Steven
The man paused, and listened carefully for the first sentence following his query. His eyes set in a squint toward the figure of the deity, in anticipation of what it would first say, his body strained tight — as if in anticipation of some sort of physical rebuke for his question. And, yet, the first act she would take after he queried, was to respond. His brow furrowed, and he clasped his hand tight about the dagger burrowed into the back of his right hand, slowly and carefully tugging the malicious item from its prison of contracted flesh, listening, unamused, with the entity's following tirade.

```diff
- "That is, so to say... You are..."```

As Ursa completed, the man echoed the statement upon which he paused earlier. This time around, however, he would complete the words which he earlier meant to say.

*```diff
- "...Yet another empty god."```*

***`TUG`***

Finally wresting the form of the twisted dagger from its position buried in his flesh, the man sucked in another deep, coarse breath. The pain was, of course, despicable, and yet it was not the only thing that tolled upon his body. Between his right hand and that which churned from the *Inside,* The sharp pain of the blade being torn from the runebound appendage was the lesser of two worries. Standing, in a stumble, he took a step back whose distance was enough-so that the murky slime of the gliding incarnation of the god would not sully his opened wounds. He groaned, lightly, staring down at the bloodied blade, before giving a slow blink, unenthralled, and, quite honestly, repulsed by the presence of the apparition that so disgustingly *Identified* Itself as 'Ursa'.

```diff
- "The contents of your answer — no... The presence of an answer, itself... Mmm, it speaks volumes of just what sort of... Entity... You are."
- "What a pitiful outlook you have on reality... I do hope you are not eternal. For your sake."```

Her words of intimidation would move him not an inch.
_ _

*```diff
- "A true divine entity would spare no mere mortal such as I the honor of an introduction."```*

He spoke, scanning his eyes across the surface of the crimson blade, before swiping his right-hand's index finger over its lightly-gleaming surface. To speak while enduring such internal wounds was no easy feat; such transcendence of physical boundaries such as pain could only be attained through *Decades* Of built endurance. That endurance, and that ability to withstand pain, was perhaps what originated his capacity to speak with such an entity as the one opposite himself with such confidence. Whether such endurance and confidence was born of foolishness... Well. Only time will tell.

```diff
- "You should have smitten me with pestilence for the mere thought. If you were a... Mmm... Emissary, worth heeding, as you identify yourself. I have never heard of any divine creature suffering a man such presumption."```

He spoke, his eyes in a squint, and his pained right hand held close to his chest in a half-fold, as though he were unamused with Ursa's nature, as a very being. Continuing, he sharpened his tone — for this was truly that which irked him most.

*```diff
- "What manner of divine emissary threatens a mortal for knowledge? Does eternity itself not hold such answers? Or, merely, are you impotent?"```*

...So he spoke, with a pause.
_ _

```diff
- "Ah, and if you so desire to rid the world of the depraved, you ought to personally cull every living creature. Mmm... Such is the folly of a divine entity taking personal interest in the mortal realm."

- "Well. That is, so to say. I have no interest in speaking terms with faux deities."
- "Your beneficiary, lacking in subtlety as she was... Mmm. Yes. Even she could more ground clear in diplomacy than such a being as yourself."

- "I would prefer to push aside such... Ah. Idle threats. Lest you use your endless eyes and ears to snuff breath from my throat. Hm?"
- "All the more reason; bring back your naïve... Mmm, stray, as you say. Or perhaps you hope to put her to sleep for eternity."```
Alvin
"A greedy *Worm* Is spared and thinks himself invincible; capable of challenging a god." Ursa raises her head, eyeing him down with her spirit manifested. "How interesting. No matter."

The form suddenly morphs and twists, contorting as Ursa becomes something else. "Then, in that case..."
Jesse
Her form snaps and cracks violently as if made of actual bone, making the most chilling noises as the voice suddenly break out into a frantic cacophony of sound once more; a frightening display of mental dominance capable only of the divine.

From Ursa's guise sprouts boned wings, complete with a myriad of eyes. Her bear dissolves behind her into the original silhouette it came from, sliding up to the new formation. The goop around this foul, foul man suddenly snaps upward, restraining both arms as tendrils sneak around his legs, solidifying in an instant.
Ramona
"*Smiting* Someone as dull as you would be something you find gratification with. So, I've decided a new punishment effective immediately."

"I believe that, instead of being allowed free roam of this wretched church, you should *Instead* Remain in this one spot forevermore... Unmoving-" *Shhhhlork*, the tendrils wrap up this mans legs, "- and unbreathing." The ooze trails up from his arms, threatening to encase the entire man's face lest he make peace with the God of Governance he found before him. 

"Rest assured, the cat can still perceive you." He chuckles, coldly. "After all, who were to summon me if not her? She pieced together what's in that *Vial*, as well.."

"You do not plan to *Murder* Vaazva. You plan to do exactly what you just attempted to do to our poor 'naïve' housecat." 

"Instead of allowing that to happen, I elect to make sure you never have the opportunity to try it again. What say you in your final speaking moments?"
Steven
The man's eye was sharp, and so too was the resonance that gnawed within his spirit. The bristly, burrowing claws of the malevolent presence that carved his left hand and chest in its raw, toll-taking sensation of pain for forced penitence of his yet-unfulfilled vows, in what was a maneuver likely born of its own self-preservation, honed that dreadful sensation into an *Instinct.* The disgusting, sharp, wriggling claw that floated throughout his body poked against his innards — against his very spine — in such a manner that it would not damage nor pierce it through, but send a powerful impulse throughout the entirety of his body. Damning all pain and wounds, for just a single second, the man's body flared, and the blood that he spilled rapidly congealed into a web-like form, his body subtly contorting with an inhuman *`CRCK`* That allowed him to defy the weakness of his physiology. He leapt a body's-breadth backwards, and, with a sharp, painful breath, tumbled back and beyond the pool of ooze that sought to bind him. The sticky blood returned to its mundane form as he landed, and so too did his contorted body ease.

```diff
- "Mmmgh..."
- "Well. Here you do have some influence. So it seems, at least."

- "...Mmm. No... No. That is... Not right."
- "It is as I said, correct. We are two of the same cloth, she and I."
- "Pilferers each carrying the forebodance of distant patrons, one in the same."```

The man pressed his bleeding right hand against his chest. It seemed that the toll that was to be imposed upon him had been temporarily delayed, as if out of the *Minima's* Need to self-preserve. There were few blessings that came out of this parasitic relation. One may assume that this granted ability to, if only for a single time, instinctively avoid the binding of the manifest entity before him, would be one of these blessings. *It was not.*
```diff
- "I believe you do have confused me for another... Mmm,"```
_ _

```diff
- "No man is invincible. Not at all, you see. I am simply a being knowing of... Mmm. This... Claw's... No... This Ark's, limitations."```

The man twirled the red dagger in his left hand, and tossed it to his right. In the same motion, the subtle, red tattoo on his raw left hand shined alight, the subtle aura of *Malevolence* Silently expounding a magical command at distance. Still, and perhaps more directly relevant to the god(s) before him, he brandished the dagger in his damaged right hand, aiming it toward the goopy, abominable mass.

```diff
- "What power you display here is only that of the fragment of blessing imparted unto your beneficiary." 
- "Mmm... That is correct. These decades I have spent, bound, here have revealed that much to me."
- "For a god cannot itself enter nor intercede with the happenstance of this... Divine coffin."```

What he said was... Quite true. Direct, divine intervention, was nigh of impossible, within the Vektet. A deitous entity was granted some leeway to intervene with the inner workings of, what was as the stranger described to be, a 'divine coffin', so long as they do it through a mortal vessel that was granted entrance through the Ground Gate. However, to directly manifest themself through direct means would be utterly impossible, for anything short of a truly-omnipotent God that spanned cosmoses. 

The man shifted his grip on the dagger, and squinted his eyes of ambiguous color toward the entity before him. Its tip still directed in aggression toward the god, he swung it at the open air towards it — with no directly relevant threat, of course. Still, it was worrisome the enchantment imbued to the weapon... And what he was attempting to get at with his threats from such a distance was perhaps even more worrisome. A spell? A curse? A distraction? Or merely idly swinging at nothingness before him...
_ _

```diff
- "Mmm. Right. It has become clear to me. The reason for your beneficiary's distasteful... Failures, correct."
- "Perhaps it is through the spigot of your divine blessing that the loathsome tincture of overconfidence has seeped through her soul. Or perhaps it is simply that you are like-minded with a single, immature being of a mortal."

- "Pettiness is so little fitting of an eternal being that it is almost laughable. The Grecians revolved their fables about the piddling idolatry that gods thought and sinned so easily as they. Disgusting, their sort. And yours."```

His indignity was not born of a wish to taunt, but merely to display his distaste for the very *Essence* Of those before him. A cold hatred penetrated his heart and tone as he spoke, eyes still honed in a disdainful squint at the deity, and so too was the tip of his wicked dagger still aimed at its formless mass. His left-hand's fingers tapped against the handle of the blade with impatience... And with the essence of the arcane imbued into their fleshy form.
_ _

```diff
- "Right. It's as you know."
- "You are a divine entity of eternity, yet with finite strength. You are believed to be boundless, and yet all things are not held in the palm of your hand..."
- "And so your beneficiary is of the same ilk."

- "Challenging those far beyond her own strength, picking fights with old beasts who exceed limitations in strength several rungs beyond those of her own corporeality... A pitiful sight that sores sored eyes."

- "Mmm. That is, so to say... You, and your beneficiary... Are overconfident."
- "You ought to know. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳."

- "Or perhaps eternity has pulled the fleece over your eyes."
- "Perhaps your eyes observe everything. But they do not 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 everything."

- "Alas, even if blinded, your beneficiary will take the fall for your failures. Right. It is as I have said. Such is the folly of the divine taking personal interest in the mortal realm."
- "So it is, my question to you — how long do you believe her to last, following in the same vein of folly as you? It's only a matter of time. Mmm. Before she, a pilferer of this divine realm, is swallowed by such imprudence..."```
_ _

He subtly shifted the draw of his raw left hand's fingers, curling them in, and out, as though one who tugged on strings. His posture and body-language was most uncomfortable, and so too was his tone and way of speak. The malevolence that clung to his figure shifted and ebbed with each curl of his fingers, as though he called on its filthy nature to perform some sort of act for him.

```diff
- "Yet I digress." 
- "All of this is to say one thing. You will wrest no strength or knowledge from my being through threat."
- "The terms of our oath have been present before your all-hearing ears from the moment my preparations concluded. That you are unknowing of this fact proves your impotence."
- "If you so wish to press your illusion of control born of overconfidence, I should inform you — such a wish will not come to fruition."

- "Recede. I would speak to your beneficiary, as I requested. Or perhaps you think that an iron fist shall solve all issues. It will not. And those who think in such a desultory way are unworthy even of my attention."```
Jonathan
"I can hear, and perceive you, as the divine before you claims." The cat speaks — voice strained as if she were fighting back the urge of revealing that information.
Ramona
"I am one and the same."
Jonathan
"I am one and the same."
Ramona
"It is through this painful vessel that I know now that perhaps, in my times in the *Isles*, I was *Too* Kind to the residents. Those who cast me aside. Those who banished me for doling out the punishments they *Worshipped* Me for.. No longer,"
Jonathan
"For I am not to be trifled with."
Ramona
"In that case, perhaps the best punishment..."
Jonathan
"Is , instead of binding *You* As an individual.."
Ramona
"Razing the church as a whole — leaving the entrances unaccessible..."
Jonathan
"Mmnnn. .." This thought seems to have been constructed by the host itself, as the automatons turn around to defend from any potential attack that may come from behind or above the group. In the end, they still bow to the same body.
Ramona
"Your foolishness fails you yet again, it seems, for you twirl..." The being would raise an eyebrow here, as if it actually had one. "... A blade... Against a pile of goop. How terribly frightful." The speech grows tired and sarcastic, leading into quite the exaggerated yawn. "How... *Threatening.* If I had boots, I'm sure I would be positively *Quaking* In them right now."
Jonathan
"By speaking to the Timekeeper Cadwynn, rest assured you speak to me as well. I am present, and I am still willing to bargain."
Ramona
"But, only a fair deal shall be allowed, lest we take our business elsewhere."
Jonathan
"The art... Of the deal." The cat replies to her counterpart's message.
Ramona
"Verdan's teachings." He bows his head. "You think that I am foolish — unknowing that you are attempting to set an ambush — that is not how this fight will go. I humbly suggest-"
Jonathan
"-you lay down your arms and submit before your blood finds itself a most unusual paint-"
Ramona
"-on these *Wretched* Walls."
Jonathan
She rises to her feet, looking at him. No, *Glaring* At him. "I don't need what I already have. Your promise of eternal life doesn't benefit me in the slightest degree. What I *Hunger* For is knowledge, and what you desire... Is *Freedom*. Between those two things, what do you think is easier for me to throw away; knowledge, or the freedom of a stranger who would have me trapped to fulfill their desires?"
Ramona
The ooze stands guard, vigilantly waiting out these "Negotiations", confident that the two halves — mind & body — had come to an accord within themselves, as this man demands to speak with the cat.
Jonathan
She waits for about a second before raising her arms in a shrug. "Well? You wanted to talk, let's talk."
Steven
```diff
- "Mmm..."
- "Well. I am not entirely certain. Whether I should be disgusted... Or impressed."```

He continued to brandish his dagger, its tip aimed still at the formless mass before him. His tone was slow, in a half-groan, as he rubbed—*`CRCK`*—the back of his neck with his raw left hand, his ring finger snapping unnaturally as he reached to do so. Still with the odd curling-about of his fingers, the man squinted, and paused lengthily, following the two's coordinated speech. He would keep his eyes close on the tabaxi, his demeanor yet still with the underlying element of anger. The stranger cocked his head, and lowered his left hand yet again, with yet another revolting crack of one of his fingers.

```diff
- "𝘔𝘯𝘯𝘯𝘨𝘩..."```

The active pangs of pain brought about by the *Minima's* Toll had passed, yet the lasting damage that its bristly claws within his internal organs would not so conveniently fade away. Repressing further groans, the man took a rough breath in, pressing his left hand close to his heart.
_ _

```diff
- "Regardless. You two are each as I have thought, be it by the fated likeness of souls, or by the corruption brought about by a deity's descended ideals."
- "Mmm. Yes. I have made my mind up. You are indeed revolting."

- "Still yet, unknowing of why you do, you continue to strain your surfeit of prowess in combat over one who has done no more than offer you an oath of knowledge and of strength. How churlish."
- "Truly, you believe that the nature of this oath is intended to bind you to this church? 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦."
- "For you, the beneficiary, perhaps such a lack of knowledge could be excused by your lack of perception... Mmm..."
- "But. An all-seeing deity, incapable of rationalizing beyond a first glance... How dreadfully ironic."

- "Yes. That is correct. I did say — I would prefer to push aside such idle threats."
- "Or perhaps it is merely in your nature to kill all those who so superficially slight you. Mmm... Actually, that would make quite some sense."```

The man spoke, with a slight tug of his gnarled, raw, left index.

```diff
- "In any matter... I do tire of your aggressive nature, lacking in subtlety."
- "Mmm. That is correct. The 𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 would not call to someone so... Adversarial."

- "I am rescinding the offer for oath. You deny the blessing of vitality, and you are utterly unworthy of a spider's 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢."

- "Ahh, but I would suppose... Someone who lusts for blood as you do... Would be quite vexed by such a statement."```
_ _

His left hand furled tight into a fist, and the malevolent aura that enshrouded him amplified, even if only in slight. Within the moment that such a presence roused its head, something within the atmosphere about Tabby *Shifts* — and, within this moment, the ground at her feet becomes increasingly, worryingly... Sticky. Like the binding thread of a *Spider.* 

```diff
- "I ought to look out for my own life, after all."
- "For, indeed, as I did say, my only desire is to die a normal death, as any man would."
- "As you have so... Unpleasantly described... You seemed quite keen on taking my life, if our offer did not go precisely as you desired."```

Were Tabby to direct her eyes to that which bound her feet to the ground, her glance would be met with the worrying sight of *Red* — the crimson taint which the man dripped from his slashed-then-impaled right hand, with intent for her to *Digest.* The blood, met not by her hands, but rather only by the floor, had puddled on the ground around her. Seeing as she had not moved from her initial position, its position was most beneficial for the man as *Insurance.* In the moments that he brandished and gathered their attention by idly swinging the dagger about in the air ahead of himself, he subtly manipulated the blood, congealing its form into a robust, sticky substance that would hold her to the ground.

```diff
- "Indeed, as an all-seeing god... The fact that you could not see through this... Mmm."
- "An 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩, you said... You are indeed impotent."```
_ _

The man spoke, almost chuckling, yet not growing so complacent as to believe he had *Already won.* Indeed, if this did escalate to an actual battle, he would swiftly perish. And so, he slowly began pacing away from the quartet of threatening individuals, yet not before—

***`CRCK`***

Tabby's *`Alert`* Feat warns of her an attack, as the man's left index finger twisted, the image of a crimson *Spider* Tattooed on his left hand glowing alight. A gale of malevolent energy gales towards Tabby, and yet there is no tangible damage dealt... Whatsoever. There was nothing to block, nothing to dodge, and nothing to intercept...

...Except, there is a slight warmth, in the pocket which she tucked away the *Vial* That he granted her.

If she did not entrench herself so deeply within his planning before threatening to attack, she could have easily have won this battle. Yet, now, being so thoroughly entwined in his conniving and scheming... It posed itself as an incredibly a troublesome situation for one to be in. ***Where she had tucked away the vial, she felt a subtle prick — as though a needle had stabbed into her body.***
_ _

```diff
- "The venom which has permeated your bloodstream, once initiated, will cause your body to become the breeding-ground for yet another 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢. You, being unbound by oath, would have your soul devoured, and you would certainly die."

- "Mmm... If I killed you where you stood, I would not have to worry about the irksome existence that is your deity. The thumbnail's grasp it has on this... Distant... Realm, so to say, would fade with your snuffed life."

- "Still."
- "I am not exactly fond on the idea of clashing with your machinations."
- "And so I am holding that venom from taking your life."

- "Ah. I suppose this should go without saying. Don't move... Or begin to cast a spell, tricky as you are. Negotiations are still well on the table... I am not so, ah. Boorish, was the word. —To take your life, or to use it as... Mmm... Material withwhich to bargain, for something I want of you. All I hope to use it for is to preserve my own."

- "Indeed. How dreadfully ironic, as I did say. That you... What was it... One who desired to rid the world of the depraved... Would use such unsophisticated and vengeful means to meet an end."
- "Such disgusting behavior is only fitting of men like me. Tricksters, vile men, those whose spirits have thoroughly been sullied by that malignant venom."```

He squinted, lowering his extended dagger to his side. He continued to take steps back and around the group, so to distance himself comfortably from any sort of sudden attacks that might come his way.

_ _
```diff
- "Working with you has proven itself to be a... Less than fruitless endeavour."
- "You are... Terribly lacking in subtlety, and, as is that beast, Vaazva, you are driven mad by the opportunity to kill another."
- "To continue to be in your presence any longer is only a liability to my life."
- "All this, so to say, depart. I would have no more of you or your god's words."

- "I will leave that venom in your blood to protect my own life... And to take yours, should you threaten me again."

- "Oh. And if you would go about that plan of razing this church — if you are somehow capable of razing stones... How you would go about doing such is a mystery — I would... Mmm. Certainly advise against such."
- "That terrible, silver-clad beast, which you encountered, would be most displeased."

- "Begone, now, then."```