@Gardevoiran@Lmpkio@floodtalon



And so it begins.

Soldiers from all sides were firing now, having used the brief pause to size up their opponents. Metal shrieked as Machina drones were torn apart by thorny vines and melted by abyssal darkness. Screams and cries echoed through the arena as Chen's attack also reached the Demonic lines. The Angelic side had fared well so far, protected by Deva's bodyguard. But now that battle was joined in full that lead wouldn't last long.

The now chaotic battlefield before him was a sight that was becoming disturbingly familiar to Saef. First on his home planet and now here. People fought, died and were revived just so they could fight and die some more. The conversation with the Stargazer hovered at the edges of his thoughts no matter how much he tried to push them away.

The youngest of the Heaven's present champions shook his head as he followed the rest of the group. This was going to require some serious contemplation in the near future if he wanted it to stop haunting him. Thankfully, the battlefield chose that moment to send a distraction his way. The Machina Demon was making a speedy beeline for the passage out of the arena.

The skeleton couldn't hope to stop four of the Nexus Heaven's champions. But he might be able to slow them down enough for the other power players on the field to catch up. Then it would dissolve into a bloody free-for-all. Bloody and unpleasant.

With a grunt Saef shot forward, calling over his shoulder as he dashed past the rest of the group.

"I'll make sure nobody can hold the pass against us."

His intentions communicated to his companions he activated his jetpack and roared ahead. Going low and fast to avoid Machina anti-air defences he shot towards the exit to the Blood Arena. Symbols flashed through his head for a split second as the Thaumaturge swept his scepter at the Demon he was racing.

A wide blade of white light shot forth from the glowing object of power. It swept on an intercept course, not with Bonesword, but rather with the vines upon which he rode.

The threat imposed by one another wasn't the only thing that the Nexus' warriors would have to deal with while they entered the crevasse leading away from the arena. After crossing the narrow gap, they would arrive into a deep ravine where the sunlight was blocked almost completely by the steep, jagged walls.

If crossing a passage where the ones in front had almost complete leeway to decide what would happen with lagers wasn't bad enough in a normal situation, something worse happened not long after the first warriors set foot, wings, vines, etc. in those dark dwellings.

Gigantic scorpions, whose reddish carapaces blended almost perfectly with the muted, earthy tones of the ravine's walls began to drop from above and surface from the rocks below in search of prey. Whether the champions of the Nexus would decide to fight the man-sized predator or not was up to them.

For those who made it out of the mortal ravine alive, a much more interesting surprise awaited...

As soon as any of the combatants left behind the great sandstone formation that was cut through by the ravine they would be faced with a sight only possible in the world as fractured and chaotic as the Nexus: The Nightless Oasis was bathed in a blanket of perpetual starlight very much like Ciel's Observatory. It had such a lush, and vivid wildlife that it was almost like stepping into the heart of a great jungle. Away from the forest, the nocturnal lights sparkled against the surface of the Oasis' main waterbody, a vast lake whose opposite margin was barely visible.

Beyond the lake, the orange glow of what must have been enormous pires, or similar source of light, outlined the ominous silhouette of the first of the two great pyramids as well as the four massive obelisks that guarded each of its sides.

A soft breeze blew by. The rustling of leaves made the nearly complete lack of any other sound in the Oasis, safe for some distant songbirds and bats' cries, all the more evident. However, that wasn't even what the warriors of the Nexus had to truly worry themselves with. No, the true danger was the very air whose soothing fragrance induced a feeling of wistful longing into anyone who indulged in it for too long. Such feeling would grow into a deep lethargy, and finally, sleep and paralysis if their stay was too prolonged.

To finish the deal, a tremendously-oversized hydra—or perhaps it was more correct to call it an embodiment of nature's wrath— rose from the waters, challenging the courage any who dared come through the Oasis, in search of some fresh meat and bones to gnaw on.

The question that lingered in the air like the fragrance of the Oasis' flowers was whether or not the Champions of the Triumvirate were ready for this that wasn't even the "main event" of this conflict?

Diana hurried back to her room, after her brief interlude in the courtyard. The dragon girl had many preparations to do and little time at her disposal. The alluring fragrance of sweet confections filled the dragon girl's room for what felt like minutes of work for Diana, yet took a few hours to accomplish. Time flies when you are having fun, and Diana certainly was at this moment.

"Well, then I guess this is alright but... haven't I made a little too much?" Diana said to herself, rubbing away a stain on her cheek, as she stared at the fruits of her work, a sizeable pile of dragon chocolates, modeled just like her majestic wings. "Nah, you can never have too many sweets," she said, shrugging the matter of as she began to wrap them in thin gold foil and scarlet ribbons that would make sender of the treats even more evident if their shape and the fact that they were made with quite a high skill—which Diana inherited from a certain half of her parents, right along with the other's appetite.

As soon as Diana was done with wrapping and placing the chocolates into gift baskets, along with other carefully picked presents for each of the persons she meant to give them to, she stored the baskets in a magic bag and went out to distribute them. Knowing that she couldn't give all of the presents personally, Diana asked help of none other than Iona—everything going in or out of Celestia had to be inspected by the Archangel, after all— to help her send gifts to Bastion (along with the chocolates, Diana sent an apology letter, some celestial fruits, and a plushie doll based on Diana's dragon form), to Diana's parents and their Masters (along with two cakes and a letter telling about everything that happened in the past few months and how Diana was having fun), to a certain Golden Knight (along with a letter telling him that she was doing her best to look after 'that person' as well as challenging him to another duel) and finally, to Victoire (along with a glass of wine, roses, and a letter telling that, despite everything that happened, Diana actually hoped that they could become friends one day). Obviously, Diana had a present for Iona as well, it wasn't meant as any sort of bribery but because Iona was one of the few persons around Celestia that Diana was still acquainted with.

After she was done with the long range deliveries, Diana went out to deliver the ones she could do personally. Her first stop being a certain dark corner of Celestia that visited by few beings. Ever since her Asgardian outing along with Suparna, Diana felt that she should come here to at least say thanks to the Angel of Death for her work, but time never allowed her to.

Today was going to be different.

"Hmm, is there anyone home? I brought a gift for you. Can I... come in?", Diana asked as she used her tail to knocked on Marianne's door while her arms were occupied with a basket holding the chocolate, some flowers, a thank you letter, and incense.

"..." Eos' initial response to Roma seemed to be completely robotic and emotionless, however, the Eel would be able to feel an arm bringing her close to the android's chest in a wordless display of affection.

A moment later, Eos let Roma go and took a step backward before pretty much pushing the doll she had in her arms at the Eel's face. "Is Bastion home as well? I'm just done dealing with a problem regarding some unruly individuals and thought about coming for a visit," she said in a monotone voice, taking a short break before asking, "Can I come in?"

Eos took a look over Roma's head, glancing at the basket resting on the couch—that certainly wasn't there when Roma came to answer the door. She was about to ask about it when no one but Henry came into them out of the blue. The white-haired android frowned, cursing inwardly, before she addressed his question. "I understand it if a being that never met us doesn't recognize this form. But, you should know better about Roma, Bastion, and myself, Avaritia. A high caliber warrior such as yourself should be able to recognize your Queen regardless of whatever body I decide to use, don't you think?"

"Unless your senses are getting dull because you are becoming too soft, just like a certain Eel that I know," Eos said, taking the opportunity to make a witty comment aimed at Roma, just like in the old times.

"Ho~, smelling yourself, you say?" Hohenheim replied to Titanica as she finished doing her hair and began to fiddle with a makeup kit. "Perhaps, you would be interested in a new perfume? I know exactly the best one for you," the Alchemist grinned as she produced a crystal bottle from a drawer and sprinkled Titanica with its surprisingly sweet smelling contents. "That's a special mix I finished a couple days ago. I call it Cherry Love. You can even keep it if you like, I need someone to test the effects of longtime exposition, anyway," Hohenheim said, pushing the bottle on Titanica's hands before she took a lock of the other Vassal's hair and studied it with seemingly great curiosity.

"Now that I think about it. If you ever decided to work on your looks, you could come up to quite a nice position in the Vassals' beauty rank," Hohenheim said without a care in the world while she listened to the remainder of Titanica's spiel. After the lizard woman said all she had to, the Alchemist said, "Nah, I don't know anything about that. I mean, I know how you smell and all that, but that's not what you are asking, is it, dear Titanica?"

"Though, I can imagine a few reasons why you lost your trail in the Oblivion Dungeon. Before I get into any further conjectures, we will need to get a better look at the last place you remember that you felt this smell," Hohenheim said in an unusually considerate voice while she continued to fiddle with Titanica's hair, in fact going as far as braiding its tip. "There's just a caveat that you'll have to deal with on your own. Since that place is out of the Nexus, somewhere between everything and nothing, neither of our powers can make the trip. You'll have to either get a permit from that Workaholic Archangel or convince the Snake to get you there."

"What is it that you are going to choose, T.I.T.A.N.I.C.A.~?"

The sentiments shared between Roma and Eos was perhaps something new for Henry to view, although to anyone else living in the neighborhood it was business as usual. It was no secret among these inhabitants of the romance between Vassal and Machina. Or maybe none of them dared to say anything about it, considering who was involved in this relationship. Still, it was a happy moment for both, even with Henry’s presence among them.

It wouldn’t be lasting for long. Roma would, as always, be the first to sense it. A charred smell stinging the air, the sensation almost burning it whole. Whether she would react or not depended on how fast her Master was; and her Master was quite fast, faster than her. The familiar bolt of electricity shot just beside Roma and Eos, heading directly for Henry’s face. Its length was narrow, almost like a thin blade meant to cut through the air itself.

The attack was certainly meant to cut right into something, that being Henry’s face. Regardless of how he reacted, the attacker came from inside the house and was making their way closer to the opening entrance. For it was Bastion herself, a stream of electricity crackling from an open palm still aimed at Henry. Her mismatched eyes, once clear and wide, were now steely as if they belonged to someone else. “Flee where you stand demon. I won’t miss a second time.”

What could have caused this most strange of changes? Indeed, it was a mystery, but none more so than the mystery of why Diana thought visiting the Angel of Death was a good idea. Perhaps it was she too was the daughter of a Vassal and so Diana felt some kinship between them. But even so, none visited Marianne’s Church without paying the price for it.

The constant shrilling of decayed birds echoed in its wake, the melodic sound of a piano playing being the only solace from their cries. A deep fog blanketed the air and ground, giving the place a milky palette in appearance. At first glance, it’d be difficult to say whether this domain was of Heaven or Hell. And Diana had found herself right in the middle of it, the door slowly creaking open under the force of her tail whacks.

Henry held back a smirk and bowed lightly, keeping his eyes on Eos and Roma as he spoke. "Forgive me Lady Eos, I had a suspicion of your identity but I don't like to assume things. Keeps me alive nine times out of ten." He noted the small frown on her face, he couldn't help but feel somewhat bad that he was ruining such a rare show of affection from Roma and Eos, it almost made him want to leave. Almost. "And no. My senses are most certainly not dulling, I would say they're sharper than ever now that I don't have to constantly be smelling sulfur in the burning depths of Hell." As he straightened himself from his bow, he actually caught the faint smell of sulfur, which was quite unusual for- "SHIT!"

A blade of energy nicked Henry's cheek as he swerved his head out of the way as quickly as he could, a thin red line standing out against his pale visage as he began to bleed. His eyes narrowed as he nearly drew his sword on the spot, but he held himself back. There was only one person who could've struck from inside the house and he wanted an explanation before he attacked one of his only friends in this city. Lo and behold, Bastion emerged from the door with palm outstretched, electricity visibly crackling in her open palm. Her eyes were hardened, Henry had never seen that look in her eyes. Not when she was being controlled by Victoire when he first met her, not when he fought her in the forests of Arcadia and he tried to capture her, and certainly not when he visited her home with a fruit basket in hand to apologize for his shitty behavior.

He looked to Roma with a questioning gaze, he honestly had no idea what to do in this situation. His hand hovered near his sword for but a moment, his stance defensive and crouched as he unconsciously prepared for a fight, but he slowly began to stand up and relax as he waited for the next move. "I don't plan on going anywhere to be frank. A friend invited me to their house and I brought fruit. I don't feel like letting it go to waste." A cocky grin settled on Henry's face as per usual, but it was a poor cover for his inner turmoil. What the fuck was going on today?

---

Nina had been able to dodge the spikes that had sought to end her life, many of the lesser demons were not nearly as lucky on the other hand. Not that they mattered, the low born rank and file of Hell meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, they were just bodies to throw at other bodies. She raced through the ravine with a scowl on her face, backhanding any of the scorpions who thought they could approach the King of Dragons.

As she made her way through the Ravine, powering through any and all obstacles, she found herself to be the first in a strangely calm Oasis. She found herself taking a deep breath, her eyes blinking rapidly as she looked around. Something smelled funny, but she had no time to think on that. A massive Hydra rose from the waters with a mighty roar and Nina prepared to take off into the skies, but she paused. Normally she wouldn't even hesitate to roar in defiance and try to kill the creature, but something about the air was calming her down. She hadn't felt this calm for months admittedly, it wasn't all that bad...

---

Saef's plan was solid, cutting off Bonesword's form of transport would leave him very vulnerable to further holy blasts. Unfortunately Saef failed to account for one thing. Bonesword wasn't alone in this fight. Rose sped past Saef at mach speeds, intercepting the holy blast with her body and the energy shields which covered her body. Some of the blast made it past her regardless, Saef had made quite the wide attack, but it was only able to cut some of the vines upon which Bonesword rode. Rose hovered in place to block Saef, wagging her finger in a disapproving manner with a playful smile on her face. "Now now, it's rude to shoot at someone while their back is turned! You gotta make a dramatic entry first like, 'You're not getting away that easy!' or whatever it is you Angels say."

She giggled a little at her Angel impression, then pointed at Saef with her left index finger and a whole lot of energy cannons. "Here, I'll show you how to do it. If you wanna get him you're gonna have to go through me!" With that said the energy cannons began to glow a bright orange as they charged up, ready to fire upon Saef for thinking he could attack a Machina with impunity.

---

Chen watched Amaterasu float beside him and mentally sighed, it would appear as if every animal in Heaven was somehow magnetically attracted to him. Chen tapped his rapier upon the ground once more and the ground began to shake, vines lifting the earth beneath them and carrying them forwards to the ravine. "If you see anyone you wish to engage, just hop off. You'll find your landing quite soft if you aren't able to land on your feet." If anyone wished to take him up on the offer they would find a soft pile of flowers awaiting them, even if they didn't bother to say a single thing. Chen had no wish to fight the soulless machines nor the foul beings that came from Hell. He only had eyes for the destination in front of him and he would have no mercy for any who tried to get in his way.

---

It stung more then she had the words to convey that Eos could be such a pale reflection of past exuberance and that it was a change wrought at Roma's request was like a dagger twisting ever deeper into her heart. If they'd never grown close, at least Eos could have continued being Bastion's friend without the weight of the Nexus crashing upon her shoulders. So much worry and doubted crammed into a terse silence, only to be smothered in Eos' arms and left to fester for another day.

The contact was painfully brief yet she had no words when they parted and an adorable plush toy was shoved into her face. At the very least Eos had not forgotten either of their fondness for these simple toys.

"Oh!" Her voice rose sharply past monotone as she took in the sight of the demon waiting patiently for their public display of affection to pass, reminding Roma once again that Henry was rather well mannered in his selective sort of way. It really just went to show how much farther the carrot went as opposed to the stick. "I did not see you there Avaritia. Pardon my brashness. It has been some time since I could get- Eos, what is the point of a disguise if you announce it to everyone within ear shot?"

And rather suddenly all the love in the world couldn't stop Roma from tucking the stuffed animal under one arm and reaching out to pinch Eos' ear smartly for undermining all their cloak and dagger, though enmity was a whole other matter.

The crack of ionized air and a discharge of electricity occurring from right behind her brought the cold disposition of the Eel to the forefront as she whirled to find Bastion with arm raised. Or rather, it was something familiar but not the sweet girl who could befriend Demons and Angels with nary a hateful bone in her body.

"Kiara." Roma drawled stepping between her and Henry after the demon thankfully refused to flee or fight back and escalate the situation. That would have made things rather catastrophic in their outcome. "You've chosen a poor time for your memories to resurface. You are out of your element and I will forgive your haste, but know this Demon has pledged his loyalty to Eos and myself, and I will not tolerate it being made a mistake on his part. Calm yourself, Master."

Celestia could boast the grandest of training fields for its armies. Grand, in that Hell didn't care to build and maintain any, and the Machina were far too efficient to worry about spectator seating. In this regard Heaven would always be superior, for better or worse. Suparna found it useful in so far as there was always room to cut loose, or more aptly, get beaten into the dirt by seasoned veterans trying to teach her the minutia of swordplay. With the recent acquisition of Harley's generous gift she had been spending less time on the ground, though today wasn't a day for honing skill in that regard.

Twelve bodies stood arrayed in a line, extending in either direction from Suparna's main body where she waited with a rigid grasp on sword and shield waiting for her opponent to arrive. Harley had arranged another 'Gift' in the form of a sparing partner and Suparna, not inclined to refuse Cheschire after donating these lovely Dragon bodies, found herself waiting with rising anxiety over what horror awaited her. "If I have to fight that armor again, does anyone think Harley will mind if I just run away?"

Eleven heads shook in the negative, some voicing their sympathy but all agreeing that it would be best not to tempt fate against that monster, upgrades or no. A collective shiver went down their spines and they found their eyes wandering for signs of their late opponent. As if their actions had spoken for them, something began to emerge in their sights. The surprise Harley had promised was arriving and she had made sure to make it as ominious as she could. Though she didn't need to try hard in the end. As the masked man stepped into reality, his mere visage gave off a presence of something....wrong.

Harley was by his side in less than moments, glancing over the ensemble of bodies surrounding Suparna. She hadn't expected the maggot to actually take all twelve of them but she didn't really mind. Whatever her Master desired, they would receive without hesitation. Speaking of them, the grand one of all was mere feet away from Suparna's form. An enigma to most, the maggot knight would know of him instantly as the Jester of the Court as well as their connection. "This is her then," he spoke, studying his newest vessel with unread emotion.

"Yep," Harley snickered, giving Suparna two thumbs up. Suparna responded with a glare that would have set kindling to light, but alas Harley was made of sterner stuff.

"Harley, and, umm, Jester. As much as I appreciate you coming all the way here, I have to ask how you expect me to fight you. It's kind of...beyond me. Seriously, I'm hardly one one thousandth of the Jester, distilled through countless of generations of maggot reproduction. I'd have an easier time wrestling Harley in cat form!"

Suparna knew Harley was insane, it was just how she was made but dear lord did that woman have some warped sensibilities if she thought this was going to end productively. As one the bodies rose to pinch the bridge of their noses, looking comically undignified before the Jester and Vassal. "Alright then. What did Harley set us up for as Training?"

The Jester spoke nothing of Suparna's complaints and Harley just deflected them with laughter. It was as if she was being reviewed by the school principal and his mad assistant with critisicm all around. And yet, the Jester did not end her life with a simple flick of the hand, nor did he rearrange her cells into some grand cosmic jest. He continued staring down at the maggot girl before finally saying, "This structure is inadequate." Before Suparna could very well change her appearance, assuming he was referring to her, something else began to take place.

Harley's smirk didn't fade once the masked man had transformed in a blur of memory. In one moment was his familiar visage to Suparna and the next, something else had stood where he once had. Something, or rather, someone much less intimidating and even matching around Suparan's height. "This structure is more appropriate," said a higher, much more feminine voice. Gone was the mask and body, replaced now by a body almost matched Suparna's. Expression as stoic as ever, the new Jester locked gazes to Suparna and said, "Is this more to your liking?"

"It was your ability, not your stature- No, never mind. I forget I'm still somewhat sane." And she meant no offense, as the Jester and his ilk were the farthest from sanity one could get and still function. That he abided the laws of gravity was a marvel in and of itself. "This will be fine. Just, umm, can we call no phasing as a rule? Otherwise I'll be punching empty air all day and this does nothing but get Harley off and that's easy enough to do without a brawl."

"I have no qualms with this," the Jester said, voice and face still near-lethargic. Had Suparna not witnessed the transformation personally, she might not believed this girl, who was shorter even than Harley now, was such a threat. The Vassal among them made one last snicker before phasing out of their way and upon one of the rows of seats lining the arena. Her Master paid her no mind, gaze still placed on her other vessel. "I won't need parlor tricks in this spar."

Sending one last withering glance at the Vassal Suparna marshaled her bodies to commit to something truly stupid and undoubtedly painful in its conclusion, of this she was assured. So confident was she that she didn't wait for the Jester to make the first, as he- err, She, had far too many advantages as was. The dragon's bolted forward in a wave of clenched fist and claw, rushing out in two waves that closed in on the center. One after the other, timed to strike and disengage just as the next came into range, while Suparna herself lagged behind as the last to pierce straight up the middle.

She was certain this would end horribly, but it was impossible to run, so she may as well try and go down swinging for once. And she was so happy with outliving all her peers too...

"Eager, aren't you," mused the Jester, body never flinching as she was rushed by the bodies. Nor did she raise her arms to defend, not when the corpses' attacks would be stopped anyway. Wherever their blows landed, a small, rectangular object manifested to block the impact. Despite their sizes, hitting them felt like hitting an impossible wall or perhaps a magic seal. Closer inspection revealed them to be simple cards, perhaps of the tarot or even table playing variety. Regardless, they either appeared on the spot or zipped to wherever a blow came, generating a defensive wall around the Jester. "What will you do now," said the Jester as her card caught Suparna's blade, the girl waiting for an answer where she stood.

A fancy parlor trick to be sure, but compared to the full breadth of Jester's ability this didn't even constitute a proper act of sleight of hand. With every failed attack the dragon's over shot the Loli Jester and came to circle around to strike the card from every direction. Of course such a measure would be child's play to counter with his lightning fast impenetrable defense, but Suparna wasn't shaken. Keeping the cards constantly moving, scales grinding off them with nary a scratch left behind before the bodies returned to their whirl of movements. It clearly wasn't enough to dent it, and that was all well and good to the Queen of Carrion.

Rend yourselves! She commanded and without breaking stride the draconian bodies turned their claws upon themselves, gouging their arms till languid drops of fetid blood dripped free and carried a mass of maggots along with them. Now as they leaped into the fray they launched ballistic maggots every which way, forcing the cards to re-act against hundreds of targets a second.

"Interesting." Indeed, multiple targets would be a problem to handle, especially ones that counted themselves in the hundreds of thousands. The solution was simple, the cards merely twice the speed they were going to make up for the sudden increase enemies. Blows and bugs alike found themselves making no leeway into the Jester's defense; it was most pleasing for her. As her defense continued to maintain itself, the Jester held a hand out from herself. Moments later and a new card summoned itself into her hand.

She knew what it was and so didn't even read its contents before tossing it to the air. It rocketed above her frame, shining a voidless light among the battlefield before a black hole replaced the card. The Jester waited for everything, the maggots, the corpses, and perhaps even Suparna to be dragged to their fates. "I have dealt with your minions," was all she said, watching the scene around her.

The lack of a breach was disappointing but not cause to dismay. The Jester was as the Jester was, and frankly it would only take a whim to see her annihilated. They maintained the constant attack while Suparna herself backed off to assess the situation, and it was here that she spotted the Jester's new move. A bonafide black hole was not high on her list of things to see today, but her luck had run dry today.

First to be swept up where the airborne maggots lacking anything to hold themselves to, and it was from there that the Dragon bodies where gripped by the crushing force of imploding reality. Yet they didn't panic- They couldn't panic. Linked as they were they reacted instantly, linking themselves claw to claw in a humanoid chain that ended in the last body clinging to Suparna in a bone shaking hug. Suparna stabbed her sword into the arena dirt and braced against the pull, hoping this thing had a short shelf life as her bodies hang upwards in the air.

"This sort of sight. One might call it pathetic." The Jester watched the display of human chain link, anchoring itself with Suparna as the end point. It was quite comical to anyone else, but for the maggot facing the threat of a black hole it was a tactic meant for survival. Even so, the Jester watched for only a few seconds more before calling back her card. The black hole dispersed in lingering smokes of purple before the card flew back into the Jester's hand. "You used your corpses as a means to keep yourself tethered. Interesting."

"Oh thanks, we really appreciate it!" They shouted back in stereo at the untouched opponent, wondering just how long they would keep this going before either boredom set in or they slipped off into oblivion. What would have been a pathetic way to expire was deemed too pathetic for their lot and gravity was allowed to perform as per normal. As they came to fall back down Suparna gave the corpse chain a tug, flicking them all around the Jester's bubble of protection to coil upon it in a living lash of bared teeth and oozing maggots. "How about you let us give you a hug for all these fine lessons?!"

"You've given them each speech and thought," the Jester mused, more aloud than to Suparna. No cards came to defend her this time; instead, she drew another one, holding it out before her. Before Suparna had time to read the symbol it glowed a silver light before a dome of equal material had formed around the Jester. It took every bit of damage the maggot hoped to employ, not faltering under the crawling critters and gnashing teeth. "But do they work independently of your control with strategies of their own? That is an oversight." Suddenly the dome collapsed away, not before sending a shockwave of blinding silver light all around her and right into the corpses.

Suparna would have gladly talked shop, as it was dreadfully difficult to find anyone in Heaven who was neither queasy or disdainful of her abilities, but the ability to chatter amicably over a rousing fight became difficult when she and the corpses where blasted away ass over kettle, an unsettling ring of snapped bones. In an instant she knew the majority of her bodies were immobile and by the denting of her breastplate digging into her chest, she wasn't inclined to rise up off the ground either. "Cheap...shot."

"You're unable to continue." It was more statement than request, the Jester's cards settling into nothingness. As Suparna's corpse legion was incapacitated, the distance was closed between her and the Jester until at last, the girl was standing over the fallen knight. "I've seen all I've needed to, and much more. You will prove to be...very interesting in these coming events."

The arrival of this new dragon-esque character puzzled the dark knight as he halted temporarily to view this new ally. She was small, but was fitted with large clunky armor, with savage animalistic qualities to kick in that dragon-look. The Hell Knight was looking at what would essentially be his rival, just like in the stories of medieval, where the knight fights off dragons to save the princess and secure the kingdom from its grasp. Yet ironically, in this situation, he is fighting alongside this character against Heaven and the Machina, although he doubts the two would be teaming up looking at what little he sees of her personality. The dragon breathes out hot dark energy beams up into the sky, which would rain down upon the opposing forces.

She may be powerful, but what about their third contestant. After all, the others had sent three to four to deal with this matter. Yet as he pauses to look out for any other of Hell's allies, no one else came to join them. It was then when he realized that he and the dragon were alone. Why they didn't make sure to send another opponent in was beyond him, unless the dragon character was capable of taking them on all by herself. Could she be one of those legendary Vassals he's been hearing about recently? After all, there were reports of another reptilian vassal rising from the depths after~

*Rumble rumble*

Before he can finish that thought, he suddenly feels the entire ground shaking beneath him. He wobbles slightly before looking at what the dragon was doing, as she suddenly takes to the skies as something erupted from underneath him.

"Shit."

Without any hesitation, Mephilies activates his armor's thrusters and jump high into the sky as a giant thorns of wood and plants bursted underneath him. He made sure to keep his shield underneath his body in the case some rogue thorns flew up at him, which none seemed to do As soon as he lands however, he notices Bonesword revving up his minigun and begins firing upon the armored Hell Knight. Mephilies raises his shield, covering his body yet again as the bullets would be blocked and reflected from his mighty shield. In response, the demon fires a cluster shot from his gunlance towards the bony skeleton, exploding into multiple fragments as they detonate near the machina unit. Whether or not it would hit, it became clear that his opponent was heading into the Ravine below. The Hell Knight nearly proceeded to follow Bonesword in pursuit, but he didn't want to be out-gunned by any other units that might be heading down below. It's possible he could face the three head on and do some major damage, but this wasn't the main objective. Speed is what he needs to concentrate on and these foes would only slow him down...

He'll probably see them again anyways.

So instead he follows to where the dragon-lady was headed, alongside several of his men, which lead them to a nearby oasis. Nina was there, seemingly relaxed by the waters, while a gigantic hydra emerged ready to eat her. Mephilies' helmet suddenly covers his entire face as he begins running parallel against the monster, all while lobbing several more cluster rounds at the rising monster. His men took position as the ranged mages and gunners began distracting the monster away from the dazed dragon lady. THe Knight then glances at where the dragon is simply standing idly like a sitting fucking duck.

"Hey!" he roars back at Nina as he lobs another round at the creature's head, "If you can you get your head out of your scaly ass and be useful, that would be much appreciated!"

---

Castellum's presence on the battlefield was surprising, yet quite welcoming. They now had four major units on their side, including himself, and two major armies at their command. Saef's brigade and Lucifus' Laguna legion were both forces to be reckoned with. Even as Hell's dragon lady summoned meteors down upon he and his army, his speed made sure he dodged nearly every single one of these attacks, before Chen could counter with his own attack. The archangel looked upon the chaotic battlefield briefly as soon as Chen's pillar attack conceded, flying among the perimeter as he considers heading straight to the next area alone. He glances back to see Chen and Amastu flying on a piece of rock as they descended into the ravine.

Saef on the other hand was attempting to cut-off Bonesword's descent, while also about to deal with another one of Machina's lackeys. The person in question was one Lucifus hasn't seen before, although he sees that she wields a heavy assortment of power at her disposal. He wasn't going to have the brigade general be left behind this early in battle. So as Titania was concentrating towards the young captain, the archangel was able to sneak behind her and fires his optic stellar beams from his eyes. His target was not the character herself, but rather her energy cannons. One well planted shot should be able to disable them...

---

The Saurian vassal wasn't at all amused by the initial perfume response Hoho cooked up, glaring as the alchemist fiddled with her black hair. The sweetly smell was a little too strong and it burned the inside of her nostrils. Her nose exhales a faint blue mist, neutralizing the unwanted scent as she plants it down on the bed at a considerable distance away. However, Hoho seemed willing to help her retrace her scent, offering a ride into the Oblivion Dungeon to trace it back, although she'd need help from others to get her there. And once there, she's on her own with little to no help available...

But that's not where she'll be going to...

"No." she replies with a light hiss, "That's not where I want to go. The scent wasn't in the dungeon. I entered it only for I smelled conflict within..."

She pauses only to remember that one certain conflict from within while looking down at the floor.

"Pfft... only to run into Iona-bitch and Helena-whore who both wanted me to join one of their sides. Obviously I refused, but they didn't listen. Don't get me started with Iona's bitch-ass... I'll beat her to death the next time I lay eyes on her."

She pauses again before looking back at Hoho.

"I need to head back to that foundry." she continues bluntly, "That's where I last smelled the scent. It was gone when I got there, but maybe the scent still remains... or maybe I can find physical clues. If I can smell it again, I'll at least figure out its origins."

Amaterasu rode alongside Castellum as the group approached the Oasis, her eyes fixated on the opposition. Ahead of everyone, Saef Harken and two Machina units were engaging eachother, trying to likely get ahead of the rest of the rabble so they'd have no issues. Ahead of them existed the two most tantalizing targets of Mephilies and that dragon of the demons. Disgusting scum, they were, but how close they were together made them particularly vulnerable to Amaterasu.

With a stoic expression on her face, Amaterasu raised her free hand towards the two demons and prepared an attack, smirking as a large beam of pure holy light fired directly in front of the demons, aiming to not hit them directly, but cause them to rush into the mighty beam, smiting them and taking them out entirely. That dragon looked like a problem, and when your problems were addressed, you could continue on unhindered. Having the demons exhausted completely was an answer to this problem.

All problems had an answer.

---

Bonesword continued grinding on the vines below him as Saef chased him, trying to cut Bonesword off his path to success. He wasn't the only opposition in this, either, as Mephilies fired a blast at the skeleton that had exploded just a tad too late to do anything but drain the skeleton's shield completely, leaving him vulnerable but dangerous.

The bit of the blast that Titania didn't block with her body caught against the vines Bonesword rode, causing him a bit of trouble but overall not hindering him in the slightest as he rode into the Oasis. It was there that the skeleton took into account of everything going on, including the massive hydra off in the distance and the sudden appearance of Lucifus. Holy Eos that hydra was terrifying, but it was also distant. It didn't threaten Bonesword just yet.

"Titania, check your 6." Watching behind him, the skeleton snapped as Charlie the Basilisk shot up from the ground, catching the skeleton upon his back. Then Charlie began riding the vines that Bonesword was already on, going even faster than the skeleton was before. Behind the two, both Vulcan Yew miniguns attached to the combatant's backs fixated their aim upon Saef Harken and Lucifus, opening fire in attempts to get both birds out of the fight. Additionally, to minimize damage reception, Charlie began to swerve and move in jagged patterns, looking to make the target of Bonesword all that much harder to hit as they continued forth to the First Pyramid. Bonesword himself had even begun to sprout leafy plants on Charlie's back behind him, possibly to use as cover in case of any unwanted attacks.

@Gardevoiran@Lmpkio@floodtalon



Bullet-like seeds began to ping off his shields as Saef thundered on. Most of his attention was focused on the rather painful looking collection of lasers pointed his way. Still, the skeleton's attack was annoying and placed an unneeded drain on his suit.

A couple symbols arranged themselves in his head. It was a simple spell that barely took any time or effort to cast. To those watching a dense fog appeared to erupt into existence around the Thaumaturge, extending for about ten yards in every direction and traveling at the same speed and on the same course. It wasn't actual fog. Just light shaped to look as such. A simple application of power that would prevent anyone from seeing in through viaual or thermal means.

Of course the young woman before him probably had other means of seeing, the same as Saef did. So as her cannons glowed with rising power the Heavenly soldier changed direction slightly. Moving from his previous position in the cloud he hit the ground running, forming a proper barrier before him that was angled to deflect rather than stop incoming fire.

As soon as the battle had started, the Machina of Man seemed much shorter on numbers than the rest of the groups, and so they were immediately targeted, but this was nowhere near outside of Muramasa's expectation in the isolated simulation. Only the most perceptive of combatants would notice the very slight disturbances in the environment as Muramasa sped through the battlefield, scanning the combatants, identifying the best target to relieve pressure from his faction. So far it appeared perhaps either the warriors of heaven, the two particular ascended humans, as identified in database, "Saef", and "Chen", were ideal targets to bring pressure away from them.

Scanning for more options... There were new combatants entering the battlefield, one has arrived, and another approaching. Readings show they are especially powerful, it would not be wise to face them head on. The best option is to make sure his own allies can remain on the battlefield. It appeared though however for the moment, the plant-manipulator Chen would be a difficult target, standing beside as identified Amaterasu, which leaves just one target.

The hardened warrior-type of heaven would feel a glint of danger as a red and black flash emitted from behind him, the sound of an unusual blade singing through the air, a combination of the wind being cut by steel, and the high-pitched hum of a laser blade. Be it his strike finds a mark or is blocked, he would immediately follow up with more strikes, making use of his speed to strike from different angles instead, his aim to keep Saef in this position to allow his allies a better shot, if his blade doesn't outright end him.

A sharp voice cuts through her peace, the Demon knight who came with her yells at her to move. Anger begins to boil once more, the darkness that burns within her burns even darker. It eats away at the toxins that seek to immobilize her, she smacks her head with both fists and roars loudly, almost matching the monster in front of her in volume. She takes off into the air, shooting balls of darkness at the beast's heads from all angles as it attempts to swat and snap at her. She would be no monster's meal if she had anything to say about it, for this pitiful creature to even consider biting at her was a capital offense.

The one who came with her had brought along his peons as well it would seem, they lobbed artillery at the mighty hydra to pester it and distract it while she did the heavy lifting, which was good in that not all the heads would be attacking her all at once. On the other hand, she had to focus on dodging friendly fire as well, which was quite irritating. She would have to crush them all after this fight, she would make it quick since their intentions were good.

---

Lucifus would find his shots to be true, aimed directly at Rose's beam cannons they flew through the air at the speed of light and collided directly with the mechanical destroyers leaving behind... not even a scratch as her shields absorbed the entirety of the impact. However it did throw off her aim, which was enough to get her attention. She hadn't fired yet due to Muramasa deciding to get in close and Saef obscuring his position, so Rose turned around and aimed her fully charged cannons directly at Lucifus, firing as soon as she caught sight of him. The two lasers rushed towards his position, each one the size of a baseball bat, the energy inside them was nothing like Lucifus had ever seen. He would have no time to react as they headed straight for his chest and then stopped a mere foot away from him.

"JEEZ, I thought you Angels were supposed to be "honorable" and all that stuff! It's really rude to shoot someone from behind ya know! I just got done scolding your friend for that!" Rose had a look of annoyance upon her face as she puffed out her cheeks and glared at Lucifus, pointing at him with a scolding finger. "It's like I said, you gotta announce your surprise attack right before you do it! Something like "I won't let you hurt him!" ya know?" Suddenly a mischievous smirk appeared on her face as her pointed finger changed from just being that to a little finger gun with thumb raised. "Do it like this! BANG!" She closed her thumb to her hand as if shooting a gun, just as the laser that was previously frozen in place exploded in a burst of frozen energy. Yes that's right, frozen energy.

If Lucifus found himself too slow to get out of the way, his view of the battlefield would subtly change as everything got just a little bit faster, while his body was still moving at the same speed. To be more accurate, it's not that the world had gotten faster, but that he had gotten a little slower. His time signature had been pushed out of place slightly, it wouldn't be permanent but it would take a minute or two to fix itself. "I'll give you a second to think about that." She winked and giggled as her laser cannons began to charge up again, but additional cannons emerged from her sides. These ones needed no charge up, they began firing on Lucifus immediately.

---

Amaterasu would find her laser not even coming close to her mark as it was intercepted by a foolish scorpion rushing straight at them. The scorpions were practically pouring out the woodwork by now, larger and larger ones attacking everyone in the Ravine as their brethren were slain. Chen and Amaterasu in particular were being set upon by a very large number of scorpions due to their status as biggest target, thorns would erupt from the platform and vines every time that the scorpions attempted to climb up from above, but the scorpions that leapt upon them from above were something for Amaterasu to take care of. Normally Chen would also be taking care of this, but his attention was very divided right now, dodging Bonesword's rain of Vulcan Yew seeds, skewering scorpions from below as well as continuing their march forwards was a bit taxing on his focus to say the least.

Bonesword was not safe either as scorpions began to attack him from all sides, he wouldn't be able to outrun them either. Not only were these creepy crawlies very fast, but they were coming from his front as well, so he would have to put some focus into taking them out lest they impede his progress. A few were being taken out by his Vulcan Yew seeds, but unless he decided to focus on them it just wouldn't be enough. Not unless he had a plan.

Henry nodded at Roma gratefully, hoping that Bastion would taker her Vassal's words to heart. He did however note what Roma had called her. Kiara. A name unfamiliar to him, as well as the new development of Bastion regaining her memories. It was easy to put the pieces together of course, Kiara was her original name from before memory loss while Bastion was the new name. It would be awkward getting used to that switch, but he would. Assuming she didn't try to kill him of course, which was still a very real possibility if this new aggressive Kiara decided to disregard Roma. "I'm going to guess you have your memories of me, but I'll reintroduce myself just in case. Fresh start and all that. I'm Henry Pearl Avaritia, former Prince of Greed. You can call me Henry." He topped off his intro with a small wave and a smile. Probably the best first introduction he's ever made.

Henry would have his suspicions, as accurate as they may have been, placed on hold a little longer. Bastion, or rather as Roma had said, Kiara ignored him completely to look at Roma and Eos. What's this then? A demon working under Roma? "I see my Vassal is taking on apprentices. This is a change from before," she said, glare never settling away. Whether she remembered Eos or not was impossible to gauge as her focus was solely on the Eel defending this demon. "I suppose that's fine. But any student of yours clearly has to pass my requirements. Yes, that sounds about right....if he can't keep himself alive than he's not worth teaching. Now move out of my way Roma."

The Eel saw there was nothing to be done when Kiara was acting of relatively sound mind in this matter. It would be one thing if she were bereft of sense and rampaging like a beast, but she couldn't rightly refuse Kiara in this. Clicking her tongue in disapproval of the fight that she no doubt knew Kiara would dump upon Bastion and Roma to clean up after once she had her fill of fun, she stepped past Kiara and into the apartment, intent on watching the fight while sampling the fruit basket Henry had offered.

Henry's smile faded to a fairly neutral expression as he thought about this. Fighting Bastion- Kiara. Fighting Kiara to prove himself. A small sigh escaped his lips as he threw the basket of fruit into the air, it landed neatly on a closed can of garbage as he cracked his neck and his knuckles. "Well that's fair enough I suppose. We've been overdue for a rematch anyhow," Henry's usual smile settled back onto his face as he drew his sword, pointing at Kiara's throat and chuckling. "Don't get mad if I take off a limb though." His muscles tensed, his gaze sharpened, a battle would be a good way to cap off the day. Maybe he could blow off some steam that this shitty day had built.

Eos observed the confrontation in silence. She felt something different about Bastion, no Kiara, that was at the same time familiar and alien to her. This wasn't the low self-esteem girl that Eos was used to most of the time but also wasn't the sisterly figure she admired from the days of yore either. In the Supreme Queen's mind, the best outcome would be to observe and learn, while shooting a pretty vicious glare towards Henry as soon as he made that limb chopping joke.

Even if Eos knew that it was impossible for Henry to hurt a serious Bastion, Eos wasn't entertained at all by the notion that he contemplated it.

"......" WIth Roma and Eos out of the way, there was nothing to stand between the two combatants, of which one was reveled in bloodlust. Kiara said nothing as the demon's sword was held precariously over her neck though she didn't miss Roma's slight jerk of a motion. No, instead she let her actions speak for themselves, something crackling in one of her palms. A spark that began small enough soon extended into a shape reminiscent of a sword, though there was something off about it. As it burned into life, Kiara never broke her gaze from Henry, mismatched eyes boring into his as the sword that could erase even his nightmares made itself manifest in her grip. "You still want to fight me, Avaritia? Think very carefully now."

A chill ran down Henry's spine as that ever familiar sword burnt into existence, flashes of erased reality coming to the forefront of his mind as a sliver of fear crept into his gaze. "When you bring that out, not really." He admitted honestly as he refocused on Kiara. "But I would be a piss poor soldier if I let something like the fear of death get in the way of a fight. Lady Eos, you might wanna evacuate the neighborhood. This is gonna get messy." With that said Henry leapt backwards, slicing into the ground beneath them and sending forth a shower of small debris into Kiara's mismatched visage to kick off the fight. If he was fighting someone who was supposedly superior to even Roma, he was gonna have to fight dirty. He held back from using any Gates or his Silver Eyes, those would be his trump cards this battle. She knew nothing about how he fought from what he could tell, but that didn't mean he knew how this new Kiara fought. 'Play it safe Henry, you don't want to find out what that sword does to you.'

Be it by bravery or stupidity, Henry chose the path of the warrior. To some degree, that was pleasing to see; prey that struggled was better caught anyway. And this one seemed likened to using dirty manuevers, making known that he would make the first move. Kiara stood still and in place with the ground erupting beneath them, only glancing down to see shrapnel headed her way. Henry would see it plainly, in fact everyone who still bothered to stick around this hunt would. So then, if that was the case....how had she appeared behind him then.

"Look at you being clever," said Kiara, clasping a hand onto his shoulder. Her voice dripped sarcasm while her hand gripped Volunta, that blade of sacred usage, tightly. "If you're going to use clever tricks, you need to remember where I am clever boy." She snapped her wrist onto his arm to keep it in place; in the same movement, her other hand came down with intent to cut it clean off. Would it sting? Would being mutilated by such a weapon even leave a mark, be it pain or flesh? Nobody could know, only those who had held its handle in their own hands. And no one would know even now.

The moment Volunta made contact with the demon's limb, it shattered where it was held. Or rather, the blade did, giving Kiara nothing but a battered handle to use. "Hmm?" The same arm holding Henry's arm down lurched forward, this time on its owner. It grabbed at its counterpart, Kiara herself holding her weapon arm in place with a tight grip. "This is....get off," she said in a vicious manner seemingly to herself, glare burning hotter than before. "You're not allowed here anymore so stay out of it!"

'Holy shit she's fast!' She had appeared behind him in milliseconds, grabbing him by the arm and holding him in place for what just might be a finishing blow. Henry got ready to cut his arm off to avoid the blow, but he was too slow. He could see it in slow motion practically, her blade touched his skin and then... nothing. But not the nothing he had been expecting, her blade had just shattered on his arm. He pulled away from her as she let go, replacing her grip on him with a grip on herself. Nonsense words dropped from her lips as her scowl grew intense, but Henry kinda understood what just happened. Maybe. "Heh, thanks Bastion." He muttered just loudly enough for Kiara to hear before he dashed forward, a small flash of Silver in his eyes as he pumped himself full of raw kinetic energy. He was going faster than he could possibly move himself with his own muscles, his blade swung towards Kiara's waist to cleanly bifurcate her.

"I said stay out of this!" With a snarl, Kiara forcibly ripped her hand away from her arm, only for Henry to be within cutting distance of her. At once her hand shrouded itself in pure electricity and she caught the blade by its length without harm. "Try that again and I'll break your arm," said Kiara, her gaze directly at her chest. The message seemed to be clear because no more intrusion was felt; if her limbs being free had any indication. "If you're so eager to join this fight, then maybe I'll use your weapon instead." Clenching down on Henry's sword to make sure the demon had nowhere to go, Kiara moved her free hand down to pocket a familiar cylinder. A harsh hiss burnt the air as the beam saber was activated in her hands, this time intent on running Henry through.

Henry eyes widened a little in surprise, that was new. "Huh. I feel like I should start getting used to this." Kiara threatened to break her own arm, which seemed to cow it into submission, meanwhile Henry was just trying to tug his sword out of her grasp so he could make some space once again. Her response seemed to be to grip it even tighter, while her free hand drew a very familiar beam saber. Henry didn't even flinch as it ran through his chest, piercing his right lung and filling his lungs with blood as the saber emerged from the other side of his body. Blood gurgled from his throat as he looked Kiara in the eyes with fear, but it was quickly replaced with a smile as he spat blood directly into her eyes, followed by a punch to the throat with his free hand. If she let go Henry would pull back from the sword, basically demolishing his right lung as he gripped his chest with his free hand. "That it? Just one measly stab to the chest? I was actually worried about this fight for a second."

"To where are you spitting at, Avaritia." Kiara's voice came from further beside him now. Blood lay spilt on the ground, an indication that he had definitely not missed in his mark. But the force carried through with his punch fell on nothing but air. "I'm over here. Or is it that you're starting to lose your memory." This time she held Bastion's gun in her hand, firing off a spray of bullets composed of electricity. By the sporadic nature of her fire, she was either a poor shot or not taking any of this seriously. "Well, you're right in that regard. This isn't a fight Avaritia. This is a hunt."

'God damnit, she's so out of my class it isn't even funny.' Something was definitely wrong here, he should've seen her move if she was that close to him. He nearly stumbled after his punch had hit nothing, but he caught himself in time to deflect several bullets made from electricity. She then proclaimed what he had suspected, this wasn't a fight. This was her toying with him, something that was admittedly hot as fuck. Was that a weird thought? He was new to the whole sex thing, he probably fucked up by having his first experience with sex being impaled by a cross. He shook his head and smacked it with his free hand, blood dripping from his mouth as he hit himself repeatedly. "Alright yeah, time to stop dicking around." Henry's eyes glowed a bright Silver as his usual armor began to form around him, everyone in the area but him would instantly recognize it as a Gestalt. His lung was already healing as he knitted the organ together with his Silver Eyes, the area began to feel colder as he drained the energy from his surroundings and converted it into magical power for himself.

"Hunt is probably an accurate term here, but this dog isn't going down without a fight." Henry began to run towards Kiara, deflecting any bullets she shot at him, but at the last second he took off into the air and released his wings. He floated in midair for a moment and then flapped hard, a rain of Silver feathers raining down on Kiara's position to riddle her with holes. 'This won't hit her obviously, but I need to make this a fight on my own terms. Take over the battlefield, limit her movements.' The rain of feathers stopped, leaving a handful of them floating in place around him. But there was a secret to his feathers, contact with anyone of them would create a chain reaction of explosions.

Kiara raised an eye as this was all happening. Her bullets were obviously being bounced off his armor or reflected by his sword swings. "That's right. You have Silver Eyes, don't you," she mused he leaped into the air in front of her with his armor gleaming. Tracing his flight pattern up, and up until great wings had manifested behind him. As a hailstorm of feathers rained down upon her, Kiara swung her blade to deflect. Nearly immediately the force of the explosion triggered her to leap back before bursting into a full on sprint. "Has Bastion ever once made mention of me," she said, as if the question wasn't out of place on the battlefield. "Of course she didn't. She's forgotten, hasn't she."

Blade held to her side, Kiara's pocketed her gun away before shooting forth a thin beam of electricity from her palm right at the armored Henry. But it never stopped, shooting straight for the skies of Hyperion and moving with every flick of her wrist. With a blade that answered her range problem, she swung to cut apart Henry's wings and even his armor, still on the move from the those feathers. "Did she ever tell you I was an assassin, Avaritia," she said with a deathly look in her gaze that could freeze even Roma in place. "An assassin for the Court."

Henry's wings folded right back into him as he dropped a few feet, only to reemerge a second later as he began dodging her sword swings in midair. She asked if Bastion had ever told him about her, he responded with a small shrug in the moment he got to stay still. color=steelblue]"Kinda hard to tell someone,"[/color] He dodged a swipe that scraped his left side, it nicked his wing as she spun away and sent more feathers at her, some of them littering the ground to act as landmines in her path. "Stuff that you've forgotten." Henry attempted to parry Kiara's blade for a moment, quickly disengaging as her strength overwhelmed him. "As for being an assassin," Henry dropped once more, this time letting himself hit the ground as he ripped off feathers from his wings and threw them in the air, they stayed motionless around him as he tried to keep his gaze on Kiara. "I wouldn't think that's anything special, but I'm sensing a capital C in the Court."

His snark was answered by more nicks of the electric stream, Kiara's blade dispering and emerging as quick as lightning. By motion of her swings she was going for killing blows, mainly Henry's head or stabbing through his heart. It was all meant to pin him in one place, even as she continued to leap about with feathers planted as bombs in her path. "Assassins don't care about the method, Avaritia," she said, her red eye heating into a familiar tint of gold. "They choose whatever way insures their target stays dead....did Bastion ever tell you about her Eyes?" The feathers Henry was so fond of surrounding himself in detonated without his command. It only took one look from Kiara's gold pupil to light them up.

Smoke surrounded Henry as all the feathers exploded, he had no chance to react as Kiara showed off her Golden Eyes. He did recall her having those in Ruthria admittedly, but he got the feeling there was more to them than just destruction. Things were never that simple when someone wanted to kill him and had the power to do so. As the smoke cleared it would show Henry rooted in place, quivering slightly as he healed the damage he took from the blast. If he had taken that without his armor he would be layed out on the ground bleeding out, damn this thing was useful. "I'm going to guess that your eyes do more than just blow things up." Henry knew better than to leap backwards this time, no need to repeat his mistakes. This time he ran towards Kiara, pumping himself with kinetic energy once again as he attempted to bifurcate her.

It was a shame then, to have all motion robbed of him completely. Not many could halt a charging Henry but the sheer pain of destroying one's Eyes was enough to put down the spare few. Kiara's stream of energy shot directly into his silver helmet, cutting away armor like it was cloth. She moved her wrist horizontally, the stream cutting both eyes and the middle of Henry's nose before disengaging as it reached his ears. It was a shame he would be unable to see, for Kiara's own pupils glowed a color that was neither gold or silver. "Relying on those gets you nothing but pain. They'll grow back, of course. But trust me, it will hurt like nothing you've felt before," Kiara said coldly.

Henry collapsed onto the ground, crying out in agony as his Eyes were annihilated like tissue paper. He actually felt himself pass out from the sheer pain for a moment, but that same pain quickly woke him right back up. He dropped his sword as he pressed his hands to his face, curling up as his muscles spasmed, tensing up so hard they nearly snapped. Her voice was distant, but Henry understood the gist of it. He'll get his Eyes back, but that didn't make him feel any better now as he lay on the ground screaming.

Said screaming actually accomplished the feat of having Kiara glare harder and she was on him in a heart beat. Three swipes of her saber was all she made before two arms and a leg had been severed away from the stump that was the demon prince. And without those Eyes of his, he'd be feeling that pain all the greater. A boot planted to his chest, Kiara kicked him to the ground and regarded his form in disdainful taste. Yet she didn't see fit to stab her weapon through his chest, nor did she even continue; not when he was in this state. The hunt was over.

"Let that be a lesson, Avaritia. Those Eyes of yours are only as strong as you keep them to be. Take them away, and what's left?" A sharp hiss would tell Henry that her saber was deactivated. "If you've been reduced to this without your Eyes then I pale to think what'd you do if this was a real fight. And if I was a real enemy." Kiara looked down on him for a few seconds more, noting the silver fluids leaking to the ground as a result of his crushed eyes. The Gestalt would also be fading away with no more Eyes to sustain them. More moments passed before the Master sighed.

"Roma, tend to his Eyes. Eos, fix his wounds," she called out, turning away from the defeated demon. "I'm going back to sleep." One step, two, and then she collapsed forward onto the ground. She was unconscious, no doubt to return back to the folds of lost memory.

"As you wish." Eos answered the unknown face of Kiara with the same dry voice that she used used when she was in the presence of the higher ranks of the Hierarchy. Someone who took pride in being called an Assassin of the Court, didn't deserve Eos' feelings, but couldn't be ignored either.

Henry's screams ceased as his ribs broke under the force of Kiara's kick, his breathing was labored as she lectured him on his overreliance on his Eyes. As she went on and on, a familiar sort of fury began to bubble up inside of him, he wouldn't take this. He wasn't done. He couldn't see her walk away obviously, but a Gate began to form above him as she walked away, he listened to her footsteps as he focused on what he wanted to skewer her with. A massive broadsword shot through the air, just as she collapsed and it flew right over her unconscious body, sinking into a nearby wall right over his fruit basket. That was it, that was all he had in him. The Gate collapsed on itself, as did Henry. He let the darkness take him, maybe when he woke up the world wouldn't be pain anymore.

All of this was witnessed by an unblinking Eel, the cores of several devoured apples neatly stacked upon a napkin beside her. The shifted precariously under the pressure of a sword now embedded beside her head, yet as the crystal clear reflection in the vibrating metal would tell, Roma was not phased by this last ditch effort. She raised a sleeve to shield her face from view and released a breath now that the situation had resolved itself, and somehow the apartment had not collapsed around them. "Those two are...tiresome. I loathe to imagine that Kiara actually took a shine to him, otherwise I would be absent a pupil."

"Just make sure he doesn't talk about this incident to Bastion. I'm sure that she'll not remember it when she wakes up... Actually, I was going to ask you about that but I don't think I want to know who else is inside of her along with Kusanagi," Eos said to Roma as she called an ambulance manned by non-sentient medical androids to take Henry to a classified medical center once Roma was done with the most critical of the the first aid measures. "At least I know why she doesn't want to to remember, now," Eos mused silently wondering how she should approach her plans of helping Bastion get back to shape and free herself of the Nexus grip.

Leaving behind the decadent fruits Roma padded across the hall, noting one could hear a pin drop in the resulting silence left in the combatants wake as she knelt beside the fallen Henry with her eyes an array of dizzying colors. it was not an easy thing to mend one's soul when so horribly wounded, but her Master had ordered her and she would obey, even if only to lessen his pain till the molten silver flowing from his eyes was staunched at long lost. "I hope he takes this lesson to heart. I fear my Mother will not hesitate to take his life when she comes to visit."

"I was going to leave this, but I'll give it to Bastion personally when she wakes up. Before that I have some important matters to attend to," Eos said as she hugged the doll closer to her chest before turning towards the door. She stopped on her way out and added "Just trust in me, I'll not let you lose anything that you cherish... I'll fight until my last breath to keep you, Rama and Bastion safe and happy" in as serious a tone as Eos was capable. Even if she had to face annihilation by the hands of the Jester himself, she wouldn't allow those she loved to suffer anymore. Compared to that, a pair of conceited serpents was nothing.

Raising her arms into the air, a wall of hardened light materialized as multiple scorpions found their bodies split cleanly in two, viscera falling onto the platform on which she stood. Any other scorpions found themselves sliding behind the duo of Holy Beings as they continued through the Ravine. A few of the scorpions landed on the platform, but found themselves charred as Amaterasu's hand rose and smote them with one flick of her finger.

"Castellum, this was a good plan," Amaterasu complimented the man as she kept the roof over the duo's heads. She really didn't feel anything for the man, but she did have to compliment good work when it was present. It was always nice to see such a deed prove successful in the Nexus. "It seems we are approaching the Oasis with good speed and energy."

---

Bonesword watched as he rushed towards the Oasis, the scorpions around him swarming him and Charlie quickly. How annoying it was to be surrounded by all the scorpions, especially considering the entire situation at hand already being quite difficult to handle with all the soldiers around.

Taking a quick check of his equipment, Bonesword noted his shield beginning to recharge as he performed a strong movement with his hand to the side, causing sharp blades of grass and foliage to erupt from the side of Charlie, just barely off of the ground. As Bonesword and Charlie proceeded into the Oasis, the scorpions chasing the duo would be chopped clean in half by the razor-sharp defenses created seconds prior. Though, a few did climb on, but they found themselves skewered by the skeleton's Cybersword and with the Shooting Star Shield taking effect, blasting their bodies into viscera. Gross, but effective.

Moving into the Oasis, Bonesword checked his surroundings before making the executive decision that he could adjust the fire of the Vulcan Yew onto a different target. After first adjusting the aim to remove any lingering scorpions, tearing their bodies into cheese, Bonesword aimed the miniguns at the hydra ahead as he toggled the fire to off. Bonesword didn't want to aggravate the monster just yet, instead opting for someone else to start the attack before he swooped in and began to unleash the guns onto the massive beast. Thankfully, the champions of Hell had distracted a good number of heads, but just to be safe in hopes that Bonesword didn't die this quick, he'd only attack when he could guarantee that he could take a hit.

For now, he moved forward towards the beast. He was still a fair distance away, but the distance was a blessing as it allowed for Bonesword to analyze if there was a path he could take to avoid the damned thing. As if he was gonna die to a field element.

His words woke up the dazed dragon. Good. At least the brute is doing something productive. After all, she's the only character the Hell Knight can rely on this battle. If she falls, well, he'll have much more work to do. As they continue lobbing blows with the massive hydra, Mephilus notices Bonesword coming into view and firing upon the monster. Looks like everyone else will be coming nearly any second now. The Hell Knight considers eliminating the tiny skeleton, but at the same time he's providing help in killing the monster. As long as he fires on the hydra and not his partner, he's going to let him be for now. Once he's dead, Bonesword might as well be next on his hit list.

He continues to fire from the monster from a safe distance, pausing only to load several new rounds. Electrical rounds should paralyze the beast upon contact with the water. Are they at a high voltage for them to succeed? Only one way to find out. And yet while slaying a beast is always a favorite for Mephilus...

At the same time perhaps he may continue onto the next area unnoticed as the others were distracted with the monster. It's rather tempting if he had to be honest...

---

The Archangel's blast hit true, only to dissipate as soon as they touched Titania's shields. While it was unable to penetrate to her hull, it did thankfully alter the soldier's aim and succeed in her missing Saef altogether. She's going to be a hard nut to crack. He suddenly sees Bonesword fire off his miniguns at him, forcing the archangel to move and use his blades to fire several shots at the skeleton. But before Lucifus could counter-attack against Titania, in a blink of an eye he sees two mighty lasers heading straight towards him. They were going to hit him, weren't they? Yet instinct told him to issue his shield, even if it happens to not be erected in time. He shuts his eyes tight as he prepares for impact...

But nothing seemed to happen.

Lucifus' shield is up successfully and he didn't feel like he was knocked back or feeling the impact of the lasers bouncing off his shield. But yet, he sees the lasers still in front of him, about a foot away from his shield, aimed directly at his chest. The archangel can feel the raw energy emiting from these lasers. They both felt unnatural and raw... a power he doesn't recall feeling. These bolts seem to do more than hit or stun, yet what they cause is unknown. Regardless, he refuses to put his shield down, not until the owner leaves. But the longer he keeps it up, the more energy he wastes. He can only hold this shield up for so long. The twin lasers' owner then begins to scold the archangel as if she knows everything, even mocking him by mimicking something he would say just before firing. Lucifus' simply scoffed at her response.

"I think you're confusing yourself at what you see in the movies compared to actual combat, sweetheart." he replies back, still having his guard up.

Regardless, the opponent proceeds to fire with a gesture of her finger, as the lasers hit his shield and knocked him back considerably. He recollects his senses as he faces towards the machina warrior. As he attempts to strike with his swords, Titania seemed to act faster and fires off some missiles at him. Quickly his wings forced him to dodge out of the way as he feels the explosions behind him. Yet something seemed rather off.

"Is it me...?" he thinks to himself as he circles Titania again, "Or are these projectiles moving slightly faster than usual?

The archangel knows roughly how fast missiles can be fired, yet these seemed to be fired too fast. Already some of the shots nearly managed to hit him, by mere inches as he feels their force rushing below his feet. Maybe they had some kind of coating that makes them more resistant to drag force? He didn't know, yet that's not going to stop him. He makes a sharp turn upwards, just barely evading the missiles, as he opens his wings wide and releases a volley of stellar bolts towards the opponent in an attempt to stall her.

He'll need to be on his way soon...

@Gardevoiran@Lmpkio@floodtalon@Sho Minazuki



A grunt escaped the ascended human as a sword impacted the back of his shielded form. His sensors had not detected anything in that direction, which meant that whoever was attaching him had both extra sensory abilities and some sort of active stealth. The combination made a Machina drone or soldier the most likely culprit.

A glance over his shoulder as he continued to run confirmed his suspicions. A sleek and mechanical humanoid was striking at him with a laser edged blade. Thankfully none of the blows held as much power as they could have. Attacking from the rear may have gained the assassin the element of surprise but it was costing them in the long run. Saef was constantly in motion away from his new opponent, which meant that the sleek figure had to run to keep up. While he did stay in range it robbed him of the solid footing or relative momentum needed for a proper strike.

The Thaumaturge ignored the gradual drop in his shield's strength, using the time to adjust his barrier spell instead. A couple extra components was all that was needed before he released the spell. As Muramasa's next strike was about to take off another chunk of his shield a golden wall of energy appeared in its way. The laser edged weapon impacted the new barrier it bit into it, cutting partway through before stopping. Before the combat android could withdraw the weapon the barrier collapsed in on it. Shooting up the length of the blade towards the hand that wielded it.

“I wish you luck with that slaying Iona business,” Hohenheim said while grinning merrily. The Alchemist knew that it was pretty much impossible for a Vassal to kill another one—at least on the meaning that Titanica was thinking about— but there was no reason not to indulge her contractor with a bit of harmless snark.

By the time Titanica finished her spiel, Hohenheim finished braiding the left side of her hair and was halfway through the right one. “So, you want to investigate the Machina’s new playground? Why didn’t you say that at first?” Hohenheim said, momentarily halting her handwork before snapping a finger. A moment later, the two of them would find themselves inside of the great factory, observing as repair drones hurried here and there, fixing the damage from the previous battle.

“If you need help to search, just tell me what you are looking—slash smelling— for. Just try to not break anything. I have quite a deal of interest in seeing this experiment come to fruition.” the Alchemist remarked just as she finished the braids and took a step away from Titanica and finger framing her, like an artist contemplating their latest work.

---

---

Following her disastrous sparring session with a being who the term eldritch was far too kind to be applicable, a baker's dozen of corpses now lay sprawled across the grass of a public park, hoping the eternally pleasant sun would warm their dour expressions. The results weren't very encouraging.

Suparna laid back with her head resting atop knitted fingers, savoring the coolness of the dirt beneath her back while her eyes trailed across slowly tumbling clouds. Idyllic was always an apt term for the weather in Celestia, perfect for reveling in the grandeur of fine architecture or strolling in the flashiest of garments. She herself only had a relatively modest apartment that still smelled of dried harpy blood, semen, and egg yolks, while her clothes were nowhere near ostentatious enough to parade around for the sake of vanity. Regardless of these deficiencies, the Queen of Carrion couldn't be more content then to enjoy the low hanging fruits of Angelic society after the charnel houses of Hell and the oppressive dungeon she'd trapped herself in after.

"Alright, brain trust, what do we have so far?"

Specialization was an optimal route to improved efficiency, as any Machina could attest, yet Suparna hadn't put much stock into it when she was limited by only herself and Chirada for bodies. She wasn't ashamed to admit she herself possessed very few skills outside of eating and the savagery required to mutilate herself as readily as her enemies while promoting the maggots inside Chirada to more nuanced combat duties, but with a glut of bodies at her disposal came a wave of innovation; The brain trust.

A quartet of bodies rose up, backs rigid as they addressed the supine lolita. "We've determined that we lack offensive ability. When presented with a barrier harder then our claws can rend we lack the means to bring down our prey. It is advised we attempt to expand our control beyond...our present limitations."

The hesitation was enough to have Suparna turn and give them a questioning look, uncertain if she understood the implication. "Limitations?"

They shared a look, the hives of carrion within the corpse vessels communicating separate from the Whole- A development Suparna tolerated bitterly, she might add- before vocalizing once more. "We are maggots. Great in number, but even with our swarm combined we have failed in our battles. It is becoming clear to us that we need to develop new strains of carrion, specialized to counter our enemies defenses and bolster our strengths!"

She stared unblinking, her blackened eyes wide in stunned silence. A change of form? She'd never considered that, and frankly she'd have been insulted were it from anyone but her own bodies. "I'll take it into consideration, but I don't have the first idea how to go about it myself. Reproduction is natural but altering the composition of the swarm physically doesn't come so easy."

"We shall continue to search out new possibilities." They concluded with polite nods performed in stereo before returning to the comfort of the grass, only to be replaced by another quartet of dragons.

"We concur that we must change, and propose that we advance beyond the need for solid vessels."

Now the all the bodies turned upon this quartet of the seeming Post-Maggotists.

"If you say we need to become beings of pure energy, I'm re-assimilating you and feeding you to Diana." Suparna growled, not in the least willing to entertain the notion of abandoning the bodily pleasures and tribulations of flesh and blood. They paled at the threat and quickly spoke to re-assure her they had not gone treacherous with their independent thought.

"No. We propose a change of perspective carrying off from the previous branch of thought. Rather then infesting a host body and being reliant upon upholding some degree of structural integrity, we instead form a new strain of carrion to form a shifting exo-layer as needed, allowing our bodies to break apart and reform at will. We could use bodies as templates or create entirely new constructs, similar to a Machina nanite swarm if that makes it easier to grasp."

That was actually peeking Suparna's interest now that her indignation passed, recalling her all too often tactic of losing limbs to spray her enemy with flesh eating maggots at the expense of a working arm or leg. If their bodies were instead one hundred percent carrion and could shift at will, there'd be no need to harm herself. A vicious predatory grin tore across her face at the thought of passing through swung swords and bending around lasers to devour her enemies, though it quickly faded when she came to the practical application.

"I still haven't a clue how we'd do that. Doesn't sound as simple as taking the training wheels off a bike." Suparna said, sitting up cross legged and hugging herself, wondering how she could maintain something that complex when she could hardly fight in this shell. "Anything else?"

"Acquire more bodies. Eat until our number blankets the Heavens, and rain upon our foes like an unbreakable tide!" A yet to speak trio of megalomaniacs cackled ominously, only to wither under a glare from the main body. It was moments like these Suparna thought she had the briefest glimpse into the Jester's point of view, and she wondered why he didn't throttle half the Court.

"No, I'm not extending my control that far. If Iona doesn't smite us and the Angels don't turn on us, then odds are Juno would consider us a snack and eat us all. And as tempting as that boundless feast is, I don't want to be stuck in snake guts for eternity."

With the increasingly disturbed maggots shot down and left to regroup to form an actually useful thought, that left the last of Suparna's bodies to actually speak. The one that Suparna didn't realize till much later wasn't actually a Dragon, but Angelic. She supposed that Harley had to get these bodies somewhere, and if the past owner wasn't cooperative...

Regardless, the last body gave her a flat look before falling back against the grass. "You will gain nothing sitting here. We have a world of endless conflict and you contemplate growing strong from the comfort of a park. Pick a direction and head to the war front. They always need meat for the grinder."

She bristled at the derision from one of her own but the wisdom of her words stayed her hand. There was sense to trial by combat, and the humans had a lovely expression about necessity being the mother of innovation. More importantly it was the only bit of advice she could readily act upon. Suparna brushed the grass stains seeped into her clothes and rose followed by her corpses, turning as one towards the seat of Heaven's power.

---

In no time at all they'd be arrayed before the arch angel who loathed them fiercely, and mustered up the strength to look Iona in the eye without gulping nervously.

"We'd like to test ourselves. Is there a theater of war you can point us towards were we can get into the thick of it?"

@Silvan Haven@Gardevoiran@Lmpkio@floodtalon

---

Accelerating----- Output at 50%

Keeping up with his opponent was child's play with the speed he possessed, but he was most certainly planning something, and that assumption was correct. As soon as the golden wall began to materialize, his eyes flared and so did some of the lights on him as his core began to put out more energy.

Shooting up to 120% output for a short moment, letting him pull his blade out of the golden wall despite the speed at which he executed this plan of his. The added strength and speed allowed him to free his blade by brute force, no level of planning can stop this type of solution to a problem, though it had it's limits it played it's part here. He seemed to retreat as he dashed backwards, his core calming down before disappearing once more, blending into the surroundings. So would he retreat and head for the objective...? Relieving pressure has been successfully achieved, allowing his ally to fight for a bit longer.

Well for now, he was disengaging this target, a defensive warrior of sorts would take too long to slay for a bonus, and so almost expecting him to return to strike, the warrior was left there as Muramasa disappeared into the scenery, heading for the Ravine.

Rose giggled as Lucifus ducked and weaved through her volley of light, the confusion evident in his body movement as he tried to figure out why the lasers were going faster than normal. The laser cannons on her shoulder finished charging once again and Rose aimed directly at Lucifus, but not before he could fire off his own heavenly beams in an attempt to stall her. Her shields were running a bit low from the concentrated fire she took on her shoulder cannons, so she elected dodge out of the way of the slowed down artillery, having a much easier time dodgin then Lucifus was used to. It would appear as if Rose was moving slightly faster too as she jetted upwards and aimed her cannons below her, releasing her shots directly towards the ground.

This time it was not two giant lasers that emerged from her artillery but instead 8 smaller lasers. They all bounced off the ground in different trajectories, freezing in place in various spots around Lucifus. Rose winked at him and stuck out her tongue, before jetting off towards the Ravine to chase after her comrade.

Muramasa would find his forward push supported from the air, any scorpions that might have gotten in his way vaporized by Rose's aerial artillery. This of course brought a fair amount of attention to her, as scorpions attempted to leap upon her from above to impale her upon their massive stingers. Their attempts were quickly foiled by a massive beam that emerged from the cannon upon her arm, acting as a beam broadsword that cleaved their pathetic chitin armor in twain with but a single swing. Every now and then a laser would discharge from her shoulder cannons, firing at the ground and exploding, leaving behind a swathe of scorpions that just weren't moving. It would appear as if weaker creatures' time signatures were altered much more easily, possibly permanently. Regardless, Lucifus would find the world returning to normal for him, leaving him with the problem of the unmoving beams of chronological energy that hovered around him. Perhaps the resident mage Saef could help him out of this bind.

---

Chen's job was made significantly easier was Bonesword stopped firing upon them, leaving him to focus on forward progression and stopping the scorpions. This in turn was made even easier as Amaterasu halved the number of scorpions that Chen had to deal with, speeding up their forwrd progression immensely. A shower of blood and guts rained upon Chen, but he didn't even blink as he brushed a spare meat giblet off his left shoulder. She commented that this was a good plan and Chen merely shook his head, flicking his wrist outward as several branches erupted from the platform of rock they stood upon to impale a larger scorpion. "This isn't a plan." They finally made their way to the Oasis and Chen focused on the air around them, breathing in the paralyzing toxins with little difficulty. His regenerative abilities made short work of any attempts to put him to sleep, but Amaterasu was still vulnerable. They would need to go through the Oasis quickly.

"This is just me brute forcing my way through something I'd rather not do." Chen pointed his rapier towards the Hydra, his eyes glowing a bright green as the Relic engraved into his very soul began to put in some real work for once. Several large trees erupted from the ground, shooting towards the monster like arrows from the very earth itself.

---

As the battle raged on, with more and more combatants entering the frey, Nina had to dodge more and more projectiles being shot at the Hydra and her subsequently. It was really starting to piss her off actually, at one point the Hell Knight even tagged her with an electrical round in his haste. It was truly infuriating, she could feel the darkness bubbling in response to her rage as she snarled in the face of the beast. Then finally it happened, an Angel decided to fire upon the Hydra with no regards to her. She was clipped by a giant wooden tree, which was just enough for one of the Hydra heads to snap her up as if she was a snack.

The whole area was practically silent as the Hydra swallowed Nina down, a mighty gulp echoing through the Oasis as everyone continued to fire upon the Hydra. She was just another casualty right, should've been more careful. Mephilus would certainly have trouble by himself, but if he played it smart he might just make it with just his squad... Suddenly all of the Hydra's heads froze at once. Their faces contorted in pain and they roared in unison, sending everyone to their knees from the combined sound. It's veins began to protrude as it continued roaring, it's faces turning a strange sort of green color as it began thrashing about and screaming. Then those protruding veins began to blacken, slowly reaching up towards the faces as they too began to blacken. Then it froze once more. No more sound, just the heavy breathing of the Hydra.

Then it exploded. A shower of meat, scales, and green blood rained upon everyone in the area, soaking them with viscera and covering them with guts. Where the Hydra once stood, Nina floated in place, roaring just as loudly as the Hydra had with darkness dripping out of every pore in her body, falling down to the ground below and melting anything it touched. The path was now clear as Nina finally stopped her roar of fury and began flying towards the mighty obelisks in the distance.