[IC] The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

[AzureKnight]

🗡️

Cogsfell Aftermath

---

Most of those contemptable mutts had fallen limp from Lucrecia's bullet storm, at this a small wave of relief fell over the maid. Even the larger demons began to slow their advance, seeming to understand that they were dealing with average dames. That's right bastardos, you're right to be scared! She silently exclaimed to herself. She was also glad to see the Polina wasn't slowed down in the slightest either, despite totting the child in her arms.

Speaking of, it seemed that the little one began coming to. As she did, she asked them if they were with the other maids. Could it be? Perhaps some members of the previous strike team made it after all.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Cogsfell
12.000 hours

---

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99

“You…gweh…was I got? I was got wasn’t i…” The demon still struggled weakly as Leoniya held it down, impaled on the spike on her wrench as she’d try and grow more tendrils, only managing to make a somewhat grotesque looking mass from her tail that squirmed and wiggled lamely as Katherine began approaching. “Aww, guess I’ll be going to sleep now, huh? Hey hey, human that was fun! Maybe we could do it again sometime-ow! Hey I already surrendered what was the punch for-!”

The demons body began turning translucent, causing her to panic and angrily struggle more after being bonked right on the head.

“Hey!Hey! What are you-mwehp-!” A brief shout later, and the demons entire body vanished. The orb Katherine had been given lit up, arcane runes and symbols being engraved on its surface as it clicked and whirred somewhere inside of it. And just like that, the demon was done and sealed.

Leoniya got to her feet, hefting the wrench over her shoulder.

“Fuuu…That was tiring. What was a high demon doing here of all places?” Lenoya frowned, glancing over to Katherine. “Oh well, we can figure that out later! Otlichnaya rabota! You did well, Katherine!” Leonoya pulled the Firbolg into a hug, shoving the other maids face right against her chest and started patting her head. “I shall put in a good word for you with Myrilla, though I believe she’s still going to give you an earful for you butt slapping earlier. Seriously, what were you thinking! You’re lucky she didn’t behead you then and there, ahaha!” She’d turn to the other maids. “The rest of you secure the area! We’ll use this as a staging ground for the cleanup operation. Do we have any information on the other maids sent?”

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“Uhm…they…they were fighting…by the old theater I think…” The girl seemed to try and press herself closer to Polina. “But…they were fighting this really scary looking horned, furry demon. I…heard screams…mom and I ran while they…” The girl shuddered, shaking her head and holding her head in her hands. “...mom…” A sniffle, followed by more sobbing.

The old theater. They saw it on their jump down. The place was still standing, surprisingly, but it had been crawling with demons. It wasn’t far from where they were. That just left the issue of the demons that were still glaring at them, judging what the maids' intentions were and the girl that Polina was carrying. They couldn’t very well leave her here, but they also couldn’t really carry her with them, could they? And the demons needed to be cleaned up, too.

Once they had made their decisions, it simply came time to decide how to approach the theater. As they approached, it became clear that this place had seen the worst of the fighting...fighting that was still going on, from the sounds of it. Numerous corpses of demons lay on the ground, some of those large gorilla like furnaces, some of those huntsmen and a number of hell hounds and a few parts and pieces of other things.

The theater itself hadn't fared much better. One side had collapsed entirely. The entrance was still intact, and from the inside they could hear the sounds of fierce resistance going on. heavy metal booms and the howls of demons along with only a singular voice shouting in defiance. A number of other demons were quickly swarming the place too, as if lured by something.

They may not have long to come up with a plan if they wanted to save whoever was left.

[AzureKnight]

🗡️

Cogsfell Aftermath

---

As the girl came too, she nuzzled closer to Polina and told them that she remembered some of the maids fighting a horned demon. She then taught of her mother for a moment, her reaction had given away the fate of her parent. This made Lucrecia winced a bit, but she dashed away the thought. The dead remain as such and all one could do was honor their memory. Apparently, the fight had taken place at the old theater near where they were now. Lucrecia thought about the situation they found themselves in, then turned to Polina.

"Polina, if you would hear me for a moment. I believe it is best that you take the child away somewhere safe, and I'll deal with saving our comrades and the remaining demons. We cannot take the poor girl with us, and we can't leave the previous team alone in the teatro. Considering the circumstance, I believe this is our best option." She said, looking at the hesitant yet still rapacious gazes the demons were giving them.

Lucrecia, undaunted, readying her weapons for another confrontation. The chambers on her machetes made a clinking sound that echoed throughout the vicinity as she reloaded them. "Quickly, Madoona! We've don't have much time! Con Fretta!"

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina tried to give her a reassuring smile. Having originally been a war refugee, she knew the girl’s plight. Producing one of her bags of macarons from one of the folds of her dress, she handed the sweets to the girl as a minor distraction as she made her way with Lucrecia to the old theater. She didn’t have very many words to console the child with, though, as she concentrated on the matter at hand—staying alive and recovering the original team of maids that had been inserted into the city.

Upon reaching the theater proper, though, things didn’t look too good. A quick reconnaissance showed that the entire place was swarming with demons, not to mention that higher demon that the young girl had mentioned. More importantly, though, were the obvious sounds of fighting from within. The Farisian gave a critical eye over the state of the building. Part of her education, surprisingly, had taught her a bit of something about buildings, and frankly, it didn’t look like the place would last much longer—especially with a whole section collapsed completely. It would probably compromise the rest of the structure soon, if it hadn’t already.

It didn’t take a genius to assess the situation wasn’t good, and whoever was still defending against the demons within would eventually be overwhelmed, if not buried by the collapse of the theater. The conclusion she came to, however, did not mirror that of her companion. “I cannot accept that, even if it is obvious the situation is dangerous for my current charge. I propose a compromise—I will back you up from behind. Now, go!”

If the child could do so, she would shift to have the girl cling to her back like a backpack, with a little bit of assist with her powers. Otherwise, she would keep a larger distance, but nonetheless, she unslung her rifle, checked its magazine, before reloading it with two stripper clips as she had originally intended. In the meantime, she kept a defensive ring of her blades around her and the child, kept at the ready if any of the demons were to move at her. Bringing the weapon up to her shoulder, she made to support Lucrecia with the ring of several shots as she went in.

[Pyromania99]

"Well, I wish I knew exactly why that demon was here..." Katherine said as she relaxed a small bit. She seemed a small bit frustrated with the entire situation. It felt like some of the maids had disappeared but it was hard to say since some of the others had been sent off. "I barely even land and someone is starting a fight with some large demon that there was no reason to start a fight with." The Firbolg grumbled before being pulled into the rat-girl's chest and had her head patted. At first she wanted to struggle to get out but it was a small bit relaxing after plummeting to some certain doom and then fighting a high demon. She was ready to just melt into the rat treating her nice but there was still work to do. "I'm not sure about where anyone else that dropped here. I've basically had to fight non-stop since my foot touched the ground here. Some asshole decided to fire at a large monstrosity before we even got our bearings." Katherine muttered to Leoniya before turning around toward where the others had run off too. "Too many of my dolls got damaged today. It's going to be rather annoying fixing them up.... Well, one was eaten so..." Her shoulder slinked down a small bit "I should probably go after the others that went to find our missing maids... Not that I have any real idea where they went."

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Cogsfell
12.000 hours

---

@Pyromania99

“Ahaha, Net!” Leoniya laughed, releasing Katherine from the hug. “You rest! The other three of you miss Chef, Senya, and Kinswoman, head back to the defensive line the local police have made and go support them. We’ll handle this from here.” A brief salute and the other two maids in training would wander off in the direction of the defensive line from the police. No doubt they could still use some extra support in fending off the remaining demon assaults.

“Bozhe…whoever opened fire while still dropping is going to get a stern pummeling from Myrilla.” The rat lady would sigh, walking over to her tank and hoping up onto its treads, inspecting the damage. “That was a nasty little demon. Corrosive breath or such…really did a number on the plating.” She’d lean the wrench over the side of the contraption.

“For now Katherine, you rest and watch the perimeter while I fix up this guy I doubt we’ll be finding any more demons here. From above what I can tell most demons have either been dealt with or fled into the surrounding countryside for now, or converging on that old theater…”

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

The girl gripped the sweet macaron gently, thoughts he couldn’t bring herself to eat it. All she could do was simply hold tight to Polina and let the maid carry her as she wished. She was too tired and exhausted to do anything else. When she felt her position shifting, she didn’t compromise or try resisting. She’d do whatever it was Polina told her too, and just cling tightly for her life.

So inside she’d run.

The inside of the theater, what was left of it was a mess. Immediately upon walking in, she’d barely have time to react as the corpse of a demon was flung right by her, grazing just by her head and splattering against a nearby wall before collapsing into a puddle of black goo. Inside, she could hear bright, cheerful laughter.

“Ahaha, man you guys are sooo weak!” There was a series of loud booms, thuds and clangs as whoever was fighting shouted. “Weak weak weak! You embarrassing excuses of demons aren’t even worth being used as doormats!”

The inside of the theater where they were fighting, was an old, now collapsed theater stage. All the seats had been smashed to bits almost, with the ceiling having collapsed inside letting rays of sunlight in.The stage curtains had long since fallen and were now swarming with demons, and Single pink haired maid surrounded by them. Her arms were covered in large, hefty looking mechanical gauntlets replete cogs, gears, pipes of steam moving and clanging away as the massive contraption made her hands appear at least thrice their size.

One of those large ape like demons bellowed, running towards her. She’d merely laugh sadistically, leaping over it and grabbing the rim of its neckhole with her hands. Landing on top of it, she’d grab the other side…and pull. The beast screeched and yelled as she’d just…rip it entirely in half, flinging one other side of it into a swarm of demons as she’d discard the other one next to her feet, spewing its lava blood all over the stage floor and creating a hazard zone of lava between herself and another of the demons.

“Just die already, you pieces worthless excrement!” It was now, that she’d just notice Polina at the other end of the theater. She’d blink, tilt her head to the side a bit. “Oh hiiii, you must be here to save me! Ehehe, you didn’t…hear anything odd did you?~” She’d question, smiling innocently as she’d plant the palm of one of her gauntlets into the face of another demon and proceed to pummel it into the ground.

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

The state of the interior… was about what Polina expected. Utter ruins. What the maid didn’t expect, though was that there was just one single maid inside, and she was not just holding her own, but devastating the demon hordes surrounding her. Enough so that the Farisian had to actively dodge the demons’… corpses… being flung away from the pink-haired maid beating down on the creatures.

It made Polina briefly wonder why the creatures from earlier had been so reluctant to engage herself and Lucrecia, while these demons were throwing themselves into the meatgrinder that was very obviously the combat instructor’s daughter…

But now was not the time to be worrying about those troublesome thoughts, especially when she still had a child to protect and actually had to actively dodge dead demons to avoid being splattered herself.

More concerning was that Lyssa Stauhans sounded almost like that high demon that she had engaged only a short time ago. The same foul, sadistic mouth… but Polina suspected it was a similarity in personality, rather than a possession, given the situation.
Which meant the mask had slipped.

She winced as watched a demon nearly get torn in half, but she did let herself relax slightly. This maid… did not need rescuing.

When the pink-haired girl finally acknowledged her, she schooled her features and cleared her throat. “…Yes, but clearly you are not in need of assistance,” she replied with a deadpan tone. Yet, she couldn’t help but to have the edges of her mouth tug upwards as she continued on, but not before planting a volley of blades into a demon that had been sneaking up on her. Reckless, perhaps, especially in the middle of a fight with a girl on her back, but she had also reverse pickpocketed macarons into the pockets of this sadistic girl’s equally sadistic mother only a short while ago… “And, no. For your information, I did not hear a single peep of a rather spirited rant about the performance of the Enemy… You do look like you’re having fun, though.”

[Pyromania99]

"If they're converging on the theatre, then I guess I know where the others are heading to." Katherine said with a sigh, still, the rat insisted she rest. No need to start up an argument. For now at least, her precious dolls were mostly damaged... And she'd have to fix them when they got back. "So, Leo, looks like you're going to need to fix up your toy too." Katherine mentioned, walking over to the tank to look at the damage it had done while she sent her remaining dolls out to keep an eye out. "Well, thanks for the assist. It seems like some of the others weren't exactly ready to join the demon fighting business proper." She remarked, considering some of the others seemed to get distracted in the middle of the fight. "How vexing. Oh well, glad you showed up. I'd probably be a bit more ate away at if you didn't." The Firbolg mentioned, looking at a few places where some of the corrosive had hit her ever so slightly. "I hope our results today are satisfactory enough for our boss and that irritable woman."

[AzureKnight]

🗡️

Cogsfell Aftermath

---

Treading alongside Polina, how had the child in yow, the maid pair made their way toward the theater. Lucrecia would've further protested, but she knew there was simply no time for that. Upon arrival, the site before them was an expected one. The theater was hollowed out and desolate, with only the dead greeting them upon entering. However, the sound of peculiar verbosity and weaponry at work sound broke the silence.

Venturing a bit further in, the trio watched in surprise as the lone maid decimated the surrounding demons. Indeed, she wielded her steel gauntlet with rapacious effect, tearing a demon completely in half with little effort.

Finally noticing their presence, the pink haired maid turned to the group. With an awkward chuckle, she inquired into their arrival here.

"Mercy, Madonna, you indeed are correct - but it seems that it was largely unnecessary! Aa my comrade stated, the dance you put on was quite the show!"

She then made a polite curtsey. "My name is Lucrecia Cruz, one of the more recent additions to House Fiore, at your service. As for earlier, I don't believe I heard anything, save for the sounds of dying demons~" She mused. Lucrecia dawned a more expression after her introduction, however.

"Madonna, I may already know the answer to this, but are any other members of your squad still with us?"

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Cogsfell
12.000 hours

---

@Pyromania99

“No trouble at all, little kat.” The Krysa replied with a chuckle. “Its what we’re here for. We’d be poor instructors if we left you to to wolves.” She’d take her giant wrench and start inspecting the tank. It was in mostly good shape - the internals were still all fine, mostly, aside from the treads and the barrel having a hole eaten through it. “Aye, I’ll have to patch him up. Maybe I should look into some sort of…corrosion resistant plating, eh?” She’d toss Katherine a small flask of what was very obviously alcohol as she’d hop into the cockpit.

“Well, I’d say you did well enough, but whoever shot those demons from above…well, they’re going to get a talking to.” The rat replied with a chuckle. “You engaged without even figuring out what you were dealing with, and so ya got swarmed because of it.”

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“Eeeh, you guys should get better hearing.” The maid teased, reaching for the demon that had been sneaking up on her. Polina’s bullets ripped through it, but it didn’t stop Lyssa from finishing it. The mechanical arm whirred, gears spinning and turning as she’d crush the beasts head with her fist, its body falling limply to the ground.

“We can talk later, yeah? Oh, its Lyssa Sth-Stauhans! My name, that is! We should all go get a cake or something after this!” She’d grin, the demons having mostly thinned out by now, but there were a number of hounds and those humanoid ones still present, and a number of them were now swarming towards Polina and Lucrecia.

One of those large headless ape things were barreling towards them too, crushing the remaining seats in their violent wake.

“Dunno, don’t think so!” She’d say in response to Lucrecia’s last question, blocking the lunge of a hellhound with her arm before giving it a punch that sent it flying with her other arm. “We got split up in all this chaos, haven’t seen another one since we have! We were supposed to meetup back here, but…well, guess they’re not coming.”

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina raised an eyebrow. “Well, I could repeat back some of what I thought I heard. I believe I heard some very interesting things, after all,” she responded, keeping up her usual dry tone. She angled her body away as Lyssa destroyed the beast, shielding the young girl still clinging to her back from the worst of the gore.

Not that it helped too much, considering the entire theater itself was just a glorified charnel house at the moment. Oh well, the girl was probably traumatized enough as is. Witnessing a little more violence wouldn’t do much further damage.

“Polina. Let’s,” she agreed, her face softening some as they continued to exchange pleasantries in the middle of battle. “That is… unfortunate news, but it is good to know.” With the immediate need for information satisfied, she turned her attention back to the thinned-out herd of demons. With the three of them here, the Farisian maid reasoned that this would more or less be a mop-up operation from here on out.

With a child still clinging to her, she took a more passive position here, letting the absolute juggernaut that was Lyssa at the moment crush the beasts with Lucrecia’s support, while Polina filled the gaps, shoving knives and blades where they needed to be… like turning one of the large headless ape things into a pincushion, for example.

[AzureKnight]

🗡️

Cogsfell Aftermath

---

"It's a pleasure, Lyssa. Honestly, all this talk of pastries and sweets. Perhaps we should endeavor to settle for more...healthier options?" Replied Lucrecia.

She mentally grimaced as the fellow servant stated that no one from her squadron has appeared to meet her at the church. At this point, Lucrecia felt it was safe to presume the worst. Polina seemed to be in agreement. Their pleasantries were cut short, though, as more hordes of demons began swarming them. Never a dull moment!

A humanoid creature made a beeline for Lucrecia, snarling and flailing as it desperately attempted to slash at her. All it got was a swift kick to the lower jaw for its trouble, being sent up into the air a little ways with some teeth raining down from where it was launched. Two more attempted to close in to avenge their kin. Lucrecia did a one-handed handstand and used both legs to kick at them, knocking them back as well. She then began to perform a spin motion, and using her free hand she let loose with another salvo of gunfire. The bullets butchered a number of the hellhounds coming there way, in addition to the two humanoid types she'd kick before.

As the first demon began falling back down, Lucrecia flipped up off her hand and stuck a couple of knives in its head to completely silence it. While her efforts gave her companions a bit of more breathing room, they would soon have none if they stayed.

"Ladies! I believe it's time to leave. Veloce!"

[Pyromania99]

Katherine caught the flask after the ratgirl tossed it to her. "I don't normally drink, you know. Nasty habit when you work with delicate things like dolls and clothes." The maid said before opening and taking a swig of whatever alcohol was inside. She drank it back fast making a disgusted face after finishing. "Ugh... I forget how disgusting that tastes." The Firbolg closed the flask back up and pocketed it so she could return it later. "I'll just be glad if I manage to get back to fix my dolls soon." Katherine mentioned, thinking of all the repairs she will need to do.

"Speaking of fixing things, need help with getting this thing back together when we get back? I have a couple of dolls that could probably assist you a small bit with it." The cat-like woman asked, taking a look around, making sure there were no demons coming towards the two of them. "Just an offer, maid to maid."

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Cogsfell
12.000 hours

---

@Pyromania99

“Nyet!” Leoniya immediately pressed her back against the tank, spreading her arms wide across it, giving Katherine a mild glare. “No, you do not touch Valeri! I built him myself!” She’d turn back towards the tank, gently caressing his plating with a finger, tail swishing happily back and forth. “He’s a delicate little baby, yes he is. Stupid demon hurting him…hmph, if I ever see that demon again I’ll rip her little frilly horns off…mama rat won’t let anyone hurt you, eheheh…”

…Lenoya was now off in her own little world, it seemed.

The dolls remaining had started patrolling, walking quietly around the area, marching in time and checking the perimeter. A few had taken to cleaning up a few stray demons that had remained while others were standing by. It was one of these doing some cleanup, that would alert Katherine to a disturbance.

A man, that looked remarkably human and also remarkably unbothered by the destruction in the area. His suit was cleanly pressed, completely hair slicked back and a somewhat scruffy but well kept beard.

“What an adorable looking construct.” Katherine would overhear as he’d reach down to pat one of the dolls on the head with his gloved hand. A ring was being worn on his finger. It looked fairly expensive, though the gem and metal it was made from was unidentifiable. “I thought I heard fighting and was going to lend my assistance, but it seems as though that is unneeded.” His voice was fairly smooth and young sounding despite his somewhat aged appearance.

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

“But cake is healthy! Mom always complains about it going to her thighs!” She’d cheerfully rebuke Lurecia’s urging for healthier foods and offer some perhaps, some information Myrilla wasn’t particularly keen on sharing.

The headless furnace shrieked, gurgling as it was pierced by the knives, holes and wounds shredded into its large body, only slowing down enough to raise one of its arms to block the knives from hitting its main body and only serving to enrage itself further. It’d take the same arm as it neared, making a wide, crushing sweep with its large arm in an attempt to crush. This was followed up by a lunge forward in whatever direction the maid would be after. A second, humanoid demon would blast a stream of fire in her direction as well from behind. The child on her back was clinging tightly still, though she had her eyes closed and was avoiding looking at anything.

The ones swarming Lucrecia were somewhat easier to deal with, but numerous all the same. The humanoid ones would fall to the ground, stunned as bullets ripped through them, but their flesh quickly regenerated from wounds only giving her a few moments to finish them off or to focus on taking care of a closer threat - that just so happened to be one headbutting her from behind, slamming its maw into her back.

Lyssa, meanwhile, continued to happily engage with the demons. As she’d slam her fist into one, crushing its entire upper body in her gauntlet, a screech from behind was all the warning she had as a second headless furnace slammed into her from behind.

“Gweh!”

She’d shout in mild pain as she was tackled by the beast, its large hands wrapping around her waist and slamming her into a nearby wall, destroying even more of the already weakened support structure of the theater.

Which, subsequently, caused the entire rest of the building to creak and groan.

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

“Cake is fine,” Polina remarked. “You just need to have the routine to go with it. Macaron?” As with the girl from earlier, she produced another satin bag of the sweet and offered it to her fellow maid. Whether she took them or not, her attention was soon returned to the demons surrounding them, after a brief check-in on the girl that was still clinging tightly onto her. Given that she didn’t look overly traumatized compared to when she had originally found the girl, she marked off what she was doing so far as a success… although she reasoned that it was probably high time to leave regardless.

Making sure to keep away from the headless furnace thing, she launched more debris at it, mostly to just slow it down. When it was joined by a second demon, she split her attention between the two. Polina wasn’t particularly aiming to finish them off, just to keep them indisposed so that she could speak.

“Lucrecia, Lyssa, it is time to leave,” she said evenly, but with a firm enough tone to convey her urgency. She repeated the exact same statement after seeing the latter get clobbered by a second furnace thing. “Unless you would like to be buried by rubble and demons,” she helpfully added, before snapping off a couple knives at any demon getting too close.

“Lucrecia, can you be a dear and pull that demon off her and help her leave? This has gone on for long enough.”

[AzureKnight]

🗡️

Cogsfell Aftermath

---

The odd were quickly stacking against them as the demon horde overran them. Polina cosigned Lucrecia's earlier declare, it was time to bid farewell to the theater. She had hoped that the opening she tried to make would be enough to secure them a way to break through. But the number of enemies kept increasing, and the window slimmed. The headless furnace fired off a stream of fire aimed at Polina; Lucrecia called out to her in hopes that she'd and the little girl would be able to evade.

Meanwhile, Lyssa still seemed to be having fun slaughtering whatever encroached upon her. However, that was until a larger demon struck her with a heavy blow. Lyssa was slammed into a nearby wall, with the impact revealing the weakened integrity of the establishment. Before she could react, another demon had tackled her from the back head first. The impact sent her forward a bit, also tearing off a part of her top clothing and revealing a part of her back - along with a burn mark from the wound. To repay the interloper, she gave it a swift kick to the chin along with a flurry of knives into its face.

"Already on it!" She quickly responded to her comrade. Before the cretin could close in on Lyssa, Lucrecia unleashed a storm of knives and bullets upon it. Hopefully that would at least slow it down. Making her way where Lyssa was sent flying, she checked to make sure she wasn't injured to heavily. After confirmed she was still in one piece, she would promptly help her up and take the both of them to the nearest exit. "I've got you, Madonna. It's time to leave!" She said to Lyssa, using herself as a crutch as she made her escape with the instructor's daughter.

[Pyromania99]

Katherine was taken speechless at the sight of the rat turning... well... Crazy? She didn't find a reason to speak anymore on that subject, lest she worry a bit about Leoniya's psyche. Well, she got a breather for now regardless. Her dolls patrol was going fine, cleaning up a few demons that found themselves heading this way but it was nothing difficult. That is, until one alerted her of a presence that wasn't quite a demon... Well, at least, one of the normal demons. Or, perhaps it was something else altogether. As she approached, she looked on to an older looking man pat one of her dolls, gun half raised towards the man. It didn't fire at him immediately since he was much of a threat. "They are adorable by design, sir and I would appreciate if you wouldn't interrupt their patrol. Though, you sound like you can take care of yourself by your words."

The Firbolg wasn't sure how to take this encounter. She didn't recognize this man at all and pondered what a well dressed older man might be doing in this ruined city... Specifically, still rather well dressed. "That said, any fighting around this area is down to putting down stray animals at best. Some of my compatriots are out in this ruin still, though. We're just holding down the fort here, now." Katherine studied the man a bit, still trying to figure him out a bit and she wasn't shy of making any suspicions known.

[Rune_Alchemist]

Location:
Cogsfell
12.000 hours

---

@Pyromania99

“Ahaha, apologies miss.” He’d reply with a friendly smile. “They reminded me of something my daughter might have liked to have…though far more animated than what I am used to.” He’d not respond to the comment about being able to take care of himself, and instead quietly let the doll go, taking a brief look around the area. “Well, don’t mind me then. I’m merely a passerby hoping to help those where I can. Its good to see the Maids of the Maison already swiftly taking care of things.”

At hearing an unknown voice, Leoniya tore her attention away from the tank, grabbing her wrench and her grenade launcher both, approaching the man and Katherine with some manner of curiosity.

“That is what our jobs are, comrade. Dealing with demonic threats such as this.” Leoniya replied coolly. “...and forgive me for being a bit suspicious comrade, but a well dressed man such as yourself without a speck of dust or debris on them from these ruins seems a little…mhm, odd, don’t you think?”

“...ah, yes, I suppose it would, wouldn’t it? Though I have no satisfactory answer for that.” He’d reply somberly. “I can assure you though, I mean no harm towards any. I was merely visiting Cogsfell today to visit my daughter and wife, though…it seems that is no longer an option.” He’d close his eyes, exhaling and shaking his head.

---

@Click This@AzureKnight

The hail of bullets and knives laid into the large, fiery creature, hot lava blood pouring from its wounds. It did little to distract itself from Lyssa, however, as it’d immediately turn to slam its large hands right on top of the other maids chest, only stopped as a loud metal clang as Lyssa’s armored gauntlet managed to stop the creature from crushing her entirely. WIth her other fist she laid into the creatures underside, a powerful blow right to its stomach, pistons pumping and gears turning as it’d rip a large hole right in its abdomen.

“Nngh…” Still, Lucrecia was able to mostly pull her away from the beast as it’d fall backwards from the blow, thrown a bit off balance. “Guh…ugh-cough-ahahah, oh that hurts~” Lyssa, was still giggling in a mildly uncanny manner as Lucrecia would help her away from the stage and back up the stairs towards the theater’s main entrance.

Thankfully most of the lesser demons had been killed, but still - as they made their way towards the front entrance, the building’s supports could no longer hold the building. The far wall started crumbling, portions of the ceiling cracking, crumbling and coming down on the pursuing demons and the maids.

“NNngh, I wanna fight them more though…” Lyssa pouted, not seeming too concerned with her condition.

A section of the wall slammed into the ground right in front of them - the ceiling at the front entrance was coming down quickly, too!

[Click This]

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Surprisingly, the pink-haired maid was still capable of fighting despite her severe injuries, but it was obvious that she wouldn’t be able to fight her way out of this alone now. Thankfully, Lucrecia was able to come to her aid, even as the girl was nearly overcome with fits of laughter. If Polina had to guess, the maid was high on stimulants, and she said as much. “Next time, relax on the pervatin,” she dryly advised, even if she wasn’t entirely serious.

Quickly turning her attention back to the immediate environment, she noted their situation wasn’t very good, even as she sprinted to the entrance with her small charge on her back. The theater at this point was simply just falling apart—too many load bearing walls and columns had been smashed apart in the fight that the bigger portion of what remained was sagging and destined for catastrophic failure between now and the very near future.

“That will have to wait until next time,” she muttered, before widening her eyes as the theater seemed to take the side of ‘now’ rather than ‘later’ in coming apart. Jumping to the side, Polina just narrowly avoided a section of wall from turning her into a maid pancake… but coming down with it was also the entire bloody ceiling! Polina immediately broke into a mad sprint to the entrance before they were buried in the rubble. With not even seconds to spare, she immediately evaluated the ceiling and her own ability to keep it propped up with her powers… and concluded that she probably could, but it would take all of her energy. Unless she could try to keep up just part of the ceiling? It was a matter of life or death, but she chanced it.

“Run! It’s all coming down!” Shifting the rescued girl back from her back into her arms to give her some more protection, she directed her attention to the crumbling ceiling, keeping the bits most likely to flatten them either up or deflecting them away from their path out. There wasn’t anything that she could really do about what was on [i]top[i/] of that, but if it gave them enough time to get the hell out, then that was fine.

[AzureKnight]

🗡️

Cogsfell Aftermath

---

"I'm afraid it will have to wait till next, Madonna!" She quickly retorted to Lyssa. Merda, what is with this girl...?

Running to catch up beside Polina, Lucrecia held Lyssa with one arm while the other held her firearm. She fired at any lesser devils that felt brave enough to try and halt their advance. She couldn't much aside from barely avoid the debris falling around them, thankfully Polina with her abilities had them covered for the most part. But as the building began caving in around them, so did the futility of the effort.

There was no time to lament or think about other options, the only thing they could do was make a break for the exit and pray for the best. Holding on to Lyssa as tightly as she could, Lucrecia put her toned legs to work and ran as fast as humanly possible. Deftly dodging falling chunks of rubble, she could just see the entrance. Just a little more and they'd be home free!