It was typical of Hell to have problems arise; problems caused not just by the eternal war above but through the usual happenings of daily life. By all means, the denizens of Hell were free to do as they please. In fact, King Rufus even encouraged the chaos that festered around his petty kingdom. But such a petty rule reflected in petty action and he always frowned on those he deemed to be, “trying too hard”.

The Crawling Chaos was rather blatant in his desires that no one cause a louder boom than him. So it was no real surprise when news of mass consumption had reached the Throne Room and its occupants’ ears. Nor was it a wonder for Rufus to kick out someone to deal with the uppity demon in his Hell. Still, it was fine. It was all fine, because Lucille of Team RILD was more than happy to endorse her share of bloodshed for the day.

Those who were smart knew to stay out of her way and those who weren’t were inclined to test the Black Goat’s patience in these matters. Down, down she descended, until the monstrous woman made her way to the scene of the crime. Demonic corpses dotted the area surrounding one of Hell’s local bars and she sighed at the pathetic sight. The rest of RILD was not going to hear the end of Rufus’ complaints and she intended to make the one responsible for her future ear aches suffer greatly.

It didn’t take her very long to find the culprit, the consumer being sloppy in her wake. A mere glance at this lizard thing confirmed it was a child in the presence of the Nexus. But even children needed to be punished and Lucille eyed the reckless demon with ever more annoyance. “If you really were that hungry, you should have come to the Throne Room. I’m sure there’s plenty of King Rufus for you to choke on,” she mused to Xirphi, twirling her parasol in one hand lazily.

“I don’t particularly care what excuse you give me, nor do I care to know your name. The fact of the matter is, I want something to bleed and you’ve just so happened to grate our little tyrant of a king.” The Black Goat eyed down the lizard-like demon, hardly moved by the rise in power each soul gave to her. That was because, for perhaps the first time in her life, Xirphi’s hunger was gone. Erased. Cut off. Whatever Xirphi would have liked, she no longer felt hunger and was, in basic comprehension, full. Such an unnatural phenomenon seemed to be oozing from Lucille’s presence…

"I admire your resolve," Iona said after eyeing Suparna with a stern gaze. "Even though you judge yourself unworthy, you have the courage to stand your ground—albeit with shaky knees— before my presence. At this moment, if we were to meet on opposite sides of a battlefield, you can be sure that I would not hesitate to unleash my full might against you."

A promise of unfettered violence was perhaps the greatest compliment Iona could give to any warrior. As soon as she said it, the Dark Archangel's expression softened from a judgment gaze to a neutral, almost sisterly one, especially when she noticed Suparna's reaction to the children and vice versa.

"I know exactly what kind of battlefield meets your requests. The Crystalsong Valley is locked in a tough stalemate, if that continues it'll be impossible to establish a suitable base of operations for when the time comes for a major conflict to happen there," Iona said, slight closing her wings to let the children get closer to them. "In its former world, that valley was a place where many sought spiritual refuse. You may find what you seek there, along with a token of your past in the form of the Blood Countess, indulging in her idiosyncratic machinations," she added.

"Is there anything else that you wish to say before departing on your journey?"

---

Xirphi’s animalistic behavior had immediately gone away when her hunger did, her mind retaking control of her body as Lucile began to speak. The Devourer turned to face Lucile, reforming her mouth and making a rather confused face at the green-haired one’s tactless comment involving the one called ‘King Rufus’. She knew exactly what Lucile was talking about as well, her mother was a succubus after all, obviously she meant actually eating the King, but was more confused on what made this girl think that Xirphi could choke when eating something. The lizard could intake a lot before she felt anything that would make her gag, especially when she made her mouth come apart.

Her mouth opened to speak before Lucile continued with her words, hearing the threat before continuing on in a more matter-of-factly way. ”I’ve heard of this ‘King Rufus’ before, but personally, I think you underestimate the amount I can eat before I begin to choke. I mean, I can also spit up acid which can reduce the size of my the food,” Xirphi began, signaling to Lucile that Xirphi may be taking her words a bit too literally. She then looked up into the air, continuing, ”However, what I’m more curious on, is why I actually feel full. It feels like a blessing.” A smile came upon her face as she spoke, her gaze going back to the Black Goat, seemingly ignoring the threat.

”Anyways, if you’re not interested in my name, may I have yours?,” the lizard asked, her smile still firmly planted on her face. Xirphi loved the fact that she actually felt full for once, the first time she actually felt this way in fact. Her hands clasped her cheeks as she let out a noise of satisfaction as she relished the feeling of her body no longer demanded substance. Whatever caused this, it certainly made her more happy than angry.

As Nina stepped into the pyramid she found herself in a lush jungle or swamp of some sort, water pooled to just above knee level for her as she searched for the enemy she knew would be here. A voice echoed all around here, telling her to turn back lest she die like all who had come before her. Of course this would not do, she had a goal to fulfill so she couldn't just turn away. Not only that, but this voice sounded condescending as all hell, which pissed her off. "Not only will I not turn away, but I shall tear you apart for your insolence! Now come out so I can crush you!" Her eyes darted around, nothing coming from the left or right, no attacks coming from above and a quick look over her shoulder told her nothing was behind her. Suddenly she noticed how quiet everything had gone as she looked at the water that pooled at her knees, her eyes narrowing as she suddenly drew her blade.

Not even a second later her suspicions were proved correct as Sobek, the Crocodile Guardian of the first pyramid erupted from the waters and swiped at her with the force of several men. Nina had no problems blocking this attack, but she wasn't prepared for his tail swipe. She attempted to guard her torso expecting it to smash into her, but she wasn't ready for the water to splash into her face and blind her for a moment. Nina closed her eyes and opened her mouth, shooting out a stream of Darkness to try and push Sobek away from her for a few moments when suddenly something grabbed onto her from behind. Her head turned and with it her stream of darkness ate away at the plants that tried to grab her, the one that actually did manage to grab her was quickly cut through by her blade as she took off to the air. As she rubbed her eyes to get the water out of them she continued to fire darkness everywhere blindly, not even aware that Mephilus had entered the battlefield. He would need to be careful to not get hit by friendly fire, as this darkness ate away at everything without care for friend or foe.

---

A very disheveled and smug looking Henry walked through the streets of Hyperion towards Eos's throne room, blindfold covering his eyes as he shoulder checked any civilian who didn't immediately clear out of his way. Not that there were many, most people were beginning to wise up and not make Henry angry lest they lose a limb or visit the hospital with several broken bones. Henry had gotten his pay docked several times for these incidents of course, but he had certainly built a reputation. Finally Henry made it to the front door, luckily the doors opened automatically so he didn't need to worry about running into it like an idiot. As for why he looked so disheveled, he had just spent a very long time in the Neutral Areas while completely blind and deprived of his Gates. Even the best of the warriors in the Nexus would struggle to survive in such a harsh environment and that was not counting all the handicaps Henry had entered with.

But he didn't break from this, no he died a few times but he remained unbroken. Not only did he survive the deadliest places known to the universe, he thrived in those places. But that was a story for another time, right now Henry needed someone to fight. And luckily for him Eos had called him in personally for just such a thing, as the rest of the Machina elite were busy with some lame desert. Thus the task that Eos had fell to him, whatever that task was. Just before the door to Eos's throne room he stopped and sighed, fuck this thing was getting annoying. He reached up to the back of his head and looked for the knot tying the blindfold to his face, locating it and letting it loose with one smooth pull. The fabric fell to the floor and Henry rubbed his still closed eyes for a moment, finally taking his hands away from his face and opening his eyes.

Henry was back and ready for action. He opened his eyes and grinned, only to suddenly cringe and bring his hands back to his face to cover his eyes. "AGHH GOD FUCKING DAMNIT IT'S BRIGHT IN HERE!" He screamed as he pressed his hands to his face, taking a deep breath as he straightened up. He slowly took his hands away from his face and opened his eyes just a little bit, yeah that was better. With that he entered the throne room and waited for Eos to address him.

---

Even if she was as certain as could be it wasn't a trick question, the Vassal's approval brought a wave of relief to the gathering of maggot filled bodies. Their posture relaxed and some sported brighter smiles as they waved to the children edging closer towards them. Oh Suparna certainly didn't relish the idea of fighting Iona at her full power, but having just been annihilated by the Jester with not even a hundredth of a percent of their's, this was hardly going to make her shake in her boots.

Still, she wasn't going to take Iona up on that offer of violence without restraint. Suparna was eager to learn, not to be atomized at sword point before she can blink.

"The Crystalsong Valley." Suparna parroted the Archangel's words, her mind already conjuring mental images of what such a place would look like. Decidedly inedible if she were to hazard a guess. Contrary to belief she didn't perk up in shock to here the name of the Blood Countess. The very same lolita who had claimed glory where Suparna had fled. Who made her mark upon Bastion's flesh and then indulged in Diana's as well. The very same vampire who disappeared from the public conflicts atop a mountain of accolades while Suparna drifted off into obscurity.

She wasn't bitter in the least.

"Yes, that does sound like a good place to learn. Thank you for this opportunity, Iona. And, by chance, if I were to overcome the Blood Countess and bring her here..." Suparna opined, choosing her words carefully lest she sully the children's minds and moods with such talk, "Could I ask your help in educating her? I'm certain Diana would be happy to meet such a dear old friend once she was made comfortable in Celestia."

After all, who else but the purveyor of Law and Justice could be better suited to bring such a formidable succubus to heel?

Following the blanket of destruction from Rose Yaeger, there was... Nothing, or at least there seemed to be nothing. Slight, jarring disruptions in the smoldering and smoking ground, filled with craters, debris, and dead oversized scorpions. The ravine became but a blur for him as he passed through, undetected, unopposed. Keeping his output just a few percentage below his stealth's maximum capacity meant his active camouflage wasn't going to be perfect, but with how fast he was moving it didn't really matter. Unless they had advanced sensors, he would only look like a minor glitch or a trick of wind and light.

Soon the ravine would open up, giving way to a ruined road, becoming more and more complete as he sped down it, using whatever cover he could, keeping himself as difficult to detect as possible. His peripherals made out the pyramids, or rather the first, surrounded by a deserted town based on his sensors, but as he got closer he began picking up life forms coming from within the pyramid... Plantlife in abundance? As well as a rather large life form on sensors, perhaps some sort of guardian?

His suspicions were confirmed as soon as he entered the pyramid. It was like walking outside into a jungle, except it was the other way around. Regardless up ahead, a competing faction member was locked in combat, and so he chose to stick to the shadows, maintaining stealth at maximum capabilities... In a place such as this, his abilities in stealth can only get him so far, and direct combat would be risky unless he was assured to win or gain an advantage immediately. The faction member was identified... One of the Demons of Hell, database shows Nina, a dragon, though this was obvious on observation alone, or rather, Dragon King, based on info a sort of race beyond normal dragons. A direct confrontation with her would surely be too risky.

Observing Xirphi in all her ignorance, Lucille could see now why Rufis had selected her out of Team RILD to deal with this issue. As the lizard demon continued to talk, speaking about her satisfaction of being full, Lucille merely walked forward. Silent in her approach, letting Xirphi carry on with her words, until her hand snatched the demon’s tail in a death grip. Too quick for Xirphi to react, she slammed the end of her parasol directly into its width.

A loud clang echoed around the area, Lucille’s parasol lodged deep into the ground with Xirphi’s tail having been run right through. Ignoring whatever pain or anger came from her quarry, the Black Goat kicked Xirphi down with a boot to her gut. Yes, it was all becoming clear to her why she had been summoned to handle this pest, eyeing the Xirphi with that same expression of a wordless smile.

“It says something when our great and bountiful king has to call me in. It’s almost like he thinks I’ll enjoy doing this,” Lucille remarked, slamming her boot into Xirphi’s stomach. “But that’s neither here nor there. As if that idiot knows what I want.” Another slam to Xirphi’s gut was given, followed by another, and another. At this point, Lucille was putting enough force to crack the ground beneath Xirphi.

And just to ensure she wouldn’t be escaping, Lucille lodged her other boot onto the lizard’s throat and pinning her down with nowhere to go. It was perhaps counterproductive to what she was trying to accomplish but that was fine. The Black Goat enjoyed things the long way around. “We’re going to handle this problem one soul at a soul. You’re going to vomit out as many demons as you ate….and I’m going to help you.”

@Lmpkio



A solid plan, having two distinct teams of Champions would allow for greater mobility. Plus getting two almost strangers to fight in synch was easier than trying to do the same with four. "Agreed." He said, the noise emanating from his speakers just loudly enough to be heard over the rushing of the wind.

The duo soon left the confines of the blood soaked ravine. Bursting from the rocky mouth with a gust of wind and quantum particles. Before them lay a large pyramid, as thematically consistent and utterly bizarre as everything else in this strange demi-plane. The infinitely younger of the pair led the way inside with a grimace on his face. His sensors were detecting swampland within. Even more weird and even more annoying. Visibility was so-so once they entered. There wasn't much in the way of taller vegetation, trees clustered here and there but nothing that could be called a forest. On the other hand there was a lot of tall grasses and the like. An enemy could hide in any of those or the marsh itself. If one didn't mind getting dirty the area was full of places one could hide from prying eyes. Other types of sensors not so much.

The most interesting of course was the collection of champions that had already gathered. It looked like Hell was fighting the guardian of the first treasure. There were no Machina yet, at least none that he could see. With the amount of stealthed drones present in this battle there could easily be a few lurking in the area.

Still staring at the battle before them Saef spoke to the Archangel."What do you think. Attack now or let them wear each other down?"

---

Xirphi was, needless to say, taken by surprise by Lucile since she was just concentrating on her stomach more than anything. However, she then went to retaliate, until she was kicked down and she then realized that her tail had been impaled. Again, she had little time to react when Lucile kicked her in the stomach. Words registered as she heard the green-haired one speak to her before kicking her again and again. Pain definitely registered, but it wasn’t much to her as her hide absorbed much of the kicks’ power. Yet, there was little her hide could do when a boot came crashing down upon her throat.

It seemed she was in a predicament, one that she had been in only once when she had dealt with angels in the past when she was in her prime. Xirphi felt that the only way to get out of this would be to fall back on her old strategy of wordplay as her hands instinctively went to get the boot off her throat by attempting to push back on it. ”Wait, wait, wait! Let’s not go and be hasty here! Making me throw up souls sounds like it would be a lot of work and I don’t even think I actually can throw them up. At least not without having my tongues come out,” Xirphi gasped, hoping that her words would hit home somewhere, [color=a2d39c]”My tongues are the only thing that can drag those souls anywhere, look see!”

The lizard attempted to split her mouth open to show off her impressive tongues yet she couldn’t exactly do that. Her face kind of looked like what a dog would do when it has something stuck to the roof of its mouth. Try as she might, she couldn’t quite split her mouth open. ”Well it seems like I can’t get my tongues to work. Never thought I’d hear myself say that,” Xirphi commented before continuing, ”Anyways, my point stands. So it seems this is a pointless exercise, so if you let me go I’d be on my way to never bother you again!” To finish off her statement, Xirphi even gave forth a nervous smile as she tried to figure out the best course of action.

Amaterasu flew into the First Pyramid before her sword reformed into a spiral of light around her arm, her eyes narrowing down onto the conglomeration of demons and the guardian of said Pyramid. Raising her hands up to the demons and guardian, Amaterasu began to charge a strong lancing beam at the three targets, aiming to kill at least the demons with the blast and greatly injure the guardian in the process. There, the other combatants of Heaven could assist her in annihilating the guardian so they could proceed unhindered.

Still, the beam was charging, but it was definitely something powerful for when it would be unleashed. It'd feel pretty something to actually manage to kill the demon who had seemingly ignored her attack prior, as well. That was pretty annoying to have an entire attack simply wasted, and he would have to pay for his sins in one way or another. Everything had a price, and the price of ignorance was pretty taxing on Amaterasu's list. Susanoo and Tsukuyomi knew that better than anyone, considering how many games of Monopoly she had been dragged into.

---

Bonesword and Charlie shot out into the marshland as Bonesword figuratively closed his eyes. He felt the raw energy of all the souls around him, eager for a second chance at taking the Guardian's head, and the plants around him bending to his will despite the resistance from the boss. Charlie was detached from the control of the area given his heritage and existence, so he continued on like nothing was wrong. Just in case, the Vulcan Yew miniguns on Charlie and Bonesword returned into the body of Charlie as Bonesword looked at the conflict. There were two demons, the wolflike goddess from before, and Muramasa all in the vicinity right now that he could see, not to mention the countless souls underneath the entire area. Similarly, another angel was nearby, but staying hidden for the moment being. The plants told him that.

Putting his hand lower to the ground, Bonesword began calling up from the depths an army of the deceased. Those who had died long ago in battle against the Guardian began to rise once more to combat him, though they certainly had looked better before. As Charlie circled every other combatant, the skeletal challengers just kept rising up in Bonesword's wake. It wasn't long before a couple of skeletons became a hundred, and it wasn't long before a hundred became two hundred. It was enough to make Bonesword blush if he was capable of it.

Once the army was raised, they all began to converge onto the Guardian and demons engaging each other. Bonesword hung back, deciding to engage himself after his army was raised even more.

Just to test another thought, however, the skeleton turned one tree to his aid as a construct, observing it in case the environment had some effect on his constructs.

"Oh look, it talks." Lucille regarded her quarry with little concern and she hardly relented in her stomping barrage. It was annoying that this creature had some nerve to hold off the boot to her throat. The only thing stopping Lucille from stomping her head into a red spray was Xirphi's pathetic attempt of appeasement. So she listened, raising an eye as Xirphi attempted to split her mouth and prove her point. All that happened was more seconds of her time being wasted and she stared down at the lizard. "A messy eater and a liar. You know just how to catch my attention, don't you," she said, slamming the heel of her boot into the side of Xirphi's throat.

This was not an ideal situation for the lizard, especially considering that she was quite literally being kicked silly by Lucile's endless barrage. Yet, she would endure for as long as it took to formulate a plan out of the situation. The heel made Xirphi flinch, wincing as she struggled to shift herself into a position so she could speak some more, however trying to move herself or the boot was rather difficult as the lizard had little space and found that pushing up on a boot was rather difficult when one was on the ground. Then, she came to the conclusion that there was no real way out of this without some form of fighting spirit. Kicking her leg up, the devourer attempted to scratch at Lucile's back and allowing her head to try and snag the foot of the Black Goat.

"Hmm?" Something akin to a gnat glanced over her back and she turned to see a free leg trying to fight back. It hardly made contact with its intended target but it did distract Lucille enough for her foot to be caught by Xirphi. Lucille looked down to where her foot was caught, staring blandly before wretching it free from Xirphi's grip. "You're stubborn for a newbie. But I suppose that makes sense. You really shouldn't be. After all, didn't you know you're being punished? Everyone needs to take their punishment when they break a rule," she said, eyes narrowing almost like a predator.

"I call it a winning attitude," Xirphi coughed, allowing herself a few moments to breathe before meeting Lucile's narrowed gaze with her own not-so-narrowed, nervous gaze. Xirphi could not help but do another nervous smile as she looked upon Lucile. Not wanting to give up the souls she worked so hard for, though really it wasn't that hard since a lot of the demons were more like extremely wet paper when her tongues were out, Xirphi attempted once more at her bargaining technique, "I wasn't lying when I was talking about my tongues. I just can't seem to get them out now and it's actually bothering me more than me being powerless to stop you," she explained once more making her strange face, "It is really bothersome, honestly this is punishment enough."

To this, Lucille actually moved away from Xirphi, moving over to her parasol. Grip held to the handle, she twisted it violently deeper into the lizard's tail before leaning forward atop it with all her weight. "You're missing a very important factor in this little chat we're having right now," she said, resting her palms on the parasol's handle. "What would be in it for me if I let you go right now?"

"A friend? Someone to help you torture anyone? A mobile cleanup crew? You name it I can do it, unless it involves vegan food. Can't stomach that shit," Xirphi suggested with her trademark nervous smile as she tried her best not to react to the pain. Her attempt was however feeble as there was a very noticeable eye twitch.

"I feed all my friends to my daughter. She's also my cleanup crew. No, no, there just doesn't seem to be anything you could possibly offer me." Lucille punctuated each of her words with more, violent twists of her parasol. By now that tail was no doubt a bloodied and pulsing mess, though that was hardly Lucille's concern. No, what did she catch her attention was the crude statement made by the one trapped. "Oh? Don't like eating your veggies I see. Tell me, what's stopping me from ramming some flowers down your gullet right now."

"My trademark smile? Perhaps my adorable exterior?" Xirphi went on, not bothering to look at the bloody mess that was her tail, it was better that way since she couldn't see the extent of the damage. Though the soul shaking pain was something that was hard for her to ignore, let alone keep her composure towards, "Plus I have a lot more to offer than what meets the eye, like I said, I can do many things!" Her will to continue on with trying to plea out of the situation was something to commend, of course nearly any demon of her level would do the same thing.

"Or I could just leave you here." Lucille let her words sink in, observing the lizard's reaction. It was doubtful she'd be able to unlodge herself from that parasol; not unless Xirphi was willing to amputate her own tail. Cruel, perhaps, but tis was the nature of Hell. "Of course, we'll need to do something about that stomach of yours. And those tongues. Maybe a muzzle will do since I don't intend to spend all my time dirtying my heels with a worm like you. I'm sure some demon will find pity and release you. Maybe."

A look of horror came upon her face as the mention of a muzzle sunk into the mind of the lizard, horrified memories of the angels binding her and purging her of the souls she had eaten. "No- no- no-," were the only words the lizard repeated until her mind caught up, "Please, no. That'll mean I won't be able to eat and if I can't eat then what happened here will just happen again! I'll do anything for you, souls are the only thing that keep me fed! What do you want?! A promise? Eternal servitude?... My body?" It was one last crude attempt, but tapping into her mother's side of the family, Xirphi did her best to strike what would count as a seductive pose.

"This really is pathetic." Lucille stared down at the lizard almost out of pity....or maybe it was misconstrued sadism. Once again Xirphi pleaded and begged and once again Lucille answered with a wagging finger. "It's always about you isn't it. All of this sounds like the selfish wants of a lizard who didn't realize who ruled this place. Why again am I catering to your needs when you're the one being punished?" Xirphi didn't need to answer because Lucille was already moving away, fully intent to just leaving her to rot where she was.

A sound almost equivalent to that of joy came out of the lizard's mouth, if she could just tap into the power of her devoured souls then she would definitely be able to free herself in some strange way. At least she would no longer of to continue to deprave herself any further than she already had, at least the lesson she learned was that being pathetic actually paid. Xirphi scrambled to her feet, still not bothering to look back at the damage had been caused to her tail. Her celebration may be premature, but she relished the fact that she may actually live to go forth and devour more souls if she could free herself.

"Oh, that reminds me." Something rumbled beneath the ground, shattering its surface. Made manifest were long strings of vegetation, each one thick enough to hold a bull. At once they forced themselves into Xirphi's maw, crawling down her throat as if to block it up. The ends of these very same strings snapped harshly around Xirphi's snout, keeping her jaws sealed in an effective muzzle. It was a shame; had Xirphi not exclaimed in joy, the Black Goat might not have remembered her promise.

The only sounds that Xirphi made in response was her muffled screams and gags as she attempted to get free of the wretched vegetables. This was cruel and sad, she was a sobbing, screaming mess as she attempted to force her acidic bile up but to no avail. Lucile's blockage was still keeping her powers down.

"You thread the realm of beings far beyond your feeble mind's comprehension. This display of insolence shall not be tolerated," the Guardian said once the warriors of the Nexus began to retaliate one after the other.

However, the chaos of uncoordinated attacks was actually making the sum of their efforts less effective than each fighting on their own, especially when both ally and foe didn't lose the opportunity to unleash indiscriminate attacks that target everything in their wake.

Nina's blind attacks hit the Guardian, causing him to burst into a massive water explosion which put her and Mephilus right in the way of each other's line of fire. Furthermore, both Mephilus' shots and Nina's darkness breaths would clash against Bonesword's skeleton troops while the plant construct he tried to raise would first contort violently—as if his power was clashing against the Guardian's— before bursting as the water inside of it was expelled violently.

The forest went eerily silent as the battle kept on raging. Out of nowhere, the water burst around Muramasa as the Guardian rose to attack once again hacking at the Machina with power and rage. The android's stealth seemed to matter nothing to the reptilian beast, whether it was because of extrasensory capabilities or because the spray of water outlined Muramasa's silhouette, was anyone's guess.

At the same time, the plants around Bonesword would raise, trying to snare him, just a moment before another of the same Guardian appeared behind him. "Defiler! Blasphemous being, your kind is not welcome on this ground. Return to the tomb, where you rightfully belong," he said before unleashing a powerful overhead chop, intent on slicing Bonesword in half.

As Mephilius attempts to support his draconian ally, one of the latter's shots hit the guardian, forcing him to regain his ground. But as the guardian repositions, it leaves Mephilius at the complete mercy of Nina's blinding attacks. Not trusting the dark corrupting breathes dejecting from her mouth, the knight tries to dodge the shots rather than shielding himself. He'd rather have his shield in tact rather than being eaten away.

"WATCH YOUR FIRE!" the knight roars infuriatingly at the brute's feral movement, not realizing right away that she was blinded. He doesn't even bother scolding the dragon lady. After all, it'll be no use scolding such a primitive-minded oaf like her, who's strategy seems only to be that of brawn and much less of actual strategy.

As soon as he finished dodging, he turns around to be greeted by an army of undead soldiers rushing towards him. The knight sighs irksomely as he's forced to engage the approaching army. Yet before he did so, he engages his thrusters into the sky and switches out his ammunition. From electrical rounds, he reverts back to raw explosive rounds, and fires them off at the bone horde. He eyes one character in particular, Bonesword, who no doubt appears to be responsible for this engagement. He also fires off several explosive rounds at the skeleton's location, around nearly the same time as the Guardian rose to greet him.

---

The archangel raises a hand in front of Saef, as he quickly glances at the battle taking place in front of him. He eyes the demonic opponents fighting against the Pyramid Guardian, while also taking a quick glance behind him to see who's now approaching the temple. Sure enough, he can vaguely see figures approaching from the forest, most of them being Machina units. Eying the battle at hand, Lucifus came to the only logical conclusion at the moment.

"Save your strength." the archangel orders softly, "The guardian is currently not worth our time. Let the others wear him down while we position ourselves near the exit. Once defeated, we rush. We'll counter if we're attacked."

He carefully plants his body near the edge of the wall in an attempt to sneak by the chaos of battle. He motions his hand towards Saef as he silently attempts to walk past the battle at hand. And soon enough, the Machina arrive, with a certain skeleton unleashing an entire army of undead soldiers that begin to swarm the guardian and the unfortunate units that were right in the middle of it. Any skeleton that wishes to greet the archangel would find themselves utterly obliterated by his blades, decapitate each one with a swift head-strike.

Nina finally managed to clear the water from her eyes, stopping her torrent of darkness once she heard the cries of her "ally" telling her to watch where she was shooting. While she cared not for his life in any way, it was pointless to kill him right now. Although the fact that he had the gall to try and order her around did want to make her pop his skull like a grape... Regardless they had bigger problems to worry about judging from the intense light shining upon them from above. Nina turned towards Amaterasu with a scowl, shooting towards her with fury in her eyes and a sword in hand to smack her down. Just as Nina was about to swing at the goddess, she blurred out of sight, reappearing a bit behind Amaterasu and firing a massive beam of darkness at the goddess's flank.

The laser Amaterasu was charging was ready to be fired at any moment, though the goddess halted on the firing of said attack as she watched the draconic demon rush towards her before vanishing. As Nina reappeared behind Amaterasu, the goddess quickly turned around and unleashed the charge directly towards the demon, the holy light simply pounding away at the demonic darkness as Amaterasu hung in the air, her gaze fixated towards Nina with a darkened scowl.

This was an oddly poetic assault and counter. Dark versus Light. Heaven versus Hell. God versus Devil. It'd be a lot better if it wasn't over so quickly. Depending on how fast this one fight would be over, maybe Amaterasu could arc her fire at the demons in the area and wipe them out before chaos ensues with them. The skeleton hordes were growing faster and faster by the minute.

---

The Guardian and Mephilius both missed their attacks as Bonesword flew by on Charlie, the snake using more questionable movements to evade attacks and keep moving at a rapid pace. Bonesword looked behind him as he drew his Cybersword, two vines on Charlie quickly gripping his legs to ensure he wouldn't be caught falling off the snake as he rode. In case he had to make a rash decision for his defense, he could now do so with the newest blade granted to him by the mechanics of the Machina.

As Charlie and Bonesword rode through the swampy marsh, the lives of previous warriors fell rapidly to the champions of the Nexus. However, as one skeleton fell, two or three more took it's place in the Marsh in a different area. The numbers kept climbing, approaching higher amounts as Bonesword's minions began to swarm around the other combatants in the area, swiping at them for as much damage as they could muster out of their decrepit bodies and rusty weapons. The only ones not targeted by the swipes would be the Machina units in the immediate area, but even then several skeletons around each one began to swipe at the terrain in attempts to keep it down and out of the battlefield in order to ensure the safety of Bonesword's allies.

Bonesword's shield blipped as it recharged to maximum capacity. It'd protect him from a good hit on his body should the Guardian or any other body manage to lay a hit on him. The bullets were one thing, but the Guardian didn't play around. All Bonesword could do for the Guardian if he hit was pray to Indra that nothing bad would arise. Same with that light goddess. She could probably end him with one strong hit if she could land one.

---

Vegetables, that was the one thing that was torturing Xirphi and keeping her tethered down, it was absolutely disgusting. Just the leafy texture, the… the… it’s hard to describe bad things about vegetables really, bad Xirphi just doesn’t like them. However, she could eventually begin the throw up her corrosive acid and dissolve the despicable substance that had been choking her. Eventually she could split her mouth open and snap the vegetation, her strength having come back to her as well as her hunger. Xirphi eventually unclogged her system and destroyed the plants that dared enter her mouth.

The lizard turned to the parasol next, it couldn’t be that hard to move. She gripped it and tugged at it, applying more force as she realized that it was likely not going to be moved by brute force alone. With a light growl she simply raised her tail up the parasol before jumping up, ripping her tail free of the confinement that had literally pierced it.

Xirphi let out another growl, before walking away her tongues singling out a lingering demon that had chosen to stay in the area. She quickly gulped the soul down before sighing, she had embarrassed herself with how she acted but it did allow her to keep the souls that she had consumed. Her eyes went up to the palace, tempted to run up there and devour every single one of them and show them the true power of Xirphi the Devourer. However, it seemed the Nexus’ Hell was not the same one she had grown up in, with actual powerful players running the place.

She turned away and retreated back to the bar that she had started the slaughter at, it would be her place of rest for the time being. Of course she had to clear out any who decided to stay, which she did, a few imps scrounging the dead for some good loot. Weakling demons never tasted all that great, nor were they a fulfilling meal. However, they did provide her with power and she need more power.

Xirphi began to think, it was unlikely that she’d be able to find a god to actually train her so she would need to do things herself. Instead she began look to her past, back to the times where those Norse men would try to fight her, constantly going on about how their shamans said that it was their power within that would defeat her. They never did but those words, “the power within”, that was likely where she would have to start. The lizard sat herself down on one of the couches and began to meditate, she didn’t know exactly what she was looking for but it was whatever this “power within” was. Perhaps it was just some mental thing the Norse came up with to encourage their people simply so they would have some meager defense against her. There was nothing.

And she was hungry.

Her thoughts went to souls once more, but she did not want to risk being attacked by a being more powerful than her again. However, she felt the souls that were inside her as she began to focus more on them. It was a very gradual focus, yet, it was done. While she could not feel an individual soul, she could feel the collective sea that they made within her. Xirphi’s connection to them was primitive, crude, only able to draw out a fraction of the power hidden away in them. She had a clue of the power hidden away within them given that she expends their power in some of her attacks, such as the energy concentration she is able to do. That was merely a discharge of the energy, though, not an actual use for her if she wanted to become stronger.

And yet, she remembers many, many years ago when she first came up with the move in her old hell.

---

”Tell me, Xirphi. What do you gain out of betraying your own kind?” A familiar voice stated, Ajax the King Slayer.

”An end to a curse,” Xirphi replied in the memory, a field of corpses around the two. Ajax pointed his sword at her before letting out what sounded like a frustrated sigh at the lizard. She had been a problem then. A very big problem and Ajax needed to kill her, or drive her off, whichever came first. The hungry one continued ”I am hungry. These souls are the only thing that make it go away.”

“That is a lie. Your hunger is not one of food or sustenance, but simply for your own power gain. Regardless, I will end you now,” Ajax commented, charging with his mountainous sword at the ready. He swung down when he was within range and Xirphi simply raised her hands to catch it, the child that she was was holding her own in terms of brute strength. Yet, she lacked martial training. Ajax’s heel collided with her abdomen and, while it didn’t move her, it did hurt.

Xirphi’s mouth opened, her tongues going for Ajax’s chest, but he dodged out of the way and cut off the tongue which only grew back after being withdrawn. The tendrils came from the sides and above while Xirphi rushed down the middle. Ajax cleaved the right one and the top one but he felt the left stab into his side while he managed to block a pouncing Xirphi, catching her on the flat of his sword. He threw her off before cleaving the tongue as well, pulling the remnant out.

The demon lord raised his arm and a ball of energy formed in the center of his palm, a massive beam fired off without interruption in Xirphi’s direction. She hadn’t a chance to dodge, death seemed inevitable. And yet, a bright white light was fired back in defiance. The power of the souls she consumed were being released in a beam, the power of a full connection to Xirphi which would ultimately drain them of their power rapidly.

---

It was this connection Xirphi wanted, however, not some temporary connection that would ultimately burn them out, but a more permanent and powerful connection that would allow her to be even stronger than before. Her crimson blood eyes opened, now she knew what she needed, a better connection.

The question now was; how was this connection to be gained? Desperation and the will of survival is what drove her to establish that first connection in the battle against Ajax, but she was at a loss to know how to get a more permanent and effective connection with the souls she has consumed. Perhaps she needed the feeling of desperation once more? No, if that were the case then she would have developed a stronger connection against Bonesword. Xirphi would need to find what would increase that connection.

It was either the less boring violent way or she would have to actually look into herself and refine her inner focus on those souls.

Yet, there are many ways to go about these things, yes?

@Lmpkio



It was getting crowded in here, what with all the undead, the different fighters and now multiple Guardians. Good thing Lucifus and Saef were sticking to the edges of the pyramid where nobody was paying attention. The only trouble so far had come from a couple of skeletons that had gotten lost. Easily dealt with by the Archangel.

All in all Saef was left with plenty of time to observe the battle without interruption. His scans of the place bringing a frown to his face. As he lept over a particularly tangled mess of vines and wood he turned to his companion and spoke.

"I cannot find Chen anywhere and Goddess Amaterasu fights alone. We split our forces because we believed it would result in a pair of mobile teams. Apparently the battlefield had other plans."

Of course this brought the question of where Deva's bodyguard had gotten to. The chances of him falling this early in the battle were slim in the extreme. If nothing else such a conflict would have been immediately noticeable across the entire area of conflict. If not dead than perhaps elsewhere on the field or called away entirely. He certainly wasn't inside with them, as helpful as that would be. His control over the local plant life would have been an immense boon.

"I see. We will cross that line when we have to," Iona said, replying to Suparna's question regarding what to do if she manages to capture Victoire. "Your intentions of serving Celestia are admirable but you will not achieve anything if you aren't in the battlefield," she added before eyeing the maggot girl inquisitively.

"I believe you want me to help you with that, right?" Iona asked Suparna since it didn't seem like she was capable of getting to the battlefield on her own.

When Suparna arrived in the valley she would see that it was almost nothing like a more conventional landscape that one would see in the tamer regions of the Nexus.

It was a chaotic mess of broken landmasses, held together by what little gravitational energy was afforded to it; an impressive feat given that the valley was located dangerously close to the roiling turmoil of the Nexus' borders. In fact, the very land echoed and hummed with the massive power of the reality storm that threatened to engulf and destroy it at any moment. What would happen to anyone unlucky enough to be swallowed by it was anyone's guess.

Nevertheless, the valley itself was far from being sterile. In fact, it was teeming with unique forms of life that seemed to be made part of energy and part of the strange crystals that covered much of the land.

The forces doing battle amid the haze of purple energy were locked in an ever-escalating battle as no one was able to take control over the land for long enough to establish a lasting base of operations that would enable a larger scale battle, justifying the presence of champions, to happen.

Close to Suparna's entry point, she would see a small group of minor Angels being hailed with Machina gunfire, coming from a pair of heavy mechs armed to the teeth with cannons, missiles, lasers, and all else the Supreme Queen's armies had to offer. While they may be formidable foes to an everyday cherubic soldier or minor einherjar, their might paled compared to the monstrosities that Suparna faced on Asgard. No doubt she would be able to deal with them if she wanted to.

"Not so fast!" The Guardian exclaimed just as Bonesword thought that he got out of range, only to find that Charlie got snared not by tethers made out of the water it was touching—the momentum of his movement certainly throwing Bonesword away.

A moment later, the beast would have its body unceremoniously torn in half and devoured by the Guardian's jaws as it emerged from the water under it. "Your defiance will not be tolerated!" Another one said as he burst from the waters, aiming a tail strike—intent to knock Bonesword to the ground— followed by a machete blow aimed right at the skeleton's skull.

Meanwhile, the other combatants who seemed to ignore the very existence of the Guardian would have another threat to deal with as massive, multiton stone blocks began to detach themselves from the pyramid's ceiling and plummet towards the swamp like an oversized hailstorm. The most curious aspect of this being that not only the blocks began to fall, but also fly around as soon as they hit the ground—running over and crushing anyone in their path— forming what looked like a very characteristic, several stories form, made of hard stone with a shiny red eye, blinking on its 'chest'.

---

---

The Crystal Song valley was a wondrous place to behold. An ecosystem existing on the cusp of pure annihilation, yet life somehow persisted on this fringe of the Nexus. Sights, sounds, and an uncanny smell assaulting the many bodies of Suparna, alien in visage yet familiar in nature. Almost immediately she knew it would be as relaxing to lounge beneath these crystal fronds as it would a Celestian park, were it not for the reasoning she was here.

The hive snapped to attention, a circle of Draconic bodies taking in the very readily apparent conflict dominating this zone. In terms of scale this was but a skirmish, but Suparna wasn't going to hold anything back here. There was no one higher up the food chain for Heaven here but herself, and Iona had already made it clear she'd be facing tough competition from Hell's champions.

Which was perhaps why she was a touch surprised to find Machina engaging a group of lesser angels nearby, but it quickly passed and with a thought the thirteen corpses dashed into the fray. They passed the angels with nary a word exchanged, and were halfway between them and the mechs when the Machina turned their fire on the more pressing targets. Lasers scored across the front bodies, and to Suparna's savage delight the dragon scales made quick work of such heat based weaponry. Solid munitions came upon them like rain and the corpses scattered, weaving around plumes of shattered crystal as the speed and number of targets worked against the mechs to disastrous results.

When at last the missiles came to try and succeed where others failed, Suparna was ready. She fell into a crouch and braced her shield overhead, creating a platform that her Hive quickly exploited, a trio launching themselves into the air against the guided munitions while another observed from the ground and the rest advanced without pause. The ground based spotter relayed the flight path to the airborne corpses, and with perfect synchronicity they snatched the shafts of the missiles and twisted mid-flight, redirecting the missiles back home.

The thunder of explosive payloads washed across Suparna and her ponytail flew wildly in backwash. The smoke had only just formed when eight corpses closed the distance and dived in, followed by the sounds metal rending under claw and fist, torn asunder and rendered inoperable with prejudice.

"That was a good warm up." The Queen of Carrion declared as she rose, beaming a cocky smirk towards the group of harried angels no longer threatened by mechs. Her unblemished corpses joined her, leaving behind the pile of scrap metal in order to better address these strangers. "On behalf of the Angel of Judgement I am here to help. Don't suppose any of you can point me towards a Rose loving demon I heard was in the area? Or just the heaviest fighting would do."

As the beams of Light and Dark clashed, Nina's beam of Darkness slowly began to overtake Amaterasu as her features began to look more and more feral. She was seconds away from overtaking her when several yellow stones rained from the sky, one nearly crushing the both of them as Nina took the opportunity to disengage from the sun goddess by dropping to the ground. The yellow blocks formed into a sort of golem, with a glowing red eye staring at her. Nina roared at the beast of stone, this new beast was more dangerous than the pathetic goddess that she had previously been facing, this one would need to be taken care of. She let her Darkness begin to build inside of her as she drew her sword, rushing the golem with a flurry of mighty blows all aimed at it's eye. She would finish her combo with a blast of Darkness from her mouth and a backwards leap away to try and avoid any counterattack.

---

"Your foolish pride is showing Laguna." Chen's voice came out of nowhere from the entrance of the pyramid as he walked towards the cowardly Angels, his usual emotionless face somehow giving off the distinct impression that he was disappointed in the two of them. "If you're going to hide and wait for a safe opportunity like a vulture, you may as well not be here." A few vines attempted to grab him, but the moment they touched Chen they suddenly swelled to a massive size and exploded in a burst of organic matter. "Make no mistake, were it not for my presence you would all be dead. This Guardian is not something you can just wait for everyone else to take down, it will take all of your combined might to bring down the Guardian of the Pyramid."

To think this is what the heroes of Heaven were like, opportunistic cowards who stole from the victors of a hard fought battle. Pathetic. Chen raised a hand in the direction of Saef and Lucifus, a look of minor disgust actually present on his face as he stared the cowardly Angels down. "When you fight in the name of the Imperator, you do not cower in the corner like a frightened rat. You fight." With that being said Chen swiped his hand to the side, the vines that had previously touched him and exploded reforming and shooting towards Sobek like organic missiles. But it did not stop there as more and more vines began to sprout from the ground, Chen's Green Relic shining brightly as he used his power to grow more and more plants to use in his fight against the Guardian.