VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

A dragon.

They had to face a dragon.

It wasn't just any dragon, either. That alone would have been a daunting task beyond anything Fanilly had prepared herself for.

Even if it was a facsimile, it was undeniably Thrinax. A replica of the legendary dragon said to be the friend of Prince Erion. And as had been abundantly proven, the replicated people of this world created by a Witch were accurate to exacting detail.

All those years ago, Saint Elionne had slain the Red Dragon Volkstraad. The monstrous and wicked beast had terrorized Thaln, devouring hundreds and laying waste to villages on a whim.

The Starlit Sword took his head, having decapitated the monstrous dragon in a burst of divine light.

His last words were a curse upon Thaln and all its people. Even in his dying moments, the Red Dragon was wicked to the end.

But Thrinax had never been slain. The companion of Prince Erion was a dragon who, as far as Fanilly or anyone else knew, was still alive at this very moment.

Even in the guise of training, could they manage something like that?

Doubt clutched at Fanilly's heart. The young Knight-Captain was struggling to even imagine such an outcome as victory against a legend like Thrinax.

But she couldn't let that show. Even here, in this strange constructed world, she was still Knight-Captain.

And so, she was trying to take advantage of what was offered by the Witch.

That meant training as much as she could. And with the memory of her dream square in her mind, that meant there was only one real choice.

Fanilly took a deep breath.

Training with the Gentle Blade was her best possible choice going forward.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

As the first wave of phantom Ashigaru crumbled, Arisa took stock of what had occurred as quickly as she could. While the ashigaru certainly weren't human, or any properly-living entities as far as she could discern, 'ghost' too appeared to be inaccurate. Even non-magical formsof damage had been able to harm them.

But that wasn't all. The black, tar-like substance stretched across the floor, all that was left behind by the ashigaru that had been destroyed.

That most certainly wasn't typical of most ghosts, either.

But there wasn't very much time to analyze what she was seeing, not when the second wave of defense had already arrived.

There looked to be more of them, now. And their position was certainly more difficult. The arquebus-wielding ashigaru had arranged themselves more carefully, and there were more of them. While A-188's aggressive assault had smashed through the main formation once again, it didn't account for every opponent that had now entered combat.

As Agent Amano moved up on their left flank, Arisa took the right, pouring magical energy through her legs, across the fibers of her muscles to put on an additional burst of speed as she exited into one of the gardens.

Bracing one hand against the flat of Ifrit's blade, she turned the enormous sword sideways, hearing shots impact on its surface only to be sent skittering off into the darkness uselessly.

While a barrier spell would have been more reliable, it was harder to cast and maintain while she was moving.

As she reached her first target, the fire mage twisted her wrist, retaking Ifrit's hilt in both hands and swinging it in as harp arc that swiftly tore through the arquebus-wielding ashigaru's armor and split its body in half. Her swing continued, immediately striking the second nearest of the phantom soldiers and cutting it apart in the same motion.

But that wasn't her only goal.

She'd cut through the crumbling wall.

Now she'd make her way around the Ashigaru's formation, and attack from the other side---!

Agent Mae's efforts produced a curious result.

While the 'living' phantom ashigaru simply reacted, stepping back and swinging at the incense as it was tossed, or moving to avoid it wordlessly, the piles of ooze had a considerably different response.

There was a faint, but noticeable hissing sound, as if something was burning from the initial contact. And then, suddenly, the piles of ooze were moving, as if pulled by some other force, dragged into the darkness to be moved away from potential source of damage.

Almost as if something else was aware of what was occurring. But why attempt to conserve ashigaru that had already been destroyed?

Unless---

@Rune_Alchemist@Eisenhorn@Izurich@OwO@Raineh Daze

Fate/Illuminate Histoire

One thing was for sure.

Back then, Saber had never tasted anything this awesome. Salty and sweet at the same time. Crunchy too. And the outside was chocolate, a totally new food to her that she could barely even describe.

The fact she could just snag it off a shelf was pretty amazing, too.

After they'd arrived and registered at the Church, her Master had no issue with letting her wander off and scope things out. She'd have wanted to anyway, and while her Master needed protection regardless of how strong she was at the moment Saber felt like her best bet was to see what town was like.

She'd be fighting here, after all.

There were lots of people in much of Sako City, something Saber knew affected the way she'd be fighting. She wasn't going to go risking the lives of uninvolved civilians.

What kind of rotten bastard would do that?

Anyone who did deserved to be gutted, plain and simple.

She'd noticed some guy from the west, like her Master and her, earlier. She wasn't certain if it meant anything or if he was just some tourist, but it had caught her eye when she was looking for snacks in a nearby store.

Only for a moment, though.

Saber had seen some motorcycles too. Now those were awesome. Like a horse made of metal that roared. She couldn't help but wonder if she'd be able to convince her Master to let her buy one. She was rich, wasn't she? She could absolutely afford it.

But it wasn't as if she was out here just to put together a wish list or see the sights.

Her real purpose was twofold: Get a feel for her surroundings, and maybe, just maybe, track down an enemy Servant.

She wanted to. She was itching to run right into an opponent and take them on. Saber was nothing if not confident, she didn't need her Master present to make her feel like she'd pull out a win no matter who she ran into.

Saber would make them regret showing up to the war, and she'd enjoy it.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

The phantom Ashigaru's armor wasn't impenetrable, far from it. The one who had been struck in the chest practically erupted backwards, darkness splattering over the moldering floor as the other's neck crunched sideways. Another fell with an arrow directly through the crimson pinpoint that was its eye.

As they hit the ground, their bodies broke down, collapsing into a dark ooze, the armor and weaponry disappearing into their now-gelatinous forms. They didn't appear to move for the moment, black vapor rising from their immobile slime, but anyone with spiritual sensitivity could tell that there was still something within the inky substance.

What that meant, exactly was difficult to discern, but at the very least it seemed as if they died similarly to living humans.

The remainder of the Ashigaru on the ground floor prepared to regroup, retreating slighting and shifting to bar entry further into the building, those with yari raising the weapons pointed outwards as the one on the roof attempted to reload its arquebus as quickly as possible.

@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y@Psyker Landshark

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

As Youmu listened to Sanae's explanation, her grave expression grew increasingly intense by the moment.

"I... really?"

And yet when she finally spoke, she sounded more frustrated than anything else. If this deity had spoken to her mistress and asked for her assistance, and her mistress asked her to go, she would have come gladly. Perhaps it was difficult to do so at the time, but she had appeared much later than anyone else.

And that wasn't it.

"When she dragged me here, she nearly tore me in half," the half-phantom added, glancing towards her drifting phantom half as she did. She could still feel something was wrong, even if it didn't manifest painfully now.

"But if she was seeking powerful assistance, I guess that explains why she would ever summon Scarlet-san," she added, with another look towards the vampire. While her impression of Remilia Scarlet wasn't particularly favorable overall, especially given her first meeting with that maid of hers, she considered it foolish not to recognize that the child-sized vampire was considerably powerful.

"But now that I'm here, I can't really look away when there's people suffering," she added after a few moments with a sigh. While her duty was to the Princess of the Netherworld, it didn't sit particularly well with Youmu to simply ignore it if people were being hurt. The sight of the bodies laying outside in the ruined part of town was emblazoned on her mind, no matter how she tried not to think about it.

Of course, focusing on any of that was difficult when someone so completely bizarre was standing nearby. The humanoid machine reminded her of something the kappa would make, only it turned out he wasn't really a machine despite looking like one? Not only that, but there was some form of god of these living machines that was responsible for all of it?

It was a lot to take in when coupled with the situation as a whole.

Were these the deities of other lands like Gensokyo? Gensokyo had many gods, though, and she had met some of them. These places appeared to have only one as far as she had heard, but she'd only been here for a short time---

Ah, it was way too confusing! And she was already so frustrated at it all!

@PKMNB0Y@Izurich@Lugubrious

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

The crack of gunfire.

Had Arisa not reminded herself just moments before what A-188's nature was, the sight of her skull splitting would have been horrifying.

But as it stood, Arisa immediately traced where the bullet had come from.

The figure on the ruined roof, aiming downwards, was clad in light lacquered armor, body seemingly composed of shadows in the shape of a human, with red pinpoints of light serving as eyes.

It wasn't the only one of its kind. Others had emerged from darkness of the deeper ruins, yari pointed downwards as they hurtled forward, poised to impale the other Agents and herself.

She couldn't reach the matchlock-wielding one on the roof before the yari-wielders reached them, and if it still had to be reloaded that would take time. So she'd take the closer target.

There wasn't much time to ponder their nature, though they seemed to be some kind of phantom. She could guess the arquebus was responsible for the shattered skull of one of the victims, and that the yari were responsible for the puncture wound. A katana could explain the bisected victim as well.

Arisa took one step forward.

Whatever their nature may be, she was certain the phantom ashigaru were responsible for the killings.

So, she'd stop them.

Ifrit raised. The first step was simple.

Channel her mana down into her legs. It was almost as if she was willing her own blood through her veins, faint lines of light spreading along her thigh and calf muscles.

When she launched herself forward, it was this magical energy that increased the power of her legs, letting her reach the yari ashigaru in an instant.

In that some movement, Ifrit's enormous blade cleaved the air, snapping the nearest weapon's shaft and reaching its wielder. The lacquered armor wasn't enough, splitting under the impact.

Ifrit sliced through the ashigaru from shoulder to hip, both halves flying apart. What spewed from the body wasn't blood, but rather an inky, hazy black fluid.

Arisa twisted in place, dragging Ifrit's tip against the wall as she brought the enormous blade around, slamming into the nearest phantom ashigaru from behind and cutting its upper half from its lower.

@Rune_Alchemist@Eisenhorn@Izurich@OwO@Raineh Daze

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

While Arisa didn't have the deepest familiarity with mysticism outside of Western European magic and of course Japanese occultism, it didn't take exceptionally deep knowledge to understand what Agent Mae had given her, even without considering the fact that similar objects existed in Japanese mysticism as well.

In fact, such things were common all over the world, though they took a variety of different forms. Charms designed to grant the wearer luck and protection against wickedness were not only a staple of worldwide mysticism for thousands of years, but also commonplace for Agents of Sefirot. With the presence of curses and other similar methods of attack, it only made sense to associate with the local shrines and utilize their services.

"Thank you, Agent Mae," Arisa said with a nod. From what she knew of the Korean medical operative, this wasn't exactly out of the kindness of her heart, but it was still going to be useful against an unknown anomalous threat.

After taking one of the charms, Arisa paused outside of the property. Supplying them with A-188 made sense. The kind of harm that was done to the victims of whatever lurked in this ruined mansion wasn't immediately threatening to the shapeshifter, and she was quite docile and easily-handled by Agents.

While a part of Arisa wanted to forge ahead quickly as possible, she instead decided to take a position alongside the Anomaly rather then taking the lead.

If something attacked the currently-childish-looking entity, she could respond quickly and counterattack herself, possibly before the enemy could understand their attack was ineffective and try again, or choose a different target.

Just because A-188 could survive far more then a a human didn't mean Arisa was entirely comfortable with her soaking up every attack leveled at them. Only an idiot and a coward would operate in such a callous way.

"Operation start," the redheaded mage said, glancing bac over her shoulder at the others.

She only started at the waving Kawahara in exasperation for a moment before stepping onto the property proper.

The gardens that had once surround the property were surely beautiful once, but were now wild and overgrown. The entrance was still somewhat intact, but beyond that the roof had largely collapsed in this part of the property, and large sections of the floor had rotted away. In some places, plants had grown up through it.

Given that the rot was wet rather then dry, Arisa felt fairly comfortable using her spells here.

Did she just hear something on the roof above---?!

@Rune_Alchemist@Eisenhorn@Izurich@OwO@Raineh Daze

---

The rear of the mansion was more intact.

The roof hadn't collapsed as much, here, and thus it had somewhat protected the floors and walls below. While there were certain gaps in its structure, it was really only enough to let the dying light through, now.

Old, damp floors creaked. Some crumbled slightly with the pressure of footsteps. But the rear team had yet to see anything unusual. If anything, aside from the unpleasant feeling the property itself radiated, there was nothing but an eerie stillness in the ruins.

At least, that's how it was at first.

Then there was a creak.

Then another.

They didn't come from the Agent's footsteps.

No, these sounds came from deeper in the ruins. Of course, in a decrepit building such as this, it was hardly unexpected to hear such noises.

And yet---

The figure lurched around the corner.

There was a flash of steel, a blade attached to a long pole, thrusting for the nearest Agent immediately.

It wasn't alone.

The figures that swiftly emerged from ruined walls and from around corners were human in size and shape, clad in light, lacquered armor dating from hundreds of years ago. Beneath it was a shadowy mass, pitch black and possessing to red pinpoints roughly in the location of a human's eyes. They advanced swiftly, at least eight currently visible and wielding both yari and katana.

But there was another, further back, already leveling an arquebus towards the agents and taking aim.

@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y@Psyker Landshark

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

@VahkiDane: Heeey sorry for the delay.

This is a little nitpicky but can you change the surname? It's just standing out to me given it's not an actual Japanese surname. ^^;

There's some other things I want to talk over with @Raineh Daze a bit more before I give my final verdict, but I'd like to know exactly how strong and how useable you want the sword to be too, even if you send it privately.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

"K... Kochiya-san?"

For a few moments, Youmu wasn't entirely certain how to react. After seeing all the pain and destruction that had clearly been wrought here, the last thing she expected was an even slightly familiar face. The half-phantom didn't even know the Moriya Shrine's miko particularly well, but at the very least she'd met her more than once.

That was more then she could say for most of people she'd run into so far. The unfamiliar atmosphere was all somewhat overwhelming for Youmu. She'd never seen this many people with serious injuries, let alone the actual dead bodies she'd seen outside.

The next familiar face that showed up was more confusing then anything.

"Scarlet-san?!"

Youmu couldn't help but exclaim at that point. Of all the people she could have possibly expected to see, that certainly wasn't one of them. The Mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion wasn't exactly the sort of person who was commonly seen wandering around in random locations.

"... Er..."

The half-phantom took a deep breath. She had to compose herself and handle this seriously. The only other remotely familiar figure was what appeared to be some kind of oni, a tall, silvery-haired woman wearing extremely unfamiliar clothing. But was she an oni in the first place? Was that a tail?

"Kochiya-san, Anne-san said you could explain what was going on," Youmu began after a few moments of hesitation, "Where are we? What happened to all of these people?"

Something truly terrible had occurred, and this didn't look like anywhere in Gensokyo. She had to know.

Meanwhile, as Lily and the Knight kept watch over the injured, girl that they'd managed to recover from the debris was stirring. As she sat up, her breathing still somewhat heavy, her eyes travelled across her surroundings for a few moments before settling on Saria.

"You... you were the one who carried me back, weren't you?" she asked after a moment's pause, "Thank you, I was out of it so I wasn't sure at first. I'm Raya, my father is-"

She paused for a moment, her eyes drifting downwards.

"W... was, the leader of this town..."

@Raineh Daze@Drifting Pollen@EchoWolff@DracoLunaris@Lugubrious@Izurich@PKMNB0Y

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fanilly was speechless.

Meeting heroes from two-hundred years ago was one thing. It certainly wasn't a particularly normal thing, but nothing here was normal. Even if she'd struggled with it at first, ultimately her mind had been able to adjust somewhat after meeting Sir Cyrus.

However, the sight of a card game between the legendary knights who were the first of the order, the fact that some of her own knights had joined them, the fact that one of them was Sir Edwin and yet now he sat among his fellows once again...

It was a little much for the Knight-Captain, to put it simply. She hadn't actually managed to speak since she entered the room, despite the fact that it certainly was a situation where she should have tried.

"I..."

She trailed off for a few moments.

"I-I'm not familiar with this game, so I'll just watch..."

It was all she could manage in the face of such a surreal situation.

@Raineh Daze@Psyker Landshark@HereComesTheSnow@Octo