The first round of lightning, their preemptive attack, proved to be less effective than she had expected. The mage on the side of the invaders seemed to be well-versed in defensive magics, and, as a result, the follow-up attack by the knights didn't deal as many casualties as she would have liked. Quickly enough, the enemy had recovered, and now, they were bringing it into an extended brawl. The commander, this time taking an overhead view of the situation, realized two important facts. The majority of that woman's defensive magics were concentrated skywards, as if she had somehow already known about the possibility of Einzershalt's bombardments. There was a second group of invaders who were rejoining the main group, adding to the offense. While the number of casualties still favoured the side of the knights, with the majority of the unarmored invaders showing just how inexperienced they were, they were still outnumbered by a reasonable amount, and every extra knight that fell just widened the numerical disadvantage. The woman touched the pulsating glyphs that ran across stone surface, before issuing new commands to her men. [i]Keep them packed close, knights, but prioritize your own lives and stay light on your feet. Mages, switch to ground-based attacks. Start off by destabilizing the terrain. Focus on support, not offense.[/i] --- Amongst all the carnage, within the din of combat, Yazu was absorbed in her own world. Or, perhaps, it was the world of others that she was absorbed in. The conditions for the curse that afflicted her had, despite her best attempts, triggered once more when the round of lightning had scattered everyone's shadows. And in just the briefest moment, she had stepped into the shadows of one. She didn't know his name beforehand, nor did she care, but now, she knew everything about him. Every small lie, every past transgression, every itty-bitty sin that Chad had committed. That ship captain's words fell onto deaf ears as, for the first time in a long time, the half-elf being was wrapped in the past of another person. And, as blurred shadows struck her again and again, she could feel her own morality and consciousness becoming swept away. The waltz of blades around her served to latch more and more knowledge onto her, until she was smothered by the weight of everyone's pasts. Her mind was seared, and she could feel the kiss of a cold blade dragging across her flesh, letting out her black blood. And slowly, unperturbed by the injuries that she bore, the injuries that she attained simply by standing still, Yazu made her judgement. They were all bad people, and all bad people should disappear. The ground trembled as blackness seeped from her body. --- Rilolia wanted no part in the battle, and the vampire was pretty certain that even if she did, there was little that she could do. The invocation of the dead took too long in the middle of a battle, and while she could once hide within the heavy armor of Dead Gear, now, she was virtually useless. She never was one to fight with her barehands, even when vampires were physically stronger than the normal human. Retreating backwards from the fray and wincing at the first roar of clashing metal, the vampire instead ran around the battlefield, scattering into a swarm of bats as she flew low and spread out. Lyra was, thankfully, doing a good job of mitigating the damage of those lightning strikes, or Rilolia would have to run all the way up over the summit. From her bat's eye view, she wasn't exactly sure who was winning the fight, but hopefully, Chad would order a retreat when he remembered that they were there to rescue Vance, not to fight Astopolian jailers. Cresting low, the swarm could visibly see the ground tremble as another act of magic was done, no doubt to disable the slight edge in mobility that the airship crewmen had. She had hoped that the effects would be minor, but it was clear that the sudden change had caught the men off guard. More were cut down, and her sensibility to the dead had allowed her to see their souls leave their bodies right at the moment of their death. Perhaps she should have felt some sadness, but she couldn't. She barely knew them, after all, and those that she DID care for were still alive and fighting. The swarm of bats packed close together once more and melted into a pillar-shaped blob. With the excess of the dark materials shedded as black fog, Rilolia returned to her humanoid form again. Spotting a lonely hole on the peak of the mountain, she immediately dashed towards it, sliding onto her knees. She grabbed onto the iron gridding and peered into the hole. There was only darkness present, and realizing that even the eyes of a Talze Uteran couldn't discern the contents of that dungeon, she called out, hopeful and hopeless at the same time, [b]“Vance, are you there? Don't g-”[/b] An unnatural scream echoed behind her, cutting her off. --- A man was crushed, his body flattened and smeared against the ground, as if a child was painting clumsily with their hands. [b] “Free free free free money! Five thousand three hundred and triple dozen coppers reduced by ten thousand more and scattered in Hope and Haven and Safe and and and and and and and!”[/b] She clenched her hands over her face, as if trying to pull it off. Swathes of corruption spun around her, dark whips sending people flying through the air like rag dolls. [b]“Evict evict evict evict allllllll the bad guys! Kill the wifey, eat the mother, set fires, party hard, let's have a fun time and feast going down the zero from minus 1 for every stubble on the chinny chin chin!”[/b] She clawed at her throat, tearing out strips of red flesh that regenerated moments later. Dark, thorny spikes rose from the ground, skewering whomever it caught and scattering their organs into the sky. [b]“Monster monster monster mother father a-a-a-a-ah I can't see dark scared black black black all black sins what no stay array may leave me alone no stay here leave me not together cold ah hahahahahahahaha why don't you just stay today after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day after day?”[/b] She fell onto her knees, crying out thick globs of dark ooze as she scraped out her eyes, only for them to come back moments later. Underground, the commander watched all this madness, watched as friend and foe alike were ravaged by this madness, before hardening her heart and sending out a new message, to a safer place, a far away place. [i]Einzershalt, begin bombardment.[/i] --- From underneath Koestace, a rift was opened and another monster was unleashed. A beast that had only been encountered once during the entirety of the Talentless Strife. A monster that brought fame to Knigt Commander Mirelle, but served to make her into the same type of monster. The gargantuan rift-beast known only as the World-Eater stretched out one of its six limbs and smashed through the side of the mountain. An avalanche of boulders and dirt swept over it, but it disregarded such a minor obstacle, as another of its gray limbs pierced through the side of the mountain. Over and over again, it shattered the 'cage' that contained it, until the beast could finally stride out, the mountain trembling with its escape. Above, was an unnatural thing, something that bustled with panicked life. The citadel of Koestace, known as one of the safest fortresses amongst all three countries. Step by step, the World-Eater began to scale the mountain, ascending towards that puny fortress. Far away, seated on the top most part of a tree, the man in red smiled. A bit flashy, but it'd get the job done.