text:
=Them Boiz=
Interactions: Ain, Vali, Obito, Unknown Girl, and Jenny
Mentions: Junko/Hyenas Pai Chan
Where: Abandoned Cabin on the border of Mollug and Xact
When: Current Time
"Can you tell your mut to close it's mouth while eating?" Obito said laying on a the sofa while watching everyone eat. Ain laughed while drinking his booze and destroying his plate of food. The group had found a abandoned cabin on the border of Mollug and Xact.
Ain got up after finishing his plate and burped. Looking over to where he assumed Obito was at Ain stuck a tongue out. "Why don't you ever eat with us?"
"I told you this how many times?"
"And I'm asking again!" Both them pulled their guns out ready to fire at one another at any moment before Vali stood up from his seat.
"Alright you two that's about enough. Jenny thank you for the meal."
The girl that's been traveling with the group of men nodded taking everyone's plates getting ready to wash them. "Orphis hasn't gave us any news yet? She said she'll have the mission ready for us by this time."
"We're in no rush we just got out here and all we been doing is fighting mindless demons and random monsters. It's best we get this time to rest up. We're still on the border of Mollug and this country which I can't pronounce."
"Hopefully us being here I can get some ammo for my pistol, I'm running low." Obito stated to the group getting up walking over to the two men he's been traveling with. "Has Junko ever contact us with that communication device I made."
"Nah nothing yet. I'm sure the Hyenas will be alright, probably blowing some shit up." Ain responded letting his guns turn into flames that faded in the air. Ain walked over to the sofa that was broken and laid on it. He let out a sigh as all they been doing is fighting through Mollug and finally get some time to rest. "Jenny, What do you know about this Orphis chick?"
"I know she's exteremely powerful and super scary when she's mad, she's killed many of her own soldiers for simply sitting down in her pressence. She probably can't do that to you three because your stronger, but I know you should all watch yourselves dealing with her. That is all."
"You've said a mouthful you don't have to stress yourself out." Vali stated leaning against the wall looking at the four in the room. There was Hyena troops outside on guard that were left behind by Junko for extra protection. The troops were hiding in position ready for anybody un welcomed to come.
"Are you ready for your next mission?" A familiar voice could be heard as all the men jumped up and looked towards the direction of the voice it was the little girl, the leader of the Legion. She was sitting on the table kicking her feet while smiling, she had a blank face. Vali walked over to the girl with his hands in his pockets.
"What is it?" Vali responded to the girl while Ain and Obito came to his side.
"Go to Golin a city in Mollug, they have a item that I want. It'll benefit you three if you retrieve it. The item is the tomb of Vacia. It's known to grant the wielder immense power, though it can possibly kill you if you don't use it correct. I'm sure you'd be interested in that?" The girl finished looking at all three men.
"We're not just your pawns that'll keep doing little missions for you we do our own shit. Got it?!" Ain pulled both his twin pistols out aiming them at the girl. She just smiled at him as her eyes shined a bright red. Obito got in between the two defusing the situation.
"We refuse this mission or at least we're going to lay it off. We're actually waiting on reuniting with a ally of our group. With our joined forces then we'll go on this missions."
"You mean the mindless Hyenas? Vali and Ain are more then enough to take down that city. There's hardly any Mollug military pressence there, or is it you lot are scared. Remember when you allied with me you agreed to do as I asked."
"As long as it fit in our agenda. Don't get too carried away, I understand you're quite powerful as many have told us though we make our own decisions at the end of the day. Got it?" Vali said with a serious tone towards the girl as she let a sighed and jumped off the counter walking passed the three men. They all watched her pass by as she turned around looking at the three.
"Plus we haven't seen your hand." Obito mentioned, he was talking about her army that she mentioned to the group. The girl laughed and faded in the wind, the three men looked at each other then at the girl who remained quiet the entire time. Her face looked like she seen a ghost as she was completely terrified.
"Man f*** that girl who the hell she think she is always demanding us shit." Ain said kicking the table over. Vali grabbed his shoulder which made Ain swat his hand off of him. "Don't touch me you idiot, I never agreed to being her lap dog. I decided to travel with you because you said we'll be free and do whatever we want! The hell we look like making allies with Hakai and this Orphis chick!? Screw both of them, next time she talks reckless I'm killing her on site."
"Fair enough." Vali said in response to Ain. Vali walked upstairs to his room to get some rest after dealing with everything.
Reactions: Juju, nighttimecatplayer and Pai Chan
=OutCasters Hideout=
Involved: Kinji, Hiyori, Choji, Hitori, Yuri, Lia, Jugo, and Yaha
Location: Outskirts of Castellan
When: Before the siege
Mentions: Team Pony Kotori/Wakinyan/Susan Juju Csilla Fluffykitty9000 Hakai Kai123
As that day went on Hitori had overcome his emotional drawbacks and triumph through Jugo's training. Another day rolled over making it two days Hitori has been training with Jugo making it three days that have passed during the week. Although very taxing on the body Hitori kept pushing and finally he won. With his blade at Jugo's throat after constant battles between the two the group watched in shock that Hitori was even able to get a clear victory. They thought it would've taken him longer, but Hitori surpassed their expectations. Finally the long hard fight that lasted a whole day of back and forth swings of Jugo constantly getting the slip on Hitori. Jugo caught Hitori, whose legs were shaking and his body looked worn down. Nothing went through Jugo's head, but how talented this body was. Hitori mentioned he was only 19 yet had so much untapped potential. Turning his head towards the group that just arrived at the two sides, Jugo let go of his sword which turned into purple particles.
Kinji rested his hands within his pockets with a smirk on his face. The boy was successfully getting stronger and at a rapid state. Hitori's mentioning of combat being the only way he gets stronger was showing a lot right about now. From training with Choji his magic power had risen dramatically and with Jugo's help Hitori toughened up more and polished his sword skills. Though Kinji had to remember, Hitori shines best using his fist. Choji walked over to Jugo, healing Hitori enough for him to walk on his own. With a nod Choji backed away. With that the night ended with the next day rolling over making it four days.
Today Hitori had to face Yaha, yet with an option to go easy and use his eyes or to train legitimately and close them. Of course without backing down Hitori closed his eyes for the remainder of the training.
"Is he sure about agreeing to those terms?" Jugo asked who was watching from the distance, sitting on the ledge of a rock pillar alongside the rest of the outcasters. Kinji smirked watching while standing up with his arms crossed.
"Well he can't improve if it's too easy on him right?"
"I mean Yaha already has the advantage with his invisibility, but you're having Hiyori going to sneak attack him too? Isn't that overboard?"
"While Hitori was training with you and Choji I noticed something in him I've never seen before. Let me say that. If you can see it or not is on you."
"I noticed it too."
"Yuri just knows Kissy is strong!"
"What the hell are you both talking about? Choji do you know?"
"Sadly I'm in the dark with you Jugo."
"Lia spill it for me."
"Can't, you heard Kinji. If you can or cannot is completely on you. I'll give you a hint. If they push him too far that's when you pay attention."
"Oh that's a good hint, I thought you were bluffing saying you see it. Well those glasses do more than rune reading? Hehe"
"Shutup."
"Heh… So you're watching close. Are you both interested in him?"
"I'm treating him like he's one of us, not our weapon. I watch all of you closely. I know all of your weaknesses and most strengths. Either in combat or socially. So to say I'm interested in all of you."
"They're about to begin." With that said by Lia everyone spectating stopped the chatter all paying attention to the two on one.
Hitori closed his eyes shut taking a deep breath. Standing still he focused his mind and body. To him it felt like a shockwave from his body shot through the whole training room. Yaha stepped behind a pillar disappearing from sight and any mana detection. Hiyori was still hiding supressing her mana so no one could detect her either. Hitori stood still waiting for Yaha to attack. Two days passed making it Hitori's fourth day of training under the Out-Casters care.
Barely blocking yet taking multiple direct hits from Yaha and Hiyori both comboing him simultaneously. Hitori tried his absolute hardest to keep up with his eyes closed. Hiyori's passive magic was kicking in and her hits were doing more damage, the two successfully pushed Hitori back. Going for the finishing blow the two punched shoulder to shoulder towards Hitori yet he flashed stepped out of the way. The two looked around to notice Hitori was behind them on a rock pillar, his eyes still shut. Hiyori was shocked to notice Hitori was starting to pick up on his speed inside of the room. Yaha went invisible once again dashing off towards Hitori's position, without a word Hiyroi followed him. Hitori then listened to their footsteps flash stepping after them. The one he came in contact with was Yaha landing directly in the gut. Yaha coughed up Saliva before getting sent flying and rolling across the floor. Hiyori turned to see Yaha in shock, until she turned back her eyes opened wide, noticing Hitori was going to punch her with intense speed. Before she knew it Kinji had flashed stepped in the way blocking the attack, the clash created a small crater under them.
"If I didn't jump in the way you would've done something you'd regret."
Hitori opened his eyes in shock, jumping back scratching the back of his head while awkwardly laughing. Hiyori's face was red from the embarrassment, although it didn't stop her from taking her sandal off and smacking Hitori constantly on the face with it. After a few slaps Hitori grabbed her wrist yet she broke free from his grip.
"SCREW YOU!"
"THAT HURTS YOU KNOW! WHEN YOU CONSTANTLY SLAP LIKE THAT!"
"YOU TRIED TO HIT ME WITH DEADLY FORCE THIS IS TRAINING ASSHOLE!"
"I THOUGHT WE WERE ALL FIGHTING SERIOUSLY DAMN NOT MY FAULT YOU WEREN'T READY SHRIMPY!"
"SHRIMPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Can you guys… calm down…? No…? Okay…" The two were going back and forth while Kinji and Yaha watched them. Kinji was starting to get annoyed with the two so he stomped over to them hitting them both on the side of the head. Watching them landing on the ground Hiyori got up even more mad than before.
"WHO THE HELL TOLD YOU TO HIT ME!?"
"YOU BOTH WON'T SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!"
"Ouch man.." Hitori said, rubbing the side of his head that got knocked by Kinji. Kinji walked over to Hitori offering a hand to him. Hitori took it standing back up, following up to the two smiling at one another. After letting go of Kinji's hand Hitori looked over to Yaha to make sure that the man was okay, which he was. Yaha walked over to the group of four to listen to the conversation. Everything was going smooth, the group was bonding with their new found member. For the next two days Hitori was going to have to train with Kinji and so he looked forward to it not going to sleep the night before. Doing physical and mental exercises Hitori trained the whole night barely going to sleep an hour before training.
As the training began Hitori and Kinji clashed furiously. Kinji had given Hitori the option to go all out now that he was physically stronger then what he was the last time they sparred. The two were having fun going all out, while they fought Kinji kept giving Hitori pointers to help him further polish his training. After the two fought all day and were physically drained they took a bath together in the training room's hot spring which was unaffected by the rooms gravitational enhancement. Kinji and Hitori both had a towel wrapped around their waists, although Kinji had one on his head as well. The two were the last to bathe out of the group, because that's what Kinji wanted.
"How do you feel with the group? We've been together for five days now."
"Good, like I said before I appreciate everyone on the help, and just making times like these better. Y'know I'm still recovering from thinking about my world being destroyed after I was summoned here. I met three friends before being brought here, but I left them to get stronger. I just hope they're doing the same. Mollug isn't a joke."
Kinji's usually smirking face got a bit serious while listening to Hitori speak. "I'm sorry for your world being destroyed. If you don't mind me asking, what was your world like before coming here?" Kinji rested his arms against the rocks, while sitting back waiting for Hitori to answer. This was the best time for the two to bond on a one on one level since the group was off doing their own thing.
"Well, to start it was a very complicated world. Things that you thought were reality wasn't reality. On my world…"
As Hitori spoke to Kinji explaining how dark and terrifying his world was yet there was some peace in certain areas. Although the mentions of 20+ ft tall demons on the hunt to turn the world into darkness made Kinji shake a bit.
"So that entity, the "Shadow". What is it?"
"I've never personally seen it for myself, but when I was younger my elders always told me it was a force of evil so powerful one that looks into the shadow will be turned into a corrupted version of themselves. It's like they lose their humanity and undergo these changes that go against the laws of life."
"What do you mean..?"
"The person who deemed the power from the shadow does become stronger no doubt, but… You know if I were to stab you in the heart you'd die right?"
"Well one who gained powers from the shadow does not die.. Yet they undergo these weird phenomenons known as hollowing. Until they complete the shadow's request they will continue to undergo Hollowing until they reach the lowest point of hollowing. We called it the withered, those beings are usually found in the darkest places within the shadow lands. In order to replenish the light in my world I had to go on a solo journey across the shadow lands and collect souls to then use as fuel for the fire."
"So were you close?"
"Nearly yeah. Until I died trying to protect a village from a crazy powerful mage, that I hope I can face again. Hopefully SIN will do that much for me right?"
"Probably yeah, like how he summoned you and your friends. How many were there that got summoned?"
"SIN told us there was a group before us so I can't really tell you how many of us there are."
"So he's getting out of control… You didn't have anyone from your world brought with you?"
No response came from Hitori which made Kinji tilt his head in confusion. Kinji then understood the one that was summoned with Hitori, must be what he was so afraid of. Lia mentioned to Kinji that Hitori was afraid of something, although obviously the demon in him scared him, but he hardly mentioned the demon interfering with him since the last time Choji placed the blessing on him. Choji hasn't placed the blessing since which made Kinji curious why his demon wasn't coming out.
"I've been asking you all the questions."
"Yeah I actually wanted to ask. Why were you guys exiled from Nortestra? I remember you mentioned it the other day, then again when we ate the other night. How Nortestra might go against us like they did you guys."
"Oh that.. Well it dates back a few years ago, people within the walls of Castellan started to disappear simultaneously, but more than simple death, there were no bodies found. Only the victims' clothes remained in their place. The situation caused a great uproar within the militia. The king terrified what was going on sent out investigative groups, yet they weren't heard from again."
"How is that possible?!"
"I feel like I have a clue on what was causing this, but at the same time I have no credible evidence."
"Continue sorry."
"But yeah, so commander at the time Jugo of the black knights took his lieutenant Yuri on the investigation to check out what the hell was going on. They searched each wall. Yet when they left I never saw them again… So I personally asked the King to go on the investigation myself, I took Commander of Executive Militia Yaha basically ninjas to make it easier for you, Magic specialist Choji, a close friend of mine Hunter, and Liberian Lia. On our way to Yuri and Jugo disappearance site we met up with Hiyori, who was the lieutenant of the commander of research and development at the time Ian. She was there collecting samples for him. Though as we finally arrived we found ourselves attacked by demonfied Yuri and Jugo. Even though we had such a massive group the two were just too strong with their new demon found powers. Thanks to Choji though he managed to seal the two for a moment, while I saved that little brat who was unconscious at the moment Hiyori. Out of nowhere she attacked me, like what the hell?! I didn't understand why till I noticed strange markings on her body. Then not too long after everything went dark for everyone. After the darkness faded I was the only one that wasn't striked down and had to witness everyone bleeding laying on the floor unable to move. When I realized it, it was Toren. If you manage to remember these names I'm going to tell you good if not it's okay. Toren was at the time a lieutenant under Forsith the four armed giant. Anyways. I questioned Toren why he would betray us, knights that bled together to protect the walls of Castellan, why he would betray the king yet I got no response from the man. He just watched us all undergo the transformation into demons. Then a face I never thought I'd see was my own lieutenant, his name is Aldreg. He arrived with another knight that didn't gain popularity until we were dismissed from Castellan. Gen. Remember those three names no matter what Hitori you got me?! I'm telling you our past, I hate all three of those guys with everything I have. Aldreg, Gen, and Toren."
"I will remember them, don't worry!"
"Good. Now all that happened after that thanks to Ian he turned us back into humans, but we were accused by Aldreg and the King as vigilantes seeking power to overthrow the king. I don't blame them though I did have a history with picking fights with royals."
"Because why do they get to have say over everyone and live such lavish lives while everyone else is normal? Everyone should be equal, y'know? That's how I see the world at least."
"You mentioned a name Hunter, where's he?"
"Heh. I do not know."
Heavy breathing coming from Hitori on one knee. His body was heavily wounded. Kinji was swinging his sword with his fingers. Kinji smirked at Hitori who seemed to be through for the day. It was the day before the invasion. Hitori struggled to get back up, completely standing up straight.
"Not yet." Hitori stretched his body again getting ready for another round with Kinji. Kinji has been helping improve Hitori's training boosting what he learned from the other members. Kinji noticed Hitori's efforts to try and improve the most he could. He's gotten a lot stronger thanks to the intensity of the room being weighed down and taking heavy hits. Kinji flashed stepped a few distances back.
"Come on then."
"One last time before we call it a night! I'm going all out!" Looking up at Kinji, Hitori smirked, flash stepping off after him. They engaged into intense combat sending punches and kicks.
Kinji threw his sword in the air duking it out with Hitori. Kinji knee'd Hitori in the gut. Then his clone sent Hitori plummeting down. Hitting the ground Hitori struggled back up. Kinji landed on a rock pillar smirking still. Hitori gritted his teeth and they flashed stepped at each other continuously making clash sounds. Kinji was flash stepping backwards going through the rocky terrain as Hitori chased after him. Kinji flashed stepped around a corner throwing Hitori off nearly making him crash into a boulder. Front flipping Hitori bounced off the boulder blasting off towards Kinji. Pulling their swords out the two engaged in a speed sword fight still flash stepping around the massive training toom. The others watched from the spectator platform above the rocky terrain. Hitori went to punch Kinji sheathing their swords. Kinji blocked the attack and threw Hitori down to the ground. Before crashing into the ground Hitori flipped, landing on his feet then blasting back off upwards to Kinji.
As their training ended Hitori was found laying on the floor looking up at the ceiling breathing heavily. Kinji walked over to Hitori holding his hand out, once Hitori took it and stood up, Kinji dusted Hitori's shoulders off.
"You've gotten a lot stronger than I expected, saving your friends shouldn't be an issue. I noticed you don't use magic a lot."
"Fire magic is very destructive. I only resort to using it if I really have to. For the most part I like using my fists."
"I noticed. Lets eat before training again tomorrow morning."
Involved: Junko, Vali, Ain, Obito
Kai123 Pai Chan
Junko made her way back out of the gates that led to the church grounds. Trent was already there waiting for her, looking bored out of his mind. Junko looked about for a bit. There was something missing.
"Where the hell is that fly on the wall?" Trent already knew who she was talking about. Sowilo was never very talkative with the rest of the group. And she always seemed kind of far off in her own mind.
"She suggested that she stay here for now."
"She what?" Junko shouted. "Who the hell does she think she is?" Trent shrugged.
"You know she technically isn't part of our group. She made that clear from the start." Junko put her hands to her head. Now was not the time for the witch to dip out. But there wasn't time to try and beg Sowilo to come back either. The Hyena leader angrily took out the communication device Obito gave her. She motioned for Trent and the other Hyenas to follow her as she made her way back out of the city.
"Can anyone hear me?"
Ain was snoring laying on the sofa after drinking his life away and eating such a good meal for a long time. Obito laid across from him in some blankets while Vali took the only room upstairs with Jenny, the two shared the bed though slept on opposite sides of the bed. The device started to buzz on the table on the side of Ain which didn't wake him up. Obito jumped up from the alarming buzzing as he walked over to the table grabbing the communication device he made early. Double clicking the top to hear the message it was from Junko.
"I can hear you loud and clear. Where are you currently?" Obito asked calmly while watching Ain sleep like a beast in a cave. "Your favorite is here undergoing his eternal slumber." Obito made a small joke, hopefully getting a laugh out of Junko.
"That bastard is really sleeping like a baby without me there? I dare him to be asleep when I get there. He should be sick with worry." Trent cleared his throat.
"Oh, right. So we are in Ilaria, off the border of Xact. Had the city mayor call me in for a favor. She wants a favor from us. We just kidnap Bai Ling and make sure she doesn't return to the city. The girl who used to be part of the gang, anyway. In return we get a free pass in the city as well as a good sum of money. Enough money to get us some nice equipment to supply my whole outfit and you guys. That sums up what I've been doing. What about what's going on at your end?"
Obito gave a quick glance to Ain after hearing Junko speak of him being asleep without her. Obito then looked back down to the device listening to Junko speak on the situation she was in. "Well, besides him being completely drunk he's pretty much a dead body." Ain's snoring can be heard in the background. "Copy I'll pass the message to Vali and see what he thinks once he wakes up everyone is resting since we've been traveling non-stop. I'm in as long as we get money and a free pass, Albert's database tells me Xact is a very powerful country and we should be on our toes regardless of what the mayor says. For us we've crossed paths with an extremely powerful mage that goes by the name of Hakai. The one we heard rumors of before called the black terror. We're now allies and will aid each other in any crisis or so I think, for all I know that guy will turn on us. He nearly killed me when we first met, so not much of a first impression. We also met another powerful mage who's the leader of a group named Legion. She gave us some money and equipment that we gave to your Hyena members you left behind to help guard us."
"We've actually collected a fair amount of loot ourselves we can compare when we reunite. That's about it. We'll head over to Ilaria as soon as possible."
Junko nodded. Another group leader? Well, so far they seem to be helping. And Vali and the gang seem to trust them, at least. It wasn't something Junko wanted to occupy her mind with at the moment. She had more than enough on her plate, as is.
"Well, since we're on the topic of not-so-good-news, I thought I'd tell you that apparently Bai Ling is with an angel or demon; they weren't too specific. Some big winged chick took off with our target. Oh, and it doesn't stop there. They are off to, most likely, reunite with a goddess that happens to be away with a Xactian commander. It's safe to say the mission will increase in difficulty, tenfold, if they catch up." Trent cleared his throat again.
"Oh, and Sowilo says she doesn't have any plans on leaving Ilaria anytime soon, if at all..." Junko quickly said. "But there's no time for goodbyes since there's some urgency, at the moment ,and we are on a ticking clock. "
Obito listened to Junk talk once again as she mentioned there to be bad news, of course there was. It was always something when it came to their luck in these particular situations. When Junko mentioned Bai being with an angel or demon it made Obito cup his chin with his hand and he started to think of possible situations. Then boom Junko added that they were reuniting with a goddess who was currently located with a Xactian commander which would cause issues, as getting involved with the militia would not be in their best interest.
After the mention of Sowilo being stationed in Iliaria made Obito shocked since he was actually getting along with Sowilo, though she did make it clear she wasn't truly a part of the group and rather gained information to increase her magic.
Without a question asked Obito pulled his pistol out and shot a random cup which woke Ain up. Ain jumped out of the sofa and barrel rolled drawing his twin pistols towards the direction of the sound.
"What the fuck who's there?!"
"It's just me you idiot that was the only thing to wake you u-" Obito was cut short when Vali busted through the sealing not in his armor, but wings out. Jenny fell to Vali's side stumbling from the fall. Vali helped her back up to her feet then looked at the two guys.
"What the hell was that Obito?" Vali questioned his ally as the Hyena members ran in with their guns ready. Vali signaled them to stand down and return to their post; it was a false alarm.
"It was to wake you fools up, we have urgency to head towards Illaria. It's a few miles from here riding Fenris. We'll arrive there in an hour or two." Obito tossed the device to Vali as he caught it. Vali clicked the top of the device twice as he was now able to talk.
"Junko?" Vali called out to the girl through the device.
"The hell, you mean we have an urgency?" Ain asked Obito with an irritated face scratching the top of his head with one of the guns. Obito explained to the group what Junko told him and they all looked at each other nodding that they were all in. Once Junko responded to Vali they would make their next move.
"Hey, big cheese." Junko answered. "I trust we are all on the same page about this mission? Apparently, Bai Ling and that winged woman have about a full day head start on us. But we got info on where exactly the goddess and the commander are going. So, hopefully, that could make up some time."
"Yo." Vali responded to Junko before scratching the back of his head and stretching his body after just being awakened from his nap. "From what Obito says we'll be there in an hour, but I'm going to fly to you to arrive at a quicker time then we can head out after the two before they get too far. The others will catch up, and we'll meet up wherever. I'm passing the device back to Obito. See you soon." Vali finished tossing the device back to Obito who caught it with ease. Vali looked at Jenny and patted her head before walking to the door of the cabin. Obito gave the directions to Vali before he left the group.
"I'll see you three soon." With that Vali blasted off into the sky and towards Ilaria.
Obito looked at the others as they all ran out to Fenris informing the Hyena members what was going on, the Hyenas got on the back of Fenris along with the main three and they rode off towards Ilaria.
Within thirty minutes Vali reared in on what he thought was Ilaria though he wasn't sure so he used the tattoo SIN gave the summoned to communicate with each other so long as they were in distance of each other. Junko you nearby?
Junko's heart skipped a beat as the random voice in her head suddenly spoke. Then she realized it was Vali and calmed down.
Yeah. I'm just outside the city.
Junko had one of her members light a torch and wave it as a signal.
Vali waited for Junko's response before he started looking around the outside of the city, to Junko and others they would see a bright white light in the sky moving at high speeds. Vali noticed a small light that shined passed the trees and blasted off towards it. Upon arriving he landed gently and his wings turned into blue particles that floated upwards to the sky.
"Long time no see." Vali looked different as he no longer wore the same clothes as before, he was in a brown jacket, white t-shirt and brown pants with black shoes on, and a black belt with a gold buckle. He shook hands with all of the Hyenas in the area as a respectful gesture giving them all a welcoming hi after not seeing everyone for so long.
Obito and the others were still on their way to Ilaria with Fenris running through the forest at top speeds jetting towards their destination.
"Was just starting to miss you." Junko said in her usual flirty voice but her face didn't show signs of playfulness. "So, I was pretty pissed about the job at first. And Sowilo opting to stay behind didn't help. But then I remembered that you can fly as well. So you could easily scout ahead. Hell, if we're lucky, you could even catch up to the pair. The sooner we are done with this mission the better."
Vali turned his attention back to Junko once she spoke about missing him, he gave her a quick smirk before stuffing his hands in his pockets and listening to what she had to tell him. He looked off into the sky after hearing about Sowilo no longer being a part of the group. "I was wondering when she was going to leave. Her time was coming sooner or later. Anyways if what you say is true then I should head after them now, what direction did they head off in?" Vali looked off in the direction he came in as he could sense Ain's magic power far off, but getting closer. "Good they're on the way."
"Come on. No need to be sad. Once this job is done we can come visit the weird witch all we want. She'll likely be in Ilaria for a while. She didn't seem to hate all of us. Sowilo got along with Obito pretty well. So I don't think she'll cut all ties." Once Vali asked which direction the targets flew off in Junko took out a compass. She turned and then pointed.
"The people said in that direction which is also in the direction of Nortestra and Belldan. But according to intel, the goddess and her buddy were going to some warfront in Castellan. Bai and her friend don't know that so they will likely be stopping frequently to ask if people saw who they are looking for. And that'll be how we catch up. I'm pretty sure a woman with bigass wings should be easy to spot."
"That is true her and Obito were always talking about some stuff about this dumbass world." Watching Junko point towards the direction Vali looked and nodded looking back at Junko while she continued to talk about what she thought would be the best way to catch the two. "If we're in no rush to catch them since they're headed to the war front we should wait here for the others so everyone is up to date on the plan. I guess we should get comfortable while we wait then." Vali said jumping up lifting himself on a tree branch laying against the tree.
"If I remember I heard about the winged woman apparently she was in that city we were in before we separated. She was accompanied by a scarlet haired knight, if I remember and a small thing. What did Obito call it? A droid? Something like that."
"No witnesses said anything about any others..." Junko pondered for a moment and then her eyes went wide. What a small world.
"Wait. Sowilo mentioned someone like that group before. In fact, her and that winged chick come from the same place! I think we should find the witch and see what else she knows." Junko looked down the road, back at the tall standing walls, and thought about how much of a pain it'd be to find Sowilo in that large city. The only thing Junko knew for sure was that the witch was inside. But even with her standout looks finding one individual in there was going to take time. Probably too much time. The gang leader didn't like the fact that the longer they waited the more distance their target was putting between them.
As time went on Vali started to get impatient so he jumped down from the tree and gave Junko clear instructions to follow after him once the group arrived. He was going to head straight towards the girls they were going after, he could feel if it was as serious as Junko made it then waiting around would be worse then they thought. Vali activated his divine dividing wings and took off towards the direction of Bai and Heather jetting off at top speeds leaving Junko and the Hyenas behind.
Reactions: Juju, nighttimecatplayer and Kai123
=The Crimson Knight=
Previous Location: Mollug
Current location: Castellan
When: Beginning of the 2nd Siege
Mentions: Hakai Kai123 Rojy/Mulv Solirus Heather Pai Chan
After the events with Heather within the city Erza decided to go on her own route and train herself in case a situation like that happens again and she can't protect herself or her friends to the best of her own ability. Also being around vivician gave Erza motivation to grow stronger than before. Erza traveled all throughout Mollug, even ending up in Boreal hearing stories about the "Black Terror" and a bearded man who took over the town. She also gained information on a possible war between nations which sparked Erza's interest to go and find out what was going on. Truthfully Erza missed Mulv and Heather dearly, but she knew this was for the best. She covered herself in brown head wrappings, and a brown cloak that protected her appearance from anyone.
"So about that war, by any chance you can tell me who is on the winning side?" Erza asked the man she sat across from in the bar as they both shared drinks together.
"We are of course, our militia is unbeatable! Though we've lost a very important commander in the recent invasion thanks to some pesky summoners." The drunk man told the scarlet hair knight.
"I see, these damn summoners are starting to be more of an issue then we expected."
"Exactly ma'am, you wanna come back to my place after this?"
"Thank you for the offer, but I must be heading out now." Erza got up from her chair finishing her drink and walked out of the bar leaving the town entirely. She rode on her horse straight
She was hiding her true appearance which was the Crimson Crusader though she knew it was for the best if she was going to get anyone from Valucia to talk and not think she was some summoned. As she rode off towards Castellan she came across troubles on the way dealing with the world's natural creatures that lurked the shadows of the many forests. She was fighting her whole way until she made it close to Castellan. As she got closer she would pass towns that obviously were raided and destroyed by Mollug, she felt bad. Taking the time to even check if there were any survivors, but none. Dead bodies everywhere including destroyed buildings all over it was sickening, but this was the result of war. Erza walked into a house that was heavily damaged and found a small picture frame with a family photo and it made her heart ache. These people were just commoners who ended up in the crossfire of warfare.
As she continued on she noticed that the clouds were heavy as she got closer and closer to Castellan the smell of battle covered the air. She could barely see thunder strikes coming down on the mass city so she rode on. Thankfully the direction she was coming from completely bypassed the Mollug camps so she had less struggles going through the city. Once she got deeper within Castellan her horse was shot by a Mollug mage which made her jump off and begin her fight against Mollug army. From a distance Erza can see a giant mech ravage through the city and different powers be used all at once so she continued taking out anything that looked like it belonged on the Mollug side.
While she was killing many soldiers from the Mollug side she felt magic powers opposing a natural mana source. It didn't feel right so she headed towards the direction disregarding everything else that was going on in the area. She felt like this was the right thing to do.
Reactions: Pai Chan, Juju, nighttimecatplayer and 1 other person
Interactions: StaidFoal
When it came to trying to hack anything remotely close to an A.I., there's always a bit of precaution involved, even for someone as rash and impulsive as Zasha. There were risks involved with anything she did, but having been experienced with that type of danger, she wasn't too bothered of the outcome. In terms of battlefield hacking and reprogramming, the general consensus in her universe was that it was better to fix and repurpose the code when a hot zone finally cooled off. Better to have a machine she had limited control over than a piece of junk that can't even turn on. She looked around, taking notes of where everything was located before she leapt to the head of the Coelacanth, where the beam struck it. The port was most likely under the skin, given that it'd be an incredibly stupid design to have it propped up in the open. Her eyes scanned the outer shell, signs of scorching and kinetic damage evident. It was a wild assumption that it would be located in the head, given its design, but she'd snort a bullet if it was somewhere obscure like its ass or something.
The ARMS system took over her seismic senses and she began to bash the shell, letting the supercomputer analyze the inner circuitry to find something something equivalent to a massive brain. A few bashes, already denting the shell with half hearted punches, and the ARMS system managed to map at least the immediate area, and a nice bit of space where she could just squeeze in to start working on the access port. She poked around a little bit more and found a small hatch and opened it, sliding into the circuitry to begin. Normally, she had special gear when it came to hacking complex machinery and A.I., but given the circumstances, she only had her phone as a way to view the code and construct a viral cancer to overtake the current A.I.
But the ARMS system was special. It was more than just a massively powerful supercomputer, but an extension of her own consciousness. It was like attaching herself to a god in cyberspace with the processing power of an entire planet's electrical grid. With the output to power several cities for centuries by itself, it was being funneled into something as trivial as hacking a war machine of unknown origin. That posed a problem by itself. Security measures against hacking were always a pain in the ass to tiptoe around, especially when there were explosions going off every 10 seconds in the background, so going for the brute force route of flooding the A.I.'s code was pretty much the only way to go. The only difference was that the code was connected through the ARMS supercomputer, monitored of its progress. At least then, she could inject the equivalent of cancer into the code, leave it alone, then perform a system purge and rebuild the entire thing from the ground up when everything's well and good.
With that type of plan, even if they decide to reclaim the bastard machine, it'll be under her control and she could track it remotely. Code they decide to add to the machine will just be infected with the cancer virus and she gains more info regarding how advanced the thing is.
She took out her phone from her pocket, smiling when she found that it was still well and intact despite the chaos around her. That titanium-tungsten casing was really putting in the work after all, but she had little time to admire the handiwork and began to reroute the wires inside, and plugging them into her phone, giving her first layer access of the Coelacanth. The A.I. was going to be in several layers of security after all, but all she needed was the ARMS computer to start scans on the code itself and begin creating the virus. Only when she had a semblance of workable idea of makes the Coelacanth's programming and A.I. code tick could the bunny girl start creating the virus. The last thing she wanted was to plug her own consciousness into a machine that had unknown security measures against code based hacking, let alone consciousness based. That was just asking to turn her brain into a vegetable.
So she sat there, hunched in a tight space staring at her phone as it connected itself to both the Coelacanth's systems and her own ARMS system. "Shoulda brought something to eat if I knew I was gonna sit here staring at my phone," Zasha grumbled as her ears picked up screams and explosions in the background. She gave her mech a command to close the hatch above her before it stepped into the fortress, replaced with a smaller, more lithe Assassin-class power armor. "Better go check out the rest of the mech though. Need to make sure no one is poking at my shit."
The Assassin's eyes glowed, its molecular structure shifted and changed until it was invisible, a barely noticeable shimmer of its silhouette the only clue of its presence. Armed with the Artemis Combat Bow, it immediately began to patrol the Coelacanth. Zasha closed one eye, tapping into the armor's optics as a means of insurance. If one of those Castellan idiots or summoned decided to poke around here, her Assassin might decide to put a supersonic energy bolt between the eyes without hesitation. Not like they'll trace it back to her, but their magic might as well be some form of bullshit sensor. Can't hurt to be safe in the long run.
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Above Cathedral Neighborhood.
Network: Lazaro1505 (Professor Membrane, Red Baron) Juju (Gloop, Kotori, Wakinyan) Snackofthefuture (Ivan) Judge_Vulxray (Midyiel)
Interactions: Juju (Enzio) Judge_Vulxray (Midyiel) Lazaro1505 (Professor)
Caedmon was taken aback by the bird woman's overwhelming enthusiasm for killing fiends. The ESPer had sensed her forte for battling this type of foe but this commitment on a different level; it was like she had adopted an entirely new persona. It reminded Caedmon a bit of the bony woman who had turned into an egg earlier. He remembered that back in his original reality some of the regulars had felt something similar to this... What had they called it? PTSD? It was some kind of specialized combat conditioning offered only to combat veterans but, as an ESPer, Caedmon had never qualified for it.
Oh! There was yet another bird person flying after the bird woman. They seemed quite populous in this new reality. Not as populous as teenage girls but hopefully the populations would balance out in time. Did the egg count as a bird person, as an egg person, or as a bony person? Caedmon made a mental note to ask the bird people after the battle concluded. It seemed that this new bird person also had an issue with fiends but it just didn't have the same level of professional zeal as... Wait. What was that? The fiends' telepathic chatter had suddenly spiked. They were still excluding that large baatezu, that one felt sick somehow, but most of the fiends were clearly planning something.
With seconds to spare, Caedmon felt the impending harm coming at multiple targets from multiple directions. The ESPer quickly raised his psishield over the charging bird woman, just in time to block a flight of barbed arrows, but an instant later a heavy bombardment of ice materialized over Caedmon. He pulled himself to the side with telekinesis but still took a blow to the head. Blinking away blood, the ESPer lowered the psishield around the bird woman and raised a psishield around himself just in time to block a flight of arrows sent against him. The fiends were coordinating attacks with some of the regulars. This was further confirmed as a magical fireball erupted around his psishield.
But which one of the fiends was coordinating this counterattack? It had to be one that could sense Caedmon's abilities. Otherwise they would included him in the counterattack. But which one... Not the large baatezu. Not the corrupted girl. Certainly not the imps. There it was. A gelugon possessing some kind of regular. It's burning blue eyes were locked on him from a mile away. It had cast the ice spell and was at the center of the telepathic chatter.
Caedmon floated down from the sky to join the bird woman and new bird person as they made their joint assault on the large baatezu. If the enemy was going to launch a coordinated attack it would be better to be close together in order to shared defenses. New Ivan had left the battlefield without warning - he was thinking about some girl he use to know? That was problematic. His firepower may have been sufficient to enable to launch a counter-counterattack. Fortunately, the Professor was still in the combat zone and had only paused to refuel. "Professor, we could use your assistance."
Reactions: Snackofthefuture, Solirus and nighttimecatplayer
=NAIA AARLE=
Naia clutched herself as dozens of people ran past her, screaming as they tumbled over only to crawl back up to keep running. Goldie, the golden spirit bird, floated in the air where she could see and follow it. Truthfully, she was terrified. But the princess gave her a task! A task to save her big sis, nonetheless! It was a chance for her to show that she could also rely on her! At least, that's what she hoped. Her willpower was wavering anyways, and Meira was still nowhere in sight.
The amount of people running away lessened the more she walked opposite to their direction. Though she felt less squished, the deafening silence that steadily neared came with a sense of dread. "M-Meira?" she called out with the thinning crowds. Her eyes blurred as she inched down the paved roads, and she wiped her eyes right after. "B-Big sis?" By now, everyone had rushed by, and she was alone in the once filled streets. Naia fell to her bottom and buried her head in her knees. I'm brave, I'm brave, I'm rescuing big sis... Beautiful princess wanted me to. She thinks I'm brave... I'm brave...
But in the distance, something crashed. Wood splintered and bricks crumbled. Over the top of the thrashed and abandoned bakery before her, she saw a pillar of dust shoot into the sky. What looked like a clump of dirt with something she hoped only looked like a person flew to the heavens. She heard someone talking, unphased by the slime's hungry gurgling and digestion. Naia teared up again, and this time she couldn't wipe it away. She couldn't reassure herself this time. Goldie faced a direction to the side, but Naia was now dashing down the other path, back to the palace.
Only seconds later, she was engulfed in a shadow. With one glance up, she saw the bakery crashing down towards her.
=MEIRA AARLE=
As soon as Frostfire parted ways to confront the summoned's devastation, Meira began her hasty return to the palace. She rapidly scaled a building, eyeing the carnage in the distance wrought by Tobias and his slime. With a troubled click of her tongue, Meira began hopping across roofs like usual. She knew she was unusually late for the report to Athena. The beast woman was expecting no more than a sharp reprimand as a first warning. Even as Mii and dozens of buildings drifted into the air to be lobbed in all directions, courtesy of Tobias' power, Meira only sped up. The quicker she escaped to the palace, the better it would have been for both her, Naia, and Athena.
But that was only her initial thought, for she heard the only thing that could make the elder sister freeze in horror. It was a high-pitched shriek, just half a block away. Over head, the looming silhouette of a family-run bakery drew closer and closer to impact. Meira broke into a sprint once more, but no longer towards the palace. She was breaking a sweat in her advisor's attire, and the legs burned with each passing second.
Eventually, she hopped from a rooftop and down to the paved road. "NAIA!" She embraced the little girl, then trying to kick away from the strike-zone. But with a split second worth a glance at the crashing building, Meira winced. No matter what she did, there was no escaping the impending strike. Instead, Meira hugged her sister tighter than ever.
Naia's head popped out from her shoulder, eyes wide at the building. The yellow spirit bird, Goldie flew in front of her and faced it. Unbeknownst to either sister, Naia's pupils glowed the same gold as the spirit. Meira heard the tumbling crash, still bracing tightly on Naia. She expected to be thrown off her feet, or to awaken in Farra face-down in the clouds. But she still felt the dirtied fabric of her clothing, the tensed muscles of her cramped body, and Naia embraced around her. Finally, she opened her eyes.
She couldn't believe what she saw. The building flew the opposite direction, batted back to sender. Shoving it along was Goldie—more than a hundred of those same spirits, kept in the shape of a swordfish. It powered straight towards the levitating slime. Meira fell to her knees, realizing that Naia was fast asleep.
"As I suspected, your little sister has had a cache of power for some time now. Though knowing its full extent was impossible for any of us until she snapped."
Meira whipped her head up at the voice. "Mikhail?" She scrambled back on her feet, carrying her sibling like a princess. "Y-You set this situation up?!"
He peered back through his visor, calmly shaking his head. "I arrived just now after learning more of Athena's recent actions. Naia's presence outside the palace is thanks to her." He maintained his blank demeanor as a look of disbelief shined over the beast woman. She mouthed something to herself, furrowing her brows. Mikhail continued, "Meet us at the Blackburn Manor. We all have much to discuss. You can bring Naia as well. She will provide a good testimony."
Meira let out a soft sigh. "Right away, sir." Naia in arms, she would follow the operation's supervisor through the narrow alleyways, out of sight and towards the first ward.
Reactions: Snackofthefuture, Juju, Solirus and 2 others
=TOBIAS AND MII=
THE 2ND WARD
Interactions: Kaihaku (Frostfire) Snackofthefuture (Ivan) YsFanatic (Yunica) Remembrance (Remus)
Tobias couldn't believe his ears. The return of Frostfire was so sudden, and she brought a much-needed conclusion to his suspicions with her words. "Agh... I'm such a fool for not confirming it sooner!" At the very least, he knew he was now not alone in the battle against the corrupt kingdom that brainwashed the rest of his allies. In the back of his sight, the Masked people also made their offer to Felicia, making Tobias gently shake his head in annoyance. Honestly, trying to rely on summoned because your own army couldn't reach the walls...
It was then that he received yet another telepathic message from Ivan the gunman. "You... You may be correct, Ivan." Tobias peered to side, where he saw him jogging over towards the pair. He seemed just as flabbergasted at Felicia's emergence as Tobias initially was. "For dear old Frostfire is letting me in on what is really happening. The princess thought all of this out. She knew exactly what each of us would do! Come with us, Ivan, and face her before the townspeople!" By now, Tobias was so engrossed with Felicia's appearance and her earth-shattering confirmation that he did not notice Yunica or Remus' actions. He stared past Felicia at the palace, where the traitorous princess resided.
"Mii, quit your antics, we're moving!" With one last squelch, Mii flung one last building into the distance; a bakery, almost crumbling apart mid air. The rest of the buildings fell back to the ground, including Yunica. Tobias looked back at Felicia. Before the summoned could do any more damage to Mii, Tobias wanted him and his slime to flee towards the palace with Frostfire. "Unless you have other means of swift transportation, I advise you take my hand and drift with me towards the end of this conflict!" Tobias floated higher, extending his hand down to Frostfire. Mii moved along, too; they were both unknowing of Remus readying his sword like a spear.
The first thing they all heard was the explosion of electricity, followed by its blinding flash. The Warden's Edge tore through the gooey mass like butter, splattering oodles of the blob around the area. Even as Mii sluggishly moved, Remus threatened to pierce the core deep within its flesh—it was inevitable, it seemed. But another force struck Mii, almost as big as the slime itself. It was the bakery Mii flung not too long ago, followed by what appeared to be a massive, translucent bird of gold. It tore through a massive chunk of slime, though inadvertently stopping the sword from reaching the core. Three-fourths of Mii was effectively cleaved apart by the building and the remaining slime and its core fell to the ground in the cover of the ruins.
The bird of gold flew into the air before impact with the wall, dissipating into the heavens.
Tobias did not move. He had stopped drifting upwards since the sword drove itself into Mii. Everything was quiet; the gurgling squelches were gone, and settlements were no longer tumbling. The silence was awful. Finally, he breathed. Tobias did not know what face he made; he couldn't feel anything. The core was in its path, wasn't it? Tobias hung his head, feeling something warm drip from his eyes. He then glared up into the blue skies, holding in the turmoil. Anger was always detrimental. He couldn't afford to let it out, now. "That's another death lying on your door, princess..." If Frostfire accepted the hand, she'd be experiencing a lower gravity, allowing her to hop farther and quickly approach the palace. Either way, Tobias began flying away. "L-Let us make haste! F-For all we have lost!" His voice trembled, much to his frustration. He wanted to get away from her supposed resting place; it was too risky to linger around. It would leave him open to the brainwashed summoned's attacks.
In the rubble, however, a much smaller tentacle poked out. Mii's core was grazed, noticeable through the translucent fluid surrounding it. She was only as big as a two-story building, now. She seeped through the ruins and reformed as a much smaller mass, encroaching through the roads like a stream. Mii crawled on top of a still-intact building, holding out several tendrils for defense against potential incoming attacks. The slime gave off much softer gurgles. Mii was waiting for Tobias to pick her up; to save her from the dangerously scary summoned.
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Mii, Second Ward Theme: Natural - Imagine Dragons
Interactions: StaidFoal (Tobias, Mii) Snackofthefuture (Ivan) Bob (Ashe)
Frostf̶͍̋ĩ̶̻r̸͇̈ĕ̵̺ watched the golden light in avian form intently. A thin smile crossed her lips for the briefest of moments as she observed something in the magic that few mortals could. Then the smile faded, as she turned a stern eye to the ruined neighborhood looking for some sign of the slime. She is not privy to the mental communication between the two who bear SIN's mark, nor even aware of it, and so instead focuses on the task at hand. She spots the heroic summoned's sword among the rubble and notes that he will soon retrieve it.
"Thank you, Tobias... But there is something that I must swiftly attend, then I will meet you at the statue they erected of me before the royal palace." Frostf̶͍̋ĩ̶̻r̸͇̈ĕ̵̺ says earnestly, her good eye centered on the gelatinous figure crawling its way up a crumbling building. Stepping away from the master of gravity, she disappears from the sight as an intense blizzard springs into being around her and spreads over the building where the slime is reaching tendrils out to its truest friend.
Hidden by the whiteout of the blizzard, Frostf̶͍̋ĩ̶̻r̸͇̈ĕ̵̺'s form shifts grotesquely into that of a powerful dragon. Seeing clearly through the snowstorm, it leaps up into the air over the building where the slime took refugee and unleashes a blast of impossible cold from its maw. Then it crashes down on the frozen slime, the building crumbling beneath it, and eats the slime's core in a single bite. The dragon then leaps away, still hidden in the blizzard, as it shrinks down to a small cat that bolts away at incredible speed through the snowstorm.
After a short moment, there is a tremendous crash from within the blizzard then - just as abruptly as it formed - it dissipates leaving behind inches of powdery snow. There is no sign of Frostf̶͍̋ĩ̶̻r̸͇̈ĕ̵̺ in ruined neighborhood covered with fresh snow and the building that the slime had been climbing is just another snow covered ruin.
Tabby Cat
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Second Ward → Outside of Royal Palace. Arbor near Tribute to Frostfire.
Following what has swiftly become a familiar route, a cat sprints towards the royal palace far more quickly than should be possible for an animal of its size. Indeed, when presented with the obstacles of a city in full panic it abandons all pretenses, crashing through walls and leaping over buildings as necessary.
Reaching the palace grounds the cat darts through a row of shrubbery and then slips into a secluded hiding place under an arbor. There the feline angles itself so it has a view of the Tribute to Frostfire and begins to softly murmur guttural sounds. They would sound odd coming from most creatures but from a cat...they just sound like a cat in heat. The spell sets a beacon on the statue for the old schemer. It was true that she could have marked one of the towers or even the roof, but she had scouted this far and knew that there were no wards here to prevent conjuration.
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Escorting Tobias. Interaction: StaidFoal (Tobias)
As Tobias' intentions become clear the three masked warriors halt as they wait for new orders. No longer distracted by the conflict over the Young Goddess, they are soon given a message for the master of gravity.
"The Scientist Adrift. Tobias Nyseth. The Nortestra Royal Palace is an extremely dangerous location. Return with us to Verruk and we will provide you rich reward according to your desires. This can include a command position in the Mollug military so that you may return to Castellan as a conqueror." The three masked warriors broadcast in their loud monotone as the half-constructs follow along after him. The masked jester and masked swordswoman have no issue leaping from roof top to roof top after him, while the masked beserker follows on the streets below cutting down any townspeople unlucky enough to stand in his way.
Far away, a woman chained to a wall groaned, "Please don't do this... Please just turn around..." She had a sinking feeling that she was going to lose this prize too. It was too late to back out now and hopefully the High Councilor would see it as her troops entering Castellan first. Maybe he'd even give her some of the other commanders to convert into masks. Not that they could compare, even at their best, to these summoned. She doubted they'd reach the Nortestra Royal Palace. It had to be heavily fortified, right? But she also doubted that this stubborn summoned was going to change his mind. And where had the Frostfire gone? Her masks had lost her in the whiteout. Meet at the palace? Just what had she run off to do?
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Second Wall. Interactions: Snackofthefuture (Ivan)
The breach in the second wall is not quiet for long as more masked Mollug soldiers begin to appear by the dozen. Soon there are nearly 75 of the masked soldiers - the only survivors of initial hundreds - making their way into the second ward of Nortestra. They are quick to cut down any surviving Nortestra as they scatter among the ruins in groups of two to three making their way through the ruins after the master of gravity.
They do, in eerie unison, broadcast a monotone message to the gunslinger. "The Shooty Wizard. Ivan. Defender of the Church. Your crimes against the state will be pardoned and the 100,000 gold bounty on your head awarded to you if you side with Mollug now." The masked soldiers are careful to keep even further apart as they address the gunslinger, having witnessed his destructive firepower earlier they were under orders to keep from presenting him an easy target.
Far away, a woman chained to a wall shakes her head with a sigh. There was no way this strange spellcaster was going to take her up on the offer. She needed to rethink masked diplomacy. The bounty noted that this defender of the church might be from Czarsinikei but was probably a summoned. Either way, maybe he'd be easier to overpower than the master of gravity. But then she would have to get him back to the main Mollug forces and...as she just experienced with the young goddess...that would be a challenge.
Jason stared blankly almost dumbfounded… it was true that all of the summons were brought here to conquer one way or another, so the question left him thinking…
… I'm not exactly a wizard, but he believes I am, I could try lying to him and say I am indeed a wizard… that would feel disingenuous, I think staying honest with him would be best, so I'll try to come up with a better answer… maybe one that he may be able to relate to?
We were summoned to conquer, that is true, I've seen some powerful warriors summoned, that makes sense… then why was he and the dog summoned… especially the dog… dog… the dog has no way to conquer… then why was it summoned… why why why……………… maybe…
After deeply thinking, Jason looked directly at Lukas recalling his attire which swirled around before disappearing. "It might seem weird for you to hear, but I'm not a wizard… just an idiot in unfortunate circumstances, if you want I can explain more later once we leave here… as for the conquering… " Jason tightened up, slightly nervous, unsure if what he was going to say would even hold any weight. "My guesses aren't better or worse than yours but if you're wondering why you might be here, then just look at Fido for example… How can a dog possibly conquer this world and its people? It's simple… by definition conquering means to control people or places, it doesn't mean it must be done by power alone, by moving the hearts of people rulers are able to control people and as such control places… it sounds weird when put that way, but similar to the dog, you weren't summoned here to slay all who oppose you and crush all resistance… You were summoned for the purpose to move the hearts of people, to bring much more peaceful times… " Jason paused taking a deep breath, "That is my interpretation however, maybe Virtue and this… SIN are just comedians with bad taste and have put us here to suffer… But we can only know if we try it… "
Jason once more paused again looking at his surroundings, "But right now… we are stuck in the middle of a war and we are powerless to stop it, if you want to bring any change for the good, then we need to leave, we need to be smart not reckless… " With that said Jason's attire swirled back into existence. "Let's go, I'll carry the dog if necessary."
The gunslinger was happy to see Felicia. Honestly, he was almost exuberant at seeing her again. But Ivan restrained himself, not going for a hug at first, not shaking her hand or anything like that. But still, it was evident he was quite happy that Felicia was alive. The large scar on her face was quite a sight however, and the more Ivan looked at it, the angrier he got. Athena and her lackeys had tried to kill Felicia! And all she had done was help. Ivan was caught between happiness and rage as he struggled with his emotions there.
Eventually however, Ivan did hug Felicia, right before she left to go and pursue her nameless and fairly suspicious sounding task. "I'm really happy you're alive… Like sheesh, you had me really scared there." Ivan stopped hugging Felicia and held her at arms length for a moment, before following up a smile with a sigh. "So I guess we're going after Athena then huh? Tobias, I may have misjudged you, perhaps the only way to truly save Castellan, is to remove the rot at the center. They tried to kill Felicia, they locked up Kotori and Wakinyan when they saw the truth, and who knows what other schemes they have set up behind the scenes. Better we stop them now, before they can do any more damage. Ivan stepped up the building and looked at Tobias.
"You gonna stop killing people who have nothing to do with this situation? They don't deserve that shit man. Our beef is with the top. Didnt think Id ever say something like this, but lets go kick Athena's ass. She's the one who turned on us. Let me just send a message to Kotori and the rest to be wary of any of Nortestra's soldiers." Ivan then turned away from Tobias for a moment and sent a message to all the people connected to his neural link via their own multiple methods. He warned the summoned he was linked with to be careful of Nortestran soldiers. He told them to watch their backs at all times and not trust any orders straight from the top, specifically Athena. He apologized to Kotori and Wakinyan for not trusting them earlier about the Nortestrans, telling them that Athena had attempted to murder Felicia.
Ivan then turned to the Mollugs and said, "Im not coming with you. Come with us if you like but Ive got things to do, people to blow up. Ill take the reward later possibly right now. But were going after the Nortestran head honcho, that should sound nice right? That'd probably look good on your reports huh? You helped the summoned take down the Nortestran royalty."
Ivan then shook his head to clear the neural link, then he stepped closer to Tobias. Taking his hand Ivan didn't start to float upwards, instead he pulled Tobias out of the way of a blast of fire magic that had come from the Nortestran line. Ivan scowled and said, "Be more careful Tobias, magic is much more difficult to deal with then arrows. I'll back you up, honestly you need it where you're going. I'll come with you, let's take on these royal fuckers!"
He then added one more time, through his telepathic link to all the others, "If any of you wanna come with, we'll be in the palace!"
StaidFoal Kaihaku Juju Solirus Lazaro1505 Judge_Vulxray
Reactions: Juju, Kaihaku and nighttimecatplayer
Nemu & Super GloopInteraction: Fluffykitty9000 Solirus
"Ah, um... no worries! Let's just meet up some other time after you've finished some quests, yeah? Maybe we can compare treasures or something? Ahahah..." Nemu said cheerfully as everyone she greeted left the cathedral to do their own things. "I'll just, ah, find some zombies!"
Finding zombies was one thing, but getting a adventuring party sure was hard. Maybe the cookies weren't good enough? Was she too loud? Too direct? But she had followed everything in the How to Make Friends Handguide. No, this wasn't right. It wasn't right at all. This was supposed to be much easier than befriending people at school. In books and films all adventuring parties usually formed right after the teleportation. Nemu placed a hand under her chin, thinking about this problem while explosions and spells exploded outside of the cathedral.
At Hiba's comment she turned around, looking a little too happy to have someone ask her about where to go, "WELCOM- *ahem* Welcome to the party, um, I totally forget your name! Anyways, well the first thing is err... you know what, plans are for noobs! Rule 34 of being a hero; always improvise!"
Quite suddenly, she took Hiba's hands in her own. An excited gleam shone in her eyes, "Let's get out there and kick some zombies in the butt! Maybe we will meet a knight or something and they'll let us join their order! Woo!" She let go of Hiba's hand and dashed out of the cathedral, super Gloop following after her. "Here comes Nemu, greatest witch to have ever lived! And with her, Gloop, the majestic familiar!"
It was only when she was outside that she realized she had actually left out of the back door of the cathedral, instead of the entrance. Undeterred, Nemu ran through the streets, looking at the charred holes where magic had blasted the streets. There were tons of weapons on the ground too, yet no bodies whatsoever. Even the blood seemed to be missing. Thinking little of it, Nemu picked up a broadsword and swung it a few times.
"Oh yeah, this is totally awesome! Hey Gloop, I'm a knight!" she said, ending with a horrible imitation of some regal accent. Gloop made an intelligent gargling sound in response, or perhaps he was actually trying to bring Nemu's attention to the ghastly creature that scuttled into a nearby alleyway as soon as it saw them all. Either way, Nemu had the same reaction.
"ZOMBIE! GET BACK HERE! SIR NEMU THE SLAYER SHALL DEFEAT YOU IN THE NAME OF POTIONS AND SUGAR!" Nemu declared, sprinting off in the direction of the 'zombie'.
Reactions: Kai123, Snackofthefuture, nighttimecatplayer and 2 others
Lukas Nephus
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Third Ward Ruins
Interaction(s): Juju (Goodest Boi) Solirus (Jason)
"Jason, I'm sure that you've been through a lot but that doesn't make you an idiot. We've all made mistakes." Lukas answers gently, before adding with a faint smile, "Oh…it's just that your outfit is very wizard. I mean, you're not a witch, are you?"
His smile fades as he thinks back to the two teenage witches who had been summoned back at the cathedral. He had run away from them too. He sighs.
"I… I don't think I can move the people's heart or bring about peace… I tried to do something like that but… That's not who I am." Lukas says slowly, his gaze falling to the mud of the battlefield. If he could accomplish such a thing, surely he would have succeeded on his homeworld where he had every possible advantage. He chokes out, "The masses are…complicit…" The words hang in the air before he repeats them, "The masses are complicit in their own oppression. The social contracts they form with their rulers… Maybe…maybe as individuals they resent…resist…rebel… But as a group…they protect the social contract even more fiercely than their rulers…"
Lukas runs a hand through his hair, then lets out a heavy sigh.
"To conquer that… To move those hearts… To force change upon the unwilling… That's not who I am." Lukas says as he turns to look at the other summoned, a great weariness on his face. The world needed someone like that but in the process of conquering they always became corrupt. "It doesn't matter. I think that your last point was the right one… Deities don't care, understand, or care to understand mortal suffering. This may or may not be a joke to them but giving mortals impossible tasks is just…just…another Thursday to them."
Lukas turns to walk after the other summoned, adding quietly after a moment of silence, "You should know that nothing here can harm me. Not really." He looks up at the sky sadly, "If we are attacked, focus on defending yourself. I… I can't fight…but I can't die either. I'll just play dead or something."
Reactions: Snackofthefuture, Solirus, Juju and 1 other person
StaidFoal Bob Remembrance
After all her efforts to get through the fighting, establish a good starting workforce, and traverse the inexplicable web of noodles that initially impeded her path, Poma had finally done it. She'd made it into the Coelacanth through the hole the crippling beam had made as it exited the mechanical monstrosity, emphasis on the word Mechanical.
Perhaps her sensors hadn't picked up on it well enough through all the chaos or perhaps the clouds explosions had just marred her vision, but Poma had mistaken the beast for some kind of cyborg-monster fusion from afar. But as she traversed the initial part of its innards with her ever-gleaming NOXCO brand Helpers, she found the walls and systems inside as artificial as they come. And while normally this wouldn't change much, all things considered, for what she had originally planned she needed biomass. Sure, the Axis Virus could probably work its magic on this thing just as well, but if she wanted a giant mech she'd have taken off ages ago to get to work on that.
Having the helpers tear open a number of wall panels, she found a distinct lack of biomass within the Coelacanth. What she'd mistaken for modified flesh was just as synthetic as everything else, meaning she couldn't even use it as a source of biomass like the corpses. No, it was mostly mechanical, made completely of machinery. Unfamiliar machinery at that, undoubtedly something constructed with the knowledge of Summoned. But she couldn't just pilfer machinery for what she had in mind, the Company had very strict policies about using foreign designs.
At best she could simply uphold her words of assistance by simply scrapping the things and making off with what resources she could. Machinery was off-limits, but the metals and structures that made up that machinery was fair game. So, with a large portion of the Helpers still making sure none had followed them in, Poma had the rest of them start tearing the place apart piece by piece. If she couldn't have the immense wealth of biomass that she initially saw the beast as, then she'd at least make do with scrapping the thing. Wasn't like anyone would miss it, with how quickly those Summoned had taken it down Poma was sure it'd be an obsolete design by the end of the year.
Of course, there would be far too much scrap for even her slowly growing army of Helpers to haul out of there, so Poma only took what she found to be the most useful. So after setting them to work tearing up any major machinery they could find, Poma sat down and had them bring the recovered scrap to her so she could examine it. Anything her eyes found useful would be hauled out for recycling whilst anything that displeased her was tossed aside. Meanwhile, she'd had several of the Helpers start gathering bodies. With the battles moving deeper into Castellan, there was far less opposition than there was initially.
Instead of infesting them as well, these bodies were piled up, dumped in the same place Poma was having them dump the scrap. In the midst of this the Coelacanth shook slightly, as if something had jostled its head, but Poma chocked this up to a stray piece of heavy artillery. As such, she continued her work.
It was a boring process, but one that would need to be done if she wanted to properly utilize what had been laid before her. Metal and biomass, she could comb the remains of the battlefield to make up for the lack of biomass in the Coelacanth. It would provide enough metal to speed up the process of crafting more... elaborate helpers through the Axis Virus. A proper workforce for establishing NOXCO in this new realm.
Poma figured she'd have to do some scouting if she wanted to find a proper number of natural resources to supply her efforts, but if she made use of the numerous bodies she figured it would become a rather simple task. Corpses were far easier to control than those still alive when infested, mostly because Ax could fully take over without being regulated to a backseat position. NOXCO was a benevolent organization of course, but Poma would need all the extra help she could acquire if she wanted to regulate this realm's afterlife.
But what she didn't know immediately was that several of her Helpers, having followed the trail of destruction the crippling blast had cut through the Coelacanth, noticed a shimmer of light whilst they were tearing apart pieces of the Coelacanth with axes and other heavy pieces of its machinery. Not initially at first, but one of them had taken note of the glimmer whilst ripping another panel off the wall with cybernetic arms.
It stared at the shimmer for a moment before defaulting to an original statement, "Good Day Sir or Madam, NOXCO hopes that you're having a wonderful day today. Please continue to go about it, but be careful not to get too close to working Helpers. You could sustain an injury! Noxco thanks you for your understanding."
The remaining Helpers all flashed large smiles in sync with it as they all returned to their work, though occasional glances towards the shimmer were now being given.
Little did they know, that the downed beast no longer had a jaw. The entirety of it had been ripped off, but in its place a trail led into Castellan. This trail was gradually composed of more destroyed buildings, dead Mollugs and trampled livelihoods, but at the head of it was none other than Rook. He'd raced through the rear of the advancing Mollugs, dual wielding both his Aegis Tower and the Lower jaw of the Coelacanth. With these to instruments of destruction he crushed literally anything even remotely looking like a Mollug in his path back towards the now destroyed wall.
However, he was taking note of other forms of destruction occurring in his Lady's dear city, and the scent of heresy reached him in no short amount of time. He could smell it despite his distinct lack of a nose, a mental waft of irritation demanding he cure it of its sins. Slowly altering his path, which took about half a minute, he began his crusade in a new direction. He hadn't seen what was causing it exactly yet, but as he drew closer, he watched as a large building absolutely decimated the beast slime he saw earlier. And though he had wanted the gracious honor of destroying the beast which toppled his Queen's wall, it appeared to be destroyed by the flung house and electrical explosion.
So he turned his attention towards the man who'd no doubt instigated both the creature and the surrounding area's destruction, not particularly picky with which destructive heretic he'd be crushing. He took one look at the man in white and gold armor before releasing a deafening battle cry.
"IS THERE NO LIMIT TO THE HERETICS WILLING TO DAMAGE THE QUEEN'S PROPERTY?!?" He bellowed loudly before rearing back with the severed jaw of the Coelacanth "ACCEPT YOUR DEMISE HEATHEN, ELSE HER ROOK INFLICT A THOUSAND YEARS OF RETRIBUTION UPON YOUR FRAME!!!"
With a another warcry he lobbed the entire jaw of the beast at the metal man before hefting his Aegis tower with both arms and breaking into a sprint.
Reactions: nighttimecatplayer, Juju and Kaihaku
=GENERAL RAMA=
BATTLING CHARON
YsFanatic (Charon)
Rama winced and dropped to a knee as the blaring sound played, but instantly reacted to the thrown Partisan by sliding to the side; only for it vanish and return to Charon's side. He clicked his tongue, hurrying to his feet just in time to swat the rock with his bow. This, in turn, left him open to the grapple. Seconds before the android crashed into him, he sputtered into the earpiece, "Mikhail, Do it n—!" Rama was taken to the floor, slightly dazed from the impact.
There was only static on the other end, then a nonchalant "Understood. It was a pleasure working with you."
However, the general was not done, yet. "The... legendary... Desh Daalwijk... does not submit so easily!" Before Charon could unleash his full strength, Rama seemed to explode in a white and gold mass as the clones spewed out of him like flying papers. He hoped it would at least disorient Charon, and if not, there were now a dozen of clones striking at him with all their might.
But in the far distance, a blue-haired man peered through his spyglass at the battle between Charon and Rama. His face was of notable disappointment. In his other hand, he fumbled with the detonator, rubbing his thumb on the button.
=THE COELACANTH=
Bob (Zasha) GrieveWriter (Poma)
During its downtime, the Coelacanth sustained enough damage for Providence's engineers to screech in horror. The monstrosity they spent decades designing was being torn apart by the second. The retractable maw was ripped off by Rook's bare hands, the internal systems were being hacked apart, and the beams left gaping holes in the mech's sides. Years of effort, dismantled within hours. As for the AI in the process of hijacking? A basic one implemented for the Coelacanth to have a basic thought process. Security layers were only added at the Constant's request.
But as Zasha and Poma messed with the mech, they'd hear a loud voice emanate from a speaker within. "Mikhail to Coelacanth," it began. "Bury the dead."
At once there was a jolt in the construct. Then the bellow of a mechanical groan, as each tendril twitched back to life. The Coelacanth's eyes glowed blue once more, and the floatation technology reactivated with a sparking whir. The electric cannons on its side let loose storms of bolts, crawling across the ground and electrocuting, if not throwing back, both Zasha and Poma. Starting from the mouthless head at the front, the Coelacanth steadily came back to life, and its gaze darted between everything. The mech, crackling at even the slightest of movements, began flight once more. From its torn maw, mutilated innards, and gaping gash in its side, the Coelacanth leaked the blue gas that cooled the circuitry of the beast.
Four of its serrated tentacles flew at the nearby summoned, two for both Zasha and Poma. If they missed, then the arc cannons would subsequently aim and fire.
For a time, there was a brief sense of hope and relief for the Mollugs, who were not expecting the loss of numbers they took. However, the Coelacanth turned back around. It stared hungrily at the armies, clattering in swords and armor. Some of their mages at the back lines paused to train their eye on the Coelacanth. Unbeknownst to anyone, the IFF system, or Identification Friend or Foe, was damaged through the Helpers' relentless excavation. The Coelacanth felt hostile presences on all sides, and the machine promptly let loose.
The weaponry shot out all at once. Mollugs, Nortestrans, and all were skewered by the Coelacanth's rapid tendrils. Many others were fried by the air-to-surface electric bolts, falling instantly. At the same time, the mages of each side launched their most damaging spells at the Coelacanth, but three-fourths of them bounced off a flickering shield that now surrounded the mech. The further end of the Coelacanth, past its halfway point, then lost its floatation devices, and now swept across the Mollug armies like a gargantuan snake, crushing and mangling any poor bystander caught in its path. With the damage sustained to its maw, any attempts to build a ball of electricity in its mouth only resulted in mass bolts of lightning pouring out and into the below armies instead. However, thanks to the damage it sustained, the Overdrive mode was not as destructive as it could have been, only amplifying the speed and rate of its attacks.
== COELACANTH AWAKENING REACTIONS ==
Lukas stops to stare as the colossal piscine machine roars back to life, jerking into the air and unleashing blasts of electricity in all directions. The little group isn't near the front lines yet the arcs of lightning pass even by them. He swallows dryly. Hundreds... Thousands were dying. He could save them but...his powers were indiscriminate. They could not distinguish between attacker and defender. Was there really that much of a distinction here? They were killers all. Murderers in the name of their governments. If he helped the defenders win the day, they'd just commit the same atrocities against the other side. Still it felt wrong. It felt so wrong to stand here doing nothing while so many faced death. But they were still alive.
Of course, Lukas wasn't just standing here doing nothing. It was worse than that. He was running away with Jason, Fido, and the little Fire Elemental. The wrongness of it was raw. He was meant to...do something. But giving him this impossible task was just another Thursday to his mother.
"Come on, Jason... It think it's time to use that trump you mentioned." Lukas says, his words serious but his tone subdued. Rather than looking afraid or anxious, he seems sad.
Location: Castellan, Nortestra. Frontlines.
Interactions: Juju (Enzio) Judge_Vulxray (Midyiel)
Caedmon starts as his danger sense goes wild, indicating significant injury incoming with no opportunity to dodge. He raises his psishield, blocking the first wave of lightning to course over the battlefield, but then dives downward as he sees the electricity strike the bird woman and her new bird person friend. Fortunately the large baatezu and the gelugon weren't immune to lightning so they'd be on the defensive too...but the ESPer didn't have the mental concentration to protect everyone with his psishield.
Dropping quickly, he tries to interpose himself between the siege machine gone mad and the two bird people as the next arc of electricity strikes. This was the only way his psishield could protect all three of them but...it meant he couldn't help with the fiends.
Nathan hacked down another Mollug soldier, this one a possessed Nortestran. He exploded showering Nathan with flesh and specks of armor. Nathan was disgusted by the Mollug tactics, but definitely not surprised. The Mollugs did whatever it took to win. They didn't have the honor and martial pride Xact and Nortestra shared. He lifted his axe at the ready, noticing now, that the Masked soldiers were retreating. It was an organized retreat, and Nathan guessed they would reform elsewhere to battle the Nortestrans.
During the fight with the Mollugs, another fighter joined the fray, a man dressed in armor very similar to that of Czarsnikei's. Nathan would be unsurprised if the man turned out to be working for the northern government similar to Nathan and Aurora. However, he warrior also exuded an energy of some sort Nathan couldn't identify and the man seemed in fact to use magic and robotic augmentations that Nathan could not recognize.
Nathan hurled his axe after the fleeing Molugs, the weapon exploding on contact with the back of a masked soldier. The weapon reappeared on Nathan's person, weight and all returning. Nathan shrugged his shoulders, rotating them to stretch his muscles more. Then the warrior turned to the now wrecked house and looked at the assembled group.
"Greetings fellow warriors. I am Nathaniel Klaus and this is Aurora Del Rosario, we are from the Xactian Empire and we're here to help with the situation. We have soldiers already evacuating who we can." Of course when Nathan said help, he meant "Get summoned to like and join us as this damned city crumbles." And when he said "Who we can." He meant "As many rich and wealthy people as possible." Such was war however and Nathan was simply following the orders he'd been given by the high command. The Xactians had helped out and were helping out where they could. Their strategy would be effective in preserving at least some parts of Nortestra and Castellan.
Nathan looked at Sakujo and nodded to the warrior, respecting him for killing the masked ringleader, but still wary because of his likely affiliation. Czarsnikeians were not to be trusted. The nation had turned on itself many times in the recent past. Not a good sign to Xactians. Then Nathan looked at Greymourne and chuckled. "Sorry there aren't more reinforcements, Xact is still in preparation for Mollug. If your city were expected to last the week, I'd advise just holding out. But judging by that monstrosity on the frontlines and the intensity of this battle, I'd imagine this city doesn't have much longer." Nathan offered a hand to Greymourne. "From one enemy of Mollug to another, I salute you."
Nathan then turned to Yamcha and said, "Nice moves. Where'd you learn 'em? You dont look like you're from around here to be honest, are you Summoned?" Nathan then turned to the whole group and spoke, "If you are summoned, if you are Nortestran, if you are an enemy of Mollug, Xact is your ally. And we are here for you. We do not estimate for this city to last for much longer. Xactian high command recommends an escape of the city using the power of the summoned. This is believed to be the best option for saving lives and peeving off Mollug."
Kana was an interesting sort to Nathan. She seemed important somehow, and so many had come together in her support. Nathan looked at her through his helmet and the light shining from her was near blinding. She exuded positive energy and the aura of a goddess. Similar in a way to Aurora, but whereas Aurora's power felt cyclical and balanced, Kana's was off center chaos imbued. Almost as if she was struggling between godhoods. Xactians were a fairly religious people, so how all the gods worked was fairly common knowledge in the nation. Well at least how Xact thought they worked.
Taking his natural leader stance, Nathan moved to the exit of the building and beckoned the others to join him. "There is a battle of epic proportions being fought here, let us help Castellan however we can."
Sakujo nodded and said "Spoken well axeman, let us go to where we are needed most. Getting the natives out of here sounds like a good idea. Perhaps next we should head for the palace and assist in its defense? I've not been there yet but i'm sure they could probably use our assistance. The Molugs if they have broken through far enough, will probably be going after the nobility soon."
Juju StaidFoal Lazaro1505 Pai Chan YsFanatic
Reactions: Juju, Kaihaku, Solirus and 2 others
A single shriek of "No!" could be heard coming from Yunica as the buildings, her, and everything else began to fall. She had hoped to kill the slime and then somehow rescue at least some of the people trapped in the floating structures. Instead the clone found herself utterly powerless to do anything as they all plummeted to the ground, none of the innocents were in arm's reach and she had no way to maneuver through the air. For the second time today the Armor hit the ground with enough force to leave cracks in the ground, but this time buildings and other bits of debris landed around and on top of her.
For several long moments the Armor laid still, the woman inside silently crying in grief and despair at her failure. Eventually though her racing mind latched onto a single fact, the gravity user responsible for the massacre was heading towards the place. As anger roared within her, Yunica had the Armor surge with power as it started to use raw physical power to excavate itself from the ruins. As soon as it was free she had the war machine break out into a sprint towards the place, following Tobias and his allies. She paid no mind to anything else going on around her, making the gravity man pay for what he had done was the only thing that mattered.
Spoiler: Mentions
StaidFoal Kaihaku Snackofthefuture
"I hope you taste like chicken," Charon remarks as his arms surged with soul-power and Red Energy flowed over them. He could have gone with defense to better weather the blows raining upon him, but they were weak enough where he didn't bother. Many scraped or bounced off his armor while others did indeed manage to cause damage, but there wasn't nearly enough time for them to get to anything important. While this man may be tougher than some other humans, ultimately he was still incredibly squishy and fated for an extremely painful end as the android's arms squeezed with incredible force. But the cruelty of the death he was bringing down upon the fleshy didn't matter to the soul eater one bit, he had helped lead an invasion that had killed countless innocents which meant that he was not eligible for any sort of mercy or kindness by Charon's way of thinking.
Thus there was no regret or sadness as Rama's body began to break and rupture, only the satisfaction of a job well done when he dropped the lifeless pile of flesh to the ground and the general's soul was devoured. Sadly the soul also tasted like grapes, an annoying but ultimately minor fact. With the clones now gone, Charon was free to take a moment to consider his next move. The brief transmission that Rama had been able to do with his communication unit, not to mention the floating war machine, told the android that some other group was helping Mollug and that not the entire world was as primitive as what he had seen so far. But those were musings for another time, right now he needed to take stock on how the battle for Castllen was going and pick a course of action.
While there seemed to be something going on in the direction of the palace going by the hole in the wall, he figured the front lines would still be a veritable feast of souls that he could harvest. Even better, it would give him a chance to engage in some amusing psychological warfare, though judging by the sounds coming from the direction he had last seen the massive mech worm, there may not be time for such antics. And if that thing was indeed back to life again, he didn't know how much he could do about it, but at least he could thin the numbers of Mollug troops supporting it. His mind made up, Charon started to run back to the main battlefield.
Kana's eyes widened briefly upon hearing the one woman call herself a goddess, but the situation kept her from wondering about it too much. Instead a sorrowful look crossed over her face as she watched the buildings fall from the sky after a series of attacks against the slime, knowing countless people had to have lost their lives. More importantly, while the slime was nowhere to be seen now, that didn't mean that there wasn't any other threats. "Captain, with the wall breached, are there any other defenses that would stop spies and assassins from infiltrating civilian groups and the palace?" If there wasn't, the goddess knew that they may have to go and safeguard it, as if the palace fell then the odds were vary high that the defenders would lose heart and give up the fight.
She glanced at the others only briefly before speaking again. "I'm sorry, but conversations will have to wait. If the Captain deems it wise to return to the palace, I am going with her. In that case I would ask you to consider either helping to hold the front line, or perhaps come with us just in case something does happen at the palace."
Juju Snackofthefuture Pai Chan
FORSITH JI
Forsith gathered his men around him, battling Mollugs on every side. They were fighting by the collapsed wall, explosions everywhere and magic flying all about. Forsith dodged a blast of darkness magic and directed his mages to switch their focus to the building the enemy wizards were firing from. The building came apart in a flash as multiple fire and lightning mages directed their efforts to deconstructing the building. Bodies flew from the building as it exploded and Forsith could see Mollugs fleeing from the concentrated fire. They didn't route, but instead moved back in the lines and continued onwards with their comrades in whole new attacks and schemes. There were far too many Mollugs here.
Several buildings crashed down into the Nortestran line, further disorganizing the battlefield as the corpses of houses crashed down among the battlefield. The Colecanth also chose this moment as a fine time to rear its ugly head once more. Forsith snarled and began to direct his ranged troops to fire at the enemy mech. The situation was proving to seem quite hopeless.
Then he noticed the mech was firing at everything around it. "Everything" mostly happened to be Mollug soldiers strangely enough. It was attacking both sides now, launching magic spell after magic spell, its artillery blasting, tentacle arms moving and attacking at high speeds. Forsith clenched two of his fists, his other hands brandishing blades, this was an opportune time for the machine to lose its mind like this; The timing honestly couldn't be better. Forsith was aware of this and began to reorganize his men and improve the Nortestran line.
The battle lines shifted and changed as the Mollugs began to deal with the Coelacanth. Now facing two foes, the Mollugs were no longer moving like a horde but more similar to an actual army. This was both a good thing and a bad thing in Forsith's mind as the increased wariness would be an issue, but they'd at least gain some time out of it.
Forsith was now at the back of the line. Headed towards the recently crumbled gap in the wall. Hopefully the half giant would be able to meet some summoned and bring them back to the battlefield. Perhaps if nothing else the Mollugs could be stalled long enough to allow an escape of sorts.
May the ballroom remain eternal. C'est fini.
Remus Alberia
2nd Ward of the City
Mentions: Kaihaku (Frostfire or hazy soul) StaidFoal (Mii or slime)
Interactions: GrieveWriter (Rook or behemoth)
The divine knight watched as his sword hit true but at the very last moment, his sword's path was disrupted by a mystical golden bird. Remus grit his teeth as he watched the slime descend from the ground and slink off into the distance. Realizing the fight not over, Remus used his ability to see souls. At least in that sense, it would allow him to track the slime should it disappear further into the burg. Viewing his surroundings, Remus would've almost thought everything else fine until he spotted a peculiar sight. A giant, rather large, berserker of a knight heading towards him and throwing another rather large metal piece at him. There's no time for two engagements, I must hurry to defeat the slime and then counter this behemoth.
With his plan set, Remus dashed towards the slime's soul. Stopping briefly to rip his sword from the frozen ground. Before he could approach the slime fully, a blizzard torrent covered the area and the slime. The blizzard proved too harsh to enter and impossible to gaze into through normal means. But Remus' ability to peer into souls was everything but normal. The knight who had removed the corrupt from nobility with this skill saw two souls within the blizzard. One clear and one hazy. The former of which appeared damaged, hurt. Remus resolved his idea that that was the slime but the other soul was, undetermined. Its hazy nature made it out to be false. A masquerade of a soul. And as soon as it appeared, the supposed slime's soul was snuffed out as if it had just disappeared. The masked soul then hastily disappeared further into the city and towards what appeared to be the palace.
As soon as the soul escaped outwards, the blizzard dissipated. Leaving nothing behind but snow-covered houses and a disappeared soul. Walking into the snow-covered ruins presented him with the slightest evidence of foul play. Something was amiss. Remus could focus little on it though as he realized he had another engagement to deal with. Turning around, he saw the large beast barreling towards him with incredible speed. "You ought to know," The knight entered a stance, holding his blazing sword in front of him. "I am not in the best mood." Remus broke into a sprint towards the behemoth, rage filling his body just like it did that one fateful day, meeting the beast's own head-on. "Don't get in my way!" Ducking past just moments away from a full-on collision, Remus slashed his sword outwards towards the armored beast's legs with full intent to disable it from moving any further. Whether or not it hit true, Remus slid past the hulking beast and swiftly turned around, preparing for another attack.
Reactions: Snackofthefuture and nighttimecatplayer
Lord Enzio Ravencroft IIInteractions: Kaihaku (goons) Judge_Vulxray (angel-senpai) | Mention: Kaihaku (Caedmon ig)
As the arrows fell, Enzio recalled one of Greymourne's teachings. 'Never charge blindly into combat.' One he never really fully learned.
He summoned a blast of flame, but three arrows managed to bite through his armor, one sinking into his sword arm, another into his gut, and one right through his side. The scarlet arrowhead protruded from his tabard, the rich red soaking into the ancient symbol of the Ravencroft house. Enzio fell to a knee, using his sword to keep himself stable. Every breath was a battle, each ragged intake making his vision flicker, but he had to force himself. Even as crimson pooled below him, he had to keep breathing.
It took everything just to hang onto consciousness. He coughed, unsurprised by the globs of blood that sputtered from his mouth. Not good. Tears wells up in his eyes like the blood in his lungs. He had always thought he would die after making a name for himself, but at least he would be remembered for defending his homeland to the bitter end. The only regret he could feel now was that he couldn't say thank you to Greymourne for everything since the extermination of House Ravencroft... and sorry for not following her advice. He wished he had found the courage to talk to Csilla. Hell, if he could do it again he would have defended the honor of the imprisoned summoned.
The sounds of combat seemed faraway, but his eyes could still see the angelic woman locked in combat with the fiend. If anyone could save Nortestra it was the summoned. Despite everything he smiled, "Drive them back, summoned!" he wheezed, coughing again. "Our... faith...is with you!"
Talking became too much of a struggle so the strawberry knight fell back into pained silence, focusing on trying to breathe. His mind kept drifting, and he could feel his consciousness slipping. The wave of lightning struck him before he could even feel it, knocking him to the ground. The remaining life in him was an ember, fading out.
Reactions: Snackofthefuture, Kaihaku, Kai123 and 2 others
=Returning hero & Un wanted Reunion=
Inolved: Hitori Kage, Erza Scarlet, Synthia, June, & Karen
When: 2nd Siege
Where: Castellan frontlines
As the next day rolled over Hitori was up early in the morning punching and kicking the air basically preparing for the day to come. In the back of his mind he hoped the others were okay while he was away. Sweat dripped down Hitori's body as he continued his personal warm up. The room's intense x5 gravity was the best factor to pushing Hitori's natural passive due to his body being pushed. The next morning rolled over which was the last day Hitori was planning on staying before returning to his friends, they didn't know that today was supposed to be an invasion going on. Hitori and Kinji were continuing their morning training intensively. Hitori has grown a lot in power especially after all the training he's undergone with the Outcasters. Once finishing training Hitori rested in the healing hot water with Kinji before being notified by Choji Nortestra was being invaded once again by the Mollug army. Hearing the news Hitori jumped up not even getting fully healed and dressed himself in the new outfit. Taking hardly any time thanking and saying his farewell to his new friends before he was able to leave the hideout Kinji stopped Hitori before telling him something important. Taking the information Hitori nodded before flash stepping towards the battlefield.
As Hitori got closer to the battlefield he took out any Mollug's that got into his way, blowing them away without using his fire magic. Flash stepping towards any sign of his friends he kept pushing until he stopped sliding across the ground. He was in a courtyard, and a familiar mana source caught Hitori's attention. Preparing himself he saw Korin falling from the sky Hitori caught the man putting him down. Asking Korin what was going on Korin gave Hitori a small rundown before passing out. An explosion erupted from a building in front of them, Hitori grabbed Korin flash stepping away from the flying debris. Buu and Ara were both flung from the smoke sliding by Hitori and Korin, Hitori looked at them both and nodded to them before handing Buu over his brother.
"I remember you guys from before. You've all gotten stronger I can sense. You three should probably help any soldiers nearby, I'll handle her." Without even a question to be asked the siblings left the scene. From the smoke a familiar face emerged as two behemoths roared behind her. "Long time no see Synthia." Hitori smirked looking at the Ebony. Synthia noticing it was the boy that made a fool of her from before, she gave a sour look.
"Kill him." Was the only words that came out of the ebony mage's mouth as both behemoths prepared beams in their mouth yet were attacked by Nortestra mages. June and Karen jumped out of the smoke going to attack Hitori, June attempted to kick Hitori though he blocked it and blew her away as Karen attempted to kick him as well but the same result happened. Synthia prepared a beam as it shot straight towards Hitori. He barely dodged it though his attention was on the two girls who aided Synthia. Karen attempted to slash Hitori with her Samehada, but missed because Hitori ducked and kicked her away. Hitori turned around and covered his face with his arms as he blocked an attack from June's elder golem which was just summoned. The punch sent Hitori flying into a building, but it didn't take much time for him to jump right out of the building. Hitori drew his sword flash stepping to Karen as they clashed swords creating a small gust of wind. Hitori was then punched by the golem which sent him flying, while they fought Synthia was casting a spell as she lifted her hand in the air as a red magic circle appeared spinning. Red beams shot up in the sky and rained down on Hitori. There was a smoke cloud and rubble could be heard falling over. Karen prepared a spell as well waiting for Hitori. Jane jumped on her Elder Golem's back.
"There's no chance for you, summoner!" Karen states with a smirk. A pillar shot out of the smoke blowing it out the way. Hitori jumped out of the debris landing on top of it. Hitori used his hand to wipe the blood from the side of his mouth.
"Damn you guys are really strong I wasn't expecting a three on one. Though that just got me fired up now!" A fire aura surrounded his body once he caught his fist. Hitori was smirking as he slowly got in a stance where he crouched down putting one arm in front of him with his hand on the ground. The fire around him started to spiral around him. "SWORD HORN!"
"Water magic! Water Dragon!" Karen shouted out as the blue magic circle shone bright and an aqua dragon rushed towards Hitori. As it crashed down on Hitori it was a dust cloud. A bright line shined through the cloud as Hitori was flying straight towards June and her Golem. He smashed straight through the golems core moving too fast that the golem couldn't block. June jumped off the back as the golem broke down. As she flipped she fired two arrows at Hitori. Hitori turned deflecting one arrow, but got hit in the leg by one. He winced in pain grabbing the arrow out his legging up noticing the white haired woman was swinging her sword down on him. As he side stepped her barely getting cut by the sword by the cheek he jumped back as Karen had created a small crater.
Synthia flew behind Hitori with two small magic circles over her hand, Karasu grew in size to carry her like a jet pack. She fired two red beams at Hitori but he flashed stepped away. She flew higher in the sky preparing a red magic circle. Hitori punched June in the stomach then kicked her away before drawing his sword blocking Karen's swing, Hitori noticed mana coming out of the small wound from the cut earlier from Samehada. Hitori threw a fireball in the air which made Synthia watch it fly up. Hitori and Karen engaged in a fast sword fight, Karen saw an opening and placed her hand in front of Hitori trapping him in the water prison. Synthia fired a giant beam down on Hitori and Karen. She noticed the fireball crashing down on the two as the beam rushed down on them.
"What?!" Synthia was shocked to see it came down so fast. As the beam crashed down it was a massive explosion June was blew into a building. Synthia landed on a tall building looking at the giant cloud. That last spell took a lot to use, she was sure the two was killed.
"You did it Synthia!" Karasu shouted out to Synthia in excitement.
"No I didn't!" She cried out with her eyes opening wide from what she can see in the smoke. Hitori kicked Karen into some rubble with a fire kick. He had protected himself and Karen from the blast within a nick of time. A white cloud appeared between some buildings as a creature knocked over the buildings. It was June's Rhino summoning as it charged towards Hitori. Aiming its Horn at Hitori it rushed him, Hitori jumped over the Rhino then getting hit in the back by Karen slamming him into the ground. Samehada started eating more mana out of Hitori. Hitori struggled to stand up until he noticed the rhino coming back.
Karen landed on some rubble holding her hand up to the sky letting her mana float up to the sky. A giant cloud that covered the area they fought in. Rain started pouring down, Synthia landed by Karen.
"I'll leave him to you two for now. I'm pushing onward." Synthia told Karen before preparing to fly off, but noticed a magic circle appearing under both of them. "What!? I can't move!?"
"I can't fly Synthia!"
"The summoner doing this?!" Karen shouted to Synthia.
Hitori clenched his fist as brilliant flames surrounded it as he collided with the Rhino's head with a furious punch. "King's fist!!!" The fire that surrounded his fist grew in size. The rhino fell over crashing into the ground. Hitori landed on top of the beast noticing what was going on with Synthia.
"Attacking a fellow summoner isn't in your best interest, and I assume you're a part of the Mollug army that's said to be attacking this poor capital." The voice came from a woman, but there was no sight of her to be found. Synthia used her mana to corrupt the sealing spell cracking the circle freeing herself and Karen. As Synthia flew up she can see on top of a building was a woman that was covered in brown head wrappings and
"State your name." Synthia commanded the woman, though no response from her. She fired a beam at it, but her blade completely deflected the attack. "Who the hell!?" Synthia cried out. "You're another summoner aren't you!?"
Karen appeared behind the woman to swing her sword down on her, she blocked it with hier sword as the building broke under them they both flashed stepped around. June and Hitori fought as well but it was more on his side. The woman kicked Karen into the ground before flash stepped towards Synthia forcing her to draw her sword as they fought in the air. Karen struggled back up watching the two fight before turning back to June and Hitori. Stirring the rain up five water sharks formed.
"Water magic! Five feeding sharks!" Karen shouted out, sending the sharks after Hitori. Hitori maneuvered around to dodge the sharks before getting hit by one. Sliding across the ground Hitori grabbed his shoulder which was bleeding. He was on one knee as well looking at the two girls that charged at him. Hitori smirked as his feet engulfed in flames and he launched at the two girls. As they got close he caught both of them by the neck with his arms. Slamming them into the ground the force created a crater and was enough to push him up slightly in the air. He swung his arms down at the girls as they were all engulfed in flames.
"Brilliant Flames!!!!!!!" A pillar of fire shot up into the sky burning some rubble. As the pillar faded the two girls struggled to get back on their feet as Hitori landed in front of them. "I don't really like fighting girls, it's not right for me. You two should probably stop fighting now." Hitori was then being held on by another Karen from behind him. "What?" Karen jumped out slashing down on Hitori, but he flipped using the clone, took the hit and turned to water. She went for another swing but missed and got hit in the gut by Hitori's fist which made her cough up spit. He sent her rolling on the ground to tremble. June went to stab Hitori from behind but got hit by the back of his fist then got kicked in the gut to meet the same fate as Karen. Hitori turned back to see the other two and noticed the man was winning. Two white clouds appeared behind buildings behind Hitori as roaring can be heard and a giant bird flying into the sky.
While this was all going on the Mech had fallen. The bird flew off going to attack any nearby watch towers by smashing through them. The ox burst through the buildings attempting to smash Hitori, though he was jumping out of the way. Karen attacked Hitori from behind as they engaged in a quick exchange of attacks. Karen jumped out of the way as the Ox slammed down on Hitori creating a giant crater.
Synthia and the strange girl continued their fight though the girl was having a tough time dealing with a ranged opponent. Synthia was easily able to level buildings with ease while fighting the girl. After some time the girl was tired of the extra clothing and ripped them off her body revealing her true identity. It was Erza that came to Hitori's aid. Erza looked towards Hitori and flashed stepped to his side. Now the two were surrounded with a four on one.
"The name's Erza nice to meet you." She said to hitori who she aided in this fight. The two were side by side as Erza held her sword strong.
"Hitori Kage, thanks for the help." Hitori responded to Erza. "Are you summoned too?"
"Yeah, but let's get to know each other after we deal with this situation."
"Right! Let's go!!" And so the battle began again as the two fire mages engaged in combat with Synthia and her inquisitors.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl