights” he said pointing out the light to him.

Gohan510

 

[Juju]

After waiting in silence for a few minutes, Yuki's ears began to pick up the scrabbling sound of tiny claws on bark. Not long after, a streak of white fur burst from the tree above and landed on her shoulder. The kitsune gave the squirrel a light pat on the head. "Let's find out what you saw..." Yuki then hopped off the branch, landing deftly in the snow below.

---

When Yuki emerged from the snowy woods the squirrel was still perched on her shoulder. It looked between Kuto and the red knight, its fluffy tail twitching with contained energy. "Done." Declared Yuki while walking up to Kuto, casually giving the knight a side glance as she passed. There was something about him that was off, something unnatural. Ignoring him for now, Yuki slowly closed her hands over the squirrel, bringing them closer and closer together until both of her palms touched. There was little resistance, despite the fact that she should have crushed the critter, and when she reopened her hands they were dripping with an ink-like substance. Any remnant of the furred creature was gone.

"Now for the map." the kitsune said.

As the last word left her lips, the ink-blood began to rise off of her fingers in weightless droplets. In the air they joined together to create blob-like clouds, formless at first, but as more droplets combined it became easier to recognize shapes. Watchtowers sprouted out of the liquid, positioned defensively around clusters of miniature black houses and an elaborate temple. Soon tiny villagers rose from the inky streets, fully motile and mimicking the real counterparts Yuki's squirrel had spied on.

Once the map had finished, Yuki pointed at the village entrance where two guards were posted. "The village has many guards, but most are not warriors. Something has put the village on the defense... something they were not prepared for." Her eyes moved to the closest watchtower. "Each tower has a bowman and a hornblower, which will alert the others. The human-temple also has a..." the kitsune's brow scrunched up as she tried to remember the word. "Bill...? Metal ringing thing. It's also the only building fully made of stone, so we can't burn it, and the only one with a gate."

Yuki looked up at Kuto expectantly, her fluffy tails swaying. "The people will flee to their priest for refuge, but I bet you could sneak in with the sheep before the gates close!" she added, grinning mischievously behind her mask.

[having zombie dragons in the next mountain over may or may not have resulted in more guards xD]
Gohan510 KnightOfNight

 

[RubyZoo]

Skyler woke up, again to the sound of batle. She sighed as she looked around. The guards were still their. She sat down where she slept and waited for something to happen. "how is it that the battle had to happen here and I am in the middle of it' she asked herself. She looked around again, not knowing what to do or where to go. She tried to think of ways that she coud get past the guards but non worked. She sighed and sat down again.

 

[Zerohex]

As the sappers and the certainly impressive Knight of Three made their way through the sheer rock at a pace most would think impossible, working furiously to stabilize and illuminate the cramped tunnel as to make it a viable forced entryway for invasion, they were haunted by the most horrifying wail of a damned soul echoing through the makeshift shaft. The noise did not come from their undead foes. Certainly, new skeletons emerged from their dark burial as the rock around them was shredded, but they were taken care of as rapidly and effortlessly as any other. No, it was the incessant, ear-piercing screech of powerful teeth grinding against eachother that hounded the party, produced by one thought alone:

I do not fookin like tunnels.

You could hardly blame Mickey for this one. Lad from an island, used to the vastness of the ocean and the shining shingle of the beach, a man of grassy highlands and forests and open fields, he'd never set foot inside a mine in his life. And this tunnel was baaaaad, barely large enough for his imposing frame to squeeze through and at times forcing him to walk in a squat to avoid hitting his head. It was a good thing he'd introduced himself to the Knight of Four before they'd gone down because right now he could not speak. It was all angry, rapid bullish breathing and the relentless clenching of his powerful jaw just barely holding back a violent outburst that would've caved the entire tunnel in.

I do not fookin like tunnels.

Looking to take his mind off things, the Champion of the Highlands took momentary charge to grab hold of a sizeable chunk of rock that threatened to collapse over the sappers' work and gingerly loaded it on his back, forcing him to squat even lower and move the rest of the way in this manner. No one thought to openly question the now clearly unstable colossus and Mickey didn't care. All he knew was one thing: Fook this, fook this'n who made me dunit I'mma comin for ya. Y'LIKE TUNNELS I'MMA GIV YA A TUNNEL CHUNK!

Freshet ColdCash

 

[KnightOfNight]

The knight stood in silence while the beast girl explained what she saw, finally speaking once she finished. "I can not allow them to hide in the church. I need them to flee to the Imperial City for my message to be clear. Allow me to take the lead." He took off towards the town at his usual, unnatural pace not waiting to see if the others followed. He could feel his hate consuming him already, just from the idea that the townspeople might try to hide. Before he knew it he was sprinting towards a guard town with sword in hand.

The blowing of the horns and arrows deflecting off his armor returned him to where he was. He tightened his grip on his sword and swung it at the leg of a tower, smashing right through it and sending it toppling over. He could already hear cries of panic overtake the town, he would have to act fast. He charged through the incoming guards, knocking them off their feet and dashed to the temple as they started to ring the bell.

The knight leapt onto the wall of the temple, digging his fingers into it, and climbed up the bell tower. The toll of the bell drowned out the screams of the bell-ringer as he was thrown from the tower. Looking up at the obnoxious bell, the knight grabbed the rope and pulled it with all his strength, snapping the post the bell was attached to and dropping it through the tower.

Gohan510 Juju
(I hope you don't mind me speeding things up a little to keep up with Dan.)

 

[Gohan510]

(Kinda does bother me you ruined our plan... Its goof though...)
Kuto
Finally the girl appeared and this time she had results. Finally and thankfully she cam earlier then five minutes. He listened to Yuki as she showed him the map of the surroundings. He thought to himself how silly they were to increase the defense. Why were there so many watchtowers here, it’s unreal how many. No matter it wouldn’t stop them.

“Bell.” He told the Kitsune as she struggled to speak. Listening to the knight storm off basically ruining their objective in a sense, he snapped his fingers for Yuki to follow him. “Go slip in with the common into the gate, kill as many as you’d like once you’ve entered the church. I’m going to invade from above. The one thing this knight did good was allowing us to reserve our stamina.” With that he flashed stepped off somewhere in the distance. He sneaked on many soldiers on the clock towers killing them in silence. He was headed towards the roof of the church.
Juju KnightOfNight
——————————
Kai sheathed his blade as the waves calmed down and he noticed it started to clear up all around. Kai sighed thankfully it wasn’t too crazy for his soldiers. Hearing septimus he nodded. “I am to be honest, I wish I was on the frontline with them, I enjoy fighting strong opponents, it helps get stronger, and more experienced.” He stated looking at the snow fall from above. He looked at the light Septimus was pointing out to him. “What was your name again? Sorry i couldn’t hear you over the screams of battle. Kai Ace Takeshi if you hadn’t heard.” He raised his hand out to the beastfolk knight. “It’s quite pretty out here despite the foile of battle.
RatKing

 

[Amaya Himura]

After cutting and slashing their way inside, Cypher made sure to take a few who would be satisfactory enough to follow her and to fight alongside the other three leaders. She used what liquid she'd brought with her to throw ice daggers at the undead. Soon, arriving at the center of the fortress with some of her own to command, Cypher signaled everyone to silence themselves.

"Hush!" she hissed at the soldiers she brought along. The rest had been left in the entrance or outside to continue to fight off the dead. However, it seemed like she'd brought a chatty group. They were talking about the supposed glory that came with fighting off a dragon. She's taken offense to this as they could fight and die and no recognition or glory may come.

"I'm going to retire after this." one said.

"Wha- Percevale, you just joined the ranks..."

"Aye, but then 'll be set for life." he spoke again.

Their leader rolled her eyes. "You never will get anything out of this, so quiet!" Rinzler threw icicles at the feet of those who were speaking, effectively shutting them up as they entered the large chamber. She peeked her head around the corner and checked to see who was occupying the large chamber. Hanging from above she saw an cluster of bones and skulls: an eerie sight when she took notice that the cluster was supposed to be a chandelier... made of soldiers of every race in Sumaru. She kept scanning the room. Something's not right. We've made it to the center of the fortress.

Almost too quietly across the room came an almost obnoxious voice from a long corridor. "... Beastfolk... Nox-Fafnir..." Motioning for the soldiers to follow, she could pick up more of what the child king was proclaiming. "Witches know me as Victor..." Just arriving to get a glimpse of the glowing violet, decaying tail of Grigori, Rinzler found the room they were to battle. She readied herself for anything to come: sword still sheathed, but arms prepared to take any and all water from the swampy grounds to attack. The Knight of Zero stuck to the shadows in the corridor she stood in with the soldiers.

Cypher looked around the chamber to not find any sign of the other Knights. Hoping they, too, were keeping to the shadows, undetected by the scarred dragon. She knew that the Fifth was more than double her age, but a very robust knight: Pentario. And the other, the Sixth, the one who called herself Stigma, was a fairly silent woman as Cypher recalled very few words she heard from the woman's mouth at the ceremony.

As the Emperor continued to shout and most likely amuse the necrodragon, the Knight of Zero shook her head at his tomfoolery. She huffed out an annoyed sigh. No one else is here yet. There cannot be an attack if there's no one to commence attack. The soldiers could hear their leader muttering under her breath. "Your Highness, if you do not continue to stall this bastard until the others get here, I swear on the dead ass body of Grigori..."

Gaius Danius Griinia
Blood Born Angel
Noct

 

[Juju]

Yuki nodded at Kuto before sprinting towards the town. With a flick of her tail her eastern-style garment was replaced with an outfit more suitable for the northern clime (it even had shoes! OwO). She pulled the hood over her ears to hide them and twisted her tails together in order to make them less conspicuous. As for her mask, she hid it within the folds of cloth along with the wolf skull.

Once she had entered the town it was all to easy for Yuki to be swept along in the tide of people. Due to her short stature she looked like a young teen, but in the chaos nobody had time to take a better look. Panicked villagers ran past the kitsune, oblivious to the fact that she was an attacker. Some carried bundles of supplies while others dragged along crying children, but all were heading in the direction of their temple. How reluctant they were for war when the battle was brought to their home. Yuki followed the people as they crowded into the mountain temple and watched as the gates slowly closed shut.

A small group of guards stood post at the entrance while another, their captain, stood in the middle of the villagers and tried to maintain order. "Fear not, my friends. High Priest Akane will-"

Before the man could finish his sentence a deafening clang sounded from above, shaking the temple to its foundations. All at once the villagers looked up to the ceiling, where flakes of plaster had begun to rain down. Another thud sounded, this time louder than the first. A hush passed over the room, bringing a brief moment of calm before the bell crashed through the prayer hall, crushing the statue of what Yuki could only guess was their god. Terrified screams erupted from the crowd of people, drowned out by the the bell's final roar as it was shattered in two pieces. Yuki held her ears in pain and let out a bestial hiss. In an effort to stay away from the bell, someone pushed Yuki aside, causing her to snap. Nine tails spun around, trailing her ink in quick strokes. When she stood up again, a circle of dead bodies surrounded her and her outfit was streaked in blood.

She leapt atop the broken bill bell and placed her mother's mask on her face. "Where's the high priest?" Yuki growled, "Bring him here and you all may leave this temple alive." If there was one thing Yuki knew about humans, other than their lust for destruction, it was their uncanny ability to turn on one another. When nobody said anything, she slit the throat of the guard captain with a quick slash of ink. "Last chance, bring him now!"

"No need..." came a voice from behind her, smooth and weathered like old wood. The kitsune had just enough time to turn around before she was flung into the wall by a burst of light. She fell to the ground and tried to stand up but found her limbs unresponsive. Searing pain shot through her body, loosening her grip on her human form until she had no choice but to switch. Where a girl had once crouched was an oversized fox, about the size of a large dog, with nine tails and white fur etched in black markings. "There are no illusions before the god of light, little demon." He said with a sweet chuckle that made Yuki's hackles raise. "How strange. I had thought we cleansed this land of evil spirits. Alas, I suppose even if you rid a garden of weeds, others may rear their heads." The priest conjured up a sword of light in his hands and raised it above his head to execute Yuki, but just as the blade descended it was intercepted by a flurry of black slashes, deflecting the strike and pushing him back.

Although a quick shield of light had blocked most of Yuki's strikes, blood trailed down his leg from a laceration. "The only thing that needs cleansing is your kind!" Yuki snarled between her fangs, finally able to stand thanks to the brief distraction.

----

Gohan510 KnightOfNight you both can control the priest's actions in your posts if you want to UwU

 

[KnightOfNight]

Hildebrand narrowly avoided falling through the bell tower along with the bell by grabbing onto the railing and was now dangling over the the ruined temple. The sounds of screams echoed in his helmet, but were cut short. "They kept up with me? Most impressive!" He let go of the railing and landed with a thunderous crash onto the mountain of rubble, somehow his armor remained mostly intact despite his rough handling of it.

At the sound of metal hitting loose rubble, the priest broke away from the beast girl and re-positioned himself to keep both her and the source of the noise in view. "What is this evil you bring with you?" The knight glared at the priest then looked down at the pile of rubble at his feet and grabbed a piece of the split bell and lifted it over his head. "What manner of demon is this?! Tell me!" The priest used the same divine magic he used on the beast child but the knight was unfazed. "H-How?! How does it not affect you?"

"The gods themselves sent me here." He spoke in a loud, but calm tone as if the bell weighed nothing to him. "I am here to punish humanity." The knight flung the bell at one of the support pillars, shattering it. The temple itself let out a groan as the stones of the walls and ceiling shifted and wooden supports splintered. "Blasphemer!" High Priest Akane passed his hand over his leg to heal it with divine magic before conjuring a second blade of light and throwing it at the knight who made no effort to avoid it and was struck in the face. The blade of light pierced his helmet with ease but was stopped before getting very deep. He reached down for the shorter blade at his waist, unsheathed it, and passed the blade of it through the blade of light, dispelling it.

The temple was lit enough to reveal part of the knight's face through the opening in the helmet, his skin was sickly pale as if he had not been exposed to the sun for years. His pale blue of his eyes nearly blended in with the whites, and a few loose strands of unkempt hair could be seen.

Gohan510 Juju

 

[RatKing]

“My name is Septimus, the Knight of Seven.” he proudly stated as he reached up a bit and shook Kai’s hand. “Though I coulda sworn you already knew that since you were the one who called out my name earlier, but no matter. A proper introduction never hurts” he said remembering that the inauguration was only a few hours ago at this point and that it would take time for the knights to remember each other’s names.

“I get what you’re saying. You like to challenge yourself and push your limits by facing difficult obstacles and trying to overcome them. I suppose that is a good quality to have, to always be looking for ways to improve oneself. As for me though taking up a defensive role is something I'm quite used to. So I can't say this situation was too disappointing for me” he said as he looked up at the snowfall. “Man I hate this cold temperature…” he said before momentarily turning away from Kai as to not burn him when Sep let forth a plume of flames from his maw in an attempt to warm himself up. “That's better” he said to himself as he turned to face Kai again.

Gohan510

 

[Gohan510]

Priest Galvion appeared finally out of the shadows from the town as he released holy magic towards Kuto’s way who was on a watch tower. “Sinful men such as yourselves cannot come and ruin my town as you please. The other priest shall take care of your allies! As they are beneath our surperior magical capabilities!” He said calmly but loud enough. He healed his fallen soldiers wounds as they stood once more. “Now my men let us defeat this demon together. A true demon, the very blood that runs through is veins are pure black. Blacker then the moonless night sky!!”

“What about the others in the church sir? The children and the women!?” One of the soldiers screeched out.

“We have to save them!!” Another one beside him stated.

Kuto emerged from the smoke as his arm was heavily bruised. “That hurt, that really hurt.” His voice sounded shaken as the souldiers and the priest all released holy magic. “Galvion cut the crap.” He stood there as the holy magic struck him and created a giant explosion. This was bad because Kuto was at a high disadvantage. Kuto appeared behind the men and released his diablo mark one at close range creating huge damage to the town as the building crumbled. “Give me the map to the artifact!” One of the knights went down for the count as the other one went to slash at Kuto. Kuto’s hood came off as he grabbed his sword out his magic circle and blocked the slash and countered it by cutting the soldier down and then releasing the blade back into a magic circle blowing the priest back with blue black flames. The man was heavily damaged as Kuto turned to finish the soldier.

“Wait!!! I will comply and give you the artifact.”

Kuto smirked and the fireball in his hand faded. “Finally you agree to listen. Show me the map.”

“There is no map to show but the artifact is here follow me.” The old man stated getting up barely able to walk as he walked over to a building in the back of the town.

Kuto smirked and followed the old man. “What do you mean there’s no map? So the world was lied to, to keep the artifact safe here.”

“Yes indeed.”

Kuto watched the man as they walked down the steps of the creepy old building hidden inside the building. “This place is pretty run down and filled with magic power. No wander it’s important.” They stopped as they had reached the bottom and the old man opened a door with a key. The door released a giant burst of wind as Kuto’s clothes were flapping from it. They finally walked in the room as the old man opened a case and there it was.

“Promise to me you’ll never harm this town again thanks to me complying.” He watched the young boy nod his head. “Thank you.” He gave the boy the artifact and nodded. “Now do with respect go far from here.”

Kuto took the artifact and smirked. “As you wish.” He turned getting ready to leave. In a anime the dramatic villain ost would play as Kuto burned the priest where he stood in blue flames as they consumed him. Once he killed the man he walked up the steps as he left the building it burned behind him. He was walking to the center of the town. All around there was fire as he had already casted wild fire. “Yuki!” He called the girl over to him.

His dying breathe the man called out. “He has the eyes of a demon lord..... A true “Villain”.” With that the old man died.
Juju KnightOfNight
——————
Kai was glad to make a new friend especially since he’s going to be working with him. “You really like this sitting around stuff? I don’t know it’s not really for me in a sense.” He scratched the back of his head and laughed a bit. Watching septimus cough up flames he laughed a bit. “You’re not naturally warm? I would think those scales were keeping you warm. You know, i know you’re not a dragon of course but I was raised by one. My dad is a dragon, My mom is human, and my long lost brother is half demon half human if I remember. To be honest I joined this to hope it aids me in my search for him.” His voice got shaky in the end. “Sorry if I went on to much. A lots on my mind.”
RatKing

 

[Noct]

The troops had secured the perimeter. Pentario braced himself for the incoming horrors that might await at the other side of the entrance. Two knights came behind him, they were top ranking in their class.

"Sir, may we come too, we want to see what real difficult combat is like?"

"I know you mean well, but in there are beings that hold incredible strength, if either of you got hurt, I couldn't bear the weight that would hold on me."

The two softly nodded and went back

"Alright folks, I am going to go in there, if I am not back within an hour I want you to, I am sure his majesty would not want this, but I would want you to rally the others and come and help us. While I am in there, hold this wing and kill anything that is of the undead persuasion. This is an order." His gruff voice echoed through the quiet halls of the area. A well behaved troop was a surprise, Pentario had barely had to discipline them.

He walked in to see nothing but Rinzler and some of her subordinates. Surveying the area, he deducted she was waiting for him and Stigma to arrive. In the background the raging yells of the emperor could be heard.

"Mistress Rinzler, I, Knight of Five, am at your service."

He did a slight bow, unsure of the appropriate amount of formality required for this situation.

"I think we should go and help him, despite Six not being here yet..."

He took a quick pause and looked at the soldiers she brought

"I suggest they shouldn't come, it is too risky, do you truly think these soldiers could fight in a battle of godlike proportions?"

Amaya Himura
Blood Born Angel
Gaius Danius Griinia

 

[Amaya Himura]

Seeing Pentario approach her was a very welcome surprise. He'd not taken very long after her own arrival. Cypher bowed slightly in greeting, "It's wonderful to have you arrive, Sir Pentario." Not seeing Stigma, and hearing the Emperor continue his "entertainment" for the necrodragon, she sunk back further into the corridor to allow Pentario to hide better in the shadows with her.

Looking back at the four soldiers she'd brought along, she thought about what the Fifth had said. Grigori was a renowned dragon... once. After his descent into insanity and lust for power, he was banished and disowned by the Dragon race. Truly a disgrace to the name. She'd known of the chaos he brought to Alkosh, harming the innocent and traumatizing the land. This made her blood boil. Her face was not showing any change in emotion, but hidden under wrappings and wrist braces, she felt the scales on her arm glow, pulsing to her heartbeat.

After taking a breath, she deliberated that these few (only slightly experienced) soldiers have just sparred and dealt with minor inconveniences. Pentario was right: they were not fit for this job and they would just die not a minute into battle with Grigori. They were needed to fight off the undead. They did, however, know their way around their weapons; thus, they were assets outside and not in.

She nodded once at the suggestion, soon ordering them to go back and support the others. "I want you four to head back as the Knight of Five has suggested."

Just as the soldiers were about to argue, Rinzler held her hand up. "This is not a matter for you to discuss. This fight is going to be a bloody one, and I don't want a single one of you hurt at the hands of... the claws of this traitor. Head back and fight for Sumaru."

The four soldiers bowed their heads and quickly left to assist the rest of the Legion. After her ears could no longer pick up the soldier's footsteps, Rinzler focused her attention to Pentario. "My apologies, but I've been waiting for only upwards of three minutes, and I have not yet seen Stigma. I truly do hope she arrives soon for our attack." Noting that his armor had a few scratches here and there, she asked. "How have you been holding up?"

Noct
Blood Born Angel
Gaius Danius Griinia

 

[Blood Born Angel]

ϛ»Ω«ϛ ıllıllı Sᴛɪɢᴍᴀ ıllıllı ϛ»Ω«ϛ
"Emissary of Oblivion"
Knight of Six

▁ ▂ ▄ ▅ ▆ ▇ █ Ω █ ▇ ▆ ▅ ▄ ▂ ▁​

The fortress was dark and just as expansive on the inside as it appeared from outside. Stigma had to keep her men focused on the main hall, lest she lose them to the labyrinth of passageways. She wasn't entirely sure if they were getting close, but thankfully, her Emperor had quite the mouth on him. When she came across the oddly placed swamp, and the sound of insults and braggary echoed amongst the muck and foliage, Stigma knew she had arrived just in the nick of time.

The Knight of Six took a position along the edge of the swamp where she had a good vantage point. Her men followed suit by taking cover, doing their best to remain unseen. Stigma observed their arena carefully, a look of silent contempt plastered over her features as she cursed her luck. A swamp of all things? She hated getting wet. Plus, the moisture made it so that she had to strain a lot more to conjure her flames; even more so than the cold of the mountain already did. This was going to be taxing on her.

It was then she spied the other knights together not too far from her position. Stigma quickly noted their lack of men under their command and mulled over what to do with her own soldiers. A fight with an undead dragon was surely suicide for inexperienced men. Luckily, she had a plan for them.

"Listen here," Stigma motioned for her men to huddle closer. "I'm going to rendezvous with the other knights, all of you make your way along the edge of the swamp till you join up with the emperor's men, and make sure they get all the help they need. Understood?"

The men nodded and gave a short bow to their commander before slipping off silently into the swamp. Stigma pulled her tattered cloak up around her body once more and made like a phantom through the dense greenery. It only took a minute to meet up with Rinzler and Pentario, and she greeted them with a silent nod before turning toward their quarry.

"I hope I've arrived just in time."

Gaius Danius Griinia
Noct
Amaya Himura

 

[Juju]

The red knight's arrival brought a new wave of chaos among the sheltered villagers. As he demolished the support beams the villagers frantically pushed against the gates of the temple. The mechanisms holding it in place groaned in protest and with one final creak, the gate swung open to release a stampede of villagers. One of the beams fell down just as the last civilian passed over the threshold, scattering rocky bits all over the temple and forcing Yuki to leap out of the way in order to avoid being crushed.

Yuki turned her attention back to the fight just in time to see the priest throw his sword at the crimson knight, who made no apparent effort to dodge. It cut through the bloodstained armor with ease, but stopped short before it could touch the sallow skin beneath. Yuki watched as the knight unsheathed another blade and cleaved the priest's conjuration in two.

"witchblade..." Yuki murmured, staring at the knight with eyes wide in recognition. Although Yuki had never seen one, she had heard about them. The witches of Hexaplis and the kitsune of the Faewood had been at odds for many centuries, most specifically, after the discovery of the power in kitsune blood. For just as long, Yuki's people had been able to keep them at bay but a new threat arose when they sent what the kitsune would call 'witchblades'. They could cleave through magic with ease and with every new moon another kitsune was claimed, their corpses dragged back to the witches. At least, Yuki was told that they were dead. Then one day the hunts stopped just as abruptly as they began.

“Yuki!” He called the girl over to him.

The kitsune's ears picked up Kuto's shout amid the clamor of screams and crackling flame. Her yellow eyes flickered between the priest and the knight who were locked in combat. Both could die as far as she was concerned, so before exiting the temple she destroyed the second last pillar. Once outside she began drawing a wolf in the air, using the wolf skull she collected earlier to take the place of a head. Droplets of ink splattered all around as a jet black wolf landed beside Yuki. It stopped to shake the remaining ink off of its hide and from these puddles sprung up two, albeit smaller, wolves.

When Yuki arrived at the townsquare she was flanked by three wolves, the largest being the one with a skull for a head. They gave the fleeing villagers a hungry look, eager to begin the chase, but waited for their creator's command. "Did you get the map?" Yuki asked Kuto, noting the ash on his cloak.

Gohan510 KnightOfNight
(Unless you want to, Hilde probably didn't work under the few witches that hunted kitsune. The hunts also started at the height of the coven's power, not at the start. Unless, of course, they used kitsune blood for some enchantments and that's a whole new level of beef xD However, she doesn't know that Coven Knights didn't have wills of their own... or that the coven was destroyed.

step 1= make Yuki dislike the new member
step 2= make them super useful so that Kuto keeps em around
step 3=profit)

 

[ColdCash]

St. Rosario followed behind Mickey, pulling the lopsided support beams back into alignment as the man's gargantuan bulk knocked them out of place. Since entering the tunnel, she had passed clean through the blind panic that occupied the bulk of her feeble existence and was now possessed of a comfortable numbness that many of her men had mistaken for battle-hardened bravery in the past. She softly rattled off not psalms or battle-hymn, but simply rote information she had learned at the monastery.

"...The corpse-wyrm is a powerful creature, rarest of all undead. Yet immortal, it is by no means unassailable, for like all of it's ilk the corpse-wyrm cannot mend that which has once broken. Only by robbing another corpse of it's parts may it be once again made whole, and so the corpse-wyrm's rarity becomes it's weakness. Bereft of raw material, it's unquenchable life shall be held trapped within the shattered husk of it's body, worn away by the attrition of Man and Time. So says the Book Of The Lord. The corpse-wyrm is a powerful creature..."

Freshet Zerohex

 

[Freshet]

Trinity and her sappers continued to dig and set up the necessary load-bearing structures, so the tunnel wouldn't collapse in on itself by accident, alongside illuminating the passageway so everyone could get a good idea of which way to keep going. The Knight of Three was most content that she had the Knight of Two and the Knight of Four along with her in this excavation project, as she didn't need to worry about stopping the hazards that could come down upon the crew and either injure them or at the very least slow down progress. What those two to proactively stop any cave-ins was saved time that she could use to focus on further excavation.

"Huh..." began Trinity who was continuing to punch her way down through the mountain. "...But how much tangible, and well really more importantly expensive via market standards, loot would you think that beast would have? But, ah, oh! When we get to Grigori, it won't know what will hit him! I can assure you all, you made a good choice following me in this!"

ColdCash Zerohex