As Gene was almost literally dragged around by Kushiel, the two would notice a commotion down below. Demons...? Two groups. One was fighting alone, but another were tearing through forces at an unprecedented speed. As identified, a wolf-like and a female? And the other seemed like a swordswoman. The demonic minions that swarmed the angel forces were finally beginning to quell, so whatever opening these two forces had were beginning to wear thin.

Should they stop just one group at a time? Or should they split the bill? Either way, their job was to intercept either one of these, from Kushiel's perspective, he felt the two while having a common goal, were not of the same team, which may complicate things slightly.



As Blair ripped through angel after angel, eventually choosing to simply skip some on a full stomach and speed on to her objective, the skyscraper. Smashing her way through arcade shopping streets and through the windows of some buildings to speed her way on. It looks like choosing to go the streets in this area was the right thing. The Affinities that intercepted her were no challenge, on the other hand trying to take to their air with her limited range despite her athleticism, proved to take more time. It was like some frantic race. Although as she went down the streets, she noticed angels were also beginning to get off of her too, and head to another location... They were splitting their forces?

She would get a glimpse of the reason, for a small moment she would spot a large wolf demon and a demoness ploughing through angels at the same time as heading towards their goal, which based on their direction was the same. This much noise and their opposition was little more than minions... This would be believable, they weren't on the inner parts just yet. She had a choice before her now... Should she try and shadow those two's path and make the trek easier? Or should she continue her own way?



The incoming demonic duo could not be stopped by the mere Affinities on the ground, but with this many, they were sure to make some noise. The Light Angels coming down to the streets to try and stop them were little more than flies, annoying, but took little effort to kill, especially for Fenn whose brute strength would swat them out of the air.

On their path Lily would notice more important-looking figures flying in the air, mostly because they stood out a bit... Angels? They looked strong, if they were strong enough they could seriously impede in their progress.

Should they hurry up? Or should they split up and make it more difficult for the angels to pursue them? Plus she noticed someone else was across the main street behind some buildings blazing her own path. Enemy of my enemy is my friend? Or perhaps this is the demon mentioned in their mission?

---

Despite his name, his careful patience paid off. The Assault demons would try and link their attacks together to form a brutal combo, but as soon as they attacked, they would leave themselves wide open. Still, even then, they could quickly raise their buckler shields, which would be a problem when attacking with single-hit strikes, but those shields seemed weak, enough power and he could just power through, or chip them down with speed. He had to break them quickly if that were the case, for around two more began to appear from the bushes. Now dealing with almost seven, he had to make his move.



The cyborg's path was surprisingly calm... His sensors detected battle all over this forest. So much battle, yet so few enemies near him... This did not seem right, perhaps an ambush? No... Suddenly he would detect demonic signatures all around him, and the plants would appear to come to life. Chimeras, possessing Scarecrow demons no less. Their features were more plant-like, likely a side-effect of staying in a forest for so long, but these demons were just laying about, waiting for prey when they would sprout to life and attack. Within moments, Kyle was surrounded by several scarecrow from different directions.

The area around him looked close to some kind of facility, according to records, likely belonging to the Order of the Sword, but now ruined and claimed by the forest. Based on signatures he was detecting, it was likely he would have surprise encounters like this as he would traverse that facility.

Still, the problem at hand was that he was surrounded, and the swinging spinning blades from the flower sprouting out of the scarecrows made running past them a little more difficult, but their mobility appeared to be limited.

Wrath growled softly as he's forced to dance back from a counter attack by the wall of bucklers and shift's his form to the Magna form. This would allow him to deal with the seven Assault Demons in front of him quickly and continue down his chosen path. Stepping forward, he brings his greatsword across in a large arc in front of him, unleashing a Cleaving Slash that tears through the bucklers and sets their owner stumbling back. However, he continues by spinning the blade around him and slicing through the Assault Demons trying to surround him.

Bringing the blade back around in a spinning slash, he slams it into the ground and slices the last two in half, one horizontally and the other vertically, their bodies falling to either side as he shifts his momentum to carry him forwards. The pattern continues, and the demons all end much the same way, sliced to pieces on Rage Bringer, but he knew his luck wouldn't hold out. Eventually he'd either end up finding the target on his own or running into something stronger than Chimeras or Assault Demons, so he remained on guard.

While she never expected much resistance right off the bat, she didn't think things would be going this easily. After all, this outpost was a key location that both demon and angel alike needs. Hmm... Carefully observing the surrounding area as she pressed onward, she decided to cut down as much time as necessary to reach her target, be it through alleys or through buildings. Choosing to stick to the streets, Blair managed to avoid the more time consuming opponents and only had to deal with the weakest ranked Affinities.

Though, even they ended up consuming enough time by taking to the air. For some time now, she's been noticing something...off. While she was indeed taking to the streets and thus avoiding the majority of the enemies, when she did run into them, they were always in good number. But lately, the angels been breaking away from her and heading elsewhere. Splitting their forces? Just where are they heading off too... and to whom? Hmm...

She didn't have to think on it too much as she may have found out why. For but a moment she spotted a large wolf and another demon, a female going straight through the angels. Right away she could tell they were different, far more then the rabble she seen when she first arrived. They were no low class demons just randomly appearing....no....they were something else entirely. Not only that, they seemed to be heading in the direction she was heading towards. Could it be a coincidence? Doubtful.

She was left with a choice, follow them or continue as she was? This was a simple matter, considering what she had felt along with what she has seen, a golden opportunity has presented itself. Thus there was only one choice, which is to follow them and make use of them. By following, her mission could be completed much faster. While there's a chance that they are her enemies, considering a demon's true nature, her mission supersedes all and thus must do everything to accomplish it.

Keeping her guard up, just in case, she followed after them, knowing chance's are high they'd know of her presence, she made no effort to hide herself.

Silas clenched his teeth at the short shrift he was getting from his supposed allies. Firstly was the child, acting as though his warning was unwarranted, and muttering insults and epithets about him under his breath. Then, it was the mage, acting as though Silas was somehow insulting or imposing upon him by trying to strike up conversation. And then he was insulting him, as well. Not a fantastic start. And then the mage had to go and needlessly antagonize the children. Even he'd had more tact when dealing with them. This was not at all turning out how he expected it to, in all the wrong ways.

He growled, and turned to give the both of these upstarts what for, when the woman- the Demon Hunter- decided to throw her two cents in. Unfortunately for Silas, her words had a point. He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. She was right, of course- needlessly engaging in vitriol was counterproductive to their efforts. And he hadn't exactly shown the proper respect earlier, either, considering the Huntress' words.

"Yes... yes, you're right. I apologize, you are correct- it has been a long time since I've had to deal with any but my own. But then, I suppose that distinction doesn't apply to you all, anymore. We are allies, are we not?" He turned toward the door on the left, seeing as the boy had gone over to the door on the right. He turned toward the other member of their party- the young girl- and nodded over to the door.

"We should investigate further. Would you care to accompany me?"

KYL-9XX - Mitis Forest

Now by himself, the cyborg grew a lot more careful and obersvant of his surroundings. Kosara and Wrath would have been a big help in finding and defeating the Gorgon, but apparently it was time to prove his own worth. The path through the forest was full of assault demons, who Kyle used as a warm-up to prepare himself for the real challenge at hand. Supernatural stuff was still pretty new to him, so studying these things and their weaknesses might come in handy in the long run. No matter how many demons the cyborg killed off, there seemed to be an endless supply somewhere in the forest. Looking for that source sounded like a good way of possibly finding the Gorgon, and off Kyle went.

As he continued walking on the gravel path, his surroundings were unusually calm. The cyborg could still hear sounds of battle and demons in the distance, but there was no sign of danger in his immediate vecinity. A little further down the road, Kyle could make out some sort of building in the distance. It seemed abandonded, the forest had reclaimed most of it and had covered the majority in vines and plant life. He discared it as a point-of-interest at first, but suddenly his sensor went off with demonic readings. The biggest came from the building itself, but there were signals all around him now. It was unexpected, because no matter where he looked, there was nothing threating...or at least nothing that appeared dangerous. The cyborg didn't seem to realize that the bushes and trees around him were ever moving, just slightly and carefully, edging closer to their shiny metal prey. It wasn't until one jumped out of the crowd that Kyle finally realized what he was dealing with.

The demon had a totally different appearance to the one that KYL had gotten used to. Its body was made ouf of cloth and wood, the limbs looked more like branches than actual arms and legs. And of course, there was that gigantic scythe where the thing's left arm was supposed to be. The scythe that was a mere centimeters away from Kyle's face. The cyborg was quick enough to duck under it in the last second, but the sound of metal clashing against metal suggested he had noot been agile enough. Rolling to the side, Kyle finally realized he was surrounded by those things, at least 7 or 8 of them were forming a tight ring around him. Escaping was not an option, so the cyborg braced himself for the imminent battle. The scarecrow's attacks were strong but slow, allowing Kyle to duck and move around them. Getting hit by the scythe would be devastating however, so mobility seemed to be the key. The Cheetah Module was still active from the previous battle, and the gatling gun started to spin as the metal man took aim at the demon.

Bullets broke the silence of the forest, the demon on the other hand seemed unfazed. He retaliated with a vicious wide swing of his scythe, getting stopped by a big tree as the cyborg rolled under the attack. With the scythe stuck in the bark, Kyle decided to take advantage of the situation and counter-attack. He got close enough to hit the scarecrow with a quick combo, bringing it to its knees as it tried to unstuck the scythe. Now or never Kyle thought to himself, opening his chest plate to bathe the demon in flames. The cloth quickly caught fire, which then spread to its entire body. A low groan filled the silence, accompanied by the crackling sound of the flames engulfing their victim. Kyle turned around, facing the horde of demons he still had to go though. "Well, who is next?" He shouted mockilgy. Apparently his watcher had imprinted on the cyborg.

There was only one path to the facility, and it was through the mob of demons that were preparing to attack.

Using her crossbow to open every fight with the demons, Kosara got into a nice rhythm. Fire a bolt with wind blast on it to disturb the enemy's movement for a moment and for additional damage and then finish them by going close under their defense and shower them with flurry of attacks. With that in mind, she sensed a different type of energy ahead from the assault demons and the chimeras. With a playful tune, she was jumping and running ahead as she neared the new, but strangely familiar energy.

She was so interested with the why this energy was so familiar she nearly missed the attack surging from beneath the ground as the spears were bursting up. In the last moment, she pulled away from the spears with a rapid sidestepping, barely avoiding the spears as they barely grazed her left leg. The wound was but a small scratch. She had also by instinct pulled her gauntlet by her head and just in time to use her 'Basilisk's gaze'. The eye on the gauntlet shone as the bullet at her head turned into a stone and hit the gauntlet, shattering into small stone shards. The eye on the gauntlet closed to signify it's 'recharge' period. Meanwhile she had let out her left arm forwards and pulled the trigger of the crossbow sending a metal bolt at Gideon.

She looked at the half demon in front of her and smiled, giving her head a quick shake in specific way so the headphones dropped around her neck.” Hey, it's my dancing partner from back at the antechamber!” She whistled happily.” Sneaky sneaky attacks are no good!” She says with a smile and smirked, licking her lips.” So we going to dance again? Are you here for the big demon that's hiding in this forest too? I wouldn't mind fighting you first before the gorgon. I LOVE fighting/dancing! I usually fight demons only, but lately I've found angels to be as fun!” She stated, reading her sword.” I'm gona ROCK you so hard, you're about to get UNchained!” She smirked at her joke, not really realizing about how bad it sounded as a pun.

A lone Light Angel dangled from Fenn’s grip, wings twitching helplessly behind him as it clawed at the large claws clutching at his neck. The angel’s lance was held on the dog’s other arm, the tip steaming. A wisp of vapor coming from the Hellhound’s shoulder betrayed where the spear had met flesh, managing a small cut.

On a beast his size, such a wound was insignificant, but several others such scratches marred the dog’s hide, along with slightly discolored patches of scales where an angelic lance’s beam had met its mark. As the largest, most obvious threat, Fenn drew in most of the enemy fire, and against so many small foes, he had little choice but to rely on the toughness of his hide to fend off the blows he could not avoid. Against the angel’s projectiles, Fenn had done what he could to procure cover. Several upturned vehicles and smouldering wrecks on their wake revealed his attempts at shielding himself, their surface twisted and bent both by the beams of light and the use he had given it. Thus far, the angels had managed to do little more than inconvenience them. Admittedly, he had expected more.

He cocked an eye towards his companion, still locked in battle with what remained of their attackers.

An inhuman scream split the air as the demoness viciously tore the wings off of the angel on the ground. He was left to bleed to death as the last remaining Affinity charged at her in outrage. She sidestepped his charge, plunging her sword through his skull in the same motion. Her clawed foot met his torso as he passed, kicking him away even as she held unto the sword. Its own momentum and the added power of her kick all but served to cleave its skull in two as her sword was wrenched free.

Lily sighed and stretched. Her sword vanished into aether, and the Affinity fell to the ground.

Another to add to the pile. Several other corpses, belonging to both bestial and humanoid angels littered the streets around them. Some held similar wounds to those borne by the ones Lily had dispatched, while others were crushed, mangled, or charred until their muscles shriveled and curled inwards, as though they had tried to shield their bodies with their limbs as fire consumed them.

Fenn turned his gaze towards the one still held in his grasp. The angel’s struggles had waned. Its arms simply wrapped over his in a seeming attempt to loosen the pressure on his throat. Fenn grunted. Bone cracked. The soldier fell limply to the ground. After a moment’s consideration, Fenn discarded the angel’s weapon as well, letting it clatter onto the asphalt.

They seemed to have reached a lull in the fighting. No angels were flying at them for the moment, but he did not doubt that there were others either on their way or fortifying their defenses closer to the tower. These angels had not been the greatest of warriors, but they had responded to the threat with surprising alacrity. Courtesy of those figures outlined against the sky? Were they scouts relating their current position to the rest of their forces? The Imp could stand to root them out if that was the case.

And there was more. The scent of demon had seemed to grow rather than diminish as the pair progressed through the streets, and he was certain it did not belong to the rabble gathering at the human settlement’s outskirts. Now his ears pricked as footsteps approached. Not from the human settlers, he knew. Those had either ran in a panic or locked themselves within their homes at the first hint of their approach.

“We have company, Imp.”

Lily’s feline ears swiveled around, turning backwards as if trying to catch the sound of the same steps Fenn had heard. “I know,” she said quietly, her gaze fixed forward. “Another demon, it smells like, but not someone from the Council.” She glanced up at him. “Ideas?”

The dog rolled his shoulders, falling onto all fours again. As long as this new party did not get in their way, he did not care what they did about them. So far, they did not seem inclined to try. Acknowledging them might change that. Or it may net them a potential ally, if their goals happened to align with theirs.

“No. Do as you will, but do so quickly. We must keep moving if we are to reach that tower.”

Lily shrugged, sounding like she was of much the same mind as Fenn. “Let’s keep moving,” she said while trying to wipe off the blood that had coated parts of her tail, “If they’re an enemy we can deal with them, and if they happen to be an ally, then nothing will change.”

“And the ones in the sky? Should we ignore those too?”

A mild look of surprise washed over Lily’s features. She turned her attention skywards, eyes narrowing at the far-off figures. She blinked, and Fenn could see that her eyes had changed; no longer slitted like a cat, but completely round and with a yellow sclera. “Angels,” she confirmed, her hawk-like eyes reverting to those of a cat again. “Army of Light, the humanoid ones.”

“I don’t like their eyes on us,” the dog grunted as he began moving forward. “Let us move to a side path, put some buildings between them and us.” The way forward would be contested either way. If they insisted on moving forward on a straight line, the angels would be able to set checkpoints to obstruct their progress. Better to vary their approach if they could. Lily followed in silent agreement.

@Sho Minazuki


Kushiel's attention had suddenly turned towards two fighters down below. Both being demons themselves. One was a female sword fighter, and the other a large wolf-like creature. At the same time, the demonic minions that swarmed the angel forces were finally beginning to quell, so whatever opening these two forces had were beginning to wear thin. He had a difficult choice to make... either to finish these two demons off by himself, or help protect Tzion Hill with an army to back him up.

He chose the latter. Those two demons aren't that big of a problem anyways.

He ignores the two as he begins to fly back to Tzion Hill, where the demons are just beginning to push the angels back some. With a quick boost of his wings, he charges right at three separated ones. He impales one with his spear, via Power Thrust, Power Slashes another one several times, and impales another one. He then begins to help the other angels out by slashing the demons furiously and without remorse. Even as a whole gang began to surround him, Kushiel quickly bashes his fists together to unleash a strong AT-Blast, where the demons would get stunned and be pushed back, allowing the archangel to finish them off one by one. They need to hold the lines at all costs...

---

@rivaan


The spears would graze Kosara's left leg, but alas they weren't effective towards her. Gideon would quickly fire a bullet towards the warrior's head, but 'Basilisk's Gaze' had saved her from having her brains be splattered all over the floor. Either way, this half-demon will still be some decent competition for the general, more so then those pesky humans he fought in the antechamber. And this time, there will be nothing that will diverge his attention... or so he assumes.

A metal bolt would be sent flying towards Gideon, but he was able to move his head before it would have any chance of hitting him. As Kosara makes a cocky grin as she shakes her headphones off from her ears, the half-demon general would look coldly at her, with an unamused gaze.

"Hey, it's my dancing partner from back at the antechamber!” she whistled happily. "Sneaky sneaky attacks are no good!”

"And your attacks are utterly predictable." Gideon would reply back coldly as his blades began to rotate around him even faster, "I could've killed you easily if it weren't for the chamber's collapse. Now stand aside, before I decide to kill you here."

”So we going to dance again?" the other half-demon asks with a smirk, as she licks her lips "Are you here for the big demon that's hiding in this forest too? I wouldn't mind fighting you first before the Gorgon. I LOVE fighting/dancing! I usually fight demons only, but lately I've found angels to be as fun!”

So it seems as if he wasn't the only one after the Gorgon after all. Knowing that this half-demon was not part of Mundas, he figures that she will bring chaos amongst both factions. Something neither side will allow. He reloads his guns as he points Lucifer's Wings at her.

"And you will soon be joining them in the afterlife." Gideon announces back with a frown, showing some teeth.

”I'm gonna ROCK you so hard, you're about to get UNchained!” Kosara smirks as she readies her sword.

And without an answer back, Gideon signals four dagger blades to quickly stop and issue the Lock On move, locking onto the opponent and quickly attempting to jab her. This was supposed to be a technique that would catch her off guard. Even if she were to dodge them, the half-demon general would issue his Four-Shot move, unloading all of his available shots at her direction. This time, he shall not give this one any mercy...

Akoni rolled his eyes behind the pages of a book. It seemed that he had given Souta's maturity too much credit since the child decided to throw a mild tantrum at some much needed and well warranted advice. Kids. At least the demon child was keeping to herself and not causing trouble. The old mage wondered for a moment why the Council even bothered with her, but reminded himself that appearances were not always what they seemed.

Meanwhile Akoni could feel the anger emanating from the sage. For once Akoni could actually see how he would have pissed off someone else. Well too bad. Maybe next time he would choose his words more precisely, as any good sorcerer should. The devil, as they say, is in the details.

Akoni had just finished scanning the room and outlying walls with his spell of Detect Life, having found nothing, and was about to inform the rest of his finding, but the woman from the Order of the Sword had spoken up. Really? Talk down? Him? Clearly these little crickets didn't know a damn thing about helpful advice. That meant he had to educate them.

"If you think useful pointers from someone with decades more experience is 'talking down' then you need to rethink your priorities," he said in a rather neutral tone. "The only one here older and more experienced than me is the sage, and he has never had to experience mortality. I'd say that puts me in a unique position here." There he was again, placing just a little bit too much emphasis, a little too much antagonism on Silas. The rest of his words were fairly matter of fact, but when he referenced the master of wolves his resentment bled through just a little too much.

"Contrary to what you may think, I do care that you all live. We are a team and I have your backs. I'd rather you all live to things from my perspective, so don't whine about it, Souta." He then addressed Mary directly. "You're still a bit naive, but at least you're more cordial and respectful. You've got a good head on your shoulders, cricket. Stay the course."

He took a moment to set down all the books he had gone through, not on the floor, but in his pockets. He stored away what must have been a dozen books and scrolls into two pockets that wouldn't have appeared to have anywhere near enough space to store them all. Magic is strange, isn't it?

"And since you all asked, I scanned the area for signs of life and came up blank, but we'd still do well to be on our guard in case of traps or artificial life, like golems and gargoyles. I also couldn't make out any distinct signs of what's been here by examining the floor, so we're blind to the threats. I suggest that we maintain two groups. That way we can have each other's backs, but we don't risk everyone falling into the same traps if we move together."

@Lmpkio

“Man, the afterlife must be one hell of a place! Imagine all them demons, humans and angels who were send over the eons! It would be fighting paradise… if it exist that is~” She replied with a whistle, enjoying the nonsensical really conversation with the other half demon. She smiled as Gideon reloaded his weapons. She really should get a gun at some point, maybe two also? They seem like a lot of fun to use, though her crossbow also have a very descent performance once it hits.

As the four floating daggers locked onto her, Kosara smiled. Instantly she shifted her body’s posture as she leaned forward a little, before starting a mad dance around the area, dodging the incoming quick stabs at her. Even her great dynamic vision had troubles keeping up with the daggers. They would graze her still, but by sacrificing small cuts, she would avoid a lot of the blades and block others with her sword in her Layered block technique, allowing her to block two daggers at a time between her natural dodges.

As the other half demon fired his guns, she found herself in a position where she cannot dodge out of the way completely. She smiled widely as the four shot pierced through the air towards her. In a continued move, she swung her arm around, as her gauntlet had recharged while they were talking. Using it, along with her sword to intercept four of the bullets, one made it’s way through her defense, hitting her in the left arm.

Without any delay, even at the time as the bullet hit her, she had already dashed forward, swinging her sword at the half demon. Her dash was fast and her sword would reach him, but at a distance that could be easily avoided if he dodges by moving backwards or the side. Still her horizontal slash had another in mind, her sword’s unique ability to propel air in invisible slashes about 4-6 inches away. A wound to her left arm was not something she minded much. And if that didn’t work, she was already preparing for a counter.

@rivaan


The opposing half-demon was indeed quick. Even the blades had some trouble locking onto her at times, though they did manage to gaze her here and there. They would also get blocked by Kosara's sword in a special technique of her's, allowing her to block two daggers at once. Knowing that this was going nowhere, Gideon quickly fires his shots as his blades began to retreat back to him. Once again, the other half-demon was quite quick to move and defend. One bullet was blocked by her word, then another, and another...

However, one finally managed to actually hit her on her left arm. About damn time it did too.

Even that however, Kosara didn't loose momentum, as she makes a beeline towards Gideon, swinging her sword at him. Her dash was fast and her sword would reach him, but the general would simple dodge to the side as he prepares his bone gauntlets from his belt. A good thing he did so too, for it appear's the sword's unique ability is to propel air in invisible slashes about 4-6 inches away. Initiating his gauntlets into action, Gideon was able to block the said slashes with them, with only two actually gazing him as well. The opponent's attacks were able to actually amuse him. Regardless, they wouldn't be enough to stop a general coming from within Mundas' ranks.

Gideon suddenly launches himself towards Kosara's direction at a reasonable speed himself, as he attempts to issue his Piercing Blow move, raising his right gauntlet and charging it up to issue a hefty attack himself.

Kosara’s movements were quick, rhythmic as she was used to high octane fights. Her greatest weapon was her speed and she liked to make full use of it. The enemy had the lead in this fight, but that was to be expected. He seemed very high ranking in the Mundus’s army. Which usually meant he had both a lot of power and experience. Who knew, he probably was a lot older than he looked. That put even bigger smile on the demon hunter’s face.

As Gideon dodged and protected with his gauntlets from her air slashes, she closed her eyes, letting her second sight take over for a brief moment, understanding that the enemy was preparing for a big attack. Letting that strike her torso would be very… problematic to say at least was what her instincts were telling her. Well there was a way to maybe mitigate some of the damage from that strike, with a wide grin she pulls her own right arm back releasing her grip of her sword as it switched hands to her injured left one. Now with nothing to stand in the way of her gauntlet – Basilisk’s eye, she clenched her first as the enemy’s strike came to be.

He wanted to gore her at the very least? She was going to give him the chance to do so against her armored arm. “ HAAAAAAAAA!” She shouted as she also struck forwards with her armored gauntlet, her target being Gideon’s blow. In all reality she didn’t need strenght much to make him miss her torso really. Intercepting his strike was going to hurt, but she only found that more fun. He was truly a perfect match for her fancy(in battle at least), she only found all those chains tacky.

With Lily at the lead, Fenn and the demoness changed course. Kushiel who had chosen to fall back and fortify defenses closer to the Champion and commander of the operation, was given a bit more time with this change in course, however the one who benefited most from these course of events was Blair. If the demon duo was attacked, her choice may have been met with some punishment, but things seemed to align for her. She was likely to be in top shape when the final part of this mission came about. Still, Lily and Fenn were no slouches themselves, the angels ahead were no challenge, though a new set entered the mix. Catchet and Compassion, in tandem no less. They must be beginning to breach the more major defenses. The Catchet began to line up the Compassions, one squad was beginning to charge on Lily and Fenn's positions, with blades outstretched.

---

As the Nephilim marched through the forest with a sense of heightened awareness, he eventually came upon a chasm. There were a series of metal walkways too, based on the construction, fairly new... Unbeknownst to him, this was because they were once destroyed by another demon a few years back, and were recently rebuilt, but that was not of concern right now. The walkways though were fairly direct, and wide too. As his each step clanked against the metal bridge, he began to hear ominous whispers, like the cold wind on a dark night. He stopped in his tracks, and as if those shadows had been waiting, large crimson-gold barbs flew at him from the shadows. Below, above, to the side, but he was gone. The shadows were illuminated momentarily and their hiding space exposed as Wrath reappered, striking the barbs and staggering the Mephisto and forcing them to fight him directly... Four of them... No wait.

The ashen particles around him began to take form, and rising from what looked like meaningless debris on the side of the walkways, were Scarecrow. Their numbers didn't seem significant, but with the Mephisto looming around... Which set of enemies shall he begin with?



Choosing to power his way into the facility, a slew of Scarecrow made themselves visible, although they were also fused with the Chimera. Among them were also larger type of Scarecrows. This may be too rough for a direct fight... However, as he would notice there was another way. Some of the walls surrounding the facility were in disrepair, he could probably make his own pathway into the facility. Likely there would be more enemies on the inside, but to fight this many may be a bit foolhardy. Given the Chimera were easy to deal with using firearms, and the scarecrows were all pretty slow, the simple fact is that there were numerous.



Their fighting rang out and their movements kept them slicing across the forest. No other demon dared approach their intense foray, but eventually they would come upon a giant clearing. The site of a former hell gate, not that either of them would know, but considering how big this clearing was, it was perfect for their showdown. From the shadows watching them though was a demon, her giant snake pets coiled around her protectively as she watched the two half demons fight viciously, unseen by the two. They may notice her eventually, but she was intrigued more than fearful... Other demons? Not mere minions like the ones she has been living with? How marvelous.

---

The other three stepped through the formerly undeceiphered area, which read as "Living Quarters", or roughly that, it appears this language had a different way of saying it, but Mary managed to approximate it to that. Pretty soon everyone was upon a large hallway lined with doors, as they passed each one, the rooms were in disrepair and some were simply musty as if they'd never been touched in centuries. At the end of the hallway they entered what looked like a dining room, with stairs leading down to the dining table. The catwalk that they were on however was lined with books along the walls, it was an interesting setup, but it seems no matter where they went, there was nothing but books.

The topics of the books here seemed to be tools and among them, ancient recipes for food... There was a small door on the lower floor that seemed to lead into a kitchen, but of course, none of it was usable. The thing that caught everyone's attention most however was a tablet on display in the back center of the room overlooking the dining table... It had the symbol of the sun upon it, and a plaque with an inscription below it.

"The true light shall inspire"

How nice, it seemed like one of those motivational poster things, though it looked like something to be used... As they would recall, there were slots in the first room that fit this tablets near exactly, or exactly. Likely they needed these tablets, but as agreed, they would see if there were any books of interest here.



Despite his protestations to splitting up, it appeared everyone was splitting up anyways. It also seems he was the only one to notice that the books upon the ground when they entered was... Fresh. Someone was here, or probably still is, it all depended, thus he was on edge. This place seemed too quiet.

It appears though that he and Midori will be investigating the Study area, as Mary had headed to the other undeciphered area, which she should decipher any moment now, but the concern was currently to investigate this area. As expected, it was small, light browns were dominate aside from the colours of the books, which even then were grayed out from old age, but they were still legible... If he was able to read some of these.

The study area seemed to be suited for well, studying, it was lined with more chairs and tables on the floor space than aisles of books, and a grand desk that one could only assume belonged to whoever was in charge in it's hey day, although what was of interest was at the far end of the room... There seemed to be some kind of tablet there. Upon it appeared to be a symbol of a crescent moon. There was an inscription below it.

"The false light shall clear the path",

otherwise, there was not much else of interest in this room... Other than the books. The topics here based on what little Akoni could decipher was on ancient angel and demon histories, with some mentions on Nephilim. There seemed to be more interesting topics too, but there was much to look at.

@Sho Minazuki


As Kushiel over sees the battle, while having his fair sheer of battle, he can see more reinforcements coming about. The Catchet and Compassion angels began to initiate their own attack against the incoming demon horde in sets. Never the less, the Archangel was wary on the three particular opponents on the ground. He needs to deal with them, but not in a three on one match. He needs to pick one off from the group, someone separated from the others and ultimately pick them off one by one. At the same time, he continues to kill off the other incoming demons, stabbing multiple with his Spear.

"Hold the line!" he calls out to his fellow Angelic warriors, "Don't let any get to Vigrid!"

---

@rivaan@Sho Minazuki


The general strike was fast and ruthless, yet even this half-demon adversary was still able to block it with her own gauntlet. A decision, that indeed will hurt. With that extra power behind Gideon's arm and gauntlet, he was able to pierce the gauntlet and spear the vulnerable flesh and bones inside. The wound wouldn't be too bad for Kosara due to protection, but regardless, it'll still hurt a bit in the long run. It would be after this attack that the general would issue a powerful kick that would send her towards a tree and out into a giant clearing. He is stalling on just this one insignificant battle. He needs to get to the Gorgon before anyone else does... only unaware of his general location. This showdown needs to end quickly. He then begins to think up of another plan of attack, one to finally finish this battle once and for all, not even noticing his fellow demon creatures begin to chitter in fear of who was ultimately nearby.

Wrath held Rage Bringer at the ready, looking at each of the enemies he was now faced with. He knew that Scarecrows, in decent numbers, were difficult to handle. But so far they seemed less that concerning, so in a decision he'd likely find himself regretting, he faced off first with the four Mephisto. Launcing forwards, he swings wide with a slash aimed to hit all four at once, though it would only stagger them again, before dancing back and using a Cleaving Slice, which would shear the group in half if they didn't move.

Kyle - Mitis Forest

Another scarecrow went up in flames, but the cyborg didn't get any chance to relax. He could hear another demon approaching behind him, so he rolled to the side and pelted him with bullets from his gatling gun as it flew right by. Counting the one in flames, the total of defeated scarecrows went up to 5, but the pack of demons seemed to be as big as at the beginning. In fact, it appeared to be growing instead of shrinking, some bigger scarecrows seemed to be joining the party as well. Kyle was frustrated, he hadn't gotten any closer to the facility, his plan of directly engaging the enemies seemed to be backfiring. Stop feeling pity for yourself and do something the cyborg thought to himself, as a pair of scarecrows started rushing his position. Kyle dodged out of the way, but he could feel the exhaustion in every single one of his limbs gowing by the second. He need some time to come up with a plan.

A sudden wall of smoke separated the cyborg from the mob of demons, allowing him to slip away undetected. It wouldn't take long however for the scarecrows to find him hiding on top of a tree, just a few feet away from the spot they had been fighting. Kyle used the few seconds his maneuver had given him to check his surroundings again. The facility was about 50ft away, but there was no obvious entry point to be seen. As he focused on the walls though, the cyborg realized that the years and weather had taken its toll on the concrete, crackling it in several locations. A well placed rocket could easily create a hole big enough to enter. If he kept fighting the demons, he would end up too tired to engage his real target, so getting away and into the facility seemed the best course of action.

The cyborg jumped off the tree and immediately starting running towards the facility. He had to dodge around a few scarecrows, but soon enough he had left all the demons behind his back. His thrusters allowed him to move quickly and nimble around any obstacle in his way. Behind him, the demons tried to keep up, but their strength laid in brute force, not speed, and their silhouettes grew smaller and smaller by the second. When the walls were about 10ft away, Kyle initiated his Rhino Module, activating his Rocket Launcher and placing 2 missiles into cracked sections. The hole that was formed due to the explosions was large, but not large enough to fit the cyborg. Screw it, too late Kyle thought, already in mid-jump. Parts of his metal body crashed against the concrete, but the extra armor from his Rhino Module allowed him to get through without too much trouble.

Inside, darkness reigned supreme. There was only a bit of light coming through the hole that Kyle had created, illuminating a few feet in front of him. If he wanted to explore this place, the cyborg needed to either find and activate the power supply...or be extra careful. After he activated his night vision sight, he slowly started making his way through the facility.

@liferusher

Akoni proceeded with caution. He wasn't exactly confident with his "partner" as it were. Part demon or not, she was still a small child and behaved as such. The very idea that she was supposed to be watching his back could almost be called laughable, if it weren't just sad. Moreso he found himself annoyed with the others, saddling him with the burdensome youth while they investigated the other section of the library themselves. Just because he was the oldest didn't mean he had a grandfatherly disposition, or any interest in babysitting. Ah, whatever. It ultimately didn't matter. If they were in danger, Akoni knew that h'd lay his life on the line for her sake without any hesitation for no reason other than it was the right thing to do, even if he didn't like it.

The old mage studied what he could (appropriate for a study) as he stepped forward. He was familiar with many ancient and arcane languages, but these would take some time to translate. Still, what he could make out was fairly interesting. Historical accounts of Heaven and Hell, and the nephilim as well. He'd need to take some time to determine what was fact and what was myth, but this could all very well be promising for his own personal studies. Of course, personal studies came second. Finding the remaining five seals was the priority.

"The false light shall reveal the path," he muttered to himself, reading the tablet in the room. He paced around, thinking on what this message could possibly mean. "False light... False light..." As he paced, Akoni grabbed some nearby books and opened them up for reference, determined them to be useless to this endeavor, then pocketed them. The mystery still remained.

"The main chamber possesses a skylight from which to drawn the sun. This tablet is very specific by stating the 'false light,' so it stands to reason that there is a 'true light' that acts as antithesis. That must be the central skylight in the dome. But I do not recall any other source of light, natural or otherwise." He continued pacing for a few moments before coming to a halt, turning to face Midori, and addressing her. "I believe that we have encountered only one piece of a larger puzzle, Midori. If I am correct, there is something in the central chamber that is related we may have missed, and the others are likely to encounter something as well. Be a good little cricket and grab the tablet, if you would please. I recall some slots that are about the same size and we will need to provide our findings to the others. Be wary of traps, but know that I am watching out for you."

With his back facing Akoni by now, Souta didn’t think twice about curling his lip in displeasure at his remarks. For a long time, Souta knew the streets as well as he knew a Regalia office, and in the scummier parts of town he met men a lot like Akoni. They treated younger men with condescension if not outright hostility, so convinced that their long, empty years made them better by virtue of having lived through them. To be sure, many did know a thing or two more than the others, but often not as much as they liked to think, and certainly not enough to make them anything more than bullies. Old gangsters were the seniors in high school, and the young blood the freshmen; they had to stand up for themselves to stand a chance. Souta knew that well enough, and never hesitated to make a stand. If this overinflated coot thought he had to kneel to speak to him, Souta would make sure he got a glob of spit in the face for his troubles.

”Don’t care about experience, gramps. As long as you treat us like your inferiors, nobody’s gonna respect you.” There existed no reason that Souta could see why Akoni might value his life. Teams didn’t form at the drop of a hat; they required human connection, which evidently bored and annoyed the busy old fogey. As far as the smith could discern, he was on his own, unless Mary or the little demon girl contained an ounce of empathy. He found himself paired with the demon hunter and the lumen sage to venture in the right side, and with a resolution of courage he strode forward at the head of the group.

Even without a speck of food in the dining room, the sight of tables and chairs arranged for eating made Souta’s stomach throb. He realized that at least fifteen hours must have passed since his last meal, and scowled. Forcing his eyes away from the table, he found himself drawn to a hanging tablet. He could not decipher the inscription, but the image of a brilliant sun seemed pronouncedly out of place in a library that so far appeared to be without ornamentation. The smith narrowed his eyes and adjusted the way Escre rested on his shoulder. ”Hell of an artistic statement. Nothing on the wall but dust and torches, and then that thing. If they liked the sun so much, why wouldn’t they have a skylight in every room, instead of crappy torches? Dumbasses.” On a hunch, he leveled his weapon at the tablet. A gleam of spectral energy shone from its surface, reflecting into the shape of a phantom skeleton. The apparition flew through the air quickly and gave the tablet a light push. It obediently shifted a few inches. As quickly as it appeared, the skeleton vanished. ”Bah. I thought it might be some sort of button, like you get in movies about Egypt. Looks like it’s not fixed. Bet we can take it though.”

Mary shrugged and sighed to herself lightly as she, Souta, and the Lumen Sage walked through what she told the others was a living area, even though the exact translation was more akin to "People resting place." It seemed that Souta and Akoni just didn't want to get along for now, so it would be best if the two split up. Mary followed Souta, gesturing the sage to follow along and leaving the little girl to Akoni. If he wanted to treat them like kids, as Souta said, maybe the girl would be a better fit for him.

As the group reached the end of a long hall, they reached what appeared to be a dining hall covered in the appropriate dust. Even though there were chairs, forks, knives and the such obviously meant for eating, behind them were still books. Even when they ate, these people read books. Mary quickly grabbed a random book off the shelf and perused it. Though she didn't bother translating, the pictures in the book allowed her to guess it's purpose. Photos of food and ingredients were littered throughout. It seemed to be a cookbook of some kind. Though Mary doubted it'd be useful, part of her did want to keep it to try some of it's food later. She pocketed it handily.

Souta managed to draw Mary's attention away from the books at the back end of the room, to a tablet at the other far end. Mary quickly followed him over and waited for him to finish his spiel. Mary wanted to grab the thing immediately, but the thugish man summoned a skeleton to check it for traps first. A smart move. Once he was done, Mary began investigating it closely. "Hmm. The... True light... Shall... influence? No, wait, inspire." She read from the plaque at the tablet's feet. That may have been some sort of saying between members of the Library, or some such. The tablet itself didn't seem to be made out of any particularly interesting material either. She pocketed it for now. It may have been important later, after all. For now, she would begin to peruse the room again, investigating the dining table itself and moving towards the kitchen.

Something was wrong. They had walked for far too long now without being opposed by someone. No angels of any kind had come to fight them for a few minutes, and while Lily wasn’t a paranoid one, she wasn’t reckless or foolhardy either. The angels were up to something, she could feel it.

She glanced every which way as they made their way through the streets, her soft paws making almost no sound, although such was not the case with Fenn. The demon following them was still there, following in their heels. Whoever it was they had had time enough to spring whatever they they had on Lily and her companion, but they hadn’t. So what was their game?

Angels not attacking us, and strange demon following us. A lot of potential for things to go awry.

They turned a corner, and they were greeted by a peculiar sight. Several gleaming creatures, golden wings and blades attached to marble-like faces, almost close enough to touch. For a moment, they stared at each other. Then, without slowing his pace, Fenn went past her and slammed his arm onto the closest angel, slamming it into the pavement with a crunching sound.

It was like shaking a beehive. Several Compassions fluttered away, falling in line with a larger one of their kind, while the rest charged forward in an attempt to swarm the two demons.

A gout of fire lanced from the Hellhound’s throat, slamming into the vanguard of the charge. Charred flesh and molten gold fell to the ground. The angels spread out, some those directly behind the front line shying away, while the wings of the charge rushed in from the sides, blades aimed at the large demon.

Lily decided to make her presence known. She jumped, landing on one of the compassions spearing towards them while plunging a spear through its marble-like face. A second one came at her from the side, its charge stopped by a tower shield before it, too, found itself pierced by Lily’s spear. Behind her, Fenn unceremoniously crushed one trying to charge the demoness from the back, while she continued on past the first two.

With the immediate frontline gone, the Cachet was vulnerable. She charged forward and it charged her. In the last moment she leaned backwards, falling flat on her back. The Cachet’s drill whizzed over her, close enough to feel the wind around it. Hands on the ground, legs bent over her body, she kicked upwards as the Cachet passed overhead, pushing with her entire body into one, powerful kick towards the sky.

She grinned as it was sent flying, and shouted, “Fenn, catch!”

The dog glanced over, blood oozing from his mouth, and his eye caught onto the larger angel. His arm drew back and then forward, the chains wrapped around it coming loose and streaking forward like a whip. The metal wrapped around the Cachet, forcefully bringing it down closer to them. He spun the chain over him, using the angel as a counterweight to buffet away the Compassions swarming him, then swung forcefully over his shoulder.

The Cachet was flung away, spinning as the chain became undone, and crashed against the concrete wall of a nearby building.

Lily once again caught Fenn’s attention as she called to him. “Throw me!” She said, staring straight ahead towards the Cachet still halfway embedded into the concrete wall. The hellhound obliged, and she jumped into his massive palm, bending in her knees. He flung her at the three-faced angel, and she pushed off of his paw with her legs, speeding towards it.

Lily landed on the angel, paws-first, her Projected spear smashing through the angel’s external armour, piercing its body, and obliterating the wall behind it, sending the both of them sailing into an empty hallway. Once she confirmed the angel was dead, Lily glanced out through the hole she had made.

Outside, the Compassions seemed to have lost all their cohesion as a unit, haphazardly charging at Fenn. He caught one of the offenders by the wing, swinging it at the others as if trying to shoo away flies. Exasperated, he flung the thing away, letting it crash through a store’s display case.

“Their line is open, Imp. Charge through!” he called impatiently as he stormed past – and trampled over – the remaining angels. Lily wasn’t far behind, having jumped out of the hole she had made and down to the ground. What compassions remained charged at her, only to be used as springboards, as Lily deftly passed overhead, quickly catching up to Fenn.

“This is fun and all,” she said casually once she got up beside him, “but it’s too easy. If the Council is right and this place is important, or their commander at least, then it should be more difficult than this to get to it.” She glanced behind her at the compassions, the angelic beings resembling headless chickens more so than powerful creatures. Without a leader, they were useless. That demon following them would have to push through them to catch up with Fenn and Lily.

As entertaining as it was to imagine that demon having to cut through the compassions to continue following them, it helped little to stave off an uncomfortable notion. It felt too much like they were walking right into a trap. Just enough opposition that it didn’t seem too easy, but not enough that it would severely hinder them. Only trouble was, they seemed to have underestimated Fenn and Lily’s strength. They didn’t have to fight hard enough to get tired, so if the attempt was to tire them out then that had failed.

Under other circumstances it might have been a comforting thought that they were just that strong, as to plow through opposition meant to tire them out before the inevitable ambush. But it still nagged at her. This was too easy. She told Fenn as much, brow furrowing. “Or am I being paranoid? It just seems too convenient that everything is going so easily.”

The dog grunted as they moved. “Does it matter, Imp? Our task remains unchanged.”

Lily shrugged, a careless smile coming to her lips. “Not really. The tower awaits. Let’s go, my faithful companion!”

An irritated growl came from beside her, but she paid it no mind.