Even at a distance and at their back, the light that Ezain shed in his final moments was bright enough to sear Ihosha’s eyes. Leaned up against the wall after their brief stumble, Ihosha tried to steady their breathing even as it felt like something was wrested from it. The sensation might have been a bit different, but pain was quickly becoming rather familiar. Slamming the staff against the floor to create a sharp thump, the sound helped Ihosha focus and ignore the strange shifting in their forearm, the oddest sense of satisfaction, and the commotion of a temple very much aware of their intrusion.

Slowing slightly as the light ahead suddenly disappeared, Ihosha halted completely once they registered the stench that was ahead. Grimacing in disgust as their eyes watered, they nonetheless pressed on after taking a moment to wrap part of the robes over their lower face. Peering up cautiously from the entrance of the room towards where the light had come from, it seemed the room was a bit too large for them to see the ceiling. It did let her see Dwyn in the midst of ascending a rope, though where it was attached to was still a mystery. Clicking their tongue in annoyance at being rushed through the room without a chance to study anything, Ihosha winced at the loud thud as something heavy buried itself into the far wall.

Well, hopefully she’d just crush herself rather than bring down an entire wall and that would be that. Good riddance. Trying their best to ignore whatever shenanigans were going on across the room, Ihosha looked up as they took hold of the bottom of the rope. “Dwyn!” Hissing to stay quiet but keep their words sharp, Ihosha tugged back the hood just enough to reveal their third purple eye. The silvered staff faded and rematerialized in their other hand quickly as well in the hopes that it might catch her eye in the unlit room. Hopefully one of the two would be enough to convince the other Chosen, but well… they were keeping a careful eye out for a reason. "Who's above?"

@Everyone...

"Huh...?" the shrouded figure shuddered, lowering the little object he was tampering with from Dywn's point of view. He held his head down onto the metal in bewilderment at the commotion, as if it would help him hear down into the study as the party members swelled forward at the entrance. Their disjointedness would be obvious enough to her now, unable to hold a conversation nor organize a joint effort. These 'heroes' had a lot to learn in this wretched world and its great hardships. And when Ihosha finally spoke out at the end, it was more than clear as day. Whatever that meant anymore. The figure let out a dribbled laugh as he raised a large object above his head and aimed it at the three-eyed 'it' who made themselves known. At this moment, they would barely have enough time to react before a glass bauble was released from the hidden figure and tossed down below.

"Haha..." snarling, "Don't speak as if you know us! You won't fool me! You're nothing but little rats! Yes, nipping... sneaking around in these old refuges, poking your little snouts where you don't belong!"

With her exhaustion, indeed, all Dwyn could do was watch at this point as the current misfortune was mantled to unfold. Even if she were to finally choose to speak now, this had gone beyond simple words.

As the gritty glass orb threatened to smash down upon the ones crowded around the entrance of the tunnel, spilling whatever foul liquid contained within all over them, at the same moment, a black tendril-like mass crashed into the ramparts above. Isabella's blade bite into the stone, stretching with a moan before readying to snap. She needed to be ready for the bungee up otherwise her maneuver would do herself more harm than good.

The rest had a second to act before they would be caught in the radius.

Metal screeching and low moans acted as a warning to the retreating party, putting them on a rapidly ticking timer. From the distance behind the party, the pale fire deterring the rampaging cult was swiftly waning, allowing a few of the overgrown ghouls to slip through into the tunnel. The light of the smoking lanterns began to glimmer and replace the light of the flaming refuse of their late companion. If they were not quick in dealing with the misinformed being, whatever effect this mystery ooze would have, let alone risking losing this method of escape, was the least of their problems.

...

Solomon remained still as a voice came from above. It was violent, paranoid, and probably a warning of further harm to come. Of course it was something different from the seemingly mindless hordes behind them so perhaps it could be reasoned with. "We're not rats." Arguable point but still, "Just trying to make it out of here alive and we could use a hand with that." If they could even truly be called alive at this point, regardless Solomon had a desire to continue this state of existence and the wound he suffered indicated that future ones would jeopardize that.

Having no idea of the danger coming from above, much less being able to do something about it: Solomon moved forward cautiously towards the flash of silver from what must have been Ihosha's weapon so as to distance himself slightly from the mob behind them that was encroaching in wake of the fading light. He wasn't exactly sure what the plan was here but he was hoping somebody thought of something fast, as if they didn't someone how lose the ravening monstrosities behind them their situation would be even worse than before considering how much they'd all already exerted themselves. Not that he was sure they had much choice in the matter...

"Dwyn!"

That voice... they were alive? Those footsteps were--

No. Dwyn's eyes widened in horror. Because if those approaching were her companions, then their trials weren't over. If she were better, stronger, faster, perhaps she could have protected them for once. If she had the fortitude, the willpower... but she didn't, and she couldn't. All she could do was lie there, exhausted, and fail them yet again.

I'm sorry. How cruel was it, that they'd survived that onslaught, made it out for another day, only to die at the hands of a madman? For her benefit, no less, as he'd chosen to keep her alive through his misguided defence. Oh, gods, I'm sorry.

Lying, hopeless, eyes staring towards her insane saviour. Her words would not deter him, surely. She doubted it would be possible to shake his conviction. But he was human, more human than those priests, than that monster had been before. And her companions had surely brought this misfortune upon themselves with their foolish insistence on fighting, their arrogant posturing, the marks of a group with no idea what they were doing.

They didn't deserve to be struck down before they ever had the chance to learn.

But she couldn't save them. Her reply to Ihosha was weak, choked out between shuddering gasps.

"It's a trap--" And in that moment, watching the stranger launch his attack, she knew the warning would have come too late. Pain in her throat, fear in her mind, Dwyn didn't even try and look towards the others. She didn't want to listen to them die, to know that she could so easily have helped them. But she would, because there was no fairness, no justice. That had all been lost to the dark. There was nothing, absolutely nothing she could do for them in this moment.

Forgive me. She had no right to ask that of them, after leaving them to this.

As she lay awaiting her fate, Dwyn's tears flowed freely at last.

@RyuShura

---

Fools! Couldn't they, just for once in their goddamn lives keep fucking quiet!? Isabella would have been furious that they kept giving away their position and alerting anything in the room with them to their presence, if she wasn't focused on solving this little problem. Almost immediately the trap was sprung upon them, but not before Isabella removed herself from the immediate danger, or at least significantly decreased it for the moment. Her blade bit into the stone, holding fast to the ancient structure above. She had little time to react before the blade hissed, and yanked her upwards. Hard. She gave a quiet grunt of discomfort as she was pulled right off the ground.

In the next instant, black tendrils rose from the ground from whatever tool or curse the madman used, but Isabella paid them no mind. Focus on the task at hand - dealing with this cowardly little bastard and Dwynn. A she rocketed towards the ceiling, her position was less than ideal. Judging from her previous tactics she simply was not physically adept enough to pull off what she wanted to do flawlessly - even so, she would have to try.

What was a little pain, to ensure your long term survival?

Within seconds, she was even with the second floor, and in the next she was above it - enough to at least make out their assailant, but she was moving far too fast and was nowhere near strong or agile enough to pull off an extremely complicated maneuver, but hopefully this would be enough. As she came to the top of the jump, the momentum swung her forward over the second floor ledge. She gave the sword a harsh yank, hopefully dislodging it from its prison.

Then all she'd have to do was let gravity do its work.

She fell, and if she aimed correctly - she'd fall right on top of the man that Dwynn was with, with her sword being angled to impale the man on its long blade. If he noticed or moved, she'd swing the blade in a wide, horizontal arc.

It was a pity she had to kill him, but he was a threat - she'd love to...have a bit of fun with him.

Though she had no idea what exactly that thought meant.

While their vision wasn’t enough to see further up the room, the response that followed made the stranger’s intentions clear enough. Dismissing the staff with a frown, Ihosha lowered their stance to bolt at a moment’s notice and continued to look upwards, watching for any sign. Refusing to be distracted by the sounds following their retreat, Ihosha’s eyes widened a bit at the sight of a spinning sphere falling through the air towards them.

Indeed Dwyn’s warning would have come a bit too late, trailing after the projectile’s descent, but thankfully the stranger hadn’t kept silent. Gritting their teeth as they hoped this would work, Ihosha wrapped their robe around their arms and stretched the cloth between them; hoping it would be enough to cushion the impact and keep the orb intact. The room seemed to shake again at the commotion going on above, but they focused on simply snapping their arms shut and bundling the orb up so it didn’t bounce off and shatter elsewhere anyways.

Ihosha sighed in relief as nothing horrible immediately happened, and knelt to the ground to carefully lower the glass orb. Their grip seemed to steady as they took hold of the orb, and lifted it for a better look at the contents within. Another series of growls and groans gave them pause though as Ihosha glanced back down the hallway they had come from. Silhouetted by the dying flames, the form of several twisted could be seen in pursuit.

Well... Ihosha wasn't too fond of trying to lug around something that was possibly very volatile anyways. Taking a few moments to calm down and steady their nerves, Ihosha couldn't quite contain the hint of excitement as they wondered what the projectile would do on impact. Frowning as it looked like the ghouls were still a bit too far for their tossing arm, Ihosha nudged at Solomon with a foot. "There's a rope about... seven steps back and to the right? Start climbing, looked hard enough for Dwyn." For now they'd have to wait for the ghouls to get closer if they wanted any chance of accuracy while tossing the orb.

The battle had become blur and he soon found himself retreating with the group amidst sudden deaths of people he did not recognize. He found himself trailing behind the rest of the group as they entered into this narrow corridor that lead to some room many catwalk like structures above crisscrossing the area. He was trying to make haste as he carried the scavenged weapon alongside the anchor before the previous area got swarmed even harder by the enemies that had they had encountered judging by the noises behind him. Adding to the stress was the fact that it seemed like part of the horde was following after them which would not be good.

Within the new area he saw the woman who ran away and some other figure who upon noticing the group seemed to have reacted with hostility. The moment he spoke to them he was looking around for reactions as he didn't like that he was handling some object. He saw the redhead using her sword's ability to move upwards. So too would he follow her example albeit in an inferior manner. Like a coiled serpent striking he found himself launching the anchor upwards with surprising force as its fluke anchored itself against the wall of the walkway firmly. Climbing for dear life he only concentrated on reaching the top, never dropping the scavenged sword until he reached the top and threw it down.

The speed no doubt fueled by part adrenaline rush and the desire to get the hell out of the way of the black goop that was about to be freed masked the energy spent. Fatigue once again came to temporarily inconvenience him. He sat down and tried to make his profile low as he watched below to assess the situation below. He left the rope dangling so anyone else below could climb to safety. All to do now was to take a breather and see if the redhead now dropping to the man below, would stick the landing and take him out.

...

Everything happened all at once. It was as if chaos had no bounds. No care.

She managed to prevent the projectile from releasing its dangerous payload. But it seemed there was no avoiding it. Within her hands, the glass orb seemed to already be undergoing a dangerous reaction, growing super-heated in just a few seconds. She had no choice but to toss it away instinctively. With nowhere else to go, the glass orb was aimed into the hallway.

Without great strength, the container did not travel too far. Just as two of the party, Isabella and the Unnamed, used their weapons to grapple themselves to the upper floors, a cacophony of screams resounded below. It was followed by a bright flash. The dark chemicals within, combined in a primitive slush as the container smashed open, causing a violent reaction that shook everything even more. The resulting wave of fire and hot blistering air pushed forward from both sides within the darkness. Consuming the bodies of the hashed soldiers and explosive-armed hunters, the flash flame traveled down the snaking pathway behind them, appearing to consume all. Rapidly, like a dark mouth opening, the stone tiles composing the floor and walls and ceilings began to crumble away to the powerful force. Those of the party who stood at the front and acted proactively were saved from the widening jaws, but those who were too slow slipped down into the expanding darkness. Among the endless rubble and meaningless discharge of books and sludge, the would disappear into the cavernous depth that opened now. Centuries-long gathered dust bellowed between the deafening sounds of smashed stone as the temple fell in upon itself, leaving a vast divide at the opening of the Study room.

Even those standing far above would feel the effects, as bits of the wall holding the bridges between the ramparts were torn down when the Study room cracked wide at one side. This would bend the metal, warping it like a finger pressed down on a web. This displacement would cause Isabella's lunging attack to strike open air as the hooded figure teetered and plummeted between the railings in the last moment.

"Ahhh!" he screamed, falling down towards the remainder of the party.

His fate is left unknown as the survivors are given with a moment to act, to think, to consider. Was violence really the only option to settle things? Was this truly the only path of a 'Hero' meant to save this world?

It was hard to tell who was left, as everyone was displaced in the collapse. Somewhere below, someone would feel the bite of a sword narrowing missing their head. What kind of bloke would've thrown that?

And if not for their gaze upwards, they would have not been able to move in time. It seemed the temple was not finished spewing and sputtering from the open wound. Something was happening above. A terrible creaking sounded in the pitch darkness. It was like the sound of a great cage ripping apart. A large metal shard then crashed into the study, smashing a bookcase into splinters and sending a mountain of books toppling over as it settled down in a loud crash. In the haziness, other giant shapes and chunks of metal can be seen splitting apart the sea of smoke, only moments away from crashing down into the study. With how unstable the tiles beneath their feet were from only the first collapsed bridge, who knows how much more punishment the room can take?

The dangling rope was their only hope to escape now.

@Rune_Alchemist@Lasrever...

@jerkchicken@Lasrever...


...

Dwyn barely had time to register what was happening as the room tore itself asunder, metal warping and crashing and tearing. She watched, eyes wide, as her previous saviour toppled helplessly into the depths - what a fine repayment she'd provided for his aid. Tears stung as they formed at the unnecessary carnage, her lungs finally filling with air once more as she got shakily to her feet.

Though the picture that awaited her was fairly grim, picking out two of her companions in situations that were less than secure, to say the least. There was that ugly part of her that thought it would be easier to feign helplessness, to lie and avoid any blame for what was to come - she could try, try to save both of them, but there would still be blame resting on her shoulders were she to fail. It would be easier to do nothing at all...

But she stood, trying to keep her balance. If nothing else, her expedition had emphasised how awful it would be to roam these halls alone.

All these halls appeared to provide was a constant barrage of suffering and pain. What little she'd seen was already irrevocably burned into her mind, doubts as to whether it was her sanity or this place being twisted. Perhaps it didn't matter so much. Easier, even, to believe herself deluded than to accept the dismal state of reality.

I won't do this alone.

Moving as quickly as she could across the wobbling surface, Dwyn's eyes darted between the two unfortunates. No-one else was up here, certainly not in a position to help. So, could she save both? Perhaps. It would be worth trying regardless. A sickening snap, unmistakably bone, reminded her that there was no time to wait.

And so she ran.

The first one she reached was the girl, Isabella - a decision made mostly on how easy the rescue appeared to Dwyn's eye. To tell the truth, she had little clue how she alone was supposed to rescue the nameless companion. That, and well... when it came down to it, Dwyn was a practical sort, and were this to become a life-or-death decision, she'd sooner have the one who hadn't drawn the attention of a monstrous horde.

Of course, there were still others here, and she called out to the ones on the ground as she ran. "The anchor's dragging him down-- try and slow it!" Unsure of how much they would be able to see, she hoped they could at least stop the weapon's fall for long enough that she might be able to reach him. How they were supposed to do that, she had no idea, but she could only save one person at a time. A cruel choice for her to make, and his fate would be uncertain, leaving him like that, but what else was new?

As for Isabella's situation, Dwyn's halberd would hopefully provide some leverage to pry open the closing metal - enough, at least, that the woman could pull her ruined leg free. Bracing herself as best she could, Dwyn reached out with her free hand, all-too-aware of maintaining her balance on the shaking, wobbling floor. "Hurry and pull yourself up. There's another needing help." She spoke quickly, a hint of her previous haughtiness creeping in as a sort of defence mechanism.

So much easier to be sure of yourself without any monsters breathing down your neck.