[IC] HCL: Rebirth

[supertinyking]

@kishin asura @Wraithblade6
A long, metallic groan can be heard as the Robot's head began to cave in, before both Asura, and the Robot were subjected to a sever electrical shock, however quickly Asura's skin scarves were severed, saving him from being deep fried. What severed them, was odd long strands of barbed wire, the razor sharp blades even severing the magically re-enforced skin with relative ease.
------------
"......Go..." She says, leaping down from Mithias's shoulders. "You....there's something wrong with you, on a level.....Fundamental...Your soul..it's....Just leave. Help him..and stay away from me..." She says, before fleeing into the ruins, shaken by her encounter with the former Vampire. Something..wrong, on...a Fundamental level? What could she mean...

[kishin asura]

@supertinyking

Asura looks around for a clue as to where the electric shock came from

[Wraithblade6]

@thewizardguy

The shop mage shrugged at the meditating treasure hunter and regardless of being watched, began his work. He looked at the sword with various lenses, sprinkled it with powder, held it to a flame, darkened the lights and focused the various parts of it under a magnifying glass. Every now and then he would finish a test with an, "Ah ha," or a, "Hmm," as he observed the weapon's reactions.

Muttering, he walked away from his workbench only to return with a heavy book. "Symbols, symbols... hmm. Star? No, sun." Pages flipped and a puff of dust wafted into the room. Still he turned page after page until he came to the end of the book. "Foul sirens." He said in frustration, failing to find what he was looking for. Quickly looking up, he realized his customer was still in the room and regained his manners with a clear of his throat.

Puropal looked back down at the blade, stroking his chin hairs with scrutiny. "Now now. I'm not finished." This sword was beginning to be a personal challenge. He picked up a sharpened letter opening and pricked his finger, letting a single drop of blood fall on the blade. ... Nothing happened. With a stern, "Hmpf," he picked it up and wiped it clean, only to realize that upon touching it, his finger began to heal. "I'm sorry sir, but this 'artifact' isn't enchanted, it's... Oh, now what is this?" He looked at his finger with widened eyes and bushy brows, his gold teeth dingy in comparison to the gleeming hilt of the sword. It was healed, not even a scratch.

"Who did you say you got this from again?" Puropal asked, forgetting himself for a moment. Then he again cleared his throat and continued. He wasn't supposed to ask such things from his customers. "Ahem, nevermind. As I was saying, This artifact isn't enchanted so much as posessed. I'm not sure by whom, but it has a will of its own, and will only show 'what it can do' when it wants to. Hell knows whenever that may be." He started putting his implements and books away. "Clearly, it has healing properties, ironic for a sword. Perhaps you can use it for that."

The wizard seemed to be in a strange hurry all of a sudden. "Look, if you want my advice, don't get mixed up with it. Willed rings and weapons are never good news. It would be best for you if you sold it to me. I can have it fenced off tomorrow to a collector, and it'll spend the next decades as harmless scenery, which is probably where it belongs." Kisaki got the feeling there was something the shop mage wasn't saying.

Eventually, at the sight of Kisaki's doubt, Pendelton decided to come clean. He turned around and stopped putting things away for a moment. "Eh, there's one more thing I should tell you. There's a hex on the sword, and it's got the mark of a very powerful, dark god."

[supertinyking]

@kishin asura
Once the scarves fell away from the robot, it seemed that Asura partially crushed its head, cutting into some electrical wires, which shocked Asura, and the outter metalic layer of the bot. Or, so it seems. It may also of been a safety feature to ward off people grappling the robotic monster...which it would of ended with Asura in extreme trouble, if his mystery assistant hadn't of helped.

[kishin asura]

@supertinyking

"...alright, no tearing it's head off." Asura mutters to himself. Thinking of a new strategy

[Wraithblade6]

@supertinyking@kishin asura

Mithias held his bleeding hand with the other and looked at Maka with concern. "I'll come back for you." He said. There was nothing he could or would do to her while she was apparently trying to run away. Mithias wasn't too concerned for whatever the girl was seeing within his soul/ People told him weird shit about himself all the time. He flew off. Maybe Asura would be able to reason with her.

Moments later, Mithias reappeared at the scene with the damaged robot. He landed on a building and looked up at the two. "Are you done with that thing yet, Asura?" He called, trying to find something to bandage his wounds with.

[thewizardguy]

@Wraithblade6
"A hex?" While Kisaki wasn't exactly an expert on the subject of magical terminology, he knew hexes were bad. Usually they involved curses of some kind, and he'd heard more than one tale of an unwary traveller getting cursed by some enchanted object. However, that seemed to contradict the weapon's healing capabilities. And it was most odd that a creature would be sealed inside of a blade. "I believe I'll keep the sword for now, but I may return to sell it later." Kisaki didn't want to get the hedge wizard's hopes too high, after all the plan that now formed in his head would quite probably leave the blade worthless even if it failed. But it never hurt to leave a spot reserved. Kisaki folded the burlap cloth over the artifact again, making sure not to touch it. After all, most cursed blades seemed to apply their effect once they were touched.

---

The blade was lodged firmly into the crevice, the top 50cm of the blade clamped between solid granite. It had been placed on a small elevated platform with a crack large enough to hold the blade. The holt was about eye-height to Kisaki, as he looked at it. He slowly wrapped a burlap cloth around his hand, he had no intention of touching it. He honestly didn't know if his burlap would actually protect him from the blade's magic, but it was definitely better than nothing. Slowly he moved towards the blade, as he shed his heavily weighted clothing. He'd been charging up for the last half hour or so, and he was currently at his full capacity. If he was ever going to be able to pull this off, it would be right now.

Of course, he had no idea if his plan would work. It might just fail. Or, worst case scenario, get him cursed. But if it did what he expected, he'd free the being inside of this blade. Of course, the cautious part of his mind shouted at him that this blade could contain anything from a peaceful nature spirit to a raging demon god, but he was already well aware of the risk. If it turned out that the creature was benevolent, he might be able to gain a boon for freeing it from it's prison. If not... well, he'd certainly get a good workout. He wasn't really certain which one he was hoping for, but he wasn't one for hope. He'd take whatever happened, and make the best of it.

Taking one last deep breath, he shifted into the Dragon stance. A balanced stance focused on powerful striking attacks. He'd use about 10% of his total energy reserve, the maximum amount he was able to use safely. He could use more, but that would start to deal damage to his own body, which he didn't want. He shifted his feat, making his resolve. Then, he shot forward, launching himself off the ground towards the enchanted blade. He put his whole body behind his fist, and pumped it full of power. This strike held about 20 tons of force, enough power to put a dent in most tanks. But his punches did so much more than that, as Dragon Formed absorbed and redirected the return force, increasing the strength of his attack by 80%. The total sum of 36 tons of force was concentrated on the area just below the crossguard, where the blade met the hilt, the weakest part of the blade. A single line of force, thinner than a sheet of paper, as if it had been hit by a blade of some sort. Even as the metal attempted to convey the energy to other parts of the blade, Kisaki's fist instantly and reactively absorbed 80% of the vibrations and redirected them right onto the crack, a technique that negated metal's ability to convey energy and made it act like a brittle substance when it wasn't. This was his most powerful punch, and his greatest shot at breaking the blade.

[Wraithblade6]

@thewizardguy

As Kisaki's 36 ton, Dragon-force punch, focused to a razor's edge, breached the margin of the blade, an unforseen explosion of light burst forth from the point of contact. With his lightning reflexes and senses sharpened by meditation, Kisaki could see it happen in that single, split second. The sensation of a sharply inhaled breath suddenly catching in his throat hit him, but was it his own breath that had been stopped?

With a powerful scream, the blade reacted, refusing to break, but the force had to go somewhere. The granite stone instantly fractured and splintered into deadly, flying rock. The light from the blade was blinding in that instant, and the sword itself was flung free at high speed, spinning and twirling out of control like a serrated star until it ricochetted off the subterranian walls and finally lodged itself point-down on a now, very dead piece of heavily weighted clothing.

Kisaki would realize, as he recovered himself from the result of his experiment, that the scream he had just heard hadn't been only his own. The brilliant glare from the sword was fading slowly, and the gifted martial artist could at last hear a voice. "Mercy! Please... Young warrior, do not break this blade, or you will destroy me."

As Kisaki curiously approached, assuming he did, the angellic sword spoke on, "Ah, but you have done something miraculous. I can see again. I thank you." The blade seemed to be looking at Kisaki, althoguh not with any eyes he could recognize. It paused, then some again, softly. "You are innocent, brave, forgiving... You have a good heart my friend. Perhaps it is destiny that we meet. There is much I must explain to you, if I am to be honest, and I must." The sword seemed to take a deep breath as it reluctantly admitted its next words. "The first thing you must know, is that you are in danger, as long as you remain in my presence."

[kishin asura]

@Wraithblade6

"Getting closer." Asura replies

[thewizardguy]

@Wraithblade6
((Sorry for late reply, I got distracted))
A bright burst of light exploded from the point of impact, a sudden image appearing super-imposed over the blade in that split second. Kisaki's conscious mind wasn't sure what it had seen, but it was enough to make his heart skip a beat in that moment. The blade bent, for just a moment, but it appeared that even this amount of force wasn't enough. The granite exploded outwards under the pressure, tiny shards of stone tearing across the cavern. A normal being would have been ripped to shreds, but Kisaki was able to use his remaining energy to deflect the lethal rocks moments before they struck hsi flesh. They seemed to bounce off of him, although he made sure to allow some of the damage through. If he was going to enter a fight, he might as well dull his sense of pain now, when he knew just how much damage he was taking. And he'd need to retain as much of his power as possible if this really was going to be a fight.

The blade impaled his cloak behind him, and Kisaki breathed a quick sigh of relief. Had the blade struck him, the results might not have been nearly as harmless. He wasn't sure he'd be able to deflect the clearly magical weapon with his usual defences. Of course, that relief was dispelled instantly when the blade started speaking to him, begging him for mercy. Kisaki took an instinctive step back, naturally distrusting the odd phenomenon. Talking weapons were a common object in tales and legends, but they were as often cursed as they were heroic, and he had no intention of being led to his doom by some trapped demon.

The talking sword continued to speak, thanking Kisaki for some reason. The martial artist got the strange feeling the blade was watching him, and it didn't quite sit well with him. It then continued to praise him for his honesty and forgiving nature, something that further elicited distrust, and explained that it had much to explain, without actually explaining anything. It ended on the rather ominous note that he was in danger, although Kisaki had come to that conclusion the moment he'd heard the words 'dark god'. Those words very rarely heralded the coming of anything other than danger. Of course he was well accustomed to fighting for his life, and this wouldn't be his first time facing some vague magical being, nor a God. Although his last divine encounter hadn't gone well.

Never dropping from his combat stance, Kisaki addressed the blade. "You have a quick tongue, for a sword. And yet you seem to be avoiding the explanation itself. If you believe me to be in danger, then tell me of this danger, that I may face it. But if you wish to deceive me then hold your tongue, or I'll drop you in the first volcano I find." Kisaki spent a moment wondering if being molten would 'kill' the blade, but he figured that given it's earlier panic it might well. And it was as good a threat as he knew of, considering the circumstances.

[supertinyking]

@Wraithblade6 @thewizardguy
As a warrior of great power, and a mysterious blade of light spoke to one another, admist the shattered shards of stone, one may of been mistaken that it had begun to rain. Small droplets fell from the sky, but it was not water that fell...rather...it was crimson, and smelled and tasted of iron. It was...blood....the life essance of men, and beast alike, rained down for just a moment, before several chunks of flesh came crashing down...a severed arm, a bit of liver, a knee. It seemed as though above them, someone had been rended, torn asunder by something. Slowly, a man appeared, landing from what seamed to be a great leap. This man, a tall pale skinned man, wearing a gi of some sort. In his right arm, a huge blade, seeming like the weapon out of a legend, or a story told by a child, exaggerating to fantastical proportions. However, more interesting than the blade, may be the arm holding it...deformed, disgusting. With strange tooth like bone growths sticking out of it, one may assume the arm to be that of a monster, yet it is fused to the body of this mysterious man.....

As for the blade, who could see into people's hearts, in this man, it'd find a sea of sorrow, pain, and anger...but the anger, a fury to destroy evil...the pain, the pain of loss...and the sorrow....the sorrow, of a failure that stains his very soul.

"..You...are you...Kisaki Mao?" The man asks, him sounding slightly annoyed, his voice deep..smooth. Like what one may imagine the voice of a lion to be like, or maybe a bear...

[Wraithblade6]

@supertinyking@thewizardguy

"To deceive you would be to undo my very being, friend, for I am Eclipse. I cannot willingly comitt an evil act without contradicting my own essence. Such is my will and the way of a divinity. Which is to say, I choose to either walk the path of light, or I choose to die." The rules that bound this entity in the blade were very cut and dry, but they were rules that he chose to impose on himself. As ordered as he was, Eclipse was a fre agent, at least, until he ended up in that sword.

"Which of course brings me back to my current dilemma. What you see before you is merely a temporary housing for my spirit. My sword is a resivoir for my soul, a teather to the material plane and to existence itself, should my physical being be vanquished. And I was, unfortunately, vanquished." A sadness could be heard in the sword's voice, as if he were mourning his own self. It was clear that he regretted whatever had happened to him. This Eclipse, who claimed some kind of divinity, did not want to be 'dead.'

"My slayer hunts me still, at least, his disciples do. They seek to capture me in this blade, to torture and bend my soul until I become a powerful and terrible fiend and slave to their god. I am afraid, if they do find me in my current state, there will be little I can do to resist breaking, for long. I fear the monster I would become more than cold oblivion, but... I cannot give in to despair just yet. Even among all that is good and all mortal life, there is someone most of all that I must live for." Desparate, yet still clinging to hope, Eclipse nearly reached out from the blade of his soul toward Kisaki. The young warrior held so much potential, yet how could Eclipse impose so heavily on such an innocent? He controlled himself, relying on patience, and honesty. He said no more about the person he mentioned.

"Be it known to you that the god who hunts me is the oldest and wisest of the gods. He is THE ruler of all of hell, the Dark Prince, the First, the Archfiend himself, Asmodeus. You will surely be attacked by his minions if you try to keep me, or dare to aid me. His followers are insane in their devotion and skilled at deceit. I cannot ask you to protect me. The task is too great for a mortal to... Wait! Someone is here! Make use of me, and I will protect you from harm."

Just then, the new martial artist with a demon arm showed up amid a rain of blood and body parts. Eclipse watched him and began to read his heart. The pain and sorrow were loud and clear, like an open book to him where the text was literally glowing in light.

[thewizardguy]

@supertinyking@Wraithblade6

As the blade made clear it's unwavering devotion to honesty and justice, Kisaki remained sceptical. He had heard the name Asmodeus before, although he had never heard Eclipse used to describe anything other than the natural phenomenon. It seemed that this Dark God was popular on many planes of existence, which did not bode well. However, in his experience, such being rarely fought their battles in person. As such, while he would most likely face many demons, he would not have to fight the God himself. Kisaki spent a moment calculating the risks in his head, as Eclipse explained the details of his current situation. While Kisaki had no intention of trusting a talking weapon, he was inclined to believe that anything that labelled itself a demon was bad news.

Of course, that was when it started to rain gore, and a strange figure dropped down from above. The drops of blood seemed to slide over Kisaki, not dirtying his clothing. Slowly, Kisaki turned to face this new stranger, and he was well aware of the creature's killing intent. Regardless of this being's reasons for being here, blood would be shed. And the mention of his name meant that, most likely, this warrior was after him. This would mean a battle to the death, if this creature got it's way.

There was an important choice to make now. While he did not trust the sw-... Eclipse, he couldn't deny the blade was powerful. Even if it displayed no capabilities beyond what it already had, the ability to heal was invaluable in combat. It would also allow him to block the massive blade this being was carrying, a weapon that was most likely enchanted. However, the sword might also contain some sort of mind altering magic, so as to allow it to control him. Even if Eclipse spoke the truth, who was to say he would not be used as a 'vessel', that the magical being could escape it's prison. Both this strange new warrior and the magical sword posed a considerable risk, and he would have to choose the lesser of two evils if he was to walk away from this situation.

Placing himself next to the sword as it impaled his clothing, Kisaki faced his strange assailant. "My name is Kisaki Mao. And by the manner of your appearance, I assume you are after either me, or the sword." He didn't mention the blade's name. If this creature was not aware of what being was trapped in the blade, then informing it could only worsen the situation. "Place down your sword, before I'm forced to remove it from your grasp. If you wish to fight me, I won't hold back." Of course, if things got bad, Kisaki would grab the blade. He was a fairly skilled swordsman, and the weapon's arcane abilities would definitely help him in winning this fight.

[supertinyking]

@thewizardguy @Wraithblade6
The man reaches into his shirt with his free arm, his left arm, keeping his eyes locked with Kisaki's, as the man spoke once again. "The only way my blade leaves my grasp, is if either I die, or someone severs my arms....but, I am not here to fight you. I'm here to tell you, someone wants you dead. They wanted me dead, as well....but of course, they failed..." He says, before he pulls out a bounty poster, with Kisaki's face on it, his bounty 50,000 golden coins, or one wish. The person who's put up the bounty, their only symbol is that of a flower.
"....I'd be careful, if I were you. Your bounty is higher than mine....gonna attract a lotta scum..." Saied says, putting the bounty back in his shirt pocket.

[Wraithblade6]

@kishin asura@supertinyking

Mithias looked up at Asura and the damaged robot and sighed. "Alright. It's time to end this dance." Reaching out, he telekinetically grabbed the robot and flung him straight down into the ground.

Mithias walked over to the dirt-hole the robot was still laying in and peered over the edge at it. "Asura? ... I think it's dead. Say, you got any extra scarf? I'm still bleeding."

[thewizardguy]

@supertinyking
Kisaki raised an eyebrow as the strange being spoke, but did not relax his stance. He was ready for anything, using every sense at his disposal to scan his environment as he stood. "I'm no stranger to scum. But I severely doubt you're here out of the goodness of your heart." Kisaki refrained from gesturing at the stranger's monstrous arm, realizing the hypocrisy of doing so, but he didn't trust this stranger. "What is your motive in coming here, what's in it for you? Because as far as I see it, coming here was the stupidest thing you could do."

[supertinyking]

@thewizardguy @Wraithblade6
"Simple. I want to help you, help me, help you." He says. "Each of us alone, formiddable...us working together...We could do far better. Whoever has placed these bounties, they're wealthy, and powerful. I've already had to kill three hundred worthless bounty hunters on my way here....they doubted I was as strong as they were told. It was their undoing..."
The man then looked at the strange blade, near him, and raised an eyebrow. "That's a rather small sword, for someone of your apparent strength....Is that actually your sword, or did you find it on someone's corpse?" A strange question, indeed.

[Wraithblade6]

@supertinyking@thewizardguy

The blade's edge gleamed in the dim light as Eclipse beheld the exchange. So a bounty was already out on Kisaki. Likely, the servants of the Archfiend had done this. Eclipse wondered how long it had been that Kisaki had been carrying him around. Had he kept the sword secret? Strangely enough, there was also a bounty on the other warrior. Eclipse noted that they two both had demonic arms. Perhaps that was where the confusion lied.

Having read the spirit of Saied, Eclipse spoke up suddenly from his perch in Kisaki's jacket. "My friend," Eclipse didn't yet get permission to use Kisaki's name, but he gave his assertation of Saied's will, "I can sense that this stranger is full of malice and hatred. Sadly, he is driven by revenge and enslaved by fear. Yet, deep within his soul lies a great pain which drives his actions. It is a spiritual wound that blinds him to his own healing. He speaks the truth, that he means you no harm, but I would not have you trust him without knowledge of his character."

The sword watched Saied.

[thewizardguy]

@supertinyking@Wraithblade6
((I am far too distracted and slow, sorry))
Kisaki sighed as his opponent proclaimed their goal. This strange figure sought security in numbers, a fool's errand. "If you want someone to save your hide, look elsewhere. Lay low, go hide in an uninhabited universe. I assume you know how to travel, considering you're connected to this Asmodeus figure somehow." It was a very elegant was of saying 'go fuck yourself'. "I have no intention of babysitting someone, nor of harboring someone motivated solely by revenge or sadness. I don't need no mind-reading sword to tell you're bad news, it's written across your face. You're going to end up getting yourself killed, and I don't want to be there when you do." He turns towards the sword, as he sighs. He was in this game now, he might as well play it to it's fullest part. He picked up Eclipse, deftly swinging the sword a couple of times before he sheathed it roughly in his belt.

"If any more of them come after you, tell them to go find me. Kisaki. I'll happily cut through them for you. Until then, tell me the quickest directions to this Asmodeus guy, so I can get this over with." Kisaki briefly gestured at Saeid, already gathering the energy he required to travel through dimensions as he retrieved his now stabbed weighted clothing.

[Teoinsanity]

Red would walk in smiling ."Can someone tell me where am I?"
Red would look bruised and injured ,but of course ,this was not the real him ,but rather a clone ,the real Red would e hiding."I just woke up here"

((Anyone who wants to accept me in ,accept me ))