Adair cursed again, glaring at the penance-bound man as if it was his fault the Vice Captain was put in this situation.  They needed to end this battle as quickly before they drained Captain of all her magic.  He didn’t want to find out<span style="font-style: italic">now</span>that all these.. Reapers.. used to be Pristine Knights, though it neatly tied together many of the hints they’d learned at the soiree.<br/><br/>“Very well, but don’t tell any of the others your findings.  I’ll keep the others off you two but<span style="font-style: italic">hurry</span>.” Somehow they hadn’t been attacked during their discussion.  As if sensing the return of his attention, a group of Reapers advanced on the trio of Knights.  Sheathing his sword, Adair charged the group of Sinners.  He grabbed the first one to reach him and spun the body like it was a club, knocking the others away.  The Reaper was then unceremoniously thrown at the two members of Squad Prissy as he pulled out his sword and backed up to be closer his newest ‘wards.’  He was assuming the two of them could keep one Reaper down long enough for their experiment.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>Normally such a joke would have earned Gil a pert response, but Lethe just rolled onto her knees and got back up. She lifted a hand to cast Banish but aborted the motion when she recalled herself.  Gil looked like he was still recovering his breath and his sword was missing.  White light misted spread around them and Lethe shook her head.<span style="color: silver">“I’m fine.  Just worry about yourself.”</span>She ran out of the divine magic’s embrace, lifting her sword to slice through the incoming blast of Sin.  With Gil behind her, she couldn’t just avoid it like she’d normally prefer.<br/><br/>Victorie was powering up another spell but a swipe of Lethe’s hand had her one Heavens Judgment sword hurtling towards the blonde who had to dodge out of the way.  If only she had all of them.. but no, they were being put to better use currently.  At least, it’d be better use if she could finish this quickly.  Victorie suddenly vanished from her sight, could she teleport too like Lillith?, and then there was a flash of intent to her right.   She barely got her sword between her body and Victorie’s attack and the strike had enough power behind it to lift her off her feet.  Given the way even Gil had struggled, she probably would have gone flying from the strike if the past decade of being a Knight hadn’t ingrained certain responses within her.  Her weight had already shifted so the momentum sent her up in a flip over her opponent rather than into the fringes of Reapers.  Her body twisted to clear the other woman’s height and one foot planted on Victorie’s back to get herself extra distance.  The jump sent the blonde sprawling forward and the Knight towards a tangle of sin manifestations.  Even with the push-off, her jump wasn’t nearly the height she was expecting and she quickly tucked for a controlled roll on the ground to bleed off her momentum before the impact snapped any of her limbs.  She was much too used to having her swords assist her maneuvers.  She landed near the mass of vines she’d spotted and had to hastily slash out to keep them at bay.  There was a flash of teal from within the tangle and before she fully realized what she was doing, her sword had cleaved the vines into pieces.  A sea blue blade laid amidst the disintegrating Sin.  She’d seen that before a long time ago. Where?  She couldn’t recall, but it wasn’t one of hers and Gil needed a blade.<br/><br/>Lethe reached out to grab it and felt a moment of disorientation.  She felt like she was slipping awa..Afterwards, she’d never be able to say if that knock had been fortunate or not.  Something slammed into her arm and she was sent to the ground.  Her arm was on fire and the unknown blade slipped from her grasp.  A banish exploded between her and her assailant.  The Reaper reared away from her and she stabbed it with the sword in her good arm, forcing healing magic into her injury.  Nirvana.  Now she remembered, Gil had mentioned its effects when she’d asked about it back when they still had time to visit one another.  She kicked Nirvana into the air, grabbed it to orient it, and then threw it before she could get lost in its oblivion.<span style="color: silver">“Gil!”</span>was her only warning to her partner who had engaged Victorie during her lapse.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>Syndra peered at the battlefield far below through her binoculars.  This would have been so much easier if her stupid little sister actually<span style="font-style: italic">listened</span>and didn’t go gallivanting off.  Though she had multiple puppets she could peek through, she was still limited by their vision, unlike Lillith who could look anywhere the redhead wanted.  But it was too soon to play her hand just yet.  Victorie was doing fine even without her full attention.  This battlefield, however..  She may not care what happened to them on the field, but not enough Pristine Knights were dying.  Again, she cursed the lack of Lillith; the redhead’s teleportation would have made kidnapping them so much easier.  All those potential Reapers and she had to sneak them off one by one.  She’d make sure her little sister paid for the disobedience.<br/><br/>But first.. the carrot-top.  Really, a Pristine Knight calling upon the ‘pagan gods’ for power?  The irony was too strong with this one and she tried not to laugh.  What would he do next? Call upon Raim for a stronger fire? She’d truly laugh herself sick if that was the case.  Maybe she could force it out of him?  She was back in the tent on the battlefield, right beside the Reaper leading the troops.  She got to her feet with effortless grace and walked next to the once-Knight who had turned to look at her.  With a smile, she slapped her palm onto the Reaper’s forehead and transferred her control.  The body she’d been controlling, some human councilor who’d been a nuisance to their plans, crumpled to the ground.  She tested her new body.  The holy aura in it was disgusting but it was thankfully vastly outweighed by the Sin they’d pumped through it.  She adjusted her control to the larger body and then picked up the sin crystal she’d kept on her previous body.  A clench of her fist destroyed the plant and the resulting Sin she shaped into a naginata.  For these enhanced arms, its weight was nothing.  Time to play then.<br/><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><br/>Cricket vaulted over a Reaper only to realize there was no space to land on the other side.  He knocked into the next Reaper and the mass started to turn towards the disturbance in their ranks.  Using the fallen bodies like steps, he leapt to the top of the Reapers and ran along their heads, shoulders, scythes, anything within reach that let him keep moving forward.  His boots sizzled threateningly as the Purity’s magic came in contact with the Sin creatures and the sound made him cringe.  He needed to get down soon before he wasted more magic.  Suddenly there was open space and he jumped to the ground, only to find there were others in the clearing.<br/><br/>“Wait.. why are you guys here?”  He asked the trio of Knights, recognizing the Valiar-look-alikes.  He instinctively sidestepped a swipe and a bolt of Smite struck the Reaper.  A wave of his hand, half in greeting and half to decapitate the bent over Reaper, accompanied his words.  “Oh yeah, Smites and Banishes alone won’t work and please don’t bother with Absolve or Penance unless you want to see power levels over nine thousand.”  He ducked under another swipe of the scythe.  Those weapons may look as scary as Team PMS but they were certainly limited attack-wise.  To be honest, he was fairly surprised the Reapers had contained themselves to just Sin blasts and scythe strikes.  Even taking into account the fact Captain had been boosting their magic, these Reapers seemed.. kind of dumb.  (And why did he have a horrible feeling he’d just jinxed them?  Please, Light, no..)