---

Just as he had appeared, and swooped Christine up, Thobias disappeared in a flash once he was sure Christine was on their side of the conflict. The stage was set, the players were all in piece, and though he did not organize the pieces, he would deal with them using all his knowledge and the best of his abilities. And the best of it he gave, because he knew what was at stake. He had to make sure everything went according to plan, his plan, and whether or not that fucked over everyone else didn't bother him the slightest.

He silently detested himself for still caring so much for Katherine even after they had broken up such a long time ago, and he wished he didn't have to deal with this childish squabble. He watched from atop the rooftop of a nearby building that he teleported to as the fight commenced between Katherine and Rurik. It was a fight where he was as unbiased as anyone can be, though he felt that Rurik deserved to loose for trying to "settle a score" while Kath was injured. Still, he saw something in the boy. He would make a great addition to his team...once this is all over. For now, he just watched the rage of the Demoness.

Or was it Kath? She couldn't tell... it seemed like the eloquent taunts of the Demoness were mixed with the burning passion of Katherine and it ended up coming out as a speech that hit the intended target. And even more. For a second, he almost felt bad for Rurik. Almost, but he never really felt sorry for anyone, so this still meant something. He had been blinded by his relation to Kath for longer than he could say, and though he did try to get the two to ease up, he now had a new outlook. The same richness and pompous attitude he despised so much of his own family was shining through Katherine. Admittedly she would've never said it in such a way without the demonic influence, but the core of it was still the Kath he knew.

Whether it was this, pity, or just the general failure to connect with the Demoness's words, Thobias slowly shifted to cheering for Rurik in his head. Well, somewhat more that it. He still had one goal in mind to save Kath, but he had already figured out that the boy was stalling for time. Not that they would've needed that while he was here...but Rurik didn't know that, and he wasn't going away until he saw this fight resolved.

He took his phone out and quickly dialed Sarah. Much like Liam, she responded almost instantly. "Sarah, things are getting heated up. They are fighting and I don't want to risk interfering now. Get ready just in case I need to disperse the crowd." With that he ended the call and anxiously followed the events.

---

After Thobias disappeared in the flash ("At least take me back there again before you go!"), Christine rushed back towards where her sister had been, utilizing her ice skating once more to increase her speed.

Ooh, if Kath really was Kath, she must be really mad at Rurik right now. And Kath being mad is scarier than any demon for sure! I sure hope Rurik is OK! He's strong so he should be fine, but still...

When she arrived back at the park, to her relief, she saw that Rurik was still standing. He looked quite angry at Kath however, which gave her concern. It's not like him to be so angry... or angry at all for that matter...

"Umm, Rurik, Kath, you can stop fighting now!" Christine shouted. "Kath, that whole thing about him peeping wasn't true. I was just testing whether or not the real Kath is still in control in there! And Rurik, d-did she hurt you bad? I-I'm sorry for doing that by the way... it was the only way I know of to tell whether it was the real Kath or not."

Christine then turned to Clara and said, "Kath is still in control. So if she says to let her go, I say we should let her go."

While Yuuto had to give the kid credit for not being intimidated, he'd soon learn that sometimes it would be better to surrender. However, Yuuto's thoughts were interrupted by a large torrent of water. The initial blast by the fire hydrant had taken Yuuto off-guard, and it was only his extra defenses offered by the Void that let him only acquire some more bruises as he was sent flying by what felt like one of Father's punches multiplied by a factor of around 20 or so.

As soon as he regained his senses, Yuuto shifted into the Void, rolling from the impact and picking up a couple of more cuts. As Yuuto moved to the side, he re-emerged. "Very well. You choose to interfere with mission." Yuuto said, drawing some kunai before flinging them at David, followed by a Void Beam. Let's see how he liked that. Yuuto had been nice and not empowered the throwing knives with the Void. He was sure that Clara wanted the kid alive, for whatever reason. However, that didn't mean that Yuuto couldn't rough him up some.

Yuuto had been sent flying as David had hoped, and he shut off the water a few moment after Yuuto went tumbling away. Though David was thrown off when Yuuto seemed to vanish into thin air. "What? I didn't launch him out of the park right?" David thought as he scanned for the ninja.

"Very well. You choose to interfere with mission." David heard to his side as he turned his head and saw Yuuto fling Kunai at him. David flattened out onto the ground and tried to roll out of the way, but before the Kunai even reached him he felt a strange beam hit him in the side mid-roll. His whole body spasmed as he was sent tumbling away as Kunai rained down on his old position.

David's shirt now had a large swathe torn in it and he felt like he'd been simultaneously burned and frozen by the blast. He had a large red mark on his left side that looked like skid mark running across his stomach and ribs. However, This all took back seat as a sick feeling spread through his body. He couldn't place it at first, but David realized the boiling feeling from his blood had stopped. It was enough to make him pause.

"You son of Bitch!" David yelled, with an actual look of panic on his face for a moment, but he quickly replaces it with one of rage. David realizes that he needs to make a change or Yuuto was going to tear him apart at range. So, using his anger to surpass the pain he decides to try to stand. His legs shook as a sharp pain spread through them, but he was able to manage to get to his feet. He noticed that the Demoness and Rurik were still fighting, but Rurik was now also standing shakily in the open giving Katherine a withering glare. This only made David angrier as it seemed their positions were the same, but it also gave him an idea.

David would turn to face Yuuto, making sure to keep his chest pointing right at him. "You care about the mission right?" David spat while keeping his fire nozzle trained on him, then giving Yuuto his meanest smirk he would slowly turn the fire nozzle towards Rurik. David wasn't sure how Yuuto would respond to this threat, but he really hoped he would take the bait. Daivd would then rack the handle forward while yelling, "Open times seven!" A portal would open on the end of David's fire nozzle as well as seven identical portals on is chest arranged in a circle.



Yuuto, instead of seeing a stream of water emerge from the nozzle, would instead see a geyser of water, like an exploded fire hydrant, launch from David's chest straight at him. David would turn his chest back and forth blanketing the whole field in water to make it hard for Yuuto to dodge and turning the ground to mud.

As Yuuto watched, his Void Beam hit his intended target, although it seemed that it must have interfered with one of his abilities. However, his opponent then turned the nozzle towards Rurik. Yuuto twitched, running calculations in his head. Would Rurik be able to take another blow? However, this thinking cost him as he was then caught by not one, but seven full-power nozzles that sent him flying even further away than the first hit. At this point, Yuuto felt a couple of his ribs crack, and he was sure he'd be off of jobs for a few days after this whole thing was over.

Once more, Yuuto embraced the Void, emerging on the side. After slipping for a bit, he applied some of his Void Energy to stand on the mud like it were solid ground. Yuuto walked forward, slowly and in pain, toward David. Even water puddles were traversed as if they were solid ground. "Void Wisdom say 'Always remember noble foe who fights.' You are indeed worthy foe." With that, Yuuto sped off, dashing as fast as he could at his foe. If he got close enough, he would lash out with a Void Pulse empowered kick to David's legs, attempting to incapacitate his foe.

Clara narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at Christine's words.

"I have no intention of letting this parasite infecting your sister out of my sight, Christine. It is a demon. If you cannot remain objective in this situation, perhaps you should not be involved," Clara told her. "It escaped once and I will not let it happen again."

To Clara's surprise, Rurik was actually keeping the demon's attention. As far as actually fighting it went, he was doing just awful. His face was bruised and bloodied, but somehow he only seemed more determined at the moment. That said, at this rate he'd just get beaten down again before the demoness actually had to exert herself...

How disappointing.

Even Yuuto was struggling. Not as much as Rurik, but far more than she would have expected considering his opponent's weapon of choice was... a water hose?

???

@rawkhawk64@Hammerman@KillamriX88@6slyboy6@RoflsMazoy@Crazy Scion

---

It was a good feeling to know a plan was coming together. The boy was up. Christine was back, and thoroughly teetering toward her side. That David boy was doing much better than she expected, maybe a little too well. And yet...

It wasn't as though she had ever possessed anyone before. She'd never been that desperate, but even if she had she didn't think she would be able to get used to it. When Christine told Clara that she thought it was really Katherine calling the shots in here the demoness couldn't help but think she was on to something. When her sister Christine had told them to stop fighting she'd considered it could perhaps be tactically advantages to do so, but as that thought had gone through she'd felt a foreign weight on top of it. The same happened When she told them to stop fighting. This weight seemed to apply to everything the girl said, as though the ideas were more valuable simply because it was Christine that was the source of them.

She was starting to understand, at least a little. This wasn't her body. She still had her own thoughts, but they were running through Katherine's brain. It was uncomfortable. Not unnerving! Just...uncomfortable.

"Don't think for a moment you can reason with that girl, Christine." She bluffed. "She thinks in terms of master and slave. The idea of partnership is beyond her. And I'm sorry..." And she was, she could feel it bearing down on her like an avalanche. She put up her dukes anyway. "But take a look at him. I don't think he'll be satisfied unless he gives your sister a good thrashing. Isn't that right, Rurik?"

She stared the boy down, letting their resentment flare up on Katherine face. She didn't care that she could feel the weight of Katherine's on top of hers. She had her own reason to dislike the boy. This emotion they could share. She let her fire creep up into her hands, swirling around them like schools of hungry biting fish. Mostly for show, but hot enough to sting later. She was nothing if not petty. "Well, it isn't as though I don't reciprocate. So, round two?"

She didn't wait for an answer. She let Katherine's legs carry her across the distance between them to give him another one across the face.

The empowered cultists were clearly caught off guard. Neither had expected the massive vortex to sprout from a mouthy teenager. One was caught like a deer in the headlights, while the other actually managed to take action. He split into two, one copy of him sprinting clear while the other threw the less fortunate member clear. The copy itself however was caught in the vortex, sucked helplessly into Andreim's high temperature cutting attack. The other copy seemed to twitch and then straighten up upon the other copy being destroyed.

The one who had been flung clear got up and a fire sprung from his hands. It was oddly reminiscent of the imp fireballs from the abandoned building. He flung two balls of fire at Andreim in retaliation. Meanwhile, the copy-man split now into five, one hanging back while the other four closed in on Andreim and Lise.




It was truly unfortunate for the cultist that the beaten and battered kids in the tent had happened to be a bit more mobile than he had expected. The second the door flap shut behind him, the inky tentacles wrapped around him, binding his mouth and limbs. He could only let out muffled screams as then the hulking, undead berserker rose up before him.

The silence was shattered as a shattered body was flung from the "quiet" room. The other four cult members ran over. One was almost immediately cut down as Ulf tore out of the doorway. They were like chaff, being torn apart one after the other in the confined space by the mad draugr. The leader remained calm, however.

"How interesting that one among you children holds dominion over the dead..." he muttered under his mask as Ulf charged him. "But... your hold is weak." He could tell this draugr had a mind of its own, however weak the threads of sanity in its rotting skull were. Burning sparks flew from his hands as he traced a circle in the air before him. As Ulf ran through the rune, he skidded to a halt. Burning cracks spread along Ulf's body, and he slowly turned about with jerky, robotic movements. "Do not worry children, I assure you my control is much firmer than yours. I will try to leave you alive... for the time being."

'More strange people... Is there some kind of commoner's festival going around?' Lise remembered as a child being told about festivals where unwashed paupers donned sack-cloths and hit each other with clubs in the name of a good Harvest, so perhaps this was it. She watched Andreim spring into action, knocking one of them away with a vortex. 'Ah, perhaps the gods' blessings have made clubs irrelevant. Well, it would be rude to not help them with their celebration, though I don't intend on receiving any clubbings...'

"Do not worry Andreim, I understand what is happening now!" Lise said. The replicating one closed in on them, and Lise responded with her own copies. Rising from her shadow, four copies of shadow butlers dashed forward, seeking to tackle the doppelgangers before they got close to Andreim and Lise. Even with their strength divided fourfold, they would be a formidable defense for any person. "I will occupy these ones, Andreim. Perhaps you can give the original the beating he desires?"

Though, even if they got past, Lise could summon more. And in the back of her mind, she had another idea entirely, if the need arose.

-God of the Underworld

This was Kheraket's task. To maintain the balance of the dead and the living. The largest task he had accepted in his entire life. Maybe he was out of his league here, but if he was he didn't care - this was the only way he knew for him to see his parents again.

But in the meantime, he had been convinced by some friendly stranger he met on the street to try and enjoy this "tournament" that was being held. It was that same stranger that had stopped Kheraket from almost jumping into the arena as he saw various children pummeling each other into the dust. "Hey, now! They'll be fine," he said as he grasped Kheraket's shoulder, "they won't hurt eachother too bad, this is a professional event!"

"But why are they trying to hurt each other?"

"It's for fun. We do this every year." he explained as he watched, wide-eyed, a spectacularly fun moment. "You must be new here?"

Kheraket was indeed new to Rhea. He was new to civilization entirely, to be technical. Since he was spit back into the earthly realm, he had been working a low-wage job as a shepherd on a farm in the countryside, to sustain himself until an unsavory event reared its head. However, idleness in the face of a task did not suit him. So he headed towards the place where he felt the most inter-dimensional spirit travel: Rhea.

"Indeed, I-"

"HOLY SH-"

There seemed to be something wrong. Something had happened and Kheraket could see tournament officials running towards the battlegrounds as one student in particular was drawing them in. He didn't know her name, and couldn't see her expression from so far away. But he could see her injuries, and her posture. They were not befitting of each other. She rose one hand skyward, launching an attack to the heavens, or rather, the protective barrier. It faltered.

The announcers assured the audience that this spectacle was OK, but Kheraket wasn't so sure. Something felt wrong. Especially something about that fiery girl who had just flown away in the chaos.

He looked back and saw that his stranger was gone. And quite a few people were getting up and shifting around as well - it seemed like the tournament was over, then.



After some time of snacking on a churro and wandering back inside the stadium to explore the vendors, whom some of which had left after the events, Kheraket had decided it was time for him to go-

He stopped dead in his tracks as he felt a cold, deep tingle wash over him. His gaze snapped to an empty space ahead, and his eyes growing blank, as if they were unfocused...or incredibly focused. He had known this feeling more than a few times - and he didn't like it. But at the same time, it meant the opportunity for success. The opportunity for redemption. The feeling was that of someone plunging their hand into the Underworld.

He dropped his churro and brandished his staff as he briskened into a jog down the hallway.

When he heard a voice. "..I will try to leave you alive... for the time being."

Kheraket stood in the doorway, looking upon the scene of the Medical Pavilion.

He held out his staff, the orb atop it, along with his eyes, glowing brighter in tone until they each reached a bright, vibrant blue. "Excuse me. I am afraid I can't allow that creature to harm anyone." he called out to the man, his voice echoing in on itself, and through the room more than it should have. The Draugr stopped moving - but it didn't vanish, as it should have. Kheraket frowned.

Interesting...something is keeping the creature held to this plane. Something I cannot quite disperse. But I can feel it quivering. Surely this masked man is not more adept than I at plane-tethering...

Unfortunately, the combined efforts of Diana's magic and the cultist's manipulation was enough to keep the beast material. For now. Even more unpleasant, however, is that Kheraket's tampering would likely not allow one to control it. So...

The creature staggered in place, towering over everything near it. It seemed somewhat sluggish - Kheraket had been able to slow it down, but its strength was still very much there. Still a formidable threat to anyone too close.

"Riveting.." Kheraket's glow lessened in intensity as he focused on something else.

He didn't know what was going on, but what he did know is that he could see a group of bandaged kids through the torn fabric on the other side of that beast. A beast that did not look friendly.

And then its presumed summoner, the masked man.

"You." Kheraket pointed with his staff. "Necromancer. I adjure you to come with me. At once."

@rawkhawk64@Hammerman@KillamriX88

It seemed that David's fake out had been successful as Yuuto took the blow head on and was launched across the field like a human missile. The ninja again vanished into thin air. David took the moment of reprieve to take in the evolving situation around him. It seemed Christine had been nearly recruited to their side again, but was still holding out thanks to Clara's insistence. David, feeling irritated by Christine's inability to make a decision, yelled at her, "Would you make up your dam mind! Do you trust your sister!? If yes then tell miss black magic to fuck off!" He wasn't able to say more as Yuuto stepped back into reality and took his attention away.

Yuuto started walking towards him with a noticeable limp in his steps, "Is he walking on water? Am I fighting ninja Jesus?!" David thought as Yuuto spoke, "Void Wisdom say 'Always remember noble foe who fights.' You are indeed worthy foe."

"Thanks?" David replied awkwardly as Yuuto sprinted at him. He was actually surprised by this outcome. Yuuto clearly had a ranged advantage, but he chose to take him head on, knowing he could be blown away again. "Well, even I got to respect such guts." David thought, "but I'm still blowing you away." As Yuuto closed in David would shift his left leg forward and his right back while holding his nozzle back and to his right ready to fake Yuuto out by pretending to ram him in answer to his rush. He instead would crank the handle the moment Yuuto was right on top of him and seal his fate.

Things don't go to plan.

As Yuuto closed in David cranked the handle. The world would slow for David as multiple things happened all at once. David's blast of water would go soaring over Yuuto as the ninja dropped low to the ground at the last second to deliver an empowered kick aimed at David's forward leg. As the kick lands the mud would cause David's leg to immediately slip. This reduces the impact a great deal but flings David's leg out from under him. He doesn't even have time to process the pain of the burning frost in his shin as he falls making three full rotations before landing on his side and rolling to his back. Water is sprayed everywhere as a result as the outflow of water sprays everywhere around David. After landing on his back David ended lying there for several moments unable to even think clearly enough to shut off the water. He was overwhelmed by dizziness, pain, and the feeling of drowning as a deluge of water poured over his face from the geyser bursting from his chest and into the air. He eventually got his wits together enough to crank the handle and shut off the water, but he was feeling thoroughly put out.

David breathed to himself, "I have got *breath* to stop letting *breath* my ego *Huff* land me in hot water." He wasn't sure what had gotten caught up in that chaotic torrent, but he quickly spun to his hands and knees and sat up to look around for Yuuto and to assess the damage. If he was lucky Yuuto would being lying in a puddle of water somewhere and Katherine and Rurik wouldn't be wet. He could only hope to be so lucky.

In the arena itself, a tall, muscular masked man strode onto the field. One of his massive hands was wrapped around the face of a limp security guard. If one were to trace the man's steps back, they'd find a trail of bodies wearing similar uniforms.

"Damnation!" Up in the stands, Gloria had been trying to make sense of things. Too much had happened, but now she had a clear target that outweighed everything else. "Adenium, make sure all these kids get out of here! I'll handle this one!" She vaulted over the stands, making the long drop to the arena floor unscathed. She quickly made her way over to the hulking, masked man.

He dropped the guard as he saw Gloria storming toward him. Demonic runes crawled across his skin in preparation.

"Well, don't you look... saintly-" The man was cut off, as Gloria wasn't playing. A spear-like beam of light suddenly shot down from above and pierced through his torso. Two more shot through his arms, effectively crucifying him. The beams of light did not actually cut through their target, but they did hurt and hold them still.

Holy symbols shone into existence around Gloria's gauntlets, like circular holograms. She flew at the masked man, pulverizing his helpless form. With each punch, a section of the demonic runes disintegrated. It ended with one titanic punch that blasted him away, crashing into the arena wall.

He slumped over, falling to his hands and knees. Gloria closed in on him again, preparing one, final punch to end him. Her fist descended, but it was caught, his hand gripping her wrist firmly.

"Such holiness. You think it gives you the advantage? You will find the body of one who has walked among them is not so easily broken." The man rose once more, towering over her. "What you hold is not a counter to mine. It is simply the opposite. It may cleanse... or corrupt." The holy symbols began to burn and waver, before simply flickering out like dying fireflies.

"What?!" Gloria couldn't believe her own eyes, it was as if watching the very nature of her being become nullified in the face of the very thing it was meant to strike down.

The masked man threw his head back and inhaled. He then surged forward and let out something between a scream and roar. Ominous, orangey light poured from the holes in his mask and the very fabric of reality seemed to buckle. Gloria was sent careening away, landing in a ditch dug by her own body on impact. The world seemed to spin as Gloria tried to regain her senses. She soon realized it wasn't her, but that something was very wrong with the area around her. She clutched at the icon over her chest and chanted under her breath. Slowly she felt her power begin to reawaken after what the man had done to her.

She looked up, seeing him a fair ways away, but within one blink he suddenly stood before her. Her eyes shot wide before everything went dark, his fist crashing down, sending ripples through reality once more as it did.

"Almost, sister... almost." Faintly still did her sides still rise and fall with her breaths, but she wasn't getting up again any time soon. "The next few moments will decide your fate, then."

He strode back to the center of the arena, the runes once more adorning his skin. He lifted a hand to the sky and burning lightning cracked above him. It was time to make a statement.

If a certain person were to sum up the situation, perhaps they would call it unprofitable. The tournament was likely to be cancelled after this. Too many fighters injured, too many souls scarred. Strictly unprofitable. But you can't make a profit without people to profit from. And an apocalypse event would really hurt his baseline.

"Everything's ready on this side," The voice on the other side of the line said.

"You work fast, as always," King said.

He stood on top of the arena looking down at the chaos below. In one hand, a really big butterfly net. In his other, a really big sack full of… something. He had his phone on speaker resting on his shoulder.

"I would've appreciated more warning."

"Me too," He said. "I've got one more visit in order, just send them in. Priority is staying alive, secondary is handling the situation."

With that he hung up and made his way to the stands, to perhaps the only person who saw him up above the arena. Alto.

"You're going to fight, aren't you?" King said as he touched down.

Alto just looked over him with a sour expression on his face.

"What is that ridiculous getup?" He said.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," King said.

He reached into his sack and tossed a tiny device over to Alto.

"It'll stop the bleeding. It uses expanding foam to seal the wound, and your cells will eat it away as you heal. It won't do that much for you right now, but you won't bleed out."

Alto grudgingly used the device. Prideful as he was he had more to do today which bleeding out would've put an unfortunate stop to.

"What a mess of a day this is," King said. "There's no way you could've seen all this coming, I'd say you're doing alright as far as I can tell."

"Cut the small talk. You were ready for this," Alto said. King seemed far too at ease in almost every scenario, but now? Even Alto was hard pressed to keep calm. "What's your play here?"

"Well…" King said, a smile creeping onto his face. "I'm just here to save the day."

A shadow fell over the arena. Up in the sky, emerging from a pixelated portal was a fully armed modern warship. From the ground, its flag was just about discernible. A spray-painted purple Jolly Roger on a grey flag.

"…What did you do?" Alto said.

"I just asked." King shrugged. "A few of them owed me a favour, but this isn't exactly about that. A lot of them are just more virtuous than I am."

To sign up for the Vigilantes there were relatively few hurdles. One of those was you needed a phone number. In this day and age it was always a good idea to have an extra layer of security for personal accounts. However, it did also allow them to do something like this.

It would've been easy to miss in the chaos that the arena had become, but it wasn't for the Vigilantes trapped there, after all.

A mass-text message sent to every registered Vigilante. There were many who weren't participating in the tournament that day for various reasons. It goes without saying but the Vigilantes had many members. Almost innumerable. Having a low barrier for entry however meant there were many that couldn't quite be counted on to show up just at the word of the leader. There were many who weren't the most serious about ideals. Though King had mentioned virtue, virtue was no guarantor. But they did have a sort of unofficial catch phrase. The right virtues in the right places can make all the difference.

"This is DJ Drake asking you one question and one question only!" Came a familiar loud voice over the megaphones. Up on the deck of the ship, a familiar purple-haired DJ stood. "Rhea! Are! You! Ready!"

Suddenly dozens of ropes rolled out from the sides of the ship. Then they came. Some of them known Vigilantes, some fighters from the Midnight Tournament, even Vigilantes in school uniforms who very clearly hadn't had stopping an Demon Incursion on their schedule that day but had decided to come regardless.

They came down on the ropes, or in free-fall.

"Well, I said virtue but we're more of a fame and fortune type of group in the end." King said. "There's enough adrenaline for the junkies, enough blood for the fight addicts, and enough cultists for everybody's five seconds of fame. But, even if I bring them all, against him, it might not be enough. I'm not sending anyone to fight him. Technically I'm not sending them anywhere, but they can't fight him."

The masked man in the arena. The Demon. It was impossible to discern his expression, what he thought of the situation. Alto understood King's plan now. It was clear he knew something more, but it wouldn't matter. It was clear enough that if Alto and King didn't engage the Demon in the centre of the Arena, something undesirable would occur.

"What do you say, Child of Light? Do you want the guts? Or the glory?"

Alto gave King one last look before sighing and drawing his sword to his side.

"Glory it is."

@KillamriX88@Gentlemanvaultboy

Andreim

As the copy was cut down by Andreim, he allowed the vortex of water to simply cease and to allow the water to cover the ground. Like rats on a sinking ship... He thought as he called forth more water to fill the ground around and ahead of himself and lise, coming into contact with the water from his previous attack.

"Very well Lise, I leave those for you. I shall prepare his epitaph." It was important for her to also know how to fight well, the young man had more than once just acted as her protector. But she needed to stand up by herself and also become stronger. One of them, in his blinded arrogance or so Andreim believed took the moment to hurl some balls of fire towards him. Such which would seem petty compared to someone like Katherine. The other enemy split into five, whereof four of them dashed towards him and Lise.

You insult me... If you are stupid you left behind your real form over there, If you are smart you sent your true self to attack us right ahead. Either way you are outplayed.

"Hmph! It's useless." Andreim allowed to escape from his lips, as he shot two jagged ice peaks up from the watery field to block the two balls of fire launched his way. The young man then proceeded to shot a jagged peak of ice from under the lonesome copy-man which had been standing behind. The entire area now was under his water and ice powers, every little movement on this surface he could feel it. Would the copies get past Lise's shadows he would skewer them before they would lay their unclean hands on his diamond.

This is what it means to have a nearly perfect defense and offense... no matter where you go, I can trap you, skewer you and ward us from harm. Woe the day you came before us, and get purified by the powers we possess!

To do this work was something he had prepared for in his mind, to vanquish those whom he found to be evil. But he never thought it would happen so early, that they would make the first move on him. Such arrogance had to be shut down immediately. While he had both heard and sighted the large airship in the distance, he had his priorities which had to take first spot. Keep Lise safe, and rescue Katherine.

-Deleted-

Nαɳαƈα Dαιɱσʂ

---

When the text came, she had just been relieved from her hospital visit.

She had overdid it a bit. For a showmatch, she had been challenged to take down ten fighters at once on the ring. She managed to win in the end, but without her body taking quite the beating. She had to call an ambulance afterwards to fix her up.

But now, she was ready to go again. And the text was just the perfect opportunity to do so.

She arrived at the ship amongst the firsts, and she spent her time waiting floating around on the deck, with her novel open. Anyone near her would be able to see the baby blue panties she was wearing as her legs were raised carelessly.

And now, she was amongst the firsts to freefall of the ship.

"It's showtime!"

She landed with a crash right above one cultist. And, before his friends could do anything, she leaped off her first victim and began jumping on top of either their shoulders or their heads. Immediately they felt massive heaviness on the body part she landed on, pulling them down to the ground with how heavy they were.

Any remaining cultists near her immediately put a distance between them and her, extremely wary of whatever ability she possessed.

She then finally descended to the ground, legs hovering just a few inches above. Crossing her arms, she looked at the remaining cultists and said, "Alright? Who's next?". All with a confident smile.

---

"Umm, the demon might be a parasite but Kath clearly said she didn't want to be taken in by you!" Christine replied back to Clara, an expression of determination drawn on her face. "So I can't let you chase her any further!" She then stood in front of her, intending to stop her in her tracks if she moved forward any further.

"Don't think for a moment you can reason with that girl, Christine." She heard Kath said. "She thinks in terms of master and slave. The idea of partnership is beyond her. And I'm sorry... But take a look at him. I don't think he'll be satisfied unless he gives your sister a good thrashing. Isn't that right, Rurik?"

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Kath!" Christine replied with a smile. "...Wait, you're... the demon, aren't you? And you're sorry about possessing her? Umm, Kath might trust you but I still don't think it's a good idea to have a demon possessing you. So if you're really sorry, please leave her body at once," she said to her in a stern tone uncharacteristic to her.

"And please stop attacking Rurik. And Rurik, you stop attacking her too. This is not the time for you two to fight!" she added, giving a glare to her boyfriend as well.

The demon clearly didn't listen to her however as she launched another attack towards Rurik right away.

"Rurik!" she shouted in worry.

She then heard David shouting at her to stop being so indecisive. She shouted back, "That's what I'm doing here!" while returning her attention to Clara. She didn't see how he was taken out by Yuuto, but any water that might have flied towards her direction would be frozen mid-air, forming icicles around her that stayed there instead of falling towards her.

Indeed, the temperature around her was now dropping more and more. For once, Christine was genuinely panicking, and it led to her ability going out of control. The ground beneath her was starting to frost as well.

@Crazy Scion@Gentlemanvaultboy@KillamriX88

Lise's shadows met the copies. It seemed an even battle, if not in Lise's favor. That was, at least, until Andreim attacked. The spike of ice skewered the one in the back, but the body dissolved to energy. That energy flew into the remaining four who suddenly surged back against Lise's shadows.

One quickly shoved their shadow opponent away and ran off to the side, trying run away from the area that was covered in water.

Meanwhile, the ice pillars that Andreim had thrown up to block the fire began to shatter. The fire thrower had begun charging up larger balls of fire that were now strong enough to punch through the ice, though it clearly took him much longer to throw these. The pillars now gone, the next fireball would be on a course for Andreim once more.

And then suddenly an explosion burst from amid the battle of clones and shadows. One of the copies had torn their mask off and then blown up. The other two remaining copies made to leap upon their shadowy opponents before doing the same, attempting to take the shadows with them.

No doubt they'd soon be replaced if they didn't find a way to stop the source.

It was a safe-guard. If a cultist lost their mask in battle, they'd explode so as not to be identified. The copies shared this, but had nothing to lose and thus it became a weapon. But it was a weapon that could be felt by some...




"Necromancer? How droll..." This new one might be more of a threat. He tried to direct the draugr after him instead... but it no longer obeyed. He grit his teeth behind the mask. "How unfortunate." Well, the boy wasn't entirely wrong. The dead and dying made excellent tools.

Another glowing circle was weaved into the air before shooting out. The whole room flashed as the current ran through it. The cultists that had been dropped by Ulf began to squirm and then pick themselves up. So did the doctor they'd killed on the way in. Lying not far from Kheraket's feet, he lunged at his ankles to try and hold him in place. The doctor's face was blank, eyes still frozen wide open. It did not seem like they'd been raised, but still they moved to attack. Two of the cultists were directed to slow Ulf while the rest rushed at Kheraket.




There hadn't been many cultists in the stands. The few that had risked going out in the open were soon caught off guard by the gravity girl's abilities. Most of the rest retreated back to the shadows, forcing a lot of the reinforcing vigilante's to chase them out into the city.

"When champions fall, you instead call upon... children?" The masked man lowered his hand. The ominous lightning still crackled above him, but its growth stalled for the time being. As powerful as he was, he could see Alto's blade. An ability like that might still harm him if he just took it. He tilted his head back and forth, watching the small army of vigilante's spread. They would feel like heroes. They'd feel like they won. For the moment. "Very well, I will entertain you for a moment. You children like games, right? Survive for two minutes and I won't tear that ship out of the sky and bring it and everyone on it to a fiery death."

Well, if it hung around too long it'd be destroyed anyway.

Lise scoffed at her foe's ploy. "Do you intend to exhaust me of my servants? Fool! The servants of Liselotte Castellan de Valois-Saint-Remy are endless and unstoppable!" Her other servants were destroyed, but their power returned to the one that was abandoned. "After that scoundrel!" She commanded to it.

The shadow butler took off into a sprint after the true one. With its full strength available, it was much faster than normal, moving to overtake the masked enemy. At the same time, Lise was wary of other threats, so she readied herself to summon another servant close to her if the need arose.

Michael watched as Diana's hair wrapped around the bristles on his toothbrush before seemingly replacing them. He gave it a small stroke with his thumb, wondering just how effective it was now, and how long this would last. There was no time for any more thought, however, as the cultist fell into his trap, and was subsequently defeated by Ulf.

Michael walked out of the room with Diana, following the path the Draugr made for them. He still felt wary about it, remembering the terror and helplessness he felt when he faced it, but he was glad it was on their side now. That was when they saw the head cultist, who immediately took control of the Draugr and began to turn it against them. Michael would have liked to believe that he would've stayed strong, maybe even stood in front of Diana in what would have perhaps been a futile attempt to protect her. In reality, though, he froze in fear. His past trauma was locking his limbs in place, and hindering his mind from thinking a way out of their predicament. His brain was a complete blank.

He may have even considered it the end for him, had a mysterious stranger come to aid them. Soon, Kheraket had frozen the Draugr in place, and by doing so, drawn all attention to him. It snapped Michael out of his fear, and he silently chastised himself for panicking so. First things first, Michael wanted to reassess his and Diana's current priorities, which was to get to whatever destination Diana had in mind. To do that, though, they needed to escape. Michael looked back at the cultist, and decided that Kheraket could probably handle it. Despite his timely assistance, Michael had no delusions nor intentions about being able to aid him in return, especially when he and Diana were still recovering from the recent tournament battle.

Turning to Diana, Michael said to her, "We should escape while we still can."