The snowy battlefield was silent no more, the air filling with the sounds of hard battle and powerful war cries. The earth shook and trembled with every roar made by the dual elephant warriors, rage and pain steeped into their voices as Diana plunged her sword into their foot. Although it spared her from becoming red in the snow, it did nothing to soothe the beast’s desire to maim and kill for the honor, glory and instinct that was the Nexus.

These few moments allowed Diana to zip around its bulk of a body like a fly; a fly that spewed out hot flames and plasma. But the creature was unfazed by it all, its thick hide protecting it from most of the damage the dragon could have inflicted. Thus, the great mammoths swung their arms and axes, eager to flick the pesky girl out of the sky. One of them grabbed a great pile of snow and hurled it right at Diana, hoping to blind her before landing a fist into her body.

Of course, there was still the second one to be concerned for. The elephant warrior was still spinning, its momentum having never been stopped by either Diana or Suparna’s actions. But that seemed to not deter either of them and, if anything, Suparna had regained a second wind. Successfully mauling her own arm, the maggot girl would find luck in her mark as the elephant was too busy with Diana to pay attention.

But the hoarse and chortled snarls that echoed in the air was proof enough of her plan. The maggot feasted on pure flesh and, although the temperatures affected its texture, it was a meal nonetheless. The quadruped creature drooped to one knee, its spinning form of bladed death finally coming to a halt. Enraged, it swung both axes towards Suparna head on.

Back in Heaven, the Imperator sensed the happenings of Valhalla with slight amusement. It was a fitting distraction from the display in front of her, much to Ruxen’s relief. The blue Beastkin took a few moments to recuperate before frowning and glaring at Pink. “Yeah? Well don’t fucking do it again,” she huffed, tail stuck up and ears flattered with budding annoyance.

She didn’t particularly care what Pink went off and did with herself, so long as it didn’t involve her. Grumbling, her negativity seemingly replaced in a manner of minutes, Ruxen found the nearest corner she could find in the throne chamber and flopped down on her side. With nothing to do, she could just stare absently and mutter things to herself, tail occasionally twitching.

---

"Very well, that's not something you see every day," Hohenheim said to herself as Titanica turned around and seemed to listen to her words. "Before we do anything else, I would like to make our cooperation conform to the word of the law. I don't fancy the idea of becoming a cosmic punchbag if you know what I mean."

"To make everything as lawful as possible, we should write a contract. Sadly, I'm a little short on supplies," Hohenheim said, stepping out of the pool and taking a seat on the comfortably fluffy back of her chimera. The Alchemist crossed her legs and rested her hand on her knees; apparently, she was feeling rather at home right now, if the ever-present smirk on her face was any indication. "Why do you not go fetch me three down feathers of a roc's chick, a kraken's ink sac and a patch of black goat's leather so that we can write a proper contract before I begin sharing my wisdom with you, Miss Curvy Lizard?"

"Or we can seal our partnership with a more... intimate method. Your choice..." Hohenheim smirked, summoning her cape and wrapped it around her bare shoulders to cover —or perhaps, call attention to— her body as she waited for Titanica's answer.

@Banana@floodtalon

---

As Unit-T carefully navigates through the Urchin minefield, she suddenly gets a pop-up message on her screen that a fellow ally wants to make contact with her via video connection. Pausing for only a second, Tina willingly presses the button to accept, which reveals Utada, who was also making her way down the same way as her through the sea urchin horde.

"I'm almost through Unit-T, what's your progress on making it to the city?" the sniper asks.

The pilot holds down a small green button as she initiates her response.

"I-I'm still inside the sea urchin field." she responds in a quiet and monotonous voice, "But I should be nearing the exit within~."

Before she could finish though, Unit-T's audio receptors picked up a nearby explosion coming from one of the urchins, which immediately detected several more just a quick second afterwards. Someone must've accidentally hit one of the spines or allowed them to cluster too close together as the explosions produce a gory mess of blood, guts and dangerous spines going in all different directions. Quickly realizing the precarious situation she's in, Tina quickly continues pilots the mech down and away from the explosions. However even as a few spines began to hit Unit-T, the minor shielding was able to keep them from scratching the silver paint and puncture any holes.

"<SHIELDS_HOLDING>" announces the onboard AI, "<DOWN_95_%>"

But even with such minimal damage, the three weren't out of the action yet. The blood and chum churns with the water, attracting hungry predators from nearby. Giant morary eels, up to 6 meters long, slithered from the shadows with mouthes full of razor sharp hooked teeth as they approach the Machina forces in a ravenous frenzy. While Bonesword was deep enough to avoid having the eels get him, Unit-T was right in their sights.

"Eel swarm incoming!" warns Tobayashi from the comms channel, "Take evasive action!"

However Tina wasn't deterred from the hungry mouthes that approached her. Taking control, she fires several laser-guided torpedoes from Unit-T's back that twirled towards the slithering bastards. However, the pilot wasn't planning to stick around. Positioning her mech downwards, she fires off the boosters at 75% max power and rapidly descends down with the rest of the group. Even if several eels try to come for Tina, she would fire off several more missiles to deter them before fully on her way out of the urchin field and into the Ruins.

"Threats neutralized." she responds back to Utada and Tobayashi simultaneously, "Proceeding down to the ruins now."

---

---

Upon finishing his optic ray, he would suddenly remember underwater physics as a large explosion threatened to rid him of his sight. Lucifus growls in pain as he quickly closes his eyes to avoid any traumatic damage to his eyes, hearing the sounds of gelatinous creatures imploding on themselves. He soon realized what went wrong, considering how using intense heat-based powers underwater can be a very bad idea depending on where you shoot at. How foolish he was to forget this! Of course, considering he rarely goes underwater to due battle, this was an experience he won't forget the next time he descends.

As soon as he opens his eyes, the environment was blurry for only a few moments until his eyes finally adjusted back to regular vision. The Archangel soon realizes that deadly tentacles were floating towards him, some of which would only be invisible if it weren't for the light being illuminated on his wings. Lucifus needs to act quickly if he is to remain unscathed. But not to worry... he had the perfect idea.

His hands began to glow blue with an unknown aura as he pushes them out and quickly makes a circular swiping motion from his torso to his back. A low faint boom can be heard as the tentacles began to move the opposite direction, as if they were being repulsed by some unknown gravitational pule of energy. Even the water began to act rather strangely, with several air holes forming and dissolving within seconds at a time from one another. Lucifus' gravitational pulse has saved him from receiving damage too early in battle. He has now learned two things... 1). Don't use his optic beams underwater. And 2). Don't fuck with jellyfish.

With that in mind, he carefully navigates his way out of the jellyfish swarm and descends into the ruins below.

---

@KoL, @The 42nd Gecko

---

As Titanica stands over the nude Alchemist, Hoho finally begins to explain the deal to the vassal as she gets comfy on her Chimera.

"To make everything as lawful as possible, we should write a contract. Sadly, I'm a little short on supplies... Why don't you go fetch me three down feathers of a roc's chick, a kraken's ink sac and a patch of black goat's leather so that we can write a proper contract before I begin sharing my wisdom with you, Miss Curvy Lizard?"

The Saurian Vassal's left eye slightly twitched in realization of her first "orders". A gathering mission... all just to sign a contact? The bitch didn't even say anything regarding "Give me a pencil/feather and paper"... but then again this is a girl of "perfection". Why have peasant materials when she can look and feel like a goddess with a fancy pen and writing surface? And why get it herself where she can always send out an "errands boy/girl" to do it for her. Just the thought of it disgusts her. Her shift gazes as if she's about to defy the Alchemist's reply, stating how she should get her own piece of paper and feather.

"Or we can seal our partnership with a more... intimate method. Your choice..." Hohenheim smirked, summoning her cape and wrapped it around her bare shoulders.

Ah yes... the Vassals these days have stumbled to a new low. Sex for ____. Well, they've been always doing that really but it was usually a last resort. Then again, Hoho is a rather frail girl, and it'll be much less laborious then to go out into the jungle just to find those three materials. She's tall and powerful, being completely capable of overwhelming her and has the stamina to keep going for hours and hours. She could totally do this no problem...

If only she didn't encounter that one faithful experience several thousand years ago...

Titanica paused for a second before looking back, and then back at Hoho... and then she made her choice.

"Cat." the Vassal orders Zayata bluntly with a hint of disgust towards Hoho as she turns back into the bush, "Assist me in finding these... materials."

With that, Titanica continues walking into the bush as they head on a quest to get the three items...

No wonder she hates the other Vassals...

Before Antaeus reached the grounds he noticed one of his compatriots reaching out to assist him. A set of strings flowed through the water and slowed down his descent through a power not too dissimilar from his own. With the assistance of these strings he'd be able to reorient himself in the water, and land on his feet. An excellent entrance! While he did not know the identity of his ally he made a note in his mind to speak with them when this battle had concluded. This was surely the beginning of an excellent friendship. Antaeus smiled slightly as he begun to adjust his position... only for the strings to suddenly leave.

Antaeus looked around, only to see string-wielding being leave as soon as they had arrived. But what about him? What about friendship? Oh no....

With a muted booming sound Antaeus crashed face-first into the ruins, smashing several buildings below him as he 'landed'. For a moment the giant didn't move, as he soaked in the humiliation. Great. How was he supposed to intimidate the foul demonspawn now? Could he even bear to continue, now that he had so disgraced the name of Deva? No, he had decreed that nothing would stop him. No blade, bullet or giant crab monster would halt his progress. So long as Heaven was in need of his services, he would never surrender. Even if it felt like he should just sink into the ground....

Gritting non-existent teeth, Antaeus shrunk down to a more manageable size. He decided to go for 10m tall. The added length would increase his movement speed underwater. Besides, after that debacle of an entrance he needed to look additionally imposing. Glancing around, he surmised that the forces of Heaven were certainly the most prominent presence in the underwater city. As it should be. Only those of righteous intent had the right to show themselves in this divine quest! However, how was he supposed to find the magical stick? It was a bit outside of his area of expertise. Oh well, he'd probably know it when he found it. It was his destiny to succeed, after all. And in the meantime, he would most assuredly be called upon to dispose of some unholy fiends.

Deciding to move towards the middle of the ruins, Antaeus fused his feet to the ground with every step to provide better grip. Long steps took him forward at a decent speed, for him, his sheer strength and mass allowing him to demolish anything in his path. No wall could stop him, and he tore a path through the city. At one point a monstrous crab creature did attempt to stop him, but this did not go well. It's claws found purchase on Antaeus' form but it lacked the strength to slow him down, and it ended up getting dragged behind him like a small child. Of course it was important not to disturb the local wildlife too much, so Antaeus decided to pay the crab no heed. Cute animals like that needed to be preserved in their natural habitat. Maybe he would give it a name while he was looking....?


It seemed that the forces of Heaven were rapidly advancing on the Ruins, which Khaine had decided to protect. That wouldn't do. Of course the powers of a demon were weak against the denizens of Heaven, but he was a master of crowd control. At the very least he should be able to slow them down rather considerably. Looking around, Khaine decided on his mark. There were a number of dangerous groups present, but only one of them looked like they knew what they were doing. A large group of heavily armed and armoured soldiers, currently in conflict with a group of giant crabs disguised as houses. Despite being clearly Heaven-alligned they were using highly advanced technology, much like the Machina. It seemed even Deva recognised the need to adapt. Or at least her lieutenants did. Clearly these people posed the biggest threat at the moment, and needed to be dealt with post-haste.

The technology they were bringing to bear was indeed impressive. A powerful forcefield surrounded them, extending an inch from their body on average. It was strong enough to withstand the various traps he had placed, although it needed a moment to recharge after taking a powerful blow. Certainly it was nothing to scoff at. A direct assault wouldn't work. However, Khaine had fought Machina forces since before most of these young ones had been alive. He had spent over 300 years studying forcefield technology. While he lacked the knowledge to put one together, he knew more than enough to take one apart. There wasn't enough room for a powerful attack between the shield and the body, and Khaine lacked the ability to teleport objects directly inside of people. Something about the presence of the Soul made a lot of magic weaker, making it harder to place objects inside of someone else. However, there was plenty of room to mess with the electronics a bit. To find out exactly how this system worked.

First, simple tests. Red lightning flashed across the ground as a blade emerged from nowhere, striking a nearby soldier's shield. Larger and smaller blades were employed, as Khaine performed a rapid series of attacks in order to determine the exact qualities of the shield. It appeared to let water and air through normally, but would block any attack. It did not create a barrier made of 'matter', and as such 'sharpness' was irrelevant when attempting to pierce the shield. All that mattered was the raw amount of 'force' being blocked, whether that was physical force or energy. The shield seemed to be capable of handling quite a lot, but if one were to force the shield into recharge mode the soldier beneath becomes suddenly vulnerable. In addition it seemed that multiple small attacks were far more effective than one large attack. Of course, performing tests like this would no doubt call attention to Khaine, who was suspended above the ruins this entire time by chains. This would provide an interesting challenge. How would he deal with these pesky little mortals?

"You've got a bit of.. Uh, crab?, on you partner.." Cydone was currently climbing up onto Antaeus's shoulder, a bit concerned about the crab that was latched on. With a quick slash/draw/throw/thing, he sent his sword hurtling through one of the crabs arms, slicing through the shell at a weak joint, before the pull of a wire sent it through the other arm and finally back to Cydone's hand. The two claws still seemed to be latched onto Antaeus, but the crab was left armless. "Well, tough luck Mr. Crab. I'm sure they grow back with a lil patience.." He tipped his hat at the crab. ~Well, ah hope that's not literally true, would be terrifying.~ He though to himself.

"Got any plans, partner? I could wave a net around to look, that's as good as I got. How bout you?" Cydone kept a weather eye out for danger while he hitched a ride.

@thewizardguy





"Ooof.. Man, they always thrash so much when they get shot. So glad I don't suffer any pain from physical trauma." Cassiopia was bounced around a little by the Kraken's motion, but she had affixed her self rather firmly, and continued firing and shredding its internal organs inside the mantle with her gunfire. The guns wouldn't be much use out there, so no reason not to burn through her ammo here.

While Cass probably should have been escaping, her senses weren't quite acute enough to notice what was going on in relationship to the environment outside as she was tumbled around. She could tell her other bits that had been knocked away by the Kraken's clubbing were getting farther, but that was a very imprecise and vague sense.

@KoL@Floodtalon





Zyata was not overly hopeful about how this was going to turn out, what with Hoho's general disregard of her save as a talking point against Titanica, and how Titanica responded to her question about a Tiger equivalent of Titanica's Saurian claim with a glare.

~Well, at least they're both wearing clothes now and, damn it, nope I can't unsee it... They barely cover anyway. Gah, I feel like a naive little Maiden all over again. Keep your cool, nobody wants their prey to just surrender without a hunt!~ Zyata raised a hand over her eyes, before then biting into her arm with a little growl to clear her mind. "Gwarawrrar."

~Come on, focus, the hunt.~ Zyata mentally tried to sych herself up as she stumbled out of the pool, grabbing her stuff but not having time to put it on as she hurried after Titanica to try and keep up. Without any magical drying off powers, she indeed lived up to Hoho's jab of 'wet pussy' as she chased after Titanica, dripping wet as she followed Titanica. "As far as Rocs and Goats go, we're probably looking for mountains near a savanna to have the best chance of finding both, I think I know a place. Kraken would need an ocean but I'm afraid I can't help with that one very much, Mmm-? Vaa-? Do you have a preference on like, polite form of address or is Titanica fine?" Zyata offered what help she could, before stumbling on Titanica's name. She heard some of the higher ranking folks with other factions were real finicky about titles. And well, with how much Titanica had a power advantage, Zyata wanted to stay on Titanica's mildly more amusing and helpful than annoying side. And with how much of a talker she was, she figured she needed all the help she could get on that.

@KoL@Lmpkio

---

She cackled her sadistic glee past lips wet with saliva, dripping onto her chest plate as her consciousness swelled with the rapidly growing ranks of maggots feasting upon the marauder laid low before them. The satisfaction was both intimate and distant, sated and ravenous at the same time, but momentarily content to just revel in its suffering as it was forced to acknowledge her with clear intent in its next stroke.

"Come on then. I've already brought you to your knees, so start crawling to look me in the eye before I stab it!" She bellowed in abject disregard for the axes falling towards her. It would have been better were it a bare fist which she could latch onto and devour after her vessel ruptured, but at least the force behind the axes would do a decent job of scattering her innards about. Maybe they'd land on its wrists, or be able to join the mass swelling inside its wounded leg.

At least, that had been her plan till Diana intervened. Metal shattered and a warmth fall over her shoulders that pulled her from the rising tide of blood lust to stare squarely at Diana's back. It was no doubt a heroic visage, though the Queen of Carrion couldn't help but blurt out; "You must have spent a lot of time in front of the mirror practicing this."

Though she very much doubted Diana could hear over the sound of her own aura flash melting the snow around them and the wave of dragon-shaped energy launched in tandem with her own heroic charge to destroy the pachyderm with overwhelming firepower. And as the fire rapidly approached, Suparna gulped in alarm as the distant colony cried out in mortal peril. "LEAVE ME A LEG AT LEAST!"

Because Suparna would really like to get her arm back.

How had things turned into this. The elephant warrior, which had been stepped in its confidence to take down these two, simple girls, was now on the receiving end of a preordained beat-down. It was more rageful than anything else, its loud trunk exploding in boils of angry sounds as Diana pushed it back. Raising both axes to block her rushing takedown, one of the great metal weapons shattered on impact, sprinkling the material deep into the snow.

So great was the impact that the mighty warrior was reduced to a rolling bundle, crushing into the icy ground. It would take time for it recover and regain its senses, an opportunity Diana capitalized on. Slowly festering away by the maggots consuming its wounds, the elephant warrior stood on shaky legs; only to realize the snowy landscape had soon turned into a scorched wasteland. The reason why was charging right at it.

With one final bellow of a death cry, the siamese creature lunged forth with its last remaining axe to charge at the dragon. Metal clashed metal and the heat rose higher and higher. It was evident Diana was slowly winning their clash, a last wail screeching from the elephant’s guttural instinct to live, to survive. All that was needed was-

The sound of metal on meat cut through the air, only pierced by the elephant’s actual death cry. Shocked and dismayed, it fell over to its side, its joined body have been split in two. As red stained the ground and ran deep into the snow, the mauled flesh of the former warrior began to dissipate and fade away into nothingness. If Suparna wanted limbs to use, she would need to act quickly before the body was washed away for good. But that was the least of their problems.

For Diana was not the one to deliver the killing blow. As soon as the elephant fell, the world had once more turned into the snowy wasteland it had been before. As if Diana's effects on this place had been snuffed out by a force even higher. And standing among the carcass of the dispersing animal that had been their foe was the true victor of the spoils.

“……..”

By its presence, both girls could feel nothing from the standing set of armor. It was doubtful there was any living creature remaining inside and it bared no weapon against them. Had it killed the elephant beast with a single blow of its hand? Stranger still was the armor’s actions, its helmeted face slowly turning in Suparna’s direction.

@Banana@floodtalon

---

As Unit-T continued to descend even further down the narrow cavern, the hole below suddenly opens and gives way to an impressive view of the ruins below. This place was massive, spanning for several miles with large buildings dotting the area. Who knew what existed here before everything went to hell, but it must've been rather advanced... yet ancient. Regardless of the countless of theories one can erect in their heads, it didn't truly matter now. Tina carefully pilots the mech down to the surface of the ruins and lands softly near what may appear to be a ruined tower.

Now at the bottom, the pilot observes her surroundings at ground level as she prepares to move out. Before she can do that though, Tobayashi began to contact Tina through voice comms, yet the signal was beginning to become weak...

"Congra-*shhh*-tions on making i-*shhshhh* the bottom." the scientist congratulated through the static, "Unfortunately the -*ssssshhhhh*- is becoming very weak and *sssssssh* be hard to continue *sh* communicating to you down *ssssh*. You're on your own for *shhhh* now. Just remember *ssshhhhhhh* the prot-*sssh*-al like we mention*sssssshhhzhrhzh*"

And with that, the comms released nothing more but the sound of static. Contact with Tobayashi at this depth was now nearly impossible. Tina was now officially alone and cut-off from High Command. Yet she knows what her objectives are, loud and clear no less. Find the staff and return it to the throne room. Avoid all other hostiles and keep them from taking it. If she can achieve victory for the Machina, it'll most certainly give them a powerful advantage/victory.

Suddenly, the mech detects vibrations alongside a muted "booming" sound, as if an object made landfall with the ground and not an explosion. Tina needed to move quickly in order to beat the incoming tide that would sweep the battle. With that, Unit-T once again reignites his thrusters at low power as to be able to traverse the watery landscape much more efficiently. Tina considers that the staff may be found near the middle of the ruins, but at the same time it could simply be the throne room. Regardless, that's where she's going to investigate first. However, she must also look out for any hostiles in the nearby area and make sure that she either avoids them or be able to fight/stun them for enough time to escape and continue the search.

---

@thewizardguy, @The 42nd Gecko

---

Lucifus touches down in the underwater ruins only 100 meters away from where Antaeus and Cydone landed, using his wings to swim elegantly to the bottom. The archangel landed near a ruined church that is still mostly in tact, minus the exposed roof, and had almost completely-bleached out windows that still vaguely sported their original colors. He can only wondered who they worshipped, whether it was Heaven or some other deity figures. There didn't even seem to be any symbols that hint to whom they looked up to. It was intriguing to say the least...

Of course, he shouldn't be admiring destroyed buildings during a battle... but at the same time he knew very little about Lenuria and its history. After all, he occasionally browses at history books during his free time at the library yet still has much to learn despite his increased knowledge.

It can wait.

He needs to find that staff and return it to the throne room to achieve another victory for Heaven. Two victories in a row will please the Angel greatly... combined with his status as an Archangel, alongside Captain Saef's elite troops, a gunslinging mercenary, and even a giant rock monster known for his great size. The chance for victory looks rather high for them. Of course, they must still be cautious and to make sure they keep focused on the objective at hand.

---

@KoL, @The 42nd Gecko

---

Titanica swiftly cataches the blue crystal in the air with her left hand, clutching it tightly as she places it within her breast pocket. The Vassal then turns around with her new partner to find these new materials. Despite leaving without another word towards the pompous Hohenheim, of course this would leave the alchemist the last laugh.

"By the way, I hope that you finally have learned how to teleport. Otherwise, it will be a long walk to get all of this. Ehehehe!"

Titanica growls as she slightly turns her head to glance at the alchemist before walking off into the brush with Zayata following beside her. God did she hate the Alchemist...

"And I hope you're ready for my fist to ram straight up your ass you imperfect midget..." the Vassal growls quietly as she continues walking off.

Like she hates Iona and Helena for having her force to be in the war, but Hoho is just one big little spoiled gremlin whom she just can't stand talking to. But if she can possibly lead her into the direction in which her target is, the generosity may make her more attractive for a mutual friendship.

But then again, it's a very, VERY low chance that this may happen...



As the two walked, Zayata begins to explain what she knows and where to find these animals.

"As far as Rocs and Goats go, we're probably looking for mountains near a savanna to have the best chance of finding both, I think I know a place.

"We will search there first." replies Titanica bluntly as her tail removes some brush behind her.

"Kraken would need an ocean but I'm afraid I can't help with that one very much, Mmm-?"

"I shall deal with it personally..." the Vassal responds again, considering she mostly spends her time in the ocean anyways, "I know where they usually reside."

Then the topics switch to something slightly more personal.

"Vaa-? Do you have a preference on like, polite form of address or is Titanica fine?"

"That's my title, so you will refer to me as so." was all that the Vassal says regarding that subject.

Luckily for them, it wouldn't take long before they reach the edge of the jungle, right into the tall grasses of the Savannah biome. In the distance, Titanica notices a mountain range several miles away. They aren't terribly far, but not close either. The first two supplies should reside in that location if the Cat is correct.

"There's the mountains." the towering Vassal says as she points in the direction of the mountains, "I believe the Rocs and Goats can be found there, yes?"

@thewizardguy@KoL



Of course things could never go wrong just one at a time, that would be too easy. They had to happen in pairs or trios. Or about a million at a time that all added up to one giant F### YOU. Thankfully this was one of the former.

"Adjust fire. Less volume more accuracy. We don't want to destroy the staff if it happens to be in there somewhe-####" His commands broke off as a cascade of red lightning flashed over the formation. Blades of varying sizes started appearing out of the floors and walls, slamming into shields in flashes of light. "It would appear that we have drawn the attention of an enemy champion. Cover isn't helping so starting jumping around like a school of minnows. Try to brings those crabs down carefully while I deal with our guest."

His men moved with alacrity. Many of them were now low on shields and getting shot at is always a wonderful motivator. Squads stayed more or less together but as a whole they all started moving in fast, unpredictable motions. Even with the water slowing them down somewhat it would be very difficult to perform a repeat of the earlier mass attack.

The stream of lasers had lessened but not ceased. Instead of a massive deluge the fire was sparser and more accurate. Limbs were the primary target, legs and claws. When possible coherent light also slammed into heads. Without the extra firepower of the anti-armor missiles the Heavenly Mechanized was going for a slightly longer fight. Slow the crabs down and pick them off when able.

Saef himself turned and shot upward, following the magic being launched at his troops. Another sheath of light surrounded him. This one radiated significantly less light. He wanted the extra mobility afforded by it but didn't want to broadcast his position to the entire battlefield at the same time.

Up ahead was a Demonic figure by anyone's measure. Red, spiky and glowing the orange/yellow of flames. And his aura was the same as the magic just cast at his troops. Saef raised his scepter and formed a spell within the sanctum of his mind. Half a second later a swarm of golden spikes erupted from the waters around the Thaumaturge. There were a lot of the softly glowing weapons and each one was homing in on Khaine from a variety of different directions.

Utada growled to herself as Bonesword idiotically set off every single urchin in his vicinity, setting off a chain reaction that was going to completely screw her over. Her shield activated quickly, protecting her flank from any spikes while she focused on dodging anything that came at her from the front. One spike scratched her side, but the suit's natural defenses were able to mitigate the damage with ease. This was not the end of her woes however as several giant eels began to attack the now gore soaked Utada and Unit-T with glee. Most of them went after the giant robot which had much more blood and guts on it, but one eel saw Utada as easy prey to snack on. It was sorely mistaken.

"Hyah!" She cried out as she activated a booster on her arm and bashed the eel in the face with her shield, stunning it in place while she drew her sword. It began to vibrate rapidly as it cut through the hide of the slithery serpent, drawing first and only blood. The eel quickly retreated to nurse its wounds, while Unit-T had seemingly disappeared. Utada cursed under her breath about idiotic Demons who couldn't watch where they stepped and descended to the ruins, landing near a ruined cathedral about 20 yards away from a large and flashy Angel who was currently admiring the scenery. She pulled out her gun and aimed at Lucifus, firing a torpedo out of the underbarrel at his feet.

---

The kraken began to swim away with Cass in it, but that was the least of Jubilee's problems right now. The currents were getting too strong for her to safely navigate in, she didn't have the strength necessary to reliably swim to safety, it was too late now. So She did the next best thing she could, she wrapped herself in shadows and waited for the currents to take her where they may. Hopefully it would be somehwere interesting at the very least, maybe if she got lucky she would find some ancient knowledge.

---

Henry soared over the Savannah, occasionally striking down a predatory bird that swooped down at him thinking he would be fast food. Such as the griffin that was approaching him at high speeds, its screech echoing through the plains. Moments later its corpse was falling out of the sky, the head landing right in front of Titanica and Zyata as they too approached the mountains. Henry thought back on why he was doing this again as he flicked the blood off his sword, apparently in order to formalise his apprenticeship to Roma they would need a proper contract. Being a Vassal the contract had to be absolutely perfect, requiring the feathers of a Roc's chick, the ink sack of a Kraken, and a patch of leather from a Black Goat. After confirming that she wasn't talking about Lucille, Henry set off on his grand quest to retrieve a bunch of bullshit.

"I know this is gonna be totally worth it, but man does this fucking blow." He muttered to nobody in particular as he landed at the foot of the mountain and sheathed his blade. First on the list, Black Goat leather. He would find one on his way up the mountain hopefully, cutting it's skin off should be easy enough. It's just a goat after all.

The skeleton descended alongside Unit-T and Utada as he was covered in seaweed. Honestly, to the eels he just looked like a descending rock, blown away from the rest of the area as debris. A low hum sounded from his shield as he descended, the recharge process starting up and reaching about a third of the full charge as Bonesword hit the ground, returning to being in his suit of seaweed and urchin spikes as he trotted on towards where he thought the best place for the staff to be would be.

His best guess? Probably where all the angelic soldiers were relentlessly harassing crabs. Bonesword ran over to the backside of a rock before he carefully peeked out and observed the fight, not trying to be offensive or fight any of them.

---

---

"Don't worry Suparna, I can perfectly control my strength... huh?" Diana tumbled around once her blow met an already defeated target, offering little to no resistance to brake her movement. Once again the dragon girl had her face buried in the snow or better, she was buried completely in a white blanket of freshly driven snowflakes almost as if a flash blizzard passed by without no one noticing.

That said, Diana was pretty sure who the culprit for all of this was. She didn't have any actual reason to push the hostilities forward. After all, he technically just helped them. But still, Diana hopped back to her feet, patting the snow off of her before looking at the newcomer. "Hey, thank you for that one, guy. We were doing well on our own but it's always nice to have some someone give us a hand," she said in an honest tone. It was only then that she noticed how he was staring intently at Suparna. Diana sighed inwardly. Couldn't she get a day out with a friend without people throwing weird looks at them?

Before she joined them, Diana made sure to slice one of the elephant's legs and bring it to Suparna —before it disappeared entirely— so that she could regenerate the damage she suffered during their last battle. Who knows when some weirdo with muscles instead of a brain will pounce them, after all?

Cydone raised an eyebrow as what looked like a girl, maybe a machina from the looks of that torpedo, decided to attack the three of them, or well, specifically that archangel guy 100 meters away. But still, in a battle this big, that was pretty close cohesion From Antaeus's shoulder, Cydone had a clear line of sight to the girl, but maybe she hadn't seen them? How'd she miss the 10 meter tall rock guy. Maybe he just looked to big to be a person and got mistaken for a building.

With one hand, Cydone swung his blade, sending forth a horizontal waveslash at Utada. The other reach out to increase the inertia of the water in front of the torpedo, making the water in front of it an immovable wall. He wished he could have done so closer to Utada so it'd blow up in her face, but even his reflexes weren't that good including cast time.

@thewizardguy@floodtalon





Swept off with Jubilee. And the Kraken. But the Kraken would probably be dead soon from the abundance of bullets passing through its internal organs.

@KoL





"There's the mountains. I believe the Rocs and Goats can be found there, yes?"

"Yeah, though we might find a Roc try to prey on some elephants, or possibly you if you size yourself around elephant size. Finding them in the actual mountains might be a pain as they're rare and like being near the top. For rarer, more secretive predators with out of the way hiding spots, a lot of times it's easier to track and find their prey than the creature themselves. Then we make it show us the way to it's nest after we beat some sense into it!" Zyata responded, with some vigor and a punching motion as she talked about the beating up part. Zyata was happy to share her hunting expertise. Such as it was. Most of the time she was scavenging from fights but hey, you can't be an Amazon without going on at least a few exotic creature hunts. Sure, she'd never lead one, but she trusted she probably wasn't forgetting anything important.

Speaking of important things she didn't want to forget, there was the fact that this whole quest seemed unnecessary.
"So, you chose to grab this stuff for Hoho instead of anything else. I can understand you not being into girls for the kissing, but.. Still, it seems like you're letting her get one up on you and all. She's like, supposed to be the Alchemist of Genesis right? Even if she did need this stuff, couldn't she just magic it up? She's summoned way more magical stuff out of thin air before, from what I saw in her lab/dungeon/maze thing. And her willingness to go with a kiss, well, it's obvious from that she didn't really NEED the contract, she just wanted you to dance for her." Zyata was wondering if Hoho was stronger, or maybe possessed positional power, like, lots of irritating things she could do even if Hoho couldn't beat Titanica. All the little torments an alchemist of Hoho's skill could inflict on someone seemed pretty intimidating. Or maybe it was something else?

And then a dead griffon dropped out of the sky a few meters from Zyata, splatting some blood over her lower legs. Looking around, she couldn't see any source. "What is with today and chicken dropping out of the sky?" Zyata shrugged, before turning to Titanica, "Say, are you in a rush? If not, I'd be down for cooking some Griffon and seeing what that tastes like."

@Lmpkio

---

@floodtalon, @The 42nd Gecko

---

"Yeah, though we might find a Roc try to prey on some elephants, or possibly you if you size yourself around elephant size. Finding them in the actual mountains might be a pain as they're rare and like being near the top. For rarer, more secretive predators with out of the way hiding spots, a lot of times it's easier to track and find their prey than the creature themselves. Then we make it show us the way to it's nest after we beat some sense into it!"

Titanica pauses as she looks towards at the mountains in the distance and then to the great open grasses of the Savannah. If her judgement is correct, Zayata believes that they should find the big bird down here first before going towards their original destination. It makes sense. But of course, these top predatory birds are noted as being rare specimens and it's not quite guaranteed that one will just so happen to swoop down today. Of course, there's an equal chance of luck that one might be seen and they can track it towards the mountains right to its nest.

"Then show me." orders the Vassal bluntly as they go a random direction. Of course, it wouldn't take no more than thirty seconds before the Cat Lady had another question.

"So, you chose to grab this stuff for Hoho instead of anything else. I can understand you not being into girls for the kissing, but.. Still, it seems like you're letting her get one up on you and all. She's like, supposed to be the Alchemist of Genesis right? Even if she did need this stuff, couldn't she just magic it up? She's summoned way more magical stuff out of thin air before, from what I saw in her lab/dungeon/maze thing. And her willingness to go with a kiss, well, it's obvious from that she didn't really NEED the contract, she just wanted you to dance for her."

"And you're telling me this as if I'm not aware." Titanica growls annoyingly as she turns her head to Zayata with her white teeth glistening brightly in the sunlight, "Of course the slutty whore is doing it for her amusement. What's new? In fact, I don't expect her to tell me what I seek... and even if she does, it's not like it matters... I bet every other damn Vassal would send someone a similar quest just to~"

Before she could finish, a dead Griffion just so happened to plop down from the sky a few meters in front of the two. Titanica freezes as she gazes at the dead creature for a second before looking up... and seeing a figure soar overhead. And it looks like it was heading towards the mountains. Yet while most people would simply ignore it, or be somewhat intrigued at what it is, Titanica's primal instincts hinted that something was wrong...

Something about that figure seemed as if it will be detrimental to this mission... and it's appearance seemed almost seemed too uncanny to be considered as a mere coincidence.

So while Zayata seemed oblivious enough to want to eat a dead Griffion, a guttural growl escapes Titanica's jaw as she turns towards the mountains with a squint of anger. Zayata would quickly notice her tensed stance of worry and maybe ask what was wrong.

"We're not alone..." Titanica would reply as her tail sweeps down an arc of savannah grasses, "Change of plan... we're going for the goat first."

With that, she opens her mouth and unleashes a beam of blue atomic energy at the ground. She makes a rough circle as she opens a portal below her. When Hoho asked Titanica if she learned to teleport, little did the alchemist knew... she actually can by conjuring the forces of the nether to her own will, bending it to form a stable portal to wherever she wished.

"Follow me." the vassal orders bluntly as she drops down into the portal.

And the next thing they'll know, they're right on top of the mountain range, standing near a small cliff overlooking the entire savannah-jungle ecosystem that laid below. They were rather low in terms of height, being only roughly 650 meters above the base, but unless the figure was already up on the hill, they seemed to be ahead already. But for the Vassal, there was no time to waste.

"Keep moving." Titanica barks as she begins to ascend the mountain, eying for the elusive black goat. Hopefully she'll be able to find it before the other potential rival does.

---

@floodtalon

---

Lucifus hears the faint sound of a gun firing, alongside faint vibrations in the water, as he is quick to jump into the water as the torpedo explodes underneath his feet. The archangel recognizes the culprit as he sees Utada not more than 20 yards away. Looks like he let her get a little too close while looking around. No matter though, this fight should be quick as long as he's wary of any possible tricks. It's something he's learned over the years when fighting other Machina units.

Lucifus unsheathes his twin "Blades of Centauri" as he heats the blades up and unleashes a twin strike of solar energy towards Utada. He follows up immediately by using his wings as flippers to help him "fly" in water as he begins circling the gunwoman like a shark as he prepares for the next move.

---

---

Even within the opening chaos of battle beginning to unfold within the city, Unit-T continues to swim through the streets while attempting to avoid the conflict that has just started. Tina decided that she must be focused at the goal at hand, stopping for nothing unless it’s actually blocking off her progress. It’s probably what Tobayashi or even Karizawa would’ve ordered if they were still in contact with her. She keeps Unit-T low as she attempts to scan every building for any signs of the staff, slowly getting closer and closer the center of the city as she does so...

---

There should have been a glorious spectacle of carnage terminating with the pachyderm's death, yet neither Suparna or Diana claimed the killing blow and instead were left dumbstruck as an other worldly figure struck it down with no sign of a weapon with which the blow could be struck. Further cementing her disappointment was the sudden and hasty dissolving of the carcass, yet this matter was abated with Diana cleaving off a leg. "Hurry, hurry, hurry already!"

The verbalization of her command was entirely unneeded, as the maggots festering upon the severed limb gorged themselves and reproduced with alarmed speed, sloughing the meat from bone till not a speck was left of the former elephant. She willed the mass of maggots to her, surrounding herself in an amorphous blob of adulating carrion several times larger then herself in width and girth. It swelled as much as a show of force as it was a base response to the eerie figure she could clearly see was staring at her with unreadable fascination.

As a fragment of the swarm connected to her severed socket and attempted with agonizing slowness to reform in the shape of her severed arm- a feat she was quick to forsake as a fool's errand. After all, if she could form limbs of pure maggot, she'd have no need for finding a vessel- Suparna could not shake a of the armored figure creeping upon her as the blood lust simmered within her.

"Diana, can you still do that glowy dragon thing?" Suparna asked, stepping forward to join Diana while the carrion were quick to encircle their queen. "I don't think this...thing is staring just because I'm a demon. We should attack before it gets a chance to break out whatever it used to kill the elephant."

The lingering sentiment completely ignored Diana’s words, its armored helm still pointed in Suparna’s direction. It spoke no words and made no gesture, as if it had suddenly gone back to be an inanimate object. Nor would it react to the maggot girl’s concerns of the flesh dissipating away or her mad scramble to reclaim it. It did, however, slowly turn its head when Suparna mentioned attacking it.

Only this time, the animated armor was looking at Diana now. Like a rocket taking off for ignition, the armored beast suddenly launched forward at the dragon girl. With its shoulder pointed forward, it barreled right into the heavenly warrior. The speed and strength of its take off jetted out plumes of ice and snow, a good deal of it launching at Suparna.

The armored sentiment only halted its momentum to grab Diana’s ankle. With its clawed gauntlet digging through armor and flesh, it spun back around and hurled the dragon away. Snow and rock would meet Diana’s barreling form, the armored warrior already manifesting a weapon in its right hand. All the while, it ignored Suparna, its sights only on slaying the dragon.

While one battle raged in place, another would occur deep in the throes of the Nexus’ Neutral Areas. For as Henry landed on the mountain, a curious chirping sound would resonate nearby. Something had spotted him and that something rustled the cliffside bushes like an animal. It gave him no chance to discover it because soon enough a metal head popped out from the undergrowth.

Henry could see its full shimmering body rippling beneath the greenery. So far, it didn’t seem like it was hostile. The same couldn’t be said for the ones slowly surrounding Titanica’s group. Scampering along the mountain’s rocky sides, claws digging into the earth, they crawled all around. Out of sight and out of sound, but no doubt catching Titanica’s, and perhaps even Zyata’s, alarm bells in senses.

Utada activated her shield quickly, raising her arm and blocking the energy blades with ease. She quickly activated her own jets to move around underwater, moving into a standoff with Lucifus as they circled one another. No words needed to be said to one another, unlike most combatants in the Nexus, Utada was just fine giving her opponent a quick and quiet death. As she sized her opponent up, gauging what his battle style would be and what his opening move would be, she looked at all her energy levels and smiled. No need to worry about running out of power midfight at least.

Utada would be the first to break the standoff, boosting towards Lucifus full force with her shield raised in front of her and sword in hand to bisect the Angel of Aether with ease. The sword vibrated at insane speeds, the blade hungered for the flesh of all who opposed Eos. The battle began.

---

A chirping sound caught Henry's attention as some bushes nearby rustled, with a robotic dinosaur looking thing peeking its head out and looking at him curiously. Henry smiled at it and waved, dumping some scrap metal on the ground as a peace offering. "Hey Eos, caught me in the middle of grabbing some stuff for Roma. I'll be back before the next fight, just gotta kill a bunch of mythological creatures and harvest their bodies for a contract. I really hope you can see through the eyes of every Machina like I heard you could, otherwise I'm going to feel really stupid later." And with that he took off into the air, speeding upwards as he looked for the Black Goat. He caught a brief glimpse of something with leather on his way up, but it had a lizard tail and boobs so it probably wasn't the Black Goat.

---

@floodtalon, @The 42nd Gecko, @TheWindel

---

Not only a few meters up the mountain does the duo suddenly receive some rather unexpected company. The sounds of robotic chirping and metal-scratching screeches can be heard coming from all around her as they surrounded Titanica and Zayata on top of the mountain walls. A growl of dissatisfaction groans over the Vassal as she doesn't take any of this lightly. Judging by the glimpses she's gotten, they were robotic raptors of some sort. Did the Machina create these creatures? And if so, why are they here?

Yet the questions didn't matter much to her. While she can easily crush them with her bare hands, they are still a valid threat. And they are blocking her path towards her goal. The vassal's eyes began to glow hot-blue in rage, her mouth emitting bluish-grey steam, and her spines begin to spark rapidly as she prepares for combat. She must make this quick if she's to beat that interloper near the bottom. As she slowly begins to scale up the mountain, Titanica quickly fires her atomic beam as she aims for the raptors scampering on the sides, being careful not to cause an avalanche by striking the sides of the rock. If any happened to jump from the edges onto her, she would simply pick them off in the air with her beam or physically smack them aside with her giant tail or fist.

But as she continues climbing up, she suddenly catches a glimpse of none other than the intruder who was flying up the mountain. He was pale, with blackened eyes only showing two dots of white soulless pupils, and had two large grey horns. No doubt it was some kind of demon. They were the only things she could catch on him before the character continued his ascent into the mountain. Rage began to pump adrenaline into her bloodstream as Titanica fires her beam straight towards his back, attempting to knock him straight out of the sky. Yet this adrenaline rush also prompted the vassal to quicken her pace up the mountain, gripping onto hard rock with her hands as they transformed into muscular reptilian-esque arms. She wasn't going to let him find this black goat leather on her watch.

Her tail can be useful for Zayata to latch on as she quickens the pace.

---

@floodtalon

---

As Utada charges at the archangel using her sword and shield, Lucifus retaliates by casually swimming away from the strike. But not before he releases a charged orb of stellar energy right in the machina's path. At first, it may seem as if she can just quickly avoid it as it was going at a relatively slow speed. But alas, the orb bursts, releasing a plethora of smaller orbs that also quickly explode all around her.

This is when Lucifus quickly follows up by spreading his six wings out and releases a storm of stellar bullets upon Utada all while continuing to circle around her. It's almost as if he's trying to trap the machina figure in place...

---

---

Unit-T continues to scan the buildings for any sign of the staff, sometimes even entering a building of interest to double check. Yet so far she seems to have found nothing. Maybe there are some clues nearby that can point Tina in the direction of the staff...?

The metallic raptor tilted its head to the side curiously, chirping once more as Henry addressed it. It was weird, but by the blinking of its lights it seemed to be invoking the basic form of communication. In any case, it meant no harm and chirped all the louder to the scrap metal deposited on the ground. As Henry took off, the raptor tilted its head down and consumed the offered gift in peace; on the other side, Eos was confused herself. Since when did Roma send people out on journeys?

The machine dinosaur’s meal would not last however. The creature suddenly bolted upright in position, bits of its scrap meal dripping down the sides of its jaws. With a great heave and a twitch, the creature spat and snarled, hissed and screeched in mangled fury. From just a second ago it had bore no ill intent; but as its lights flickered to a dark red hue, it kicked about in an agitated manner, clawing the ground and kicking up a mess.

Acting as if someone or something had wrestled control of it, it turned its optic sight to Henry’s flying form. With a snarl, it raced upon the mountain with an eagerness to slash and maim. This was no new phenomenon, for the raptors attacking Titanica and Zyata had also undergone a transformation. Their lights sifting into a crimson spark, they continued to throw themselves at the Vassal and her pet with no regard for tactics or safety. Because despite Titanica’s efforts, they just seemed to keep coming.

Their numbers were endless, some beginning to surround the trio on all sides despite the distance between them. And the brighter their red lights glowed, the more of a transformation they underwent. Icicles began to sprout from the raptor’s teeth, claws, and backs in a rapid metamorphosis. With this change in appearance came new powers as well, some raptors opening their maws and shooting out large and sharp icicles like bullets straight at Zyata.

“Titanica, is that you?” came a voice from one raptor. It was quite clear to make out despite the interference and scuffle of the fighting. When the voice spoke again, it came from another raptor, one who had pounced on Titanica’s back with claws bear to shred. “Of course it’s you. Who else would be this angry. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look climbing the mountain side? Of course you do.”