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I'm a fuckin' weeb, but one of my great-grandparents was Japanese and a Japanese can't be a weeb by definition so...
7/8 Weeb

...kill me.

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--Nagano Prefecture - Abandoned Mansion--

With a mighty pounce - a maneuver that should be impossible for centipedes - Teratoma leapt through the air and simply body-slammed the cannoneers, letting its weight, size, and gravity do most of the work. Upon landing, it thrashed about for good measure, making sure it caused as much disruption as possible. Overall, it achieved its purpose as the antiquated batteries didn't manage to get another shot off... or so it thought.

"RrRrRrGgGgHh?!" Out of the multi-faceted corner of its compound eyes, the Ōmukade saw more of those spectral artillerists, carrying what appeared to be spheres of metal, the sparking lit fuse making it obvious what they'd be used for. It's a bit inconsiderate of them, wasn't it? Here Tera was, already showing what would happen to naughty wraiths, but they were just simply too stubborn, well, just meant it had more to punish. Before that however, the giant insect noticed that the inky ooze was no longer reshaping into new soldiers, instead coalescing toward the naughtiest one of them all, the samurai.

"..." A tinge of deviousness flashed across the shapeshifting abomination's mandibled visage as Tera swiftly slithered around the cannonball-carrying ashigarus, practically surrounding them with its long segmented body. After that, it began curling up like a pillbug - or a rollcake for a less buggy reference - with said ashigarus caught between its carapace, sandwiching them. However, instead of immediately crushing them, Tera began rolling instead, barreling toward the samurai, carrying a bunch of ashigarus and their lit cannonballs with it!

"GgGgRrRrRrHhHh!!!" With an otherworldly roar, the carapaced wheel of explosive doom essentially unleashed a kamikaze attack upon the pesky samurai!

--Osprey - Village--

Traveling with companions again was a welcomed change of pace, it had been a while and better yet, these particular comrades mutually shared a goal that'd be deemed lofty by most adventurers; ushering world peace by ending the Blight and Valheim. Bahamut willing, this quest would be her last, whether due to success or death, one thing for sure, until her last dying breath, her vow would remain.

It took a few days of steady travel, but eventually, the group of nine adventurers, four chocobos, one moogle, and their wagon entered a rather... destitute village, which juxtaposed oddly with the fertile fields surrounding it. Eve already came up with a strong hypothesis for the cause before Izayoi confirmed it as fact, it was the empire's doing, of course it was, tyrants oppressing innocent people was as certain as the sun rising every morning.

"..." The Pseudolon was justifiably enraged, and to say that she didn't have a passing thought of simply torching every single Valheimr they'd encounter from this point onward would be a lie, but... no, she knew better, this wasn't a war they could win by being reckless. Such a "tactic" belonged to monsters and no matter how much the ignorant masses believed her to be, she's better than that. Fortunately, they hadn't encountered any Valheimr yet so far... or so she thought.

"...?" Eve frowned in silent suspicion as her red eyes gazed up from under her hood at the leather-clad Viera spying at them from a tree branch. She was armed and judging from her movements, she was more trained scout and less housecat stuck on a tree. Eve's fingers twitched briefly, a barely perceptible gesture from the outside, but internally, her Eidolic ether circuits were already preparing to conjure a fireball to force the bunny down from her tree, but no... what was that again about being better than wild beasts?

Still, her apprehension remained even as the Viera stopped beating around the bush and practically admitted that she was spying on them by introducing herself. She and Izayoi know each other? Twas' unsurprising in hindsight, well, if they were former comrades in the war then... On second thought... no, it's a one-sided relationship. Alas, the trappings of being infamous.

Having naught a connection with this shinobi of a Viera, Eve was content to keep in the background. If the rabbit-eared kunoichi already glared with such enmity toward their Edrenian comrades, the chimera preferred that she remained oblivious to the artificial eidolon technically hailing from Valheim, and a black mage at that. The last thing Eve wanted was sabotaging the group's chances at infiltrating Kugane.

The shinobi offered an accord, trust her and she'd lead them to this 'old friend' of Izayoi's, something that the Blade Demoness wasn't keen on taking, but the Viera drove a hard bargain, enough to make Izayoi entertain the idea with Galahad first. Personally, Eve's sentiments were aligned with the Mystrel Samurai, the Viera had nothing to prove herself beyond a flimsy "Trust me, folks" 'assurance', however, she's also curious about what everyone else thought regarding the matter.

Galahad brought an excellent suggestion, yes, Esben was a Garden operative, they were supposed to be Skael's elite espionage agents, the best of the best at their craft, with such a skillset, why should they risk themselves associating with an outsider? Though to be fair, Esben only beat the Shinobi by a few days, but, he had risked life and limb to vanquish those Valheimr scum together.

The platinum-haired weaponmaster chimed in, providing the opinion that they shouldn't simply dismiss the unnamed Viera's offer, considering the chokehold Valheim would undoubtedly have around Osprey's capital, trusting her might just be worth the risk.

"I don't trust her either, at least not without a stronger guarantee than her claim of working for Izayoi's associate," Eve quipped in a low voice - which was practically her default manner of speech anyway - before she turned her gaze at Esben specifically, "So, Esben, can you do her one better?"

--Aventon - Forest Outskirts--


Still stunned from the full-body slam and subsequent rough landing, Remilia failed to notice one of the insectoid hatchlings skittering towards her for a nibble, nor it suddenly being swallowed by an inexplicable hole. By the time she recovered her mental faculty, all the vampiress could see was the second giant centipede staring down at her, mandibles clicking, her visage reflected in the clusters of its gigantic compound eyes. Then, within the next few hundred milliseconds, though Remilia's mind could recognize the creature's imminent attack, her post-Cerennia body was far too flawed to properly react.

Curses...!

And then, pain, pure unadulterated pain as Remilia's slitted eyes shot open wide. Her limbs tensed up, fingers curling, and adrenaline rushing in self-preservation response as the centipede's mandibles clamped down on her left shoulder, before it yanked.

"AAAAAAAAARGH!!" Remilia's banshee-like wail - not as deafening, nor deadly as Fran's but plenty loud nevertheless - violently tore through the forest as the centipede ripped off the Scarlet Devil's left arm clean off her torso, crimson blood immediately gushing from the wound. At that moment, time itself seemed to slow down as a wake-up call came full force into Remilia's mind. In hindsight, it might be obvious, the signs were all there, but now, at this very present, Remilia realized one crucial fact.

That she was in mortal danger.

Ever since she and Flandre made their home in Gensokyo, the Scarlet Devil couldn't even recall the last time she was in a genuinely lethal situation, her personal power and the spellcard rules guaranteed that all conflicts could be solved without her having to worry about dying. Even during that conflict with the Lunarians, one of the rare times that the rules were suspended, she didn't feel threatened. They were all just fun and games, something to stimulate herself out of boredom, but now...

Now, she was truly, undoubtedly fighting for her life.

"THAT'S IIIIIIIT!!"



Only a fool would spit in a devil's face and declare victory.

With a bestial roar more akin to a truly monstrous devil than the elegant mistress of the night, Remilia took off into the air. Then, she hovered in front of the insectoid assailant, staring murderously at the monster's eye level as her body began emitting that distinctive scarlet mist, her noblesse oblige gone, replaced only by an enraged youkai fighting for dear life. With a guttural growl, Remilia tapped into her power to collect the blood - her own spilled blood - to coalesce upon her right palm.

"GUNGNIR!!" She summoned her comrade, her loyal companion that had been with her since forever, before even Sakuya. The magical spear promptly spawned by her palm, significantly smaller and feebler than it should be, but it was still the Gungnir the Blood Spear. "I VOW TO VAPORIZE YOU TO THE FOUR WINDS!!" The vampiress howled with vengeful fury as she gripped gungnir with her right hand then charged at the centipede, she'd brawl with the monster in a vicious all-or-nothing fight where only one may walk out alive.

"DIEEEEE!!" Remilia bellowed as she attempted to jab, stab, pierce, and impale the creature's carapace, all made in a singular effort to kill it. No fancy spellcards, no flashy danmakus, she'd murder this thing and send it to hell, and if possible, slay it again so there'd not be a single trace left of its abominable presence. This was no Gensokyo and even if it was, neither the Red-White Miko, that Gap Hag, nor their goddamned Great Hakurei Barrier would stop her from erasing this creature's existence!

@VitaVitaAR @PKMNB0Y @Lugubrious @Raineh Daze @EchoWolff

--Aventon - Forest Outskirts--

Oh.

At this point, Remilia wasn't at all surprised to discover yet another swine carcass, especially when she had bigger things to worry about, quite literally too. Of course, of course those disgusting little pests were merely juveniles of something far, far worse. As repugnant as those critters were, surely they couldn't massacre these many boars by themselves, something must be assisting them. And she had just found the answer.

"...?!!" Still reeling from her broken composure, Remilia reacted a tad bit too late as the oversized insect barreled towards her, or perhaps more exactly, toward the direction of its hatchlings, and the vampiress just so happened to be in its way. The result was obvious, the centipede's carapace collided against Remilia's infantile body, and the unprepared crippled youkai stood no chance as she was sent flying, this time very much against her will.

"Uwaaaaah?!" Her uncharismatic wail reverberated through the air before she crashlanded some distances away, bouncing once and skidding on her back. "U-uuurgh..." Delirious, she failed to comprehend the other sinuous, chitinous arriving at her location...

@PKMNB0Y @VitaVitaAR

--Osprey - Campsite--

If she had to be perfectly honest, Eve still had the expectation that at least half of the group would recoil at her visage, a twisted amalgamation of a Sollan and a dragon, human and monster fused together to beget something even worse than the foulest of blighted dragons. As such, though her face betrayed little, the chimeric eidolon was honestly surprised to find not a single one of them exhibit so much as repulsed aggression; a few were rather surprised, others intrigued, yet none made a scene. "..." She had mixed feelings about this, but the pragmatic side of her rationalized that traveling with the dreaded Demoness and the famed Dragonslayer acclimatized these people to the strange and exotic. It felt... nice, she could get used to this.

Eve decided to... not pull her hood back up as the boisterous folk hero performed his dynamic introduction, relishing in the few rare moments where her unveiled countenance didn't become a beacon of unwanted stares and leers. Instead, all eyes - including Eve's own - were on Robin as he flourished his cape after raising from a gallant bow. She couldn't agree more with the adventurer-hero's motive, yes, those tyrants from beyond the ocean were no better than bandits and cutthroats. Robin's passion for justice was so strong, it manifested in the form of light; the light of hope, Eve deduced.

Following the aspiring hero was the proven one of their kind, the Azure Dragoon himself, Sir Galahad of House Caradoc. He and Izayoi were the two individuals among them that Eve could say were known to everyone else in the group. She wouldn't say it to his face, but before Eve decided to reveal her inhuman traits, she was most wary of Galahad for obvious reasons. So admittedly, him treating her as no different than the other new arrivals was more than proof of his honorable reputation. Though she bore the traits of his nemeses, he wouldn't judge her for it. A natural leader through and through.

And then, the swordsman whose injuries spurred the black magus to join the fray took the limelight. "...un." She replied with a small yet sincere nod as Arton expressed his gratitude for protecting Galahad. She wished she could've done more, such as preventing those scum from injuring the tall swordsman in the first place, but what's done is done. Captain... Ah, it must be the Valheimr clad in that distinctive armor no one else wore, the one who escaped judgment by teleporting away. Rest assured, her time would come sooner or later. Then, while Arton left to get more firewood, Eve ‘topped up’ the campfire with a simple fire spell, intensifying the flames with magical fuel - ether - while the swordsman fetched its mundane counterpart.

Speaking of Ether, it seemed the Demoness of Osprey didn't realize that Eve didn't need food, or to be more specific, food alone would achieve nothing practical for her. In a similar vein to true eidolons, the pseudolon depended on ether instead to continue functioning, and having only cast two spells worth mentioning, she wasn't yet starved for the arcane substance. For barely a second, Eve's lips opened in protest, "..." yet any arguments she had prepared became stillborn in the face of Izayoi's insistence. Sometimes, even good intentions could be misplaced-... nevermind, it wasn't worth jeopardizing the budding camaraderie, she could inform Izayoi about the peculiarities of her existence at a more appropriate time.

A barely-audible sigh left her throat as Eve rather reluctantly grabbed a portion of rations, well, if she must waste this one, she might as well make the best use of it. So fixated was Eve on mentally convincing herself that Miina's stare at her tail went completely unnoticed, let alone her desire to touch it, alas... the world is cruel and unfair indeed.
-reserved-
In SPIRITUM 8 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay

--Petrified Forest - Crash Site--

With express permission from Justice for her to take command of the squad while the other 2nd Class went on a search & rescue sweep of the area, Valerie led Gerard and Kalina to rendezvous with Morden and Silje. By the time they arrived, the 'colorblind' battlemage was already fiddling with stray mist near the wrecked robot. "..." Valerie frowned in strong disapproval, but Gerard already beat her to the punch, alas, even the telekinetic WARDEN's warning still wasn't enough to prevent Silje from being struck on the forehead by the volatile mist. The white-haired gunner could only sigh in unsurprised defeat, really, the hyperactive girl should count herself lucky to only suffer a minor backlash, hopefully she'd take that warning to heart.

However, it seemed that the mist-ridden hellscape wasn't satisfied with just Silje, it demanded more tribute and it just so happened to be Gerard. As if sentient, the stray mists had a penchant for striking faces as a lightning bolt blitzed through the air, crashing against Gerard's gauntlet with enough force to slam the thing against its own wielder's face. Only a brief moment later that Valerie realized this one was no mist at all, "Squad, contact!" the vice-commander barked into their comms as a pair of damaged-yet-functional combat mechs burst from the rubble. One of them immediately went after Gerard to finish what it had started with a pummel.

"Tch...!" Acting on well-honed instincts, Valerie dashed forward to put herself between the 1st Mech and Gerard, leading to said mech's metal limb to collide with her instead. The horned girl gritted her teeth as her vein-enhanced Aegis barrier mitigated most of the force before she's sent flying backward, damaged yet unbroken thanks to the extra durability courtesy of her power. Valerie's ethereal wings spread as she stuck her landing, using her massive gun as a support to steady herself.

"Morden, Silje!" The vice-commander enunciated, her tone shifting to full no-nonsense pragmatism, "Engage the mech charging at you, and remember, mind your aim." Next, "Kalina, Gerard!" she addressed the remaining two squad members, "Take cover behind me, we'll take care of the other bot." She kept her wings spread, mostly to appear as a bigger target to the automaton, regardless if it mattered or not.

As for how she herself should engage the foe... These pockets... if a simple prod could cause them to lash out... She ought to err on the side of caution then. Adjusting Haylel's firing mode to single-shots, Valerie would wield the gun as if it was a DMR rather than a machine gun, "Engaging hostiles!" Then began firing off mist-fueled energy projectiles at the mech, one by one carefully aimed at its center mass.

--Osprey - Atsu Village--

"..." For a moment, the grey-clad elemental magus watched wordlessly as the armored dragoon seemed to assess the situation, and though it was difficult to discern facial expressions with his helmet in the way, she erred on the assumption that the dragonslayer recognized the assistance, proven by the fact that he proceeded to rush after the Valheimr conjurer now that the coast was clear. With that dealt with, Eve figured she should continue assisting the others, make herself useful beyond just a one-off fire support.

It appeared that she wasn't the only one who decided to go out of their way to help the dragoon and his allies, most likely united by their mutual hatred of these tyrants from beyond the ocean. Good. The eidolon chimera allowed herself a small smirk of approval as she watched no less than three sword-wielding adventurers join the frontlines, then if she included the redheaded mystrel and herself, five, more than doubling the four fighters she saw earlier. Truly, to say Valheimir was public enemy number one wouldn't be an understatement.

Perhaps it was due to her petite, unassuming, and muted colors or simply a result of the soldiers' thinning ranks, or a combination of both, Eve was fortunate enough to not be accosted even by a single foe. No doubt they had bigger fish to worry about, in which the infamous Limbtaker Demon of Osprey was among them, and really, it was exceedingly difficult to ignore someone charging at you wielding various implements of lethal functions. This worked exactly to the Pseudolon's benefit as whenever she found herself questing with allies, the most ideal strategy would be to let her comrades engage their foes directly so she could be free to do what she does best. Her small size and preference for drab apparel weren't originally intended to support this tactic, but she wouldn't look at a gift horse in the mouth.

The enemy was attempting to retreat and regroup, but the sentiments of her allies were clear, there'd be no quarter spared for the Valheimr scum for they would do the same had the situation been reversed. Push them, break their backs; stick together, drive a wedge through them; tear these dogs asunder, carve the way forward in blood and bone; all to achieve a single mutual goal, send as many tyrants as possible to the afterlife where they belong!

Without a moment’s delay, the chimera turned toward the retreating troops, "...fuh." then exhaled softly as she reached out toward the sky with her right arm, her palm open. "O' mighty oceans and raging storms, lend me thy wrath to cleanse these sinners..." As she chanted, a single orb of concentrated mana - dark blue in hue, like the seas amidst a terrible hurricane - spawned at her palm before it soared over to the soldiers, "Tempest Torrent!" Before Eve enunciated, closing said open palm into a fist as the orb shattered, heralding a veritable deluge of magical electrified water to spill from the orb.

The lethal waves wasted no time in washing over the Valheimr ranks, both drowning and jolting those unlucky enough to be caught in their wake, especially those who lagged behind due to injuries or assisting the injured, including the fusiliers covering their retreat. "..." The black magus watched her arcane handiwork with pitiless eyes; there was no triumphant joy, nor sadistic pleasure, merely stoic pragmatism. Just like the Blight, these tyrants were a taint upon Artimis and they must be cleansed before the planet could heal.

As the remaining soldiers made their escape, Eve turned toward the Limbtaker as she had just finished interrogating a hostage, which quickly became a casualty after Izayoi got what she needed from him. Kugane... The artificial eidolon took a moment to weigh her options, she could part ways with these strangers now and continue as she was before, a solitary dragoness fighting her battles alone, or she could... Perhaps it's finally time... Yes, as mighty as Bahamut's blood could be, she was still just one girl, if she wished to topple the empire, she couldn't achieve this goal alone. Besides, if these people could accept the Emperor's Demon herself to stand side-by-side as allies, then by comparison, what was a mere mutant magus?

Solemnly closing her red eyes, Eve made a decision as she pulled her hood back up, then her feet carried her... toward her newfound comrades.

--Osprey - Campsite--


During the group's preparations to set up camp, Eve's primary contribution was lighting the fire pit with a simple cast of pyromantic spell, bypassing all the steps that'd otherwise be required to ignite the pile of wood, then she sat down around it, merely watching the others enjoy their meal, though Eve could still consume food for the pleasure, her eidolonic metabolism meant she instead required ether to survive and right now, she wasn't feeling like "wasting" a pack of rations for herself where it could be given to those who actually needed them. Instead, she took the time to examine each of her companions.

There was the infamous Izayoi the Emperor's Demon of course, but then Eve realized she also recognized another, the dragoon that she assisted earlier. Yes, she heard about him several times during her travels, he's Lord Galahad Wildemont Caradoc, dragonslayer extraordinaire, war hero of the Ospreyan - Edrenian conflict. It felt... poetic for someone like her - an artificial progeny of the King of Dragons - to be assisting an individual whose life's work revolved around slaying her "father"'s people and wearing their scales and hide as armor, but it was a paltry matter compared to the two global threats they were mutually facing.

Speaking of, the infamous samurai requested for the strangers to explain themselves, which was expected all things considered.

The first to take the figurative stage was one known as Esben Mathiassen, an agent of the Garden hailing from the isolationist nation of Skael, and he wasn't alone, the other Sollan, one he called Rudolf, was with him. The two were already in the village even before those soldiers arrived? How... unlucky of them, though it worked out in the end. He also seemed to recognize someone else beside the two famed war heroes, the salmon-haired Sollan woman, and he called her Commander, a fellow Garden operative, Eve assumed? What were the odds?

Up next was the Sollan Esben mentioned just now, Rudolf the monster hunter, hailing from Edren, and he appeared to idolize the dragoon. Eve supposed they were birds of a feather, just that Galahad was more specialized in his craft. Well, good for him then, he could now travel with his role model.

Following the monster hunter was the Mystrel, no, not Izayoi, the smaller, less famous, and much redder one. "..." Her skittish nervousness was palpable even from the very first stuttered word. Ah well, as long as her heart was in the right place.

And now, Eve supposed it was a good time as any, she had to get this over with sooner or later anyway. "I'm..." Grayscale? No, that was what the Valheimrs called her, not her name, "...Eve." The magus introduced herself, raising her voice a bit for the benefit of the group. As for her motive, she decided that for this case, actions would speak a thousand times louder than words. Raising her hands, Eve whisked back her hood.

Illuminated by the flames of the pit, she let the party have a good look, a privilege that she so far reserved for scant few people; revealing a pair of ivory-white draconic horns sprouting from where her Sollan ears should be, the patches of scales visible on her forehead and neck, her albino-pale complexion, and blood-red eyes with pupils a bit too narrow than a Sollan should have. Lastly, her scale-covered tail slithered around onto her lap.

"Valheim did this to me."

--Aventon - Forest Outskirts--

Between Sanae's ofuda barrage, Youmu's insect bisection (spraying even more icky bug fluids as she did), Mokou's arboreal arson, Lewa's bug chops (causing similar issues as Youmu), Joker's umbral explosions, and last but definitely not least, the godforsaken centipedes themselves, they were all far too much for the lost, crippled, and stressed out vampiress to handle. "..." After her desperate summons for the chronomancer maid went unanswered, the Scarlet Devil found her jaws locked shut, unable to produce even a single word as her slitted eyes constricted as much as it could, pupils trembling in palpable panic.

"...!!" Without uttering another word - not that she could - Remilia fully succumbed to the latter of her fight-or-flight instinct as her wings carried her away, far, far away from the commotion. She didn't care where to, as long as she was centipede-free. Gasping and squirming, Remilia soon found herself hiding behind a tree trunk, her back settling against its rough surface before she fell onto her rump in jittery anxiety. With trembling hands, she brought up her knees to her chest as her arms reached up to hide the upper half of face behind her bonnet, in an subconscious attempt to hide her tears from non-existent observers.

"Uuu~-... eh?" However, perhaps in response to her hubris of manipulating the strings of fate for the last few centuries, the universe didn't even allow her a moment of respite as noises akin to chitin tapping against bark along with underbush being disturbed reverberated through the forest. Then, in morbid curiosity and against her better judgment, Remilia took a peek to find...

@Lugubrious @PKMNB0Y @Raineh Daze @VitaVitaAR @EchoWolff

--Nagano Prefecture - Abandoned Mansion--

Just as before and would remain forever, the heretical monk serving a false kami would never triumph against the defenders of humanity, youkai or no. With a decisive strike, the Ōmukade clamped its mandibles around the Sohei's waist before hosting the spectral warrior-priest up toward the ceiling. "MmMmRrRrRrGgHh!!" Crunching noises could be heard as they crescendoed into a grisly climax of the centipede snapping the robe-clad wraith in twain, raining down droplets of black ooze upon its carapace.

With triumphant clicks, Teratoma's glowing compound eyes scanned its surroundings for more prey to punish. Only for the answer to come by itself as a cannonball struck the gigantic insectoid square on its face, "?!?!?!?!!" The benevolent monster hissed with eldritch inhuman noises as it was staggered back, the projectile bouncing off its hide before landing with a heavy thud. For their efforts, the spectral cannoneers had painted a target upon their backs as the shapeshifting anomaly's alien fury fully shifted onto the culprits. With a roar, it stampeded straight to them!

Though twas' likely more coincidence than anything, but by doing so, Teratoma was following Agent Yūma's directive of covering Agent Mae from any threats coming her way, and it just so happened that these ghostly artillerists also had the Changgwi Exorcist in their sights, well, not for much longer considering the bus-sized monstrosity beelining towards them.
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