As the Laguna Army splits up to find any nearby hostiles, some forming several scout groups, several minutes pass as Zeruel awaits his scout group to return. Yet it began taking much more longer than usual and by the time he put his mind into trying to contact them telepathically, he could sense no sign of them. Something definitely must've happened down there. They must've gotten ambushed in the dark depths during their decent or somehow have gone insane too quickly from the atmosphere. Could it have been from the lizard woman? It seemed far-fetched, but regardless it was a possibility he had to take into consideration. He needs that location scouted out quickly and he's willing to do it himself.

But before he can enter, three Ramiels descend down on his position, as their wings cackled in bright blue lightning. Zeruel looks at them coldly as he addresses their appearance.

"My lord." the closest Ramiel says, "We have located the possible presence of a Machina army up north around 10 klicks away. Shall we engage them?"

Zeruel pauses for a minute as he scours the rest of the Angels he had at his disposal.

"NEGATIVE." Zeruel booms towards him, "DO NOT ENGAGE THEM FULL-FRONT. WITHOUT MY PRESENCE YOU WILL SURELY FALL, RATHER HARASS THE ENEMY AND LEAD THEM DEEPER INTO THE DUNGEON. WHEN THEIR MINDS ARE AT THEIR MOST VULNERABLE, WE WILL STRIKE. KEEP TELEPATHIC CONTACT ONLINE AND ALERT US WHEN THEY'VE ENTERED THE LOWER LEVELS."

"What about the corrupting essence, my lord?" another Ramiel asks curiously, "The deeper we go, the stronger the~"

"THE UPPER LEVELS WILL TAKE LONGER TO PENETRATE OUR FIELDS AND SEDATE OUR MINDS." Zeruel replies, pointing towards the chasm, "WE CAN OPERATE WITHIN THE LOWER DEPTHS WITH 50% LEVEL EXPOSURE FOR FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT AFFECT. ONLY THEN WILL WE SLOWLY START TO FEEL THE STRAIN. CRITICAL EXPOSURE WILL SET IN WITHIN 10. THUS WE MUST MAKE HASTE WITH THE OPERATION."

The three units nod as they begin to take into the air, followed by other Ramiels and Gaghiels, along with a new single character.

"YOU WILL ALSO BE COMMANDED BY A SAMAEL OFFICER." he commands as a large flying warrior rears up to command them himself, "FAILURE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED."

He then quickly turns to the rest of the army behind him.

"THE REST STAY AND GUARD THE FRONT." Zeruel orders, "YOU WILL PROVIDE AS REINFORCEMENTS WHEN AND IF NEEDED."

As one-third diversion makes their way to Commander Wolf's position, the Angel of Might and another third of his army began to descend into the chasm and make their way into the dungeon while the last third stay at the top of the chasm awaiting further orders.

---

Rage. Out of all the feelings she felt, Titanica's predominant mental state was a fury of rage and anger. The fact that this surprise visit coming from both Iona and even Helena was something she didn't quite expect to come so early. But then again, she knew they'd come eventually. After all her aura alone can already be felt by the High Council of Heaven and other Vassals of her stature. Her defeat against the dark archangel was one that could've been avoided if it weren't for her blind rage... and it only kept getting higher and higher by the minute. The wounds on her body have already begun to heal substantially due to the added injection of adrenaline. She needed to wake up back into the skill of things and realize that once again this world has changed and that despair must evolve with it. Take this battle in mind and evolve to battle the next one with victory.

But within the dark halls of the dungeon, flashes of gory carnage, blistering fire, and chaotic destruction seem to come back to life as it floods her inner-consciousness and makes it look all real. Titanica envisions the destruction of various villages and towns, the beatdowns of her foes, along with herself, and the rush of adrenaline she felt in her bones. Yet she didn't mind them at all. She became so used to her awakenings and destruction that over the course of these thousands of years that it didn't matter to her. It became almost a standard norm. Rage only fueled her body with power and mental conscious. If the other Vassals are this desperate in trying to eliminate her out of existence, so be it. Iona may have won this battle, but Titanica was far from giving up. As long as she achieves the goal that she seeks, it all wouldn't matter in the end.

As Titanica continues walking down the hall, she picks up the scent of two other characters. One of them smelled like a walking cloud of dark hellish-torment and rage. It most certainly smelled like one coming from Hell. The other scent smelled more with Heaven's light, but also has the familiar scent of... draconian. Another flash of a memory pierced through her mind which reminded her of an old enemy she used to battle in ancient times. She was a fierce opponent, one that desired the devastation of the Nexus and to conquer it all for herself. It took her and two other vassals to finally kill and remove the creature from the Nexus, but it wasn't certain if she could somehow cheat death. Could it be her? The very same creature to enact revenge upon her vanquishers? It seemed very much unlikely. However, Titanica doesn't hesitate but to investigate the scent, not knowing what she'll find.

Diana was getting puzzled with all that was happening at once inside of this god forsaken prison. Sure, she could understand why someone would want to imprison a monster such as she. Everyone around her looked to be quite dangerous as well, to say the truth. But still, something seemed off. She was clearly forgetting some important information, yet the more Diana tried to remember, the more it escaped her.

Once two more beings found their way to Khaine and Diana, the smallish dragon girl crossed her arms before her chest and closed her eyes. Diana had a pensive look on her face which didn't last much. Khaine's greeting to the first of the two beings force Diana to jump between the two of them. "Hey, hey, can't we drop the shoot first ask later attitude for a moment? I mean, all of us are in the same boat here, aren't we? At least let us hear —it?— first before pointing weapons at one another," she said to Khaine with a stern look in her eyes.

"I mean, we will have better chances of getting out of this place if we work together, won't we?" Diana added.

Once Titanica came out from the direction Diana and Khaine were originally traveling towards, Diana turned her head to face the bigger lizard woman. The evident marks of a recent battle caught Diana's eyes, just as much as the deathly smell emanating from the lizard-like being. Yet, this wasn't enough reason to do any uncalled for aggression.

"Ok, ok, this is starting to get crowded. Still, it's no reason to do anything too harsh, is it?" Diana said, trying to cool the tempers before anything could happen. "Since mutual trust is the first step in any negotiation, how about we begin by introducing ourselves, huh? Right? Well then, let us begin."

"I'm Diana. I don't know very much else except that I have an important mission to do and very important person to meet. But, I can't remember anything about them," Diana said, pointing to herself. "And this one's Khaine, he's a Not-Knight that doesn't like to talk very much but. And he's looking for something deeper in that direction," Diana pointed to Khaine and them to the direction from which Titanica came from, "If you know of anything suspicious in that direction, please tell us. It would be very helpful."
"Well now, I didn't think that my dear Titanica would be so easily defeated by Iona while the later was pulling her punches considerably. It does not change much of my plans, though. I guess it's just the price to pay for your hubris, my dear. It shall be a good lesson for her future," Helena said to herself after she observed the outcome of the duel between Titanica and Iona. Indeed that was a lesson to remember for the being that thinks that she's so 'speshul' that she can sleep for thousands of years and still be of any relevance in the great scheme of things. Helena could only snicker thinking of what would happen when Titanica met with a true monster like Juno or that Checkers bitch. "I should probably get some popcorn when the time comes. Hehehe."

"I digress. No matter how much I enjoy to see the fall of the prideful, Titanica is not the reason why I'm here," Helena said, getting back to work on her actual objective before the forces of the Nexus could kill one another —if they were even going to do so.

The dark spheres that Helena scattered around when Titanica and Iona were about to begin their duel found their way to the side of every being inside of the Oblivion Dungeon, penetrating any illusions they may have. That first they hovered about silently, but not long after that, Helena's voice would come from them. "It's a pleasure to have so many of you attend to my summons. I believe it's about time for me to offer you a token of my appreciation and reveal the true reason why you received this invitation," she said in a calm and collected voice, almost as if she were reading those words from a slip of paper.

"I came to offer you a deal. The chance to escape the ties that bind you to your fate. To take the reins of your destiny," Helena said as her image began to come more and more discernible to those listening to her words. The vampire's right hand was extended in an offering gesture as if she waited to seal a pact with those who accepted her words. "This world is a land of cruel gods that manipulate your lives for their own entertainment. They do not, or want not, to care for your existence as long as their games keep on being played the way they want to. Your so beloved Triumvirate is a fake. Their leaders, barely more than birds in a gilded cage. Or perhaps... not all of them," she said, regarding a certain lettuce-haired leader of Hell.

"I preach the words of a grand revolution. Take your gods down from their thrones of might, burn their temples and raise a new world from its foundation. I offer you my aid. Transform this world in the utopia which you seek by deposing your flawed moral guardians. Accept my offer and join me on this festival of redemption!"

Once she said all she had to, Helena's image became silent, waiting for the reactions of those who she talked to.

In a cold serious tone Wolf answered Bonesword, “If there were a demon in front of me, I would have cut it down before you could even say a word. Now, anymore questions or can we-...Wait.” Wolf cut himself off as he felt a number of holy magic users headed their way. “Angels incoming! We have to go!”

Without another word Wolf charged toward the dungeons. Once inside he paused to watch for the angels at the entrance with his arm cannon ready. However, no sooner had he set foot in this place did the forces prying at his mind increase in strength. “I see. The deeper we go the more powerful the illusions will be.” Wolf called to his allies, “We should listen to Hibiki and stay together as much as possible.”

"Oh god she just ran in..."

Wolf lowered his head and let out a long sigh. They’d have to go after her, but he didn’t want the angels to get the drop on them. “Skeleton,” he called to Bonesword. “See if you can block this entrance with vines or something. Keep the angels at bay while we head deeper in.”

@Banana@Lmpkio@Ryonara

When Hibiki heard the slime woman's words, she hesitated for a moment. The Nexus was a wartorn place, so much so that it wasn't unusual to see soldiers as young as children involved in the fighting. When she saw this green-haired girl Hibiki thought that she was just another soldier, set to this battlefield to kill just like they were. But to hear that she was essentially the child of the current Leader of hell... That was something that Hibiki couldn't pass up. Shizuka on the other hand cared very little who the little girl was or what the slime woman said. Shizuka stood between the two with her sword pointed towards the blue woman. "All I see is a little girl. And you, a monster."

Just then Endian stormed in and proceeded to unleash a storm of electrical attacks at the slime. Shizuka would use this opportunity to get the girl and the strange frog creature to safety. Shizuka ran over to the small girl and her doll, lifting her up and returning to Hibiki. Lowering the two carefully to the floor Shizuka looked up only to see Hibiki level her weapon at the girl, causing Shizuka to shield her. Her shield grew large enough to completely cover the girl from any of Hibiki's bullets.

"Hibiki what are you doing!?"

"We do not consort with demons, Shizuka. I don't know what drove you to save that girl, but she's not ally of ours. She's a demon, and there's only one thing we do with demons. Now step aside Shizuka."

The two sisters had a tense standoff, both unsure of what their next action should be. They knew that there were angels incoming, but there was a demon right here. Shizuka tried to reason with her sister. "This girl is no threat to us Hibiki, and we have bigger problems to deal with right now. Lower your gun and let's find a way to keep moving instead of fighting!" Hibiki however remained steadfast, never wavering her rifle. "You heard it yourself. She's a spawn of the leader of Hell. I don't care if she is a little girl or a walking corpse, she needs to die." The two twins glared at each other, just waiting for the other to make a move.

As the two continued their stand off, a dark orb approached them. Neither moved as the orb spoke to them, promising power and telling them that their leaders were fake, puppets in a grand game. This person, Helena, was offering a chance to rebel against them. This made Hibiki glare at her sister. "... Was this your plan all along? After you got stronger you decide that... You don't need the Machina anymore? Queen Eos?"

Shizuka shook her head and remained steady. "I don't know what this person is talking about, but obviously they intend to divide us. She's saying this just to make us fight each other, instead of focusing on the true enemy."

"Of course..." Hibiki pointed her gun upwards. Shizuka lifted her shield slightly. "We should be focusing on our real foes. The ones right in front of me!" In a flash, Hibiki rolled a grenade underneath Shizuka's feet. Shizuka only had a moment to react as she slammed her shield over the grenade in order to suppress the explosive force, but it was still strong enough to send the blue-haired maid crashing into the ceiling.

@Lonewolf685@Banana@Awesomoman64@Lucius Cypher

"I'll do what I can. Just hoping my illusions don't try and mess with me too badly." Bonesword called as he raised a wall of various plant matter from the ground, blocking off the oncoming wave of Angels from messing with the Machina forces. As Bonesword did this, he tried to ignore the taunting Rhine beside him, becoming increasingly louder as Bonesword continued towards his path into the Oblivion Dungeon.

"Wonderin' how you managed to kill me so long ago, you with your dinky old sword. I still can't believe you have that toothpick with you." Bonesword ignored the ghostly illusion of Rhine as it fired a single shot at him, the bullet phasing through Bonesword's body and impacting the wall off to the side. After the shot was fired though, something interesting happened. Rhine materialized into some form of goop on the ground, no more than a puddle, as the large figure of Helena rose from the goop and spoke to Bonesword, offering him a chance to take his destiny in his own hands.

Immediately after the vampire finished her statement, Bonesword responded with his opinion on the offer. "Destiny isn't something that should be meddled with. We all decide our fate, and mine was decided long ago after a certain Brock Sinclair left the world. I'm more than happy to control my own fate on my own terms. I reject your offer... politely, however." As Bonesword finished his statement, he continued to keep the wall held up by his willpower alone, although a clouded thought of a shadowy silhouetted illusion entered the area, carrying with him a legendary sword.

"It's not real... it's not real..."

"We aren't of any threat to you. Especially me," the Frog admitted, trying to keep him and Luci alive, although that was kind of pointless as the two twins began dueling each other right in front of him and the princess. While it was sad to see the two twins fighting (especially after they saved his and Luci's lives), this was the opportunity to get away from the madness. Eagerly and quickly, the Frog scooped up Luci in his felt arms, which was a struggle but manageable in any case, and he did what he could as he bolted towards a small section of the maze, secluded off from the rest.

Once there, he placed Luci on the ground and he started to check her for injuries, although he doubted that she had any. "Sorry for the sudden movement, I didn't want you hurt."

Luci had been under the assumption the Machina were the faction of logical machines and rebellious mortals, yet they showed a level of paranoia and duplicity that would have made Sliske green with envy. She couldn't even comprehend it all immediately as she was too busy weeping rivulets of watery mass from her eyes as the blue holy woman was struck with an overwhelming current of electricity and rendered her a still puddle on the ground in no time at all.

"Selene-!" She cried with a jolt, only to find herself carried off by the animate Muppet and away from the twins dispute as they pointlessly fought one another. For reasons she couldn't fathom he was asking if she was hurt, and even the blue haired maid had claimed to have seen her as only a child while the blue slime...

"Ack!" Luci opened her mouth only to find herself retch amidst a wave of disgust washing over her. It was directionless, as much a product of her past being made manifest as it was at those around her who were so superficial as to insult Luci so gravely. She pushed herself from Frog and leaned against the wall of her strength, keeping him back with a wary palm as she finished hacking from the vitriol roused in her.

"You didn't get it, none of you did." The slime said, low and hoarse as though speaking through great exertion. "Am I hurt? Am I a child? I'm a slime, Frog. Form is fluid, it is a choice reflecting my mentality and desire, and as fleeting as the expression on someone's face."

Her hand swept across the hall and pointed back towards the sounds of grenades and gunfire, a righteous fire of indignation smoldering in her teary eyes.

"They called me a monster. That woman was just another face, one I favored before the Black Goat took me and molded my mind into her beloved killing machine, and," she sniffed, an approximation of snot and bile shooting back into her nose, "I love her for it. She broke me down yet me gave me the home I'd never known. Tore away my ideals and left the joy of a simple life well lived. I've killed so many people, young and old, and I've tortured just as many...yet it's kind of funny, because Momma couldn't take everything."

Even in her emotional state the slime had yet to boil as she had before, her feelings incited yet not by wrath. It was a sort of serenity that came through realization in the face of confrontation. Selene wasn't just a phantasm conjured by the dungeon, she was the Luci of years past. They had changed and appeared irreconcilable, but Luci didn't think that was the whole truth of things.

"Because I still want to save her from herself...from herself- Oh no!"

She'd painstakingly molded herself into the mirror of Lucille, only to be confronted by the past iteration of herself. Slime ran figuratively cold as it dawned upon her that by all reason, Lucille herself would be confronted by much the same. After all, for someone with so much animosity, there were scarce few who held hatred for her. Fear? Plenty. And she wouldn't be in the Nexus if...higher powers, hated her.

Only then did an orb appear, bearing a message from the source of all their ire, and she turned upon it in kind.

"Momma is in danger, we all are, and it's all your fault." Luci's serene sadness gave way to the childish anger, as though the bout of lucidity was fading away to bury Selene once more, and she reached into her chest to wrench out a ball of white fluid held in a sphere of slime. While it was true she held nothing in the way of pockets and couldn't conceal any solid material, liquids were easy to partition and hold inside her with little chance of detection if she desired.

To someone like Frog, a demon, they'd find the orb re-invigorating, as though he were bathed in the light of Hell's beating heart, and the ichor of eldritch corruption seemed as though to swirl of it's own accord. Luci held this orb before Helena's own with all the gravitas of monarch's heir. "Once I find Momma, I'm going to find you. And when I do, you will drink every last drop of Mother's Milk till I can call you sister and you shall worship the ground Momma walks on."

"Now come on, Mr. Frog. The Queen needs her subjects!"

---

A cage had formed in the blink of an eye and the raggity Garuda form air braked in the center of an infernal prison, heat roiling against it's blood caked veneer contemptuously. Had it been of pure, inescapable flames then such a trap would have indeed served Khaine well, but such works of metal would mean little to a hive of maggots such as they. What stayed it from tearing off it's own limbs to shower the now bow weilding knight was not the menace of his armament, but the familiarity of the one beside him.

There came an orb, speaking of rebellion from those holding the leashes of others, but she knew not of others such as those and it mattered very little, not even earning a dismissive snort for Helena's trouble.

Her attire and visage, reminded the Garuda of it's distinctive twin shells, and in remembrance, the veneer shattered with far lesser force and the colony slithered out through the bars over the corpses of sacrificial carrion. It was of little concern, not when they had grown fat off the dungeon's wandering inhabitants. They reformed once more into the child and the angelic carcass, Suparna and Chirada, both staring blankly at curiously diplomatic dragon.

"We are Suparna Wolgen and...Chirada....do we not appear similar?" The loli Suparna asked, motioning from what was once vestments of white now mottled and frayed beyond even being called grey to the regalia of Diana. "Do we come from the same place? Please, tell me where you come from, is it above?!"

"Wait-!" She halted in her questions, looking past the knight and amnesiac angel as the smell of burnt meat assailed her senses soon followed by thunderous steps and ultimately the visage of a beastly figure she had no interest in confronting when answers were so close at hand. "Run. We run, now."

As a swarm of slithering and creeping creatures the beast wove between the bars. An arrow blasted through the swarm, but achieved nothing more than to slay a few more bugs. Hissing Khaine realised this creature would care little for simple physical attack, and he allowed his bow to vanish back to the Forge. As the swarm creature formed into two semi-solid humanoid shapes he prepared to call upon the rest of his weapons, but was interrupted by two seperate events. First his delusional companion made an attempt to broker a peace, halting both himself and the creature. Surprisingly this worked, as the creature halted it's advance upon them. Khaine stood silent as Diana introduced both herself and him, although he did not drop his guard. In turn the creature introduced itself as two separate entities, just as it had shaped two entities with it's swarm. Based on how it spoke it was confused, most likely it had lost much to the Dungeon's influence. If so it was quite possible that his companion did indeed share an origin with this strange entity.

Second was an interruption of a far less pleasant nature. An orb of grey energy appeared nearby, releasing a most disturbing aura. And from it spoke a voice, the very same that had spoken when this chaos first began. Once again it declared the leaders of the Triumvirate to be mere puppets, and that they must be overthrown. A call to arms for the assembled forces of the Nexus to rise up against their leaders. A quite ironic notion. While Khaine agreed in concept that such puppets must be removed he knew perfectly well that this voice wished nothing more than to advance their own standing. Perhaps they simply aimed to take the throne from these puppets, or perhaps she was opposed to whatever force was the master of these puppets. Another political move in a political move. The action of a God, to whom demons and angels were mere pawns to be moved in this eternal conflict.

Of course, such musing could not last forever. Khaine stared suddenly at an empty passage, even as he shifted into a defensive stance. There was a presence there, unlike anything he had felt before. An overwhelming power, like the fiery might of a star. A wall of killing intent, barely contained bloodrush, flooded out from that direction. Of course Khaine did not feel fear, it was not an emotion he was capable of. But even he understood perfectly well now the desire to flee from this monstrous power. Whatever it was that came from the depths of the Nexus it was dangerous, on an entirely different level from the opponents Khaine had faced here. And whatever it was, it was not happy.

As such, Khaine nearly agreed when the bug-creature declared that they must flee. After all, ants do not stand in the way of steamrollers. When Gods marched to war, it was folly to stand in their path. But he also knew that whatever it was, it couldn't have come this close without sensing them. They had not been quiet. And based on the rage he was feeling even from this distance, it was not inclined to let them leave so easily.

Outrunning it was dismissed out of hand. Power granted speed, almost inevitably. Even if it moved relatively slowly now, that was merely because it wished to. If it caught up with them while they were fleeing there would be nothing stopping this creature from ripping them all to shreds. Whatever slim chances of victory they had would drop to 0. Fighting it was a waste of time, even with their combined abilities it was unlikely they could defeat this creature, whatever it was. And even if they could defeat it somehow, they would be too heavily wounded to survive the new challengers who would be inevitably attracted to the fight.

Cycling through possible strategies, Khain came to one conclusion. Together they could most likely not defeat it, and alone he stood no chance of achieving victory. But he could slow it down. Even if he could simply convince the monster to monologue about it's power that would buy precious seconds, which could be used to escape the area. Considering the situation there was only one logical solution, which saved as many lives as possible.

"Go. Find a red stone, the size of my fist. It is your escape." With those words Khaine turned towards the direction the presence was coming from, and started walking. He made his stand in the centre of the path, where he would face the creature. A flash of red and a great wall of steel rose behind him, separating him from his companions. With a gesture he called upon the powers of the Forge, as chains of black metal shot from red glowing gates. A web of barbed chains formed around him, connected to him both magically and physically. Ancient blades emerged from the ground, engraved with runes of arcane power. The thick scent of burning flesh filled the area as Khaine awaited his 'opponent'.

As he stood there he had a moment to wonder what happened to one who died in this realm. Would it allow his essence to escape, to return to Hell where it belonged? And even if he could return there, would he be allowed to be reborn? Knowing what punishments awaited those who had abandoned his duty Khaine was uncertain what was the worse fate. In the end he decided that remaining here would be worse, hollowed out into an empty shell of himself. At least in Hell it would be him that felt the torment. And, even as he contemplated his death, some small part of him called out in glee at the prospect of facing such a powerful being. It had been a long time since he had done anything quite this foolish. A very long time indeed.

"S-sorry I didn't realize sooner..." That was all that the Frog could croak out as he listened to Luci explain why Selene was being such an asshole and why the two of them were... related. It all made sense in the end, but there was still a small question that he wanted to ask. Was she actually a child in her mind, or was she still as much of an adult as Selene? That wouldn't be asked now, though, as they had more pressing matters to attend to.

The Frog remained silent to Helena's offer, seemingly mulling over it. He shook his head as soon as his thoughts cleared about it, mainly because something like him couldn't really do much for Helena unless he was put on by Lucille, and even THEN it'd be far-fetched to think he'd be able to do anything to her will. Speaking of Lucille, Luci desperately wanted to find her, it seemed, and the Frog was all for it. Even if Luci wasn't her true daughter (or a real child), he liked to think that if he helped her they'd be able to become... friendlier. If anything, he could at least get in good with the higher-ups of Hell, as he would've effectively saved the monarch's daughter.

"Now come on, Mr. Frog. The Queen needs her subjects!"

"Yes ma'am!"

It took the Angels of Samael's group some time to track Wolf's rag-tag Machina group, but eventually they found them once again, this time about to walk into the dungeons. As soon as they were alerted to Heaven's presence, Samael thrusts his sword forward as the rest of the angels began to charge at the fleeing humans. Ramiels scoured the skies as they began throwing their lightning spears, while the Michaels and Sachiels charged towards them from the ground. Unfortunately for them, the Machina were able to enter the dungeon and with the help of Bonesword, block off the entrance using a wall of tough, thick vines. The clones attempted to slice and barge through the wall, yet they were initially unsuccessful. The vines were magically infused with some magical essence, which made breaking it extremely difficult to cut through using swords that the Michaels carried or being pierced through by the lances by the Sachiels. The bolts the Ramiels carried seemed to do little in getting them open.

Commander Samael lands several meters away from the wall as he glares at it from behind the hood. This wall may look rather secure, but it wouldn't keep standing for long. He looks back at several Ramiels behind him.

"Get the Gaghiels." he commands sternly as the winged angels quickly fly off to get them.

Several short minutes later, they come back with the terrifying Gaghiels in tow. Despite being usually water-based, these clones were adapted to fly in the sky and provide the units as mobile artillery fire. They screech loudly, piercing the nearby eardrums sharply, as they open their toothy maws and fire a continious concentrated beam of plasma that begin to slowly cut through the thick vines. They began to circle in mid-air, attempting to make a circular incision into the dungeon. Within a few more minutes of cutting, they cease firing, leaving a fiery orange of heated matter in the shape of the circle. Samael approaches the cut and knocks it down with his sword, dropping on the floor as it slowly incinerates into ash.

As soon as they all step in, the Commander senses the prying voices attempting to seduce and pry his mind into insanity. Of course, it wasn't going to be enough to open him just yet. They're already seven minutes late, giving the Machina forces a long enough start down the dungeon. It's a maze of twisted hallways and rooms, much like a maze, so it'll be difficult to figure out where they are, but it didn't concern him that much. As long as they are heading deeper into the dungeon, the more vulnerable their minds will be to the dungeon's ominous presence. It will almost certainly break them into submission. Samael quickly contacts Zeruel of the situation.

"My lord, we've just encountered the Machina forces, lead by Commander Wolf, with notable faces including a short skull-kid and two feminine androids. However, they managed to delay our advance by a considerable margin and we've lost their scent."

"FIND THOSE UNITS IMMEDIATELY." Zeruel booms at him terrifyingly as the intense feeling would almost reel Samael to the ground, "THEY MUST NOT LEAVE THIS DUNGEON ALIVE. FAILURE WILL RESULT IN YOUR MARTYR."

"We'll find them." the other commander replies, "They should be heading deeper into the dungeon regardless. They'll have no where to run."

With that, Samael orders the rest of the troops to continue moving into the dungeon with hast. There were several groups of five Angels being sent to scout the dungeons below and locate the forces. Once they see them, they can telepathically reveal their location to the other Angels and have them come to their position. They just better hope they find them in time...

---

It took a few minutes before Titanica finally tracked down the location of the draconian scent. Stomping down the halls, she turns a corner and stop suddenly as her eyes squinted carefully. Right down the hall, roughly 60 meters away, the reptilian figures eyes three particular characters from a distance. That's where the scent was coming from. With a long growl, she tromps menacingly towards their location, not even caring that her stomping will alert them to her presence.

As she gets closer, the three figures suddenly turn towards her direction, now aware that she's been noticed. Indeed she sees a Hellish figure, looking as if he's made of rock and lava, a small girl in white clothing, and indeed a girl in golden clothing, who just so happens to be sporting a tail herself. The draconian figure didn't seem to look like the one she thought she was, but regardless the lizard-woman kept her guard up as she slowly approached them. The draconian tried to explain to her who she and her comrades were. Diana was the dragon lady and Khaine was the Hell warrior, but no mentioning of the girl. The woman also asked for directions inside this dungeon, as if an angry, pissed-off-lizard woman would know. However, Titanica would simply halt, standing motionlessly as she glares at the three. It almost seemed as if Titanica was going to answer them. Perhaps Titanica was going to calm down and reply the group...

Only for another flash of painful memories suddenly penetrate her mind.



Titanica groans annoyingly as she tries to rationalize her thinking. Helena was trying to pry open her mind again. She glances at the group rapidly, only for her mind to alternate on and off in what is deemed reality and what's not. Nightmarish versions of said characters began to flicker in and out continuously, with Diana becoming that old Dragon Character she fought long ago and back. Her spines pulse rapidly as they ignite the darkness for mili-seconds at a time. Titanica's lips begin to flare, revealing her sharp teeth, along with her eyes glowing bright blue instead of yellow. The stench of charred flesh thickens the air around them all as drool drips from her mouth. What was left of any sane thoughts at that moment in time vanish as the lizard-queen glares at her opponents in front of her. Rather than getting rid of the thoughts, she instead embraces its feelings and feeds it into herself.

Then she unleashes a quick yet loud bellowing roar at the three, echoing across the nearby hallways, making herself clear that she was in no mood to meet new friends. By that time however, Khaine ordered both Diana and Supurma to leave the area and blocks them off with a rose-steel wall, leaving only him with this vile monster. He begins walking towards her, being connected with barbed chains as crimson blades began to surface from the floor. Titanica senses the power that he possesses. It's indeed strong, but not nearly as strong as when compared to Iona. The demon's death seems nothing but assured. Her fists clench tightly as blue atomic flames spew out from them.

Still mostly emerged in darkness, she takes a quick minute to look at her surroundings before engaging, noticing the chains that Khaine had connected to him and the blades that came from the ground. A glaring hunch stands before her as she considers that this web of chains may be powering or enhancing his abilities. If she can break them loose from him, victory should be assured in Titanica's favor. Her mouth opens suddenly as she rapidly spews out her powerful atomic beam, initially sweeping it from side to side to get rid of the blades that just emerged from the ground before concentrating her fire upon Khaine's chains that hugged his mid-section. She wasn't going to repeat the same mistakes she did with Iona...

Not this time.

"Right, we have to escape. We may be able to lose her if we go that way," Diana said as she pointed roughly to the way they came. "I can smell a lot of people in that direction, if we push her toward them we can come back and search for the stone later," she added. The obvious sound of battles on that direction should be a given that there was someone fighting, but Diana's senses could pretty much pinpoint their location.

Just as they reached a mutual understanding on their course of action, came the dark visage of someone Diana wasn't acquainted with at all, promising to free them from their fate, in exchange for defeating their leaders. To say the truth, Diana wasn't aware of pretty much anything the vampire said, but she still had an answer for her, "Hmm, I don't know what you are talking about so well, it fells familiar but I really can't put my finger on it. Either way, Isn't there a way to do this that you are talking about without having to hurt anyone? I mean, if they are being used just as much as they are using us, why not just defeat the cause behind it all?"

"Let me help with this," Diana said as she stepped forward, extending her hand towards Titanica's breath attack, "Dragon Wing Shield!" she shouted. The direction which she gestured was roughly the same from where the sounds of the battles between the Machina and the Angels were coming from.

Upon Diana's command a barrier of golden energy sprung forth, right before Khaine's chains, adding another layer of reinforcement on top of them. Likely, such a move would buy them enough time to fall back and regroup in an area that was more to their advantage.

"I guess this is it, either we escape or we fight that thing in this cramped corridor. Choose it fast," Diana yelled, trying to have her voice be heard on top of the pointlessly loud roar of that not-dragon woman who was attacking them for God knows what reason.

---

What came upon them was a being seemingly more brutish then Suparna herself as it struck for neither hunger or allegiance, only aggression for aggression's sake. We're the setting more open and the lizard not spewing molten plasma with wild abandon then she'd have considered Titanica a meal to last her for ages, Heck, she'd have been an excellent upgrade to either of her shells, yet such were not the circumstances presented to her.

Suparna was left with Diana on one side of a wrought iron wall barring them from remaining with Khaine- though not enough to stop the amnesiac Dragon from casting some form of protection magic upon the hellish knight to try and shield him from the storm of super heated energy. A useful skill if they kept their attacker at a distance, though the swarm of carrior very much doubted it would last long against physical blows if it closed upon them.

"We shall retreat." Suparna said, denying even the thought of fighting the lizard from their mind. By superficial observation the hive could summize that between the three of them they possessed a wide range of skills yet against overwhelming brute force, that was too much of a risk to gamble on when she'd only just come upon something familiar in this weird dragon girl. Grabbing a firm hold of Diana's wrist as the other stuffed itself into Chirada's exposed guts and wrapped around the firm ribcage as though a handle,she turned to dully say, "Khaine, you will be a better distraction if you live to delay again. Wait thirty seconds and flee as well."

Seeing that Diana seemed inclined to escape towards the sound of unknown conflict and it was a rather apt way to shake off a purseur, Chirada took off wiitha flap of its matted wings and shot off down the corridors to put distance between them and Titanica.

@thewizardguy@Lmpkio@KoL

As the creature emerged from the shadows of the dungeon Khaine scanned it for weaknesses. It was certainly an odd creature, and yet... an odd combination of fleshy pink human and hardened reptilian scales. As if one had attempted to change into the other, but been halted halfway through. Perhaps this creature had once been human? But more stunning was the resemblance to Diana, his new and confused companion. Were the two in some way related to one another? If so, then did this creature attack because of Diana's presence? Whatever the reason, it did not appear to be friendlier towards Diana than to the rest of them, so Khaine's purpose remained the same. He would confront the beast now, and ask questions later, assuming he survived the experience.

A blast of blue flame erupted from the beast's mouth, sweeping from side to side in order to annihilate his self-made battlefield. Even as Khiane prepared to move himself out of the path of the beam a massive wall of golden light sprung up in front of him and his chains, blocking the beam. To block an attack like that... that required an impressive amount of power. Hmph. It seemed he fought an opponent who understood strategy, more than the raging beast it resembled. Even if it did not understand the point of the chains it had understood that his alteration to the battlefield offered him an advantage, and then sought to remove that advantage. He could not rely on Diana if the beast attempted that again, he doubted Diana herself could hold off such a powerful beast for long anyway. He would need to go on the offensive to keep it off-balance. Even if it's power was stunning, it's speed seemed unimpressive. So as long as he was able to evade it's attacks he should be able to pepper it with lesser blows. Not enough to kill it, perhaps not even enough to harm it, but hopefully enough to keep it's attention.

Black chains wrapped around Khaine's body pulled taught as he was pulled into the air. Pulling back they launched him up with a bang, as Khaine used the other chains to reorient himself. Lacking the ability to fly, he would simply pull himself upwards, and claim the high ground for himself. And even as he soared over the battlefield he once more called upon his powers to launch himself downward. Red light engulfed him as he rapidly accelerated towards his target, a massive lance forming in his arm. The weapon extended forwards two whole meters and was composed entirely of Black Steel. In front of the hilt it spread out, forming a curved shield that covered the entire front of his body, protecting him from counterattack as he charged his target. But such an attack was useless without proper setup.

Like metal snakes the chains leaped from the ground and slammed into position, wrapping around Titanica's legs and arms. A whole web of chains shifted and twisted as the portals changed position. Like a spider trapped in a web she would be held in place. And even if she broke free of the chains, which was undoubtedly within her abilities, it would take less than a second for Khaine to connect his opening blow, the attack he would use to get the beast's attention.

Like a two-ton bullet Khaine rocketed through the air. A small train aimed to slam into it's target at faster than the speed of sound. It was a formidable attack, if it connected. An impact force of approximately 500 tons would rip through even the heaviest of armoured tanks, and had slain more than one angelic powerhouse. Hopefully the sheer speed of the attack would allow it to connect, but even if it didn't at least the power behind it would surely attract the creature's attention.

Miyu instantly perked up as she heard someone calling for help. Without a moment's hesitation she struck her oar deep, and pushed towards Henry. "Hey! Hold on, I'll be right there." Miyu said, no trace of her usual sass or sarcasm as her boat beached on the shore next to Henry. Reaching for the potion, she spoke, "Does it go on the wound or ingested?" She pulled the cork on the bottle, holding it ready for either.

"Ingested, definitely ingested.' Henry said as he rolled onto his back, holding back a threat to decapitate the person if they poured it on them. His vision was kinda hazy at the moment, it looked like someone with wings was standing over him with the bottle.

Fran followed the voice until she arrived to a tunnel. She didn't reveal herself immediately and instead used her magic to disguise herself as a large rock. As she crept closer she spotted someone hanging over Henry. She smelled of angels, but surprisingly enough Henry wasn't being killed. From the sounds of it he was actually being treated. "What the hell?" Fran remained hidden to see how this would pan out,

"Alright! Open wide." Miyu made to pour the healing potion in. "Uh, is it working?"

Miyu would see that indeed the potion was working as the myriad holes all over Henry were closing and his breathing was slowly becoming steadier compared to the ragged wet breathing he had been displaying moments prior. His vision began to clear up and as he pushed himself up he rubbed his eyes to try and fix his vision up. "Thanks girl, I'll make sure to pay you back at some point in the near..." Henry's sentence trailed off as he realized exactly who had just saved his life, the fucking angel bitch who betrayed him at the Forge. He rolled backwards away from Miyu and got to his feet quickly, pulling a knife out of his sleeve and readying for battle. "I thought you would be smarter than to ever get near me again, I told you I would rip your fucking wings off didn't I?" Despite his bravado it was clear he was still partially hurt as he struggled to stay standing.

"Umm... I'm afraid I must have forgotten, sir ..?" Miyu paused, asking for a name. As Henry staggered, she reached forward with concern. "Are you quite sure you're alright? I guess we could fight, but you don't look like you're in the best of shapes at the moment."

"Don't act as if you've forgotten the Prince of Greed!" Henry shouted as he tried to figure out her game plan. As she reached forward he backed up in caution. He also started to think about this dungeon and how it fucked with your memories. It was entirely possible that rather than just fighting her memories she straight up lost them. Annoying, but at least it kept her from smothering him the moment she saw him suffering. "My name is Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd, Prince of Greed and Silver Conqueror. I'm also the guy who you betrayed in the middle of battle a while back and I've been looking to rip off your wings ever since." He introduced himself to be polite yeah, but he was also buying time for the potion to fully heal his wounds, after which he was definitely gonna do something to her. She saved his life, so he probably wouldn't kill her. Yet.

"Hmph.." Miyu smirked, a bit of her usual sass drifting in, "Well, Sir Henry Pearl Avaritia, the second, Prince of Greed and Silver Conqueror.. If you want my wings, you'll have to take them. If you want me to remember you, you'll have to make this battle something a bit more memorable."



Walking back over to her boat, she glanced around for a moment, before spotting an oar. Slamming a foot down on one end sent the other into the air, which she picked up and twirled. "Mmm... This feels about right, maybe this is what I use." She hefted the weight, as she took up a stance about five yards away, paddle end facing towards Henry. "Anytime you're ready. Don't push yourself too hard, you were nearly dead." She didn't seem to be taking Henry as much of a threat, still concerned about his well being. And rather than her usual fatalism, the smile tugging at her lips seemed to imply she was looking forward to this.

This was the moment where things became funny for Henry, she actually thought she could take him in a fight. He began to chuckle as she mentioned the oar feeling familiar to her. "No, actually you use a giant robot but hey if the oar feels right then whatever." He was no longer in immediate danger of falling over but he definitely wasn't at a 100 percent yet. Hell he was barely at 10, but that's all he needed for her. Little did he know that she was now at peak physical strength due to her run in with B.E.A.S.T, but he was about to find out. Henry shook his head and began a sprint towards her, already preparing to duck whatever clumsy swing she was about to go for.

"I think I'd remember something like that." As Henry sprinted forward, Miyu took one wing assisted step back, landing on the pier before he was upon her, and sending a gust of wind forward that felt.. unpleasant, an eerie tingle to it. She thrust the oar forward with her rear hand, the right one, while still keeping a firm grip closer to the blade of the oar with her left. She kept a narrow profile facing Henry, left foot forward. With her positioning, she wouldn't easily be able to swing for the supports of the pier.

Henry was about to make a swing for Miyu when suddenly she jumped back with a flap of her wings, getting into a proper battle stance with her oar. It wasn't a bad position either, but time was not on her side. The more she stalled the stronger and faster he would get. Henry nodded and made a "bring it" motion with his unoccupied hand, one of the bigger holes in his legs visibly closing up as he did so.

Henry would feel a dull whack in the center of his chest, throwing him backward in the midst of his "bring it", as though he had been hit in the chest with a lightly thrust oar. Lining up the angles, it was like Miyu's oar could reach whatever it covered from her eye's perspective, regardless of where it actually was.

Henry felt a light whack on his chest, he immediately grabbed at whatever it was that just hit him, only to see that Miyu was still in her spot having barely moved. Now Henry was no expert in geography, but she shouldn't have been able to hit him from that far away. "All right. Fair enough I guess." Henry tossed the knife at Miyu, going for the stomach to cripple her with pain. While she was busy with inevitably deflecting the knife he reached into a Gate and brought out a full sword, not his Cheaters Blade but a strong katana nonetheless. Henry began moving towards Miyu, hopefully close enough that she couldn't use any space bending bullshit. Kinda like what he uses. Ironic.

Miyu retreated a step backwards, her formerly leading foot becoming her rear foot as she pivoted to let the knife pass, quickly shifting her hands and bringing her oar to bear. As Henry brought a katana to bear, Miyu intercepted it early before a swing could be made, now that they were so close. His blade and the blade of her oar were now side to side, not edge to edge, but they could press the weapons against each other to try and gain leverage or force the other person out of position. Either one of them could swing down at the other, but to do so would be to give the other person's weapon the high ground, and the force advantage that meant.

They were now close, weapon to weapon, with Miyu's retreating steps having dragged them a little way back onto the pier. From a mortal perspective, it was a strange position to take in a one on one duel, cutting off one's own retreat. But both Henry and Miyu had wings, and the ground was their battlefield only so long as they chose it. Miyu's wings were outstretched, as if for balance, lightly beating back and forth just above the supports of the pier. "For someone who claims to want to take my wings, you're sure taking it as easy on me as I'm taking it on you. Are you sure you hate me?" Miyu's tone was that of someone... expecting more. 'If we're gonna fight, why weren't we fighting?' Her eyes seemed to say.

Henry grinned as he pressed against Miyu's oar, his eyes glowing Silver as he stared her down. "There's no need to use a rocket launcher just to kill a fly." He stated as a silver axe fell from the sky, seeking to cut off her wings from above. Henry took one hand off his sword and staggered a little, but he used his now free hand to grab the oar and try and hold Miyu in place. He was at about 50 percent strength now so Miyu was gonna have to think fast if she wanted to keep her wings.

Miyu's 'You fell for it!' grin sprang out to match Henry's as he tried to press against the oar. The oar twisted under Henry's pressure, the oar's blade spinning on it's axis and batting Henry's blade away as it was launched out of position. She stepped in close, into fist and kick range, the blade of the oar pushing Henry's blade further down and to the right, out of position and off balance into one of the Pier's supports, while the other end of the oar came up and around in a strike at Henry's right shoulder. Henry's free hand managed to catch the strike as he hadn't committed wholeheartedly to the blade bind, not everything going to Miyu's plan. The impact on his hand was hard. Not so hard he could not catch it at all. But FAR stronger than he remembered Miyu being, which combined with his slightly stagger and impact pressed him back slightly. Due to Miyu's forward motion, pressing up in close combat, where a blade could not easily be swung, the axe landed narrowly behind her, her wings pulling forward at just the right moment as she advanced.. Had she somehow known it was there without looking? "Well, take care not to get swatted by a fly, how embarrassing would that be!?"

To emphasize her point about swatting perhaps, she swung upward with the blade of her paddle, leaning back and hauling upward. Without room to swing and build momentum, this strike wouldn't land with meaningful impact, but the goal was instead to force Henry to let go or be lifted into the air, possibly launched behind her if she continued the motion.

Henry let go of the sword as it was launched out of his hand, catching the oar with one hand and cringing at the minor pain. Hard swing, much harder than when they had last met. The axe missed as she pressed forward, spouting a line with confidence he had never heard from her. "I'm beginning to think you're not a fly at all though. Perhaps you're a spider, deadly if not crushed quickly." Henry let himself get launched into the air, flapping his wings in just such a way that he landed in front of the axe which found itself embedded into the ground of the pier. "But enough of the metaphors. Have at thee!" Henry kicked up the axe and grabbed it midair, resizing it into an immense battleaxe inscribed with various runes that glowed dimly. It was a light as a feather as he ran towards Miyu but as he swung it at her it's weight increased immensely, going for a powerful overhead swing.

He had a mad grin on his face as he did this, he was having more fun than he had ever had during his time as a commander. As he reminisced about the good old days the pier's waters began to tint black, one could compare the waters to oil. This was a memory of one of his first battles actually, he had made the rivers run black with the life blood of various Machina robots.

One might wonder why Miyu would try to launch someone with wings into the air. The answer would become clear as Henry attempted to use his wings to correct his course. That irritating angelic tingle again, and while his wings felt like they were working correctly, the air itself felt like it was avoiding him, not letting him push against it, not even to brake. Henry wouldn't be able to aim his trajectory to pick up his axe so gracefully, having to take a little extra time to get in position. Miyu herself with that time used that extra time to gather a follow up attack, as she twirled to face Henry. Her wings pumped, and from the shimmering air around her, it seemed like she was gathering all that motion, and with one swing of her oar like she was paddling through the air and a stomp of the foot, she sent that wave of shimmering air at Henry and a circle of red energy across the pier's surface. It wouldn't hurt, much, mostly being blunt force like being rammed with a mattress, but it would launch him and his enhanced axe plummeting into the oily waters if it landed, as the pier's surface felt like buttered ice after the red energy raced across it.

This, a humiliation of tossing Henry into the water, was probably what Miyu had been aiming for the whole time. She'd never launched a serious attack intended to harm this entire fight. It wasn't the victory, or the death of her opponent that mattered to her, but the contest of skill and Yomi.

Henry nimbly leaped over the wave of air, making sure to lodge his axe into the floor for a good stop. It was a bit slippery but the force behind the swing ensured he wouldn't slip and fall like an idiot. She was much stronger than when he had first faced her so long ago back at the Ocean of... something. Unimportant really, what mattered was that he won, there was no way he was going to lose again and not to fucking Miyu. Henry was perched on his axe with an intense look of concentration on his face, eyes glowing Silver and darting all about. Spears were forming in the air and lodging themselves into the pier, Henry jumping to each one to get closer to Miyu.

A sword formed in his left hand, a closer look would reveal that it was partly a revolver as well but Miyu wouldn't get a closer look as Henry jumped straight for her and swung.

As Henry brought the fight to a higher level on precarious balances, jumping off of spears to fight, Miyu decided that seemed like a fun new way to keep things fresh, and herself leaped onto one of the pier's supports. Henry's sword slashed at her, and she once again met it early with the reach of her oar and redirected its force rather than clashing head on. She tried to push him to the outside of the pier, so that he would again be in danger of falling in the water, but she could only exert so much force on him through oar to sword combat while they both leaped through the air. Henry would likely only be in the threat of teetering for a moment before regaining his balance.

Because she hadn't contested his force directly, she had to take a leap backward and across the pier to another support. She herself teetered for a moment, off balance, before swiveling her oar some to retake her stance, though it was narrow atop the support. Her jump had been slightly awkward as one of her wings pulled close, to avoid the potential line of fire of the revolver part of the sword as it passed. Miyu seemed to have instantly noticed those features. Perhaps more oddly still, was why she hadn't simply used her wings to rebalance. Because it would have defeated the purpose of fighting atop the spears and supports of the pier? Miyu still seemed to be treating the battle as a game, even if it was a game to which she devoted all of her power and skill, she wouldn't break her self imposed rules.

Henry quickly regained his balance and fired a few shots at Miyu, barely missing her wing. Henry jumped to another spear, pulling the spear he had just been on out of the ground and throwing it at her like a javelin. He also fired off a few more shots at her before his clip ran out of ammo. "I'm quite impressed by how far you've come. You trained quite a bit just to beat me."

"Hmm? You seem to think yourself veeeery important to me. Are you absolutely sure we were enemies." Miyu replied with a bit of a suggestive tone and a wink. Miyu caught the spear with her oar, and twisted it around, spinning it in an erratic circle to deflect the incoming bullets before it was flung to the side. The maneuver left her teetering a bit on the back of her support, her arms spread wide, but she still refused to use her wings and "cheat".

"Oh, he has a good reason to think you're his enemy. But there's no reason why yesterday's enemy can't be today's friend." Fran's voice called out as she rose from the water on the back of a serpent that looked suspiciously like a smaller Leviathan. She waved at Miyu and Henry with a smile on her face and her axe lazily resting on her shoulder. She had been observing this battle and trying to gauge Miyu the entire time, trying to figure out if she could successfully be turned to the side of Demons. After the last time she worked with the demons, Fran certainly knew better than to trust her. But that didn't mean they couldn't be allies, so long as Fran was careful. For now, she'll have to take advantage of Miyu's apparent amnesia and try to make a friend from a foe.

"Henry darling, remember what I suggested before we came here?" Commanding the Leviathan closer Fran approached Miyu with an offer and open arms. "You may not remember, so I won't bore you with the details. But Henry and I have been considering leaving our old friends and find a new home. Last I remember you've had it rough too. So why don't we kiss, make up, and work together to find somewhere better for the three of us?" It was around this same time that some mysterious orbs started to float around Miyu and Henry, but oddly enough not Fran. It was Helena offering a deal to turn their back against their former masters and join her. Of course Fran didn't believe a word of it. But she did think the essence of what Helena intended to do was a good idea; time to make new friends.

"As our lovely hosts implies, I think now is a perfect time to find a new home for us. So let bygones be bygones. Hell's shitty and Heaven ain't all it cracked up to be. Maybe we could work out a deal with the Machina and get a slice of all those sweet toys!"

Henry was about to fire on Miyu once more when a voice interrupted their glorious dance of death. It was Fran on top of the Leviathan and she was talking about making friends or some cliche bullshit like that. Henry snorted and shook his head. 'I don't know much about friends but I do know that I would love to hire the both of you as bodyguards slash employees. I pay well, as in whatever you want well." Fran then brought up the fact that they were defecting anyways, so cool. The Angels sure as hell weren't gonna take in some Demons, might as well join the Machina.

Some jackass orbs began floating around Henry and Miyu offering knowledge of the secrets behind the war or whatever and that was what Henry had came here for in the first place. "Tell ya what Fran, I'll hear out the floating ball of exposition and if I don't like what it has to say then we'll join up with the Machina. But right now I want to find out what the fuck the purpose of this war is." henry turned to the talking ball and nodded. "So what do you have to say?

"Uh, sounds like to me she just said the purpose of the war is the entertainment of cruel gods. Anything else?" Miyu responded, not really paying much heed to the ball. She really had no idea what it was on about. Triumvirate? "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm a bit on the peckish side, so I'll follow you around if you can summon food too." She didn't seem to be taking the whole bodyguard thing seriously, but she seemed satisfied that the fight was over now, dropping back down onto the pier, which no longer was super slippery. But did have a whole lot of weapons embedded in it, it had seen better days.

@KoL

Blood spattered onto the ground, running deep into the tiles of the floor. More of it splashed onto the surfaces of the mirrors surrounding Lucille as if to hold further mockery. The Black Goat herself was clinging against the wall and sliding down it with wobbling knees, yet more red trailing from behind her back. Though this predicament didn’t deter Lucille’s smirk all the same. “Are you done fooling around Me? If you were fighting seriously, I’d be dead already,” she said.

The Past Lucille slowly closed distance between them, flicking her wrist to scatter what bodily fluids remained on her parasol. What wounds she had slowly closed back into place, the illusion meeting Lucille grin for grin. “Maybe you’re just doing better than I expected. It takes more than stabbing yourself to kill off the Black Goat so why are you pretending like this is a big deal.”

“It’s not every day I find myself wanting to strangle myself,” Lucille noted, standing back upright and staring. And oh how she wanted to strangle this idiot in front of her; but alas, some higher power had other ideas to ruin even that small catharsis. For the form of Past Lucille was violently penetrated by a dark orb. Rolling her eyes at this new development, the orb began to lecture her. Something, something, it was probably some pretentious ass trying to-

Another punch to her jaw sent her deeper into the wall. Growling, spitting out more blood, Lucille watched as the dark orb began to split open, the Past Lucille emerging out and away. Sparks of the dark energy crackled as it hit the floor, the fake Lucille shaking her head. “As if we care about the politics of morons. That’s one thing we can agree on-”

Wham; a punch to send her jaw and body spiraling away. Lucille cracked a fist closed as she watched her double be shoved away. Parasol held out, the tip dragging against the floor like a deranged killer, she looked at the other Black Goat who was scrambling up. “We agree on one thing, yay. Big whoop. I still want to ram your skull into your ass.”

As Zeruel and his task force began to descend deeper and deeper into the dungeon, they see several dark orbs gravitate towards them. The forces stopped momentarily as they witness the floating orbs issue a message from Helena herself. She offered the grand scheme of this entire war and what it's real intents are. Again, this meant nothing to the Laguna Grand Leader. His haughtiness and divine devotion to Heaven's cause was undying. After all, even if he did surrender and decide to seek that knowledge, he'll certainly loose his position as the Grand Leader.

That's when the drugs hallucinations kicked in. As the Laguna Angel was about to continue pushing forward, he suddenly catches a glimpse of himself hanging from the ceiling. However, this Zeruel was dead, his tendrils shredded and in tatters, and his whole body in mangled shreds, with slash marks and burnt marks, all while supported on several chains. Blue blood escaped from the wounds, his eyes dead black as they soullessly look out in a lacuna state. Yet the most disturbing thing he sees are the engravings on his body...

DEATH TO ZERUEL

Another flash came to him as Zeruel witnesses an event that happened several hundred years ago, during the beginning of his regime. It was the day where rebel Laguna Characters recruited the help of several Machina units to overthrow the Grand Leader of the Hierarchy and replace him with a new one. They considered him unfit to rule, brutish, and incompetent, and they wanted someone with much more intelligence then him. When they attacked him in his throne room, Zeruel was quick to dispose of them all, brutally without mercy, and kept a tighter check on his Hierarchy and dawned his unquenchable hatred of man.

But instead what he saw was an alternate outcome of that event. What if Zeruel failed to defend himself and was exterminated right there? What he saw was a brutal beatdown, the echoing cries of rage and fury, alongside the sickening cracks and squeals of his skin and inner organs being damaged. He was then hung on a cross as a trophy and to celebrate his death... and everyone cheered at it. They must've hated Zeruel with a passion. And in the Angel of Might's place came a new ruler to the throne. And that new ruler was...

It's at that moment when the Laguna Leader finally snapped out of his daze and vanquished the hallucination from his mind completely. They were already beginning to get stronger the farther they continue going down. He slowly turns to his soldiers, making sure that they weren't going crazy yet. It appeared to him that none of them had succumbed to them yet... until one of the Ramiels screamed in such a fury unlike anything Zeruel has seen before. The flying Angel attempted to lunge at him with a lightning bolt in his hand. But before he had anytime to get close to him, he finds his mid-section completely chopped in half as he falls to the ground with a thump. As his body begins to fizz away into smoke, Zeruel looks at the rest of his soldiers.

"ANY OTHER TRAITORS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED?" he asks them as his eyes flash once.

None of the soldiers said a single word. With that, the army continues to descend. Yet as they turn a corner, Zeruel realizes that the path took them towards a pier. At first, Zeruel seemed surprised at this, not expecting to encounter an ocean this deep into the dungeon, let alone visible land. Yet in the distance, he sees three figures standing around. Immediately he identifies them... two from Hell, they being Henry and Fran, and one from Heaven, Miyu. What were they doing out here just talking chantingly? Was Miyu being captured by the two Hell persons? Or was she defecting sides? Either way, whatever she was doing was oddly suspicious. The Laguna Leader's eyes shine once again as his tendrils began to flap violently in the air.

"ATTACK." Zeruel booms menacingly towards his troops.

With that, the Michaels, Sachiels, and the Ramiels began to charge at the three, the latter of them firing their lightning bolts from afar. Some of them even supported the supporting Gaghiels and ordered them into the water, where they were at their most deadly. As the soldiers began charging into battle, Zeruel had one last thing to say.

"BRING MIYU TO ME ALIVE. KILL THE OTHER TWO HEATHENS."

---

As the blistering blue plasma attempted to incinerate Khaine's blades, they would be halted by a barrier of golden energy that blocked her beam from utterly obliterating. Yet that didn't stop Titanica from trying to break through it. The barrier was rather strong for a non-vassal like herself, but regardless it won't survive the onslaught of her fire upon this magnitude. As she continues to fire upon it, she witnesses the two figures behind bars begin to retreat, with Diana escaping within the guts of the little girl's pet. Clearly the hellish warrior was trying to give them time to retreat by stalling Titanica's progress. The lizard-woman scowls disgustingly at their unwillingness to fight. Regardless, this only left her with Khaine himself, a 1 on 1 at that. She needs to beat this opponent within under thirty seconds before he can getaway, at least according to the girl.

Challenge accepted.

Eventually, Titanica breaks through Diana's barrier and attempts to fire upon the barred wall and upon the fleeing characters. However before she gets that chance, she finds herself being wrapped around in coal-black chains as they encompass her arms and legs. She issues a guttural roar as she attempts to break free, followed by a roar of anguished fury. She attempts to look up, only to find Khaine rapidly descending upon her downwards from the air, with an arm of his having transformed into a lance and a curved shield protecting the user's face from any atomic blast she might blast from . Even before the hit, did he already attain Titanica's attention. She only had a quick moment to think on what to do, but regardless she quickly figured what to do.

Considering the angle he was coming from, Titanica quickly executes her next move. Using her massive tail, she swiftly raises her tail and smacks it into the ground with enough force to issue a small crater from within the floor. The impact from her tail was so immense, she was able to break the shackles from her limbs as she leaps over the attack with surprising agility. His attack almost hit her, just dodging it by several inches, yet she was able to pull the maneuver off. Finally she was beginning to wake up. Her speed was beginning to come back to her.

As a counterattack, Titanica lands from her jump and almost immediately lunges towards Khaine's back with a powerful atomic punch, glowing in hot, burning-blue plasma. Yet instead of using a regular arm, her punching arm in fact turned into a large black reptilian hand, with scales like that of obsidian. Her attack alone considerably rivals, if not surpassing, the warrior's own attack by a heavy margin as a Vassal. If speed didn't cut it out for her, the strength most certain will. If it connected, the punch should send Khaine flying back, possibly crashing through a wall or two, and possibly cripple the warrior if it hits a more vulnerable part of his body.

Henry Pearl Avaritia The 2nd

Henry waved his hand lazily and his eyes flashed Silver, a ham sandwich falling into Miyu's hand after she mentioned she was hungry. "I must say, I really did a number on this pier. Looks like a scene out of one of those human cartoons I saw a couple hundred years ago. Aneemay I think it was called?" Henry mused as he pulled a spear out of the pier and tossed it up in the air a few times to test its weight. He really created some quality weapons with his Silver Eyes, he could see this being wielded by commanders in the army and he had created enough for an army with a thought. Suddenly Henry felt danger from behind and shifted back into battle mode.

"ATTACK."

As the voice of Zeruel boomed from behind him Henry caught the spear one last time and threw it as hard as he could at Zeruel. One of the grunts got in the way and took the spear for Zeruel unfortunately, but that was still one less annoyance to deal with. "I hold no grudge against you, yet. I've left the Demons and hold allegiance to nobody. So fuck off before I have to put down you and your dogs."

"BRING MIYU TO ME ALIVE. KILL THE OTHER TWO HEATHENS."

At this was said Henry narrowed his eyes and opened up a Gate, pulling out his Cheater's Blade and entering a loose combat stance. "I change my mind, if you're trying to take my bodyguard then I'll gladly kill you. Miyu, Fran, take out the trash. I'll handle the giant walking mass of ego." He then began to sprint towards Zeruel to begin battle, forming a suit of armor around himself as he ran.

While in mid-dive Khaine could not see his opponent so he did not know how they evaded this attack, but he knew he had missed when he slammed full force into the ground. A crater was left around the point of impact and Khaine rolled free. Instantly he was back on his feet, using his excellent combat awareness to instantly locate his opponent even as they launched a counteroffensive. A flick of his wrist summoned forth a wall of black steel in front of the attack, and Titanica's fist was caught by this wall. For a moment it seemed as if it would hold, but then it was ripped away and launched forward. Khaine was struck by his own wall and launched backwards, skidding accross the ground before he was able to flip back onto his feet mid-fall. He hissed, steam releasing itself from beneath his visor. He was mostly undamaged, but for a simple punch to have blown through his defences like that. Even without buildup or momentum his opponent possessed a strength that vastly outmatched his own. And was it just him, or was she getting faster? If that was the case, one of his few advantages was slipping away from him. If she got much faster than this it would be quite difficult to escape. Without the aid of his Traveller's Stone he would be unable to move through his own portals.

If he wanted to survive he needed to keep on the offensive, try and wear down Titanica before her speed grew to the point where he was no longer able to outmanoeuvre them. Reaching forward he called forth a wall of spears from the ground beneath his opponent's feet. The floor was transformed into a field of vicious spikes, their tips heated in the flames of Hell. Whether Titanica had leapt into the sky or been skewered by the spikes was irrelevant, his strategy remained the same. The only point to those spears had been to reduce Titanica's mobility. Reaching out he called forth perhaps his most powerful weapon from the depths of Hell.

From flashing red light and sulfurous smoke emerged what appeared to be a massive cannon. It's three-meter barrel was inscribed with glowing runes, and the powerful electromagnets emitted a high-pitched whine. Chains and bars shot out of the ground to both secure and stabilise the weapon, as Khaine sat behind the controls. It was a fusion of demonic magic and machina technology, created by captured and corrupted human scientists and adapted for Khaine's personal use. The devastating power of this railcanon had been used to strike great angelic generals from the skies and cast them down to earth, earning it the name Godfall. These engines were cooled by the frigid winds of the everfrozen traitor's Hell in the ninth circle. And Titanica was right in the sights.

With a short whir and a devastating blast a meter-long pointed shaft of metal was launched at Titanica, accelerated to speeds far beyond that of sound by the high-powered electromagnetic coils within the weapon's immense barrel. Even if the weapon's aim was hard to adjust it had been summoned in the exact right position, and fired in the instant of it's summoning. The blackened spear used as a projectile would pierce practically anything it hit, slicing through meters of rock like it was butter.

Khaine doubted he'd get many more chances to use this thing, but if he managed to hit Titanica even a being such as her would feel this weapon's power. After all, it had been specifically designed to slay Gods.

"Hold the phone a minute, Henry was polite enough to explain that he wanted to cut my wings off for betrayals allegedly done by me, and I was able to convince him to give me a sandwich instead. Why do you want to fight me?" Zeruel's advance took Miyu rather off guard, holding her oar with one hand, and her sandwich in the other. "Ah well." She shrugged before she took the sandwich in her mouth to free a hand, and smacked her oar into the water, sending up a disproportionately large wave and froth of water and oil into the air. The lightning bolts cracked into them, their power crackling across the water as a whole, rather than just the wave that Miyu had used to intercept. The powerful lightning bolts instantly set the entire ocean ablaze, as it was topped with oil, and bathed the scene in the light of a glorious conflagration.

Leaping forth onto the Pier, Miyu landed amidst the old rain of silver spears, now edged in red glow, and wreathed in black smoke. Miyu closed her eyes against that same smoke, and dipped low over the edge, slicing the blade of her oar through it gently, catching a small flame on the end of her oar, before centering herself on the pier. She held for a moment, taking one small nibble of her sandwich and then swallowing, eyes still closed.

The Gaghiels then rose from the waters surrounding the pier, only irritated by the flames, hardened against the heat of Hell, no mere oil fire would fell them. The smoke was blinding, but they were strong, and would not yield. Besides, their target foolishly carried a torch to let them know where to fire. The traitor had made clear her intentions by blocking the Ramiel's Lightning, and "alive but with no more limbs" was still "alive". Plasma streams burst forth.. And the torch flickered and twisted, clanging with each movement against a spear. They shifted their beams, cutting back and forth, to the side and below and back up again. Chunks of the pier, no match to their might, fell into the flaming water, but still that burning oar and it's wielder somehow stubbornly somehow evaded their beams.

A harsh wind blew through some cave opening revealing for a moment through the smoke, Miyu standing, atop one lone, half cut down pier support barely inches above the flames, the entire rest of the pier now burning in the waters below. Her oar extinguished in the wind, the oil on it burned away and the wood underneath not charred in the slightest. She took a bite of her sandwich, now having a free hand so she could chew more easily. For all the burning boards, the spears were no longer there, until they all suddenly came crashing down, smashing into the Gaghiel's in synchronicity. All missing their vitals by a few inches. In the direction of that sudden wind.

"Well, crap, I wasn't expecting that." Miyu gulped, before putting her sandwich back in her mouth as she took her oar in both hands and fled back to the shore as plasma blasts harried her flight.

@floodtalon@Lmpkio@Lucius Cypher

Endian was fairly certain she killed the slime monster. Fried her into a stain on the ground, though considering the sort of creatures they encountered so far, Endian was almost certain this wouldn't be the last she's seen of the monster. Shizuka took the child and her doll back to the others, but before Endian could follow an illusionary orb appeared next to Endian. Her first reaction was to conjure a blade and cut the orb in half, but as it was an illusion the attack failed to achieve anything. From this orb the master of the domain spoke. Helena promised some sort of freedom from everyone's current leaders if they followed her, claiming that each of them were part of a triumphant that perpetuated the constant war in the Nexus. "Well no shit." Endian didn't pretend to know what Eos does, but it wasn't too much of a stretch of the imagination to think that the big three know each other personally and probably see each other more than their minions know. As if any of them were in position to stop them if they did have a problem with that.

Endian didn't know what sort of power Helena had to think she could stand a chance in toppling just one of the factions, let alone all three herself. Even if she somehow got a few of the others factions on her side, she'd just be another piece in the game of war in the Nexus. A position that Endian herself intended to play a part of. For a brief moment Endian considered extending an alliance to Helena instead of the other way around when a sudden explosion rocked the tunnel. Endian looked up to see that the whole she took to get here collapsed, and from the rocks falling from the ceiling the rest of this tunnel was about to go as well. "Oh dammit." Endian didn't waste a second to run out of the tunnel as it started collapsing behind her, conjuring wings to help her take flight and accelerate her escape.

Flying far enough that the cave was in no threat to collapse on her, Endian was quickly lost. She was in unfamiliar territory, and she was getting nothing but static over the comms. Whatever force was interfering with Endian's communicator, though in truth it was just another illusion to make Endian think her communicator was malfunctioning. This was fine with Endian however, since she intends to use this opportunity to seek out other faction members and try to parlay with them. She wouldn't risk this type of communication with the likes of the Mecha Maids or Wolf around, considering they're one of the most fanatical of Queen Eos's soldiers. Not that Endian was a traitor, but she's learned to make use of the strength of outsiders. Something that was likely heretical to the other members of the Machina.

As Endian continued onward, she heard the tell-tales sounds of combat nearby. Near some water as well? There were a lot of splashes and deep, booming voices. As Endian is fairly certain that the Machina were in the opposite direction Endian ran towards, this was likely a fight between some angels and demons. "Perfect." Endian flew towards the battle, careful not to get spotted. She wanted to observe the battle first before she decides who she wants on her side.

---

Not long after getting Miyu's temporary alliance, a familiar voice boomed out followed by a bunch of lightning bolts. It was Zeruel and his army. Fran was pretty certain she couldn't convince Mr. Hentai to join them what with his pride and fanaticism, but perhaps they could use this battle to breakdown his worldview and make him sustainable to future attempts. Lightning bolts pierced through the Leviathan Fran stood on, but neither of them seemed phased as they simply started dodging and engaged in Zeruel's army. Fran's axe flew out and struck down those closest to her, aiming for whoever seemed weakest; Fran wasn't going to occupy her time trying to whittle down their toughest when she could go for their softest. That being said she mostly played defensive and focused her efforts on dodging their attacks, only retaliating when an opportunity presented itself.

As Miyu fought on the shore, Fran would fight in the water, drawing as much attention to herself. Not satisfied with just that however, with a wave of her hand more miniature leviathans came out of the water to strike at the angelic army. But much like Fran, their purpose was to distract and disorient, with Fran's axe being the main source of their death and destruction. Occasionally a chain would be shot out to reel a foe in or just distract them long enough for Fran's axe to slice through what she thought might be a vital arty. Somewhat hard to tell on these angelic types.

A few Leviathans went after Zeruel himself. Seven leviathans stayed at least fifty meters away from him, charging up a breath weapon to bombard him with lasers. However they also expect him to retaliate or at least take up a defensive stance, and so they too focused more on a defensive effort while waiting for an opportunity to unleash an attack on him, or at least give Henry an opening. All the while Fran watched the carnage from her safe vantage point as she slowly worked her way closer towards Zeruel. "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming, just keep swimming~"

@floodtalon@The 42nd Gecko@floodtalon