Mission Three - Assault on Jinghong Dam

Mirage Space - 10/25/2022, 22:07 UTC+8

From the soles of his boots and the butt of his spear, jets of fire shot up from Huo Ren's feet, rocketing him upwards through the roof of the bunker; this would have been fatal if not for the fact that he had also cloaked himself in superheated gas, spending his willpower and focus to negate harm from his fire. Now, he was flying in the sky, at the very top of the Mirage Space, and with a gesture of his spear, he showered a dozen falling fireballs at Ernesto and Henri before launching a gushing spray of flames at Cristina, hoping to take her out just in case her Noble Arm was Fire, Heat, or Sun-themed, which his own NA unwillingly empowered...

"Enough of this!" Huo Ren said as he noticed blood dripping from his stomach; that muscled brute had managed to cut him! "Give me Noel Alonso and Nico Makri - Or you will all die!"

The temperature was still rising to the very limits of what a human being can tolerate, even with an Arms Master's enhanced physique...

@Digmata@Chiro@Deide

Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:07 UTC+8

Noel's scythe clashed with Wei Rui's spear, which could keep up with the eighteen-year-old's enhanced reflexes. As for Myron, the other Arms Master was shooting at Han Rui, Wei's brother, only to find that the latter had jumped behind some convenient sandbags. Knowing the perils of Han's newly-manifested Noble Arm, Myron kept shooting suppressing fire at the enemy soldier's position, even as he flashed back to unwelcome memories...

We had to kill those of us - The Disablers - who manifested their own Noble Arm back when I thought they were family. That, or use them as Cannon Fodder or 'Pawns' like Doc Ripper's own nephew, Leon.

Some resisted the process, and to some of Myron's comrades, the 'Beginner's Luck' that newly-manifested Arms Masters received made them even more revulsed at the thought of becoming one of them. To him, it merely made them more difficult opponents -

The enemy soldier threw his Noble Arm - A primitive bomb - at Myron, and the young man closed his eyes and braced himself for the explosion. He heard his gun, the K1A Compact Assault Rifle shatter into pieces as a wave of hot wind blew on his skin.

Opening his eyes, he saw that his stolen PLA Uniform was tattered, his gun was blown to pieces, but his flesh, Qingshe's extra-durable Teleport Beacon, and his Noble Arm were intact. Good; this meant that he knew what the first power of this man's Noble Arm was and what form the next few abilities might take.

He heard footsteps behind him; it was the confident saunter of one Nico Makri. And Myron knew that victory was possible; he just had to warn -

The enemy soldier had resummoned his Noble Arm and threw it at them again; the shockwaves harmed only equipment, gear (below a level of durability), and wearables but not living flesh, but that was enough to inconvenience traditional opponents!

@Creative Chaos

Jinghong PoW Camp - 10/25/2022, 22:07 UTC+8

Liu Xi put up a wall of ice, ice thick enough to withstand the launched staves, but the sheer force of the impact still forced him to stagger backward a few steps while Sui Mang sent forth six snare-like wires of light, intending to loop them around Nil's legs and arms to try and cut them off; it was still two against one, despite Nil's experience and her frantic mood. If Nil somehow managed to dodge or bat away the bright snares, it would still buy time for Liu Xi to recover his bearings and launch a giant snowball (?) that was not meant to damage Nil but cool her down long enough for her to be successfully restrained - Jinghong Dam was going to run out of prisoners otherwise...

As for Ai Chen, she'd chase Sister Marta, raining arrows of light aimed at her shins and shoulders, laughing diabolically and even having the gall to say, "A nun? As an acquisition? This must be my lucky day!"

Blinded by unspeakable desires, the antagonist, the villain of the piece, Ai Chen put herself on Lei Qingshe's crosshairs; both metaphorically and literally...

@Gerlando@Amidatelion@Lewascan2

Collab with @Letter Bee.

---

Golden light pounded the earth like artillery fire, a methodical, maniacal barrage of energy. All around Marta, the ground was being pock-marked by smoking, scorched holes. By now, the nun had been herded away from the more industrialized parts of the camp in her harried flight, leaving a trail of molten, melted craters that had eventually transitioned from concrete to dirt. A few trees had even been ignited by the superhot passage of the projectiles, and they now burned merrily, casting portions of the night into an eerie orange glow.

One shot every 2 and a half seconds, that was the pattern, like mocking clockwork, practically on the dot. Each golden beam -arrow really- of plasma speared down from above like the casual, arrogantly playful poke of a child with a magnifying glass, slowly crisping an ant under the sunlight. And, of course, all of this was accented by the ongoing unironic peals of gleeful laughter from above, as the Zodiac’s Rooster hunted her prey… toyed with her. There was just barely enough space between her attacks to dodge, to flee… but only just, such was the speed of the actual attacks themselves once launched.

It was the game of a tyrant, savoring every second of the torment and subjugation of her future plaything. For someone of the Rooster’s particular tastes, the idea of corrupting and defiling a genuine modern-day nun (even if she wasn’t presently dressed as one, a thing to be rectified) was simply too delicious to refuse. It was like waving sweet ambrosia under her nose. The fact that the nun was an actual looker played no small part either, of course, an adorably petite little thing that Ai Chen would jubilantly relish breaking into her newest pet.

This was The Rooster’s obsession, her vice, enabled most extensively by uncaring superiors as long as she continued to do her job, to provide value as one of the PLA’s greatest PR show-ponies and most formidable warriors on the battlefield. Of course, she spent as much time caring for and cultivating her happy little flock of toys as she could get away with, reigning with an iron fist as the unstoppable jailor of one of the most secure prisons the PLA had, solely by the merit of her frequent presence. Even in the heat of this madness, there was no greater concern for her than expanding her collection of playthings.

At least… up until the air began to buzz with a familiar static electricity.

Its approach had almost gone unnoticed in the darkness, the familiar sight of the roiling, tarlike ooze, as a pitch-black spear spiked out of the bubbling mass that was spreading out from the surrounding forest, intercepting the latest light arrow midair in an explosion that left the spear of darkness a melted mess that soon collapsed to the ground.

“Still crowing at the top of your lungs, I see, Rooster,” came a familiar voice, as a woman in a PLA uniform walked out of the murk of the night. Her appearance was drastically different from the last time they had met, but her voice and power were unmistakable regardless, crackling ebony ooze writhing around her feet in a bubbling carpet that was gradually spreading across more of the forest floor.

Golden eyes glared up at Ai Chen, glinting in the light of the fires on the nearby trees, as Lei Qingshe, The Snake of the Zodiac, finally arrived on the scene. In her hands, she held what appeared to be a standard-issue PLA assault rifle, a remarkably mundane weapon for a person like her.

A few things terrified Ai Chen. The scream she let out at coming face-to-face with Qingshe once more could be heard from high up in the air, so high up she was barely a dot, was a sign she had encountered one of those things. Panicking, she raised the rate of fire of her shots, upping the ante to shoot four, no, eight, no, sixteen arrows of light a second, all of them streaming towards Qingshe.

She was not completely blind. Only the extremely foolish or extremely strong - Even if it was hidden strength - defied her… requests and survived unscathed, much less turned the tables and continued to function as normal without fear of her reprisals.

And Qingshe was not extremely foolish.

So Ai Chen flew backward to keep as much distance as possible from Qingshe, all the while keeping up her rate of fire and her accuracy, even deigning to pull out a pair of binoculars from the wristband of her bikini-like outfit to further aid her already-good eyesight.

Someone who had defied her and thrived despite that. That was worth fighting as hard to survive, maybe even run away should her tactics not work.

Slave camps are a dime a dozen nowadays in this world of new warfare. If she fled now and used excuses, she could do this again.

The Snake, for her part, stared the incoming barrage dead in the face, her expression impassive and unwavering right up until impact. Qingshe’s position was briefly engulfed into a blinding cacophony of explosions, heat, pressure and light washing over the area, as splashes of plasma sprayed across the carpet of ooze, dotting its crackling ebony mass like glittering stars in the sky. By all accounts, the woman had taken the attack head on, yet…

As the flash of destruction cleared away, the silhouette of someone standing in the steam became apparent.

Qingshe stood there, her body cast in the shadow of -and hands braced out against- a giant shield, primarily black and glowing green with accents of gold. Her Noble Arm, Ouroboros, having gone unseen by pretty much anyone since her defection from China around a year ago, now raised to defend her against the dire attack from above.

Yet, she did not seem to have come out unscathed.

Steam wafted off the Snake’s body, her PLA uniform frayed. The helmet had been blown clean off her head by the explosions and now lay a ruined, slagged mess, along with the rifle Qingshe had been holding, which lay at her feet in turn. Qingshe exhaled deeply, a hiss of steam escaping her lips, as angry red burns were now revealed to crawl up her cheeks and arms -the sleeves largely burned away, small flames even dancing across parts of her uniform.

With a grunt, Qingshe lowered her shield with a heavy thunk into the ooze, leaning against it a bit, almost as if for support. She glanced over her shoulder at Marta’s position, where the nun had been shielded from the latest attack by the eruption from the ooze of an angled armor panel of steel, a wedge 16 inches thick that was now dripping with hot plasma.

“Go… while you have the chance.” The Snake’s voice was husked, as if dry as a desert, likely the result of having all the moisture in the immediate vicinity of her flash-vaporized by the heat. “Help Nil… I’ll handle this one.”

---

Meanwhile, high in the air, Ai Chen’s radio began to crackle with static, before a familiar voice slithered from it into her ears.

“Ow. Is that any way to greet an old colleague, Chen?” Qingshe’s voice came through clearly in the night air, as the Snake invaded the PLA airwaves to reach her opponent, despite the distance between them. Her words were almost playful, but her tone was flat and cold. “Why, I’d almost think you weren’t happy to see me.”

---

Elsewhere, Qingshe’s ooze was still spreading from her position, certainly slower than it could be, but not at a snail’s pace by any means, more a power walk in general. The blanket of writhing ebony curled around and underneath Marta, using the nun as a guide. Where she went, the ooze would follow and likely assist in some capacity, as golden, serpentine eyeballs began to boil from its mass to give it a better view of its surroundings.

Cristina
Mirage Space

The freelancer wasn’t a stranger to battles even the ones that were to the death like the one she is facing. By all accounts this fight should be an intense but eventually normal day of work for her.

She looked at the large flames and decided that cannot follow that logic. The flames pulled by the Dragon of the Zodiac are some of the largest she had seen and it is only her flight that allowed her to dodge the certain death the fire brought.

She cannot keep the barrier for long, not only the flames are pushing her to the limit but letting the heat be trapped in an enclosed space like this would mean their slow demise.

She dodged another spray of flames before looking at the walls of her domain. She saw the Chinese soldiers falling under madness.

She could use this.

She is in the middle of the soldiers and the Zodiac waiting for another attack from the panicking warrior.

Then did the unthinkable and closed the Mirage Space.

Real World

From there she made tears where she would be protected from the flames but not those behind her.

The heat still affected her but she held on until the attack stopped.

And with a swing, she returned the favor to Huo Ren by letting the flames she captured out towards him.

Before she fell to the scorched earth and burned corpse along with it.

"Take... that..."

Mekong River - 10/25/2022

The shockwaves of staves smashing onto the ice walls could be felt from a fair distance away, most notably however was the fact they hit a wall that was not there a second ago, and also it did not create debris as it would with a wall of concrete, no this was a magical ice wall formed by a Noble Arm.

Running away was at this point more danger than worth, perhaps Marta did the right thing running from the very beginning.

Now the one who posed a threat was now the other Arms Master, extending from her arm were a series of strings emitting bright white light, closing in on Nil, that can’t be good. Fortunately the enemy Arms Master, still quite inexperienced with their new Noble Arm, tried to loop them around from decently far away by throwing them behind Nil’s arms and legs and then pulling them back towards her, with decent reaction speed and quick feet it was not too difficult to dodge.

But while backing away from Sui’s attacks the other Arms Master regained their balance and prepared to tag team their unfortunate opponent.

Combat this close distance isn’t Nil’s strong point, with the frantic dodging and lack of cqc training, well at least lack of cqc training her brain could remember. As she evaded the attack however she did not create more staves to launch and counterattack, a missed opportunity.

The original Stang was then moved to interject Liu’s snowball, not thrown at speed but just to get hit at 8meters or so away from Nil, if not stopping the snowball completely at least diminishing its effects and possible damage.

Sister Marta Rocha

Mekong River - 10/25/2022

Helplessness is never a pleasant feeling. The inability to act, having to be content simply with being acted upon, is something humans must come to understand in their lives, from infancy to the deathbed. Confronted with the vastness of Creation, all human beings must perforce suffer that indignity sooner or later.

In situations like these, fleeing from certain death - or perhaps worse - at the hands of psychotic enemies and their misuse of power, Marta often found herself simmering in her thoughts on the nature of helplessness. Of all the impressive abilities granted to her allies and enemies, she did not know if any of them required the agonizing wait. Thirty-three seconds of helplessness in a life-and-death situation, where every passing second felt like an hour. Thirty-three seconds of being nothing but a Human on a battlefield of Giants. Thirty-three seconds spanning the gap between divine Might and divine Mercy.

A lot of people can lose their lives in thirty-three seconds.

A lot of regrets can come back to life in thirty-three seconds.

She's seen burning flesh before. She's carried her own burn scars and healed others in turn. Never before had they been borne by another in defense of her. The idea almost stole the strength from her knees before a surge of certainty flooded the back of her mind, and, in a flash of light, she manifested the brilliant white-gold gauntlet in her left arm. Clenching it tightly, she looks again at Qingshe.

"...yes. I'll leave the chastisement of the lust-addled rooster to you."

Turning around, she drives her fingers deep into the soil.

"Don't go dying on us, Serpent."

She pulls hard, sending a torrent of dirt, clods, and rock rushing behind her as she sends herself careening back to the fray...

---

... and arriving like a screaming bolide between Nil and the enemy's Arms Masters. It's hard to tell it's her at first, as there's only the booming impact of a fist as if from heaven, shattering the ground and leaving behind a sizable crater, but seconds later, Marta falls with a dull thump as she recovers from the second wave of force she used to cushion her fall.

Laying there on the shattered mud, she raises a metal-clad fist:

"It's two on two now, you warmongering scumsuckers!"

---

The moment he came out the gateway, Nico’s confident steps rapidly became more urgent, before turning into a full blown sprint. The mercenary would never raise his voice to admit it, but using the Snake’s shadow as a safe place to acclimate to his enhanced senses was a smart thing. Everything was that much clearer, the world around him sharpening into focus without the usual dizziness and migraines.

He chose to keep Helios Rod’s edge as a normal blade rather than its superheated state. Two fresh Arms Masters weren’t exactly worth the smell of burnt flesh, especially when gruesome killing could be avoided. Even if he was a soldier, the quicker he got the job done, the sooner it could leave his conscience, and the sooner he could find a moment to compose himself.

At seeing the prison guard Arms Masters using their weapons, he immediately shifted his focus to the bomber and Myron. At seeing the state Myron was in, Nico came to a few conclusions. The first: he couldn’t be killed by the bomb itself, considering the state of Myron’s clothing and gun despite the greaser being perfectly fine. The second: he was not dodging a bomb. So, a plan rapidly formed as he got within a few meters.

Feint, let him throw, vanish, and counter. Easy enough. As he got closer and closer, he tapped his sword against the ground to mark a place to return to with his Vanishing Step. And with a grunt of effort, he closed the distance with a long stride, attempting to stab Han Rui in the face. If it worked, excellent. If not, vanish and retry with the element of surprise.

Mission Three - Assault on Jinghong Dam

Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:10 UTC+8

As Cristina's Mirage Space faded and the real world was thrown into sharp relief, she'd find that Huo Ren had managed to evade what should have been a swift death - He had been yanked out by his buddy, Cao Bao, an Arms Master who might be a greater asset than most of the Zodiac (after Qingshe's departure) combined. Why? Because Cao Bao had the ability not just to teleport people to his side across vast distances, but also to reconstruct their bodies to an earlier form, according to a 'blueprint' saved up in his Noble Arm. So now Huo Ren was far away, completely healed, and was now recuperating for the few minutes he needed to replenish his ability to bring on the fire once more.

Ernesto had been disoriented for a few seconds by the fireball hitting his eyes and momentarily blinding him; he would be back in fighting shape this round or the next, though. As for Henri, he and Cristina were back in the Mekong riverbank just in time to see Wei Rui, the spear-wielding 'Awakened' Arms Master, suddenly teleport in front of his brother, Han Rui, and parry Nico's sword using his spear's shaft. Apparently, the threat to his sibling had awoken a new power in the Chinese Marine; what glorious implications for any scientifically-minded observer.

And now, said sibling detonated the Noble Arm bomb he had been carrying, this time, the shockwave was smaller, more localized, and did not affect his brother or himself - Yet another new power. However, unless Nico used that 'checkpoint' power he had, the detonation would fray, break, or tear through anything he had that wasn't himself or his Noble Arm, something that anyone who knew him would assume he'd be keen to avoid, meaning that he probably did teleport back to the 'checkpoint', allowing the two Chinese brothers space to catch their breath and think up their own plan of counterattack...

Jinghong PoW Camp - 10/25/2022, 22:10 UTC+8

The snowball, which was the size of a moped, was blown up by Stang, filling the air with cold air and slush that was scattered a second time by Marta's impact, which warmed up the place immensely. For a brief moment, Liu Xi and Sui Mang were caught by surprise by the other Arms Master's arrival, before the latter pursed her lips and said in accented English, "Bring it."

From her spear came forth new threads that wove themselves into ropes tougher than steel, and kites of cloth that floated in the air as mobile shields; was this a new power, or a clever use of an existing one? What was new were her tactics of using the kites to absorb the next attacks, whether from Marta's fists or Nil's ever-duplicating staff, while using the ropes to try and grab the limbs and arms of the two ASEAN Arms Masters, even as her partner swung his sword of ice at them; each cut caused a cold crescent wave of slush to hurl itself at Marta and Nil, trying to keep the two off-balance.

Their intention was not to kill; that much was obvious. Considering Ai Chen's expressed intentions, it was clear that they wanted a prize to bring before their superior.

But the time to consider that was small... Because the Sun was rising again.

Hills of Jinghong - 10/25/2022, 22:15 UTC+8

Huo Ren was with Cao Bao on the hills overlooking the PoW camps and the town below the dam. After a few minutes of rest and recuperation, he had created another Artificial Sun and flown it up, up where it would threaten any attempt to strike Jinghong Dam from the air, as well as block Qingshe's aim at Ai Chen, although he did slow down the approach of the Artificial Sun long enough for his occassional lover to either get some heavy-duty sunglasses or get out of the artificial sun's range. Not that he'd do anything more to spare her from the consequences of confronting Qingshe; less competition for Alonso and Makri that way.

He looked at his aide, a proper Arms Master instead of a weakling, and said, "Shen Tu, what do your 'pets' say is happening below?"



The response was, "Only nine hundred regular forces - forty-five percent of the two thousand who were garrisonning the facilities - are left. They have begun to fight the rebelling PoWs and Task Force Obsidian, but the ones in the camps are going to be overwhelmed; should we help them?"

Huo Ren shook his head and said, "No, write them off as lost. Tell your 'pets' on the Mekong riverbank to step in, now; Noel Alonso and Nico Makri will be mine."

Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:16 UTC+8

The soldiers on the riverbank were reduced to thirty men and women, but once the madness cleared up, they began firing pistols, assault rifles, and submachine guns at the now-embattled Nico, Noel, Ernesto, Cristina, and Henri; a few were even grabbing the machine guns and grenade launchers that had been strewn about the area and preparing to shoot at their much-hated enemy. Not just that, but three of the PLA Tanks, accompanied by three PLA APCs, began moving by themselves as if possessed by poltergiests.

...Which considering Shen Tu's power as Huo Ren's aide, was a pretty apt comparison.

On the plus side, while Noel got a pretty grievous nerf, Nico now had the advantages of Sun Stoke and Sunsetter at the same time, and found himself unwillingly empowered by Huo Ren's own ability. This was his moment.

@Lewascan2@Gerlando@Nimbus@QJT@Amidatelion@Digmata@Chiro@Deide@Creative Chaos

Collab with @Letter Bee.

---

“I’ve… had worse.” Qingshe only had time to shoot Marta a confident grin, before the disguised nun catapulted herself high into the sky on an explosive parabolic arc. A chuckle left the Snake’s parched throat, even as she clicked her tongue in mild irritation. The nun had left her shadow far behind in the leap, so Qingshe was going to have to hope that girl and Nil could handle themselves for the short while it took to catch up.

Refocusing her attention on the sky, Qingshe frowned, as a bead of light rose from some point she had looked too late to determine. That same “bead” was now expanding, as it flew higher and higher, gradually forming into a new blazing sun of grand size that obliterated the night with its searing radiance. That same “sun” was now moving to obstruct sight of Ai Chen. Though, its pace seemed to be slightly staggered…

Her frown deepened, as the only response to her attempt at dialogue with the Rooster was answered only by a fresh spray of light arrows now raining down towards the Snake. In response, Qingshe raised her Noble Arm and dropped downwards into her ooze, submerging herself halfway as a partial shield against the attack. The impact made her arms shake, as searing heat stole the moisture from the air around her all over again. Blistering burns erupted across her skin, as her flesh was cooked by the mere proximity, peeling and blackening into fourth degree burns. Her military uniform, meanwhile, simply caught ablaze entirely, burning fabric crumbling to ash under the onslaught. If she didn't have the ability to just ignore pain outright, the experience surely would have sent her into shock and unconsciousness on the spot.

Constructs boiled from her ooze, long-range heat sensors and targeting systems that zeroed in on the speck that was Ai Chen before the slowed sun could pass in front of her. Shortly thereafter, a set of familiar armed missiles -using those same sensors for their marching orders- erupted from the roiling black mass with peals of split air, as Qingshe returned her own two-dozen attacks towards the distant form of the Rooster.

These were the modified missiles she had developed in conjunction with Lotus Squadron in days past, enhanced both technologically and by the machinations of what skill the Snake could offer in Occult Programming Language. The result was a “smart” missile with a trifecta of infrared, visual locks and onboard missile radar, working in tandem to counter various forms of interference -like the light and heat disturbance of Huo Ren’s sun. Loaded with an onboard minor AI, each missile was capable of differentiating targets and had recognition fine enough to snapshot and pursue even a single biological target.

A target like Ai Chen.

---

Ai Chen screamed as she desperately shot at the cloud of missiles, hoping to prematurely detonate at least two, or four, maybe six at best. She was still very fast, among the fastest of the Zodiac. She can still shoot and has a very long range! She must prevail, she must escape!

She tried to hide behind the Artificial Sun, hoping that its mass would shield her from more missiles. However, only the thermal component of the missiles’ sensors would receive interference -

Huo Ren saved her again, launching a volley of fire sprays at the missiles from his artificial sun, prematurely detonating the ones she had not already hit. He would then message Ai Chen through her radio:

“You owe me the first… interaction with Noel Alonso and Nico Makri for saving your life. As for you, Qingshe, it’s rare that I fight seriously, with optimal tactics. If not for the fact that two superior beings have awoken below in the camp, I’d raze it with this Artificial Sun… But for now, I’ll only consider it.”

And with that, the Artificial Sun rose higher and hotter, before emitting gouts of superheated gas at Qingshe’s position, even as Ai Chen ‘sling-shotted’ around the sphere of fire and tried to flank Qingshe’s left side before letting loose another spray of arrows of light.

---

Qingshe watched relatively impassively, as what portions of her missile swarm made it through Ai Chen’s defensive volley and encountered Huo Ren’s interference. Searing beams of plasma lanced out from the sun now parked high overhead, and even the attacks that didn’t make direct contact sometimes warped and cooked off the missiles anyway from the sheer heat, filling the otherwise night sky with a cacophony of explosions.

Qingshe’s eyes narrowed, as Huo Ren’s voice entered the airwaves. Yet, for all his boasts of acting efficiently, her lips still twisted into a hidden smirk, drawling in reply, “Fighting me seriously for once? What an honor.” She could only be grateful his priorities were so skewed; otherwise, the rest of Obsidian would be in real trouble. The longer she had the Zodiac’s attention, the more time the rest of the team was free from being terrorized from the sky. “And here I was, thinking this was going to be a boring exchange, filled only with Rooster’s cowardly squawking~. My thanks for making it interesting~.”

-and revealing your position to me.

Tied into the airwaves as she was, Qingshe had little trouble tracking the now open signal back to its source. A little bit backtracking, and… there, atop that mountain. She should have known, but it figured the Dragon would find himself a high place to best observe and target his artillery. Honestly, if Huo Ren were less inclined to boasting, she might have been seriously worried about what to do about him at this stage. Well, maybe that was unfair. Against anyone else, she was sure he could have gotten away with such talk without issue.

Still, now that she had a target…

Qingshe clicked her tongue at the newest set of incoming attacks and dove beneath the flow of her shadow completely moments before her position was consumed by a wave of superheated gas and a shower of light arrows from Ai Chen, lighting up what little night wasn’t extinguished by Huo Ren’s sun with another searing flash of explosion and shower of plasma.

Submerged in her ooze, the wave of attacks passed the Snake by harmlessly, disallowed from passing through the gateway with her. Yet, even so, her vision outside her ooze was rapidly dwindling. The sheer heat sweeping over the top of her ooze now was simply flash-frying and boiling the eyeballs she had sticking out of it. The wave of attacks also quickly laid waste to the majority of the sensors she had sent out to gather targeting data for missiles.

But she didn’t need to see to use data she already had.

Outside the ooze, 10 large gun barrels began to emerge, spread out roughly 100 meters apart wherever there was space and aiming upwards towards the hill where the Dragon was located. Safely beneath the ooze and protected from premature detonation, a number of shells were loaded into the battleship main guns, and after a moment, the deep clunk of readiness sounded out, before the air was split by a combined “broadside” of nearly a dozen 20-inch guns firing at once, sending High-Explosive shells as a return present for the Snake’s former comrade. The force of such guns firing sounded like a cataclysm, shockwaves ripping branches off the surrounding trees and even threatening to shatter windows and glass all the way at the PoW camps.

---

Atop the hill, watching through a pair of binoculars with a cigarette perched between his lips, Cao Bao did not need to be a genius to understand what was coming the second those long tubes all emerged from the damned Snake’s “shadow”, pointed in a conspicuously unfortunate direction.

“Shit!”

There was a flicker of movement, utterly inhuman in speed, as the wielder of the Noble Arm, Blueblood, almost seemed to exist in multiple places at once for a brief moment. His hands and Noble Arm flashed out, slapping across multiple pieces of equipment, several of Shen Tu’s “toys” and Shen Tu -just to be doubly sure, before the trio were ripped from their position to as far as Cao Bao’s range could take them, just in time for the impact of Qingshe’s artillery barrage to thunder into the hilltop.

There were a number of eye-searing flashes, and the hilltop simply ceased to exist. It was easy to forget that mere 16-inch battleship guns were credited with the sinking of an island at one point in time. A single hilltop offered precious little resistance to 20-inch shells, and the resulting explosions obliterated the entire area with an impact that shook the sky, utterly annihilating the site in a shower of burning rubble.

Even avoiding the direct impact, the shockwaves rippling out could be felt in Cao Bao’s bones, threatening to rupture eardrums and pulverize internal organs regardless, as he rapidly activated his ability again and again and again, diving low behind the mountain and out of sight in a series of dizzying teleports well out of visual sight of the area the Snake was parked, Shen Tu and Huo in tow. He stayed in flight until his path finally ended atop another semi-adjacent mountain, not as ideal as the last one, but still capable of overlooking the battlefield to some degree.

Heart thundering in his chest, Cao Bao came to a stop with his allies and had to make a serious effort to avoid his knees shaking, as he hissed out a low, “Motherfucker… That was way too close!” Grinding his teeth, his hand tightened around the hilt of his scimitar. “How the fuck did that freak-?” His brow scrunched in concern, before the binoculars he had been holding before reappeared in his free hand. Scooting over to the edge of the hill, Cao Bao lay down and began adjusting the magnification to account for the new location.

He already had some idea how the Snake had tracked them, but he wasn’t sure how much he’d bet on Huo Ren actually following his advice if he said to trash all their communications equipment. For the time being, he’d just keep watch and hope that was a lucky one-off for the Snake. If it happened again, however…? Well, he’d cross the bridge later. In the meantime...

The communications equipment reappeared beside Huo Ren again, once more repaired from the annihilation visited upon them by Qingshe’s counterattack.

---

Meanwhile, down below, Qingshe re-emerged from her shadow again. This time, however, she was no longer clad as a nondescript Chinese soldier. She had taken advantage of the brief time she spent within her ooze to revert her appearance and don her “battlesuit”, the ebony material of the dress clinging to her yet again unnaturally flawless body. The previous wounds and agonizing burns she had suffered had been wiped away as if they’d never been there, as she flicked her long green hair and smirked up at Ai Chen, ready for round two.

---

The Artificial Sun was still there, courtesy of Cao Bao’s quick work. Now, Huo Ren patted Shen Tu’s shoulder, an act that did not fail to make the young man uncomfortable, then said, “Your Noble Arm - Use it to bring the communications equipment here to life; make them sapient.”

The bleached-grey haired youth visibly gaped and said, “That makes them capable of having a Noble Arm, especially in these circumstances that force growth and change. Why would you- ?”

In a flash of light, his Noble Arm, a book, appeared out of thin air and screamed at Huo Ren, “There is no way I’d make more children just for you to throw them into the meatgrinder -”

Huo Ren’s response was to take one, two, long strides over to Shen Tu’s position and slap the young Arms Master hard in the face, hard enough to bring him down, and say, “You will. Or should I remind your wielder of the consequences of ingratitude? After all, if Alonso and Makri elude me today, I’m going to need a substitute...”

The implications hung in the air, as chilling as Liu Xie’s icy sword.

Shen Tu pursed his lips, glared at his superior, and said, “If Xing Xiao, my sapient Noble Arm, does not want to bring things to life only to die after a few minutes, she does not have to. As it is, it is only her clemency that prevents me from bringing your toothbrush to life and having it choke your throat.”

“Oh, good fucking grief,” Cao Bao grumbled, shooting a glare over his shoulder, the orange glow of his burning cigarette part of what little light they had out here. “I’m sure it has something to do with keeping us alive.” He shot a look of annoyance the Dragon’s way as if asking for confirmation. While he didn’t particularly “jive” with the implications of Huo Ren’s threat, he was well-practiced with evading his superior’s fury. “Just make your little toys and be done with it. If you don’t, the fucking Snake is going to kill you as much as any of us, and I’d remind you again, your life is inherently more valuable than your… children.” There was a note of dubiousness in his tone, as he shrugged his shoulders. “There’s only one you, and you can always make more of them later. So, control your damn book.” He turned back to observing the distant battle, seemingly having said all he cared to on the matter.

Shen Tu nodded and said, “Xing Xiao, give the communications rig maximum sapience; this will allow it not just to automate itself - Not that it won’t work as normal and allow Qingshe to detect the radio waves anyway - but also allow it to grow its own Noble Arm if it can get sufficient development through whatever Qinghse will do to it.”

Then in a barely audible whisper, he said to his book, “Besides, her taking it for experiments is better than letting it stay with us.”

The Book-shaped Noble Arm fluttered its pages in response and said, “All right, that works!”

Fifteen seconds later, the communications console flickered to life, saying, “What am I? What am I here for? …Oh. I’m to be cannon fodder. Literally.”

With a few pushes of its buttons and twists of its knobs, the comms console began giving a situation report using speakers that should not have worked without electricity, saying, “The target has disappeared, but there are approximately 10 guns, spaced 100 meters apart, on various hills - Coordinates are…”

With each coordinate, the Artificial Sun sent out a gout of superheated hydrogen enough to turn the hillside into molten *glass*, until all ten locations were hit, and Qingshe’s oozed with them. The now-sapient console then spoke, “I also detect several items of… Qingshe-tech on the Mekong Riverbank. They seem to be comms beacons?”

Huo Ren asked, “Are they beyond your ability to hack?”

“Sir,” was the sapient object’s response, “I am limited by my body’s physical capabilities unless I grow enough in whatever metric qualifies me to grow my own Noble Arm -”

Huo Ren turned to Cao Bao and said, “Cao, prepare to teleport us away and leave this sapient appliance behind. But first…”

He then went and forcefully handled the sapient communication console’s buttons and knobs and said, “Hey Qingshe, you missed! Also, here’s a creativity test: What happens if I pick a populated area for my next viewing spot?”

Then he gestured to Cao to teleport them away… Towards Jinghong City itself.

---

It seemed the Dragon had survived and found himself a new spot to target from, Qingshe noted with mild irritation. A shame. She nonetheless plastered on an unperturbed smile, as Huo Ren’s sun struck again and again, reducing her naval guns to melted slag under the onslaught. Her ooze was, of course, completely unaffected by the attacks, which were unable to disturb her power’s “footing” since it was only striking from above.

Even so, despite the exchange being relatively short, it had set the surrounding forest on fire, many trees and other flora either burning or reduced to ash, and what wasn’t already burning was likely only a matter of time. Perhaps she should… The heads of fire hoses began to emerge Qingshe’s shadows, ejecting a powerful spray of cold water into the forest, aiming to at least douse the worst of things before this evolved into a full-on forest fire.

Qingshe resisted the urge to grind her teeth at Huo Ren’s banal taunt, not rising to the bait to attack, as she responded with, “Running away again? You’ll never get a proper lover if you keep standing your dates up~!” Her cheeky grin faded, however, when no response came.

Had he wised up? Possible. And the last thing he said was worrying. A “populated area”? What did he mean by that? He… wouldn’t attack the city, would he…? No, something like that, for no military gain? Even Huo Ren couldn’t get away with that. He was just using the populace as meat shields against her retaliation then. That was mildly frustrating, she had to internally admit. On one side, Ai Chen. On the other, hunting Huo Ren.

Why not both? a traitorous little part of her brain suggested.

But no, she had the mission and her team to worry about right now. Grudge matches could come later… Or well, grudge matches that would be out of her way to pursue. If Ren was going to flee all the way to Jinghong City -the nearest large populace he could be referring to, then he’d be out of the fight regardless. Tactically speaking, this was still a victory, a powerful opponent removed from the board… however temporarily, no longer a threat to those on her team that couldn’t endure his firepower with similar success. If she could just do something about his sun, he wouldn’t be able to replace it unless he dared to come crawling back. And in the meantime…

Golden eyes gleaming, Qingshe’s lips split into what some might have called a fairly evil grin.

She could devote all her attention to the once more isolated Ai Chen.

Sister Marta Rocha

Mekong River - 10/25/2022

Wasting no time to react, Marta quickly hopped to her feet and charged the enemy arms masters with her boxing guard raised. Closing the distance, she decided not to avoid too many attacks - she could sidestep some of them, but...

"I'll take the vanguard, Miss Nil! Please back me up!"

Ducking beneath a stray kite, she lunges to sweep at the ground, sending a spray of debris flying to obscure the enemy's sight before running even faster. A blast of freezing slush impacts her - she grits her teeth and feels the burning on her right hand, but it does nothing to impede her momentum as it crashes against the fearsome Left. She puts on a face of bravado.

"Gnrkh! Hah, is that... all you can do? Thanks for the air-conditioning!"

Ropes harder than steel wind around her arms, gripping them with tremendous force, but before their grip can tighten any further -

"Will the wild bull be willing to serve you, or will he spend the night at your feeding trough?"

With a single pull, the hands binding the hand of wrath snap like poor strings, weak before its apocalyptic power. With a quick motion, the ropes ensnaring the burnt and bruised left hand are torn asunder.

"Can you tie the wild bull in a furrow with ropes? Or will he plow valleys after you?"

She barely intercepts a close-range blast of ice with her gauntlet, gritting her teeth. Her knees ache and cry out with the exertion as she darts forward in another lunge, gauntleted fist pulled back and ready to strike.

"Do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like His?!"

Reaching melee range by the skin of her teeth, she lets loose a boulder-shattering left straight.

Cristina
Mekong River 22:17 GMT +8

Cristina did not land on her feet like action stars in the movies. She landed back first on the still burning ground. It was painful but she would see the results of her gambit.

Of course, there is no way they are deploying a powerful Arms Master without a safety net. She felt cheated as she watched Huo Ren away.

She tried standing as fast as possible but she is no way going to be standing up in time to assist Nico. When did he get here in the first place.

The world momentarily shook in her eyes, everything blurred as her exhaustion began creeping on her body. Hopefully things will stay fine.

The sun suddenly rising dashed her hopes. She honestly forgot why she allowed herself to be trapped with the monster in the first place. The soldiers now cured from their madness had unleashed gunshots on her and her fellow members of Task force Obsidian. She managed to initially evade the bullets; it won't take long before she was forced to hide at the cover of the trees at the riverbank.

She took a deep breath and inspected her wounds she felt a presence. When she looked however she saw a familiar face.

Truthfully a few details had changed, her previously black haired turned white and the passage of time made taller like she was. Her face had undergo some subtle changes as well but...

“Ate?”

But she will never forget her only family, the one who was the reason she was still alive.

And the one she'd worked hard to find.

Near Mekong River - 10/25/2022

Taking a few steps back Nil regained some distance with the chinese arms masters, courtesy of Marta’s daring entrance. Even then Nil acted in a defensive, reactive manner, moreso trying to get away and not getting in the way of Marta or the flood of slush from Liu Xi’s Noble Arm.

Marta’s directions were acknowledged with no more than a nod, and as the nun moved forward to brawl Nil tried to find an opening between the kites from which to hit either of their opponents while avoiding Marta, not an easy task now that she had moved in melee.

But the series of unexpected issues was not over yet.

Deafening sounds had never been pleasant, and from the near explosion of a missile in Lingayen to the roaring of Qingshe’s 20-inch guns, recent missions sure haven’t been lacking in the ’ear-splitting blasts of doom’ department.

And, one more, the world became engulfed by the booming of the battlefield, then by the buzzing and the cacophony of the world taking over, making it difficult to see, to track the figures that were once enemies and allies.

Near Mekong River

Henri took deep breaths, as he tried to calm his heart. The heat from the false sun burning in mirage space was nearly the end of him. Not that the area here wasn't hot in its own right. Some water helped with the dehydration, but the burns had to be dealt with later.

Outside the boat the battle was still raging. Henri found himself a hiding spot by some trees and took out his binoculars. He could see at least three additional Arms-Masters, maybe more. It seemed like PLA was greatly devoted to this artificial drought project of theirs.

Fighting these Zodiacs wasn't easy. Henri could fly, and his neutralization field only had a reach of twenty meters across. He could lay a trap, but that would require co-ordinating with the others, and Nico was far too busy trying to fight two Arms-Masters simultaneously.

However, Henri still had his guns, and was in a hiding position. The spearman was too close to Nico, but the other, armed with gourds of some kind, possibly bombs, would make for a good target.

He took aim with his rifle at the man in white and red, and fired.

Shaking the dizziness out of himself,Ernesto looked around, finding himself alone in the destroyed bunker. A wave of disappointment fell upon him, as he understood Huo Ren escaped him.

As his Warform fully repaired itself from Huo Ren's previous volley, he jumped, landing outside of the now useless bunker, observing the situation.

He wasn’t in the Mirage space anymore, and Huo Ren seemingly took the chance to once again put his Sun in the ai-

A distant sound, closely followed by a mountain in the distance being flattened by explosions. Surely the work of Quingshe.

‘...I wonder how it would feel to be hit with one of those’

The other members of Task Force Obsidian were all engaged in combat too, seemingly with some new Chinese Arm Masters though she couldn’t see Cristina anywhere. Probably exhausted after keeping up the Mirage Space. As regrettable as losing out on the fight, he should probably go find her and at least make sure she’s safe.

His musing was interrupted, as multiple shells and bullets hit his form, the explosion uselessly trying to break through his warform.

It seemed that Noel's curse was cut short, and some people survived it.

Though, they could have chosen a better target. Oh well, Cristina will have to wait. Not everyone can survive a tank shell afterall, and they are gonna wise up sooner than later.

And so, Ernesto moved. His feet brought him to the closest of the enemy combatant in moments, his claws backhanding the first of the fifteen soldiers this side of the Mekong.The other didn’t fare much better. Running was futile, he was too fast. Fighting wasn’t much better, as nothing they had could even hinder him. In under ten seconds, the fifteen combatants laid on the ground, dead or unconscious.

Another Tank shell exploding on him with unerring accuracy made him remember his work wasn’t done.

‘Spread the feets, bend the knees, inhale’

Ernesto jumped, the ground cracking from the force,as his body crossed the river in a matter of seconds.

Landing on one of the offending tanks,he dug his claws under the turret cap,easily tearing it away and throwing it at one of the APC’s, making it tilt sideways.

Instead of the crew he’d expected, he found the tank empty inside. Probably an Arms master power then. Means he’d have to completely trash them.

Jumping off the tank and kicking it off into the river, he continued, moving towards the tilted APC. Tearing it in half was easy enough, and even if the Noble Arm power somehow persisted, it couldn’t accomplish anything like that.

As he finished with the APC, one of the tanks rammed him, probably as a desperate way to hinder him. Flipping it, he tore through the underside, and rummaging in the insides, he quickly found one of the yet unexploded shells.

A small amount of pressure later, and the tank was a smoldering wreck. Removing his still pristine arm from it, he turned to deal with the last remaining vehicles, which stopped shooting at him for some reason.

…Was that APC trying to hide behind one of the still conscious PLA grunts? and was that tank Quaking?

…

Ernesto shook his head. Huo Ren must have hit him harder than he thought if he was seeing things like that.

'And now I'm disappointed again.' He sighted. This mission turned out to not be such a glorious an experience as he hoped.

Oh well, disappointment or not, he still had a job to do. He could already feel his power waning now that fire-boy wasn’t in the field anymore, best he started to hurry. He didn’t fancy having to swim back through the Mekong to reunite with the rest.

---

(A minute later)

As he once again cratered to the ground, he could feel the Warform leaving his form, returning him to his normal height.

'What was I doing before I got distracted?AH! Cristina!'

Looking around, it seemed like she was still missing, though the Forest fire and Nil being on the ground was new.

Well, not like he had any ideas on Cristina whereabout anyway, so might as well go help her and Martha and see if they knew anything about it.

---

As soon as the explosion from the primitive bomb came, he teleported back to his marked location, returning to a fighting stance. He took a few steps toward to prepare himself, staying a reasonable length away from Han Rui. But the moment the artificial sun came up, Nico exploded in a flash of light.

Or, at least, that is what it looked like from the view of Myron and the bomber. His Radiant Burst chose enemies based on his subconscious thoughts, not convenience. Well ain’t this a kick in the head. Why am I not burning? His body began to heat up rapidly, the immunity to his flames from Sunsetter amplifying his ability to use Sun Stoke at a capacity beyond what he usually can pull off.

Nico heard the gunshot from Henri, and walked to the spearman instead; although his walking speed was much closer to a full sprint in this state. He lunged at Wei Rui, preemptively swinging his sword to swipe at the newly awakened Arm Master’s side. However, Helios Rod had a trail of fire streaking from the edge of its blade, the sign of one of Nico’s trump cards: the Wildfire Dance. The mercenary simply went along with it, launching a wave of scorching flame while preparing a follow-up attack with his now superheated sword.

Nico’s amplified senses gave a bit of time to think in the moments before results occurred. Why does this feel…natural? Day and night as one. A sun that brings forth day and night. Hyperion… It was the only word he could think to explain the state he was in. Nico, at least in this moment, felt something he rarely felt: genuine confidence. In this moment, even with the artificial sun above him, he felt like he could take on anything.

His fatigue was burning away, and those around him would see a wide grin across his face. For the time being, this was his day, and he was damn sure going to make use of it.

Mission Three - Assault on Jinghong Dam - GM Post Part One

Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:20 UTC+8

It was his love for his brother and his brother's love for him that had awoken their Noble Arms, and it was his brother being shot and barely clinging on to life due to his Arms Master Survivability that had made Wei Rui conclude that he had to surrender. So trying to remember his English lessons from better times, the man shouted, "Wait! We surrender!"

To prove his intentions, he dispelled his Noble Arm, causing his costume to scatter into motes of light and bringing him back to his PLA Uniform. Gone was the somewhat cocky and arrogant soldier who had wanted to avenge his fellows; Wei Rui just wanted to save his brother.

"Please..." he pleaded, even though he knew that he had a share in Ai Chen's depravities, that by guarding her camp, he had helped her commit unspeakable acts. No excuse, not even the 'there was nothing he could have done' line, not when he had the potential to be an Arms Master all along.

First Lieutenant Noel Alonso was prepared to follow the rules of war, and said to Myron, "Get me a pair of handcuffs and a first aid kit. Once we make sure the second surrendered Arms Master is stable, put them in data storage in your disk."

------

Basilia Bernardino looked at her sister and said in a cold, clipped tone, "Masarap ang buhay mo ngayon, alam mo ba? (Your life is good right now, you know that?)"

Then she shifted to English, "Cristina, this world isn't worth saving. I realized that when you abandoned me so long ago. But Superbia, Pride, showed me the truth - That I was sacrificing too much for you, that I gave and gave to you that you cannot give back. And all for what? For you to forget about me? To pursue life as a mercenary? To find new friends? Hija, walang pagmamahal na walang kondisyon (Girl, there is no love without a condition)."

She stepped forward, allowing the light to glint on the black latex of her costume that made her look like a stereotypical femme fatale, and drew her swords, before saying, "Now, out of my way; the fools you call friends need to be introduced to my Master..."

And as Myron and Noel had finished giving Han Rui medical attention before putting him and Wei Rui in storage, Basilia stepped forward in full view of Nico and the others, drawing her two swords; Noble Arms of potent power, then cutting the space in front of her with a black sword, from where a tall man, wearing a black suit, a black mask that made him look a bit crab-like, with bare white arms and black boots, smoothly walked out with an almost feline grace.

The light suddenly seemed to dim, while the heat grew more oppressive. Basilia then introduced herself, "Hello, morons! I am Basilia Bernardino, Cristina's abandoned sister, a member of the Downward Descent, and this is an Avatar of Superbia the smallest fragment of the smallest fragment of the leader of the Downward Descent. And we're here to make you feel like Worf!"

@Digmata@Chiro@Deide@Creative Chaos

Mission Three - Assault on Jinghong Dam - GM Post Part Two

Jinghong PoW Camp - 10/25/2022, 22:21 to 22:31 UTC+8

Sui Mang was creative in using her Noble Arm's first abilities, but it was not enough against the raw strength and experience of Sister Marta Rocha, who promptly overwhelmed her defenses, unstoppable force against a very movable object. If not for Marta's desire to avoid killing, the blow would have blasted the novice Arms Master to bloody gibs.

As his comrade was knocked unconcious, Liu Xie looked at how Nil was incapacitated by the noise of battle, and realized that this was truly a one-on-one. So the soldier decided to not hold back, and let go of all delusions that he could bring his enemy alive to Ai Chen. Stabbing his sword of ice into the ground, causing lattices of frost to form at the point of impact, the Chinese Arms Master caused spikes of ice, larger than the local groundwater would have allowed, to erupt from the ground beneath Marta's feet, threatening to impale her without quick action on her part.

Then suddenly, from the direction of Noel's group in the Mekong River's banks, a second sun, twice as large as Huo Ren's, and a sickly, radioactive green, shone, pushing the earlier Artificial Sun to the side and absorbing the latter's solar flares as Huo Ren resisted the entrance of this new intruder.

"The Downward Descent!" Liu said in Chinese, then in English, "The Downward Descent - They must be here to aid us! But why is Master Huo defying them?"

Then he looked around to see that every one of his fellow guards were dead, killed by vengeful prisoners, some of who were Arms Masters themselves who had managed to crack their restraints. So he looked at Marta and said, "On second thought, if Master Huo is defying them, they're probably going to ask a high price for their help and I don't want to be 'offered up'. So I'll surrender; take my comrade as well..."

@Lewascan2@Gerlando@QJT@Amidatelion

Collab Post between @Letter Bee and @Creative Chaos

Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:28 UTC+8👋

The light suddenly seemed to dim, while the heat grew more oppressive. Basilia then introduced herself, "Hello, morons! I am Basilia Bernardino, Cristina's abandoned sister, a member of the Downward Descent, and this is an Avatar of Superbia the smallest fragment of the smallest fragment of the leader of the Downward Descent. And we're here to make you feel like Worf!"

The Avatar approached Nico, casually putting up barriers of clear, transparent energy with a wave; he wanted the rest of his group to see what was to come, but not be able to interfere. These shields were not just more durable than most forcefields but also had an invisible telekinetic layer that would slow down even the slightest approach toward them...

Then Pride spoke in a raspy, acidic tone whose sharpness indicated spitting contempt, ”Ah, so you are the one my false friends, my brethren, chose to be my replacement. How could they have chosen such a… tunnel-visioned, ignorant young man who does not see the big picture, the forest made up by the trees? Together, we could have led Humanity to Cosmic Bliss; but they chose to reject me, reject their better…”

Nico stopped at hearing Wei’s surrender, only for his attention to be caught by someone insulting him and his comrades. At hearing the voice and seeing its owner, his head tilted at the sheer bravado of what she was doing in this moment. Real bold to be talking shit in a war zone. The nerve- But that train of thought was derailed when he saw the avatar of the leader of Downward Descent appear through the rift, and he began burning a bit hotter.

As Nico listened to the avatar’s words, his grip on Helios Rod tightened until his knuckles went white. It wasn’t a matter of the false man speaking the truth, even if some of the words stung a little. It wasn’t a matter of Superbia claiming to be his better, because all things considered, it could be true. It was something straightforward, but important to perhaps only Nico. “You know, I’ve gotten tired of this kind of shit. The Zodiacs, Diligence, and now you. All this talk about your superiority above people, as if you weren’t born like anyone else. If you were ‘superior’, I’d be talking to a man, not some coward who fights his battles behind a copy.”

Nico’s voice never raised above a speaking volume, his tone only showing his annoyance with the situation, but a lack of anger as if he was talking to someone who spilled a bit of water in him. Whether a result of his current overflow or built-up confidence, he was doing a good job of masking any fear he had.

Pride snapped the fingers of his right hand, and a Green Sun appeared in the sky. An Artificial Sun twice as large as Huo Ren’s, which was already the size of an apartment building, pushed the earlier one out of the way through sheer electromagnetic force, ignoring, nay, absorbing the frantic solar flares from that sun, which was shunted off to the side of the PoW camp.

Everything except for Huo Ren’s sun, and Nico’s aura powered by both the real moon and Huo Ren’s own Noble Arm, was now colored a shade of green by the light from Pride’s Sun.

Two beacons; one of frustrated arrogance and one of hope and humility, were the only ones pushing back the toxic sickly glow.

”I can see why my brethren like you,” Pride said, ”Fearless, grounded, free from the sense of self. You are truly Humilitas personified. Now face your doom!”

And a beam of green radiation blasted Nico full-on,

Clear mind, sound body, burning spirit. Focus. Upon hearing the beam of radiation, he launched himself forward evade the radiation and close the distance with a Wildfire strike, instead of turning back and retreating. In the state he was in, it would be easy to run away from Pride, if not more sensible. But in his spirit, he knew that the only way to survive was moving forward. Even if he was too slow to fully evade the radiation, he was confident in his ability to heal through at least a bit of the damage.

Where the radiation had hit, there were small patches of blackened skin, patches that in real-time, began turning into tumors; skin cancer. These not only caused pain but turned his regeneration against him, as this cancer fed on the natural power of his Noble Arm and its additional regenerative capabilities.

The Hero of 1988, Angelito Jaime, had a similar condition; he had smoked so much that his lung cancer benefited from his Arms Master Survivability.

But to make it worse, Pride had drawn another Noble Arm, a sword identical to Nico’s Helios Rod, only it was black and platinum, as opposed to white and gold, and parried the youth’s blow with this.

Pride laughed, a nonchalant guffaw that mocked his would-be assailant.

“So you are worthy of becoming Humilitas, my replacement, after all,” he seemed to grow larger, darker, before continuing, ”I will extinguish you from this world, and deprive it of hope. There will be no better tomorrow, not when I was denied my role in bringing it about!”

Pride then hunched his back, and several spider legs burst forth from it as his humanoid form changed, engorged, and transformed itself into an unholy mix of human and spider.



Then this monstrous form launched itself at Nico!

Nico considered his options in rapid succession, stoking himself up hotter and hotter. At this point, his immunity to his own fire was the only thing keeping him from burning to a crisp in an instant, but that was what he needed at the moment: to be untouchable. Big spider man, and not the good spider man. Legs or body, but one must go. Focus, Makri. When Pride launched itself at Nico, he planted his feet on the ground and waited for a perfect moment. Just a little closer…

The moment the monstrous thing was close enough for Nico to reach with the edge of his blade, he took a step back and focused the heat that was building within him into just the cutting edge of Helios Rod. “Fall forever, since you’ve got so much pride to drag you down.”

Even the glow of his dual state vanished for a moment as he put maximum focus into this singular moment in time. Now or never, do or die time. Burn up. At with that, he stabbed forward into Pride, letting loose a focused version of his usual Wildfire Dance strike, this one meant to pierce rather than slam into a target. Something only made possible with the sun and moon on his side, and the utter clarity this power gave him.

Pride lifted two front spider legs to block but found them hewn off, the clean cuts bleeding wisps of smoky darkness. The green sun flickered, but the monstrous spider-human regained its poise as it spoke, “Fool; do you not see? You merely present yourself as an irresistible opportunity for my former kin, those I once loved as though they were my flesh and blood! With every show of the qualities they fail to live up to, you whet their conviction that only you can complete their ranks!”

He then gestured for Basilia, and with a quick motion, she drew her black sword and opened another portal that the Avatar of Superbia crawled into, although she stayed a while longer and said to Cristina (@Digmata), “Sister, remember our power; the power that will make you pay for your betrayal.”

She then sneered at Nico as she put one leg into the portal, “You’re a very unlucky man, to be desired by so many. Maybe you should sin more? That way you wouldn’t be so irresistible…”

And she blew him a kiss and jumped into the portal, which sealed itself.

The Green Sun faded, leaving behind Noel and Myron, who were surprised at the events, Henri, who could potentially have cut the battle off by banishing Superbia’s Avatar with Fighting in Shade but might have accidentally hurt Nico as well, a disappointed Ernesto who had just seen Nico steal a fight he probably wanted, Cristina, who was probably struggling with her sister seeing her as a traitor for skewed reasons, and Nico himself, now more desirable to some of the people he most hated…

The glow of flames within Nico’s body returned as Superbia and Basilia retreated, his focus fading away along with the white-hot glow of Helios Rod’s edge. The mercenary stumbled at Basilia’s words, chuckling. “Lady, I don’t need luck, or to sin any more than I already do. I’m just fine as is.” As soon as the portal closed, Nico let out a triumphant laugh, barely catching himself as he fell to the ground. He propped himself to his knees with Helios Rod, smiling where the portal was.

“Don’t care about who’s listening, the burns, or nothing like that right now. It was all worth it to be the hotel worker that made a god have to retreat.”

If Nico had looked at Noel that very instant, he would see the eighteen-year-old wiping a nosebleed with a white handkerchief…

Sister Marta Rocha

Mekong River - 10/25/2022

"...woah."

Marta wasn't sure how else to react. One moment, her battle seemed to intensify, her lone remaining enemy escalating to lethal force now that it had become much more complicated to contain her. That much she was prepared for, nimbly backstepping from the murderous ice spikes - suddenly, the luminosity of the sky increased even further than it already was for the pitch middle of the night.

This time, it was green, and Marta officially didn't know what to do about it. Fight? Flight? Ignore it or rush there and try to do... something? Luckily, the sudden arrival of the Downward Descent and their dissolute chaos along the riverbanks had interrupted her opponent much the same, or she might have been open to a cheap shot.

"...I'll take you up on that surrender. Just don't do anything stupid, and the both of you will be treated decently."

She picks up Liu Xie with her Left Hand, suppressing a cringe now that the fight is over and the adrenaline rush no longer suppresses the pain of her wounds. Still, with the prisoners scattered to the winds and her immediate opponents surrendered, she wondered what else there would be a need to do here...

Collab with @Letter Bee.

---

Qingshe’s smile faded at the appearance of the second sun. For a moment, she was struck with confusion, as Huo Ren’s sun seemed to battle the other for dominance, only for recognition to send a genuine chill of unease down her spine. Her eyes widened in alarm, but despite frantically scanning her surroundings, no sign of the perpetrator revealed itself.

Superbia is here?!

The Snake’s lips twisted into a snarl, impotent fury curdling in her chest, as her slitted eyes snapped back up to the sky, her burgeoning plan readjusting at the presence of the second, larger sun. Her eyes narrowed further, as the beacon network she’d created stuttered, some form of ambient interference filling the area. An idle thought ever so slightly widened her shadow’s allowance criteria, and she grimaced at the particles that filtered in within the brief moment before she closed the portal again. She shadow quickly worked at the familiar substance, stripping it down to its component matter and swallowing it into nothing.

Radiation.

She was going to need to ensure the entire team was inspected for radiation poisoning after this.

Qingshe glared up at the radioactive green sun, some small part of her mildly offended by its presence solely on the metric that it dared to share and pervert even a fraction of her color scheme. But more importantly, the longer Pride’s abominable power loomed over the area, the greater the chance that not just her allies but the very land itself would be irradiated and poisoned irrevocably. This could not be allowed to stand.

Qingshe dove into her shadow.

Far down below Ai Chen, the forest was swallowed in a blanket of inky, thrumming black. Rippling out from the position Qingshe had once occupied, her shadow painted the entire world for 2 kilometers in all directions, tightly hugging the contours of every surface like swirling, bubbling latex. Every fissure of every rock. Every leaf of every tree. Every puddle of water created by the prior spray of hoses from her shadow. Lingering flames were doused in an instant, as the shadow rolled over the surfaces they were burning upon, cutting them off from oxygen entirely and snuffing out the embers with less than a whimper.

In a time period far too swift for comfort, the forest was replaced by a sea of ooze… that immediately began to churn.

The hum of static filled the air, stronger than anything displayed in the battle prior by leaps and bounds, as Qingshe’s shadow began to channel unholy amounts of power for whatever it was she was scheming, the excess bleeding into the surroundings. The very sky seemed to crackle, as emerald arcs of electricity began to jump between the structures coated by her shadow. Audible snaps and crackles echoed near omnipresently, as a flickering tesla-like lightshow began to manifest. The energy in the air was so intense that any nearby onlookers might find their skin breaking out in goosebumps, their very clothes seeming to grow charged with static electricity, occasionally even stinging them.

And then, multiple sections of the sea of ooze briefly bulged, as something moved beneath the surface.

The air almost seemed to shudder, as a veritable wall of sound rose from the depths, carrying Qingshe’s voice on a rumbling swell of noise. Her words, possessing a sibilant hiss to them with an undercurrent of rattling, thrummed into the sky. And far overhead, dark clouds churned, illuminated by the glare of the twin suns.



Ai Chen was a coward, but also something that in the eyes of a proper tactician, was much worse: A one-trick pony, someone who relied on one tactic so much that she cannot imagine using her skills any other way. As Qingshe’s ooze covered large portions of the ground, Ai Chen shot and shot and shot, spraying arrows of light all throughout the area, hoping against hope that it would do something, anything.

Some struck the ooze. Others soared towards the dark clouds. Ai Chen, in her fever pitch, was managing a fire rate of 1000 arrows a minute, an achievement that would be held as exceptional or miraculous if not for how futile it was, especially when it did not make up for her tactical inflexibility.

Ai Chen’s fire fell like rain upon the land, and yet, much like rain upon the sea, the arrows were but droplets against the vastness of Qingshe’s oceanic shadow, scores and scores of them swallowed by the lurching, crackling depths with not even a ripple. All the while, the Rooster’s attacks towards the sky were doing what one might even say was less than nothing to the growing phenomenon high overhead. No, if anything, she was making it much much worse.

It was a convergence of coincidences that had ultimately done it. Not only the insane amounts of heat being pumped into the area by Ai Chen’s attacks, along with the twin suns and the early waves of superheated gas and flaming beams that Huo Ren had swept the sky with to clear it of Qingshe’s missiles, but it was also the titanic amount of water Qingshe had pumped into the area in return to douse the flames that scorched the landscape, further supplementing the water that was being rapidly flash evaporated and sent billowing into the sky. And on top of that, there was the ample electrical charge the Snake was further seething into the environment, as she worked her power to levels she might normally have refrained from, energizing the area far more quickly than it might normally have been otherwise without that last little boost.

The outcome was nothing overtly unexpected, at least not to any meteorologist.

An explosive rise in heat from the excessive -and still ongoing- infliction of plasma-based attacks upon the land and skies was resulting in the similarly rapid increase in the ambient air temperature… which in turn was causing a colossal ascending air current… which was now catalyzing the formation of a massive cumulonimbus cloud the better part of a kilometer across, a dark, rumbling thing that was still growing in size and crackling with barely restrained lightning.

Under normal circumstances, nothing even close to its caliber could have formed in nature in such a manner. But Ai Chen’s persistently desperate attacks were only swelling the size of the very phenomenon she was trying to oppose, even as the twin suns -roughly two kilometers distant into the sky- added their own heat to the problem.

What had once been a relatively calm (if overheated) sky was now the epicenter for a brewing thunderstorm, the outright wholesale unintentional alteration of the weather as the mere environmental consequence of the unrestrained clash of multiple A-Rank caliber Arms Masters. It was a thing given life all its own and now entirely out of the control of anyone present, independent and well past the point of being self-sustaining. The dark clouds began to rain…

A hot, humid wind swept across the ground, as the sky churned tumultuously. Lightning struck the earth with a sharp, pealing whip crack, and the deep rolling grumble of thunder could be heard for miles, thrumming across the land to be felt in ones’ bones and even vibrate the ground.

That lightning strike would only be the first of many.

And as if that were a prompt to action, Qingshe’s voice rose from below yet again with a rattling hiss.



The roiling shadow lurched again, as the arched surface of something… titanic briefly breached the crackling, oozing surface, a brief glimpse of segmented glinting ebony, alight with hints of the radioactive green glow inherent to Qingshe’s cyberpunk aesthetic.

To make things worse for Ai Chen, it was then that the Green Sun flickered out, reducing the heat yet also making the darkness far worse. And the storm clouds drew closer to her, crackling with sparks of electricity.

She screamed as she was struck by a bolt of forked lightning, heaven’s justice ironically fed by her actions, and plummeted down, her Noble Arm unable to sustain its flight as its energy was diverted to regenerate her, to heal her body’s burns.

There was a reservoir behind the dam, much of it evaporated by the two Artificial Suns’ heat, but not all. But not even water could save Ai Chen’s bones from breaking from the force of the impact; it was a miracle, or maybe a curse, that she survived even that, albeit barely, albeit flickering to unconsciousness…

There was a low, creaking groan, a deep, reverberating and somehow fleshy thing, as the undulating surface of Qingshe’s shadow finally was broken through in truth to admit the passage of a titanic form, seemingly emerging from multiple places at once.

Rising like great, hulking archways with a mere diameter comparable to a six-story building, serpentine coils of a behemoth of an entity rose into the air, scales like the armored plates of a fortress wall, skin crawling with violent arcs of emerald electricity. It was like a great shadow in motion in and of itself, scales so deep ebony black that they seemed to drink in the light, the figure’s outline only properly defined by the glowing green accents that ran across its form. And the more of the coils that emerged, the clearer it became that they were all part of a singular, terrifyingly vast entity.



At the continued lack of response over the radio, a rumbling grumble echoed from the growing entity, accentuated by a deep rattling and the now near omnipresent crackle, snap and flash of lightning alighting the earth and sky. A growling, threatening hiss vibrated the air.



And then, the titanic serpentine coils flexed, and the head of the beast finally emerged.

Of course, it could have been fairly easily inferred, but in some ways, it was almost difficult to comprehend the scale of the snake that emerged from Qingshe’s ooze, a titan that casually dwarfed the treeline even before rearing up like a cobra, which would likely easily be visible from any position of the slightest elevation. It was like something straight out of mythology, alien and beyond natural, a figure that defied common sense and the natural order just by existing. Six glowing green eyes leered balefully down at the world, each individually large enough that a human could have stood upright inside the sockets several times over, and a colossal, bladed spine ran down the center of the creature’s back, a gaping fanged maw briefly snapping at the air with a sound like a thunderclap.

The Snake turned her newest body’s gaze to face the sun of Huo Ren’s still glaring down from above, and even with the clearly inhuman features of the construct, its voraciously anticipatory smile was obvious to all and sundry.

The serpent moved.

Such a simple action, but for something of its sheer size, one that could have been calamitous if not for the coating of Qingshe’s shadow overlaying the world around her. It was for that reason alone that the Snake did not utterly decimate the landscape, as the bulk of the serpent pulled itself free of the ooze entirely, shifted and began to coil. Entire kilometers worth of mass went into the endeavor with a ponderous, terrifying swiftness, as the creature used its body to form a support structure akin to a spring. And all the while…

The serpentine titan’s head began to stretch toward the sky, surrounded by constant flashes of lightning and thunder, as rain poured from the darkened clouds. Buoyed by proper positioning and sheer size, the Snake loomed into the air, reaching for Huo Ren’s sun in plain view. For who could have possibly missed it if they were but merely to glance in its general direction? As it approached closer and closer to its target, the serpent’s presence became all the more obvious, as its sheer bulk began to partially obstruct the light of Huo Ren’s sun, casting deep shadows across the land around it.

Originally scaled to target even Superbia’s larger sun, in its absence, the Snake’s gaping maw loomed open, more than twice the size of Huo Ren’s own fiery construct, aiming to swallow it whole. And within that open maw, there lay Qingshe’s shadow as well, courtesy of the second iteration of her Noble Arm. For in truth, the titanic serpent was but a means to an end… the end being to somehow bring her shadow close enough to directly touch and consume Huo Ren’s sun, finally putting an end to his oppressive interference.

---

Huo Ren’s artificial sun, now surrounded by steam, spat fiery defiance in the form of superheated gas at the snake, but it was futile, as even Huo Ren himself knew. So the man said to Cao Bao:

“Can you bring Shen Tu and his book to where that actual snake is while I distract it? If not, take us away.”

Cao Bao glanced at the titanic figure of Qingshe’s latest crime against nature and grimaced, shaking his head. His power didn’t come with any special awareness of the location of things he’d tagged, and even if it did, it had been months since he’d ever been anywhere close to Qingshe. And he wasn’t about to start changing that now. Besides, if Huo Ren expected him or Shen Tu to actually get close enough to touch that monster… Too many chances things went wrong to dive back into that mess…

Spitting out his cigarette in annoyance, Cao Bao snorted, “‘Fraid not. Greater chances than not that we all die if we split up and try to fight her like she is now, not to mention the storm the fight’s whipping up.” He scoffed. “I don’t fancy testing my reaction time against unexpected lightning strikes.” Or lightning tossed around by the Snake personally for that matter.

That was the thing about actual lightning. Once you could see it, it was already too late. Real lightning that was visible enough to comprehend was lighting that had already grounded and struck its target. There was no dodging it. Simple as. You could sense the building charge sometimes, of course, and try to find a way to redirect it, but that was a gamble Cao Bao didn’t fancy taking, especially when it was only a single factor among many in the Snake’s favor.

Cao Bao didn’t so much as snap his fingers, but he and his fellow Arms Masters faded away anyway. Things had long since gotten out of hand. The ambush had been crushed, and even though that damned Superbia had taken the time to interfere, he’d done nothing but make their situation worse. Of course, it hadn’t all -or even mostly- been on the Downward Descent that things had gone so badly, but still…

Cao Bao already knew who he was scapegoating in his after-action report.

---

The titanic maw of the Snake distendended, as it finally got high enough to encompass Huo Ren’s artificial sun, fangs closing around the searing ball of plasma and flame with the finality of a flytrap. The shadow -Qingshe’s shadow- coating the inside of its mouth immediately went to work, as furious spurts of flame and steam seethed from between the titan’s lips, boiling and splitting the sky. But the serpent simply recoiled, drawing its head back down from the sky to perch atop a slowly undulating body.

In that moment, the oppressive glare of daylight was snuffed out with finality, turning the once clear visibility back into the murky cloak of night, now distantly alight with flashes of lightning and grumbles of thunder.

Qingshe cast her gaze towards the distance, eyes narrowed at the dam and the landing spot of Ai Chen beyond it. Not the slightest bit concerned by the dwindling form of the sun still trapped inside its mouth, the serpent lurched forward again. Qingshe’s shadow rippled forward, extending to clear a path and retreating in its wake. The gateway of her power maintained its radius around the serpent, sweeping across the land and even crossing partially onto the surface of the river. And as the great serpent approached the dam…

-flames began to leak from its mouth.

With a shrieking hiss of superheated air, rain flash-evaporating around the area to produce yet more clouds of rising steam, the Snake’s mouth began to open, aimed at the dam. In that moment, all the superheated gas, plasma, heat and flame from Huo Ren’s artificial sun -once swallowed into the shadow inside the serpent’s mouth- was then released as a focused beam of monstrous size and strength, not unlike the very beams that Huo Ren had been using before. Indeed, instead of digesting and disintegrating the power of the sun she had eaten, Qingshe had chosen to turn it against its master. The very dam Huo Ren had been here to protect would be destroyed by his own power.

So it was that a great blinding beam of densely packed plasma -crackling with flecks of electricity- speared from the Snake’s mouth towards the dead center of the wall of the dam, the towering reptile looking perhaps in that moment more like a dragon that the Zodiac’s 5th seat ever truly had.

If the dam breaking and the water flowing out wasn’t enough to drown Ai Chen’s dying form, the heat of the serpent would. Either way, nothing more needed to be said; she was not surviving this sort of disaster. That said, the PoWs in the camps did need to be guided towards the evacuation point - The ridge Rear Admiral Absolo and his compatriot had told the Task Force where to take the freed prisoners…

Such were the at least adjacent thoughts of Qingshe, as she watched the dam finally crumble into melting slag, superheated steam billowing around and upwards from it. Naturally, a gush of water was released down into the lands below it, but her shadow -now spreading slightly across the river- caught some of the overflow, preventing it from flooding the PoW camps and the area around the bunkers. The disaster was averted before it could begin, but internally, seeing the raging storm that had been kicked up by her battle, she frowned at the remains of the dam.

That might have been a bit overkill.

She acknowledged that she’d actually lost her temper a bit. She’d wanted to draw out Ai Chen’s demise a little more, really make her feel at least a smidgen of the terror she inflicted on so many, but she hadn’t expected… Even when backed into a corner, even when provided all the stressors one could ever need to go beyond, the Rooster was…



Or was it that she was… simply too strong? Looking at the destruction around her, at the fact that the very weather had changed utterly by accident… Qingshe pondered the answer with consternation. Some part of her had told herself she was doing this for… something like justice? It was to right a wrong she should have righted long ago, but in the end, she was… almost offended by how pathetically her foe had gone down. She’d been struck down by something completely unintentional. If anything, one could almost say Ai Chen struck herself down.

How… boring.

She’d honestly expected more, anticipated that her opponent would reveal a trump card. After all, wasn’t this sort of situation the best way to draw more potential out of a Noble Arm? To face the impossible and make it possible, such was the realm of the capacity of a Noble Arm to evolve. Qingshe had always thought the Rooster flashy… yet simplistic. She’d thought… surely, that couldn’t be the limits of her ability?

Yet it was…

How boring. The thought reached her again. It offended her sensibilities as a scientist. How could she test the limits and surpass them if no-one could bring her to reach those limits? How could she continue to evolve? How could she continue to seek the impossible horizon of humanity’s true potential and make it possible if there was nothing left to challenge her? Yet… she had to wonder, looking at all this destruction, what sort of price would she have to pay to face a worthy challenge? What would it cost her? What would it cost everyone around her?

It’s lonely at the top, huh… But… yes, that’s... part why I’m doing this, isn’t it?

Abruptly wresting herself back to the present, Qingshe cast that line of thinking aside, not allowing herself to spiral down that unproductive path at this time. Right now, she had a job to do. Focusing on the present was yet again proving to be more productive than considering the future she wished to create… and understanding just a little better how far away that actually was.

---

In the distance from the camps, through the storm that had been whipped up, the great serpent Qingshe had conjured was beginning to sink back into her ooze, either for storage or deconstruction, not that any but she could say for sure. Qingshe’s voice, however, echoed out of whatever radios might remain intact amongst Task Force Obsidian.

“Qingshe here, requesting a headcount. What’s happened? Is everyone alive? Intact? If you’re in a position for it, we should begin the evacuations immediately,” the Snake of the Zodiac said, concern in her tone. “I would aid you, but I’m going to be busy trying to blunt this storm,” she admitted, which was truthful enough. Qingshe wasn’t sure if she could dispel it entirely… not quickly anyway, but she could theorize a few ways to stop the furious weather from weighing heavily on the team.

As she was saying so, her shadow was parsing through what it had swallowed from the rush of water that erupted from the destroyed dam, checking for the corpse of Ai Chen that would presumably have been swept along in the flow… and the inert form of her Noble Arm. Internally, despite being dissatisfied with how this had ended, Qingshe couldn’t help but lick her lips. It wasn’t every day you got your hands on a masterless A-Rank Noble Arm, after all…

Sister Marta Rocha

Mekong River - 10/25/2022

"...If anyone can't walk, please help them move! Keep going and don't stop! I repeat-"

Marta stood at the rear of the large mass of escapees, herding them towards the ridge as best she could while hauling two prisoners of her own in one hand.

"Everyone, please listen! There's an evacuation spot over there by the ridge! Please move there in an orderly fashion-"

When the Descent had arrived, she had frozen in indecision - a rare moment of hesitation that she still cursed. She hadn't yet acquired the instinct, the habit of dealing with other Arms Masters on this level. The time to scold herself for this laxity was later - now, she was the only one in the position to lead the evacuation, and she was in her element. It matters not that the risk was even higher - she'd led enough evacuations that she sprung into action nigh immediately.


"- prioritize the sick and the elderly! Don't rush, you might hurt yourself or others! Don't look behind you, but don't leave anyone behind!"

For all her concern over whether the dam would break, someone else did it anyway. The pyrotechnic spectacle that occurred, as well as Qingshe's timely intervention, both stalled the otherwise disastrous flood... but for how long? If there's anything she's learned since coming to this corner of the world, it was to expect the unexpected, and the lapping, churning waters grew higher and higher every second.

"If anyone can't walk please help them move! Keep going and don't stop! I repeat-"

She was already carrying a third person, a man who was too weak to move. With him over her back, the weight on her shoulders only increased, and her put-upon knees creaked and ached with every hurried step, every step taken back to lead one more person who had gotten lost in panic and confusion.

"Saint Michael Archangel, please just a few minutes more..."

She mutters under her voice as she goes.

Cristina
Mekong River - 10/25/2022, 22:23 UTC+8

Cristina had always dreamed of this moment. In her mind were countless greetings she would say to her sister. Some were rehearsed, others were conceived in her sleep.

None of them, not a single word feels appropriate at this situation however.

When she saw her sister in the mirror, a lot of horrible thoughts entered her head. She might be tortured, she might be crazy but had prepared her heart to face them. In all of those thoughts however she failed to assume that her sister would hate her.

And that she will simply ignore her, like she was a fly on a wall.

She held onto her Noble Arm ready jump at Superbia only to see that it had no place in the battle. That is not how things were supposed to go.

“That was a lie.” she weakly answered as she watched her sister leave with her own tear.

Whether those words are heard are unclear.

The freelancer simply stood on that empty space, alone and more uncertain of what she should do. Her sole reason for living hates her. What was left for her?

The sudden storm suddenly snapped her back, she wasn’t even going to ask how it happened.

She began heading to the POW camp, she will finish this task then do something else. Keep living and finish the mission, that's the thing she could only do for now.