The feeling that something had appeared. Just like earlier before, but much more stronger in his opinion. He wasn't sure what it was. Not yet, at least. It was only a few moments before a horribly monstrous roar pierced the silent air, sending shivers up the butler's spine and making the horse panic a bit. He easily calmed it down. Something was definitely out there. He wasn't sure where it was. All his alarm bells were ringing, his body tensing up and his grip on the reigns tightened. Something that could make that kind of sound was definitely something dangerous.

His gaze went to the two ahead of him. "What do you think was that?" There was no fear in his voice - more like concern. Whatever that was sounded big and, again, dangerous. While Lady Charlotte is an apt fighter as she is a vampire and is in possession of Talentium, he was not sure about Lady Duchamps. Sure, he heard that the family was in possession of a God of War, but he was not sure whether or not Lady Duchamps was the one who wielded it. Alex is thinking that perhaps she does know how to fight as she does seem like an experienced traveler, but he still couldn't help but worry.

Panic began settling in her heart. It was her fight or flight instincts kicking in. And they were saying 'run'. Though she wasn't sure what the other two thought about the subject. Were they thinking about heading towards the source and finding out what it is? Or were they thinking of running away? Not liking the silence that followed, he decided that it was high time he asked. "Shall we turn around? Or are you thinking of encountering whatever that was?"

There shouldn’t have been any reason to, so Jacque’s eyes widened when his entire body shivered. “Do-” Interrupted by the Rift Beast’s arrival, he blinked a few times as he tried to process this new development. “Well then,” he remarked, voice slightly strained, but nonetheless attempting to keep his demeanor calm. “I suppose we can’t just ignore that as Astopolian Knights.” Snapping the other two segments to complete the staff, he test it with a few swings before he looked towards Ambroise.

“Ignoring the Rift Beast would undoubtedly cause more harm than letting this serial killer remain active for the time being,” he agreed with a nod. The roar caused Jacque to flinch a bit as his hair blew about wildly, and he frowned as he looked at the Rift Beast just poking over the treeline. Was it simply announcing its presence to the world, or were there others that had already encountered the monster.

“We may not have the luxury…” he murmured as he twirled the staff about and then planted it into the ground. Gold motes quickly crept up his arms, covered his body, and he exhaled slowly as he felt his body adjust in response. “Can you begin preparing your magic Ambroise? If we have the advantage of first strike, it should try to be decisive.”

He looked towards the Rift Beast again before turning his attention towards the other two. “Anything to add?”

The sense of foreboding within Charlotte returned once again, but this time it was tenfold. Racing down the dirt path and flanked by tall forest trees on both sides, they spared little time looking back. But this time, the golden-haired vampire stopped briefly in her tracks as a deafening roar welled up, cutting through the eerie quiet of the silent forest. Even the vampire’s hair stood up on her ends. Red eyes scanning the treetops, Charlotte searched in the direction of the noise but found little to see. Whatever it was, it was clearly in the direction of the ruins that the three of them had been heading towards, and not from the forest that they had been so eager to leave.

Slender fingers drummed against the silver pommel of her sword. Her own silence was her answer to Alexis’ question; she didn’t know. Charlotte certainly wanted to know, however; the presence of the roar had allayed her fear of a more esoteric or unknown entity. Could they scout ahead and see what it was? Certainly between the three of them, they could take down most sorts of beasts that could stand in their way. If they couldn’t, they still were in Illiserev, there was no shortage of mercenary bands or companies that would be willing to take up a hard mark.

It was settled for Charlotte.

“It’s from the direction of the ruins and not the forest. I think we should at least get close enough to take a look. We can easily retreat back into the safety of the woods if need be. I’m curious.” She glanced at their scholarly traveling companion for her reaction. “What do you think, Lillet?”

There was no question about it. As knights of Astopol, they were duty-bound to slay the monstrous and inhuman wherever they went, and Rift Beasts were no exception. Even if they stayed the course to track the serial killer down, the killer would no doubt go to ground with the emergence of the Rift Beast, rendering it a moot point to begin with.

"Agreed." He said curtly, drawing his greatsword. "The killer's most likely going to flee with this Rift Beast around, which renders continuing the hunt pointless." He sized the monster up while considering the capabilities of his comrades. They'd all been briefed on what each other could do before they'd left Astopol, so coming up with a strategy wasn't difficult.

"An overwhelming first strike is likely our best opening gambit. I suggest that Ambroise use her Sword Arts to take it off guard before we three follow up and assault it."

Odile couldn't respond. He had never seen this atrocity before. His senses no longer functioned properly. He could barely hear anything except for the slight movements the beast made. His eyes were focused solely on the abomination. He lost his sense of surroundings, becoming bumbled with directions. He could no longer smell anything other than that otherworldly odor. All of his senses failed, except one - survival.

With all of the strength he could muster, he ran away from the beast. He didn't think about Natala and Liza. He only wanted to live. Even with his curse, he knew that he should run. Whatever than thing was, it was dangerous. More dangerous than anything that Odile had ever seen. Even with the wound on his chest, he could muster the strength to run. He would do anything it would take to survive.

Lillet's horse reared up and whinnied in fright at the roar which pierced the silence of the forest, but the young lady managed to remain in her saddle and in control of the beast. "Well, then," she said, sounding confident. "Whatever that is, it can't be good. But, no reason not to check it out, particularly if it's in the ruins. Just...got to be careful not to wreck the place."

At this point, there was definitely no turning back, nor dissuading the black sheep of the Duchamps family. Her curiosity had been thoroughly piqued, and her warrior's blood began to stir at the promise of...some sort of thrilling conflict. She wouldn't just run away, whatever her baser instincts told her. It was Man's strength and folly to be able to ignore such things and press on anyway.

"I say we do more than just scout it. Besides, I've got a few cards up my sleeve." She coaxed her reluctant horse to rush further onward, no longer taking a cautious pace. "It's not often an adventure like this presents itself! Got to seize it by the horns while you can!"

The feeling emanating from the Other went from displeasure to alarm in an instant. Natala raised her blade and turned to face the newly arrived danger. A rift beast, the first one that she had seen. The girl had no idea if the Other knew of them or had fought one before, not that it would be able to offer any sort of advice.

”...?” It was sudden. Too sudden. A moment of accomplished replaced by the horror of dread. At first, it was a loud sound - just to be replaced by eternal silence. What… just happened? Soon, Liza’s feeling of confusion was replaced with that of dread. A rift beast wasn’t anything new to her but that thing was clearly out of her league. At least under normal circumstances.

Pulling down her mask again and speaking words that Natala wasn’t capable of understanding, the blonde understood what happened to her ears. Surely, the monster wouldn’t give her enough time to make herself clear that the two of them should escape. If Odile were to die here, all the better. Alas, while not making any signs to fight, the young Artist waited nonetheless on what her beautiful Angel would do.

She shook her head, ears ringing after the noise that heralded the beast's arrival into their world. No matter, all she needed to fight was to see her enemy. Hopefully the damage would only be temporary though. Natala raised the blade to a high guard and waited on the first move. The slave had never fought anything so large before. If Odile recovered soon then the extra ally would do much to even things out.

It looked like...Natala wanted to fight? Just why? Annoyed, Liza drew both of her Runetech Guns. It was kinda inconvenient that Natala seemed to be a front-liner considering the Artist wanted the girl to stay well.

Odiles escape went unnoticed by either of them.

Its banshee cry was unanswered. In the distance, birds scattered and vermin dove into their holes, but no other response sounded. Only silence, as the rift-beast drew in a deep breath once more, slitted eyes closing. Its long tongue retracted back into its maw, before it stopped completely.

Silence was restored, even as all those nearby were rendered deaf by its call.

And then, a flash of clarity. Its eyes snapped open, all focused on one target now, a singular direction to travel. Like a clap of thunder, it drove its clawed feet into the ground, half a ton of dirt kicked up with a single stomp. The red lines that traced its body flared up into an incandescent white as it propelled itself singlemindedly forwards. Towards something that only it could sense.

Towards the two that stood in its way, and the one that attempted to retreat.

Liza still couldn't believe her newfound masterpiece wanted to do this. Had she ever fought a rift beast before? Was the tattooed girl underestimating it? Whatever the case was there was no other option but to protect Natala. Still, if the masked Artist herself would end up dead, what good would the untouched Canvas do? He options, or, well, option, was really simple. To get ouf of the way. Hopefully the momentum it build up wouldn't allow the monstrosity to change course.

Natala dodged to the side, moving away from where Liza was. Perhaps they would be able to surround it, as well as they could with only a couple of people anyway. She hit the ground and rolled, coming up with her sword in the same guard position. There was no knowing how the other girl would act but if things started to go badly she could always run.

And she glanced over her shoulder to notice that Odile was doing just that.

The two dodged, splitting off in different directions as the rift-beast ran through...and continued onwards, only picking up more and more speed. Odile was almost trampled by the bipedal monster as it smashed through pine and gouged out the earth, but even then, it continued. A trail of broken foliage and gargantuan footprints followed in its wake, as it cut a path through the silent forest. The three within the ruins meant nothing to it.

What it sought was farther ahead.
@Polaris North@Click This@Vega7285

The crash of breaking trees resounded through the forest as...something approached the party of archeologists. Otherwise,the forest would be deathly quiet, but whatever had arrived was clearly on the move, and judging by the sound, only getting closer. Trees in front of Lillet were thrown aside with terrible force, causing her to pull hard on the reins and bring her horse to a sudden stop.

In the next moment, as the rift beast itself came into view, it was all she could do to keep the horse from bolting out from under her. "We've got trouble," she shouted behind to the others. There was no way they could miss what was happening, so it was little more than a formality. She didn't seem particularly frightened by the monstrosity bearing down on her, even if there was a chance her own crazy plan may not work. The next thing Lillet did was shout again, at the top of her lungs, a single word: "Aeon!"

For a brief moment, blue radiance etched itself into a magical circle across the sky, and like a bolt of lightning from the clouds above, the Duchamps family's God of War descended. In the mother of all flying kicks, Azure Aeon aimed to slam extended foot first right into the Rift Beast, taking it head-on. Meanwhile, there was no doubt a small panic back at the manor's hangar for their giant robot, as there was every time Lillet pulled this sort of stunt.

Did he honestly expect that they would want to run away? A small part of him hoped for it. But it seems it was not to be. Lady Charlotte had wanted to merely scout whatever it is but Lady Duchamps wanted to encounter this monster. Well, no use arguing with the both of them. Once Lady Charlotte would follow the black haired woman, he would speed up as well.

He was dreading to find out what made that sound.

Though it would seem that whatever had made that sound had been barreling towards a direction - towards them. Trees were getting thrown to the side as the monster came closer to them and Alex followed what Lady Duchamps had did and stopped his horse from continuing further. As it was getting closer, Alex pulled out his Talentium knife and then mentally prepared himself for whatever horrific beast appeared from beyond the trees.

And what a horrific beast it was. A rift beast was the one that had appeared and was heading towards them with every intent to crush all in its path. Alex was definitely not planning to get crushed anytime soon. Lady Duchamps had screamed something - a name - and a magic circle appeared from the sky and summoned a huge robot that aimed a kick at the rift beast. It clicked in his mind. This was a God of War in all its magnificence. So she was the who had been Chosen. Amazing. Truly astounding to see.

But there was no time for him to keep on gawking at the colossal robot that was descending upon the rift beast. He had one other problem. His head snapped towards his master. Having been with her for so long, Alex had figured out what the vampire feared the most - humongous objects. The rift beast and the God of War definitely fell into that category. Driven by the instinct to protect his master, he immediately headed towards her and then led her away, but still within sight of Lady Duchamps. He was unsure of what reaction Lady Charlotte would give and, should she bolt away, he would have to leave Lady Duchamps by herself... and that wasn't exactly something he could walk away from with a clear conscience.

Though he thought he should at least help her with the rampaging beast. He could hear the familiar cracking of the air due to the lightning appearing around her. The Talentium in her necklace reacted with his use of magic, amplifying the lightning he was making. He channeled the lightning and then sent a fair amount of destructive plasma towards the rift beast, aiming to shock it into momentary paralysis. This is done after the God of War's attack so that it wouldn't conduct any of the lightning as well.

Roused by the Beast’s footfalls, Jacque shook his head to clear the haze that lingered after the monster’s great roar. From the current commotion, it seemed that the Rift Beast was moving further from them and at no slow pace. “Ambroise! Start chanting. Hector, Notia. Run th-” Before he could finish, the sky grew bright from the magical array that formed above the forest. His eyes widened briefly in surprise, but Gods of War were not an uncommon sight in the capital. Still… the presence of one should make their task much easier.

“Right. Support that God of War!” With that said, Jacque crouched and then leapt up to clear the treeline. He might have gawked a bit as Rift Beast and God of War struggled against one another, but the astonishment took backseat to fulfilling his duty. One made easier now that the Rift Beast had been forced to stop, even if it was just for a moment.

Snapping the two segments together, he grasped the Talentium staff and twisted his entire body into the throw as he reached the apex of his jump. His body threatened to rip itself apart as he pushed it past its limits, but his magic held everything together best it could and repaired what it couldn’t. Any sound he might have made was drowned out by the boom as his projectile, a blur of gray at its speed, tore through the air towards the Beast’s torso. He dropped back beneath the treeline before he could see the results, but it wouldn’t be long until he’d see for himself.

Spitting out a globule of blood as he drew Krisil from its sheath, Jacque looked towards the others with a nod before he darted forward. Even if the God of War could handle the monster, he could not stomach the thought of simply watching someone else fight. Much less when Evloga was, hopefully at the least, buried in the creature’s back.

Charlotte didn’t need to be told that trouble was heading their way. Instead of them going to the trouble, from the pattern and noise, it was more than obvious that whatever it was was coming to them, and from the sounds and the snapping of trees in the distance, it was massive. The golden-haired girl had wished to scout ahead and see for herself what the problem was, but now, it gave her pause.

“Ah…”

Then it finally came into view. A massive, towering beast that had nothing but sheer bloodlust. A rift beast. It took all of Charlotte’s strength to keep herself rooted and facing towards the monster and to not flee. Their traveling companion had summoned her own God of War; large, but in comparison to the beast before them, it too was but a toy.

Her pale skin grew all the whiter as she gripped her blade, finally mustering the mental energy to draw it. If the rift beast had covered that much distance since they felt that feeling of dread, they would never be able to escape. In other words, they were backed into a corner. No matter how much she wanted to retreat, they would have to fight. She dropped into a defensive stance, more slowly than she would have liked.

“There’s nowhere to run. We’ll… have to fight.”

The best strategy would be to fight it from cover in the trees. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. From the short ranged distance she had, Charlotte could attack with small shockwave attacks with her sword without resorting to revealing her vampiric talents, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, especially with Lillet’s God of War being a viable tank.

“Lillet! Draw it to the side of the road! We’re going to need cover if the rest of us can even think of matching that… thing.”

Unable to react, or perhaps uncaring, the Rift Beast faced Azure Aeon’s foot head on, the larger God of War’s steel-blue boot slamming into its cavernous face. Forward momentum stopped suddenly, it spun thrice in the air as it was launched back, before its massive claws dug into the ground. Dust and dirt kicked up as the abyssal monster skidded to a stop, six eyes still not focused on the giant that stood before it.

Half its teeth were broken off, falling like rain as pitch oozed from its wound.

A wave of plasma washed over its body, scorching shut the open wound but introducing a whole other collection of injuries as a foul stench wafted from its half-melted flesh.

From the distant cliffs, a silver light surpassed the speed of sound, before piercing the giant being’s back. Moments later, the Talentium staff’s shockwave caused its entire body to shudder violently.

And yet, it did not fall. Another ear-splitting roar resounded as it drove past its own pain and injuries, its tongue lashing out in front of it as it positioned itself into a quadrupedal stance, before launching itself forwards, barreling towards the God of War.

A charge? No, a feint to the right and then a break away to the left!

Even after reaching such challengers, it still sought to advance, following a trail that only it could see.
@Click This@Polaris North@Vega7285

Natala faced after the departing monster, resting the tip of her sword on the ground. Her ears still rang painfully from earlier. She pointed after it and tilted her head quizzically.

As Liza collected herself after escaping close death from the beast’s charge the masked woman looked up; making sure if Natala was alright and, if not, running a hundred methods of torture through her mind for the Rift Beast. Alas, her worry was for nothing. Clearly, she seemed alright.

Still, neither of them were able to hear so… did Natala really want to go after it? Seeming like they had all time in the world Liza actually pulled out a piece of paper before she started to scribble something with one of her many drawing utensils.

It were simple, but beautiful, letters. It was clear that Liza had experience in this. If Natala could even read.

‘You want to go after it?! Why?’

Natala looked at the paper and shook her head before repeating the gesture and head tilt. It was frustrating, not being able to communicate. She banged her fist on her thigh before turning and walking off after the rift best. At the very least she could catch a glimpse of whatever had captured its attention so totally. Natala was also confident that she would be able to escape it.

Liza sighed. Whatever Natala’s plan was, the Artist would protect her - thus, following closely behind.

She'd never fought fought one before... No. No, Ambroise couldn't dwell on such things. She shook her mind free of the thought and built up determination in its place. She didn't need Jacques' call to get her started on the only sensible course of action; an unimpeded and drastic spellcast for the Rift Beast's backside. Surely, even if it were resistant to magic or her own skills in general, the sheer length of the channel would have to dent it somewhat... right? There was that doubt fluttering around her senses again.

Ambroise shook it away once again, lifting the tip of her sword to meet her gaze before starting what she was built to do; cast. A gentle wind picked up at her feet, swirling up around her form until it danced around her hair. The magic blur settled at the tip of her sword, and upon raising it higher, suddenly picked up in magnitude. Arcane energy funneled into the sword above, growing a sphere of crackling grey and yellow chaos. Twofold... Three fold... Tenfold...

As it continued, the magic bolt turned into a magical apocalypse hovering just over Ambroise's head. The orb enveloped her vision of the sky, undoubtedly visible to the Rift Beast if it had ended up turning around. Retracting the sword from just inside the sphere, she finished the arcane gathering and prepared to launch it for her target. Still crackling above her, it was only once she feigned a thrusting motion with thee sword towards the creature that it lurched into motion, at first moving an inch, and then darting into the distance like a lightning bolt.