[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qSXKgkY.png[/img]
[sub][@Nanaya][@Estylwen][@AThousandCurses][@Sifr][@Psyker Landshark][/sub][/center]
Darkness was much harder to manage than light, and much less effective for stunning an individual as well. A flash of light was like lightning, scorching an image of the bolt into the retina long after the blow had been struck. A flash of darkness, however? That was like blinking, when you didn't intend on doing so.

Regards of what he [i]planned[/i] on saying, however, it looked like none of what was said mattered. The winged paladin from before had caught up in the worst possible moment, ruining all coordination for the single thing that didn't matter at all: defeating the loud-mouthed speaker. The Strigidae clicked his tongue just as spitefully as Gulliver Bronsteel spat out his words, calling forth a titan that was a match for army-standard Sword-grades in terms of output. It was nothing impressive in the grand scheme of things, not when compared to the stories of the Empress's own Gearvein, nor the feats of finesse from skilled pilots, but it was still a titan compared to the students present. If Gearveins could be vanquished by flesh-and-blood humans, there wouldn't be a point in crafting them to begin with, no?

And that wasn't even accounting for the difficulties presented by the Mannekins, which had grown in coordination within proximity of the one that controlled them. Another 'Calm' wouldn't work here, not when the situation was even more frenzied than before.

Still, all this had yet to force Otis to change his own priorities.

[b]"Show me wonders of this world."[/b]

A door swung open behind Ciara, right as she crossed the threshold into the auditorium, exposing the void of stars and space, substance and simulations. Otis caught her eyes in passing, the message clear even without thoughts shared through the mind-link that persisted between them: the chairs first. And then he was leaping into the fray himself, a sunburst exploding out of his barrel to blind Gulliver, before five other bullets cleared the path towards the fallen Davil. Shrapnel fell like rain, like wooden chips spewed from a tree too rotten to serve as anything more than filling, but the Strigidae made no move to help Davil up, or shelter him from the storm. Instead, all he did was toss another hard candy towards him.

[b]"Get out."[/b] A thumb jabbed towards the open door of Otis's workshop. [b]"The first plan has fallen through, so I'll need you to play the central part in the [i]second[/i] plan."[/b]

Too many lights and windows to shutter all at once. Too many Mannekins to challenge without going overboard. Too strong a barrier to smash open with just a fistful of bullets.

But so long as everyone else played their roles as distractions?

His victory will be inevitable.