Fantasy That Time the Demon Lord Killed our Party Leader: Ic

[Bloody_Death]

SUZUKI KAIDA & KAI NAKAYAMA

What was once a bustling city square filled with merchants and patrons alike was now an area occupied by Jorvik soldiers, fortifying barricades and sharpening their blades. Everyone had a part to play in the anticipated war, including Kaida. She went around the city square, passing out fresh loaves of bread for soldiers to eat — can't fight on an empty stomach after all. Her summon, Ryushi, accompanied her as well, merely scowling at any soldier that looked his way. "I don't understand why we're passing out bread," the spirit sighed in annoyance. Kaida passed out another loaf of bread to a group of mercenaries before turning back to her beloved summon. "Food always raises the spirits! Try one." She held out a loaf for Ryushi to take in which he crossed his arms, "I'm dead, remember? Eating doesn't really do anything for me."

Kaida shrugged and continued to hold out the bread for him to take, "doesn't mean you shouldn't try it!" Reluctantly, Ryushi accepted the offering and took a small bite. "How is it?" Her tails curled in an inquisitive manner. The spirit shrugged and wordlessly took another bite. Satisfied with that response, Kaida turned tails and searched for another group to offer bread to. As her vibrant red eyes scanned the area though, she stopped at a familiar face. "Kai!" She called out before dashing over. "Take some bread! You need to eat to be fit to fight!"

Kai had been doing similar means to help those around him either prepare for the battle ahead or flee from the city. It was heartbreaking to have to separate the soldiers from their families. He treated any wounds and injuries that others may have. Along with offering words of encouragement when he could. Soon, the last carriage of fleeing people left. With them gone, it meant he could focus on the battle coming at hand. He wanted to reunite families the best he could. But he was just one person. His priorities will always be the health of his fellow heroes. As cruel as it may sound, their survival is much more important than that of a few soldiers. This thought disgusted Kai. That he had to choose people to save based on worth. It was times like these that made him wish he could heal more people in less time. He soon gave a sigh before shaking his head. He couldn't plague his mind with these thoughts. It would only distract him. He had to use this experience to help him become a better healer. He needed to change and become better. Or there was no hope of defeating the demon king.

What pulled him from these spiraling thoughts was a very familiar voice calling out his name. He quickly looked over and smiled when he saw Kaida and one of her summons coming over to him. "Ah- thank you. I am feeling a bit hungry now that I think about it. Healing on an empty stomach isn't the most ideal." He mused while taking a few bites out of the piece of bread. Giving a happy hum. Kaida's bread was always the best. "This is good. Food really is the best way to raise morale before a battle." With a nice fresh loaf of bread, he felt a bit less stressed out. He also noticed that even the soldiers who had to just say goodbye to their families seemed a bit more lively now that fresh food was present.

But then the oddest thing happened…the sound of music filled the air. Out of nowhere. Coming from a wagon that was approaching the city rather than leaving. It seems the princess of Jorvik and another man were coming out. But this man…hugged Fel!? Wait wait. The same Fel that would burn someone alive if they even thought about bursting his personal bubble? "I didn't know Fel had friends. He always seemed like the guy who would claim he's 'too good for friends'" Kai mused at Kaida before giving a small chuckle. Hoping that grumpy elf didn't catch his little quip at him. He would prefer not to be burned alive today. Or scolded to the point where he wished he was deaf.

"Come on, now. We're Fel's friends~" Kaida added but it was unusual to see someone hugging their grumpy spellcaster. That interaction only confirmed that there was a small chance she'd be able to get a taste of his mana! Considering Fel was quite powerful, she could only imagine the amount of mana he held. Such thoughts were short-lived as she eyed Fel's friend further, "he is quite cute though~" A smirk appeared on her face as she continued to stare.

"Fel would be more offended if he heard us say that than if we said we hated him." Kai joked before tilting his head at the comment about being cute. "I think he has a cute personality. Kinda like Nel's. But hopefully without the…friendly malice?" Kai gave a sheepish smile before flinching when he heard his name called once again. This time by Enthy! Who was looking for him to heal someone? Sending him into a bit of a frenzy. He was sure he tended to everyone who was healed so how was someone dying- "A spy…that's not good." Fast-acting poison. He glanced over at the corpse. They didn't appear to be breathing. It was too late to save him. However, there wasn't much time to pout and dwell on that. As a looming threat began making its way towards them.

A scream filled the air as more nightmare beasts from before made their way towards their current location."It's the nightmare beast again." Kai voiced. Covering his ears as he stared up at the sky. But these beasts weren't being sent over…that giant thing in the sky was pulling it out of its own body!

"Oh, what a foul creature," Kaida muttered, her ears flattening in response to the shriek. She stared up at the flying abomination, watching as it tossed smaller abominations to the ground below. "Ryushi, go help the rest of the soldiers, I'll join you soon." With a huff in annoyance, Ryushi charged towards the front lines, fighting alongside the Jorvik soldiers to strike down the nightmare creatures.

"We need to deal with that flying…beast!" Kaida glanced at Kai."Does your water magic reach that?"

“My magic?” He voiced with a small shout so he could be heard over the chaos around them. He stared up at the beast once again before nodding. “I should be able to reach it.” He mumbled. It was a bit of a reach, but if he could manage to drag it down a bit he, and the other heroes, should be able to have an easier time attacking it. “Let’s move closer to the gate.” He didn’t need to be anywhere near the frontlines, but they did need to get a bit closer to the action. He ran on ahead, glancing back to make sure Kaida was following before stopping just before he entered where the swarm of nightmare beasts met the soldiers and heroes fighting against it. He spoke a small incantation and soon, streams of water acting as tentacles would shoot out around him. Racing up into the sky to grab at the monster. This beast was a lot stronger than a few nightmare beasts. Meaning it was going to take a lot more than just a few streams of water to actually restrain it.

As the beast slowly got dragged down, more and more streams of water shot out. Increasing the hold Kai had on the beast. He tried his best to restrain it as it got pulled closer to the ground. But that was proving to be a lot easier said than done. He wore a small grimace on his face. Focusing hard on keeping those tentacles in place. That was what was creating and reabsorbing the defeated beast around it. “I…don’t think I can fully restrain it. It’s too big.” He mumbled to Kaida who was beside him. He already had several dozens of water tentacles out and wrapped tightly around the beast to just keep it held in place on the ground and in reach of his non-spell-casting heroes. Any more tentacles and he’ll be burning through his mana a bit quicker than he would like. “But I should be able to keep it on the ground. I’m going to try and slow down those tentacles.” He announced with a nod to the kitsune before turning his focus back onto the beast.

"You're doing great, Kai!" The kitsune encouraged him as she watched the beast slowly get brought down to a reachable height. "Ryushi!!" She shouted out to her summon who was busy hacking away at the smaller nightmare beasts.

"WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?!" He shouted back, a slash of his blade following each word. "Go attack that giant thing!" Kaida yelled, hoping to gather the attention of the other soldiers to switch their targets on the now semi-vulnerable beast. "FINE!" Her summon kicked back the final nightmare beasts he was dealing with and rushed over to start stabbing at the main target. "I'll stay here and protect you, Kai!" Kaida unsheathed her blade, making sure no beasts got too close to her friend.

Kai gave a grateful smile when Kaida stayed by his side to protect him. He could admit, he would have been a bit nervous if he ended up getting targeted by any stray nightmare beasts. Holding the primary enemy down was taking up a lot of his focus. And he needed to spare a bit of his focus to monitor the well-being of those around him should anyone need healing. It took a lot of pressure off his back knowing he had someone watching his back for him.

---

Interactions: Bloody_Death (Kai) || Beann (Kaida)

Mentions: Everyone fighting the monsters? Lmao

 

[CasualTea]

To her expectation, King Ragnir saw her small group of mercenaries to not bolster that much combat effectiveness when spread out and not even an inkling of an idea where the enemy could advance from to lay out traps. Honestly, it's wise enough to help bolster the army's numbers a little. Even if the mercenaries she has are more well trained than the average soldier here due to some standards being enforced by Shadow, this is still a good outcome. This at least frees her the burden of leading them directly and letting Ragnir take on the burden of leadership of these ragtag numbers. She just hopes they behave and play nice with the soldiers.

It wasn't soon enough that one of Ragnir's daughters barged in and reported along with a soldier about an incoming attack. Even though, she didn't need such a report. As soon as she stepped out of the shed, she could see the abnormal crimson sky that loomed over them, the white snow being tainted by its light forcing it to also take on its hue. "What's the play, ma'am?" A mercenary asked her, seeming to hail from Umbra. She turned to him and commanded with urgency. "I'm handing you off to King Ragnir now. Bolster his army's numbers. You know the company's playbook, work with it!" With a sharp verbal acknowledgement, the mercenary rallied the others to join the front lines with the army. "Yep yep!"

She then started heading off to the battlefield and what a sight she had seen. The gigantic monster that spawned more of its foul abominations unto this world wasn't what caught her eye, she recognized some of the fallen heroes being reanimated against their will. What the fuck. She had to hand it to Tiryan. If he really wanted to demoralize the party or even mock them, he's doing a good job of it. But nonetheless, it's unforgiveable. As she isn't close to those heroes unlike the rest, she could take them down herself without remorse. However, she felt like the ones who knew them better should be the ones to help them rest once and for all.

She focused her attention to Kai and Kaida who were combatting against the 'Nightmare Spawner.' As it was flying and some of the party is melee based, it could prove very helpful to take the beast down so they could have an easier time dealing with it. That and the sooner they kill it, the less monsters they'll have to deal with. That's her priority now.

"Ready to try some of your new tricks, Rohen?" Tiamat asked before Rohen took off in a sprint to join Kai and Kaida and began her incantation. "Allow me to assist! Hǎiyáng shènzhì kěyǐ yānmò dìyù!" She exclaimed before coming to a screeching halt while gathering water magic in her left arm which rapidly formed into water chains. As she stopped, she slammed her knee into the ground and punched her fist into the ground plunging the chains beneath forcefully into the Earth. Moments later, dozens of water chains shot up from the ground, surrounding the flying beast spawner and wrapped themselves around it, entangling themselves around its being. Once they had a tight hold of it, she ripped her arm out from the ground while pulling the chains from underneath. In turn the chains around the beast tightened their hold of it, digging into its flesh while also forcefully pulling it into the ground. Once it was eventually grounded, she unsheathed her sword and coated it with water before stabbing it into the chains against the ground to hold. "I'll help cut off its limbs, surely it'll stop it from spawning more beasts!" She said before darting towards the beast while shouting another incantation, mixed with a battle cry. "Liǎng gè shuǐtǐ shì yītǐ de!" She manifested her duel water brawler swords and got to work with cutting off its limbs while Ryushi attacked the main body. Because she aimed for the limbs, she was moving a lot more rapidly from place to place around the beast to hinder its objective to spawn its army along with cutting down any new spawned beast into two. With the power of terraforming in her kit, she was also rapidly changing weapons to suit her needs.
Bloody_Death
Beann

 

[Nessi]

Ingrid & Eleanor

The princess of Jorvik raced through the streets of Hofn. She remembered being younger, racing the other children to see who was the fastest. Ingrid always came in last, and her twin, Sigrid, would lose to Hilda by inches, who always stood victorious with a hearty laugh. She wished things could be as simple as they were back then, during a time in which the world didn’t seem like it was ending. Back during a time where the horrors of war were things she only knew of from books and stories.
“No time to be sentimental, dammit.” Ingrid grumbled, picking up the pace to her sprint.

It wouldn’t be long after her introspection before Ingrid finally found herself inside the Brynjolf house. The interior was a mess, but she didn’t let it stop her from rushing into the dining hall, and plucking the oversized horn off the wall. It was much heavier than it looked, but Ingrid didn’t let the weight of the horn stop her from taking it outside. With a deep breath, she blew into the horn 3 times, causing her ears to ring from the volume. She dropped the horn on the ground, and caught her breath, she was well aware that she nee-

“Ooo, that’s a fine toy you have, it makes a pleasant noise as well~” a foreign voice spoke. Before Ingrid could turn to face the woman behind her, she was launched down the steps leading to her house with a strong kick. Once she reached the bottom, she was quick to get back on her feet, and was in horror when she realized who had attacked her.
“M-Morgana? But the onslaught hasn’t ended at the front…” Ingrid uttered in disbelief.
“I know! Those heroes are such good fighters, but can’t even realize when they’re simply being distracted, funny how that works eh?” The hand asked, slowly walking down the steps.
With each step Morgana took, Ingrid took a step back, her hands shaking in fear.
“I know a bit about you, Ingrid Brynjolf. I’ve heard that you, and your twin sister are actually adopted, isn’t that something? I’ve also heard that between you, and your two other sisters…you’re just lackluster.” Morgana said with a sinister smile on her face.

Ingrid stared at the Olrodian devil before her, a mix of anger and fear coursed through her veins.
“She’s right though, can I even be angry?” Ingrid thought to herself. Hilda was physically strong, and had the benefits of Ragnirs Berserker arts, combined with the genes of a giant. Sigrid may have not been a child of Ragnir like herself, but she was as clever as Loki himself.
Ingrid let out a nervous chuckle, before drawing her sword and strapping her shield to her arm. She knew that she wasn’t as strong as Hilda, or as smart as Sigrid, she knew that she wasn’t special. But right now, she couldn’t let things like that hold her back, Ingrid knew she had to try, no matter what the circumstances.
“Oh come now, you don’t really expect to beat me, do you? You’re the failure of the Brynjolf house, afterall.” Morgana reminded Ingrid.
The princess gritted her teeth, and banged her blade against her shield. “Then it’ll be all the more embarrassing when the failure of Brynjolf cuts your head off.” Ingrid spat back, causing Morgana to cackle in laughter.
“Then Come! Lets see how long you can dance~” Morgana mused.
Ingrid charged at Morgana, determined to hold her off for as long as possible, long enough for the others to make it. With each step taken, the fear in Ingrid's body grew; she was aware that only death was waiting for her. But she did not let it stop her…she couldn’t afford to let it stop her. She had to prove to everyone, to herself, that Ingrid Brynjolf was not just a failure.


Meanwhile....


Eleanor hated how quickly life turned for the worse. One moment, she was helping build up the defenses of Jorvik, the next, she was fighting nightmare beasts for the umpteenth time. She didn’t even get the luxury of properly meeting Fel’s acquaintance, who went skipping off somewhere to “find a better vantage point,” when Hilda had come running to bring the heroes to the battlefield.
“Dammit…I really need a fuckin vacation.” Eleanor grumbled as she slammed her golden fist into the head of a nightmare beast. As she fought though, something felt off, like everything was moving much slower than she was.
“They aren’t moving slower, you’re moving faster. Which means you're catching up to your old strength.” Paimon explained.

Eleanor felt a tinge of pride flare up within her, but quickly returned her focus back onto the battlefield. For the most part, the soldiers were handling the regular nightmare beasts well, and Ragnir was beating the nightmarish Mahina with ease. So with a heavy heart, Eleanor turned towards Tatag, or at least, what was left of him. Normally, she’d feel anger, rage towards Tiryan for using her friends' bodies in such a horrific way. But strangely enough, Eleanor felt calm, and only wished to put her dear friend to rest.

Eleanor rushed past her fellow heroes, and went straight for Tatag. She had overheard Enthy saying that she needed time to charge up an ability capable of cracking the ent’s wooden armor, and she intended to make the young dragons plan a reality.
Nightmare Tatag didn’t hesitate to attack, launching a devastating blow meant for Eleanor’s head. But the hero saw the attack coming, and dodged it with ease, bringing her sword don on Tatag’s arm to try and cut it off. But when her sword hit tatag’s wooden flesh, Eleanor’s body vibrated, as if she had just struck a rock with her blade. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, but continued to fight tatag, in order to buy time for Enthy’s ax attack.

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Huang San

Tatag. Old friend. Hmph. Olrodia was never kind about these things- But what else could Huang San really expect? The Farmboy charges into the fray, an anchor in the storm. He'd spent long enough recuperating, recovering, gathering his strength. Among the many Synchronizations of the Gods, Wukong's was the most physically taxing- Simply because it was a Synchronization of purely that. The perfection of physical form.

"I will buy you time. But we may not need that spell. After all....

I am very good at cutting wood."

Huang San breathes in deep, his gruff voice sounding out as fur sprouts over his body. A monkey's form sprouting from his own, as he aligns his soul with the power of his God, a feeling like an endless river in his arteries in veins, his heart the drumming of thunder. Huang San's movements grow limber, animated, and the farmer, already a terrifying force on the battlefield, is transmuted to a force of nature. He was a walking mountain. Now, he is a mountain-in-motion, one with the wind.

There is a sound like the breaking of the earth's bones, and Huang San launches forward at blistering speeds, jumping up into the air. Aaxir calls upon the molten blood of the earth, rising around Tatag, and Huang San capitalizes upon it.

"Ruyi, Expand. Multiply."

Great rods of iron are thrown down, embedding themselves all around Tatag's twisted form to serve as an impromptu arena. An octagon of iron pillars in the molten earth. They were meant for only one purpose: To give Huang San an arena.

And jump off of them he did, leaping like a monkey from bar to bar to deliver a flurry of attacks upon Tatag from above, using his agility to exploit the 3-dimensional arena he'd just created. There was no angle that Huang San could not suddenly attack from, as each iron rod provided a different point from which he could leap to and then leap off of. Perfect conditions for him to deliver his perfect storm. For Huang San was a warrior, and before that, he was a farmer. And a farmer had many skills.

"Tree Chopping Art."

He delivers each blow of his staff down upon Tatag's wooden armor with purpose. They are heavy with the weight of the idea, every blow one that would [Fell Wood] as the weight of summers and winters spent chopping down trees and splitting firewood battering down upon Tatag.

Morgana had chosen a poor opponent for the heroes.

 

[Nano]

Enthyskana Rhoda

Interactions: LazyDaze , Huang San ThatWhichShouldBe , Fel Petri OldTurtle

Mentions: --

Sweat slicked Enthy’s palms as her fingers trembled around the helve of the Hammer of Justice. Though her tone remained steady and calm while requesting for assistance, her breathing was subdued and overly measured, as it were forcefully quelling her fears. And fearful she was. Her mind had convinced itself that the monster before her was not the Tatag whose soul had already long departed, yet her eyes and nose continued to pointlessly search for the traits she had long become acquainted with. Coming to terms with their current predicament wasn’t difficult, not with all the horrors of war they’d come face-to-face with before. She’d slain her own brother and her sword was stained with the blood of traitors whom she’d shared a meal with mere days prior to their execution. If Tiryan could recycle and puppet around the corpses of the dead, it was no surprise he’d do the same to the bodies of the fallen heroes. However, what Enthy feared the most was the person she’d become when she eventually became used to it.

The past had consumed all of her tears. What would it take from her this time?

When a flash of red entered her peripheral with that silly grin of his, she felt comforted by the fact that, at the very least, she now had people by her side who would never forgive her if she lost her head before the war even ended.

“I’m counting on you,”

Enthy replied to Aaxir while tightening her grip upon her axe. As tremors began producing plumes of molten earth, the young dragon propped the Hammer of Justice upright before her and began to speak the words that instinctively came to mind.

“In pursuit of justice, I offer up a solemn vow…”

The hand placed atop the axe’s handle began to glow a faint silver, gradually allowing the light to creep down the weapon’s body until it was completely covered in a pale gleam. When the behemoth sent a wave of branches crashing down towards the heroes, Enthy kept her speech steady, fully trusting in Aaxir’s capabilities. Her faith wouldn’t be unfounded, as the red dragon’s protective arena turned whatever it touched into ashes.

“-to abandon all stray beliefs and sentiments threatening to cloud unadulterated impartiality.”

This time, Huang San darted into the fray, moving with the swiftness of the wind while striking down with the weight of a mountain. His initial onslaught of attacks seemed to do little against the hardened wooden carapace of Tatag’s body, yet with each measured strike, the undead being’s armor gradually gave way and began to crack, widening further with subsequent strikes. A quick inventory of the damage done confirmed that it would be wiser for Enthy to shorten her incantation and funnel less mana into the incantation. It was clear that the full might of the spell wasn’t strictly necessary.

“Unseal this sacred art and judge the damned.”

With a deafening roar, the transformed corpse of Tatag raised and stamped down one foot with a heavy thud. Wooden thorns rapidly sprouted from the ground, breaking through hardened earth and rushing upwards and outwards in an attempt to skewer all that existed around it. The nightmare beasts that rushed towards their location found themselves mercilessly speared through by the attack, and the branches quickly knocked aside many of the iron rods which had been set up around the arena.

A figure dressed in a heavy, black cloak leapt forward towards the rapidly growing wall of branches. Tracing one neat arc across the branches, Hilda’s axe cleanly felled one segment of the growing wall. “Clear the way! Do not allow any attacks to reach the city walls!” Her voice boomed, commanding any regiments to follow her lead.

“For I have come to deliver Divine Judgement!”

As soon as Hilda created an opening for Enthy to approach Tatag’s corpse, the young dragon kicked the head of the axe, using the momentum of the swing to heft it behind her. She leapt towards the monster, turning once in the air before striking the weapon down upon the largest of the fissures created by Huang San’s Tree Chopping Art. The impact generated a spark, forcing a violent shudder down the body of the wooden giant. For a brief second, the dragon regretted not releasing the handle of the axe right before the moment of the impact when she felt an uncomfortable numbness spread out from deep within the bones of her arms. Fortunately, their efforts would pay off. Forcing the axe further down, the fissure widened until the entire front of the ent’s body was stripped bare, revealing the tender heartwood hidden underneath.

However, they had yet to exhaust the fight from the monster. Before Enthy could recover the Hammer of Justice from there it had embedded itself, she felt a large shadow cast itself upon her prone form.

A second axe sliced through the air, spinning rapidly until it met its mark upon the shoulder of the weakened wooden giant with enough force to cause it to tip sideways from the lack of balance. Hilda herself would soon follow suit, grasping onto the handle of the axe in order to swing herself towards the monster’s head. A leg crackling with electricity slammed into the side of Tatag’s head, and the black-haired woman was quick to recover from the rebound, flipping off of the monster with both her axe and Enthy in tow.

Once the two were clear and a safe enough distance away from the monster, Hilda checked to confirm that Enthy’s feet were firmly on the ground and released her grip upon the back of the dragon’s collar. While apologetically patting and straightening out Enthy's clothing with one hand, the black-haired woman turned towards Fel.

“Sun elf! Incinerate that dastardly creature before it recovers,” she said, her manner authoritative but more so out of a sense of urgency rather than disrespect towards the man’s position.

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Tiberius Helvian, Longinus

For a moment, the men who laboured under Tiberius' guidance had gathered around the hero, hoping to chance a meeting with the latest arrival. In other circumstances, the gladiator of Qin may have allowed their gawking and curiousity, but he extrapolated that, mainly through Fel's scathing, uncordial reaction to his unreciprocated acquaintance, they'd needed to step back. Gently stepping back, Tiberius waved his hand to send them away, dejected with frowns and grumblings, but moved anyway. Just in time, as Fel burst, a blizzard of black feathers, whorling. Beaks cawing, rank with indignation. The gladiator reflexively shielded himself with an arm, his close proximity to the dissolution made him come into contact with the flitting crows.

Tiberius could not help it, but enjoyed this little spectacle before him. He watched, wordlessly, with arms crossed as Fel and—as revealed by him—Carmen Brio bandied words, thinking how mirror-like this interaction is to Nel of all people. Only that this Carmen did not have Nel's warped sensibilities about mercy. He nodded as the cold wind snatched at the collar of his leather attire. "You'd be surprised." Tiberius said, enjoying this break from the rigours of their preparation, brief as it was. Time had become a precious commodity for every soul in Jorvik, like water to a thirsting man in a desert, but that does not mean a second or two could be spared. Tiberius, as a personal directive (and expected of a consummate warrior), tries to be acquainted with as much information as possible before a battle "I've met men with shakier attitudes tha-" As the gladiator began, however, the shuffling of panicked feet alerted him before they came into view. And the familiar voice froze his blood in place.

Enthyskana, the Dragon of Veritas, shuffled into the square abruptly, hoisting a broad figure wrapped in black fabric, robes or the like, Tiberius wheeled over immediately, flanking Fel's left as they approached. Tiberius went down on one knee, punching through snow, cloth wet and rubbing against flagstone, head down to examine the corpse as Enthy explained. He would've hoped that the poison inflicted great pain in his final moments, but neither the strength nor the fury to level against this dead infiltrator. He recalled now that feather at the hotsprings, their perfidious tactics would've likely stretched before, but this? He hopes that his paranoia had been unwarranted, for it meant they even deigned to intrude on their privatest moments of relaxation. He raised himself off the ground, fingers and knuckles red from work, the cold too. He admitted to himself, blasphemously, that it was an admirable display of skill. Strategical acumen too, he would've done the same if the heroes' position allowed it.

Stepping away, Tiberius allowed for Enthyskana to dispose of the spy's body in whichever way she deemed fit. Unknowingly, he echoed her sentiments; the battle has not begun, and though the enemy had first-move advantage, it is not yet lost. Still, there was no comfort in his thoughts—or Qin's, for that matter—no condemnation either, those notions did not concern him now, only analysis of their situation as Tiberius moved to prepare the rest of the defenses with the knowledge of this spy in question.

Then a jagged, crimson streak choked out the beautiful blue of the sky, Tiberius was not surprised, yet could not avert his azure eyes from the sight. "Damn them." He muttered to the cold, moaning wind, now burdened with the malodorous stench of death. He took a helm upon his head, Jorvik design, its chainmail splayed down his neck, while a dozen studs elegantly pieced the metal together. Nothing extravagant, but had been of good quality, simple, exactly as he ordered.

He rushed as the others did, to meet their foe head-on outside the capital gates. All the way, his path was plagued by whimpering, straining voices and the coppery stench of rotten blood. The presence of death itself seemed to invade their very space. It was almost difficult to reconcile the two scenes, mere days ago when Jorvik celebrated and now when they cry havoc, when they feared. A streak of consternation flashed across his face. Something about this had felt wrong to him, yet he could not tell whether it was from the civilian - men, women, children, faces as pale as wool sheets, their heartbeats audible to his ears - chaos around him or an inexplicable feeling of dread creeping up through his heart. Still he ran. Their terror magnified his resolve, like a blacksmith hammering a blade into its final shape, before solidifying with the final quench of the cold waters.

Lumbering on invisible wings, a fat-bellied creature sickly pallid floated ponderously towards the capital. The sight stung him, his eyes, his throat, his stomach. If Tiberius were easily queasy, he would've vacated his stomach contents long ago. Instead, only bitter repulsion. Scores of tentacles dripped down like rotted vines, gracing the beautiful earth with their fetid glory.

And then a final atrocity.

Leaping amidst the rank-and-file of the nightmarish hell-beasts, one particular specimen sought to distinguish himself amongst his rancid peers. To Tiberius' eyes, the identification was instant. And terrible. His heart clenched like a fist had seized it. The man felt a chill creep over him at the sight. He had recognized the wooden horns crested atop his head. That earthly stench, thick yet pleasant. It was Enthy's hushed voice that broke the dam. A molten landslide snaked the deep canyons of his mind, drowning out the tiniest cracks, the deepest striations with smouldering fury. The fetor of death broke the vice around his heart, making his pulse race faster with venomous fury.

Just as he neared the golden barrier that separated man from beast, a crack (one muscled into place by divine palms) split down his anger. The magma hardened into an obsidian sheet, reflecting back the warrior's face. He clenched his fist and recalled the litanies that Qin taught him. There was still wrath, but it is condensed, congealed. Plastic-malleable. He stepped back from the barrier as the red-form of Aaxir arrived, engaging Tatag's defiled bark. "On cue, great." Tiberius lauded the Red Dragon's convenient timing, as an epiphany struck him as well. The innate wrongness he had felt moments ago, had not been from the horrid sights nor his own feelings on the matter, but instead: Our enemy is not the same.

Quickly, he turned and found what he expected: the soldiers of Jorvik gathered behind them. He shot a hand out to snatch a man, the man tried to wince away reflexively, but was held firmly around his elbow by Tiberius. "Warrior, you have no duty to obey me, but take as many men as available, our enemy will attack us from behind!" He ordered. "Go!"

Whether or not, the man listened to his demands, it was up to him. He hoped sensibilities won out and he had gone to reinforce their rearguard, else they will be outflanked, outplayed, and outfoxed by a foe more cunning than previously thought. The Hand does not strike him as the type to sit behind their forces while they whittle their foes down like grinding gravel.

While the rest of the heroes engaged with Tatag or Mahina. Tiberius' body bled umbra, as he felt his lightened. He cut through a gaggle of nightmare beasts, wetting his blade with their warm blood. Carving a blood crescent through the horde to aim for their puppetmaster, the Living Weapon.

Interactions: Nessi And the rest.
Mentions: Nano (Enthy) LazyDaze

 

[OldTurtle]

Fel Petri

Interactions: Nessi (Not-Tatag)

Mentions: Briefly, everyone fighting Not-Tatag

The vile claws of corruption spread its talons in the skies above, heralded by increasingly panicked cries and lowing warning horns. Fel looked on, woodenly, as the darkness spread over the horizon, soft blue hues tainted crimson with blood. A deep sense of revulsion threatened to crawl up his throat as he set eyes on the creature that approached.

Once naught but a black speck in the distance, it drew closer, growing larger and larger as it neared the walls of Hofn. Fat, writhing tentacles grasping blindly at the air, bulging pustules littering swollen, diseased flesh, and the stench - the sickening stench of rot and death - it was the grotesque epitome of crimson magic, a gross violation of all things natural, of all that ever lived and died. The wretched beast's great tumors began to burst, spilling out crimson beasts, blood, and pus in equal amounts onto the snow below in some nauseating, sacriligeous perversion of birth.

The newborne creatures swarmed over the fields like a plague of locusts, indiscriminate in their advance. Dozens fell to traps long before they ever reached the city palisades, but the horde was nigh-infinite. For every beast that was skewered in the pits, two more took its place, crushing the corpses of their brethren underfoot to throw themselves at the growing defensive line of soldiers.

Keeping to the rear of their forces, Fel rained fire down upon their enemies, thinning out the numbers here and there to keep them from overwhelming the soldiers. He restrained himself well, constantly moving from formation to formation and searching for any sign of anything worse than the common nightmare beast. Sparing a few meagre drops of mana to incinerate another pack of the filthy creatures, the mage huffed. An army of this size would've been enough to overwhelm Hofn's remaining defenders, but it wasn't near enough to wipe out the heroes. Had Tiryan expected them to be long gone, such a force would've been excusable - but they'd confirmed the emperor knew the heroes remained to assist the defense of the city. There had to be more to it than this. Was there not even a single Hand?

As he cycled back toward the city gates, Fel found his attention drawn to the forefront of the invading army, where an odd figure opposed several of the heroes. Not a Hand he as far as he recognized, but a strange sight to behold nonetheless: a nightmare beast of a kind unlike any he'd ever seen before. Tiryan was never very inventive with their design and though the massive behemoth gliding toward Hofn was a rarity, it still beheld all the typical characteristics of its ilk. But this one stood tall on two legs, more man than beast despite the odd wooden shell and staglike horns protruding from its scalp. It couldn't have been one, Fel knew. Crimson magic couldn't just create mortals and he'd witnessed the beasts drop from their unsightly mother with his own eyes. There was no intelligence in the way it held itself, either. No purpose or caution, just the wild abandon with which it fought.

A number of other heroes were already locked in combat with it. Pillars of lava spewed from the ground throughout the battlefield, no doubt Aaxir's handiwork, and Huang San, Enthyskana, and another woman Fel vaguely recognized as one of King Ragnir's daughters defended against a sudden outburst of wooden stakes tearing up through the ground in every direction.

They speared toward Fel as well, and the line of soldiers in front of him cried out and locked their shields in a futile attempt to defend themselves. Really, that was hardly an effective maneuver, but he supposed they didn't have much in way of options. The sun elf, on the other hand, had almost far too many.

"Infernal Veil," Fel incanted, planting his staff into the hard, frozen earth underfoot. A sheet of bright fire burst from the ground a few paces before the soldiers, cutting through and incinerating great swathes of the tangled branches. He maintained the roaring wall for a few moments longer, letting the fire feed on more branches and begin to spread along their length as he moved to support the other heroes. The subsequent damage was, unfortunately, rather minimal. Though the heat blackened and cracked the surface of the wood, even entirely reducing sparser sections to ash, the thicker masses of wood were too dense to burn easily. Fel anticipated its main body would be similar.

Then the combined efforts of Enthyskana and the human woman split the creature's wooden carapace apart, exposing a soft but decidedly not fleshy interior. Yes, that looked like a rather flammable material.

“Sun elf! Incinerate that dastardly creature before it recovers.”

Sun Elf...?

There was only one Sun Elf around and so there was no mistaking who the young woman was referring to. For a brief moment, Fel was torn between continuing to fight and stopping to chew out the rude little royal - and then decided to magnanimously forgive her for what must've been extreme stress undermining her better sense.

"The flames shall consume all that dares offend me," the sun elf declared. Mana flowed as freely and his staff lit up with a blinding light. "Cleanse this land with ash and desolation, Fire and Brimstone."

For the briefest of moments, nothing happened. Then, from the darkened skies above fell dozens of tiny pinpricks of light, like droplets of molten gold. Silently, they descended upon the injured monster. Upon contact with its skin - or what resembled skin, at least - the drops exploded out into bright, azure flames. In a moment, the creature was a blue bonfire casting up a great plume of smoke and ash, the center of a roaring inferno that knew no end. The fires clung stubbornly to any surface they found, splashing out onto the nearby nightmare beasts and adding them to the ghastly pyre - and then, from their cremating forms, spread out further and further until Fel quenched them before they could escape his control.

 

[Nessi]

The Tide of battle changes

With a final, powerful blow to nightmare Mahina, Ragnir sighed in exhaustion as he watched the life fade from the poor hero’s eyes. It was horrible, to have their once noble bodies be used for such an infernal purpose, but knowing that they could rest easy brought Ragnir a sense of comfort. During his fight, he had heard the sound of the mighty Brynjolf horn being blown thrice, which meant that it would only be a matter of time before she came.
And of course, like clockwork, Ragnir could feel the ground shake beneath him, as a literal armored giant ran past him, and slammed their fists straight into the living weapon.
The blow caused the living weapon to screech in pain, but this didn’t stop the giant from digging its fingers into the fleshy mass.
“Þetta verður gröf þín, viðurstyggð! (This will be your grave, abomination!)” the giant roared. As soon as those words were spoken, the living weapon would begin to freeze over, including all of the tentacles and chains that were being used to hold the beast down. Soon, the living weapon would be completely frozen, and with a single, powerful punch from the giant, it would shatter like a piece of glass. The remaining nightmare beasts collapsed, and a sense of victory and accomplishment would spread throughout the group.
“Brynhild, impeccable timing as usual!” Ragnir yelled out.
The Giant turned towards the King of Jorvik, and in a blink of an eye, they shrank down to his size, armor and all.
“er allt í lagi með þig, ástin mín? (Are you okay, my love?)” Brynhild spoke, her armored hand caressing the cheek of her husband.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Better now that you're here.” Ragnir said, unfortunately receiving a rather cold look from his wife.

Before things could go any further, a soldier would come running from within the city. They had been a part of the group sent by Tiberius to check on the rear.
“It’s Morgana! She snuck into the city and Ingrid…poor Ingrid…” The soldier shouted in between labored breaths.
Ragnir cursed himself once more for allowing himself to be tricked twice. “Stríðsmenn, til mín! bardaginn er hvergi nærri búinn! (Warriors, to me! The fight is far from over!)” Ragnir yelled out, before rushing back into Hofn.

~~~​

“For a useless mutt, you’re quite resilient, ya know!” Morgana called out, her typical creepy smile on her face.
Ingrid fell to the ground, blood dripping from multiple wounds all over her body, and from her nose and mouth. “I’ve lost.” was the first thing that came to mind. She wanted to give up, to allow Morgana to end her life, and allow all of the pain and humiliation to go away. “You know that isn’t an option.” She reminded herself.
Ingrid rose from the snow covered ground, and slowly, but surely, made her way towards the Hand of Tiryan. Once within range, Ingrid lifted her bloody fist, and pushed it against Morgana’s head, not having enough energy to throw a proper punch.

“Done already, huh? I suppose I should have expected much from you.” Morgana sighed, before stabbing Ingrid right in the stomach.
Ingrid did not yell, or did she cry out in pain, but instead, she simply slid to the ground. She tried to get her body to move, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing happened. She looked up to Morgana, who had a fire incantation ready to incinerate her.
“Any last words?” Morgana asked.
Ingrid gave the question some thought, and decided to spit on Morgana’s boots, which only made the hand sigh.
“I should have expe-”
Before Morgana could finish her sentence, someone would whistle behind her, causing the hand to whip around. Before she could identify the source of the noise, a fist would slam right into her jaw, sending her flying into a nearby building.

“Oh man, that definitely hurts a lot more than I thought it would!” A familiar voice whined.
“C-Carmen?” Ingrid muttered.
The jovial mage helped Ingrid prop herself up, and gave her a bright smile. “Mhm, the one and only darling~!” he responded. Carmen retrieved a vial filled with green liquid, and took the cork stopper out with his mouth. “Alright, I need you to drink this, it’s gonna help keep you alive until that purple haired fellow gets here!” Carmen explained, before slowly tipping the liquid into Ingrid’s mouth.
As Carmen helped deal with Ingrid’s wounds, Morgana would emerge from the building she had been launched into, laughing hysterically as blood dripped from her head. “Oh man…I haven’t been hit like that in a long while! Who knew the legendary ‘Maestro of Gales’ could punch like that!” Morgana laughed.

Soon, a group of soldiers came rushing to Carmen’s side, and the young mage rose to his feet. “Looks like today will be your finale, Morgana. Any last words?” Carmen asked.
Morgana’s laughter grew louder, as if all sanity had left the woman. “No, oh no no no no no. This isn’t the end at all, the fun has only just begun!” the hand roared, before lifting her hand towards the sky. In front of her, a large magic circle would begin to glow a bright white, and in the distance, Carmen could see multiple other magical circles activating. He looked at the inscriptions, and the color drained from his face.
“Teleportation circles!” Carmen yelled out, and soon after, an entire Olrodian Legion stood before him, their weapons brandished, and their flags flying proudly. All throughout the Hofn, Olridan soldiers would appear.

“I hope you don’t mind…I brought some friends around! I’ll have just a few more coming in too!” Morgana exclaimed.
“And I hope you do not mind my arrival, Devil.” a voice boomed.
Ragnir entered the scene, alongside the rest of his soldiers, the heroes, and his family. Blood still stained his armor
“Oh, your majesty! This is wonderful, knocking out two birds, you brought the heroes right here! Unfortunately, I need something of a…private audience!” Morgana giggled, before snapping her fingers.
Suddenly, a creature would appear above the group. It looked like a large bundle of clothing, with a mask at the center. It had dozens upon dozens of hands, and with them, it quickly grabbed all the heroes, alongside Carmen, and all of Ragnir’s daughters.

“Oh don’t worry about them, I’ve simply sent them elsewhere to play with a different toy, I’m sure they’ll be fine!” Morgana called out, pulling out 3 more spirit gems from under her cloak.
“Ég mun höndla hina hundana, þú einbeitir þér að djöflinum (I will handle the other dogs, you focus on the devil).” Brynhild whispered.
The King of Jorvik nodded, and watched as his wife raced off to deal with the other threats, knowing that she was more than capable.
“Y’know, believe it or not, I have a family myself, children that I would do anything for. I understand that you’re trying to protect your family, but face it. I’ve won this battle. Your wife is strong, but eventually she will tire, and die. And your daughters will be killed alongside those precious heroes. If you help me capture those heroes, I can promise you that you, your family, and the rest of your people, will be safe.” Morgana proposed, her tone completely different than it was moments ago.
“Don’t act like you care, devil. You being here right now shows me that you have no intention of letting anyone live.” Ragnir snarled.
Morgana shrugged, and pulled her dagger out into her offhand. “Leave none alive!” she shouted.
“Stríðsmenn Jórvíkur, til bardaga! (Warriors of Jorvik, to battle!)” Ragnir roared, leading the charge towards certain doom.

~~~​

Meanwhile, the freshly teleported heroes rose from the snow. They were dropped at one of the gates, but not the same one that they had just fought at. Before them stood a massive foe, one that resembled a knight from a time long passed.
“T-the horror…” the knight muttered with a surprisingly soft voice. “The horror…of the abyss…it makes the mind boil over…with insanity. How foolhardy we were to think we could stop it.” the knight continued. Then it finally turned its attention towards the heroes, a ghostly blue light emanating from its helmet. “You know nothing, foolish wolves. You know not of the madness that lurks within the shadows of this world. Allow me to spare you, to give you the ultimate peace.” the knight said, before drawing his blade.
“Enthy, Nel, Kai! I need you to come with me! Morgana is trying to divide and conquer, and if we’re all here, she’ll kill Ragnir with no hesitation!” Yi Nuo shouted. The old moon elf activated her divine synchronization, and got low to the ground to allow the trio to get on. Once they secured themselves on her back, Yi Nuo leapt right over the knight, and bolted into the city.
“That is no matter, they will join you once I’m done with you.” the knight declared, taking on a fighting stance.

 

[Dawnsx]

Nelumba

Interactions: Nano

Mentions: Bloody_Death

You see, there were a couple of qualifications to become the Champion of kindness, love, and life!

Number 1 on the list was that you had to be a good fighter! Can’t carry out the fighty duties if you can't defend yourself, after all! In that regard, all of her hero buddies passed!

Number 2 was that you had to be willing to impart the ultimate gift of mercy and liberation. Not so easy! Especially when the giftee had been one of your nicest, sweetest friends! Looking at Tatag and the other heroes’ desecrated bodies made Nel’s heart ache, but she knew that the best thing to do would be to put them out of their misery. Thankfully, Enthy, Fel, Huang San, and Aaxir knew exactly what they had to do!

Number 3 was, of course, to be super adorbs and always looking your best! Enthy definitely had that down pat. Huang San and Aaxir were both solid, good-looking men, but they didn’t quite fit into the delicate, cutesy category. And Fel… eh.

So that meant that Enthy had the makings to be a fellow Champion!

The realization made Nel a little giddy. Another thing to bond over with Enthy! She had half a mind to charge into the fray right at that moment to demonstrate how to best carry out their soon-to-be-shared duty, when she abruptly felt unfamiliar mana all around in the air.

Wuh-oh!

Before she could even think to throw out a defensive magic spell, she felt big fingers pluck her out of existence. Just as quickly as it had happened, she was tossed back out onto the snow! Just as easily as someone picking up an intrusive bug and throwing it out of the house! Phooey! It looked like life wasn’t done dragging her around though; just as Nel was clambering back onto her feet, Granny demanded that she, Kai, and Enthy (yay!) get onto her back so that they could be carried back to Ragnir and Morgana.

With a flutter of her wings, she swooped past Kai to slot herself firmly behind Enthy. Aww! Maybe this was what it would be like to sit next to a crush at school! She hoped that Enthy didn’t get too flustered, but she absolutely needed to give Enthy a warm welcome before they charged into battle together!

“Pstt, Enthy!” Nel leaned forward so that she could whisper into Enthy’s ear. ”Congrats on becoming a Champion of kindness, love, and life! I’m looking forward to working with you!”

She giggled like a schoolgirl who’d just shared a piece of indecent gossip and pulled back. Kai was certainly also strong and cute enough to be a Champion! Maybe after today, they can be a trio!

As Granny took off, Nel summoned her infamous water blades, tossing them out at any Olrodian soldiers who were unfortunate enough to be in their path.

 

[OldTurtle]

Fel Petri

Interactions: Nessi

Mentions:

Fel groaned as he withdrew himself from the snow, shaking away the too-familiar nausea of teleportation magic. He lurched to his feet, leaning on his staff, which -- miraculously -- he'd managed to keep ahold of during Morgana's sudden ambush. A flare of pain streaked across his torso, burning red-hot as he regained his sense of balance. The elf winced, pressing a hand lightly to the protesting ribs, but shook off the throbbing after a few breaths. Despite the speed at which the Hand's summon had seized the heroes -- faster than he'd be able to cast even the most rudimentary of defensive wards -- Fel found his body remarkably unharmed.

With some semblance of stability restored to his condition, Fel took stock of the situation. The heroes, alongside Carmen and even the king's three daughters, had been the only ones teleported beyond the reaches of Hofn's palisades. Before them stood a mountain of a man, a massive, ethereal knight that stood at odds from the world around it. Fel craned his neck to look up at the winged helm obscuring the knight's features -- and promptly decided no being had the right to be so tall. It dwarfed the heroes, even Chrome and Huang San, who themselves already towered over the others.

No, that was absolutely criminal.

Yi Nuo, Enthyskana, Nelumba, and Kai darted past the knight as it finally drew its long blade, the old elf's immediate judgement dividing the heroes in two. A flicker of doubt burst to life in Fel's chest, but he stomped it out quickly. Yi Nuo's percipience and experience had always proved reliable and they'd just have to trust neither group would get themselves killed -- at least, not too quickly. Fel's lips curved down into a grim frown as he raised his staff. It was an unusually morbid thought and one entirely inappropriate for the heat of battle, but still he couldn't help but wonder: how many would die this time?

"Right, right, let's get this over with before I die from boredom, shall we? Really, what is it with all you Olrodian dogs and yammering on and on as if anyone cares a whit what deranged nonsense you have to say?" Sighing longsufferingly, Fel leveled his glimmering staff against the mammoth of a knight as it finally shut its mouth -- if it even had one -- and took up its stance. "Flash Fire."

The air around the knight warped with a sudden distortion, the only outwardly visible sign of a rapid rise in temperature, before it exploded into brilliant flames. The snow around the knight hissed as it burned away in an instant, vaporized by the influx of heat.

 

[Nessi]

The Tide of battle changes

“Olrodian…Dog?” The knight muttered, before being completely engulfed by Fel’s spell. Everyone around could feel the heat emanating from the attack, but there were no screams of agony, or grunts of determination.
“I am…no Olrodian slave…” the knight muttered from the flame. Fel’s flash fire began to expand, and its color shifted into a brilliant golden flame.

The sphere of fire quickly dissipated, but what appeared from the fire left the heroes speechless. The knight remained, but completely changed, its once gray armor was now a mix of gold, black, and red.His once blue eyes were now a bright red, and in his hands, was a spear that was almost larger than the knight. It’s most prominent feature was the flag that was tied to the spear, a flag that was battered, charged, and even glowed as if it was still on fire.

“I am a Knight of Kalmar.” the knight proclaimed proudly, before taking on a fighting stance.
“Prepare yourself.” he spoke, and the moment that final word left his mouth, he dashed towards the heroes with blinding speeds. The knight didn’t bother trying to take them all on, but rather focused on one individual, the one who had launched the attack in the first place, Fel. With his weapon engulfed in fire, the Knighted thrusted his spear out, hoping to impale the sun elf.

 

[ThatWhichShouldBe]

Huang San

The warrior's monkey tail swishes lazily in the air, as he looks up at the ethereal knight. Huang San shrugs. Another day, another enemy. This one was a little bigger than the usual- But what of it? A foe was a foe. Up comes Huang San's staff, the Monkey King's Champion feeling the strength of the Harvest from having defeated Tatag filling his body, and he allows himself a small, satisfied smile. The longer this went on, the worse it would get for the enemy. As his fellow Hero unleashes a torrent of flame, the warrior slams his staff into the ground and commands it to extend, the divine weapon quickly carrying Huang San up, and up, and up-

The next step was simple.

"Ruyi, shrink."

The staff shrinks, yes- but only enough so that Huang San could swing the massive weapon right up into the Knight's spear. The impact rings out as their clash deflects the incoming blow so that it overshoots the mage. Huang San is falling now, but he commands his staff to turn into a hoe, quickly swinging out with it again to it to 'hook' onto his opponent's ethereal armor and 'swing' in for another blow as his staff retracts.

Giant-slaying was always a bothersome proposition.

"Knight of Kalmar or not- You serve Olrodia's ends. Fall."

 

[Worthlessplebian]

Tiberius Helvian, Longinus

Tiberius' ears were flooded. The rising swell of bestial sounds and pounding feet, crunching down the soft-snow as they barreled forward like a singular, tidal mass of mutated flesh. Pushing down the incessant noise, the gladiator continued forward, carving slabs of grey meat from the howling horde, spilling silk strands of crimson with each swing of his spatha. The rolling mass was too enamoured, too transfixed on storming Jorvik's walls that most ignored him, the few that did were torn down by him or Polux, who had been guarding his flanks as they marched. He knew if they wished, they could swarm him fully and the gladiator doubted his own survival then, even counting Polux. A path of impenetrable shadows was left in his wake then shuttered immediately with fresh, pallid bodies. Beneath the Jorvik helmet, Tiberius' sapphire eyes caught glimpse of the pale deformed husks, briefly. The gladiator grit his teeth fiercely. He wonders to himself how their vaunted Emperor acquired so many bodies? Slums? The battlefield corpses, as evidenced by their desecrated allies? He supposes, for the war effort, there is no level of depravity forbidden from the Olrodian Empire.

A large, lumbering shadow crawled. The Living Weapon's dreadful mass imposed down on the lone warrior. Its writhing lumpy flesh quivering sickeningly against the sanguine-stained sky. He lifted up his blade, chopping off pieces of tendrils that lurched to blindly attack him. It likely hadn't noticed him just yet, even if he pruned the tips indiscriminately. POLUX The gladiator mentally called to his companion. Just as the craggy-shouldered menace, draped in the ichor of the beasts, closed the distance to Tiberius, the ground trembled as massive footfalls stomped out clusters of the horde. A giant engaged the fat, bloated body of The Living Weapon. Delivering a blow with both its fist, the terrible strike rippled the creature's body like an ocean's wave, rattling the chains that held it down.

The flesh cracked, burst at certain points, lengthwise across the creature. Spilling effluvium into the sullen air, a wretched stench, shuddering and quaking in its pain. Tiberius surmised that several internal organs, or what could be called that, had ruptured from the blow. Trying desperately to birth another swarm of these fetid things. An icy-coat, like inorganic cancer, began to spread across The Living Weapon, freezing solid its outsides then insides. Polux and Tiberius knew what would happen next. The armoured being from the cosmos rushed to wrap its body around his friend whilst Tiberius crouched under his shield.

Shatter, went the creature. Chunks of flesh, as solid as rock, trapped half in ice rained down, plinking off the shield and armour, ice meeting cold metal. "Avoja, that was... Incredible!" Tiberius softly murmured under the cover of his friend. Tiberius inclined his head, the sharp eyeslits accentuating the soft glow of his blue eyes, he spoke to Polux. "Regroup." Tiberius said matter-of-factly, unfazed by the carnage without. But rattled from the discord within. As the gladiator moved, he felt a change. Insignificant at first, but grew larger with each stride back to Jorvik's walls.

----------------------​

His premonitions had proven correct, though he wished they weren't. One moment, the heroes had been in the ranks of Ragnir as they encircled Morgana, but then just as his body sprang to action with the attack-imperative, the Hand devised a crafty trick for them. Tiberius was dumped in the hard snow, reeling from the sickening effect of Teleportation Magic. He stammered to his feet, bracing his body with the shield's bottom half, adjusting his helm with the knuckle of his sword hand. He circled his shoulder—in a miraculous turn, Morgana had not killed them with the dislocation. She could've easily done so, Tiberius assumes. Instead his muscles burned agonizingly, finally catching a moment's rest to protest their abuse at Tiberius' hands. The gladiator silenced them with two breaths, there'll be more pain before this day's battle is out, he knows that.

For a moment, there was nothing but the wind howling between them and the far-off rustling tree-leaves, as Tiberius surveyed the situation before them. They thrown outside Hofn's palisades, with a singular guardian —impossibly tall, flowing with ethereal energies, his helm, adorned with metallic wings, glared impassively down at them. His voice riven with horror, he spoke of shadows and the void with a mocking and equally warning undertone. "More than you know," Tiberius softly whispered at the knight's warning. Swirling energies, in and out, contrasting the odd tatters of his deep blue cloth and plate plagued by rust at its seams.

He shifted his head, chainmail links rattling around his neck, to Fel. Rolling eyes and head at the mage's provocation. No Olrodian that Tiberius knows carries himself like that, or wears that type of armour. Fel was correct in one aspect, the Knight was a slave, though he brooked heavy resistance to that notion. The battle began after all was said, but left undone. It was incongruous, Fel struck first yet the knight resisted the blazing pyre. Armour shifted hues, a new weapon in tow, could he be adapting? Tiberius pondered.

He dashed with purpose, shedding a cloak of darkness in his wake, just as he cut through the hordes earlier. His decision was to impact the knight, deflect the attack from Fel's position, but it seems there was no need. That task was already covered. He shifted his foot, changing direction to circle around. He leapt up to strike the back of the giant's neck, leaving a sharp trail-plume of snow behind.

Though dwarfed by the size of the knight, Polux' armoured form charged with mace in hand. He turned his leftside back and prepared to swing at the knight's knees.


Interactions: Nessi (Knight of Kalmar)
Mentions: OldTurtle (Fel)

 

[LazyDaze]

AAXIR THE RED

Interactions:
Mentions: Nessi Worthlessplebian Bloody_Death ThatWhichShouldBe Nano

Horrified shrieks, battle cries, and sickening sounds grew louder and more frequent as the battle became intensified. It was something you would be afraid to become accustomed to, but necessary to tolerate. Self preservation and adrenaline usually allowed for such things to go unnoticed, but in a battle of this magnitude with ever pressing odds Aaxir didn't want to miss a thing. Eleanor dashed passed him, Huang San showed off his unparalleled might, and many others made their move elsewhere as the enemy, who Aaxir soon realized was a former ally, along with its horde had been held off long enough for his fellow dragon to unleash her spell to smite their taken comrade. Similar to their fight with Parzival, Aaxir suppressed any unneeded emotions for a later date, after all, should they survive he would have all the time in the universe to curse Tiryan, and pay his respects to his fallen comrades, but for now he focused on protecting those who were alive now at all costs. The Hammer of Justice found its mark and came with an order to end the puppet.

"Fel," Aaxir said to himself when he heard the order given to the Sun Elf. With his role as a blazing wall between the enemy and Enthy fulfilled, Aaxir immediately flew out of range just before a grand blaze of flame made contact with the soulless husk and set him free as if creating a makeshift pyre. All things considered, it was a fitting send off. It didn't take long for other developments to take place across the battlefield. Mahina would soon be defeated and the Living Weapon, in all it's putrid glory, would fall apart before Aaxir could get the chance incinerate it himself. One unaware of the enemy would foolishly take comfort in those insignificant victories. They were merely the opening curtain to the main threat. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Tiryan was somewhere enjoying his great comedy as the heroes were forced to slay their own and struggle against these horrible beasts.

"We have to," Aaxir began, thinking it would be best to regroup with Ragnir before splintering off where they were most needed; however, before he could say anything a monstrous being appeared before grabbing Aaxir, even in his dragon form, with ease and transported him to another area...there was nothing he could have done.

***​

Snow. It might have been inappropriate at the time, but the cool, softness of the water powder beneath his face was comforting. Had he chosen to lie there for the remainder of the battle he could achieve a peace that alludes many a man through eons. Having peace for eternity was tempting, but that was just the allure of death. Living was to struggle, survive, and accept the burden of consequence and Aaxir would be sure to give this life and the one after hell. "How many surprises are we going to have to deal with." Aaxir's first instinct was to curse under his breath, teleportation was a quick means of travel, but it always felt as if you would see your intestines on the floor every time you did it (Especially when it was involuntary). After a quick visual sweep of the area it became apparent that unlike Parizival's hate filled trump card, they were still in "their" world which was a silver lining in the entire ordeal except.....

"The horror..."

An ethereal giant cast his gaze down at the party who had been separated from Ragnir and the main force. His speech was hollow and his words were ominous, no doubt another unfortunate puppet like Tatag, but there was something else there.....Yi Nuo was the first to act, taking a selection of heroes with her to support the forces beyond. Aaxir would have loved to join them and face the main threat head on, but he had to respect Yi Nuo's decision making. He was certain her mind went beyond "grab those closest to me". In a sense she chose two parties, one to stay and another to take. Moreover, Kai was among the heroes taken, should the heroes left behind sustain any serious injuries Aaxir would have to use his Dragon Magic as a last resort to make sure they made it out alive. Despite the logic behind everything, it was still difficult to trust others to stay alive when you have seen the best you had to offer die gruesome deaths. Aaxir shook the thoughts down into the abyss, or rather, Fel's next attack snapped him out of it. Initially it was a surprise that Fel was one of the first to act, but on second thought, given the events that transpired you could easily view this as a tantrum being directed toward the enemy, but something strange happened just before impact. Fel's flame changed just before the knight changed form, seemingly unscathed. Aaxir couldn't help but hesitate....He never saw anyone brush off Fel's attacks in that manner.

"That doesn't seem like simple resistance," Aaxir said to himself. He spoke from experience. Given Aaxir's patron god and gifted genetics, Aaxir would know a thing or two about fire resistance. Sure Aaxir would be able to take Fel's flame based attacks; in fact, there were strategies that could be used to exploit that fact but it would still take it's toll initially and eventually. What had just occurred looked more similar to the abilities of his Obsidian Blade, absorption. It appeared as if the hollow warrior was wearing Fel's attack. While Aaxir pondered the nature of the ethereal soldiers power, Huang San moved to deflect it's counter attack. Tiberius and Polux fearlessly charged in to engage the enemy despite it's massive size. Aaxir then decided to move afterward with a great flap of his wings, shooting into the air. He circled around the soldier of ruin like an eagle who spotted it's prey. With his allies already engaged with the enemy, it left much of his arsenal limited and he did not feel like wasting his dragon flames in this situation.

"...Sorry, but I'm getting sick of everyone's sob stories. Shut up and die you rambling can!" Aaxir said to himself before charging up for another attack. He flapped his wings once more speeding toward the golden knight while simultaneously transforming back into his smaller, humanoid/hybrid form while wielding his great Obsidian blade. His aerial dive would target the other knee not engage by Polux to aid in throwing off balance in a powerful singular slash.

 

[Bloody_Death]

KAI NAKAYAMA

With Rohen's assistance, keeping the nightmare beast held down was so much easier thanks to her water chains. He gave her a small nod of thanks, able to retract some of his water tentacles. The battle with this spawner of beast soon came to an end. And there was a small moment to breath. But it remained very brief. Before he knew it, he was plopped face down on the snow so suddenly. He gave a small huff as he sat up. Brushing snow off his face and clothes before noticing the giant that stood before him. His eyes widened. He hadn't seen an enemy like this since...the final battle several months ago. This was sure to be a troublesome enemy...he was already monologuing. That's how he knew for sure he was the toughest of the tough!

"Kai. It's time to have your knight in shining armor moment!" Wanga suddenly exclaimed, which took Kai by surprise.

"Huh? My what? Wanga what are you talking about?" Kai spoke with a small huff and he fully stood up from the snow.

"You get to save a princess, of course. And you better hurry. Music man seemed to give her something to help stop the, you know, dying."

Why did Wanga always have such an odd way of telling him someone needed help!? He was quickly looking around spotting the person he was talking about. This was Princess Ingrid, right? Yeah, he was pretty sure that was her. Leaving the giant knight to his fellow heroes for a moment as he quickly made his way over to her, and Fel's friend who was also there. "Yikess...your stomach. Don't worry, I'll have you up and moving again in no time. You'd be surprised...just how often someone gets stabbed in the stomach these days." Sure, there was only one other person he'd treated who had been kebabbed right through the stomach...but in a perfect world, or a decently stable one, there would be no people getting stabbed like that. Humming his little incantation, the green streams of water he made would come and out and heal the stomach wound. "Mmm, I may have to ask you what you used to slow this down, mister fel's friend. Last time I did this it felt like a race against time-" And just as he was able to say that, there was a call for his name. And a Nel zipping right past him over to Baba Yi Nuo. So much for not having to worry about a super tight time crunch!

Cool! Kai had to speed up the healing process. Quite literally blocking out anything happening outside of him for a moment as one hundred and ten percent of his attention was locked onto treating this wound! He was able to treat her in just under a minute. Albeit with a bit of discomfort due to how rapidly he was mending flesh together. "Okay! What's done is done, I have to go now. You'll probably feel pretty sore but you seem like the type to tough it out. So go wild! I'll endorse it this time." Had this been any other time, he would fight this girl to make sure she rested for at least a day. But currently, they were a bit short on time. He waved the two off before running off to catch up with Nel and Enthy.

"I'm here, I'm here!" He called out as he quickly got onto the large tiger. Sitting behind Nel and held onto her shoulders as they began racing off towards where Ragnir and Morgana were in the city. It seemed like they were going to be supporting the king as he battled against the hand. Alright. This should be fine. Support was his thing! And Aaxir, and maybe Carmen, would be able to help any of the injured folks that are staying back with the Knight. Or at least keep them alive till he can come back and fix them. He wondered how many people he'd have to heal after this. Thank goodness he stored some of those leftover mana potions from the cabin. It felt like he was going to need them later.

---

Interactions: Nessi (Yi Nuo) || Dawnsx (Nel) || Nano (Enthy)

Mentions: The peeps fighting the Knight. And whoever is playing Carmen and Ingrid.

 

[Kibaa]

Khatiy

The coming days for Khatiy were slow and unusual. She had no recollection of the episode that she had endured, but understood that another episode had occurred regardless. Even so, her arrogance was too large for her to deliver an apology to Kai. She felt no remorse for attacking him, no remorse for standing up for what she believed in. Hargred was still an issue in her mind, it just so happens that the spiritual energy inside her had decided to do something about it. So be it.

She had spent her days doing several different things, primarily receiving treatments from Nelumba, of which she was reluctant to accept at first. Yet, some encouraging words from the sphinx Ter Cit had convinced her to say yes. Physical training was something she would have wished to do, but was to weak to do so for the time being. Instead, she meditated often, allowing her body to settle with the newfound energy that now flowed within her as a result of her healing mana circuits. Khatiy spent much time by the riverside, sometimes being visited by the ever curious Kannaka, who did more to annoy the Usaaman than actually soothe her woes. At other times, she found herself among the soldiers of Jorvik with Tiberious, doing her best to grant battle advice and strategy in whatever capacity that she could, tapping into her wealth of experience as a battlefield general. But, the days were slow, and many times, she felt a little lost, clouded in the mind by the situation that had occured. Everything had happened so fast, decisions about her own body were made on her behalf, without her input or consent, again and again. It was something she would always struggle to cope with, something that would always eat at her from the inside.

...

The Olrodian army had come, and there Khatiy had found herself, standing upon the palisades of Jorvik as two armies clashed. With keen eyes she watched, the army of Jorvik engaging the nightmare beasts, and her fellow heroes clashing blades against friends long dead. The presence of the Living Weapon, as menacing as it appeared, did not seem to phase the Usaaman one bit. So desensitized was she to warfare and bloodshed, that nothing seemed to phase her any longer. Khatiy glanced down to Ter Fuzen, who sat there patiently by her side, roaring at the enemy lines on the horizon.

"I have faced a hundred armies...
Slain a thousand enemies...
For I was born a monster, a killer... How many more will we have to kill?"

The Sultan's voice carried lament, as if some part of her had grown sick of the constant bloodshed. The party chose to stay. To fight. They had doomed the men of Jorvik to bleed and die, and it made her stomach twist.

"This is their battle, not ours. I will not kill for a country that would not do the same for mine. Besides, the heroes must learn to handle things without me. I will die one day soon. My body... is failing. "
Khatiy sighed as she turned around.
"If they all die, it will be up to you and I to clean the mess. So be it. Come with me, Prince Fuzen. We have another matter to attend to. Something sinister this way has come, do you smell it too?"
She asked of her guardian lion, who began to walk with her, his cloak and golden chains trailing over the snowy floor as they walked towards the Brynjolf house, where, unbewknowst to the party, another battle was transpiring. Ter Fuzen snarls lowly. "A trap, you say? Perhaps. It is true that if Lord Tiryan truly wished to crush Jorvik, he could have done so faster."

...
The walk was long, and by the time Khatiy and Ter Fuzen had arrived, it was a bit too late to discover that Morgana had arrived, and had defeated Ragnir's daughter in combat. Conveniently, the party had just finished dealing with the distraction outside of the palisades, and had shortly arrived here too, leading to an untimely reunion that would be sadly interrupted by a quick summon who snatched everybody into its hands...
...
Khatiy fell upon the snow with a grunt, quickly rising in a leap to instinctively avoid the cold surface, bits of snow falling from the thick fur cloak and hood that she wore, the hood itself customized with cat ears made of cloth that were made to leave space for the crown of Usaama and its own metallic cat ears. Her eyes fell upon the knight in front of the party, and her expression furrowed into a frow, as several frustrations began to race through her mind. What was she looking at? A summon, she could immediately tell. Her observant eyes, infact, could immediately tell several things about the knight. Even before it had introduced itself, she could already vaguely recognize its Kalmarish appearance. Her frown only deepend when Fel mistook it for an Olrodian minion.

As Yi Nuo arrived to take some of the party members with her, Khatiy immediately drew her Khopesh, something she rarely ever did, for the weapon was usually reserved for the worthiest of enemies. The fact that she readied herself so quickly was perhaps indicative of how much of a threat this enemy was, even if the party didn't seem to think so.

" -- Halt! -- Be patient!--" Khatiy tried to reason with the party, but they had too quickly spurred into action, and so she'd watch as the knight absorbed Fel's fiery attack, prompting another wave of attacks from Huang San, Tiberius, and Aaxir, against Khatiy's wishes. Quickly, she mounted herself upon the back of Ter Fuzen, who took off sprinting, beginning to circle around the knight from a safe distance as she watched, observed. Her eyes bounced quickly and rapidly, like marbles, tracking its every movement and every breath with pinpoint precision, taking mental notes of every single detail, even the smallest ones. She growled infrustration as the party provoked the Knight, triggering what seemed to be a hidden ability which completely nullified Fel's attack and allowed it to adopt a new battle style. Dealing with enemy Summons was perhaps Khatiy's greatest strength, she was a certified kaiju slayer, but it was difficult to do so when the party does not take the necesarry precautions to deal with elite summons like the knight in front of them. Although frustrating, she still had no doubt in the team's ability to take the enemy down, it was just that this could have been executed in much cleaner fashion.

"The enemy is a dangerous Summon. Please move with caution!" Khatiy alerts to the party as she channels mana to cast a spell, and it is perhaps clear from her tone that she is asking the party to delay any sudden actions while she analyzes the enemy. Her eyes and eyebrows furrow as she observes, it was as if she she knew exactly what she was looking at, but couldn't quite put a pin on it. The answer was at the very tip of her tongue. Where had she seen this Knight before, if at all? ... The memory eluded her, perhaps she had never seen it, but the vague memory of an old rumor raced through her thoughts.

Khatiy hissed at Aaxir and Fel and what they had to say about the Knight's dialogue. "Do not treat this enemy as you would Parzival. It is a Summon, the information that it has to share is important, whether you may agree or not! Listen to what it has to say, for it may contain the key to its own defeat! It is a Knight of Kalmar. As the rumor from Kalmarish merchants goes.. There was once a Knight of Kalmar who roamed the land, in pursuit of an ancient evil that he had sworn to defeat." Was that how the rumor went? Khatiy tried to recite it to the best of her memory, but the story eluded her, for it was an old tale that she had heard a few years ago. But Khatiy was someone who prided herself on her knowledge of summons and spiritual legends, often spending much time reading ancient books, scrolls, and pursuing fairytales and rumors.

"Sage Art: Soulsight!"
At once, an explosion of mana radiated from Khatiy, one which bursts away her cloak, tearing it to shreds, revealing her Sage tattoos glowing throughout her neck and cheeks as her eyes glow with faint magic. Fel and Chrome may be able to recognize this art as the exact same art that Ter Cit had used to scan Khatiy's mana circuits just a few days ago. This art does not exactly allow Khatiy to view the summon's spiritual properties in the way that Kaida can, rather, it scans the target and reveals key details about their physiology, with Khatiy in particular scanning it for any apparant weaknesses, perhaps chinks in its armor or clues as to its magical properties.

"Stay your magic, Fel!" Khatiy shouted out as Fuzen circled the enemy with the Sultan upon her back. "Do not be deceived by its knightly appearance, the enemy is well-versed in elemental combat. It may turn our magic against us-- proceed with physical attacks! His armor is not impenetrable!"

In unison with Aaxir, Huang San and Tiberius, Ter Fuzen began to charge at the knight from an open angle as Khatiy raised her weapon. She leapt from her lionin mount, deciding not attack the weak spot at the enemy's neck or knees, but rather, her idea was to facilitate the combined attack on the Knight;'s neck by instead attacking its spear hand. Roaring loudly, she spun through the air illustriously in a slicing cyclone, targetting the knight's wrist in hopes of preventing it from using the spear to defend its own neck and knees.



Mentions: Yi Nuo Nessi Nelumba Dawnsx Tiberius Worthlessplebian Fel OldTurtle Kaida Beann Kai Bloody_Death Aaxir LazyDaze Huang San ThatWhichShouldBe Chrome DSLIX Kannaka Fluff

 

[CasualTea]

"Ha! It's gone now. It's fucking---"

"Bleeeuuurrrggghh...!"

She was on the ground on all fours, bringing forth rainbows and sunshine into the world, letting loose wonderous joy in this desolate new world. The kids are singing and laughing, the mother and father just went back to their room to play 'bakery', the landlords regretting ever letting those bunnies live on their lands and Rohen, Tiamat's champion, is contributing to her patron's work. Tiamat, the mother of creation, smiles on her work as well as this tiny splash of joy Rohen involuntarily offered to her work. But she was not mad. After all, there's no mistakes just happy little accidents. She came to terms with this phrase a long while ago and reminded herself of this for Rohen's sake, as she continued to spew wonderous liquids of her insides. All because she still can't stomach whatever motions teleportation magic does for her.

"...Wonderful..."

Tiamat said with a sigh as Rohen just about finished. She looked up and couldn't even pay attention to the monologue of this knight. She'd be a little shaken if she didn't just throw up her entire gut and days worth of some of Jorvik's finest culinary work. Finally, some delicious fucking food, and she just threw it all up. She's pissed. She would've acted a long time ago if she still wasn't recovering still. Which gave her a perfect time to observe the battle.

Fel's fire not working against the knight was one thing, but still producing results was another. She noticed the dude's very theme changed. Something was up. From what it looked like that the knight had changed colors based on Fel's fire after it was engulfed in it and took no damage. Maybe she had right to assume it's vulnerable to water? She got up to walk closer to the battlefield before she started to perform her incantation. A narwhal crush him to death. "Weifan! Monocerus Caeli---!!"

It was only after her incantation should she noticed that her allies were clung on the knight still, attacking like toddlers to their alcoholic father. "No, no no no no no no, wait wait wait wait... WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT!!" It was too late, she can't take back the incantation and a large water narwhal breached from behind her and aimed to crush the knight including her allies. She panicked for a brief moment before she figured out a solution. However, it's the solution that she felt would make her stomach turn. "You fucking people...!

"SAMUDRARTHAAAAAA...!!!"

She cried out before a water dragon breached from the same place the Narwhal did and Rohen rode it towards the now mid-air Narwhal at peak arch. She jumped from the dragon as the dragon flew directly to the knight's chest area to attack, forcefully plunging itself into its chest to cause continuous damage as the body followed as well. Rohen then redirected the water being used for the narwhal into the dragon's tail, extending it which caused more continuous attacks to the knight's chest. Because so much water was being plunged into it, the water started to spread forth throughout its body, engulfing it like a coating and crushing down on it like any human would feel when suddenly dropped into the depths of the ocean.

Her allies were luckily spared from this pressure as Rohen was actively using her terraforming abilities and redirecting the water away from her allies and continued pressure everywhere else. In turn, she felt the need to throw up once more but she can't break focus. She was in mid-air, riding the water wave the dragon provided. How she was going to get down? Unimportant. Let's just try to avoid hurting her teammates before she can pass out. "Ngh... c'mon..! C'mon..!!" She strained, using all the energy within her to redirect and keeping from throwing up. She doesn't mind if someone didn't catch her, just please... Get off the thing.

 

[Nessi]

Nay! The Honor is All Ours!

Carmen Brio

Carmen shook the snow out of his hair, as he tried his best to recuperate from the sudden teleportation.
“That was…quite a plan….” Carmen muttered to himself. The young mage looked around, and could see the heroes rising from the snow. Ingrid was close, but was already being taken care of by the purple haired fellow. He heard the healer ask him a question, but simply responded in a sly grin, and a wink, before watching him climb onto a white tiger, and dart away.
“Carmen....a hand please.” a voiced grumbled nearby.
Carmen spun around, and found Hilda buried under a pile of snow. He quickly helped the princess out, pulling her out of the snow, and using a quick blast of wind to get the snow off her.
"Thank you." Hilda replied, before scanning the situation. After a few moments, she walked over Ingrid, and scooped her sister up.
“Gonna take her somewhere safe?” Carmen asked.
"I won't be of much use here, so I'll get Ingrid out of the way, and go help my father. It'll be up to you to defeat that thing." Hilda stated, before rushing off into the near by woods.

Carmen turned his attention to the elephant in the room, or rather the large knight that stood between them, and Hofn. The heroes wasted 0 time in getting to work with disposing of the summon, and Carrmen could only watch in amazement, especially when Fel unleashed a powerful explosion.
“Alright, I’ve gotta do my part! I hope you’re all ready for a magnificent performance to keep your mana up and stamina going!” Carmen shouted, before pulling out his conductor's baton, and closing his eyes. The young mage visualized himself in front of a full symphonic orchestra, with rows upon rows of musicians before him. Carmen lifted the baton, and the musicians readied their instruments, and once more, the sound of music began to fill the air.

 

[Nessi]

The Tide of battle changes

The knight clicked his tongue when Huang countered his attack, and quickly tried to retreat. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see the armored giant behind him, and grunted in pain as the back of his knees were hit by Polux and Aaxir.
“Not bad.” the knight muttered, before ducking his head to avoid Tiberius’s attack. A loud roar would cause the knight to twist to the side, and block Kaity's attack with the handle of the spear.
“So you’re the leader of these wolves…” the knight murmured, staring directly at the warlord.

Rohen’s water attack impacted the knight, and quickly coated him, but the crushing effect didn’t last long, before the water would lift off of him, and encase him in a sphere similar to the fire transformation. For those who were observant, for a split moment, the knight's face would be revealed. He had almost paper white skin, and a mess of black curly hair atop his head. His glowing eyes shifted from red, back to blue, before his face was covered up with a new, fish-like helmet.
The sphere of water exploded like a geyser, and once more, the knight emerged, his heavy armor having been discarded for lighter armor, and his spear being changed out for two swords.
Instead of charging in like he did before, the knight stayed in place, waiting for the heroes to come to him.

 

[Nano]

Enthyskana Rhoda

Interactions: Dawnsx (Nel) | Everyone facing off against Morgana

Mentions: --

Azure flames greedily consumed inch after inch of the mutant’s body until all that remained were faint silhouettes flickering within a sea of flames. The stench of burning flesh and melting fat rose from the pyres, overpowering whatever had been left of the familiar scent of dew and moss that had lingered only to disappear like a sigh. Though the battle waged on, Enthy remained transfixed by the sight of Tatag’s fading form. Only when the last of the ent’s body crumbled into ashes did the dragon turn away, mouthing an apology for their inability to grant them a proper burial.

Though Enthy wished desperately for the fall of the Living Weapon to be the end to their troubles, there was a stark difference between hope and expectation. Tiryan had made his determination to send them to an early grave clear, and she wasn’t so naïve as to believe that a singular Living Weapon and making a mockery of their fallen comrades were the crux of his plans.

By the time her concerns were proven correct, Enthy’s mind would be far too rattled to curse their luck for running into three hands so soon after departing from their initial safe haven. In comparison to the more gentle manner in which Nomad’s teleportation circle had gently allowed them safe passage to the log cabin, the suddenness of Morgana’s teleportation circles had both Enthy’s feet and stomach stumbling over an uneven ditch in the snow. Though Rohen’s stomach had decided her breakfast hadn’t paid enough rent, Enthy managed to fight off the nausea enough to keep her wits about her and heed Yi Nuo’s instructions.

To Morgana, dumped outside the gates, and back to the hand once again. Enthy was reminded of an old tale she’d heard of a prince punished for cheating death twice. The god of death had damned the man to an eternity of meaninglessly rolling a boulder to the top of a mountain, only for it to roll back down to the bottom to begin the process all over again. Before she could recall the name of the object of her musings, she noticed Nel leaning forward. Though she had squeezed in close enough that Enthy could feel her breath upon her neck, the dragon let her be so that the small fae wouldn’t fall off. It wasn’t long until she immediately regretted her rare gesture of magnaminty towards her mortal enemy.

Enthy rubbed at her ear furiously as a full body shiver ran down her spine. Good gods! What was this child going on about this time. She still had the mind to fool around during a crisis! The urge to slap the fae away had been triggered the moment the pink-haired fae’s giggle tickled her ear, but she kept her other hand buried firmly within Guo Yi Nuo’s coarse fur (and if the old moon elf felt her grip tightening, she was grateful that the elf had chosen not to complain about the matter).

Patience, Enthy. She’s but a child four decades your junior.

she thought to herself gloomily. At the very least, she had to commend Nel for doing her job of clearing the way for Guo Yi Nuo with her magic.

But wait…

“A Champion of…what?”

Enthy asked, her face growing pale at the implication behind Nel’s words. If she’d heard the fae correctly, it was a title she heard the pink-haired fae tote around like a catchphrase. However, what on earth had brought Shiva’s champion to the conclusion that she was planning on joining her in her horrifying profession?

Needless to say, when the foursome arrived back by Ragnir’s side, Enthy was quick to leap off of the moon elf’s back, as if she’d been burned by the tiger’s fur. The moment the tips of her feet touched down upon the ground, the disgust upon her face melted into a solemn expression. Summoning forth the Oathsworn Blade, she swung it once to the side before lifting it back upright so that she faced the flat of her blade.

“Travel forth with these gifts and may you vanquish evil in the name of restoring the world’s equilibrium. I hereby bestow upon you the Minor Blessing of the Lord of Justice.”

she chanted. Those affected by the blessing would feel a small warmth spread throughout their bodies, invigorating them with additional strength.

 

[Beann]

Suzuki Kaida

Nausea overwhelmed the kitsune as she dropped to her knees on the fresh snow. Teleportation was never easy on the body and considering she had eaten bread before the battle…well, it took all her willpower to keep it in. Her tails wrapped around her body, waiting for the nausea to subside. However, she wasn’t given an ample amount of time as her summon grabbed her by the arm, forcing her up onto her feet. “Now’s not the time, we’ve got bigger problems,” the spirit growled, his eyes fixated on the enemy in front of them.

A tall, tall knight stood before the heroes, muttering cryptic words as they prepared to fight. Kaida’s attention briefly shifted toward Oba-chan as she and a few other heroes agreed to retreat to help Ragnir against the Hand. She watched until Oba-chan’s divine form was no longer in sight and it only took one long blink to realize that the battle against the giant knight had already begun.

Fel’s flames were absorbed by the enemy. She wasn’t sure if that was the knight’s own skill or the special armor they wore but she assumed that the mage’s expertise would be of no help in this fight. At the very least there was a handful of heroes capable of dealing adequate physical damage, as shown by Aaxir and Polux. The knight’s height was intimidating for any melee-range fighter but it was obvious that Ryushi was unbothered. The spirit charged in as soon as the knight recovered from Rohen’s attack, taking on a slightly new form and exchanging their spear for two swords.

“OVER HERE, FISH-HEAD!” Ryushi taunted as he charged the knight, aiming for the legs that had already been compromised thanks to Aaxir and Polux. Meanwhile, Kaida clasped her hands together, pooling her mana in preparation to reach out to another spirit, one that would provide long-range support.

 

[Fluff]

Kannaka

You gave me the best of me...

"One! Two! Three! Smi~le!"

Flash!

She could still feel the girl's arm around her neck, blonde head pressed against her own dark one, grinning from ear to ear as the two stared down the odd crystal lens thing. The stone flashed brightly, leaving the two blinded, blinking stupidly at each other and giggling.

Kannaka nursed two apples in her hands, perched upon her favourite haunt of late - a shaded pine tree far above the city, crusted over heavily with frost. Mind rife with thoughts, but all she could do was hum emptily to herself, occasionally bringing an apple to her lips but always turning away, as though she couldn't bear to bite into the fruit.

"Alone again? Your friends are enjoying the hot springs, why won't you join them?"

The girl rolled her eyes, allowing herself an indignant ruffle of the feathers that sent powdery billows of snow cascading to the floor. Despite her deep, dark wings, the woods were equally lovely, dark and deep, and the girl blended right in, despite her occasional sneeze and shiver. "Here again? Why do you talk so much?"

"Well, because you don't talk to anyone else," Hou Yi huffed, the incorporeal voice crossing its metaphorical arms, and the two archers were at a standoff again, equally annoyed.

"Wow, it actually saved a picture of us..." Her voice rang out, laced with barely-contained excitement as she spoke the few broken words of the common language she shared with her new friend, pointing at the unassuming rock in her hands.

"Right? It's cool how it works, no?" The girl, so bright, brighter than the sun, grinned back. And Kannaka, like a moth to a flame, was pulled along.

Loathe to admit it, but it was true. Kannaka was, once again, rather devoid of conversation now that Khatiy lay slumbering and recovering. As sharp as the older woman was, an awake and annoyed Khatiy was far more interesting than a sleeping, silent one. In fact, it didn't feel right, being around the cattish woman without receiving an earful and a very literal ear twist for her troubles. Grumbling, the girl was deserted to her lonesome self, forsaken, destined to a long and lonely life of braiding her own hair, oh woe.

"That's so rude. I speak to plenty of people. Like, er, like Kai," She groused, blinking and drawing herself out of her thoughts again, though the hesitation in her voice betrayed her. "Yes, Wanga's hero. That boy speaks to everyone. Look, there he is right now, on the right." Naturally, Kannaka turned to her left, staring at the rocky mountain wall complacently for just a little too long before turning to face the other way. She watched as her teammates roamed the paths of Jorvik, talking, smiling, picking out onions and garlic, it seemed. She watched as her companions brimmed with life, with vigour and a zest for the things yet to happen. It was a good spot, sheltering her from the direct snowfall, allowing her to be a silent spectator to the events of the days yet to come.

"So, sit, lemme show you. So light is just electromagnetic waves, right?" Blank silence. "Ummm... So since all images and everything we see is just light, bouncing off of a surface and hitting our eyes, what this does is it stops the light from scattering everywhere and kind of traps it on the crystal surface!" Hesitant nodding. "And since light particles themselves have no mass, their path of travel also takes no energy! So photonic crystals like this, which have the lattic structure of a normal... crystal..." Blank silence again. "Soooo the memory of what the light last touched gets stuck on it! Kind of cool, right? The light comes all the way from the sun just to bounce off our faces and then get captured here!" Enthusiastic laughing, and the broken faced girl thought that was beautiful, as beautiful as the shining companion who knew to make miracles out of everyday life. And the memories crumbled like dried butterfly wings.

--

"I'm tired, Hou Yi,"

--

You gave me the best of me, so you'll give you the best of you.

The girl sat there again, barely moving, barely breathing, watching the blinding snowy landscape through her half-lidded eyes. The snow had a bite to it, the cold seeping into her bones, but the unmoving girl barely felt it, consumed by the hollow deep within her instead. Days like this, it was hard to care about much anything. Her gnarly, twisted mouth, set into a permanently ajar position, leaked a telltale stream of mist everytime she breathed out, despite her lips beginning to turn blue from the duration the warm-blooded creature had spent outdoors. Even Hou Yi's voice at the back of her head had dulled to a whisper, easily ignored and easily discredited.

"Hou Yi? Why did you choose me as a hero? I mean, you've never picked one before, right?" The girl had asked, in the early days of her apprenticeship under her patron god, back when she could barely hold a bow properly. The god had said something about a reader and a book, but the memories... were hazy. Running. She blinked, a slow, slow blink, her blank stare encompassing the stretch of town below, and beyond. What was it he had meant? She wasn't much of a reader. Run, run run. But sometimes, in slow, slow moments like this, as she watched a bright blue owl flit from the bushes of the springs, she understood a little bit of it. When she watched the hellscape of Walpurgisnacht unfold, unravel one tiny tragedy after another, she understood a little, just a little bit of it. A bit at a time, of the detachment between a reader and a book, simply a spectator to the events that were yet to happen.

"Hou Yi," She croaked, her voice dry and scratchy from the cold. Her patron responded. Make me run more.

"Just... a little tired, jiùfù Yi. Remind me again. What are we fighting for?"

Running is all I know.

--

So lean on me, and I too, will lean on you.

"Do you know what a butterfly effect is?" She spoke, more to herself than to anyone else, biting on her thumb as she watched Enthy chase down a figure through the alleys far below. Her cobbled fingers massaged her lumpy chin and jaw as she half-heartedly watched the exchanges between her party members and King Ragnir, the great white wolf of Jorvik. For all her skills, Kannaka was only blessed with great vision, not great hearing, so one had to make do and lip-read their way through the conversations. War was upon them yet again, as though they were done washing off the blood from their last clashes yet. Her eyes slowly drifted to the building where Khatiy lay recovering, watching the curtains sway emptily with nary a welcoming visage to greet her.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing?" She watched, as the city scrambled to evacuate and prepare for the bloodshed that was nigh upon them. She watched, as the army bolstered their defenses, a hundred goodbyes that they never expected to say. How many amongst them had fallen for them to get here? How many of her friends' bodies had she stepped over to stand, to live? Running is all I know, so make me run more. She watched, as despair reared it's ugly head again, and pieced together an amalgamation of horrors beyond mortal comprehension. The sight sickened her to her stomach, and it carried with it the stench of death and ruin. Bile roiled in her throat as she could but watch, simply watch as the spell stitched together a requiem of misery and despondence, tentacles flailing this way and that as though life itself sought to reject its creation. Every fiber in her being screamed in repulsion and defiance - that a creature as vile as this should fly in the same sky as she did, her very core recoiled in aversion. And perhaps doomed to the truth that she could not avoid as long as she possessed her hawkish vision--

Oh, to have plucked out her eyes before having to see such odious deeds would have been a greater mercy. Tears welled and freely flowed as she watched the cadavers of her old compatriots rise, shambling on with the characteristic shuffle of a Nightmare Beast. Dead, but denied a peaceful slumber; not alive, but forced to toil as one regardless. Far from the city gates, yet, her heart trembled as though they gazed into her very soul, Kannaka jolted to her feet, the branch splintering under the death grip of her powerful talons. Her frozen muscles screamed in agony, but her body wept for different reasons, and she choked on her tears, swallowing sobs and great gulps of cold air alike. The apples - she had brought them with her today as well, browning from age, but still good - creaked in her palms, as her fingers tightened around them, but she relaxed her arms before they could split. Was destruction a brand she could never wash off of her self now? Her weeping eyes rose to meet Hou Yi's, as the patron god stood beside her on the branch, seemingly weightless.

"Can you tell me it's all going to be okay?" Her voice was naught more than a murmur, a whisper amongst the pines, lamenting in so many unspoken words. She wanted to howl, she wanted to wail, to mourn loudly and performatively, to show everyone and herself that her grief was real, that it was real and eating her up inside and out. That the anger inside was burning her alive, that she didn't know who to blame, who to hate. That she didn't know what to do with the affliction of torment, of anguish thrumming deep within her chest, as though that alone was keeping her heart beating - as though destiny itself pitied her as it pointed its unforgiving finger at her.

--

Show me.

Kannaka sat watching the potters of Bharata busy at work, operating the most rudimentary of wheels out in the ramshackle huts they converted to their workshops. Working with earth had always been the primordial craft of man, for from the earth they came, and to the earth they would return. So Kannaka liked to watch, peeling an orange and sitting amidst the veil of its fragrance, watching the humans kick at their wheels as they shaped their pots. Hou Yi had joined her on one such occasion, accepting the peeled segments she passed him, although she wasn't too sure if he even ate. Wasn't he dead? Haunting her like some kind of palace or house - old men like him really needed a hobby.

"I'm not that old. Besides, did you know the oldest pottery production centre is in Zheng Fa? We're leading craftsmen in the art of fire and earth," The archer proclaimed, puffing out his chest as Kannaka watched him contemplatively, chewing on her half of the citrine.

"Yeah? You guys use that too?" She had pointed to a lump of white chalky stuff in the dark corners of the hut, pushed back as though forgotten, or worse, unwanted. The patron god looked closer. "Oh, we call that Plaster of Pyla. It's made of calcium sulphate. You should remember the name of these minerals better, they'd serve you well. Zheng Fa also created black powder, why, the power we hold as a nation-" The girl rolled her eyes and looked away, leaving the man to ramble away to the branches and the leaves about the strength of his nation. It didn't seem likely that black powder was made by that white chalky stuff anyway. Wouldn't it be... grey powder then?

"Anyways, plaster of pyla is used to make moulds. M-o-u-l-d-s. That's what that man has there, they're used to create many identical pieces," Sensing the girl's waning interest, the former king returned to the topic at hand, explaining the concept as simply as he could. It was always a tossup between what words to even use with the girl - despite her continuing education, Hou Yi had reason to worry that a word like 'identical' may elude the grasp of the teenager. Regardless, he took the long, neutral silence as a good sign and turned to watch the potter at work alongside his charge.

"Making a pot... looks hard," The girl grumbled, seemingly to herself, watching the man skillfully raise the earthen walls of the piece before scrutinizing it, apparently finding it unsatisfactory, and collapsing it no fewer than four times before finally taking it off the wheel to dry. She wasn't too certain what he found sufficient about this piece that he didn't in the previous four iterations - they had all looked identical to her, but perhaps that was what differentiated a master potter from the masses. "Yes, as with life, it's all about repetition," Hou Yi nodded sagely, never missing an opportunity to drop in a life lesson.

The girl's hands idly worked away at the now empty shell of the orange, twisting and tearing the peel into a five pointed star (like a starfish, she supposed, if she would have ever seen a starfish before. Alas, she hadn't, so we make do) before roughly tying it together into a vaguely human shaped figure. "We... are moulded... as people..." She muttered to herself again in broken Common, exploring the usage of the new word, while Hou Yi nodded approvingly, holding back a proud smile.

"You are! Moulded as warriors too," Kannaka's hands slowly grinded to a halt. Moulded as warriors? Yes, she supposed she was, under the tutelage of Arlux and the rest. Then... did that mean she was manufactured to be the same? One among many identical pots? The king seemed to possess some uncanny ability to read her mind, because he hurried to interrupt her train of thought. "Not quite in the same way as those clay vases. You... are... well, even among vases, there's always a difference, of course, one batch of clay will always be different from another batch of clay, so I suppose down on a molecularleveltheyreneverexactlyquitethesame- anyways! What I meant to say is, there's a concept of a mold breaker," He raised one pointer finger as though to emphasize his point.

"A mold breaker is... well, exactly what it says. You break the mould. It is a way of saying no one can imitate you. No one can replace you. No one can truly be like you. You are shaped to be who you are, and then the mould is broken. In this fight against Olrodia, and in this journey of life, no one can fill your spot in the party, in the odyssey,"

What a great burden...

And what a great privilege.


--

I'll show you.


"I can't lie like that, Kannaka,"

The branch creaked in the silence, a quiet testimony to the presence of the Zheng Fa'n ruler, as he crouched too to settle by Kannaka's side.

"That the road from here onwards would be easy, I can't say that. Saying that there'll be only good things from now on, saying that you won't get hurt anymore, I can't say that either. That you will only walk on flower trails, that you will only see good things, I can't say, I can't lie like that."

"I won't say anything blatant like "find strength" either. But I will tell you my story, if you will hear it," The older archer reached out to gently rest his hand on the girl's head, feeling her body shake from the suppressed sobs she hid away in her folded arms and crouched legs.

"Do you remember, when you had once asked why I chose you as my hero? Certainly, it's because you are an excellent warrior - clear of mind, and strong of body. You know what it's like to fight to survive, to meet every day head-on and to claw your way out from circumstances that life may have dealt to you. You know what it's like to fight for what you believe in, fight for what you stand for, fight to keep going. To fight to protect others, to fight for a life that you may not live to see, there is no greater honor for a warrior, any warrior."

"But it is in equal parts because you reach out for goodness like... like a sapling. You bloom for it, and it makes you thirst. You reach out for it, and it only dries you up. You try very hard to do the right thing, even if it wouldn't have been right by you to do that to yourself. You chase a sun that only burns you, nay, you chase it until it burns you. How many times have you wondered if you were the perfect fit for the duty bestowed upon you? I can answer right away - you aren't." He felt her body start, as though in anger, under his hand and his provocative words. "Of course you're not. There is no perfect role, as bitter a pill as that may be to swallow. Chasing that perfection has always been futile."

The patron sighed, furrowing his brows for a long moment before continuing, "I was heralded as a great king. The foundation column of Zheng Fa, trade and agriculture thrived under my rule, my army was strong and my power was undeniable. The Four Great Inventions fortified the position of Zheng Fa as a force to be reckoned with. But I was not a good king. My own hands guided my people down the path of alienation from the rest of the world. What I once heralded as one of my finest inventions, gunpowder, became the demise of many. Many remember me as the determined warrior who would arrive at a humble farmer's call for aid. Many more remember me as the merciless king who would let his people starve to death so that grain may be sold to other countries for their riches."

The former king began straightening up, weariness beginning to creep into his words, "You have seen it yourself, have you not? That you must believe wholeheartedly that what you are doing is correct, to so much as simply draw the bowstring. On days like this, where you worry if you're doing the right thing, days that feel like you are simply chasing in circles, it is okay to believe. On days where it feels like the edge of a cliff, open your heart and find that it has the ability to connect with every other heart you meet." With one last pat, the patron turned around and left, leaving behind a whisper in the wind.


Like a rose blooming


The noose of greed was familiar around Kannaka's neck. The ambition that was once her weapon could just as easily stifle her. On days like this, when she hated being herself "Just you watch! I'm going to be the best!" on days like this, when she simply wanted to disappear forever "And then you'll never have to worry about a single thing!" when comparing herself to the others had become part of her day "So wait for me to get there, okay?" maybe it really was okay to forgive yourself and to believe.

When she'd been willing to throw away her youth for success, she'd turned to the oldest member of the group. Mahina, in all his quiet wisdom, had listened to her troubles, and she had realised, that perhaps she didn't want to live impatiently and restlessly. Maybe, in truth, what she had really wanted was to become someone's comfort, to move their heart.


Like a blossom scattering in the wind


When the shadow inside her had demanded for more wealth, she'd turned to the woodland sprite who understood as little of money as she did of a home. And Tatag, in his warmth and kindness, had sat with her until his leaves curled shut for the night, and she realised that perhaps, she didn't wish to be suffocated by the greed. Maybe, in truth, what she had really wanted was to take away someone's sadness and pain.


Like the morning mist fading


And when she felt like she had run all she could, and that she could run no more; when her feet tore apart with wounds and her wings fell apart in pieces, when she wanted to cry to be shown the way, to be stopped, to be let to breath; when it felt like all she was doing was chasing butterflies...

I wanted to give back to someone, what someone once gave to me.


Like that beautiful moment


--

Stupid old man. Kannaka would need a hot cup of tea to warm up after he yapped her ear off all day. The Kinnari got to her feet, shaking out her feathers as she slipped the crystal into her bag, listening to the last of Hou Yi's words fade away in her mind.

Be someone that can smile when you see her again.

And Kannaka took flight again, leaving behind two apples, side by side.


You gave me the best of me, so I'll give you the best of you.

 

[CasualTea]

Rohen Xiong

CS Link

TIME:

[REDACTED]

LOCATION:

[REDACTED]

Notable Interactions with:

OldTurtle (Fel)

Offensive Discovery

Slamming to the ground was Rohen herself. Not a graceful landing that could spare her impact, but what would be called a 'Super Hero Landing' by a certain individual coating in red and black. Once she saw the results of her effort to damage the knight, she found something out after fucking around. Now what would be enough damage had been afflicted to the knight, it seems that he once again adapted. Instead of the fiery appearance it had prior, it now sported a more aquatic and slick look. She only caught a glimpse of what was underneath the armor but didn't think it was any useful information. If she had to guess, in which she just might be pulling answers out of her ass, this was just indeed a spirit.

Physical attacks seem to work but not a lot. If this goes on, they're going to be here a lot longer. The only solution she could think up that magic was the most effective way to defeat him quickly. But how were they to do that if he was adapting to whatever was thrown at him? If that were the case, the only thing left available to do was just to keep chipping away at him using physical attacks. But that would take too long and the more time the battle ensues, the more risks and potential of injury become present. "Dammit, he just changes forms again like it's clothing. Doesn't seem like my water will affect him now." She muttered to herself. "Tiamat, what do you make of this?" She asked, seeking Tiamat's advice. From the looks of it, Tiamat knew how to defeat it exactly. She knew everything about it down to the very last minute detail. However, what's the point if she tells Rohen how to do everything? She might as well have done it herself. To her, Rohen is young and young do what any living being on this world do; grow by learning.

She figured long and hard about how to convey useful knowledge to Rohen and finally chimed in. "Perhaps some words of your colleagues from the past may work?" This made Rohen to take a minute to herself while avoiding being in any potential range of the knight's attack path, not like he was going to be moving any time soon. It looked like he wanted her allies to bring the fight to him. And he seemed ready for any duel that came his way. The fact he switched out his spear for dual swords made her a bit uneasy. Surely, when he took on her magic as his own form didn't also translate to her combat experience. Even though it was unlikely, she still kept wary.

"Thunder doesn't strike twice in the same place." A Yamatoan woman with purple hair said as she looked off from the cliff to the other dry sandy cliffs of Pyla. She was donning a kimono modified for combat maneuverability and had a tattoo on her shoulder. "Bullshit, I've seen thunder strike a dozen times in the same place before. Choom was deep fried to a crisp. Dead on the spot, Murata." Rohen retorted. "I don't believe we're on a first name basis, you and I." "Yet you still call me by name, even during operations. Do callsigns not mean shit to you?" "Orca? It sounds silly to me." She scoffed. "Hey, Danny's the fucker who made it official. Took one look at me and said it reminded him when he once saw one." "And here you are not calling him Blackjack." "We're not on the clock, are we?" They both laughed a little before taking a shot of the rum Rohen had brought. "Naturally, thunder doesn't strike twice. If it did, there was cause. Something to draw attention to the location like steel or by pure will like divine judgement." Rohen chuckled a little. "Or maybe, it's just you." Murata sighed. "Yes, perhaps it's just me who did it." A brief silence came over them as they silently sat near the cliffside. "...You know, you didn't have to do it to him like that. I could've taken him." "I just wanted to show off."

The memory came and went in moments which gave Rohen several ideas. She sharply got up and observed the battlefield. Seems like everyone else is at a good distance from the knight, except Ryushi, but everyone important. She turned to Fel as she unsheathed her blade. "Hey, I think I got something. Fel! Get another fire cast going, light his ass on fire! As brain dead as it sounds, no shot he'll be ready to adapt to fire again. Let's put it to the test!!" She shouted as she rushed over to Fel, ready to move him if anything bad happens and the knight targets him again. She readied her terraform ability and hollowed out the ground beneath them. Should the knight charge at them once more, she would bring him and herself underneath and reposition by mobilizing underground. Sure, it'll do something terrible to her already nauseous body but this is war. Combat effectiveness must be at an all time high.

 

[DSLIX]

Chrome Van Der Linde

Nessi Beann Everyone else tryna fight big knight guy



Chrome simply studied Nel's treatment while watching the first few days of Khatiy's treatment just to make sure Nel doesn't make any sudden decisions that would possibly endanger Khatiy. Though, once Chrome saw it'll be fine Chrome decided to spend his time away from the city visiting his first home surprisingly seeing the cabin mostly the way he left it....other than that large tree the is now the second roof completely concealing it from above. Dust and bugs were everywhere when hen entered at first but nothing a clean-up couldn't fix. He even found his mother's shrine was still even intact too, which made Chrome feel a heart tugging nostalgia almost pull him to tears "It's been far too long." He mutters with his voice slightly shaking as seeing his mother's face in so long made him realize how close he was to forgetting it before. He simply meditates being slowly guided and having mantras chanted in his head by Hanuman supposedly helping his focus but Chrome didn't really care at that point. The most exercise he got was hunting his food and punching through rocks. Punching through rocks is something only the twisted mind of Hanuman can call training, though it did get easier the deeper he went so Chrome didn't mind it much. Chrome felt great being in his old home as old memories cluster his mind everyday he's there. Chrome spends the rest of his days before the attack started just meditating, punching rocks, and reminiscing about the simpler times in life.


Chrome was awoken on the day of the attack by the sudden smell of blood and fire which snapped him back to reality and makes him jump up and quickly straighten things up before grabbing his mother's picture and her old but somehow still sharp and un-rusted katana while adorning an old thick black kimono. It actually happened to be the one of the only pieces of clothing his father had that fit him pretty comfortably. As soon as Chrome steps outside he launches off into the air with the sudden ejection of wings from his back creating a near explosive gust of wind to blast away all the snow around him as he flies towards the city. Chrome flaps his large with with as much speed and power as possible despite the sound of him cutting through the air is deafening. After a few minutes the city is in sight and so is an enormous flying abomination dropping nightmare beasts all throughout the land. Chrome immediately dived down into the first beast he saw dragging it's skull through the ground as he lands and slides through the snow. Crushing the skull before letting go and inhaling deeply and letting out a long and deep war-cry trying to attract the attention of all the rampaging beasts in the forest so they don't escape to anywhere else in the land. Chrome activates his mana breathing and slowly draws his blade saying calmly "Your existence is a disgrace to this land so let me relieve you of existing." In a instant Chrome pounces forward driving the sharp edge into any beast slow enough to be in range of him and starts wildly swinging and twirling the blade in his hands. Chrome locks in to wicked dance of steel and blood brutalizing anything in front of him within seconds of dancing with him. He soon finds him surrounded by large puddle of blood that follows him wherever he goes making his bloody dance merely a casual stroll as with the new puddle of blood came an endless assault of projectiles that we're launched at the mere utter of a word from Chrome. Despite the amount of attacks due to the blood of the freshly dead beasts constantly feeding into the puddle Chrome didn't have to use much mana to manage it just shoot, watch the blood immediately pool out, and repeat until eventually all the beasts assaulting him just dropped dead. Chrome suspicious but unwavering much fills the largest and most intact piece of a beast's corpse with as much blood it can hold before dragging it along, eventually approached the front gate with the corpse and himself covered in blood before deciding to get a better look of the situation. He zips up into the air corpse still in hand but not a drop of blood leaks from it, while in the air though he gets a good view of the current battle at hand and tries to find his companions.



Chrome wouldn't have to look far though as a surge of magic teleports him and his corpse to a whole different spot in the air now some distance away from the main frontline. He starts zipping towards the city until his ear's heard the familiar voice of one of his companions. He then turns around to see the majority stand-off against a odd looking knight while a small few retreat with Lady Guo. He watches and observes his teammates attack the knight as he circles around them overhead trying to get an understanding of the Knight's abilities. Seeing how the knight seemingly switched his affinities to gain near invulnerability to a certain type of magic while staying mainly on the defensive and smiles maliciously while saying to himself "How cute." Chrome felt Hanuman smirk with him as the god chuckled slightly in his mind as Hanuman started asking in a menacing tone "Do you know what happens when an immovable wall.......meets an unstoppable force? Let's find out shall we?." Chrome finishes Hanuman's question already knowing where the God was going with it. Chrome starts to nose dive straight down towards the battle noticing Kaida trying to summon and support so he decides to attack the knight head-on knowing if he can make the Knight focus on him the most it'll allow the other's to either end it or give Chrome the opening to do it himself. He dives straight down only changing directions once he's a few hundred feet from the ground swinging around to drop off the corpse acting as his blood bank next to Kaida with a quick fly-by planning to save it for later or use it as a deadly trap if he goes for the fox mistress. He then rushes the knight flanking him from the opposite side of Ryushi retracting his wings to dropkick the knight dead in it's face using his blinding momentum and speed to add to his break-neck power looking to break through the wall of a knight no matter how long he had to fight.

 

[Kibaa]

Khatiy

A snarl escaped Khatiy as she crossed blades with the knight, who had keenly twisted himself just in time to parry her attack. Sparks fly through the air as her oversized Khopesh scraped against the knight's spear, slicing away the white bandages that were wrapped around the Khopesh. Khatiy zipped through the air, unable to stop the momentum from her own attack, gracefully landing through the snow with a stylish double carthweel. Quickly, she retreated herself from the knight to remove herself from harm's way, watching with observant eyes at what he'd do against Rohen's water attack, ever intent on obtaining information on the enemy. She had originally advised Fel to hold his magic for the time being, but the fact that Rohen now attacked with a separate element provided a unique opportunity to gauge the knight's abilities. Regrouping with Fel, Rohen, and Kaida, Khatiy furrowed her brows as she finalized her analysis of the enemy and completed her battle plan.

Battles between summoners could be summarily compared to a match of chess, and it a practice that Khatiy had humbly mastered over her many years of expertise. It was genius, at least for a brutish person like Khatiy, the way she could dissect a Summon down to its very smallest details. She was a Kaiju Killer.

"As I suspected, the enemy's guard and armor is not impenetrable. He is weak behind the knees, under the arms, and at the neck, so we will focus those pressure points and utilize our numbers to our advantage. His strengths lay in the fact that he is well-versed in both elemental combat and physical combat, but we will use those very facets against him." Khatiy nodded frankly towards Rohen, who, to Khatiy's surprise, had also been wise enough to detect the major flaw in the enemy's guard. The elements that the knight boasted mastery over would be his very demise.

"To begin, we will immobilize the enemy, and allow our physical attackers-- Huang San, Aaxir, Van der Linde, Tiberius, Pollux, and the spirit warrior Ryushi to engage in a flurry of attacks. Allow me."

Khatiy lanced one hand up into the air, sending forth a bright, stellar orb of light that chased into the sky and descended upon the knight before bursting into sparkling shapes.

"Come forth from the Heavens; Swords of Revealing Light!"

Bursting with mana, the light sparkles would soon manifest into bright, glowing swords of golden celestial light, circling around the knight. These swords shine light upon certain parts of the knight's body that Khatiy had earlier detected to be weak, such as the backside of its knees.
"We will hinder the enemy's ability to guard its weakened spots and grant an opportunity to our attackers, and most importantly, buy time for Suzuki to call upon a ranged warrior, who may ace this battle once and for all for us." Khatiy glanced briefly to the sky at that point, thinking to herself that perhaps this battle would be a lot easier if Kannaka were here to punish the Knight's weak points from range. She wondered where the raven girl was, it was difficult to pinpoint her scent with so much going on at the moment.
Clasping her hands together, Khatiy's mana channels into the large, glowing swords, which spin around the knight threateningly and begin to engage and clash blades with the Knight, attempting to keep his swords busy and provide opportunities for the party to attack.
"While the enemy is distracted, you will have an opportunity to bust the enemy's armor, Eleanor. Allow me to grant us an edge. The enemy has been brought back from the dead-- as cruel as it may sound, we must punish his weaknesses accordingly. Light and silver will carve our path to victory, and we will seal its fate with supplementary elemental and physical attacks which he will not be able to properly address all at one time."

Khatiy channels her mana for another burst of magic, drawing impressive amounts of power from Carmen's mana buff field. The earth beneath the hero's feet and snow shakes a little as Khatiy courses mana through the ground, before channeling it upwards into the circle of light swords that enclosed around the knight.

"Metal Fusion: Silver Armory:"

Sparks of mana fly through the battlefield, amalgamating into long strips of metallic silver that form into javelins. One half of the javelins begins to circle in unison with the swords, while some of the metal strips themselves fly towards Ryushi, offering to enamel his sword with a layer of powerful silver if he so accepts, as well as to whatever other physical warrior would like to accept it too. With these upgrades, Khatiy sought to keep the knight's own two swords busy, providing the party ample opportunities to attack from multiple angles as the light swords and metal javelins attacked the Knight's hands and sabers aggressively.

"This moment is pivotal! Fel, Rohen, please immediately follow up with an elemental attack of your own! He will not be able to adapt to multiple elements at once while at the same time defending his weak spots from our melee attackers, be sure to engage with different elements at a time! If you are able, allow Eleanor to create an opening in the knight's armor, and target that pressure point!

Khatiy's brows furrowed as she gave her best effort to keeping her support spells up and running, channeling large amounts of mana at a time, only able to do so with the aid provided by Carmen Brio.

"Attack now, with impunity! I will protect you from the knight's attacks!"

Two canines and lion ears sprout from Khatiy's head features, a natural interaction with the two curses that reside within her from the large amount of mana currently coursing through her. Firmly clasping her hands even more tightly, she releases another burst of mana.

"Grand Metal Fusion: Silverlight Bazaar!"

An aggressive, metallic sound echoes through the air as Khatiy's metal javelins spin rapidly and begin to enamel the Swords of Revealing Light, creating a dangerous array of anti-undead weaponry that belligerently attack the knight's wrists and sabers, with Khatiy doing her best to prevent the knight from ever using those sabers on the party instead. This combined magic was not exactly a fusion magic in the way that for example Twilight Magic or Golden Flame magic was, rather, it was an ingenious adaptation that layered one magic over the other rather than outright combining them, in hopes of exploiting the enemy's weaknesses in this specific battle.

Mentions: Eleanor Nessi Tiberius Worthlessplebian Fel OldTurtle Kaida Beann Ka] Aaxir LazyDaze Huang San ThatWhichShouldBe Chrome DSLIX Rohen CasualTea Kannaka Fluff