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@Ponn@Crusader Lord@FamishedPants@Izurich@SilverPaw
It must be bravery that inspired her step.
It must be foolishness that forced her step.
It must be indignation that provoked her step.
It mattered not the reasons behind Valkyrie’s step, only that she had taken the step, moving closer to the edge, the Teslic Gauss sparking with all the power that she had left in her body. Lightning discharged sporadically upon her surroundings, snapping at debris and tilework. What more ought to be said? She performed as she always did, promising violence and vengeance in equal measure, leveling her gun at the monstrosity and pulling the trigger. A beam, no different than any other, streaked through the sanguine deluge, plunging in without resistance. It was a stake, carved of the wrath of the heavens. It was a blade, sharpened by a genocidal oath. It was a bullet, wreathed in all her thoughts and traumas, spurred on by her desire to kill them all.
It was, in the end, just a spell. A spell of the lowest tier, squeezed out by a sniper running on fumes.
Lightning scattered inches away from Arzendale’s skin, the electricity coursing through the air revealing a transparent barrier that glowed briefly before shattering. He smiled, even though there was no reason to believe now that either Valkyrie nor Breacher could see him. Simple-minded mongrels, these humans. Granted more power than they knew what to do with, and lacking the finesse of even a fledgling goblin, capable only of stubbornly attacking like the deficient savages that they were. Three magical circles, overlaid, meant three spells. The first, the deluge. The second, the barrier. And the third?
The deluge did not pause, and Breacher was forced to take to the forefront herself, drawing more and more debris from the very air to construct yet another set of barriers. Dust now made up her walls, dust and shattered stone as she pulled at Valkyrie, hugging the smaller esper from behind while bringing up the shield to protect both of them. Ever caring, ever protective, even when her call to fame had been to breaching rather than shielding. It took courage either way to brave the storm, to meet an avalanche head-on and hope to mitigate the damage enough that they could using the force alone to retreat instead. And as blood surged through the window she had left for Valkyrie’s long gun, Breacher prepared herself for impact, ready to roll with the tsunami’s force.
It struck her shield and coagulated.
The third circle, the third spell, had been one that caused blood to freeze.
Increased mass forced her shield down, anchoring Breacher to where she stood, and then the rest of the sanguine tide arrived, pummeling down the two of them with the virtue and vice of sheer weight itself, all while more and more blood built up overtop of them. Soon, they were wholly encased, the two having managed to get by with only heavy bruises due to their supernatural defenses against the chaotic powers of the monster they faced. But that meant little. A quick death may have even been preferred. For the two laid now in the center of a glacier of crystallized blood, atop the walls of debris that they had sheltered above before. And gradually, the air in their lungs was running out. One can only hope that another remained who could save them. But who still stood?
Wukong did.
In that instant, she had attained enlightenment, grasping the entirety of the transient world with her astral self. And in that same instant, she had discarded all that wisdom, plunging into the depths of her memories instead. The deaths of her siblings, their glassy eyes reflecting the ruination of her own face. The mad beast, delighting not in the sweetness of their flesh but in the density of their fear and despair, as it pulled them apart like a child would with butterflies. And somewhere, the ones that brought her into this miserable, broken, ugly world simply watched, took notes, and prepared. Prepared to make new children, prepared to make new stories. Stories of why their children had disappeared.
The wisdom she had garnered meant nothing as her back burned and Centrocious ripped off the restraints holding it back. She had neither the experience nor the strength to make claims of wisdom. But what she did have, in this moment, was what she always had.
Desperation to live. To survive. The primal instincts that saw her flee and leave her sister’s corpse behind, to be cremated and scattered in the wind. But there was no way to run now. So she had to fight.
The first blade-limb scythed down, slamming inches away from where her head had been, before dragging down to slice into her shoulder. She caught it there instead, hunching up her shoulder and bending her head in the same direction to clamp down on that blade. Hot blood soaked charred fabrics, but she kept her head.
The second blade-limb struck, meeting her staff instead. Bone thunked heavily against wood, forcing it down further and further until the staff was pinned against one side, leaving her still-bent neck exposed.
The head reared back, exposing rows and rows of disorderly teeth and dove in.
Sometimes, however, it was fortune, not skill, that ensured survival.
A bolt of arcane bolt burst against the side of Centrocious’s head, forcing it away just enough to miss, and in that moment, Wukong found her opportunity. An Esper’s Instrument was indestructible, and subsequently, no matter how sharp the blade, there was no way for the blade-limb that held down her Cherrywood Sage’s Staff to keep it in place either. A flick of the fingers shot the length of the staff upwards, and her free hand raised it up to aim at the monster above her. Whether head, neck, or chest, it mattered not. Centrocious was a monster made of bone, and there was much less that held it together.
The wind howled and the monster became dust.
Perhaps Wukong would be able to take another breath after all.
“Well done. Though rare, honestly.” A dark chuckle sounded above her before a boot slammed into her chest, driving her ribs into her lungs, pushing her into the searing coals that her adrenaline had helped her forget about just a moment before.
Arzendale smiled as Wukong writhed. The sniper and the shieldswoman were encased in sanguine ice. The shadow was naught but ash. The little light was snuffed out within the disposal room. The knight had been bled dry. And now, the monk will die as all monks did: by immolation. Perhaps his predilections had caused this to be more trouble that it was worth, but what of it? He had his fill of entertainment, and Justin had his lobby secured from invaders. It may take a day or two to clean up all this debris and redo the flooring, but what else were thralls good for but blood sacrifice and menial labor? Ah, certainly, one could have used them as soldiers instead, the way that human barbarians would, arming them and conscripting them to fill the espers up with bullet holes from all angles the moment they entered, but there…there simply wasn’t any beauty in that.
No, if one were to speak of beauty, it certainly must come only from suffering, the intensifying light in one’s eyes up until the moment its extinguished forever.
Ah yes, just like this.
A metal ball struck his back, then erupted into an arsenal of hastily-formed blades, ripping Arzendale in half. His upper body fell beside Wukong, his dimming eyes looking up to catch a glimpse of Orion, standing in the shadow of the foyer. Bloodied and beaten, but not defeated. And then, hidden beside the corpses that he had drained, Jacqueline remained conscious, vestiges of iron dust falling out of the air. An iron will, encased in an iron body.
A wet laugh sounded through his lips.
“T’was truly enjoyable, the writhing of the short-lived. May your paths continue to be covered in thorns, my pets, so that you are adequately prepared…” Above, the glacier of blood groaned, cracking as the power that held it in place began to wane. “…for my advent. Sleep lightly. Keep your daughters and sisters close. Adieu.”
Without a sound, the vampire dissolved into blood, extinguishing the flames that seared Wukong, thawing the ice that encased Valkyrie and Breacher. They were bloodied, yes, some closer to death than others, but with some healing magic, they would be able to continue on at least. So long as they did not die, they had no reason to stop.
Twenty-four human beings laid before them, lives never to be reclaimed.
There would never be a reason to stop.
.
..
…
The Ghostblade passed through flesh and bone as if it were air.
Silhouette, body charred and senses dulled, hadn’t stood a chance.
Like scoops of ice cream fallen from a cone, his hands tumbled down the tower, pulling his blades with it. Shadows receded from his monstrous form, revealing the red-eyed human underneath, unarmed and weak, with neither magic nor technique.
Nothing but a sneer formed on Lenore’s face as she hefted her sword up onto her shoulder, ready to behead the man behind the demon, but then, she paused.
Her crimson armor crumbled, pieces of her helmet falling off her head, dissolving into puddles of blood upon striking the ground. A low whistle sounded between her lips, the faintest sign of recognition in her carmine eye as she redid the eyepatch over her right eye again.
“Well,” she said, no trace of bloodlust in her tone anymore. “That’s just like the ol’ Doctor, isn’t it? Tell her that it’s not over yet, would ya, little Sammy?”
A flick of the wrist cleansed her falchion of impurities, and with another, she disappeared in a burst of blacklight, one half of his mask left in her wake.
@OwO@mantou@ERode@Majoras End
The robot ticked, the barrels floated, the zombie advanced, and Finn’s allies were trapped. Though more important to him was keeping Betty’s silhouette in sight. There was no point to any of this if she was going to die at the end of it all. G.E.M.I.N.I. and Maverick could fight their war. The politics didn’t interest him. They’d be done with this already if they could work together.
How like a child to make the world seem so simple.
After casting a single melody, the time keeper was gone. Bob hadn’t been able to count a single second before Finn disappeared from sight. Finn would be safe from Bob, but that was one less esper that could have helped those that remained. Four espers, two teenagers, and Billy remained squarely inside the death trap.
Klava conjured an ice ram while shouting out commands to the others. Apollo’s inability to blow the bonfire away and Protector leaving the scene behind Billy didn’t seem to bother him too much. Or perhaps he was just too into the siege ram that Klava had built for them. ”Hell yea! I’m all fired up for this!” He grabbed hold of the handle that Klava had provided for him. ”Hold onto your asses! I’m pushin’ on five!”
”SIX…”
Tetrad was less impressed, if only because this was the second time Klava gave an order that was opposite of her own, and all the Japanese jargon felt out of place at the moment. She watched a bit of anime when she was younger, but she’d never think about saying stuff like that on a mission to a bunch of mercenaries. But she could handwave it as them being close friends. Not many people could kill on command like that. Eviscerated remains flashed in her mind before she ran for the train.
It wasn’t all bad. After running into the back of the train and taking the handle, she was standing next to Apollo. He cast a melody that healed any small scrapes and cuts anyone had gotten, though Klava’s bones would take much longer to heal. She wasn’t going to be much help pushing, but they had Billy for that anyway.
”That felt pretty good!”
”Thanks, but I-”
”FIVE…”
The crazzy train slid forward. There was no acceleration time, Billy leaned forward and used his inhuman strength to get to top speed. Tetrad nearly had her feet pulled out from under her, but managed to get her feet back under her.
The upper half of the burning spirit golem turned into a fist and slammed into the windshield. Normally, thousands of pounds of burning spirits would spill into the cockpit of the ram. But as much weight as the attack had, it was still a low quality arcane construct. Apollo’s magic shield had spread to the train, shielding it from a blow that could have ended the operation. That didn’t stop the occupants’ heads from jerking forward, as it was still enough to stop their momentum. No one felt it quite as bad as Klava did, as her fractured rib cage seared with pain when she slammed into the handlebar. But they had to keep going.
”FOUR…”
At least the spike paired with the train’s wedge shaped face meant they wouldn’t have much trouble ramming through the burning spirits. The train parted the golem like the red sea. Alcohol and flames were pushed to either side of the ram, and was visible out the side windows. Fable’s jacket had been plastered on the window right in front of Apollo’s vision, but the ram continued to move forward.
There was a space under the train too. It wasn’t tall, but they would be marching over a carpet of flames shortly.
”THREE…”
Apollo’s shield protected everyone on their walk over the flames. It would take a few seconds to burn through such a barrier, but now they needed to contend with the rest of Gunther’s arsonal. He had a single soul tied up in operating the spirit golem, while the other four were free to possess barrels and fly into the ram. One of the barrels struck a window and cracked it, but it held true. But every hit slowed the train, if just a little bit. There was also only so much Klava’s contraption could take. This was not the strongest ram Klava could muster, and it was starting to crack under the repeated blows.
”TWO…”
Almost at the other side, and the entire wine cellar was behind them. That meant the remaining barrels were going to be flying into the back, where there was no wall to shield them. Billy’s size and position meant he would be taking most of the attacks, but he was ill-equipped to do so from arcane charged barrels. The first barrel was mostly eaten up by Apollo’s shield, but that meant that the burning spirits under his feet were starting to eat away at him. A mere inconvenience for an esper, but it caused excruciating pain to monsters. The leather on his shoes was starting to peel, and the busted barrel had spilled wine all the way down his back.
”Hells bells!”
With the ram so close to the exit, Luna reached for one of the stakes on her side of the train and dropped it. ”Hold onto your butts! We’re spinning this thing!”
In the moderate sized space at the end of the wine cellar, the spike caused the ram to spin. At the same time, Tetrad hurled a card at the ground that filled the area with gravity-reducing confetti. It also had a healing effect, but no one would be in the zone long enough to enjoy it. It was just a way to get the ram to spin easier. With the ram turned around, the open back of the ram was pointed towards the stairs leading up. A salvo of kegs came for the front of the ram, and they were starting to break through.
”ONE…”
After a ride no one would soon forget, they ran up the stairs while the train collapsed behind them. Bob remained in the empty cellar, counting down to corpses that could not hear him.
”…MUGEN.”
Deep inside Bob’s chest, a cacophony of shattering glass and chemical reactions was starting to take place. Steam bellowed out of his joints, electricity arced around his body, and the cellar was bathed in a light that cast no shadows.
The espers on the floor above would see plenty of shadows. A powerful explosion rocked everyone right off their feet. The white light that followed them up the stairs was intense, and bathed the room in monochrome hues. When it subsided, everyone was left with a ringing in their ears, and any wounds they took from the ordeal up to this point.
”Not bad, girls.” Billy laid flat on his back to extinguish the fire. With that addressed, he sat down beside the espers. ”You too Apollo. That shield was mighty fine if I do say so myself. ” With a sigh, he looked at everyone present. ”Let’s get patched up and move further in. Reinforcements should be joining us shortly, they’ll have a path cleared out for us.”
The path back down had caved in, filled with wood and stone. Nothing that Billy couldn’t move, but it would take too much time. If Justin didn’t know they had arrived, they did now. And even if they could afford to clear the path, every second they wasted here was another second Finn was left alone with Betty. They could only wonder how Protector fared.
An esper was more than capable of carrying two teenagers under their arms, but it was a bit trickier when you also had to manage a spear and a shield. To this end, Protector opted to just make them lighter. This both made them easier to carry and made it impossible for them to attempt to escape. Short of throwing a fireball at her, there wasn’t much they could do.
Gunther’s main goal was to keep espers out and cripple Billy, so he took little notice of Protector running outside. She would face little resistance as she distanced herself from the wine cellar. Bob’s countdown became impossible to make out, but the detonation was loud even from where Protector was standing. It reverberated through the Bastion. It was impossible to tell how extensive the damage was, as it would take a bit for the smoke to clear.
She had made it outside. The teenagers were safe, but Billy’s team would be short one Protector.
”We’re, we’re alive?” The boy groaned. He was still clutching his stomach.
The girl still had her hands folded over her stomach. Apollo had struck her in the stomach hard enough to also incapacitate the person behind her.
”That guy was pretty rough, huh?”
”They’re dead.” The girl’s voice cracked. ”White, and Green…”
The violet haired boy remained quiet, but it was clear the news had affected him. His hands and lower lip were trembling. ”Really?” She nodded, unable to say anything else. The boy inhaled sharply before running his hand over his face. ”Oh god…”
@The World
Marrie was a gentle girl, but sometimes, you just had to punt a goblin. It wasn’t like she was killing them, and it was all in the name of helping someone who was helping her. Also they bit her, you could only be so gentle with them.
”That’s the spirit, Senator! Show ‘em who’s boss!”
But Highway to Hell had already selected its next victim. It was not some dumb animal that reacted to the rampent flailings of its prey while it was trying to secure a kill. The several seconds it took to make a pile of goblins mattered little when Highway to Hell could devour Stacy’s head in a single bite.
”Later, Armstrong!”
The snake’s snout borrowed part way into the tunnel floor, taking in Stacy’s head along with half a mouthful of dirt. With its head bent so low, in the dim light of the campfire, she could make out some lacerations on the back of its head. They were small when compared to the size of the creature, but they were not clean wounds. The flesh hadn’t been cut, but torn, ripped up by some crude tool. This might have provoked the snake’s oddly aggressive behavior towards the severed head.
But Marrie couldn’t linger, she still had to save herself. Her healing melody fixed all of her wounds instantly, as she chased after Stacy’s body.
This leg of the catacombs led to an especially broad passageway. Marrie had to turn her clip light on to see anything down here. Sure enough, there were all sorts of goblins using wagons to enter different parts of the catacombs. The goblins carrying Stacy’s body dropped it on the floor before scattering. At the far end of the cave was another wooden door, but this one had been thrown open. Goblins were leaving it en masse, carrying everything they could. Garbage cans, crates filled with junk, anything they had stored in their burrows had to be taken before Highway to Hell got here. But the most interesting item Marrie didn’t need her clip light to see. A goblin carrying a blazing coin and some dishes was preparing to depart on a wagon.
Marrie could also feel Stacy pawing at her shoe. The chainsaw in her back was still running at a low idle.
