Mas Bagus

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Even after decades of experience in this line of work, Jazdia could not master the art of commanding the "irregulars".

Sure she could prattle a long detailed plan during a briefing, and everyone would then nod in agreement, but in a real-time battle, that capability diminished somewhat. She had her own reasoning for that; barking a command in the middle of combat can be distracting for those who were usually out for themselves. And God forbid her sternness could often make people feel antagonized. She would rather not risk it.

So, when something disastrous like someone miscalculating and ending up injuring their fellow teammates happened, Jazdia would rather remain focused on the immediate threat. Scolding could wait for later.

Her arrow radiates in a purple light.

For now, it seemed Jonas' attention remained focused on Yvonne, who was now pointing her sword at the old man himself. A weak stance, intended to distract the opponent while her other hand reached for a healing potion. Looking at how severe the damage to her tendon and the amount of blood spilled from it, imbibing one of those pots was indeed the wisest course of action. The question was, could Yvone get enough time to administer it?

The Delving Patriarch stood still. His mustache moved. What did he say to her? Jazdia could only guess. A deadly guess. And of course, she wouldn't take that chance.

****

Jonas Delving lowered his partisan. His eyes remained alert, and his attention divided. One for the incoming cat who was now running toward his side, two for the sleazy ice mage, and three, and most importantly for the brave woman in front of him.

"Go on, Rosenving. Take your medicine, or risk it. Your call."" He gloated. Though deep inside he wanted to praise her for that slick evading movement she did, he knew such appreciation would be premature at best. The fight was far from end, and he still had more tricks up his sleeve. He would see that the opponents would do the same.

He would get just that.

From the darkness, a violet trail of light whizzed toward him. Promptly, Jonas raised his energy shield and let the arrow penetrate halfway into the panel, entrapping the crystal arrow inside the solid manifestation of radiant energy and having its brilliance color utterly outshined by it. He had deliberately skipped the part where he should harden it, all to prove his point. That he could catch even the most unexpected attack, and he was superior in every way to them.

A smug smile bloomed on his face until he realized that this tiny crystal arrow was one of the few things his magic could not snuff out.

A pair of violet eyes glowed in the distance, and from that direction, he heard.

"Yona! Back off now!!"

****

Ignoring the enraged thugs, the wargs made a quick beeline toward the standing captain, who fruitlessly tried to stab one of them, only to be staggered by the other. Tired and outnumbered, the next tackle finally brought him down to his knee. One of the wargs quickly seized his arm to have him release his weapon, while the other swiftly sank its partially melted teeth into his neck.

The damaged maws didn't make quick work of ripping away the captain's throat. The wounded captain had to witness it all, listen to his partner scream and gurgle, see him gone into the darkness as they dragged him farther to rip him apart. Terrorized beyond measure, he helplessly ran back toward the inner courtyard.

When Evan tried to melt his own ice, he should have known that the process was accelerated beyond his calculation.

When he tried to stab the second semi-incased enraged, his psychokinetically-controlled sword could not penetrate the ribcage. It immediately lost its solidity in the first attempt and became dull and eventually shattered for the subsequent stabbings.

But... it wasn't all. With no magic instilled to keep the ice blocks frozen, they were left alone to combat the smoldering heat from the enraged's augmented body. The second enraged thug started to break free. What remained of his skin had boiled and melted away, revealing reddish and hardened muscle beneath. The third thug was still imprisoned, but his icy prison too was undergoing a similar process at an alarming rate.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

The stomp alerted the Rosenving Heir just in time, and either by pure instinct or keen timing she took advantage of that split-second delay to react; her main weapon was abandoned, and she drew her sword to intercept the incoming thrust and shoved it aside with its fuller.

With harm already out of the way, she swiftly lunged forward, dull amber burned within her eyes, feral rictus twisting her face into a violent mask as she led her sword to get through the old man Jonas' defense.

All of sudden, Yvonne felt the terrible sting and cold on her calf, and something landed behind her with a heavy thwack. The unexpected attack threw Yvonne off balance, allowing the opponent to retreat a step backward. Jonas Delving was not pleased with such interference he halted his combo and stared darkly at the petite noblewoman with a bleeding leg. A blue spear, a replica of his own, stood at an angle behind her.

He stood still, while most of his attention locked on Yvonne, he noticed a tiny silhouette of a cat advancing toward him.
__

The ice grew rapidly from the enraged thugs' ankles, forming imprisoning cubes that completely halted their advance.

On the other front, the wounded warg changed its strategy by striking the first captain's elbow. His sword dropped, and he downed again. It was at that moment the warg used its powerful jaw to twist and crush the captain's arm.

Just in time, the second captain came to aid and stabbed his pike at the shadowy animal's shoulder. The warg released its hold and retreated, dislodging the pike in the process, but the second captain's assault was not yet over, he thrust his pike again, hitting the now staggered warg on its neck this time, and like a nightmare, it suddenly disappeared.

The wargs were not the only ones that could attack coordinatedly. Seemingly ignoring the relentless bites and tackles, the enraged thugs moved closer to one another. When a warg attacked one of the thugs, his brethren quickly provided a counter-attack with his weapons. Some blows managed to land for every assault launched, yet the enraged remained unflinching, not even when the oversized wolves tried to chomp down their wrist in an attempt to disarm them.

The more injury they sustained, the more they looked like animated statues. Fumes started to vaporize above their heads, the wound glows even brighter as if their blood was made of the hellfire itself. Every bite and every mauling were rewarded not only by hardness but also by smoldering searing heat.

___

Three of the enraged thugs now stopped dead on their track, and seeing the opportunity, Louise let go of her musket and drew her broad sword. Swiftly, she pirouetted to cut the thug on the back of his knee, only to hear the violent clanging when her sword hit growing ice. The thug remained standing, his arms reached to block, but Louise did not lose her momentum, retreating a step, she then drove her sword precisely to the enraged's heart.

The feedback felt like she was stabbing a cluster of glasses. The enraged being let out a coarse scream, his hand clawed the air before it went limp. Not giving Louise ample time to examine the death of her enemy, or even to draw her sword back, the ice had encroached on the dead thug's chest and trapped her sword with it.

___

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

"O-oh, y-yes, that's me, my Lady Widernia's humble servant! It's awful! I just got here, and someone's attacking the place! I-I'm not much of a f-fighter, you see, e-even with this horribly cumbersome thing,"

"Oh yes! Wonder where they came from." said the second guard, walking closer to Veronica and making a flexing gesture. "sorry for the ruckus, but all is well. Our leader is here. And you sweetheart got reliable lads like us guarding the doors... should come the inevitable."

He only stopped when his friend, the first and bigger guard, shushed him. Then he too turned to Veronica.

"Got a lot of explaining eh? Miss Widernia only told us to expect a courier to come to get her things." The guard looked at her suspiciously and kept his weapon gripped. While his friend walked slowly toward Veronica and leered like a thirsty animal.

There was an awkward silence until he continued with a less tense tone.

"But... as usual She never specified. So I guess you are enrolling for an assistant job too? I see no reason to hold you any longer then. Feel free to lay your weapon on one of those crates. Ain't nothing to be forgiven. The fight will end soon anyway. Hey Pintel! Stop making the lady uncomfortable!"

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Varya Chandrar

Thankfully Veronica's plan to distract the guards worked, albeit not in the way she had expected. The mooks had their attention focused on her, allowing Varya to sneak around and past them. Once Varya reached the door he sheathed his blades and took out his precious bar of soap. He began to lather up the door hedges in the cleansing substance in order to reduce the creaking of the door once it was opened. After this was done Varya would look through the keyhole of the door if it had one to see what was on the other side, otherwise he would place his long ear against the door to listen.

@Nightknight

For a secret base, the place didn't seem to have the tightest security. If Varya noticed, the door was unlocked and could be immediately opened if he wished so.
The corridor ahead was a set of stairs leading further into a deeper underground level. Multiple lanterns hung on its sides, ensuring sufficient lighting. On its other end there was a door made of metal bars There seemed to be no activity in the corridor behind that door, either the guards were someplace else or they deliberately didn't station someone there.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

'Hey! Who's there?!"

The guards readied their weapons and walked slowly toward the lonely black figure with a scythe. At the same moment, another boom echoed from the distance, fully alerting them.

"You don't look like one of 'em Rascade blockheads! Who are you and what do you want? Are you Lady Widernia's messenger?"

The entire basement was properly lit, with many crates and barrels piled here and there. For one with keen smells, the pungent smell of herbs and chemicals was apparent, along with the smell of blood, a familiar smell of blood, coming from that door behind those guards.

The guard's friend joined the fray, but he appeared to be more relaxed.

"Damn girl you look fine. Would you put that thing down, please?"

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Seeing how his friend got dragged away by a seemingly invisible force, the second captain rushed to aid first one. At the same time, nobody knew since when, the Delving Patriarch had already stood not far from Yvonne. He only grinned briefly at Evan's pathetic attempt to mimic his armament, but his attention now was fully at the Rosenving. Another noble, a formidable fighter. Old Jonas knew how to appreciate a good fight, even if chaos unfolded around him he wouldn't waste the opportunity to get one.

Some entertainment before he had them all killed.

Stomping his feet, Jonas thrust his partisan at Yvonne.

****

Jazdia prepared her magic arrow. Initially, it was intended to be shot at that swashbuckling Delving as a retort to his insult. But then she heard a thud on her right. This close meant someone had broken into their formation, and true to that, one of the berserkers had landed a blow on Louise. Luckily her armor did its job well.

Her crystal arrow gleamed with explosive enchantment, ready to be unleashed.

Concluding that eliminating the closest threat was not an option, Jazdia aimed at the then-kneeling thug, mentally ignoring the incongruity of how a human can survive a musket shot in the neck.

The arrow hit and swallowed him in a fiery blast. But what was revealed after the smoke settled was even more horrifying. The thug knelt again, with the result from the explosion apparent in his body. But from the ghastly wounds, his blood coagulated rapidly, replacing the missing chunk of flesh. Screamed in pain, his eyes glowed red, and they wept crimson tears.

Fully alerted, Jazdia knocked an arrow on her bow and activated her eyes. Whatever standing there now was no longer a human.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

The first warg rammed its almost invisible bulk toward the captain on the left, pushing him away from the group and pinning him to the ground. Its great maw opened, trying to score a bite on his face, but the captain quickly blocked it with his armored hand. Reacting just in time, he plunged his sword into the beast's neck, using the pushing movement to run it deeper. The seemingly mystical entity grwoled as it retreated back to gain some distance. The captain pushed himself away and brandished his sword, grunting frustratingly as he tried to get back on his feet.

The second and the third warg attempted to do the same to the two enraged thugs in front of the captain. Compared to what the first warg did, they seemed to fare better; with repeated strikes and adequate mass, they managed to stop their advance and pushed the thugs slightly to the left.

But somehow, they were unable to bring any of those guys down.

Their great jaws bit into their skin, but it won't go any deeper. They attacked again and tried to tear, twist, and rip, but the thug's body endured it. Along the ordeals, they seemed to be planted firmly on the ground, and no matter how persistent the yanking and bites and maulings, their body seemed to be unreasonably heavy and almost unflinching.
__
Athena had moved sideways and placed herself between Jazdia and the enemies who were now being halted by Evan's wargs. Shield ready and spears pointed.
__
Ignoring the shiny and obviously bigger target in front of her, Yvonne lunged sideways and swung her halberd to chop one of the thug's legs. The blow felled the enemy, but the recoil was so violent she felt her own bones trembling. Worse still, while it would take a while for the enemy to get up, his knee seemed to survive the strike; the blade only cut a portion of his flesh and bones, and then stopped halfway as if his leg were reinforced by something tremendously strong. Blood poured unnaturally from the wound before stopping, and crystalized into a substance that emits a faint red glow.

___
It was a small relief that Yvonne had intercepted one, but her situation was far from ideal still.

Despite the failure of the previous attempt and the lingering darkness making it harder to aim, Louise didn't seem to learn anything from that. Trying to not get distracted by everything that was happening beside her, Louise aimed at one of the thugs rushing toward her. Either out of desperation or panic, didn't matter if luck was on your side.

Fire

It hit the enemy right on his neck, and then a terrible shrill could be heard as he collapsed on his knee.

The last thug was still beelining toward her, and with guns unloaded, Louise made her stance. The thug trusted his spear, slow and unrefined even an amateur could dodge that and she did it. With flexibility and precise footwork, the squire spun and rammed her bayonet into the thug's stomach.

But it again, went shallow. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the thug she shot before.

Still kneeling, his hand tried to clutch the wound on his neck, which apparently shallow. The same glow of blood could be seen from the cavity, and he glared at the squire with immense hatred.

Meanwhile, the thug in front of her screamed. "DIE!", and he raised and retracted his polearm before making a quick jab on Loise's midsection. The strike was slow but unexpected it connected to her breastplate and jostled her backward.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

The battle has begun. The opposition had made their moves. Three were on a hot pursuit toward Louise's position, and two others were rushing toward Jazdia.

Compared to their leader and his captains, those five seemed not very right in the mind. They rushed headlong like berserkers in a warpath, raising their swords and pike with no technique or finesse whatsoever. Nor did they seem to possess any sense of survival; Their armor were a mere gambeson and ordinary clothing, and When Jazdia raised her bow and was ready to shoot, they didn't change their course.

But they were crazily fast, and if the team didn't do something, they might find themselves overwhelmed by these guys.

Jazdia was the first to recognize the need to relocate. Taking her stance, she propelled herself backward and fired her arrow. It missed the charging thug and hit the captain behind it. The lack of power caused the arrow to bounce off harmlessly, only leaving a small dent in his breastplate.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

"We could have spared him..."

Jazdia paid Evan and his opinion no heed. Swiftly she moved toward Athena and had her eyes scanning the entire mansion for potential ranged counterattacks from the enemy's primary forces. The blast indeed roused the rabbles from their sleep and they all prepared themselves to meet the intruders. When she counted their number however it was indeed unspectacular.

Jazdia rubbed her pocketwatch and brought it closer. "Veronica, I saw two enemy personnel in the basement. It seemed to be Stritzel's storage area. Once you pass the door on its north, you will find a corridor and stairs leading to the second facility."

She saw all the important individuals in the second bunker. Two thugs patrolled around the room that looked like a laboratory, the other was guarding the dungeon. In that dungeon, she found Cedar, another bear that somewhat looked familiar, and the red-haired woman wearing a white robe and eyeglasses.

Beyond that laboratory, sealed by a solid iron door, was another tunnel. It looked smaller than the bunker corridor but seemed like part of an underground complex rumored to be Stritzel's way to aid the rebels.

Jazdia could only catch a glimpse of an underground labyrinth before fatigue set in and forced her to shorten the range of her vision back to the inner courtyard. Behind its wall, five men that she had identified before has already gathered in a combat-ready position.

""Five more guards." Evan pointed at the inner wall towards the west."Attack them too?"

"Oh, don't worry, they will come to us."

Activating her eyes to scan the manor again, Jazdia saw two men standing outside Stritzel's room, while three others were stationed on the stairs leading to the second floor. They seemed to be listening to someone she could not see, and the movement of that entity was almost unobservable, like an abstract man-sized distortion in the air.

That entity stormed toward the front door and opened it.

Deactivating her eyes, Jazdia saw a man walking bravely through the ruined gate. He was tall and muscular, wearing polished mail, pauldrons, and graves that emphasized his imposing figure. His eyes glinted under his deep brows as he bent his gaze upon the intruder, and then to his men, who hurriedly sprung out to the open, leaving only two on his sides.

He took a long, deep suck on his cigar before tossing the stump down and having it squashed beneath his iron boots.

"So, Fredricus Lapdogs finally came to collect his due."

Stomping his partisan to the ground, a mass of pure energy gathered on his left hand, forming a shield made of concentrated light. The wind blew his cape and his handlebar mustache as he stared at his men darkly.

Jonas Delving, the patriarch of the Delving clan hadn't made his move, but his two bodyguards, with a simple gesture, sprung forward to follow their brethren, who was now rushing toward the group with weapons at hand.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Blood sprinkled on the grass when Yvonne yanked the dying thug and used his body as a meat shield. An effective show of brutality, but fortunately (or unfortunately) Athena's fire magic was a better deterrence, a purplish fire conjured itself on the thug's crossbow and started eating its wooden frame as it slipped away from his grip.

Yvonne took advantage of the enemy's surprise to close the distance and swung her ice polearm.

The thug futilely tried to grasp his secondary weapon, but it was too late now. The bardiche cleaved his arm off like a twig and bit deep into his ribcage. With his only one good hand, the dying thug grabbed the polearm by the hilt before going limp and falling to the ground.

The last thug, who for the entire ordeal was watching from afar, had already made a run toward the gate, understandably freaked out by the quick decimation of his group.

"Dude! What the hell! Open the gate! Let meeee innn!!"

From the other side of the courtyard, Jazdia repositioned herself and imbued her arrow with magic. Aimed at a higher degree to compensate for the distance, her black bow tensed for a while before sending the illuminated arrow to soar until it arched downward and the hit the brick construction right next to the inner gate.

The last thug was lost in the explosion. Meanwhile, the brick post and the metal bars that stood between the courtyard and the manor shattered and fell apart. The other half of that gate managed to hold for a while before it too had its hinges given up and fell.

*****

Before Solomon could observe much, a blasting sound of crushed stone and clanging iron alarmed the entire manor, including the twitching guard. With a quick motion, he gripped his polearm and walked forward, though slow, his pace was steady, and no verbal expression could be observed from him.

Meanwhile, the entrance to the basement lacked any sort of door or physical barrier. If one wandered inside, one might find that the entire basement was a sturdy bunker made of concrete and brick as wide as the house itself. On the north side of that bunker, there was a door, guarded by two of Delving's unsavory characters, who were now fully roused by the explosion's thundering blast but seemed undecided if they should check it out.

"What the hell was that? Did you hear that?"

"Fuck me! I was this close from kissing the dirt! Some nutjob from Rascade is attacking us, or Mechean bastards must be one of 'em!"

"Shit, I'm starting to think this ain't worth it. Four months ago it was that bakery incident, and now this. It ain't right man, I ain't signed up for this crap!"

"The boss said he knew they were coming. That's why he is here. And you stay where you are! Unless you want to join Marty and the others in the dungeon."

"Might not be the worst idea. That redhead is hot!"

"Don't push your luck. Our job is to guard the place so keep your eyes peeled!"