As the metallic beasts spread out in response to the Imp’s ball of fire, Fenn found himself confronted by a single charging monster, its head lowered, horns facing forward like those of a charging bull.

Rather than try to veer from his own charge, the large demon’s extended arm fell on the monster’s skull, forcing the spears away from his frame. Unimpeded, the colossal beasts crashed onto each other, the momentum from their impact forcing them onto their hind legs as they fought to overpower the other.

Fenn’s right claws remained firmly attached to the metallic monster’s skull, forcing the thing’s horns and jaws away from him. His left arm wrapped around his foe in a crushing embrace, pinning one of the beast’s arms as his claws found purchase on a ridge of the hardened shell protecting the monster’s back. The hound’s fangs closed on the monster’s shoulder, a viscous liquid dripping on his tongue where the teeth slipped past the cracks between the metal plates.

He was dimly aware through the fire in his mind of the monster’s free limbs scrabbling against his back, claws sliding over his scales and leaving thin gouges where they found softer hide.

The hound growled into the beast’s shoulder, giving it a powerful wrench to one side, then pulling towards the other. It had quickly become apparent that Fenn was physically stronger than his foe, but the thing’s metal body was much heavier than the demon’s own. His pulls and wrenches would pitch the creature slightly to one side or the other, but never enough that it could not gather its legs under it and prolong their embrace. He knew that if he managed to pin the creature, he would be able to maul and tear into its shell to his heart’s content, but the monster did not seem eager to please him.

Frustrated, Fenn bit down harder and pushed back against the thing’s head with his arm. The monster let out a pained cry, flesh and metal groaning under the stress.

Suddenly, there was a tearing noise, and Fenn’s fangs slid over retreating metal. The monster slinked back and away from him, letting out a hissing noise as the hound glared at it. The demon had never loosened his grip on the monster’s back, but the thing had somehow managed to break away from him. Glancing at his left arm, he saw the chunk of metal still gripped between his claws. It must have broken off from the strain.

Without a second thought, Fenn discarded the piece of shell and prepared to charge again.

That was when an irritating bug buzzed into scene. Preoccupied as it was by the Hellhound, the mechanical beast did not immediately react to the human approaching from the side. Truthfully, he had forgotten the man was even there. Fenn stopped himself, watching as the interruption clambered onto the creature’s back with a pair of hooks.

Outraged by the intrusion, the creature reared onto its hind legs, trying to shake off the insect that stubbornly stuck to it. Its horns twisted backwards in an odd motion, and Fenn’s eyes narrowed as a change overcame the creature. His head cooled. He understood that something was happening, but his eyes were fixed on the source of the light exiting from the numerous holes in the beast’s shell.

It looked important.

Fenn lunged forward, drawing his right arm back. The chain looping around it loosened and sidled downwards, wrapping around his knuckles like an improvised cestus. He balled his claws into a fist and drove it into the creature’s center with enough strength to crush rock. The punch was followed by his entire body, intent on tackling the enemy onto the ground.

Interrupting her leisurely stroll through the side path was a certain abomination. Having heard her steps, it moved in closer and within view. The sight of that 'thing' caused a sensation to swell up inside her, one of disgust. It's been sometime since Blair last seen something so....revolting. It was now clear why the path was clear, not only the sight of that disgusting creature but with the fact that there was corpses littered about not far off.

She was left with two options, hide and wait it out or confront it and remove it from this world. Given how it reacted earlier, she can surmise the creature cannot see her but definitely hears her. She wasn't sure about it's other senses but it'd probably be better to assume it retains its other senses. After all, one wrong guess and things can get quite....annoying. And on that note, sitting around and hiding, waiting for the thing to pass by, might not turn out all that great.

Especially if it still retained its sense of smell. She'd rather not waste her time on such a thing, but it probably can't be helped. Having decided on engaging this abomination, she decided on her battle plan. Blair had a feeling that engaging in close combat probably wouldn't be a good idea. Best to keep distance between it and engage it from long range. Taking advantage of the fact that it can't see, she casted her Blood Spike Projection spell to make 4 good size blood spikes to surround the brain sucker and impale it.

Blair doubted it would stop the thing but it was a measure to buy a few moments for her to spread blood around around the monster. Once done, she would detonate the blood, using the timing to further distance herself from it and give her a potential escape option, should the moment, to slip past it and carry on her mission, ever presents itself. Either way, she needs to keep a safe distance.

The heated, ferocious battle between Wrath and his technoorganic nemesis raged on, not abated for a second by the former's shifts in weaponry and strategy. To call their confrontation a duel would have been erroneous; though the beast's natural cunning and instincts did find some play against Wrath's own training and wit, the majority of their struggle progressed too quickly and too viscerally to be classified as an elevated form of combat. At this blistering pace with both sides sustaining wounds, though, the Nephilim learned more quickly. Moves that proved effective became muscle memory for him, whilst the beast's fighting grew to be more and more of a struggle. Though only a short time passed, each moment felt far longer to the combatants, so Wrath would be easily forgiven for thinking 'at last!' when the battle paused momentarily, the creature heartily softened up and apparently convinced that a lull had developed in which it could figuratively catch its breath. The perfect opportunity presented itself to finish the job.

Half-melted despite its property change, the metallic beast facing Lily did not think to stop itself when she abruptly vanished from its path even if it could have physically done so. Rather, it dug in its limbs in an attempt to slow itself down for another pass, not remotely dreaming that a transformed, draconic demon would crash from above. Wreathed in flame and wielding a large, blunt weapon with murderous intent, Lily impacted it like a meteor. Appropriately, then, even if she sustained a little damage, her prey had been ground into the earth to form a miniature crater. In a pristine state its armor would have been of negligible use against a crushing weapon, but when more slag than smithwork it forfeited whatever remaining defense it would have had, and the full weight of a demoness and her weapon totaled the beast. Instead of continuing to function at least in part, like a machine might have, it effectively died. Perhaps some sort of 'mercy kill' functionality existed for this bizarre, part-technological creature; if it took lethal injuries, it immediately expired rather than waste away painfully. No matter—this one wouldn't be troubling Lily anymore.

Any other being would have met a proverbial brick wall when attempting to tackle a beast such as this, but Fenn's sheer size and strength not only struck a savage blow to it, but also forced it back. Souta struggled to stay on the thing's back as it half-slid, half-stumbled backward, some of its armor crumpled and driven into its own body as an inward-facing spike of metal. The step back afforded the creature a quick look at the situations surrounding its companions; one had already bitten the dust and the other seemed apt for an ample asskicking. This new information did not seem to faze this water-imbued beast at all, however. With a rather machine-like indomitability it appeared intent on driving the invaders back, or perhaps just breaking even with the monster that challenged it. From the newly-opened ports in its carapace the beast began to generate water. Most notably, a high-pressure jet of water burst from its mouth in a frothing beam directed at Fenn. Not willing to stand idly, Souta swapped out his Trawlers for the clawed gauntlets Silverbeast and adopted a low stance. With enhanced strength he tore at the beast's armor, peeling it away from beneath in order to slash at the rubber-like flesh.

Despite the tenacity of that watery creature, at least one being present already thought the result of the ambush a foregone conclusion. Not far along the suspended winding path leading away from the platform, a small, humanoid figure atop some sort of bipedal, birdlike creature was speeding away. Panoptos, who appeared to have one of his claws around Uhelei's neck in a position somewhat like a gratuitous noogie, cleared his throat. ”Looks like someone doesn't want to stick around for when we're done with the tin cans. Hm. At that rate, I don't expect we can catch up.” He glanced at Lily, the only member of the group whose fight had, for the moment, finished. ”Convenient that there would be three of the same monster just waiting for someone to arrive, eh?” His many-eyed stare shifted to the party's guide. ”Are you sure all this isn't stirring your memory? You didn't mention angry locals.”

Wrath hardly blinked as he exchanged blows with the mechaorganic monster before him, darting in and out of the creature's guard to deliver his share of blows and doing his best to avoid taking anymore hits. He couldn't say that the monster was learning, but it's cunning was able to continue to find ways to exploit the limited openings the Nephilim left in his combat form, continuing to earn him numerous shallow cuts and gashes. Finally, after delivering a punishing left hook to the side of the monster's head, and avoiding a rather painful gutting in the same move, the pair broke apart, though the Nephilim was far from ready to take a proper break.

Gotta end this now. Seeing that the beast had let down it's guard at least partially to attempt to recover, Wrath saw his opportunity. He closed fast, using Rapid Slashes to put his opponent on the back pedal and keep on the defensive. He side stepped a strike from the right, and rolled under one from the left, using a Serrated Uppercut to deliver a decisive blow to the creature's chin, just behind the metal armor on it's face. After a moment of strain, he managed to send it flying upwards, though he had no idea if he'd managed to slice through it's skin and cut it's face into three parts behind the metal.

Kosara was at a slight loss at what to do right now. She did follow her senses from the Devil trigger to this gate, but it didn’t appear her target was here after all. This was a problem and she also didn’t really feel like leaving this gate alone just like that. Sure the traitor was her main objective, but every little enemy she could destroy was just a bonus! Also stopping these doors would be indeed grand to stop the insane flow of enemies. Sure weak enemies weren’t much of a problem, but in great numbers their swarming ability was rather problematic since she lacked the weaponry to take on too great numbers at once.

She had a little bit of time though, the enemies around the gate had not yet noticed her since well she was on top of a few story buildings. She pulled out her small crossbow and quickly began charging it’s attack. After a few seconds around the weapon air started swirling with rather high speeds, causing a quiet howling, before she finally pulled the trigger and aimed right in the middle of the enemies down there.

Following the small impact and wind explosion in the middle of the enemies, she jumped also down, her sword in the ready to tear as many buggers as she can. She was going to cut her way through the crowd of fodder and destroy that gate!

@Kafka Komedy

So... It was the Port Gate, the Eastern Gate, and recommended as last, the Main Gate... Likely she should head to the Port Gate. Knowing Kosara, she's probably off doing as she pleases, so it might not be best to rely on her to close the gates up, she seemed more fixated on her target, the gang leader with the Devil Arm. Regardless, she was to have a chance to test out her new weapon. As she stepped out into the streets, a few demons popped out from the back streets. 2 Mega Scarecrows spun out at her, slicing a car in half before she gracefully avoided the surprise attack. As soon as that was over, she noticed the doll store's windows break as 5 Marionettes burst out. If she remembered correctly, demons would come and actively possess these to create them... So the threat of a demon invasion was more than just outside forces, they could infect and possess human-made crafts as well... Well, it looks she has some cleaning to do. This was a good chance to try out her new weapon.

@rivaan@BCTheEntity

As Kosara came upon the gate, the fodder demons were easy enough to quell, however... Soon the waves of demons had ceased, as two angels descended upon it. There were only two gates Iscah and Iacobos could fit through, and they chose the Eastern Gate over the more crowded Main Gate. It appears Kosara was there too. The demons had fled this area as it was a huge gathering of power, plus these lesser demons feared the presence of the angels, although some more gutsy demons continued to prowl around the back streets, watching and waiting for these strong adversaries to grow weak.

It was Kosara meeting face to face with Iscah and Iacobos. Their goals were actually the same, to quell the demon threat. They could try and work together... But Kosara being a little hot-headed and half a demon, how would the angels Iscah and Iacobos see her?

@Lmpkio

The hideout of this gang was no "hideout", more or less just a place for them to stay. This was a very new gang after all, it looks like they were using this warehouse. No sign of the leader though, he must be inside. There were definitely some armed guards out and around... At the back, Gideon could spot some demons, some caged, others were getting killed and dumped. Why would they cage some? Who cares though, it looked like an opportunity to him.

On the other hand he could see a few civilians bargaining at the side gate along the warehouse's west fence, they were trying to gain shelter here... The Cathedral was taking in people, however they might have their own circumstances. It was a blind spot in their patrols. If he could slip into that segment he could enter undetected, but that left getting to that point. So what to do?

---

With the inquiry, Fiametta explained that there was indeed a main part of the cathedral.

"Well yes, of course, but they closed the main doors ages ago for the "main event", and... Well it's resulted in what you see around you now", she explained, as she began leading them to the cathedral proper. As they walked through, burned corpses were occasionally seen... This was a cleared path.

"I've cleared the main courtyard, so it ought to be safe here until more of those things decide to... Walk in...", the courtyard was indeed cleared of enemies, and the main doors were locked tight.

"There should be a door along the right side going through the hospital area, and I think the crypt on the left side has a secret passage that leads into the bishop's study", she pointed out. They could... Split up? Or maybe all of them tackle one side.

"There's also a garden in the back, but that's not accessible from our side", she said. Little known to them was that a demon was actually going down that way right now.

In any case, a decision was given to them. The right side through the hospital, or through the crypt on the left. It was likely a small crypt, meant for only people who were staying in this isolated cathedral in the middle of nowhere, and the hospital was the same. This was a pretty big cathedral and is likely designed as a giant religious dormitory and home.

@I-Am-X

The blood attacks seemed to be dealing some visible damage to the beast, and kept it in place... For a moment. The moment she made another move though, it began casting spells, immobilizing spells. They moved fast, and the moment it caught her it would begin a mad sprint towards her. One of the pores would open wide as if to devour her as it came for her.

Though as it would do that, it would have to run through the blood, it's feet were covered in it, all the way almost to the knees, and some of the blood spikes had left some blood on it's body. Blowing it up now would be a simple matter, but she had to be quick. The blood spikes seemed to visible do some damage to it though, so perhaps this was the answer.

Scarecrows? That's the best they have in this area?

Fodder. Destroy them.

The two angels promptly got to work, contemptuous at their foes: Iscah's claws retracted to reveal the flamethrowers beneath them as she approached, and she began to twirl around and between the demons and their blades as the holy flames of Paradiso poured forth from her hands, setting alight both their cloth and the beetles beneath, this proving to be a particularly effective tactic for the nature of her foes. At the same time, the claws of Iacobos' left hand gauntlet merged to produce the barrel of a gun, crackling with lightning, and he began to fire into the crowd wherever Iscah was not, gunfire shredding those Scarecrows far from him, whilst advancing forward into the clear path forged by his partner and himself save those few moments when one of the hellspawn dared to get close enough to swipe at him, to which he responded with an artful dodge and a counter-strike from his untransformed gauntlet, often slaying the beasts with no more than a couple of hits.

It did not take long for the demons to start fleeing before their advance rather than mindlessly attacking, and they were soon through the Eastern Gate and into the city proper. Little threat presented itself to them at that moment, and they disengaged their respective weapons, reverting their gauntlets to the standard form, claws and all. Even still, both angels could just about detect the presence of weak demons prowling about, perhaps waiting for the two to weaken so they could be finished off. Cowardly.

And, not so cowardly, a much greater essence presented itself too, though unlike the purer darkness of a true demon, this was muddied with the unmistakable tang of mortal lineage. The source soon presented itself: a seemingly human-like girl, in nondescript shirt and jeans, yet bearing a variety of weapons on her person, including a long blade engraved with runes of as-yet unknown purpose. Iscah's immediate response to her presence was somewhat aggressive: drawing up to her full height, she spoke out loud for the first time since she'd descended to the mortal realm, a sneering tone clearly showing her opinion of the girl: 'Well, well, well. A demonic halfbreed. How interesting.'

By contrast, her partner was, whilst still on edge, much less vicious with his initial words to her, analyzing the situation for a moment before speaking. 'If I'm not mistaken,' he began somewhat cautiously, 'I can only assume you're in this place as either a leader to the hordes that were here, or a destroyer of their ranks like ourselves. Tell us which it is, or we'll be forced to destroy you in turn.'

Surely you mean "and", Iacobos? Iscah asked her partner silently, a glance in his direction the only indicator that they were communicating. She's a demon, we want her dead!

She's part demon, the Glory retorted, and we might not want her immediately dead. Contrary to popular belief, at least some of their lot are capable of seeing sense and turning on their own. If this is one of them, delaying her demise is surely worth the additional damage output?

...if she turns on us, it's your fault, Iscah conceded, turning back to the half-demon to see whether or not she might, in fact, be beneficial to the cause of Paradiso: a rare, yet sweetly ironic event, to be sure.

@rivaan@Sho Minazuki

Akoni listened intently as Fiametta unveiled what she knew of the cathedral and surrounding locations. It was preceded by Silas making notes of caution, something Akoni himself could definitely agree with. They had to find the source of this and shut it down, but to do so they would need information. One bit that Fiametta described stuck out to him most.

"I believe it would be prudent to check on the bishop's study first and foremost. That would provide the greatest amount of information with which to arm ourselves. Perhaps there are additional clues to be ascertained by studying the cadavers in the crypt on the way there. I believe it may also be less guarded than heading directly into the cathedral itself, and thus providing us with the element of surprise." As usual, his explanation was both calm and detached. He made eye contact with his three peers as he spoke.

@Lmpkio@EnterTheHero@Sho Minazuki

The beast was dead.

Truth be told, Lily hadn't fully expected it to crumble underneath her blow as it had. Living metal ought to have a higher durability than Earth's metal. And yet this beast had died immediately. She shrugged, wings fidgeting as she turned towards Panoptos. Almost immediately she caught his gaze, then followed it to a distant figure as he looked away again.

Who- or whatever this being was, it was obviously running away from them. A spy of some kind? A messenger for the residents of this world? My money is on spy, judging by Panoptos' reaction. She could try to fly after it, see if she might catch up, or simply Shift and run. Flying would be the easiest in this kind of area, with it being mostly floating islands of sorts.

A glance to the side told her that Fenn and the human's fight with one of the other beasts was going well. Fenn alone would have been more than a match for it, but it seemed the human was intent on interfering. Their resident Nephilim seemed to be coping as well, but not as well as she or Fenn, it seemed. Theirs was a more even scuffle, something which brought a momentary smile to Lily's lips. Were Nephilim truly that weak? One had to wonder.

Nevertheless, the other fighters were not where her focus should be at the moment. In the heartbeat it had taken her to survey the battlefield, the fleeing individual hadn't moved too far away. At least, not yet out of range.

I haven't used this in a long time, Lily thought, extending her left arm in front of her. In her clawed grip materialised a comparatively massive bow, long as she was tall at two and a half metres, but seemingly made of some wooden material. She gripped the string and pulled at it, an arrow fading into existence where space was left between her fingers. Her arm shook slightly, the bow not at all easy to draw even for her considerable strength. She aimed, angled the bow upwards, and released the arrow with all the force of a veritable ballista encapsulated in a single arrow, aimed straight at the back of their would-be escapee.

Fenn felt his fist sink into the metal plates driving the beast back a step before his frame crashed against the creature’s abdomen. For all that, the monster continued to thrash in his grip, and the glow coming from the openings in the creature’s body only grew in intensity. Either he had mistakenly assumed the source of the glow to be a weakness, he had incorrectly guessed at the location on the monster’s body, or his fist had failed to pierce deep enough into the creature’s defenses.

Fenn only had a pulse of blue light as a warning before a sound like a raging waterfall came from above him and a lance of pain wedged itself into his back.

The hound’s actions were reflexive. With a pained roar, one long arm whipped upwards and caught the monster’s throat, forcing its maw upwards. The drilling sensation left him, a strong pressure trailing a path up and away from his unprotected back. The demon’s other arm wrapped around one of the beast’s retreating legs, forcing it to stay in place as he gave the monster a final shove with his shoulder. Tipped off balance, with one leg fixed in place, the creature toppled backwards, the large demon falling over it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fenn caught the human jumping off the metal monster with a surprised expletive, but his attention quickly returned to the writhing monster under him. The beast’s claws wrapped around his long arm, trying to find purchase in the hardened scales, while its rear legs curled back and forth in attempts to push its attacker away.

Tightening his grip on its throat, the Hellhound lifted the monster’s head, then slammed it to the ground. Cracks formed on the rock under them as he repeated the motion. In a desperate attempt to free itself, one of the mechanical beast’s arms reached towards the dog’s face, razor claws flashing towards his eyes. A meaty hand wrapped around the limb, stopping it in its tracks, then twisted back with a savage wrench. Grinding sounds filled the dog’s ears as metal popped, bent, and tore into the creature’s rubbery flesh under its armor.

Tossing the mangled limb aside, the arm drew back, then fell on the monster’s head. The chain-wrapped fist sunk into the metallic skull with a heavy clang, and the beast grew limp. Once more, the arm drew back, then crashed down on the creature’s head. A broken horn clattered onto the ground, followed by droplets of a viscous liquid.

Fenn glared down at the downed opponent, waiting for signs of life with bated breath and bared fangs. When none came, he gave the corpse a shake by the scruff of its neck, then clambered off. It had been a long time since something had managed to compete with him in a contest of strength, and the experience had left him both frustrated and invigorated. Invigorated from the novelty of the challenge. Frustrated by the knowledge that the enjoyment must come second from their objective, and that now that he had taken the monster’s measure, he had no proper excuse to prolong a battle.

The other monsters seemed to have been kept at bay easily enough, and as he surveyed the remains of the battles, his gaze naturally fell on the human that had interrupted his bout. He felt his lips curling back in distaste. Something instinctively told him the sharp pain pulsing below his shoulder blades would be absent had the man not involved himself.

Fenn let out an irritated grunt. “Leave the slaying of monsters to monsters, human, lest you hobble us.”

The sudden and ferocious barrage of Wrath battered his biomechanical adversary in its moment of vulnerability. While the creature did not physically retreat owing to its greater size and weight, the Nephilim’s all-out assault put it on edge, and in a critical instant he struck past its armor to gouge streaks of agony into its rubbery flesh. This time, the beast leaped backward, releasing an eerie, metallic howl that echoed off the rock faces. In that moment it discovered that both of its companions had bitten the dust and without a second’s hesitation turned tail and disappeared over an open side of the platform, as if a switch had been pulled. Some sort of processor within the beast’s mind might have as well weighed the odds, found them untenable, and forced it to retreat.

In the silence that followed, Souta scoffed noisily at Fenn. ”What, can’t take a few bruises? You keep doing the slaying and I’ll keep doing the thinking. Check this out.” From between the claws of his bladed gauntlet, Souta produced a bizarre-looking device. It looked like nothing made by factories on earth—it was too perfect. If anything, it resembled an organ cast from silver, though within the mechanism lay a tightly-wound coil alight with blue energy. ”While you were keeping it busy, I got under its skin and tore this thing out.” As proud as he was, Souta didn’t bother explaining further to the others, which they would no doubt view as a waste of time. If they needed further verification of his usefulness, he’d be happy enough to tell that this machine had been pulled from the base of one of the beast’s horns and was no doubt integral to whatever process allowed the creatures to absorb and then reproduce elemental energy. Without some sort of core or diffuser to spread the energy throughout a system, it would definitely not be able to replicate the monsters’ elemental conversion, but for now it would serve as a sort of capture-and-release tank. Instead of mentioning this, Souta laid his eyes on Lily as she began to line up her shot.
Even on a straightaway, the erratically bobbing and speedy figure of the mounted observer would make for a difficult shot. The winding suspended path, combined with unknown atmospheric conditions, as well as the motion prediction made necessary by the target’s distance, turned the feat practically impossible even for one as talented and calculating as the demon. Her brutal arrow cannoned into the path instead, easily destroying a section of it measuring about forty feet long. This did not, unfortunately, include the footing of the escapee, but it did cause the entire path to sway slightly despite the sturdiness of its anchoring.

”Well, that was a fun little kerfuffle. Shame it got away. Uhelei, tell them what you told me.” Panoptos crossed his arms like a parent waiting for his child to apologize for some offense.

With eyes still glaring despite the rigidity of his mask, the reluctant local began to speak. When he formed words, sparks of light the same color as his eyes erupted behind the grate in his mask where his mouth might be, much like a saw cutting into metal. The voice that poured from him sounded just about as pleasant. “A man of the tribes. Sentry. The Vuirukeinee were his. He will warn the others; they will fortify the villages. We can find other routes.”

”Ah, ah, ah.” Chidingly, Panoptos waggled his finger. ”My special senses are tingling, and they’re telling me that there are beasties in this place that put those metal dogs to shame. True monsters, not half-machine critters tamed by half-machine savages. Maybe our pals here would rather take the easy route and rough up a few villagers rather than play with the Undersky’s local abominations.” His gaze regarded the group curiously, flitting between Souta, Fenn, Wrath, Lily, and Midori. Those miniature stars of emerald hue regarded the half-demon critically. ”Oh…I’d nearly forgotten about you, little one. I just love the way you’ve been standing there like a rock the whole time. Well, if you don’t put yourself to use soon, I guess we could use you to see if the Undersky’s as endless as it looks.” Cheerily Panoptos looked around again. ”Anyway! What do the lot of you say? Tribesmen or terrors? Oh, and I recommend you choose quickly.” He shrugged, moving so as to reveal the now-inert game through which the group had recently arrived. ”You might notice that the gate is looking a lot less sealed than the one back in the Citadel. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if the Hierarchy, the demons, or both figure out how to get through before long.” He shook slightly in suppressed laughter. ”Party’s no fun if everyone’s invited. Take your pick!”

Aware of the egos at play here, Souta remained silent. While he would have preferred to leave this place’s civilization alone, he did not think his opinion mattered enough to risk causing infighting in this team.

As Mary absentmindedly rounded a corner, she was greeted by the sight of two spinning blades aimed at her head. She calmly dashed out of the way as the chakram-like objects sliced their way through a car and into her previous position. Right after, Mary heard the breaking of glass from a shop on the same street. The culprit of this action seemed to be 5 little marionette dolls, possessed by demonic spirits. She giggled a tad to herself. Seemed her "wish" had been granted.

Deftly, she shot a blast of vibration at the 5 approaching smaller enemies, hoping to throw them back into the shop to deal with later. For now, she had two much larger enemies to deal with. She dashed towards the two of them, using her new toy to increase her distance, and pulled out the Burial Suit as well. Quickly, she swung the blade at one, aiming for the sack's head in an attempt to kill it quickly. While she was doing this, she poised the jitte to trap the blades of the other. If the blade slid into the jitte's slot like she assumed it would, then she would twist it and vibrate until it broke.

The left Mega Scarecrow blocked the sword strike with one of it's own blades without much effort, but the right Mega Scarecrow did exactly as Mary expected, lodging it's appendages into the Entertainer. The metal rod began vibrating viciously, before Mary violently twisted, snapping some of the blades in two. The stunned and confused MS was then sent flying with a thrust of the jitte that had just disarmed it. Mary was then free to focus on the other big enemy in the area.

She allowed the demon to push her blade out of the way, and again some of a demons blades fell into her weapon's grasp. She snapped it's as well, before slicing it's now exposed throat. Quickly turning around to be greeted by 5 dolls, she quickly dispatched them as well, slicing all 5 in half with ease. All that was left was the half disarmed Mega Scarecrow, she began vibrating both of her weapons at a high speed. Though it made them both quite unwieldy, they would no doubt destroy the creature with ease. While Mary stood strong, the Scarecrow rolled into a ball at her again, charging through the street at a high speed.

The sawblade demon clashed with the two weapons of Mary, who held off the spinning assualt with ease. Sparks flew all around her, will the demon's blades began dulling through the grinding against metal, before Mary finally put it out of it's misery by knocking it's blades out of line and stabbing it through the heart. Once she was sure it was dead, she calmly and quickly removed her blade, and sheathed both of her weapons.

Mary began walking towards the port portal again, newfound blood o her hands. "Hmph. That was fun, but I have work to do."

Blair knew that the spikes wouldn't hold the thing for long but she certainly didn't see those immobilizing spells coming, though. Such a beast was capable of those kind of spells? Hmm... It was as if the monster knew what her real intention was, or was just simply making sure it's prey wasn't going to get away or both. But no matter, she was far enough. It was now or never, if she intends to detonate the blood, she had to do it quickly before the monster gets other ideas.

While her movements might've been halted with it's spells, it didn't prevent her from using her spells and with a swift decision, Blair detonated the blood on and around the beast. She followed that up by casting her Bloody Sunday spell, sending a flurry of countless number of smaller and weaker blood spikes raining down upon the beast. Regardless of the damage from those attacks, it matters not. Like before, it's simply a measure to buy more time for her to cast her next spell.

Putting her palms on the ground, she began chanting as a pool of blood began taking form on the ground. In moments, the blood began taking shape in the form of two decent sized golems. They were slightly taller than the average human and had a thicker, roundish build. These were what she'd call her 'Tank Golems', made with no offensive power and it's purpose was to absorb hits and keep it's targets focus away from the caster. In this situation, it's probably more accurate to call them 'Bait Golems'.

Given the brain sucker relies on hearing, and probably smell as well, she'd have the golems charge towards the monster, drawing it's attention with it's thunderous stomps and latch onto it and hold it in place. If it does have a sense of smell, the sent of blood emanating off the golems should be strong enough to block her own scent. While the two keep it distracted, she'll make her leave and continue her mission.

After all, she doesn't have the time to waste on such a creature. The Archangel was one thing but this one holds no priority and it's not like she gets paid for overtime work. Not worth the hassle.

Wrath frowned that his opponent had managed to escape despite the rather decisive blow he'd landed and made one more note to get a weapon that handled armor better as well, but prioritized the ranged weapon over it for the time being. When the choice to choose between a fast and easy route or a slower and more dangerous route presented itself, Wrath frowned. On the one hand, it likely wouldn't take much to convince the villagers that standing between them and the Seal was a bad idea. However, the method of demonstration was what disagreed with the Nephilim. Of course, taking longer than they really needed to was a bad idea time wise because that bastard who'd busted up the second seal could show up any time he pleased and destroy this one as well.

Ultimately, when Wrath spoke, it was the path he felt was right. "I say we avoid the villages. We don't know enough about the locals to know if we can rough them up enough to stop resistance. And honestly, even with all of us, it would take just as long to work through the villages as to put down any of the abominations we might run into in other places. That said, the abominations would be a more fun fight anyways."

The dog bristled at the human’s nonchalance. He cared not for wounds inflicted by enemies, but what had resulted in cracked scales and shallow wounds would have resulted in pierced flesh and pulverized innards for the fragile human, had he borne the consequences of his meddling.

Yet, the dog let his aggression bleed out of him with a slow, long-suffering breath, black smoke puffing out from his nostrils like smoker’s exhalation. As long as his interests were those of another, he could not retaliate to every minor barb thrown his way.

“Truly, such disrespect could only come from a race as coddled as humanity, or as hopeless as the Watchers,” he groused, leaning forward to peer at the tiny object held in the human’s hand. He huffed irritably. It looked like little more than a shiny bauble to the demon’s eyes. “You are too eager a scavenger. Trophy hunting should wait for dead prey.”

With that, the hound moved away from the human, making his way towards his charge. The Imp had a humongous bow in her hand, the monstrous instrument lowered as she peered into the distance with a dissatisfied glower.

“I missed,” Lily said, almost growling. Her tail whipped about, slamming into the ground hard enough to leave a shallow crater where dust and stone and rock her been torn free. She turned to face Fenn as he drew closer, her mask of annoyance being replaced by an arrogant smile. “I killed mine first,” she announced.

“Lucky blow, I imagine.”

“Sore loser,” she tsked with a sly grin. “More to the point—” she nodded towards where her arrow had gouged out large amounts of rock and earth, and her quarry yet ran “—I would have expected your fantastic ears and nose to be able to pick up some little stowaway.”

“A different realm brings with it different scents and sounds.” The dog rolled his shoulders. “I could only be sure of the threat before me.”

The banter stilled as the lead Watcher drew their attention, prompting their would-be guide to share his information with the group.

Fenn cocked an eyebrow as a grating voice poured out of the armor. “It speaks,” he said dryly.

“You’re a giant, talking Pug on fire. Out of all of us you should be the least surprised.”

“Why?” he asked with a frown, giving her a puzzled look. All Hellhounds had the capacity for speech, after all.

There was a groan, and the sound of Lily’s face meeting the palm of her hand. “Nevermind. Let’s just get this on with.” She walked over to where the others were gathering, looking down at the rest of them once there. “Terrors, as our glorified slav—I mean, our glorious Leader called them. Even if the townsfolk are weak, they are numerous and could prove troublesome. In the interest of time, it would be wiser to take the route with the more powerful, but far less numerous, challenges.” She looked meaningfully between Fenn, Wrath, and herself for a moment, ignoring the others. “I believe that, between us, whatever this world has in store should prove to be of little difficulty.”

Low laughter rumbled forth from Fenn’s throat.

Lily turned slightly, giving him an amused glance. “Excited by the prospect of strong enemies?”

The Hellhound blinked, for a moment confused as to the her point. He quickly realized what she meant, but the slight hesitation was enough to elicit a small frown from the demoness. “Aye. Worthy foes is what you promised me, Imp. It would be disappointing if you failed to deliver.”

“But it’s not what you find funny,” she observed.

“It was an idle thought.” The dog bared his fangs slightly. A sardonic smile. “It amused me to think there is a representative and interpreter for these tribes among us, yet diplomacy was never considered an option. For a moment I feared I may be keeping agreeable company.”

“Be it humans or angels, or any other species. Anything that is different is immediately considered a threat upon detection. You are a nightmarish version of their tamed tin cans, I am an ever-changing war machine. And then there are the rest of us. We are all unique in our own way, and different. Diplomacy ceased to be an option the instant we stepped on foreign soil. They would rather attack us in full force when they saw us, than try to make peace.” She smiled then, a small, wicked smile. “Exactly like the humans we know so well.”

Fenn’s toothy grin widened, never losing its mocking edge, but the demon kept his thoughts to himself. Why should he expect warnings to be heeded? What was there to correct? If he was seeking bloodshed, staying with one with such views was bound to please.

Kosara stood t here, tilting her head as she noticed the angelic creatures appearing. Those were some very beastial angelic warriors, she was ready to give them that. Hmm how long was it since she had last seen one of heaven’s many ‘workers’? She had no idea, too long to remember actually. She usually just dealt with demonic enemies, after all she was a DEMON hunter, there were other hunters specializing in other fields out there.

“Well, well, well… an angelic mutt, how curious.” She replied with a huge grin to the obvious bad mouth of one of the angel creatures. These two seemed almost identical if not for the colors and the way there exchanged glances almost as if talking, made Kosara suspect these two were somehow telepathically linked or something. Was possible there were similar demons out there.

“And as for you, indeed I’m here to kill demons, half demons, humans and everything else that endangers the peace of my beautiful land. My name is Kosara and frankly there are some rogue demon hunters who are supposedly opening these gates and I came here to kill them!” She stated proudly, sheathing her sword, though drawing it from the sheath, but not removing her hand form he handle.

“I have not really a beef with you guys from paradiso’s expanses and with me having a job to do, I’m not really up for fighting for fun so I suppose we can skip fighting.” She confirmed.” If you want to kill demons sure, deal with it, just don’t involve humans or civilians and we should have nooooooooooooo problems whatsoever.” She said with a huge grin.

Shrugging, Panoptos let go of Uhelei. The tribesman brushed him off brusquely, but even with a mask obscuring his features his relief could be felt. After just bearing witness to the Council's agents in combat, even when not fighting with their full power, he knew that the casualties should they decide to bulldoze through the villages would be catastrophic. That said, the idea of traversing that place sent shivers down his proverbial spine. Few realms posed the kind of constant threat that the Undersky could, but even then there existed some regions that the inhabitants just didn't go. Still, he would do it without complaint, for it meant that his race would lose no children today. His own resentfulness at his exile did not even begin to factor in to this consideration.

Wordlessly, then, Uhelei began to move. Panoptos hovered for a moment before following behind him, and one by one the other agents fell in. Their guide led them across the uneven surface toward the edge of the massive stalactite, then counter-clockwise along its rim. A somewhat narrow path spiraled slowly upward, and the group hurried along it. All the while, an odd wind swept across them, and what may have been miles beneath them the yellow-tinged clouds whirled like a maelstrom. Eventually the spiral path led to a semicircular clearing, and at an angle perpendicular to the stone face a manmade catwalk extended straight out over the void. For hundreds of meters it lay suspended without any sign of support over the open void. At its opposite end it adhered to a similar platform on the edge of another, small stalactite. From this distance, something could be glimpsed behind that stalactite, too, but any efforts to discern what it was aside from black, fibrous, and ominous would turn up nothing. Onto the straight path Uhelei strode fearlessly, and while Souta balked for a moment, he -as the second lightest of the groundbound agents present- followed suit. His clawed gauntlets vanished in a stream of bright water, replaced by the warhammer Escre. With it in hand he walked right in the center of the long, lonely road.

Before too long, the group arrived at the second stone formation. Rather than a route that skirted its edge, free to the air, this stalactite harbored a dark tunnel straight through. Its walls, jagged and haphazard, made for irritating going. As he trudged carefully along, Souta wondered exactly what could have made this tunnel. It certainly seemed like nothing that a tool could do. Given its size, which easily accommodated the large frame of Fenn, he wanted to think that it might be the product of some kind of vehicle, but in a place like this it hardly seemed likely. Lost in thought, he nearly ran into Uhelei, who'd stopped just before rounding a corner of the winding tunnel illuminated by the Undersky's bizarre light. ”What's the hold-up?

Glancing back, Uhelei moved aside to let him pass, and Souta stepped out of the tunnel onto a substantial cliffside. At once, he realized why the light cast into the tunnel had been so sporadic. Before him stretched a seemingly infinite tangle of vines, fully three-dimensional, mobile, and rather daunting. With no solid ground in sight, the brownish-green expanse reminded him of a colossal jungle gym—or a spider web. About a dozen vines connected to the cliff on which he stood, but their manner of mooring caught his interest. Instead of growing out of the rock like plants, they appeared to be stuck there, as if pasted on by a massive glue gun. Tentatively he approached one of the vines, and with his hammer he poke it. Individual fibers separated around the spike, but try as he might he could not jam it in. ”It's like steel cable. Hey, what is this place?” He cast a dubious glance at Uhelei.

“The home of your terrors,” the guide replied, his mechanical voice low. “We call it 'Viranhk Voknosto—the Hanging Jungle. The path to the seal is on the other side.”

Gideon eventually finds the hideout where his victim as described, a simple warehouse. From the looks of the building, it was very old and decrypted, older then the battle that was going on. It was rather "untouched", then again this section of town was not affected by the battle, yet anyways. The general checks around the front, seeing some armored guards guarding the entrance. Despite this, he can easily take them down and rip out their entrails.

Then he heard faint growling noises coming from the back. As Gideon approaches the back door, he finds several demon imps and a behemoth all locked up, with a few already getting executed on the spot. This gang was taking demon prisoners... but why? Inferno would occasionally imprison soldiers, either as a military example and execute them, or in some instances experiment on them various weapons, spells, and the like. But this seemed rather odd. Regardless, he should free them once he gets inside.

Then the general spots a blind spot coming from the cathedral not too far down the road. If he wants to be stealthy about it he can enter there and make his way through into the warehouse. But that will be too time consuming. Then again, he is a demon general. He DID slaughter an entire group of gang members, armed with guns. He didn't fear man... And if he can set these imprisoned demons out back, he could overrun the entire facility faster compared to doing it alone

So Plan B it is.

With half a dozen men out back, with four armed guards and two non-armed ones, Gideon begins to commence the attack. Using Lucifer's Four Shot move, he instantly fires upon the four armed guards, killing them simultaneously as they silently fall to the ground with little noise. The other two were quickly alerted by this as they began to quickly panic. However, one would meet his end as he gets sliced in two, the other being stabbed in the heart by a dagger. With them out of the picture, Gideon glances over at the imprisoned demons. Normally he would kill these demons simply because they failed Inferno, but thankfully for them, the General was feeling merciful on this rare occasion. Using his floating daggers, they turn into two long swords as they sliced through the metal bars of the cages, setting the demons free. Then, Gideon approaches the back door and breaks in, starting a round of cold, brutal bloodshed.

---

Kushiel thought for a quick second before giving out his answer.

"I suppose I'll go to the Crypt." he says softly, "Perhaps something interesting is within them."

With that, he eyes the others as he waits for them to choose. Whether they'll go with him or not, he then moves slowly into the dark crypt, unaware on what he might find from within.

Lily stopped at the entrance with the others, trying to look inside. But large as the tunnel was, she was too big to simply scoot between the others without the risk of pushing them out into the cavern. So she reverted to her feline form, scales receding from all over her body leaving her torso uncovered, and her body furred from the waist down. She then pushed her way to the front through her companions to finally get a proper look at their location.

The place was extraordinary; so much like the tree tops of Earth’s jungles, but so vastly different, too. It was a place where agility and speed would matter far more than raw power. She glanced back at Fenn, this place would not be to his forté. At best, his flames could heat up the steel cables to such a degree that they would burn whatever monsters lurked here.

And according to their guide, quite powerful ones did indeed.

The hound’s thoughts seemed to be in line with hers. He approached the end of the tunnel, nose twitching distrustfully as he reached extended an arm towards the nearest vines. The dog’s ears swiveled, as if expecting something to jump out of the so-called jungle in response to the intrusion. Still, the paw found no resistance as it wrapped around the closest vine, and Fenn gave it a firm tug. The relaxed, interwoven wires tensed and seemed to stretch, but otherwise, the vine remained fixed in place. Then, the hound drew the cable closer to his face and blew a thin strand of flame onto its surface. The fire simply washed over the material, as it would with any other metal.

Now convinced that the vines could hold his weight and his handholds would not go in flames if he used his power, Fenn moved a step back, his expression still anything but pleased.

“This is a poor battleground,” he grunted.

Lily shot the Hound an impish look over her shoulder. “Only because you’re an unrefined pup with a penchant for brute force,” she commented, smiling.

“You mistake the issue, Imp.”

“So you say.” Her smile widened enough to show teeth; canines long and sharp. It fell soon after to a more neutral look, and she turned back towards the cavern. “I’m most likely the best equipped the fight in an area such as this,” she mused idly, looking about. She glanced back at Fenn again. “But the lack of solid foundation to stand upon is not what you mean, is it, Fenn?”

“Nay, Imp though it is worsened by it. The problem would be as pertinent in this place as in a dense, Earthen forest.”

A pause. Lily gave him a half-lidded look. He was sure he expected her to keep prodding. Did he enjoy being vague and leaving her in suspense? It made her wonder if she should quit his game simply for the sake of spoiling his fun.

“You mean fire?” Her gaze fell upon the cables attached to the wall beside them. “They’re not made of flammable material—You tried it yourself, after all. At worst they would become hot.”

“Of course not,” he snapped, seemingly irritated by the conclusion.

“Are you referring to the fact that attacks can come from any direction?”

At this, the dog nodded. “Aye, that is a consequence. A place such as this restricts visibility.” He seemed to have lost patience with her, as he continued his explanation with uncharacteristical eagerness. “Had we not a guide, I would hesitate to delve into such an area even if it was devoid of life. Without ground, even scents would be confusing to follow. It would be easy to lose track of the group if one became distracted and strayed from the path. Now, think of predators that may live in this place. What kind of beast do you imagine?”

It took only a quick glance around; the answer was almost immediate. “Arachnids, or other very agile creatures. Something that could make use of three dimensional space.”

“Aye, beings which would traverse such a place with even more ease than solid ground. The same cannot be said for us. Most in this group would see little recourse but to cling to a handhold and wait for an enemy to close in. It need not be said that we may not even notice such an approach. Should an attack scatter us, each could be singled out with ease.”

The Demoness grimaced. Loathe was she was to admit it, Fenn was right. “So a poor battleground, then?” She mused. “I see what you mean.” She turned her gaze to Panoptos, then to their guide. She stalked over to him. “Tell me, what kind of beings can we find here? Their name tells us nothing. What do they look like and how do they fight?”

While Lilly and Fenn had their discussion, to which Wrath only half listened to, he did his own inspection of the vines. Their makeup was, in and of itself, an interesting prospect and even the Nephilim could appreciate what he was looking at. Based on what they'd seen so far, it was another kind of biometal design, and based on the way Fenn's flames hadn't set it aflame, would possibly make a good base for a weapon design. Something to consider later, for now... He'd paid enough attention to know what all their concerns were, but something occurred to the Nephilim that raised a more important set of questions. "Knowing what we're fighting against doesn't do us much good if we still can't cross. A grip on metal can be tenuous at best, it's why swords have their hilts wrapped in leather or something similar. And we've already seen them weather hellfire better than most angels I know, so that rules out melting a grip. So how about battle strategy after crossing strategy?" That said, he didn't think that Souta would have much trouble, what with those hooks of his.

And, if Wrath was honest, he had a pretty good idea of how he'd get across. He turns to their guide and waits until after he answers Lily's question before posing his own. "Just out of curiosity, your people clearly started crossing this jungle. How did they go about that?"