Illyria - Illyria Finale - Final Boss Round 2
[Toggle Names]Description: With Kulshedra driven from Castle Illyria, the dragon has reached the Telluric Complex, where she and her minion, Saiyuki, feed upon the raw leyline energy. Before she can fully reform however, Ky Kiske and Munin manage to catch her, and force a battle. While fighting a dragon with so few numbers is challenging, especially alone, a wild card has arrived to assist the heroes: Oswald.
[KULSHEDRA]
The dragon was ravaged to her very bones.
Hissing steam and burning bones set the sky alight, as the crimson moon hangs heavy over the valley. At her arrival, she was barely driven off by the brave Naoto, the heroic Renka, and the opportunistic Lotus, the trio of unlikely allies coming together to bring down the hellish dragon. But as her flesh was peeled away from her, she escaped explosively. The smoldering wreckage of the castle was being cleared, but the path of the dragon was clear.
The Telluric Complex.
The Telluric Complex is a vast magical infrastructure built on top of a leyline, designed to harness, process, and contain the energy of the leyline. The ability to craft Telluric Complexes are discovered and lost throughout history; some may be newly created and built using the latest in magical technology, and others may be ancient beyond written history. Despite the sometimes long time gaps, they remarkably look the same, following the same principles of magical containment whether through atomically constructed steel alloys or cold forged iron.
The interior of the complex is almost industrial; a careful union of massive gears, bridges over impossibly deep ravines, and a mix of stone, metal, and ceramic walls all around. Guardian armors are stationed throughout the countless pillars, acting as grounds and redirecting ground flows up into ceiling flows. Hewn into the composite material are rifts driven into the walls. Within these rifts is the very spiritual energy of the leylines, contained by specially forged metal and intricate runes.
Eldritch energy flows all around; even contained it cannot help but radiate out in pure spiritual force. Because of this, there is rarely any need for artificial illumination. Unfortunately, there is a lack of proper protections as well; there is a moderate risk for chi poisoning from extended presence in these complexes. Likewise, manifestations of pure chi spirits are not unusual either, and they can be quite dangerous too. There are reason why these complexes are so often abandoned and forgotten.
In the Atrium, the flow of energy passes through here before funneling across the mysterious complex. This is the largest room of the entire complex, even larger than the actual core. High above is a beautiful tapestry of lights, shapes, and colors as the sea of chi mixes and mingles overhead, sifting and sorting into their proper channels. In fact, because the chi is battling it up so high, this is one of the safest locations in the complex, and many of the living chambers are at or near the Atrium.
Already, she reached the caves, the skeletal shape of the burning bones of the headless dragon slithers through the passages, hissing steam pouring off her form as the water oozes from her body. She was almost free of the blood; the Aspect of Water's failure left her weaker and weaker. The hideous revenant was growing weaker; once her burns were put out, it would be another dive into the endless sleep of the Faerie realm. Reaching the atrium, the last of the blood hisses away. .
But fortunately, one of her surviving aspects was waiting for her.
"Saiyuki!" The burning bones howls at the warped Sacred Order acolyte, the member cursed and morphed by the Aspect of Air. Infused with the pestilence of the wind, already the locusts were beginning to reform and infest the interior of the Telluric. The dragon, it's skull already reformed, was clinging to the swirling energy clouds overhead. Rending with her claws, the skeletal dragon was tearing at the energy fonts of the Atrium, ripping into it desperate as the wild energies flood. "Tear open more veins! Let the energies of the Telluric within me!"
"Reform me, slave!"
[OSWALD]
For a man like Oswald most of life is about money and enjoying the thrill of the hunt. The former has been fine, but the latter has been lacking. Not only that his time working with NOL had lead to a snarfu where Oswald was unable to complete a job because of one of NOL's own recruits, but the person in question could offer no good excuse before he died.
That should have been the end of it, but it wasn't. Oswald had kept his ears open and his money afforded findind people in both the SO and NOL to let him know what has been going on. He isn't a man normally to take action in most situations, but this isn't a normal situation.
What good is having money and enjoying good Scotch if the world was destroyed? He has no alliegance other than his own. A man looking to stop this madness and to hopefully restore the world to normal. Or as normal as it can be.
Even in this face of danger the old man seems to already be waiting. Well dressed and his gloved hands idly shuffling a deck of cards as his cold, uncarding visage looks on. Tonight whoever looks to oppose him will fall.
[SAIYUKI]
There, but hiding, tucked into a niche high up where the energy casts shadows, clinging to life and trying to recuperate after the fierce battle with Julia. It isn't just hiding, though, it's spreading the taint of disease and weakness, spreading as a disease to infest and stain the energies flowing through the ley lines.
Called upon, the great, tattered vulture's wings spread, and the wasted, withered girl they are anchored to is easily carried to do the bidding of the Master. Circling, like the vulture the wings resemble, the girl tears at the the lines of power, spilling and channeling that raw energy to the scorched and skeletal remains of the dragon and refueling herself in the process.
The girl suspended between the massive, tattered wings is just an Acolyte, her legs twisted by illness and skin marred with bruises that seem as if scales have pressed against her flesh from the inside - leaving dark and rotten looking imprints on her skin. Where the bruises aren't, the skin is a sick, half-dead pale shade.
Still, there's terror that slips through the gaze of the girl. Terror and the kind of despair that reflects a sickness of her soul.
[MUNIN]
When you know something unusual is afoot, the first thing you consider is exactly what may be behind it. The second thing, for Munin at least, is to wonder where it will be. What plans might whoever is behind things have. Once she heard about this specific room from her allies in the Sacred Order, she instantly had a feeling concerning it.
Namely, that you don't have a room this big, this grand, and this specific in it's visible function without a use for it. This much power in one place? That needs to be kept tabs on! You never know what unusual situations you'll see there when no one is aware you are hiding there. With so much power flooding the area, a single smaller individual like Munin would likely not even register on the radar, as it were.
Hugin having gone off to handle another matter, the stealthier of the siblings has done just that, and now it pays off. Whatever this thing is, there is little question of whether it is a natural creature, or an aberration of some kind. It's clearly hurt, which gives her the advantage.....
She begins calculating exactly where and how hard it might be best to hit this thing.....
[KY KISKE]
Ky Kiske, the legend of the Sacred Order, had been mostly absent for the campaign here in Illyria. Word had been spreading that he had undergone another, secret missiom that would aid the war effort greatly, if not turn the tables completely on their side. Furthermore, word had been spreading that he had been gravely wounded in that mission, and had been recovering from some malady that had befallen him afterwards.
It is not far from the truth.
But, now, Ky is here. And with him, he bears the burden of responsibility. So many lives have been lost, sacrificed on the altar of purity and justice. Lost in the name of protecting the world from creatures borne of chaos, who only know chaos. It doesn't matter to Ky Kiske if those lives belonged to Sacred Order or to NOL. Each who had died, every single soul, weighed upon the conscience of this young Knight Commander. How many lives could have been preserved had he been leading the charge directly?
So, with that weight heavy on his heart, Kiske comes to the complex of his own, free of any contingent of soldiers, SO, NOL, or Gear for that matter. He has come to end this blight on his own. A dragon. Surely, if his mentor could do it, then so could he. It wasn't that Ky believed his skill to be greater than the legendary Kliff's own. No. Not that. Rather, if his mentor had done it, then, in order to honor his mentor, he could give no less of an effort. In order to ensure that the lives of each fallen member of the Sacred Order and the NOL were not in vain, Ky will fell this unholy creature, and turn aside the forces of chaos that seek to spread their corruptive influence over the world.
Or he will die trying.
The bellowing of the beast leads the way, and Ky moves with the swiftness of the lightning that he is so associated with, bounding over stone and debris by virtue of darting from one spinning magical seal hanging suspended from the air, to the next. Already in his hand, the sacred weapon Thunderseal is held, blade bare and crackling with magical electricity. Long blonde hair trails behind him, and the look in his one, singular cerulean eye is the kind of look that would chill the blood running through the veins of most men. His other eye, the left, is hidden behind an eyepatch fashioned from gold and brass, with a single rectangular gemstone afixed where his eye should be. That gemstone catches the light, reflecting it and leaving a tracer of blue trailing behind the darting figure as he makes his way into the chamber where the dragon is reclaiming its shape.
"So... This is Kulshedra..." Ky's voice calls out, smooth and boyish, and yet still seeming to carry throughout the massive chamber with an air that demands attention. "I had expected... more."
[KULSHEDRA]
They have found her.
It was only a matter of time. Stretching her neck back, she stares down at the blonde-haired swordsman. Flicking her tongue out, somethings fall from her bearing. The insects, there were so many insects. Her own wings stretch, vulturelike in shape and filled with writhing vermin. She gives it a flap, as the swordsman gives his warning. Her sapphire eyes dance from him, to around. The shadows. SHe could feel them. How many? 2? 3? There was no time. She gives one last tear at the Atrium.
Infused with the flood of chi, she generates.
There is no craggy shell, no earthen scales; only the crawling, writhing insects upon her naked bones. It was nearly as emancipated as her servant, the cursed girl that was her aspect's vessel. Their crisped bodies rain from on high. But the water, the flow of the Telluric was infusing her. She needed the water, she needed it. But for now, she was embodying the flames, and the air. And with Ky Kiske... intruders... she had even less time than before. Time. She needed more energy. She needed to kill.
She needed prey, and life.
"Kill them!" She screams, as she drops from the ceiling. "The others, I can feel their breath! Find them! Tear them limb from limb!" A vicious threat. A desperate one. The Dragon dives at Ky Kiske, her claws stretch out, as the locusts crawl over her bones. Should she reach Ky, she would try and pin him down, and give a vermin-filled bite upon his chest.
There was no time.
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra has started a fight here.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kulshedra 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra has joined the fight here as a boss!
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|---------------
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske has joined the fight here.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|---------------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ky Kiske 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki has joined the fight here on the top side.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|---------------
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Saiyuki 0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ky Kiske 0/-------/-------|
[OSWALD]
The people tonight that are allies would be those he would care little about. Even now Oswald has no feelings to those he fights along with, but they must come out victorious and they get only a bit of sympathy from the old assassin who may give just a little thought of who he fights along with.
Even the likes of Ky fight along with a man that that was ordered to kill members of the Sacred Order by NOL despite that information never being leaked. SO or NOL now makes no matter. Oswald has one side to be on right now and that is his own. Ky right now just gets a temporary ally as the huckster makes himself known.
"You have picked a pad time to appear." He tells Kulshedra as he calmly produces a card and flicks it in the air. It spins about before looking to strike Kulshedra. A card much more sharp than it has any right to be. A card that can penetrate the creature if if were not too careful
COMBATSYS: Oswald has joined the fight here.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|---------------
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Saiyuki 0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Oswald 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ky Kiske
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra successfully hits Ky Kiske with Combo Mauling.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|-----------====
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Saiyuki 0|-------|-------
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Oswald 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
COMBATSYS: Munin has joined the fight here.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|-----------====
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Saiyuki 0|-------|-------
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-------|
[MUNIN]
From her place hidden in the shadows, Munin watches Ky approach and begin battle with the large creature. She knows by reputation his rumored skill, but even the best can be wittled down by a numerical advantage..... Oswald then makes himself known, and joins him against it.
Even better.
In the interest of giving them all the advantage they might need, she decides to run the defense of their flanking line. Watching Saiyukis trajectory, she leaps from her hiding place, a 'whip' of shadowy chi snapping from her hand to attempt to wrap around the flyer and drag her back and off to the side where more combat can ensue!
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki blocks Munin's Shadow Coil.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|-----------====
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Saiyuki 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/-------|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-------|
[SAIYUKI]
Swinging wide to circle in, Saiyuki catches the snap of the dark chi-whip out of the corner of her eye. Her head snaps around, and she tries to draw her withered limbs up into the beating safety of the dragon-strong wings. The tail of that black tendril manages to coil around an ankle and jerk her to the ground - though the strength in the wings prevents the trapped girl from hitting the ground too hard.
Tumbling to a rolling stop, it becomes apparent that the shriveled legs of the Acolyte are useless, the flesh twisted by the power of the soul fragment that's taken hold of her. Clawing her way up, so the beat of the wings can hoist her, toe tips just barely touching the ground with every dip in altitude, the girl can be glimpsed, terrified within the body that's no long her own. Lips move, as if she fights what's holding her prisoner, and then the expression goes blank.
What follows is hideous, the girl's jaw dislocating and splitting, the mouth opening like a serpent about to swallow its prey... and instead of swallowing, a foul wash of tainted breath is unleashed on Munin.
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki successfully hits Munin with Wasting Breath.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|-----------====
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Saiyuki 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-------|
[KY KISKE]
As the Dragon descends on him, Ky looks up with that one crystal clear blue eye with a look that is as cold as ice. He should move out of the way. Perhaps he even plans to. Perhaps it is the loss of an eye affecting his depth perception that results in him seeming to stand still as the locust-covered monstrosity pushes him to the cavern floor and bites at his chest.
Claws rend leather and armor, and bite into the flesh underneath. Teeth pierce right through, puncturing skin, and muscle, crunching bone. Could Ky truly have fallen so easily to the beast? Was the legend surrounding his skill and accumen all just bluster and hearsay?
It would seem so.
Or, perhaps, he was giving his current ally a chance to have an opening. Perhaps, as the beast bites into his body, he just doesn't feel it the way a normal man does? In fact, he seems to rip himself free of the dragon's jaws, and fall back towards the earth, landing nimbly on his boots.
And no sooner than he does that, than the Knight crusader leaps forward, his white and blue vestments trailing about him as he flips in the air, only to come down at the pestilent creature with an overhead, two-handed slash that leaves a series of prismatic, rainbow colored afterimages of his sword in the wake of his attack.
"Repent for your sins!"
[MUNIN]
Taken off guard, Munin makes a near-successful attempt to leap towards Saiyuki, but to the side and out of the way! Sadly, this doesn't go so well, and the tainted substance impacts her in the side, eating away at her clothing as well as her whispy shadowy chi!
The sizzle of the corrupt stuff hurts, and Munin estimates that if ALL her attacks are this painful, this might well not end well for herself..... but as long as she can buy enough time......Her attempted evasion DOES put her in range for a quick dash, to close the distance, before sending a combination of punches at the corrupted girl, ending in a grab at her shoulders and a fling towards a nearby wall, further away from the others battle!
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra blocks Oswald's Jack.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|----------=====
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Saiyuki 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske successfully hits Kulshedra with Greed Sever.
- Power hit! -
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|-----==========
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Saiyuki 0|-------|----===
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/------=|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki interrupts Combo Grapple from Munin with At The Beat Of My Wings.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|-----==========
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Saiyuki 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-------|
[SAIYUKI]
Punches mar the snakeskin pattern of dragonscales impressed upon the girl's skin, leaving blobs instead of pretty scaling on her flesh. It allows Munin in closer, well within range of those huge wings.
Letting the flesh-sack of the Acolyte take some of the beating, the wiley Air aspect snaps those huge wings around the form of Munin, briefly engulfing the woman when she goes for the throw. Sibilant laughter pours from the mouth of the girl as the wings take on a bright bluish-white glow and she flexes them tight, tighter, crushing the other with the chi-fueled grip, the small body of the trapped youth dangling like some obscene vestigial body part.
[KULSHEDRA]
Kulshedra was going to pull apart Ky Kiske.
Trapping him down, the insects pour on Ky Kiske, writhing on him. Closing her wings over her. She traces her claws into the knight. Unfortunately, her attention is drawn away by the words of the mercenary assassin. A flick of the card catches her attention, and she releases Ky Kiske. Focusing on Oswald, she flaps her wings, the limbs catching the card. It pierces deep, but slows it enough for the locusts to cover it. Turning towards the gentleman, she sneers. There isn't even time to mock, as Ky Kiske -smites- the shit out of Kulshedra, the slash unleashing an eruption of locusts.. And the bones underneath shuddering on impact. She howls first in pain.
And then, fury.
Rage boils from the dragoness, as she stampedes at Oswald. Lashing out with her boney claws, she will attempt to hold the man in place. ANd there, jaw wide open, the fires would build from the very bones. ANd point blank, she would try and breath fire and locusts directly into the fine young gentleman. A ferocious attack...
But her back was now turned on Ky Kiske.
COMBATSYS: Oswald reflects Writhe Upon Humanity's Pyre from Kulshedra with Heart.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|----===========
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Saiyuki 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[OSWALD]
A dragon. A creature of legend and yet in all the things Oswald has seen over the years it holds itself above just a few experiences he has. It is a terrifying image, but he cannot say it is one that would bring upon his demise.
The dragon bounds to him and looks to grasp upon his body and tear him apart, but she finds no luck in this case. He gives a flick of his wrist and cars come about to protect him again. Simple cars that somehow keep both fire and locusts away from Oswald and if anything shove them right back into the maw of the monster.
"Normally I do not fancy myself a hero, but you interfere with my job and for that I will shove anything you throw at me back down your throat."
[MUNIN]
Munin grits her teeth in pain as she is squeeeeeeezed by Saiyukis massive wings........... However, this has potential for a very direct counterattack!
Staring angrily at her target, Munins chi builds sharply, her body becoming engulfed in darkness. Solid Shadow! The only color visible is the bright purple glow of her eyes, narrowed to angry slits! Wings of her own, thin and skeletal looking, also made of whisps of shadowy chi, stretch behind her!
This done, chi builds once more, her eyes glowing brighter and brighter before the collected chi EXPLODES at point blank towards Saiyukis face in a short range, potentially blinding blast!
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki blocks Munin's Eyeshadow.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|----===========
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[KY KISKE]
His sword striking deep and true, Ky can only give a mirthless grin as he feels bones crunch and shatter, and the decimation of countless insects splattered to liquid bits by the cutting swath of his blade. And yet, the dragon has decided to focus its attention on the card-dealing mercenary. Curious, that. Unfocused in its rage.
That is something to build on.
The Knight lands, and no sooner than he does so, he draws his sword back, the blade held horizontally at just over his shoulder. His free hand runs along the flat of it, and as he does so, he seems to draw the electric power surging over its surface onto his fingertips. Flicking out, that same lightning becomes a sphere that he casts directly on the accursed dragon.
Should he succeed, Ky's Lightning will completely engulf the creature, shocking the entire swarm of locusts held within the carcass-like thing, frying them, while drawing it closer to Ky himself, as if pulled by a powerful electromagnetic attraction.
[SAIYUKI]
Oh no! That flicker of humanity in the silvery-blue eyes causes them to widen. The beast that controls the flesh throws an arm up to shield that shadowy attack, the tendrils of dark chi snapping at her face as Saiyuki ducks her head behind her arm to try and block out the worst of it.
Dribs and drabs are sure to add up over time. When that dark assault ends, the girl reaches and grabs at whatever she can sink her hands into of Munin's clothing, holding with supernatural strength that her weak-looking limbs simply shouldn't hold. There's a tiny whimper from the girl that might be an apology as the wings suddenly unfurl and Saiyuki tries to throw Munin away from her, then lash out with one of those terrible wings to send her spinning off...
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra blocks Ky Kiske's Lightning Sphere.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|--=============
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Saiyuki 0|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/--=====|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Munin fails to counter Combo Grapple from Saiyuki with Blink Strike.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|--=============
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Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[MUNIN]
Even with her power more fiercely manifested, Munin is unable to manuever away. This is the first real time she's attempted to utilize this ability within herself, and her inexperience in it's use shows. When she tries to dodge, with the intent of slipping around behind Saiyuki, she doesn't duck low enough under the grab, and is promptly flung into a nearby wall! The impact rocks her body, stunning her for a moment.....
[KULSHEDRA]
Such -arrogance-
As the dragon prepares her flames for Oswald, the flash of the cards suddenly surges back the flame and insects, flooding back at her face. She releases Oswald, staggering. Her rage was blind, furious. After all, she was a wrath, a desolation. She needed to destroy, she existed to destroy. So when all her rage is suppressed, even turning away the fury against Oswald? Ky Kiske steps forward, unleashing his lightning upon her. Raising her wings, her sapphire eyes lock on the blonde as she -rips- apart the lightning, her very elemental nature tearing through the energy. She is still drawn closer, still pulled towards him. But the whirr of the insects build, as she opens her mouth once more.
And the screams begin.
Waves of fire boil forward, dumping straight over her jaws as it simply pours out. It isn't enough pressure, enough force to be blasted him back. Magma, raw molten slag riots out, upon the burnt corpses of the locusts. She would simply hang over Ky Kiske, pouring the fire upon him. No finesse. Just raw elemental force.
Of a raw elemental creature.
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske blocks Kulshedra's Extinguish Into Ash.
KULSHEDRA
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0|---------------|===============
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[OSWALD]
It isn't an enviable position to be in. Drawing the ire of the dragon is going to only create problems and for a moment Oswald did enough to make Kulshedra to think twice about giving him any trouble.
The problem is she turns her attention to Ky in this case. Oswald could care little of the man beyond the fact him falling would shift the odds to the favor of the dragon they face. Even as Oswald killed his allies he looks to Ky and just gives a subtle nod before speaking. "We die and things suddenly become no problem to us. You surive and you become a hero." He does not include himself in the latter. He will be no hero. He is here for is own reasons and that is that.
And while the dragon is focused on Ky he slips in closer to the left flank of Kulshedra, his wrist giving a flick to produce another card as he looks to drag it across her side and open up a wound.
[SAIYUKI]
There is no mercy for Munin.
The winged figure drops to the floor, the withered legs trailing as she pulls herself forward on her hands, rearing up to kneel, facing where Munin has fallen. An abnormally long, forked tongue slithers past Saiyuki's lips, as if tasting the air before it disappears back into the youth's mouth. Inhaling deeply, she bellows at Munin, the full throated roar of a dragon coming from the small female. As she expels that sound, she rears back and the wings clap together hard, sending a shockwave at the woman, trying to batter her down and keep her down with the combine sounds.
COMBATSYS: Munin dodges Saiyuki's Howling Genocide ES.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[KY KISKE]
"I don't care about being a hero," Ky replies, though the one eyed swordsman does give a half-formed grin at that. "I'm only here to protect what lives I can, and to avenge those who have fallen in my absence!"
Even as he speaks, Ky is erecting a shield to protect himself from the dragon's molten attack. A slowly spinning seal of shimmering white-blue light appears, consisting of two concentric rings, with a smaller circle at each cardinal direction, and a stylized cross in the center. A few bits of the slag get past, burning his cheek, singing his clothes, but otherwise, the Holy Knight seems to weather that storm with relative ease.
And when it is over, Ky simply dispels the seal, and leaps up into the air. As he sweeps his arm across, Thunderseal is set to rake across Kulshedra's skull, level with her eyes, and leaving a blinding streak of lightning trailing behind it.
[MUNIN]
Luckily for the shadowy fighter, Munin comes to her senses just in time!
With a grunt of effort, she blurs forwards, the attack JUUUUUST missing! It instead impacts the wall she had been thrown against, shattering part of it and causing a large blast of rock and dust as the ancient walls vibrate with the frequency! While unharmed, Munin IS able to use the propellant from the edge of the explosion to propel herself forwards!
She suddenly splits into several copies of herself, these identical yet illusory forms moving in several different ways to come at Saiyuki. These vanish when struck, or when striking Saiyuki, whichever happens first, harmlessly.
The REAL Munin comes in hard from the right along with her phantom illusions, aiming a strong kick at Saiyukis side! With a quick leap, Munin ducks low and rushes in again instantly, a blade of bright violet chi flaring in the form of a lance from her hand, which is stabbed towards Saiyukis lower torso!
COMBATSYS: Munin blitzes into action and acts again!
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra blocks Oswald's Medium Strike.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|===============
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra blocks Ky Kiske's Power Strike.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------------=|===============
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|------=
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
Her attack done, Munins endurance gives out, and her flaring chi subsides. In a moment of exhaustion, she drops to one knee, her appearance back to normal.... a thin line of red running from her mouth.....
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki endures Munin's Mirror Image.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------------=|===============
[ ||||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|--=====
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki blocks Munin's Shadow Spike.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------------=|===============
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[KULSHEDRA]
"Wretched.... humans..."
Her fiery breath pouring out, Kulshedra is interrupted once again by the other fighter. Both were dangerous, overwhelming dangerous. This time, however, she shields herself with her wings, sheltering herself with them as the pair attack. The first comes from Oswald, interrupting her fiery assault on Ky. The card cleaves through her wings, the feathers and locusts writhing on the ground. She hisses in pain.
But there was more from Ky Kiske.
THe knight assaults with his incredible magic, the counter attack coming at her skull. Recoiling it back, she shields herself with her wings as the other one gets clipped. As both Oswald and Ky Kiske surges at the dragon, she retreats backwards, crawling away from the pair of them. Is she running away?
And then she begins to draw in her breath.
The leylines of the Telluric veins begin to draw away their chi; even Saiyuki has her energy sapped away briefly, the tendrils pulling from her. There is a great vacuum at the center of the dragon, as she continues to shield herself with her wings. THe breath builds, the consuming breath growing and growing into a full charge. The drone of the locusts starts to become a cacophony. She was building into something.
She was building to take back her time.
"So... this is what humanity can muster?" She hisses within her sheltering wings, as the power builds. "Long ago, you were just apes, dragging your knuckles upon the earth. And you BREED. You consume. ANd you multiply. You are a diease upon this planet, a virus, a cruel infection on this planet. The right of this world lays with the fae, not you HUMANS. You wish to take it back? You wish to destroy the faeries?"
"Then come upon me!"
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra issues a challenge!!
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------------=|===============
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra draws in her breath!
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------=======|===============
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/------=|
[OSWALD]
"You are wrong." Oswald replies as he looks upon the dragon.
"I could care less about humanity, but what I do care about is your attempt at exterminating it." he tells her as his gloved hands idly shuff the deck of cards he holds. He does not approach nor does he step away. His cold, calcuating gaze just remains on the dragon as he gives a slight pause.
"For me to survive you must perish."
Another flick of the wrist and a card flies upwards. The Queen of Hearts flutters about in the air before looking to sink itself right in between the eyes of the dragon. "We are both monsters. It simply is a decision on which one of us is stronger and will survive."
[SAIYUKI]
She can't move fast enough to block the flurry attacks from all those duplicates. Saiyuki braces up and tries to endure the kicks as they rain down on her, one breaking the ribs of the possessed girl with a strangled cry from her. Slashed at, Saiyuki manages to spin away just enough to keep the wound from being worse than it is, blood spilling from the cut left behind by the shadow chi.
Once more, the possessed Acolyte lashes out with one of those overly strong wings, trying to slap Munin back or away with a heavy blow.
COMBATSYS: Munin blocks Saiyuki's Aggressive Strike.
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------=======|===============
[ ||||||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 0|-------|-======
[ \\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/--=====|
[MUNIN]
The wing attack impacts hard against Munins raised arms! Looking down, despite being down on one knee and shaking from the exertion, damage, and fatigue, The violet-eyed fighter is still not down yet! She has noticed that the 'girl' part is acting.... strangely, and can't help but call out "I don't think this minion over here is a willing one. Try not to kill her unless needed should i fail". She has NO idea if they heard her, but it's at least an attempt.
Glaring at Saiyuki, she bats the wing away and blurs into the air, coming down with a simple, sharp leaping kick aimed at Saiyukis head! Maybe she can knock the person out, and thereby interrupt whatever control there might be......
COMBATSYS: Munin successfully hits Saiyuki with Diving Kick.
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------=======|===============
[ ||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|------=|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/--=====|
[KY KISKE]
Ky doesn't have any words for the dragon. The only thing he has for her is steel and lightning. Those two things he will lavish upon her like a lover in the honeymoon stages of a relationship. Steel and lightning. She might block his attacks with her wings. She might simply be a swarm of sentient locusts and survive each slice. But he'll keep going. He'll keep giving and giving until he no longer has breath in his lungs and blood in his veins.
The youthful commander dashes, becoming a near blur of motion as he advances on the retreating dragon. She thinks he's going to give her time to charge herself up? No. Not Ky Kiske.
Ky makes a gesture with his free hand as he launches forward. Again, he creates a seal, this one being an empty circle, with the inner ring filled with a sort of visible electrical haze. It hovers in the air some yeards before him, between himself and the dragon.
A downward slash of Thunderseal sends a spark of electrical energy off of the blade. As soon as it hits that seal, it is amplified, and becomes akin to a true, honest to goodness lightning bolt, cracking with booming thunder as it shoots at Kulshedra.
Ky leaps. His booted foot lands on the edge of the seal, and he uses it to push himself forward at speeds faster than man should move on their own. He is more projectile than a human being. His sword blazes, humming and crackling as he sends his own magical might channeling through it, causing it to flare up as he lifts it overhead and brings it crashing down once more. The intention, of course, is to split the dragon's skull in twain, and the force of his blow sends Ky rocketing to the earth with another bolt of lightning from the ceiling of the complex to the floor, mimicing the path that his blade cut.
Landing on the ground, Ky immediately swings his blade back up as he advances under the Dragon, sending the lightning charged edge up, hopefully, into her sternum, intending to shatter that while he's at it.
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske blitzes into action and acts again!
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|--------=======|===============
[ ||||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|------=|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > /////////////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/--=====|
[SAIYUKI]
That savage kick drives the winged menace to the ground, stunning the Aspect of Air. Saiyuki isn't looking so hot, blood leaking from the corner of her mouth and her nose, and a gash along her temple. Still...
THe wings drag her upright, forcing her dangle between them with her twisted toes brushing the ground. The girl's head droops forward, panting hard before she's driven forward once more, trying to wrap Munin up in another of those too-tight embraces, hands used like to claws, trying to rip through clothing to skin, to spread disease and crush and tear at the other before hucking her away.
COMBATSYS: Oswald successfully hits Kulshedra with Queen.
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
1|-==============|===============
[ |||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|====---\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske successfully hits Kulshedra with Charged Stun Edge.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ |||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|=======\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske successfully hits Kulshedra with Lightning Edge.
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||||||||||||| ]
2|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[ |||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 0/-------/-======|
[KULSHEDRA]
The Mercenary
The Knight
And the Spellblade.
Three individuals, like the characters before. All part of the play, to drag apart the dragon. And yet, Kulshedra struggles to contain itself, to protect itself as it builds in power. And yet, the flick of the wrist comes, and the cards of the gentleman pierce through the wings, digging deep between the eyes of the dragon. Were it more mortal and less elemental, it would be simply fatal. Moaning in pain, the crunch of locusts come as the bones flare upwards. But the seals bear upon the dragon... and finally, the elemental esssence is locked. This time, her defensive approach leaves her exposed, and Ky Kiske -cleaves- the wings off the dragon. Shrieking in agony, the follow up attack comes, as the initial wound from Oswald combines with Ky's. The skull splinters, cutting squarely in half, as it dangles on the Dragon's neck. That would be lethal... and the very structure of the dragon dares to collapse. But for a moment, it's clear.
"Let the vermin... FILL YOU!!!"
And it begins to explode with the locusts.
The split skull of the dragon rips to pieces, as the full force of the locusts, the barrage peels away the very insectile flesh of the creature, the very insects crawling on her. The endless chain of insects, pouring to the full interior of the Atrium.
Then the infection spreads.
Diseased breath, a noxious pestilence, begins to fill the cramped, continued spaces of the Atrium, the Telluric. It's not simply to breath it in; even the hazing mist touching the skin leaves festering boils to ooze over... and likely aggrevated by the locusts, who are swift to burrow into the flesh, into every orfice, in every corner and crevice. It is the full desolation of the dragon, the full strength, It isn't flame, it isn't drowning, it isn't the very earth crushing them. It is the full weight of the agony of the plagues upon the living. The neck drops on the dragon, as Kulshedra staggers, wingless, headless. And yet, ever more dangerous, as the last of the locusts fly away, and the burning bones of the dragon is all that is left. An even worse state than before, when she first escaped. ANd yet, the death continues to spread, the sickness, the diease.
And Ky Kiske and Oswald would have first hand experience, if they could not get away.
COMBATSYS: Oswald fails to reflect Empowered #Pestilence Reigns# from Kulshedra with Four Suits.
! VENGEANCE !
*KNOCKED AWAY*
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ |||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|=======\=------\1 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra successfully hits Ky Kiske with Empowered #Pestilence Reigns#.
! VENGEANCE !
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ |||||||||| ]
Saiyuki 1|-------|=======
[ \\\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Munin 1/---====/=======|=======\=====--\1 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
[OSWALD]
The dragon breaks down and the locusts fly. Pestilence and disease are free to reign and the release from the dragon looks to overwhelm those that oppose her.
And while Oswald should look to flee he instead holds his ground. The old man not showing any hesitation as he shuffles the cards in hand and starts to unfurl them into an almost protective shell to throw back anything the dragon has to send his way.
He overestimates his movements and the result is overhwhelming. A plague looking to consume the old assassin yet he is too too stubborn to just die.
He should be dead and defeated, yet Oswald rises and gives a few unstead steps forward. "I do not fear death. You try to infest me with disease, but it is nothing I have not beaten before. Is that all you have? I am almost disappointed in you not being able to kill me."
COMBATSYS: Munin counters Diseased Embrace from Saiyuki with Shadow Strike.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ | ]
Saiyuki 1|-======|=======
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
[MUNIN]
When Saiyuki makes contact, Munin is torn in half, and then abruptly vanishes into whisps of dark chi as the illusory double standing where she was takes the initial opening hit for her!
Meanwhile, the REAL Munin has jumped into the air, up and over the winged creature! That lance of chi forms from her hand again, and with two quick slashes as she sails overhead, cuts at the places where the wings connect to the creatures back!
Landing on the other side, Munin rolls forwards, coming up on her feet, waiting for a potential followup or counter-attack.....
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki takes no action.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Saiyuki can no longer fight.
KULSHEDRA
[ ||||||||||||||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------------
[ \\\\\\ < > ////////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|=======\=====--\1 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
[SAIYUKI]
Wings drop, twitching and writhing like dying snakes. Saiyuki's eyes widen with the shock of the sudden pain, and the complete loss of support for her sickened body. Back laid wide open, bleeding heavily, the youth topples with the loss of the wings to support her frame and lend that unnatural strength to her.
Falling next to one of the Telluric lines, the girl reaches and touches the flow, some of the fluid drawn up her arm and over her body like a bubble. The droplet encapsulates the Acolyte, the fluid going cloudy and impossible to see through, cocooning the small figure completely.
[KY KISKE]
Ky feels immense satisfaction with the damage he has levied upon this vile creature. Surely, even with its blighted nature, it could not continue on, and without a head, it will no longer have the teeth with which to rend. Without wings, it could not fly to escape their wrath. No. This creature was going to die. Here. Now. For good. Ky would have nothing less.
Unfortunately, Ky was wrong.
It spreads its unholy filth, insects pouring forth like a great deluge of vermin. Noxious gases spew forth, clouding everything in a haze. Ky does his best, trying desperately to avoid the pestilence, but how does one escape such a thing as this?
He chokes. He gags. He feels his knees trembling with weakness. He can feel the infection in his wounds. A virulent presence, burrowing inside of him, and threatening to overwhelm him. But will it be enough to fell him?
Not immediately. Ky staggers to one knee, but he doesn't fall. Sweat beads on his ashen brow, but he doesn't relent.
"Pathetic..."
Ky rises from his knee, standing up straight. He raises his sword before his face as lightning crackles along its length anew.
"I won't die in such a place as this."
As he sweeps his sword around in an arc, lightning trails from its tip, forming a circle. His eye falls closed, as he is encapsulated within crackling electricity.
"They are modest to greed, generous to the truth of the world. When the heart is peaceful the seven seas cry."
Drawing his blade back, over his shoulder, Ky's free hand extends out before him. As he does so, another seal forms, this one looking more along the lines of a sacred geometry design, or perhaps an alchemical sigil. Inside, it bears a single word. HOPE.
"RISING FORCE!!!"
Surrounded by a sphere formed by that seal, a brilliant and thunderous bolt of lightning sizzles and crashes from Ky Kiske as he leaps forward at the burning skeleton of the dragon, seeking to slice right through it, along the full length of its corpus. That forceful bolt of lightning crashes into the beast behind him, threatening to explode it into so much shattered bone, while the distinct image of a spectral, angelic figure appears, outlined in smooth lines of electricity.
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske successfully hits Kulshedra with Rising Force.
KULSHEDRA
[ |||||||||||| ]
0|---------------|---------<<<<<<
[ \\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
[KULSHEDRA]
She couldn't hold her form any longer.
Without a head was enough to drive her from Castle Illyria. Without wings, without her minion, without her locusts, she was nearly at her weakest. As the pestilence spreads and chokes, as the boils burst upon their wretched forms, as they should very well be dying slowly, ever so slowly...
The human spirit persists.
"...You are already, both of you. You will die here, alone, forgotten. No tales of heroism, only quarenteine and.. And mourning! You are already DEAD!..." The Dragon's tone was growing more desperate, as the frame of the dragon is nothing more than burning bones, without a head. NO eyes, no sight. And yet, it was crawling around, alive with life. The choking smoke adds to the diseased impact.
And neither Oswald Nor Ky Kiske Nor Munin would allow this to fall.
Like at the Castle, three more individuals, each with their own motives, were uniting together to stop the wrath of a dragon from destroying the valley. Humanity, in it's most dire moments, unite in the face of evil. And Ky Kiske, framed in the electrical energy, rises into a bounding force, as the bolt of holy lightning pierces through the skeleton. And it does more than simply break the bone.
She fully explodes.
The elemental power of the Aspect Of Flame detonates, the seals unleashed upon the surrounding Atrium. The chaotic flames, unquenchable flames cascade around, the final chaser of the elemental essence. There would be no bones left, only ash and shadow. The explosion of flames would warp the very wall, pierce the veins of the Telluric... and contaminate the Telluric leylines. Even now, the shadows pass over, the essence of the dragon fleeing, fleeing deeper. There is no body, no form. Only the inevitable timer, as the draw of the leylines moves to take her back in. The voices mutter, scream, hiss as the flames die down from within the Atrium.
"...I must get..."
"...I must get to..."
"The Telluric Core!"
The essence of Kulshedra flows through the leylines, flowing towards the very core of the complex.
COMBATSYS: Kulshedra can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/-------/=======|
COMBATSYS: Oswald blocks Kulshedra's Exterminating Conflagration.
[ \\\\\\ < > //////// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske blocks Kulshedra's Exterminating Conflagration.
[ \\\\\\ < > ///// ]
Munin 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/----===/=======|
COMBATSYS: Munin blocks Kulshedra's Exterminating Conflagration.
[ \ < > ///// ]
Munin 1/-------/=======|=====--\-------\0 Ky Kiske
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Oswald 1/----===/=======|
[OSWALD]
While Oswald faltered Ky came through and looks to finally defeat the dragon. It should be a time to celebrate victory, but the following explosion says differently.
Oswald is still recovering from his ill fated attempt to stop the dragon when that explosion goes off, but his distance as well as being able to do his best to shield himself means Kulshedra isn't able to kill off at least one of targets.
His body hurts and his suit in bad need of a tailor the old assassin does not fall. "The true monster still survives." He murmurs under his breath.
For now his job is done. No money was involved this time, but the fact humanity should survive now is payment enough. It is hard to be paid to kill someone when when both he is dead as well as all his potential targets.
He says nothing to his fellow combatants and if anything he seems to fade away before they could even say a word to him. They are no longer his allies so there is no reason to linger.
COMBATSYS: Oswald has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\ < > / ]
Ky Kiske 0/-------/--=====|=======\-------\1 Munin
[MUNIN]
As Munin turns to run to join the pair against the dragon, Ky manages to land what seems a killing blow!
Then, shortly after and half-way to the battle, said dragon explodes!
Just as Munin rounds the corner, there is a massive wall of flame and explosive force coming her way! She throws up her arms, chi drifting off them as she tries to defend herself against this sudden and intense onslaught! It proves too much for her, and with a cry of pain Munin is sent flying! She gives a loud scream as she impacts the wall, one of her ribs breaking in the process. If she was barely combat-worthy before, she definately isn't now.....
She IS still alive, at least!
[KY KISKE]
"I should never have let it get this far... You demanded the entirety of my strength," Ky mutters, as he lowers his face, closing the one eye that isn't covered with an eyepatch. Slowly, he lowers his sword, slipping it back into its sheath.
And then, there is the explosion. Ky turns to face the beast, and raises his arms before his face, turning to the side. Luck, it would seem, is on his side. While he's blown back, his boots carving grooves into the earth underfoot, he maintains his balance and in the end, he doesn't fall prey to that final parting gift. Though it is clear that he meant what he said. His entire being was put into this fight, and he is barely standing. In fact, would he be standing, were it not for the mutations that now run rampant through his body? How had Relius' malicious intentions affected him? Was he becoming a monster, like those he fought?
He doesn't have the answer to that, but... he will do as much good in this world as he is able. Until such a time comes...
But the beast still isn't truly vanquished. Its soul... its ephemera had somehow merged with the leylines from what his sorcerous training informed him. Does he have the strength to go on?
He takes a step.
Blood seeps up from his mouth, spilling down his bottom lip and chin. He collapses on one knee, and holds his side.
"I guess I'll have to leave it to others, after all..."
And then, the darkness settles in.
COMBATSYS: Ky Kiske has left the fight here.
[ \ <
Munin 1/-------/=======|
Log created on 23:02:56 05/26/2018 by Kulshedra, and last modified on 14:33:07 05/27/2018.