[IC] The Hero has betrayed us

[Zetsuko]

With other people navigating Kythe was able to let his mind wander while he mindlessly followed. He was dwelling on the meal they had before setting off, it was the best he's had in a long while. It was an enjoyable meal even even if he got some strange looks when he was crunching through the bones for the marrow. He was finally broken from his reverie when they came upon the next town and found it under attack. It didn't take long before three of their party were rushing to it's aid.

Seeing nothing else for it he followed as well, coming up to the edge of the town and only needing to deal with one of these orc-things. He took cover behind a building there and peeked out to see Leila rushing toward the center of town. He didn't thing it was the best idea to go rushing into the center of this, especially if Sven was here, but he'd wait here until he could get an opening to help her or until he found out where Feon has got to.

---

Tysetaz stood a bit of a distance from Sven overseeing the sacking of the town. For the most part the town guard were kept at bay by the orcs but a few were able to slip by and go for him, but those few were swiftly dealt with by Valerica allowing him to oversee things in relative peace. At least until a knight, one apparently capable of magic, came cleaving through most of the orcish puppets he was commanding and stopped a ways from Sven, calling out to him. Seeing this knight's initial charge Valerica was about to charge after her but Tysetaz held out his staff to stop her "Not yet" With that he waited to see what the knight was up to.

[Lightning]

Alionna has slipped away as Garen and Kythe spoke, she could not stand the pain any longer, she had found a run down tavern and undressed. Quickly, she cleaned her curse wounds as best she could and covered them in the healing salve that she made early that day. She felt the wave of relief wash over her, she stood there for a moment with the top half of her body uncovered and allowed the salve to work. Not wasting anymore time she covered her cursed flesh in bandages and slipped back into her robes.

The priestess was quite as the group traveled, she had spoken out against the ritual and there was no way she would take some power she was not fated to have. She stuck close to to Garen as he was her only true ally for far and she was truly glad that he was still alive. Alionna's ears twitched as she heard the screaming from ahead, the cries of the village folk snapped the priestess out of her thoughts and watched as the pseudo leader took off with out any command or plan of attack.

Ali let out a sigh and ran after the group, she would have to help who she could and get as many of the townsfolk out of the way. She had never made it to a village that was under attack by Sven. The priestess blasted the undead orc as they gave chase to the fleeing people and healed any she could that were still savable. Ali did her best to keep close to the main group, she knew she couldn't help everyone, however, she did what she could.

[Ryougu]

@Cuccoruler @Hammerman
Occasionally witnessing a few animals in the distance, the trip to the next village was mostly uneventful. Bored, Vreskrr quickly turned to observing the other party members and the way they carried themselves. Subtly glancing at Alionna and Leila from time to time. Arriving at the village she'd do no more than frown when Feon stormed the village. But when other soon followed, she too decided to follow. Originally she'd gone off on a lazy jog, but revitalized by the screams and the raw emotion, her jog soon reached sprinting speed.

Entering the town, Vreskrr completely ignored the orcs, until one attempted to strike a villager in her path. She really was just dodging the orc's strike, but to others it would look as if she'd tackled the orc to prevent it from striking the villager. Crawling up from on tip of the orc, she looked at the villager who then thanked her and ran. "Not a common response." she said to herself before stepping off the orc. It grabbed her leg and attempted to pull it. Now standing on one leg, Vreskrr supported herself with her tail and glared at the orc. "Oi, s***bag, if you value your face, you better let go." She warned it. Of course it paid no mind to her warning and would soon feel her clawed foot pressing down on its face. A cracking sound was heard and the orc let go, judging from the messy pulp that was once his face, he was dead.

Looking around for the others she saw Kythe hiding behind a wall and looked at what he seemed to be looking at. "Great. He's here too." She complained, looking at Sven who was looking at...Leila!? Was this girl daft? Just being there was a death sentence, and asking questions wouldn't help that at all. Still, she felt sorry for the girl. Soon she'd be forced to witness what he'd become first-hand. With a sigh she dropped to all fours and rushed to Leila's side, this scene was too tragic, even for Vreskrr.

[ArenaSnow]

Kolonis had stuck to the rear of the pack, and had collected odds and ends here and there back in town and stuck them into her seemingly endless pockets. Her face was expressionless as she followed the group to the besieged town, and carried the same expression when she saw Sven in the distance.

Corruption or logic? Certain demons had the ability to corrupt others, and for a while Kolonis had wondered if Sven had simply fought evil too long. But there was always the possibility he believed in what he did completely regardless of outside influence. Whichever it was, he was plainly just a little too powerful to fit into any particular plan. nobody is too powerful to fit into a plan, she told herself. Nobody.

There were others besides Sven, and those she took interest in. Others had plainly seen fit to join his cause. Destruction was always a goal that attracted a following, she supposed, though she could only speculate what the exact intentions of any of them were. No doubt to be on top when Sven subdued all possible threats. She made an effort to disguise her nature and to a limited extent her form, cloaking the slightly glimmering runes and masking her demonic signature. Undue attention would most undesirable. Her next task would be to decide just what to do.

The dead were being dealt with by the group members ahead of her, and in that distraction she pushed her way through fleeing townsfolk towards a smaller house that seemed abandoned by the dead and living.

[Cuccoruler]

Feon ran into the town with a look of rage in her eyes. Almost as if her eyes were glowing, drawing lines in the air from her previous movement. She slammed her fist into an undead orc going right for the chest. Her hand went right through it coming out the other side with the heart. However as she was doing this she left herself a bit too wide open allowing for another Orc to come in behind her and attack her back. Feon recieved a large cut on her back, it wasn't deep but it did break the skin. She turned to look at the orc as she pulled her hand out of the now dead orc and plunged it into the other with her hand still grasping the heart from before. This time she only dislodged the other heart and then left both hearts in the orc.

"Some one is going to survive this." Feon said watching as quite a few of the villagers made their escape. It seemed that the group had been successful in this endeavor as there would be survivors this time.

---

Sven turned his head when he heard his name shouted. It wasn't the voice of anyone he knew. Though it did sound familiar. "Oh? Are you one of the new heroes that's going to kill me?" Sven asked in a condescending tone. "Interesting, there are demons among you as well. Honestly I'm surprised your even bothering. I mean have you not seen this world?" Sven asked with his arms outstretched while walking towards Leila and the demon next to her.

"For gods sake, I have no idea why I didn't start in this town you know? I mean, I was born here, this was where I saw my first injustice. I didn't learn of it's entirety until later but oh was it bad! Would you like to know what it was? It had to do with food." Sven asked with a grin on his face. He had his sword in it's sheath still he hadn't taken it out yet as he felt more like talking than fighting right now.

Behind Sven was a family, they looked to be fairly well off judging from their cloths, but there were poorer looking people in front of the richer family. Though it looked like they weren't in front willingly. Chains could be seen on their ankles.

[BKburke]

Astiroth unsheathed his blade and charged at several orcs that were distracted attacking town guards. With one swing, his blade had decapitated two of them. The other orc turned his attention too late and was met with sharp blade in the middle of his skull. "Leave quickly!" He shouted to the guards. Jason turned his attention to other orcs with the entent of thinning the herd. If the orcs all turned their attention to the group before their numbers were dwindled then it could lead to a rather big problem.

---

Masrith only turned a small gaze toward the new group. "Their numbers are rather split. Killing them wouldn't be an issue." He turned back toward several humans that seemed to be in a dormant state, unhindered by the feelings of dread that plagued the rest of the town. "I would hate to lose test subjects. Sven, have Tysetaz kill them. He looks as if he has been waiting for a worthy group. Something to warm him up may be appreciated." Masrith snapped his fingers, this led to an orc bringing a rather large metal case. "I suppose I could do a little field work. He kneeled down and opened the case and began to do something that looked like prepping equipment.

[Lord of Evil]

Looks like Tony had his answer. As he watched his teammates running into the fray, he was reminded somewhat of his military career. There were the idealists jumping straight in and the people who followed so that they wouldn't get killed. It made him feel at home, in his element. It wasn't exactly the greatest situation but he felt at ease regardless.

Tony moved forward to follow his teammates, blocking the odd orc or two. He headed to the frontlines alongside Leila as she moved, towards the town center as it turned out, and took up his position beside the others close to the center. He half-raised his shield and readied his axe, in preparation for an engagement. He said nothing while doing so, not because he didn't have things to say, but because it wasn't the time to say them. And he was never exactly a good speaker.

Tony was a soldier, all he knew was fighting and cooking, and right now he needed to fight. They could dance with words all they liked but at the end of the day, it would turn to bloodshed. Because when words failed, all that is left is war, and Tony had been living in war for as long as he could remember. He wasn't sure that they could really take on the tyrant in the state they were in, but it didn't matter. He would be ready to defend his teammates, because that was all he that could do right now.

[Lord Zee]

His words had been meaningless, he turned back around to see Alionna slipping away into a building. He could only guess that she was healing her wounds, or trying to make the pain go away. He frowned, such was the curse she was afflicted with. The lizardman didn't say anything and just wandered off, probably finding Garen to be uninteresting. Perhaps it had been the comment about 'killing his kind' that soured his taste for conversation. It didn't really matter in the end.

Garen sat about for the rest of the night until the food was ready. He remembered the last time he had been at a feast, with home cooked food. It had been before the final battle, and it left a sour taste in his mouth just thinking about it. He had been with friends then, long time allies that he would not have hesitated to die for. Now he was surrounded by people he did not know and demons. How quickly the world could change. When the meal was done, Garen retreated back to the bar and fell asleep with a bottle in hand.

---

The morning came with a sunrise that was quite beautiful, but it only betrayed the situation. Now they would march after Sven to only find death and destruction. Garen was not very optimistic about the whole ordeal, but it was a necessary task. He only wanted a future where people could watch the sunrise and not be plagued with an uncertainty of tomorrow, haunting their every step. So he followed them, with Alionna at his side. They were in the back of the group, away from everyone else. He didn't trust these people, not yet anyways. Some had the right intentions, he was sure but others were only here for their own ends. For most of the journey to town of Catze, there wasn't much talking. Garen was comfortable with that silence.

They walked the day away, and upon the arrival at Catze, Garen's fears became realized. They were too late of course, Sven was already there and to make matters worse, old allies turned villain. Most notable to him were Tysetaz and Valerica and his heart sunk. The both of them looked changed already, Tysetaz was decorated with skulls, and to his horror, Valerica looked more construct then human. His face went blank before a hint of anger crossed it. He had known them both, they had been his friends, they had shed blood together and now they were at his side. Valerica would never have joined Sven, her character was pure and she was the best of them in heart. he could only think that Tysetaz and his devotion towards her, had something to do with it.

Garen knew that he couldn't kill Sven, but he would make it his personal goal to kill Tysetaz. It pained him, but he was guilty of helping that monster try to destroy the world, so he would be held responsible.

As the group began to run towards the town, Garen turned towards Alionna and said, "I'm going after Tysetaz."

Garen then split from the group, weaving through alleyways and generally avoiding anything in his path with a flurry of athletics. In quick time, he reach a building untouched by the fire so far, and began to climb. When he reached the top, he had a view of the center of town, but the fire was getting closer, he would have to be quick. From his vantage point, he could see Sven, confronted by Leila and the female demon. Unless they ran, he knew what was going to happen to them. He then saw Tysetaz up close and Valerica as well. It was as he feared, they both looked... corrupted in a sense.

Without dwelling on what he had to do, Garen notched an arrow in his bow, took aim at Tysetaz and fired it.

@Zetsuko@Lightning

[Lightning]

Alionna had healed as many as she could while keeping up with the group, she hadn't even notice Sven yet, the dark presence that surrounded this place was like a vile. The priestess eye's widen as she looked upon the betrayer, he had become a harbinger of death. She looked to Garen and saw his rage, she wanted to follow him as he broke off from the group to find a perch but there was no way she could keep up with the archer, not with these wounds.

The priestess advanced making her way to be with the others standing before Sven, she listen to the betrayer spew his reasoning but it was clear he had turn mad.

"Keep your false justifications to your self, Betrayer, whatever reason you could possibly thought up for such acts are the rambling of a madman! For the abominations you have brought upon this world, the light demands retribution, repent now and face the mercy of Sarenrae! The goddess will save whatever soul you have left, if you stop now, Sven!" She called out. She had hoped that Sven would listen to her, however she prepared to protect the group if he our his followers made an attempted.

[ArenaSnow]

When Kolonis arrived at the house she had determined best fit, she tried the door to find it unlocked. Convenient. It seemed empty to her, at least from what she could tell with an excess of conflicting signals. If she was correct, so much the better. The house was far from the living quarters of nobility, but it would be sufficient. Perhaps it was the home of a merchant. She didn't particularly care in either case, as what she had in mind would take quick action. She formed a very minor illusion, one that wouldn't fool a living being for more than a few seconds, but one that was good enough to draw any undead entity that came near.

From her pockets she pulled several of the small runes from before in addition to some new ones. There were several rooms to chose from; she chose one that appeared to be a kitchen, complete with the things she was looking for: a table and a rack of knives. She slammed the runes on the table and immediately moved to the knife rack. There was at least six to pick from; after a few moments of deliberation, she chose a short, but quite sharp one. She returned to the table and ignored the chairs, opting to stand as she arranged six of the little runes in a circular pattern. A seventh, dark red to the dull gray of the others, was placed carefully in the center. And now to wait...

A few seconds later came what she had hoped for: the sound of banging on the front door. Kolonis lifted the knife and slowly pushed it through her left hand, showing no pain as the tip emerged on the other side covered in a sticky black substance. She pulled the knife out and jammed it into the center of the dark red rune.

The array glowed dark red, and the runes began to melt into the table. She brought her left hand down on the array before they embedded themselves in the wood with a smack. That should do it, she thought as she held the hand down and tossed the knife onto the floor. What she was doing was far from sophisticated, but it would do for the next hour or so. She lifted the hand, carrying with it the seven molten symbols.

Come on in... The banging became smashing as the door came down. Still standing in the kitchen, Kolonis watched impassively as a large undead orc stomped into the room with an axe in one hand and another hand stretched out towards her head. The beast's fully glowing red eyes matched the mixed orange and blue swirls of the demon. When it lifted its axe to cleave Kolonis in two was when she acted by sprinting forwards and shoving her left hand into the undead's chest. The undead figure fell heavily, seven dots burning into the undead as it feebly tried to move its limbs. Before long, it was completely still.

Kolonis looked at her left hand, now completely devoid of evidence that anything had happened. Hmm.

She strode to the kitchen's window, observing the carnage outside and the new engagement ahead involving multiple group members, Sven, and a few others. Fools for their attempts. Still, this was the lot she found herself in. What she would do next was what she was deciding. But she did know what she would do at the present moment.

The demon dissolved into liquid black substance, which moved across the floor, around the fallen orc, through the wreckage of the door, and out into the ground below the house. The undead's eyes, previously a fading red, flashed with a new orange tint. It stood unsteadily, seven smoking holes still in the center of its chest. The creature looked around a few times, then down to the floor where the large axe lay. It took up the axe and calmly strode outside.

[Hammerman]

Leila stood there in front of Sven, unflinching. Her focus was all spent on him that she didn't notice Vreskrr approaching towards her. It took her Sven's words to realize that the demon girl was beside her.

As she had feared, Sven responded with mockery. There was no tone of compassion in his voice, only a strong sense of nihilism. If this man who was standing in front of her really was the Sven that saved her years ago, then something must have happened; something that greatly changed his personality to the worse.

And to think that something changed him so much that he had no remorse destroying his own hometown...

"I am not going to kill you, Sven," she replied, her tone stern and calm, "At least, I am not going to kill the Sven that I once knew. The Sven that saved me years ago. Do you remember the village of Remuria? It got attacked by the demons. Every single person died that day, including my own father and mother. But I alone survived. And you know why it is? It's because you saved me. You saved me before the demons can get to me. And that day, I saw your tears; tears of regret for failing to get to the village in time."

Leila paused for a little bit, composing herself as her voice had begun to shake.

"I do not know what kind of injustice you have witnessed. By showing me those people behind you, I assume you are talking about the difference between the rich and the poor? Or about slavery? True, there are injustices in that, but your own injustice is bigger. How many people have you slaughtered ever since you become the Tyrant? And if that wasn't enough, you have to taint them with necromancy as well, giving them no rest even in death. That is the most foul of injustice. An injustice fit of the demon king himself! So for what purpose did you defeat him, if you're just going to replace him?"

At this point, her voice had greatly shook with anger. Anger and disappointment. Leila could feel her eyes tearing up as well but she tried as hard as she could to hold it back.

"You're not going to make a better world by doing this. You're just going to ruin it. So please! Stop all of this madness! I know you're a good man inside, Sven!"

Her pleading speech however, was soon followed by Alionna's wrathful indictment. Leila couldn't help to glare at the priestess whom she didn't notice coming in as well since she was ruining her persuasive power.

@Cuccoruler

[Ryougu]

Vreskrr stood immobile as chaos encroached on the town's center. The only thing moveing was her tail dragging across the ground, slowly, almost carefully. Attentively listening to the conversation, ready to jump into action at any given moment. When Leila had done her say, Alionna came storming in. Vreskrr frowned at the woman as she hurled her insults at the tyrant, did she not realize it was too soon to fight him? Did she not feel the power emanating from his form?

Extending the back of her spear in front of Alionna to stop her from taking another step, Vreskrr waited for her to finish her tantrum. Quickly responding when Alionna finished, Vreskrr spoke up. "You can say what you want, but he did what everyone asked of him. After all, he did slay remus." She chuckled at her own ironic remark before turning to Sven. "I'd leave plundering and pillaging to the demons though. Wouldn't do to upset social balances now, would it? You've already left one girl clueless of how to act." Vreskrr's usual sadistic grin returned to decorate her expression, pointing at Alionna as she said this. Vreskrr was tense, not afraid, but regardless concerned about taking hits from the tyrant. As much as she disliked Remus, she was well aware of his power. Remus, along with several other strong demons had been defeated by this man, he would by no means be good for her lifespan.

Her tail now stopped moving, taking steady breaths, Vreskrr retracted her spear from in front of Alionna and stood almost completely still. She was calm, calmer than she'd ever been, the chaos that came with being a demon momentarily drowned out. With the carefully drawn rune behind her, Vreskrr even felt confident. If someone were to pull pull a stunt, she would be ready. She wouldn't fight ad she did not have death wish, but she at least had the rune to assist her escape if things went awry.
@Cuccoruler @Hammerman @Lightning

[Zetsuko]

Tysetaz continued to look on and wait for how Sven wanted to deal with these people, Both his and Valerica's attention were on the three standing before Heavensward. He lowered his staff "Valerica be ready to-hrrg" He was cut off by an arrow finding it's way into his side, luckily it didn't cause much more than a flesh wound. Valerica turned first, arms out and ready to stop any further arrows. Tysetaz found the source shortly after he recovered from the hit.

Pulling the arrow out and casting it aside, He looked in the direction Valerica was facing to see the shooter on top of a nearby house, and then he recognized him. "Hmm, Garen" He stood ready but didn't retaliate yet, sparing another glance toward Sven and the group in front of him.

He tapped Valerica's back "Go" and she took of toward the building Garen was on and started quickly climbing up it to get to him. Tysetaz, for his part, was ready to stop more arrows but kept his focus on the situation by the center of the town.

---

Kythe wasn't sure about what to do. The purpose of them even gathering in the first place was to prepare to face Sven yet here they were just hours later confronting him while several of his generals were here to support him without so much as a plan. Most of the group seemed to have run off to their own thing while three went to face down Sven directly. He debated with the thought of abandoning them, as he'd do no good for his homeland if he died now, but ultimately decided against as this group was probably the best chance he had.

He caught Garen as he went after Tysetaz, spotting him on the roof, and made to follow, hoping to help at least someone get out of this alive. By the time he caught up the steel woman was getting up to the roof, so Kythe tackled her right back off. They both hit the ground hard but Valerica got back up faster and Kythe was barely even able to draw his blade in time, much less get his footing. He was caught stumbling backwards while trying to deflect Valerica's rabid flurry of strikes.

[Cuccoruler]

Sven turned to Masirth for a moment as he suggested killing his foes for him. "Don't underestimate what they can do on their own, not until we know more about them. Stay back and watch, don't show your hand yet." Sven ordered. He hated when others said they would destroy his enemies for him in this way. He would prefer to give the order.

Sven just gave a smirk as Alionna and Leila tried to talk him out of what he was doing. "Your words mean nothing to me. Only the words of those who are blind to what a hell this world is. And yes, this is the point of slavery, I'm glad you noticed." Sven said with a smile as he took a few steps towards the three women. "Your all blind, not only is there slavery. There is torture, there is those who eat their own kind out of desperation. I plan to remake this world, send it back to a time when this wasn't so. And if I have to become a villain or demon to complete my dream then so be it." Sven added showing just how dedicated he was to his cause.

Feon in the mean time had snapped out of her rage and approached Sven from behind the others. "Yeah Remus say's you need to shut up, and this is one of the times that I have to agree with him." Feon said her fists glowing with holy light.

Sven looked down at them with a frown. "If you think you can fight me now then your several thousand years too early." Sven added with a smirk. He turned his head towards the hostages who coward in fear. He pointed his hand towards them and slowly a sort of life force could be seen draining from the richer looking folks. Then it drained from the slaves as well. All of that energy seemed to go into a sort of gem. "Now then, let me show you how much more powerful I am." He added taking out his sword and raising it into the air. As he did this the magic of the blade grew to several hundred feet tall. He then slammed it down into the ground. It was slow moving so easy to dodge but the point of it was to show how powerful he was.

Alionna had put of a shield but to no avail as the sword came slamming down.

[Hammerman]

Leila then saw Sven talking to the Illithid beside him. From what she could tell, the Illithid seemed to be one of his subordinates. Illithids were a naturally Lawful Evil creature so she wasn't surprised at all, though this probably meant Sven had some kind of mental protection from the illithid's mind shenanigans. That, or the Illithid was so loyal to him that he wouldn't be afraid at all of him turning against him. She doubted the latter though, as the Sven who stood before her right now seemed to be somebody that wouldn't trust anyone.

Far cry from the Sven she once knew.

And then she heard Sven's response. Once again, he talked about how terrible the world was, and how he wished to remake it back to a better time when it wasn't so. She didn't buy it for a second though, as all his actions up to this day had no correlation to that goal. He just made the world even worse then it was before.

Could it be that Ailonna was right? That he really had lost his mind?

Suddenly, Feon charged forward, her fist glowing with holy light. Leila yelled at her to stop but it was too late, as it triggered Sven to retaliate with his own attack. He first drained the life force out of the hostages behind him that he showed before, turning it into a gem of some sort. He then raised his sword to the air, the magic of his sword extended to a massive several hundred feet tall length. At first, Leila instinctively summoned her shield, but then she realized how it wouldn't do anything to block such a powerful attack. So she dispelled it, aiming all her magic to her feet to increase her speed, with a little on her arms so she could drag Vreskrr and Alionna away from the blade. Feon was too far from her so she was on her own. Alionna had conjured a shield but Leila knew it wouldn't do anything either.

And so she dashed, taking the two woman with her, away from the massive blade. She made sure to run clockwise as if she just ran in a straight line away from the blade, she would still get it by hit.

When the blade reached the ground, the tremor was massive. Leila lost her balance and fell over to the ground. The blade had just cut through the entire town in one swipe.

"S-strong... too strong..." Leila panted as she rose up, her armor now dirtied with dust and dirt.

@Cuccoruler@Ryougu@Lightning

[Lightning]

Alionna's eyes shifted from Sven to the demon that held her spear out to stop her from going forward. The priestess didn't like Vreskrr's tone and she most certainly didn't like the demon but she did honor their alliance and remained still. She then noticed an arrow streak out from her peripheral and hit the sorcerer, Tysetaz, in the side and watched as Valerica took to the direction of the arrow. Ali had known the pair, they had fought, bleed, cried, and laugh together as they worked to take down the demon lord. Now here they were, enemies to the entire world.

Sven had went on again about the world being unfair and broken and about his plan to make it a better world by resetting it. She was about to tell him how ludicrous he sounded, however, the tyrant began to drain the life force of the captives behind him. Alionna stepped forward and her had reached out in an attempt to counter attack the magic yet it was not enough. She watched in horror as the magic empowered Sven's blade to comical proportion, as the blade came down on the three, Alionna shot her hands out in front of her and created a barrier of divine energy. She knew it wasn't going to hold, however, with her curse she knew she could not move out of the way.

The blade came down like a guillotine threatening to bisect her where she stood. The elven female felt the arms of the plated knight wrap around her and pull her to safety, she watched as her barrier shattered like fragile glass upon the weight of the sword that cut the town nearly in two. Alionna pulled herself to her feet and place a hand gentle on Leila's plated shoulder, "Thank you." She manage to say.

She had been a fool to have tried to reason with the betrayer, it was clear now that if they were to fight him now they would surely lose. They had to retreat and come up with a plan, the group were scattered they had to regroup, they had to think, they had to stop this monster before his plans were fulfilled.

[Lord of Evil]

Tony was expecting an attack, but not that kind of attack. It wasn't as if he didn't see it coming; it was almost impossible to miss. But he wasn't prepared for the scale of the attack. He'd rolled out of its way but the sheer impact threw him across the cobblestones. Years of experience (including one particular incident involving a catapult) kicked in and Tony landed safely. He got up fast and raised his shield, noting that he was much closer to Feon than before. Eyeing their enemies, he began talking to the female monk.
"Looks like we're finally done talking." He said.

It was apparent that the hero was pretty crazy at this point, though Tony had expected that. He wouldn't be giving the world so much trouble if he could be reasoned with so easily. Even if he had listened and handed himself in or whatever, the closest authorities would try to have him executed, so there was no way he would go so easily. And now that he'd attacked, it was very clear that the time for words was over.

With that being said, Tony didn't like their odds. The hero's attack hadn't seemed to drain him at all, although it drained the people around him a fair amount. It was likely that the hero couldn't use that attack to often, or at least not at that scale, although he probably had other moves instead. It would be a lot better not to fight him right now, as he doubted their original intention was to start the final encounter early. But if life taught him anything, it was not to assume things before he knew them for sure.
"Hey. Monk. What's the plan?" He asked the girl, eyes locked on the group's enemies.

[BKburke]

Astiroth was thinning the heard of the orcs when he noticed everyone having a difficult time. One general was hit with an arrow. Whe there it was a lucky shot of skill didn't care so long as it hit its target. Jason was trying to help a small family evacuate from a house when he could sense a massive amount of power permeate the air around. He turned around to notice what had caused such power. He watched has the draining of life was fed into a gemore and then amplified the power of Svens sword. Astiroth was not ready for the attack to follow. He readied his blade in an attempt to negate some of the massive power that came his way. It wasn't enough. His sword was able to negate the proper amount to keep the Shockwave from killing him but he was still sent crashing into the house he had just helped evacuate. He had started to get up but was struggling for a bit.

---

Masrith was getting testy with Sven. He stopped his field work and secured his equipment when he saw what Sven was doing. He then stood up to look at the aftermath. "That was reckless and careless Sven. Telling me to observe while you produce a one shot ability. Certainly that was proper." He lifted his case off of the ground. "I assume we will be leaving." Masrith postured himself. The airony around him began to vibrate and the ground began to crack. A horrible screechiNguyen noise followed. A tear in what seemed like the air began to form until it ripped open revealing a massive portal. He then began to communicate with Sven and Tysetaz. Hurry up. I'm growing bored of this place. I have made all the observations needed. Tysetaz, if possible, secure that lizard creature. You know what I can do with that. After all, Sven killed what was left as material for test subjects.

Masrith looked at the injured party. "I suppose I could always take one of you." He stated aloud. He began to approach Leila while she lay on the ground. "I have never performed experiments on a human female. I'm sure you will do nicley." With a wave of his hand, he ripped her sword from her hand. His muscle mass began to grow. Masrith grunted in pain for a little. He lifted his hand which caused the weakened Leila to slowly float up and fly toward Masrith as he caught her by the throat. He then threw her over his shoulder like a sack. He began to slowly walk back to the portal. However, with his focus on the rather large portal and on his physical augmentation. He didn't have much focus on his defense. Believing Leila to be out of the fight and too weak, this presented her with an opportunity. While she may not have her sword, she was well within the postion to elbow Masrith in the back of his head which would certainly stun the Illithid and make him drop her and because he walked slow, she would still be a relatively close distance to her group.

[Hammerman]

"Y-you're welcome," Leila replied with a pained smile since she had taken some damage earlier. But before she could get up as well, the illithid, after opening the portal, flicked her sword a distance away with his mind. He then bulked up and used his mind to telephatically move Leila towards him, with a fast enough speed that Vreskrr and Alionna couldn't do anything to stop him.

"G-gah, w-what are you--"

Leila gasped for breath as she haplessly tried to pry his bulky hand off her throat. But with her being unable to enhance her strength and him being in a bulked up strength, it was a useless effort. So Leila decided to stop fighting to conserve her energy. If she fainted, then all would be lost.

He then threw her back over his shoulders, before walking slowly back towards the portal. Leila knew if they went through that portal, she would be lost forever, and she would be subject to all kind of terrible things the illithid will do. Illithids weren't exactly creatures that care much about morality after all.

So she concentrated what remaining strength she had and elbowed the illithid on the back of his head as strong as she could. Amazingly, it worked, and the illithid, with a groan, stumbled down, losing his grip on her. She quickly used the opportunity to step on his head to stun him even further before running back towards her group, taking her sword on the way.

"Ha...ha...ha...that was close..." she panted, using her sword to help her stand.

@BKburke@Lightning@Ryougu

[Lord of Evil]

The sounds of the town raged around him but he only listened to the sounds around him. Not their words, he only listened for the sound of conflict. So when he heard a stifled surprised exclamation, he became aware of a large purple tentacle thing grabbing one of his teammates. Or rather, grabbing the air in the direction of one of their teammates. He wasn't honestly sure what the thing was doing, but it certainly wasn't wholesome.
"Right, why don't you think about that yourself for a moment." Tony told Feon. "I have somewhere to be."

Tony ran towards the flying tentacled monstrosity. Losing a teammate this early wouldn't exactly be ideal. He wasn't sure Leila would need his help. She looked unconscious but she'd gone down quickly so either the girl was weaker than she looked or she was pretending. Regardless, she'd dropped her sword and even if she got free, she'd need time to pick it up. And time was a precious resource.

Lo and behold she did recover, but she was flat on her back - and that wouldn't fly with enemies around. As the girl got up, Tony circled around her and put himself between her and the tentacled creature. Tony raised his shield fully against the creature, axe at the ready. It was more on instinct than anything else, and he knew it probably wouldn't help much.
"Keep moving, soldier!" He barked at Leila. "This isn't over yet!"