3708/Dungeon Training: Elite Course

Dungeon Training: Elite Course
Date of Scene:	21 January 2016
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	Union Elites are looking to undertake some extra training. Solaire is looking for people to test the newly revamped Sen's Fortress. Fun happens.
Cast of Characters:	Priscilla, Eryl Fairfax, 626, 627, Lyria Mason, 691, Sanary Rondel, 880, 928, William Pauwel

---

Priscilla has posed:
    Sen's Fortress isn't much to look at. A square, austere building out in the middle of nowhere, high atop a cliff mesa populated by dense, European-style forest, cast under the shadow of an enormous, near vertical mountain wall off to the east, and marked only by a straight, walled stone path. The whole thing is made of various shades of red granite, with years of moss and climbing vines securing what few footholds they can on its simple and uncomplicated exterior. Not much can be seen over the high, crenellated wall, save for the tip of a further tower in the center of it, and there are absolutely no windows to give any insight as to what might be inside. The only way in is a massive iron portcullis, drawn upwards to allow entry, hanging over the arch like a guillotine, past which the light immediately drops to a dim and shadowy but still navigable pitch, like the inside of a concert hall or theatre.

    Priscilla stands back from the entryway, surrounded by a complex network of strangely angular yet flowing runes, halfway between Germanic script and Japanese calligraphy, burning softly even in the midday sun. The participants arise from the perimeter of the circle one by one in clockwise fashion, each outlined in a faintly coloured rim of light, as if hit by an intense spotlight from behind, experiencing only a few seconds of fleeting darkness before their senses slowly fade back in one at a time; sight, then sound, touch, and scent. The day is warm and faintly breezy, but it most certainly won't be inside.

    "Well met, and good fortune, those of thee either brave, foolhardy or suicidal. There is little I may do to introduce thee to what lays within, as thou hast already been properly warned. Except no quarter. Assumeth nothing shalt be fair. Not all paths art truly passable. If necessary, one or more of thee may be required to lay down thine temporary life to ensure the success of the others. Lord Solaire hast great expectations of thee. Rise to them, if thou art able."

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji Murasame is present, his spiritual form black as night as he contemplates the nature of this unusual form of telepresence. If only it wasn't a side effect of the unusual nature of Lordran, such a thing might be interesting to use elsewhere...

Nevertheless, the corporate heir turns to look over the entrance, frowning as he immediately begins considering what horrors could be hidden behind that portcullis, in what ways the architecture could be designed to murder them without pity or mercy.

Priscilla's words cause him to nod and bow in respect to the ruler of Lordran. "Thank you for your warning. I will be prepared." Or probably not. Who knows?

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The idea of throwing youth into a proverbial grinder doesn't sit right with Eryl.

    Sure, they would be phantoms at the time. Yes, the Multiverse is dangerous. Indeed, these are no mere youths. Even so, it makes what is left of his guts churn at the idea. It is for that reason he decides to tag along. A chaperone of sorts, not that he would ever say it out loud. That would be condescending.

    And maybe, deep down, he realizes that maybe he could use the practice too. His record of successes has certainly been tarnished since Unification. Perhaps a trial filled with threat would hone his skills?

    So, he rises up, still as white a phantom as ever. A low bow is offered to Priscilla, just short of a genuflection. "Queen Priscilla," he intones, though his voice is filled with familiarity, not formality. Close attention is paid to her explanation, Eryl turning to regard the gates. "We will take the greatest of care. I would hate to let Sir Soliare down."

William Pauwel has posed:
Sen's Fortress: a wretched hive of snakemen. It's also chock full to the brim with TERRIBLE TRAPS and BOTTOMLESS PITS, all of which have somehow, impossibly, become even more deadly after a bit of renovation. Sen may or may not have been involved, given that he had presumably hidden himself away behind an endless corridor of bladed pendulum boulders and mimic-centipedes shortly after the fall of Lordran*.

    It's a daunting challenge for anyone in the multiverse, but especially for someone completely unused to interdimensional travel. A pale grey phantom manifests out of a fine mist, assembling slowly into an unfamiliar young man... And his motorcycle. Apparently that was a thing that he just sort of brought with him? Phantoms get to bring their equipment, right?

    The young man blinks as he appears, and sloooowly cants his eyes up to the enormous iron portcullis looming overhead. "If that wasn't just one of the most intimidating things I'd ever seen," the boy says with a hushed but almost giddy sort of whisper. "I uh... I heard there'd be some kind of practice session going on here? I followed the instructions and everything, so..." He glances around, looking just a little bit lost, before fixating on the newly minted Lady of the Land. "Wow, miss, this entire place is yours?"

(*Sen's true whereabounts are a mystery to everyone. Except maybe to Sen**)

(**Lord knows that he could probably build a fortress so thoroughly trapped that even the Curse of Undeath eventually got tired of trying and left.)

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Her second time in Lordran, Momoyo arrived from the direction of the Undead Burg. Other than facing down the unnerving trash still wandering about, she made her way carefully along the parapet wall overlooking the deathly quiet massive centuries-old trees below. This time, she brought a small bag with her of small supplies for a longer trip. From her understanding it was going to be a couple of days, but the bag held only salted jerky and a couple of water bottles... having brought it only knowing how barren Lordran was of anything resembling readily edible items for extended stays.

    Quite in contrast to her bravado on the radio though, it took a return trip to Lordran to remind her just how solemn and quiet the place demanded it's visitors be. It tended to sap a sense of humor like the cold sapped energy. She leaned on one of the parapet walls outside of the large grate, but it didn't take long for her to realize her would-be playful rival was vastly more familiar with the risks these types of ruins posed than she was. The briefest shadow crossed her features as she looked at the sheer height of the ancient redstone fortress.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    In stark, perhaps extremely predictable contrast, Kyra's spirit radiates white light. The form also seems to reflect the sun-like 'heat' that her Magical Particle pool gives off naturally, creating a sort of wavering haze around the spirit as well.

    She seems to be decked out in a compliment of her usual large amounts of gear, the Matter Manipulator nowhere in sight since she was unsure how that bit of technology would really interact with the phantom thing. The very real concern of dying as a spirit and losing all her equipment was also an issue and the Matter Manipulator was way too valuable to simply lose.

    Despite facing the prospect of repeated, painful death, she seems oddly cheerful and still a little arrogant. "I'm telling you. We get training on this kind of thing. So put me down in the brave category." she declares, sticking her hands on her hips, "Come, Nero, let's conquer this dungeon!"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane is here, and she's dressed for the presumed weather inside: a kimono with armored portions, various hidden weapons on her person, and a warm cloak over all of that hiding all but her face. Even that has something of a scarf to protect the lizardy woman. She, much like Souji, is all in black. A kunai is restlessly tossed up and down in her hand.

After the debacle with Momoyo Kawakami, the ninja has much to prove, and this training grounds is the perfect place to do it. Even /if/ the source of all of her recent trouble gets a brief kunai-sharp glare from the ninja. She does lingering on the woman, however.

"Perfect training then. We'll be certain to not dissappoint, Ma'am." Then she turns back to a majority of the group, and nods.

"I'll take scouting position, if no one objects. Though if anyone else has the skill, I'd like accompanyment. Splitting up too much in a fortress is suicide." Her mind, at least, seems focused on the job at hand.

Nero (880) has posed:
     As usual, Nero materialized right next to her Master. She was a Red Phantom. As if anything else would have made better sense? After all, red means that you're THREE TIMES AS FAST, right? Right.

     "Indeed, my Praetor! We shall show this dungeon the true meaning of mastery! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

     ...Well, someone was confident.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason had never been here before this was quite interesting for her shge's head about it and it had got her attention. She came in a a phanstom herself, she's a red one from the looks of it. Being here but not here? Thgat was a new experiance for the Levitani woman. She gave a look at Souji's form for a moment, it didn't shock her too much. She's about to say something, when Priscilla greets them. She takes a moment to bow to her and greet her.

"Ahoy and thank you for the heads up."

She bows slightly to Pris.

Priscilla has posed:
    It's a motley crew indeed. Unionites. Confederate. Even someone totally unaffiliates whom Priscilla has never heard of before. Many of them are also significantly more fresh and untested than the hardened veterans that had braved the place last, which should be reason for concern. Priscilla seems unmoved however. She's seen so many people die by now, killed by sneaky traps, lethal hazards, spontaneous disasters, and horrific monsters, that she almost fails to notice anymore. She does smile faintly at Eryl's address, glad to see that his platform hasn't changed. "Sir Fairfax. I trust thou at the very least shalt not disappoint." She then looks to William, mismatched eyes of polished and molten gold looking him up and down. A faint, stabbing pressure briefly rings in the back of his mind like tinnitus. "Correct. I hath come into possession of it as part of the crown of this country. I do not personally manage the fortress, but I am very familiar with it."

    She then graciously stands aside, leaving only the looming entrance ahead; a tomb of massively thick walls, darkly tiled floors, long shadows and narrow, mazelike halls. The very first room is partly visible from outside, wide and spacious with a short flight of steps wall to wall, a handful of thick set pillars blocking view, and strange, iron statues lining the walls. There is only one exit at the far end, likely into the first real challenge past the reception lobby.

    Welcome, to Sen's Funhouse.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra won't be the first spirit to go in-she will, in fact, be the last and wait for everyone else to go ahead of her before filing in to the large room with the pillars. It gives her a good view of everyone-though she's unsure how white magic is going to interact with spirits. Before they pass through to the other exit, Kyra examines the statues carefully for anything that can be taken. Already she's trying to loot.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero, being Nero, proudly strides RIGHT DOWN THE CENTER of the room. She is unafraid of traps. Unafraid of monsters. She will in fact, do so with a wide smile on her face, sword materialized in her hand.

     This will surely go well.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Coming up from behind Nero and Kyra, she puts her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders. "Be quiet. You're going to get each other killed..." she murmurs, surprisingly softly.

    Even she was nervous herself already. Excited, but dread had crept into the otherwise tough girl's features.

    She steps inside past the grated gate. One of the first inside, it was already evident she was going to have problems as soon as she stepped in. Not the barest hint of aura other than faint indications of loose souls strewn about, and nothing from the enemies inside. She felt blind already, booted foot clicking on the cobblestones inside as she stepped in dressed in her black slacks, sweater and vest. Fortunately, Nero strides right past her down the center, practically nudging her aside.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     It's time for Sanary's second venture into Lordran! Unlike her first visit, however, she's looking a little more prepared this time around. Although she still has the massive metalbent shield strapped to her armored back, she's also wielding a sword for once! How strange, considering her usual preference for all things axe-y. Whatever the case is, she's not about to let the beasts undoubtedly roaming these halls catch her against a wall a second time.

     What more, there's even some... Many familiar faces! Time to show off a little. "I'll take point with Yari, then. That should make it easier for the rest of you to mop up after us, right?" She grins at nobody in particular (although Nero and Momoyo both get pointed looks for surely innocent reasons), then readies herself to follow the ninja with her sword and shield ready!

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Unlike Nero and Kyra, Yari is /very/ much afraid of traps. And visibly winces as the other two just /barge/ on in. Thus, she's quick to leap up to one of hte many columns, and run up a good portion of its height. Just as Kyra reaches in to loot? She'll chuck a very tiny pebble at a statue. If she sees anything suspicious in front of Nero, or even Momoyo? Cue another flung pebble as quietly as possible. Seems she's using rocks to check for pressure traps even as she leaps from pillar to pillar, eyes out front and trying to stay ahead, but also far enough to fall back behind Nero et al, and especially Sanary with her taking point.

Thus, Yari's keeping close enough to where Sanary won't get left behind.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Eryl offers a wide smile to Priscilla. "Well, I now have a lot of people to not disappoint. Let's see if this pressure makes a diamond of me." And so, he is one of those who first enter, whistling sharply. The sound would bounce off the walls ahead and return, Original Face painting a crude picture of the area with echolocation. If any false walls have gaps, he might get a sense of what is behind them. Anyone or anything lurking overhead might get similarly painted.

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji pays attention to the situation. He moves forward, hand on his blade. "Murasame. It is time to feed." He states, though to who is it unknown. Perhaps it is his sword, as the ribbon holding the blade falls away, loosening it to allow the Black Phantom to draw it. The dark weapon seems to shudder in his hand, incised deeply with crimson runes of hunger.

Despite this, the corporate heir is watching his surroundings closely as they approach the entrance. "Pay attention to the architecture. Watch for indications that may prelude a trap. Do not bunch up together, or an attack may strike several of us at once." His words are quiet and clipped, but businesslike. He wants to take this foray seriously, as if his life really /was/ on the line.

William Pauwel has posed:
    "O-oh!" There's only one thing that Priscilla could have possibly meant when she started talking about crowns and countries. For all that Will is a bit of a country bumpkin, even he knows what an Empress looks like. "Well, thank you for putting this together, your high regalship, ma'am. It should be..."

Will frowns as not one, not two, but three people stomp right down through the very middle of the foyer. "...That's breaking so many rules, and we've only just started," he mourns, walking his PHANTOM MOTORCYCLE in through the front gates. He sticks somewhat closer to Yari, eyes darting keenly from side to side as they progress deeper into THE FUNHOUSE. There might be a pressure plate! Or a trip wire! Or BOTH! What kind of maniac just walks into a place like this?

WILL USES: DETECT TRAPS. He will probably keep using it until something stops him. Painfully.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Things could be a lot worse in terms of crew, but there would be no denying it was quite the motley crew to be sure. She did move to fall in with Kyra keeping back a bit to do he rbest to guard her friend while she's trying to loot things. She keeps her pistols out already and covers Kyra while she's going to gtra things.

"I got your back Kyra vbut don't take too long on this we don't want to get left behind on this."

Priscilla has posed:
    Yari encounters little difficulty. The pillars are fairly dense; enough to reduce visibility inside the room, or set up an ambush if preferred, though none comes for her. Even throwing a stone at the suspicious statues fails to elicit anything than a dull, metallic plink. The things seem humanoid but definitely not human, depicting figures in faceless armour with great, sweeping horned helms, too tall and slightly off in proportion. Eryl doesn't find much of worth in the room, save for two more figures at the rear, more exotic, but unmoving enough as to clearly not be alive or active. It's clearly just a brief entry to let aspirants adjust to the light and atmosphere, perhaps downing a stimulant, lighting a torch, or double checking their gear.

    Except the very first thing that happens when Nero barges in is that the floor tile under her heel grinds down, and the air fills with a whistling shriek as a flurry of projectiles launch towards her. One would expect poison darts as a classical mechanism, but they would be wrong. Steel harpoons as tall as she is launch from concealed slits in the heavily shadowed back wall, each of them with hefty, serrated points deliberately designed to be horrible to pull out. They've been deliberately arranged in a spread wide enough to blast through the whole front door, hosing the whole bottleneck at once, and more specifically, they fire not just once, but in three separate waves, and that miss thunking six inches deep into the stone fifty meters outside.

    Dick move. Hitting people who haven't even gone inside? Thankfully, with one plate as reference, William can spy no more inside the room. All of them look pretty solid, some of which are fairly dusty. There is no particular loot to be found inside either. Anything that may have been left by previous dead wannabe heroes has likely been picked clean, unless it has been very well hidden. Behind the rearmost pillars, there is only a pair of additional statues, made of some blue-grey glass or crystal shot through with whorls of cloudy white with an unnerving tendency to evoke facial recognition in people. Both of them are some sort of hideous, nine foot tall beastman, though their features are all obscured and worn away. It seems Priscilla decided to keep those.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero steps in.

     She stops.

     She looks around.

     "...Hah! Nothing to fear after all! Truly, it is as if this dungeon knew I would be appearing this day and-"

     WHOOSH

     THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK THUNK

     With a plop, the red phantom falls to the floor, riddled with innumerable harpoons.

     N E R O H A S D I E D

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Only barely having been shuffled out of the way by Nero, she catches one of the long shafts in the middle by reflex. However, the rest of the barrage she was unable to do anything about other than duck behind one of the pillars. "Shit!"

    She watches Nero's blood fade into her phantom aura, but aside from that it was still unnerving the way her face twisted. She turns her face again to Kyra.

    "/Now/ do you get it!?" she was chiding her for being noisy. Throwing the shaft angrily on the ground, she mutters under her breath to dart up the stairs and peer around the corner down the dim hallway sloping upward into the main hall. "Damn..." she murmurs, waving in those who wanted to go on ahead.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Incoming harpoons! Aren't those supposed to be used for hunting giant fish, not people? Well, whatever the case is, it certainly makes for an effective trap. Sanary grits her teeth as she hunkers down behind behind her kite shield and tries to keep as many of those harpoons from getting through as possible. Two of the harpoons scrape noisily against the shield, three more slam into her armor, and two more embed themselves rather firmly into her legs.

     At least she's still alive. Cursing like a sailor, but alive. Good thing there aren't any children around. "...Nngergh! S... Someone mind getting these? Son of a..."

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari takes all of one half second as Nero blunders into potential death to shout into the radio, and one second to duck behind her pillar of choice. Even then, she still gets a grazing harpoon across her bad shoulder for her efforts at scouting. Ducking behind, she manages to stay safe. Her gaze falls to those left after Nero falls.

She calls out over the radio to see if anyone else is alive. Only once they're clear and the waves have stopped?

She'll first toss a good three explosive kunai at the two creepy statues in the back. Right in the eyes and nose. BOOM! Hopefully Priscilla didn't like those or something. Then, if they seem safe, she'll sneak in to start scouting the next room, waiting on Sanary and the others to be ready to venture forth.

At least until Sanary mentions a wound. She's there, trying to pry them out.

"Miss Hyral?" She calls out. Medic needed!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    As the sounds bounce back, Eryl says to the party, "This area seems to be safe. A welcoming entrance, no doubt to lull us into a false sense of security-" Oh god harpoons. Having been so busy talking, the diplomat lacks the time to throw himself to the floor, so he does his best to deflect the things with his limbs!

    At the very least, he avoids a fatal blow, but he takes quite a few scrapes, cuts and gouges on his still-organic face and torso. "Urgh... we only just started. Shall we resummon her, or forge on?" He would assist with the wounded first, cutting off the heads of the serrated traps with his Ungraspable arm blades.

William Pauwel has posed:
Rule twenty five in the Chaser Manual: If you start hearing 'FWIP FWIP FWIP,' get your fool head down.

    Will reflexively yelps as THAT AWFUL SOUND fills the air and, with impressive speed, immediately drops to his belly and covers his head. Sure enough, GIGANTIC DOOM HARPOONS scream by overhead. What kind of horrible monster installs those things!?

Sen. Sen does.

    When the dust settles and everything sounds clear, the young dungeoneer peeks his head up and out, and then scrambles to his feet, "A trap already!? That flyer wasn't kidding." He takes a breath to steady his THUNDERING PHANTOM HEART. Or rather, what he thinks a thundering phantom heart should sound like. "Is everyone okay? Uh... Looks like the room is clear though. Watch out for more of those things-- Hold up."

    There's a beat as he realizes that someone is... missing. Somehow the ash-grey phantom goes even paler, "We're missin' someone... The flyer said this was safe, didn't it!?" Do flyers lie now!? What kind of horrible place is this!?

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra is thoroughly disappointed that, as she explores the perimeter of the room, she finds nothing lootable. Her irritation over this doesn't last very long, however, because seconds later she finds her Servant gibbed by harpoons far faster than she can jump in to heal her. Not that Kyra is going to jump in to /that/.

    An annoyed noise excapes her, primarily at Souji's comment over the radio. "Hey, I'm not the one who just strolled down in the middle of the room, okay?" she snaps angrily at Momoyo. "And who puts a trap before a dungeon? An asshole, that's who." She slips away, magic primed-in this form it looks like she's peeling phantom essance off to bestow heals, but that really isn't the case as this energy is transferred into Sanary.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is very glad she's not charing in first, she's seen the reports on how dangeorus this world could be. She also was concerned about what lay in wait with Kyra. It was not enough however. She also catches wind of the harpoons s they launch. She gringes at Snary and leaps back but wait there's more than one wave, okay Pris wasn't kidding either about how nasty this place was. She's forced to try and avoid being turned into a Kabab and barely does.

"A very clever bilge rat, Kyra."

She's very much on her guard now and not even trusting the ground under foot at this point. She cringes at Sanary, still she's lucky this was as a Phantom and not as her actual self, that would be quite messy in the end.

"I see why she made us come as these Phnatoms..."

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji was expecting something like this. When he hears the plate depress, he is already diving for the floor, sliding forward slightly as the harpoons whip past him. His suit is now dirty, but at least he's intact.

The same cannot be said of Nero. He sighs for a moment. "Relax and stay focused. Take this as a learning experience." He states, standing up again when it seems like the danger is passed. "We will not be safe here. Expect your expectations to be abused." He looks to Sanary, and nods, waiting for her to be attended to. Once the way is clear, he gestures. "Miss Takane. You should scout ahead."

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla sighs patiently as Nero is the first to bite it. She had warned her before. Lordran is not a place of glorious and romanticized heroism. To be a hero in Lordran is to seek misery and adversity on purpose, and to overcome it with one's sanity and spirit intact. Nevertheless, she had died right at the entrance, and so it only takes her a minute to re-sketch the Heroic Spirit's name in the letters of the old gods, recovering her from beyond when she's ready dealing with the agonizing pain of being shot through with so much flying steel. She'll be back in action immediately.

    Sen himself had designed this deathtrap well enough to deserve its reputation, but it was, in the end, designed for lone humans, or perhaps small teams of them. Solaire is the one who has decided to upgrade it to the hellish gauntlet that it surely is now, having seen the incredible prowess of the Union's and Confederacy's finest in action. It's a good thing there are so many today, because they have some very big boots to fill. Nowhere is this more apparent than the room that Momoyo sneaks into, and into which the rest will surely follow. The doorway was but a wakeup call compared to this. A love tap to make sure that the aspirant's heart is in its, and to perhaps humiliate the weaker out of pursuing it further.

    The first challenge takes place in a hall actually multiple storeys tall, and as long as several houses, occupied entirely by a crisscrossing lattice of absurdly narrow walkways, slightly too thin for a natural human walking gait to be safe without constantly monitoring one's feet. They're probably stone, but it's difficult to tell with each of them covered in some tarry black substance over every single inch. The floor is a long, steep, and pitch black drop below, though sounds of squishing and scraping echoing from the pit indicate it isn't empty. Neither are the spaces above. Metallic bars have been installed from wall to wall, forming a loose grate too tight for a human to squeeze through, but definitely possible to shoot through, so low as to require someone tall to crouch slightly to traverse the sole bridge on the 'ground' level, and completely prohibiting flying.

    The bridges above have a clear line of sight down to it, and have been fixed with literal ballistae pointing down, as well as piles of throwable objects, manned by hulking, heavily muscled humanoids that have been clearly spliced with predatory snakes; their necks and serpent's heads adding several feet to their height. Half are modelled after pythons, equipped with cleavers that must weigh twenty kilos and thick roundshields, with the others reminiscent of cobras, and possessing a bizarre set of four arms, two of which wield wavy, bloodletting swords. A couple of the former stand halfway across the bridge, between a set of gargantuan, swinging pendulums tracing narrow gaps in the grating, terminating into wicked axe blades the size of a car, all alternating at slightly different speeds to prevent the appearance of a reliably appearing window. The serpent men are probably the originators of the statues in the entryway, blown to glassy smithereens by explosive kunai. RIP them. At the very least, the dungeon staff seem to be taught not to engage until someone actually steps onto the bridge. Small mercies.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane takes a deep breath, and then gets into action. She makes several handseals, and right beside her, a shadow clone pffts into existance. The clone, full of real weight and heft, leaps onto that narrow bridge. She'll start to run down that narrow walkway, full of every bit of ninja agility, even as the real Yari watches to see what this gauntlet of horror is capable of. She takes out a magnifying watching, even as she makes another set of handseals.

A powerful bolt of lightning goes flying for one of the ranged defenses that she can spy with her little glass, eyes narrowed despite the darkness. She'll then step out of the way, ready to duck behind Sanary and let Momoyo strike at another of the snakemen.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Do you think I'd be wearing all this shit if this place was safe?" Even with the harpoons in her legs, Sanary still manages a laugh as she looks over at William. That laughter is soon replaced with pained howls when Yari gets those harpoons out forcefully, but the healing from Kyra does take care of the damage (even if the pain still lingers).

     "Mega... Big assholes. But hey. Now we know what to expect." Somehow managing another chuckle, Sanary gets back onto her feet and swaps the blade for the massive shield on her back. It's time to press onward! More carefully this time around, though, since the area seems to have been designed specifically to prevent shortcuts. And with all those weapons and enemies waiting ahead...

     "Clever... Very clever. Assholes." Sanary takes a long moment to observe Yari's shadow running ahead before taking the front with both shields in tow, keeping them raised and ready to provide a solid wall for the rest of their group from the ballistae and shit-throwers.

Priscilla has posed:
    The instant the clone is on the bridge, all that ninja agility goes out the window as the thick tar sticks to its feet, rendering its progress a tedious slog across. While that makes it slightly harder to fall off, it is also the cause of its instant annihilation as a pair of ballista bolts and a half dozen spears are immediately skewered into it, followed by one snakeman slinging a literal brick just to knock it off the edge and into the pit below. The blast of lightning manages to blast apart a trough of heavy rocks poised to be dumped over the halfway point, sending them clattering down over the bridge just where one would stand to fight the serpent guardian. It is immediately returned by several more blasts of lightning from the cobras, apparently mages of some sort. They hurl crackling spheres of the stuff, exploding where they land and arcing to anyone unfortunate enough to be near.

William Pauwel has posed:
WELCOME TO HELL TEMPLE

    Will's phantom goes /even paler/ when he bares witness to the terrifying gauntlet arrayed before him. His hands tighten on the handlebars of his motorbike. "W-what kind of monster intentionally designs a place like this?" Most of the ruins back home are just trapped for the sake of security, not for... for something like this.

    The smallest mercy is that he can actually SEE all the traps. Or at least, most of them. Who knows what's hiding in the nooks behind the distant walkways. "I'm suddenly reconsiderin' how honest that flyer was," he murmurs in Sanary's general direction as Yari starts opening fire.

Well.

It's a start, at least.

    There's a gentle ruffling of ghost leather as the young explorer whips an almost comically oversized handcannon from its place on his hip. He snags a spooled cable from the side of his motorcycle and shoves one end into his firearm's stock, and immediately drops in behind his bike and just far enough from Sanary, and begins filling the inside of the chamber with SO MUCH GUNFIRE. There are so many lasers, you guys. His gun's barrel is starting to glow dangerously hot as he opens fire on the

He barely catches a glimpse of Yari's clone slowing to a crawl and subsequently being filled by ALL THE PROJECTILES. "I am PRETTY SURE that flyer lied to me! I think I've got a plan though, but we've gotta deal with these snipers first!" An arc of lightning smashes into the side of his bike, dancing across its steel exterior and sending sparks up the anchoring cable. His gun discharges violently in reply.

It catches part of his gloves on fire. His volley ceases just long enough for him to pat the flames down. "Just... Need to clear those guys out!"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari spies those spheres, leaping back just in time to avoid instant death. Instead, she takes a heavy hit to the side, slammed down by return-fire even as she takes cover behind Sanary on instinct!

She curls up into a ball, waiting for Nero and Sanary to take point on this part! she likely has at least one singed eyebrow to boot!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    Through the door, and into... oh dear. Oh dear. "... how thoroughly sadistic," he murmurs to himself as he takes it all in. The narrow pathways, slick with tar. Those overhead, ready to knock down anyone crossing. Those before them, ready to clash with those who make it that far.

    Plans are made over the radio! Eryl ends up bringing up the rear, arms outstretched, eyes up. Using Original Face, he plans each shot carefully. Every time a ballista is winding up, he banks a shot from One Hand Clapping off the walls to try and break its drawstring. Every time a monster has something ready to throw down, another shot aimed at them. He doubts that they're so easily killable, so those shots are just intended to throw off their aim.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra stares through the threshold, not yet crossing until everyone else has entered the room, should they dare enter the room. Under any other circumstance she would have gone 'nope' and turned right back around since that seems, quite obviously, not actually a challenge meant to be surmounted as much as a way of entertaingly killing someone. She shakes her head and murmurs, casting protect, shell, and blink on herself. After a moment she places those three spells on Nero. Then she takes a syringe out of one of her bandoliers and empties it into herself, bestowing Haste on her as well.

    She grabs two of her explosives potions, one on each hand. "Okay. No other way but through it to rush it." Another murmur and Kyra has cast Float on herself, which should at least help waylay any nasty 'falling floors' on her too.

    She'll use her explosives offensively to deflect oncoming projectiles-namely those of the large kind.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Lightning spheres. It just HAD to be lightning again, didn't it? Sanary readies herself to attempt something vaguely attempting evasion, but reconsiders when she realizes that she's acting as the bulwark here. She'll just have to grin and bear it!

     If grinning means twitching and cursing more. The scent of singed flesh fills the air, but the cleric is still forcing herself to move forward! Onto the shitty tar bridge she goes, and... Well, it's not like she was fast to beginw ith. Just one foot in front of the other, stepping ahead slowly, keeping those shields raised to try and keep all the projectiles from reaming her for as long as possible...

     What a fun way to come back to active duty.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is hating and respecting whoever made this place, it's a death trap and a heck of a well made one from what she's seen of this place so far. She was cautious as she pulled her puistols and kept in formation with the group. Then they see the things before them. There's horrible traps, twisting places and she moves to keep an eye on the various traps looking for any machinery she might be able to sabotage and hopefully disable some of thise chaos spawned nightmare come to life.

She mkes note to watch Yari's actions and take notes of it. While others try to find ways through she's looking for ways to disable some of the traps, even a few off line might make life easier for them later.

"Sounds like a plan William. Kyra, you got anything that might help with that?"

She's then going to open fire when she's got an opening with her pistols the rounds are set to non elemental for the moment.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     "Kawakami Style: Killer Fireflies!"

    Moving along behind Nero and Sanary, she starts spewing the small balls of energy hard and fast. She needed to block the vision of the largest snakes with the resulting smoke, so most of her fire was concentrated on the idiot with the brick and those above, moving in steady rhythm behind the front-line fighters. She could punch some of the blunt projectiles, but there was no helping the sharper ones but to endure them and try to time the axes properly.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari happily lets Sanary, and likely Momoyo and Nero, take point before her. She's somewhere in the mddle likely, as she trudges unhappily behind the others. Momoyo offers her particular technique, and then the ninja backs her up.

Then, as they get within long-range kunai tossing? She offers both explosive and poison kunai, aiming to both damage the balistae themselves, as well as fill the area with corrosive poison that will eat away at anyone foolish enough to actually man them. At the very least, it should offer some respite from the powerful bolts as they climb their way up!

Souji Murasame (627) has posed:
Souji, when he enters the first hallway, actually has his stoic expression crack for a moment. This is an example of someone discarding all pretenses of usability for the sake of creating a sadistic hall of horrors.

His eyes are wide, searching out the defenses, analyzing them and considering how they interlock. Where are the weaknesses in the main area?

His jaw works, grimacing as he considers the situation.

Over the radio, he begins providing his analysis of the situation and relaying orders. "... Long range combatants, lay down suppressive fire. We need to keep the enemies away from their siege equipment. Mages, use /non-fire/ spells to suppress the guardians on the bridge so we can begin moving forward. Miss Rondel, you take the lead, you are the most heavily armored."

There is another pause, and he adds, "Kyra, we will need Shell or Reflect to counter the magic incoming. For efficiency, target Miss Rondel. She will draw the most fire."

With that provided, Souji moves up to the gap, looking over the enemies and holding up a hand towards one of the snakemen on the bridge. A Pattern forms before him as he channels his own Magic Particles, gathering the energy into...

"Blizzard-2." With a surge of magical force, ice crystals form and bombard the snakes on the bridge. They /are/ snakemen after all. Maybe they're cold-blooded.

Nero (880) has posed:
     "PWAH!" Nero is alive again! ...Her pahtom anyway. "How dare this fortress!?" And immediately she complains. Without waiting a second longer, she storms back into the place. "I will show this place the true meaning of fear! No monster or trap shall escape my notice!"

     Past the first room, and over to the tar bridge, axe blades, the abyss below, and then all the asshole monsters. ".........." Nero squinted. "Hah. ....Hahaha! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Whoops, the emperor broke. "Well! It is only natural that a fortress such as this would endeavor to keep my radiance out! It cannot bear the fact that I am simply more than it can handle!"

     With Sanary tanking, and Momoyo and Yari zoning, Nero took a position behind Sanary. With Aestus Estus in hand, she followed, swing the blade unignited at anything material flung their way. "Just you wait! When I get across, I will slash you ribbons! Stand there and wait you fiends! Wait. I say!"

     Someone was out for revenge.

Priscilla has posed:
    Whoever's been posting flyers has absolutely done it as a sick sort of trolling, though /technically/ harmless, in an incredibly semantic sense. At the very least however, the ground has a strategy, and the numbers to actually win in a straight up battle of firepower in this shooting gallery of a room. Straight off, as soon as William begins firing, the snakemen seem to decide that one warning was enough, and immediately retaliate in full. The air /fills/ with the horrible sinking of bolts, spears, arrows and giant harpoons, as well as the crackling of lightning, and the whooshing of hefty stones and sling bullets. It's a hellstorm to endure. A single person would never be able to push through it all without falling, even if he were totally immune to actual damage. Spread out between eight people however, the exchange of fire is more manageable.

    The ballistae focus on Sanary first, proving that the serpent men aren't actually stupid, as the larger bolts are necessary to try to pierce her shields, or failing that, at least have the recoil send her into the fun-pit below. Otherwise, the rest don't focus on anyone in particular, simply hosing the whole collective. Some of the worse of the shots are intercepted by Eryl, Nero and Momoyo, the former of which manages to sever the strings on the biggest threats through incredible trick shooting, making sure their first four shots are their last, and the latter of which kicks up an enormous cloud of dust and shrapnel, not deterring the enemy from firing in the slightest, but significantly reducing their accuracy, save for the lightning, as the cobras may be able to sense heat like their template animal.

    William can tell his plasma fire is working in the preceding period, judging by the number of snakes he guns down. It surprisingly takes several shots to put even one of the beasts down for good, which isn't an easy feat with them on high ground and the bridge for cover, but their attempts at shielding the blasts only result in the destruction of said bucklers. Even lancing through the obscuring smoke, he can hear the hisses of pain, and see the odd body tumble from the other side. A row of shooting ice crystals rampages across the walkway, the targets conveniently lined up in a row. A few are imprisoned in ice, while others are simply stabbed by it, the elemental ice confirming Souji's suspicions with how the shock of the cold seems to incapacitate even those not actually killed. Nero has a straight shot at the only adversary on the bridge as he gets fed up and charges straight ahead, going right through the pendulums simply due to the countless hours it must have stood watching them. It lunges a surprising distance, swinging its cleaver straight down since there isn't any room to move to the sides anyways, and following up with a wicked, whiplash bite. Are these things poisonous?

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Shell it is!" Kyra calls out to Souji, since casting reflect would make it impossible for Kyra to use cure spells or other beneficial magic on the target. Shell might not be as powerful but it didn't mess up Kyra's future plans. Future plans that include, of course, hitting everyone with Protect so the projectiles slam into the people out forward a little less hard.

The hasted, blinking, floating Kyra finally crosses the threshold now that the focus is on the people out front.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Cue ALL OF THE RETURNING FIRE! Sling bullets, ballistae, and other general return fire have Yari practically crawling through ice-solidified muck as her body is slashed and cut and made otherwise to be in extreme pain. But she uses her allies as pure meatshield as a proper ninja should, and her phantom survives.

Right in time for Sanary to pitch forward. A quick ninjutsu, and there's another kneeling Yari even as phantom-Yari reaches out to grab with tail and arm and body to catch, the /other/ clone Yari trying to haul both up from pitching over!

"Catch us!" She calls to others behind her, out of her real body. Then there's /stretching/ sounds, as Yari has to deal with the reality of being a ninja, and physics. This means uncomfortable areas stretching horrifically.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     With Sanary clinging to the edge and the lizard barrelling down on them, there was only one thing to do with an attack with that large a tell. Having been experienced with blunt and nearly blunt and slow weaponry like this, the attempt to deal with the attacker before a telling blow hits the row of fighters and ruins everything was critical but simple.

    In her typically insane manner, she steps around the remaining preoccupied bodies and /right into/ the lunged downward blow. Her arm comes up, in an attempt to backhand the heavy blade to the side right in the middle. Then, she leans back for her followup attack during the space of a single heartbeat, the riposte.

    "Musou Seikenzuki!"

    The cost of such a gambit was high, not only in having to cover for the attacker itself, but stop the covering smoke that would otherwise make Yari's task of pulling Sanary back up easier while they halted the entire wagon train of combatants behind Momoyo and Nero.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     As expected, Sanary's drawing the biggest and worst of the projectiles (outside of the lightning), and she's actually looking a little proud about that! For all of two seconds, anyway, until those giant bolts slam into her shields. Although the shields are resilient enough to actually withstand them and her armor is literally built to withstand giant monster attacks, the cleric herself still isn't a particularly huge person.

     It's probably not a huge surprise that the impacts, piled on at once, almost knock her right off the bridge outright! Thankfully, Yari and Yari are there to keep her from dropping completely off the tar-filled thing, using a little boost from powering up one of the AANS to get them back onto the bridge safely.

     "Thanks, Yari! Okay, back to... This shit!" Alas, she can't relax and congratulate the ninja just yet, instead opting to assist Momoyo with their attacker. Stomping through the muck, she marches right up to the giant and aims her kite-shield right at its...!

     It's a guy lizard, right?

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is back in the muck, with Sanary in tow, and Other-Yari pomfs back into moonlight ninja magic. Already, the ninja is huffing ad puffing, cursing her low endurance. Maybe she should have put more souls into it!?

For now, she's letting Momoyo and Sanary and the other heavy-hitters do the real damage, but she does lean out from behind Sanary and tosses a single throwing knive at the offending massive lizard. Preferably right between the eyes, like a proper ninja-jerk.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    A smile of grim satisfaction crosses Eryl's face as ballista overhead are rendered useless. Although, he still has to carefully duck a couple of time to avoid thrown weapons that stray too close.

    Against the lizard charging from the front, he banks another shot to strike it from the side! Not from Original Face, but from Flowering Hedge! Should their frontline fighters prove insufficient, this heavier slug should hopefully unbalance it.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Four hollows out of five could possibly identify the terrible Flyer Posting Maniac as a bald-headed man with a too-big spear and shoddy leather armor. But the fifth one is the only one with an actual brain, so who can really say if there's anything at all to their claims.

    MEANWHILE, Will is not having a good day. The Solano's barrel burns like a tiny star in his hands, its heat cooking at his fingers even through the thick leather of his gloves. Spears and bolts and lightning orbs rain down on him from above. Many are intercepted by the flank of his trusty motorcycle and miniature barricade, others are incinerated or knocked aside by plasma or fist or frost. One bolt makes it through and sinks deep into the young man's shoulder. His voice goes up in a sudden cry.

He only needs one hand to shoot.

    But the Solano's barrel finally seems to have enough. Something sputters and fails inside the machine- possibly an internal failsafe. Will hisses as the heat bleeds from the barrel in rippling waves, pushing back up against the side of his motorcycle as the bolts continue to fire.

He may need a medic and possibly or some additional cover-- at least until that weapon of his cools off!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason isn't evne thinking about the flyiers now at this point she's thinking about the monsters which she's still firing on, trying to gun them odown as she moves, but she's going to worry about the taps more than fhe fire, it might be a bit of a problem though. She does take note of what Souji has done and switches over to ice element on her pistols she's trying to avoid all teh fire coming for her but it's not going to happen. Even divided up there's too much as several arrows catch her directly in the tunk of her body and a spear clips her thigh. Knowing her luck it's likely posioned too.

She keeps trying to move ahead and shot at the lizard,s but she's getting slower now, which puts her more at risk, but thanks to Kyra? It's not as /bad/ as it would have been otherwise and hopefully that will be enough.

Priscilla has posed:
    Powerful buff magic is relatively a rarity in Lordran compared to Galianda, usually only accessible in very narrow forms, or else only by adherents to the gods. Kyra's rapid chain of spells is more than adequate to significantly stymie the incoming fusillade, reducing its effectiveness from 'immediately fatal' to 'fatal in less than a minute'. Mass produced ammunition isn't known for being extremely powerful, even if it is large, heavy, sharp, and launched with a great deal of strength. A couple go specifically for Yari dangling from the edge out of spite however, as one knife goes thunking into a snakeman's skull and fails to actually kill him outright.

    The one advancing across the bridge is pretty swiftly and brutally interrupted, sent off-balance from Momoyo to the point it nearly falls, and then immediately, bludgeoned by Sanary's shield into a followup strike that snaps its spine instantly, lurching into the air before ragdolling off the bridge and crunching the floor below after a full couple of seconds, intensifying the sound of scraping stone echoing from it. The followup from flowering hedge slices through the empty space and hits the one that had stayed behind, rendering a similar fate unto it as well, killed by the fall before whatever lurks at the bottom could get to it. Between the mix of the group, the bridge is slowly but surely gunned down, though the group has paid dearly for it already. The last couple of cobras simply leap straight from up above, landing to flank William and take Yari from behind, both of them getting a rapid, dual-wielded flurry of flamberge apiece. They're not quite as sturdy as the swordsmen however, and so once mopped up, the group has two staircases to proceed upon, as well as a deep shaft serviced by a stone elevator platform and chain.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari Takane immediately decides that Flamberges are the tools of really annoying jerks. And muderous lizards who don't have any style. I.E. not her. No, as one of the last lizards leaps down upon her wounded and crawling form? She immediately parries at the last second with a kunai whipped out from beneath a hidden pocket, the blade cutting one deep slash along her cheek in retaliation. She offers a deft kick, followed by another, and then a full-body thrust to make sure that lizard-cobra-person is chucked off the edge.

If she can manage it, she'll try to slice off one of its arms and catch it, should it be roughly Yari-sized. It could come in handy later, after all.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Waving the rest of the front line past the axes, she only needed one glimpse to figure out the timing in reverse. There was nothing for it but to patiently wait for the others, while pelting the remaining attackers with more fireflies from the arches on the other side of the bridge. Stressed, but not exactly winded, she keeps an eye on the next walkway above. "Damn... I don't know if you all looked up, but there's a second walkway like the first. Not quite as bad given how many we took out, but..." She presses her back to the frame of one of the arches, peering around the corner to assess the next gauntlet. Maybe Nero wanted to go first again.

Nero (880) has posed:
     What's that? You need someone to go first again?

     Nero, feeling proud of their accomplishments thus far, decided that this fortress was a joke, and with blade lowered, strode out past everyone and forward into the next area in full view.

     ...Okay maybe she was a little more prepared this time.

     BUT SHE WAS GOING.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Once that large lizard goes down and the rest of the bridge is steadily cleared, Sanary's attention turns back to the remaining lizards going for William and Yari. She's inwardly cursing at her own choice of gear (not bringing her gunaxe, mainly), and using her eye would be too risky between the tar on the bridge and the lizards' proximity.

     So she resorts to plan B, healing! Which is still technically just amplifying regeneration, but still. She clearly shows no bias whatsoever in directing healing energy Yari's way first to try and mitigate the worst of the slashes that aren't aren't handled by Kyra's Protect spell, but she does eventually work some energy over towards Momoyo.

     It's not going to be as potent or instant as Kyra's actual White Magic, but it does focus more on their natural health and stamina regeneration! She'll even start directing some of that magic towards the others as they cross the bridge, trying to help balance out their energy reserves at the cost of her own.

     "How many do we have left? Hn... Can't get careless and expect the rest to be any easier. But we'll manage as long as we're careful."

     No sense sticking around here too long, though. If everyone gets across safely, then it's time to get her shields back into position and take the front with Nero once more!

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The path ahead is cleared! But a few more leap down to attack! These few seem less able than those from the front... but they are trying to pick off the injured. And Eryl certainly can't allow that.

    Therse's a muffled whirling in the air as he begins to overcharge both of his One Hand Clapping systems. 150%... 200%... 250%...

    300%

    Finally, both shots are unleashed, right at the two snake creature's heads. Normally, Eryl might consider this overkill. But this is Lordran. Specifically, a dungeon considered sadistic even by its permanent residents. Such terms should never be considered.

William Pauwel has posed:
    What do you do when you're an injured gunner and eighty percent of the party has moved on ahead, and a giant horrible snake monster is standing RIGHT THERE with a sword about to go right into your face.

You freak out a little is what.

    Or rather, he would freak out if there were time to freak out. As it is, Will stares blank-faced as that horrible snake-man descends from on high. He lifts his gun, squeezes its trigger, but all that emerges are bare flashes of heat and light.

*Click click* The thing raises its sword.

*Click click* He feels his heart seize in his chest. The color drains from his ashen face.

*Click click* It goes to swing.

*Click*

There's a flash.

Will's fate is in the hands of one man now. The question then: Did Eryl Fairfax hit his mark!?

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is gunning down the monsters, they are able to get across. She's however not doing as well as she could be. The magic from Kyra clearly has saved her keel today. She also seem to know it and halts as they get near the shaft. She takes a moment to break the arrows shafts that are in her and the pain's not the most enjoyable thing either. She looks over to Kyra for a moment.

"I could use a hand if you can spare it."

She also looks to the check the chain for the elevator to make sure there's no other nasty things waiting for them. She also gives Momoyo a look for a moment.

"I see it, and you fight well Momoyo."

She tries to grin before she goes back to checking for mroe traps, damn it where was Soan, he's be a Gods send in a place like this.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
The effectiveness of the buff magic is shown to Kyra right away as those out front are able to tank the incoming barrange a whole lot more easier than they might have done similarly. Souji, as much as she had hated to admit, had given some sound advice with his instructions on what buff to use. She gives him an even nod of respect as she follows the rest of the group.

    Once the group has finished cleaning up the stragglers, Kyra proves that she's still pretty interested in continuing. Sure, the gauntlet from hell was draining and expensive but Kyra was all too happy to continue pitting herself against the other challenges.

    "Part of me wants to say 'avoid elevators in big sadistic hell dungeons because they're probably trapped' though we might not have a choice."

Priscilla has posed:
    Sanary may want to ration the healing with the slog ahead of her, especially with how just about all of her temporary allies are moderately to semi-seriously wounded by now. As it stands however, there are only two foes left in the incredibly dense entryway after Lyria empties ice pistols, followed quickly enough by none, as Eryl's overcharged double shot takes the heads off of both of them with the preposterous force of both hypervelocity slugs ripping their skulls right off of their long, serpentine necks, showering William with violent arterial spray as his collapses on him, spine visible through the decapitated stump, though less Yari as her close combat technique sends hers tumbling into the abyss, short one arm.

    The way up only seems to lead to a long, U shaped corridor, narrow and claustrophobic, and long enough that the central wall filling in space blocks off any view of the opposite side. One would presume it tapers downhill, as directly to the right, the path ramps upwards. Momoyo can feel the rumbling in her feet well in advance, as if the shallow groove in the floor didn't betray the obvious, as a colossal sphere of what looks to be solid, hardened clay comes rumbling and crashing loudly down the twisting track, just about totally filling the hallway. It approaches fairly slowly, all things considered. A few Elites present could even outrun it if they wanted, but then it'd force them downwards. The real issue seems to be that a source of running water must have been installed up top, because the entire track is now waist deep in a fast rushing current; something a physically fit man would struggle to fight against even with his boots anchored to the floor. The clay boulders aren't dangerous to anyone who isn't walking right out into the hall, but the constant pounding sounding from above indicates that they're being loaded and discharged at a steady pace, likely leaving not enough time for anyone to feasibly run all the way up the ramp against the current before the next one comes to crush them.

    It's a little boring compared to the last room, truth be told, though aggravatingly airtight in its simplicity. It appears to be a simple matter of strength, or else a willingness to risk whatever horrors have probably been placed right at the end, so one would run straight into them as fast as possible to escape the boulder, or else simply be swept helplessly to its doorstep. That has to be it. The simple, cliched boulder trap can't be all of it.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
    The vicious decapitation of the snake creatures through sheer force sours Eryl's stomach some. But, it was in defence of a young man unfamiliar with the world. Probably best he experience dying when it was unavoidable.

    "I do apologize for the bloody spray young man!" he calls to Will. Given his injured state, Eryl helps him out with that motorcycle. By way of picking it up and carrying it on his shoulders, should Will let him.

    Up the stairs and to the next obstacle. Flowing water and clay boulders. "How fiendish. Were it simple rock, most Elites would have a way to destroy them. But clay? Anyone who stands in its way would be engulfed and slowed. If it's cut, it will simply clog the water."

    Eryl considers some possibilities in conjunction with Original Face, before reaching an idea. "Please wait a moment." He then... hops into the spray just as a ball of clay rolls past. He faces down the next one, the front of his pants tearing open as he fires a single missile from Unmoving Tongue. Specifically, he's aiming to embed it in the middle of the clay before detonation, to test if it is strong enough to disperse it!

Nero (880) has posed:
     ......

     Flowing water and clay balls. Not quite what Nero was expecting after UNLIMITED HARPOON WORKS and THE BRIDGE OF GEHENNA, but...well she'd take it! Deciding that Eryl's idea was worth waiting out, she stood aside, letting him make the first attempt.

     "Very well! Let us see just how you fare."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Spotting those boulders and all the water coming down, Sanary's less inclined to take the lead. Not because she's particularly afraid of the clay, but just because... Well, how the hell is she even supposed to push through all that?

     At least it appears that Eryl's got something planned. Not that she really understands what the plan is, but it's an opportunity for her to rest up and help the others catch the breaths. How? With more regeneration and recovery boosting magic, of course!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Hey, wait, I've got some more help for that too." Kyra interrupts, following Eryl a few steps as he walks past. She reaches out and taps his arm, laying a Stoneskin spell on him to toughen him up for the next few moments. The spell does exactly what the name says, really, if slightly modified to accomodate their phantom forms.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Momoyo chuckles a little. Bitterly, but at least it was a hell of an obstacle course. "Geez... if it was just me alone it wouldn't be a problem, but..." The sheer amount of ki it would take to cut through the boulders long enough to allow everyone through made it a tricky proposition. Still, she was content to sit back and let the thinkers think for the moment. She'd done well enough as the muscle so far, so it was her turn to bring up the rear. She was most mobile if something went south.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is going to keep going she looks a head and pulls down her goggles, she looks around and pauses at the felling of the elements here something has left her uneasy about this place but it could just be the region in general. She keeps with the party and attempts to chug of potion while they have this moment of downtime.

William Pauwel has posed:
SHOOM

    Will feels... something splatter across his face. It feels cool, and a little more viscous than water. It's only when he opens his eyes, when he sees the corpse lying in front of him and sprayed against the far wall as a fine mist, that he realizes that it's blood, spinal fluid, and various other bits and pieces of what was once a snake-man's head and upper torso.

There's a long moment where he's just silent, and may be screaming internally just a bit.

    Then comes a somewhat longer period where he starts screaming entirely on the outside. Will kicks back up against the solid frame of his motorcycle, sending it tottering back and forth against his shoulders. It takes him a few moments to steady himself, a few seconds to steel his nerves. Will fixes a hand over his intangible heart, feeling the ghostly organ throb like a jackhammer in the hollow of his chest.

It's okay. It's just a monster. A dead monster. Nothing to be afraid of.

Right?

    One more breath. This isn't how he should be acting. A Pauwel doesn't get sick and pale just because of a little wounding and a bit of bloodspray- or so he tells himself. At least nobody can see his face as he forces himself up on unsteady legs and begins walking towards the bridge-- alone. There's no way he can get his bike across right now, unless he wants to risk falling off into either side of the pit.

Slowly but surely, now. He just has to keep moving forward.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Rolling clay balls? Yari judges the timing, but it's indeed difficult even for someone like her to rush her way through! Thus, she lets Eryl try his idea. Watching as he seems to fire something?

She'll wait to see what kind of impact that makes. There's explosive kunai in her hand, ready to combine forces and shatter clay balls apart if the man's idea works!

"If that works, Mister Fairfax, I can lend a hand." For now? She's cleaning off blood from herself and twirling a kunai occasionally as she stays near the man and Sanary.

Priscilla has posed:
    It's a good idea. Honestly. Most applicants definitely wouldn't have the firepower to do such a thing, especially historically, and Elites are known for taking the Gordian approach more often than not. Unfortunately, it is also the most obvious approach for that reason, and having seen more than enough heavy weapons and powerful magic since Unification, it seems good old Solaire has taken advantage of that presumptuous line of thinking.

    The instant the missile strikes, the outer layer of the rolling boulder of clay shatters like shards of pottery, and unfortunately reveals not a wet and malleable center, but the fact that these boulders actually aren't. They're rolling bombs. Every one of them has been stuffed with what must be several tons of gunpowder, and the missile's detonation sets it off all at once. The hallway fills with an explosive wave of fire and noise fit to incinerate everything within ten meters and deafen anything two rooms away, the pressure having nowhere to escape except back out the constrictive door and down the narrow corridor, focusing the blast into compressed plumes of destructive force. When the choking, unbreathable smoke begins to clear, Eryl's phantom is nowhere to be found. The ground shudders as the next explosive is shot down the ramp far above.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero was actually attentive this time. After UNLIMITED HARPOON WORKS, she was prepared for anything!

     ...Anything except for THAT. "What manner of- Praetor, be careful!" Nero frantically warned, leaping in front of Kyra and standing defensively to weather the blast and shield her master from direct harm.

     Once the blast subsides and the smoke clears...there is a black spot on the ground where Nero once stood.

     N E R O H A S D I E D

     A G A I N

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Finally! Fire! Sanary's actually looking incredibly pleased as she braces that shield of hers once again, moving forward to try and block off as much of the flames as she can. Although the sheer force of the blast is a problem and the heat is still scorching her quite a bit, the carcass of the monster her armor's made of actually protects her fairly well from the flames!

     Her eyebrows are gone by the time all is said and done, though. Good thing she's just a Phantom here and not really here. "Ngeh... Okay! That could've gone worse.. Uh. Everyone okay?" She glances back while keeping that shield raised just in case, glancing back at the rest of the group before raising an eyebrow. "... Where's Nero?"

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
What's a ninja to do when explosives come rumbling down at them and poor Eryl and Nero are reduced to less than dust? Yari throws herself down, and makes one hell of a quick handseal. She tries to use Sanary as a shield, even as she draws in a breath! As the fire and flame makes for Sanary and herself? She'll try to at least lesson the force against the woman, by spewing out a wash of magical water that...with any luck, can keep both ninja, tank-cleric, and anyone else that /isn't/ Nero or Eryl alive!

She'll put quite some magic into it if she isn't turned to dust immediately! She calls out a warning over the radio to the rest, hoping that they won't get incinerated!

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     There's nothing for it but to drop to the floor and cover one's head as the heat goes over her. Luckily, she was already preoccupied with her tar-coated shoes and at the very rear of the group, so it didn't take long to drop to the floor behind a corner and cover her head as the blast travelled through the hall.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Solaire had done his job well making ready for them, he knew how a lot of elites thought and had made us of knowing how the average elite was able to think. They are paying for it now as Nero goes down and Lyria's gety glad they are not turly here.

She's going to try deal witht he roloing bombs. She sees them start to go og and she attemps to work the elements here to her favour, Sjhe summons up wind trying to make the horrible stuff in the air clear faster.

"She didn't make it Sanary...we shouldn't delay. More is tgoing to happen I suspect if we stay still for long."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Normally Kyra would appreciate the deviousness of the trap. Only it just blew Nero away due to her need to jump in front of her-which Kyra will certainly not blame the servant for. She makes a frustrated noise, "Everything kills you so quickly in this place. There's no opportunity for healing." she grouses. "Okay, so I have an idea. Will the next person who will be going in the sluice please see me? I will cast Float, Haste, and Blink on you. That way you can quickly float over the running water. If you have one of the boulders come at you during that time, you may be able to blink through it if the magic is kind to you. Obviously, brute forcing through it won't work and was, apparently, expected."

William Pauwel has posed:
    What good adventurer doesn't know how to deal with Giant Clay Boulder Corridors? The dead kind, that's what. Will has actually been staying towards the rear of the group as they move through the fortress. Part of this is because he's a guy with a gun, so being in the rear makes sense. The other reasons area associated with how he's watched someone die- twice, now- and almost got killed himself shortly before being covered by a spray of awful serpent blood.

    Fortunately, this means he's out of range when the Giant Clay Bomb exploded all over the place. Will yelps as his face and ghostly frame are bathed in a sudden wash of heat and smoke. The Chaser coughs severely as the explosion fades. "Ugh. This place is awful. It's like it's NOTHING but death traps!"

And the flyer even promised awesome treasure at the end of it!

IS IT EVEN REALLY THERE!?

"Miss," he looks to Kyra, "Is there any way you can... Protect us from the fire, or something? With that thing you're doing."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Two down in such a quick time... If it wasn't for the fact that they were phantoms instead of actually there, Sanary would have just grabbed Yari and left by now! And Souji. And Kyra. And Nero. And...

     ... Well, it's good thing they are Phantoms, at any rate. After the discussion over the radio, she sets her larger shield down to opt for keeping the one that goes with her charge blade. "Alright... Ready when you are, Momoyo."

     She's still eyeing the fighter warily even as she says that, but she'd at least be compliant once she's actually picked up. And at that close range, she can even keep regenerative energy flowing into her while keeping the shield raised for some moderate extra defenses!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "I know Barfire, yeah." Kyra answers William. "But against a blast like that, I don't think it'll help that much. You'll still die." She turns to Yari now, deploying the offered spells in turn-with the exception of the Haste, which she administers by an injection from one of her syringes.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari isn't the type to turn down a good plan, particularly when there's magic buffs in the mix. She snaps a salute, then presents herself to Kyra for a good round of buffs. Administered by /needles/! Kyra and everyone will get to hear Yari squeel like a frightened little girl without shame and wiggle for a few moments. She ends up blushing at the end.

Taking a deep breath, the ninja then uses her floating, blinking, hasted form to start float-running up the sluice. Several handseals later, her reflexes improve as blue magic flows around her legs, eyes up for that blast clay-boulder full of explosives!

A small little leap, she'll try to blink right through, some ninja-teleportation majic giving that blink an extra bit of 'oomph as she briefly turns to moonlight and butterflies, and then resolidifying...hopefully up the ramp and across. Shoudl she get that far, she'll keep a sharp eye for potential traps or enemies, a kunai and smoke bomb at the ready to defend herself with!

Priscilla has posed:
    Well, at the /very/ least, the snakes have been cleared out of the main hall. Just a balance beam and swinging axes on sticky tar for Nero to brave this time in order to rejoin the group. She's doing her classification as a red phantom proud. Very proud. Double shield tanking looks a hell of a lot less ridiculous on Sanary now all of a sudden though, as the two hefty walls of metal and scales block most of the damn corridor, causing the fire to wash over and around her and the assembled Elites behind her, prickling and blistering her skin, but ultimately leaving her unscathed as the blast wave simply pushes her down the water-slicked slide.

    Yari doesn't have too much trouble booking it up the rank. Once again, Galiandan magic is insanely abusable when stacked like that in a gauntlet made the old fashioned way. The couple of boulders she encounters on the way up are still slow and fairly regular, and so timing through them isn't a huge challenge. The issue is when she arrives at the top of the ramp, breaking into a wide, squarish room, splitting into a crossroads of four corridors and dominated by a hefty central plinth, large enough to seat twenty people around as a dinner table. A shaft of brilliant sunlight pierces through the wide hole in the roof directly above it, dazzling her shadow-adjusted eyes for a moment; long enough to see the shadow of something up above drop another boulder through the hole, and a massive, mechanical pillar thrust from the wall and slam the rolling projectile down the ramp she'd just left. The water seems to well up from around it, spitting rivers down each approach.

    More importantly is the haze of dust that floats through the sunbeam, glittering gold before becoming invisible as it circulates around the room. A fine coating of it can be seen all over the floor and walls, save for patches where the stone tiles are a little more raised; absolutely caked onto the massive wooden crank set into the plinth that one could presumably turn to switch which pillar fires, and thus which direction the firebomb heads.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Shaking her head lightly, she puts her arm out for Kyra to look at, as she sizes Lyria up. "Yeah. I can carry you, and your gear. Probably without the spell, but with it I can make trips faster and react better to the boulders." she muses. Tilting her head toward the archway, she leans down a bit, gesturing for Lyria to piggyback on her when Kyra is done.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is not going to fight it she looks to Momoyo as she moves to get her and will get on the otehr womans' back. She has no issue with it a she moves to hang on to their back. She'll make sure she secures herself and then will be ready to go.

"All Aboard!"

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra takes note of Yari's shrieking over shots, but doesn't comment on it. After that, she'll distribute the same three-spell cocktail to anyone that asks, including Momoyo even though she doesn't ask period. With reluctance, she takes hold of Momoyo's arm. She doesn't seem that happy about the offered ride, "It's alright, I can wait to come in once the trap's disabled. That's usually how it works back at home, after all."

Nero (880) has posed:
     MEANWHILE BACK AT THE GATES

     "WHY THE DEVIL WAS THAT CLAY BOULDER A BOMB!? WHO DECIDED THAT WAS A GRAND IDEA!? BRING THEM BEFORE SO THAT I MAY LAY THEM LOW! MUUUUUUUUGH!"

     Yep. Nero was fine.

     Probably.

     Nevermind the childish temper tantrum.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Nothing to do but wait. Yari stays up top, kunai in hand, ready in case of some form of ambush when the rest come up. She's learned to expect the absurd in this hellhole. Meanwhile, she smartly rips off a strip of cloth from her kimono, tieing it up around her mouth.

It'll do as a makeshift scarf to ensure she doesn't breathe in any of that dust while she waits for the others.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Eventually, it's Sanary's turn! She's heavy with all that stuff on her, but it's already proven useful twice so far. She hasn't died yet, after all, even if the injuries to her legs and face don't make her look all that much better than the undead roaming Lordran. Upon getting into the room, Sanary takes point on checking out the hallway. Shield and sword ready, she advances slowly to scope it out, not going in that far just yet to act more as a sentry rather than recon.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is hanging on well as Momoyo is carrying her along she doesn't think twice about the request and looks dfown the hallway, with a wary gaze. She's trying to see if there's anything tht seems odd. It's the small details that could be missed, which could get them killed. She's thankfully off Momoyo at this point and keeps trying to scope the hall out to be sure.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will never thought he'd be picked up and carried in the middle of a dungeon. Especially not while he was still conscious. The young Chaser's face goes all kinds of red, because apparently he's also not used to getting picked up by a woman like Momoyo. Will dismounts with a sheepish cough as they arrive at the strange pedestal and the endless trickle of ENORMOUS FIRE BOULDERS. He pulls a bandanna up over his mouth as he starts glancing around, and gestures at the less-dusty sections of ever-so-slightly raised floor, "Careful. I think we have more of them harpoon traps here and there. Watch your steps."

Nero (880) has posed:
     Eventually, after much complaining, Nero managed to muck her way back through the already challenged rooms and arrive right back to where she died...again. It was there that she spotted Kyra by her lonesome. "Oh? Why are you here by yourself, Praetor? Did everyone else go above?" She slowed to a stop next to the healer, staring off towards the path forward.

     She'd heard the radio chatter. Something about carrying people. Suppose Kyra didn't want to be carried. WELL. That makes this simple. Smirking, Nero turned to her Master.

     "Come Praetor! Let us continue onwards and meet with the others!" And unceremoniously, she grabs the taller girl, lifting her into her arms before gathering Prana into her legs. Then she leapt off, vaulting forward leap after leap as she worked to catch up to the others, avoiding boulders and any other hazards along the way.

     She wasn't getting blown up a third time! No thank you! You can keep that, Solaire!

Priscilla has posed:
    With the timing down and superhuman speed on their side, not to mention the ability to glaze above the water, several more Elites force their way through the laughably unfair path ahead of them, growing in number at the floor above, but still down two more scratches to the hypothetical sadistic spectator giggling at all of this playing out. With some time to observe the process, anyone can tell that the boulders are being loaded manually; specifically, by the silhouette of giant hands, dark against the blinding sun. Lyria can mostly feel the rumble of the rolling, two ton bombs, and the flow of the water underneath her, but can also feel where the stone of the earth gives way to hard, sturdy machine, revealing that of every single one of the clear spaces on the floor, all of them are pressure plates. All of them. The way up seems to be the northernmost corridor, at the entirely opposite end of the room too.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "They left me behind because they haven't disabled the trap." Kyra mutters, sounding...embarassed and humiliated. "This isn't how doing a dungeon is supposed to go, you're supposed to stick together and work together. Why is nobody listening to me-ack!" So she won't protest at all when Nero scoops her up and vaults into the chamber. She murmurs as they move, casting Blink on her servant.

    Hopefully that will prevent DEATH in the future.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
With everyone arriving, the ninja checks her float spell, and then floats on into the room...if only barely. She's quick to toss a kunai first towards the nothernmost area, as well as towards a few corners of the room. Then, if there's nothing that immediately murders her? She rushes out towards the other end of the room with a Float-assisted leap! She'll use the ceiling if she has to.

Thank goodness for ninja training. She'll take a peek to see what's in the next area, ready to give the others a report!

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is gazing out using her powers and can't help but have her jaw hang open, every stile in the path ahead is a pressure plate. The entire hall is a death trap. She adusts he4r goggles, reports what she's seen to the rest of the party and the next thing she knows Momoyo is launching her across the hall to avoid landing on the pressure plate. She's actually able to land well enough but if it's safe where she's coming down? She doesn't know and can only hope to roll well enough with the impact.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary's not taking her chances with getting thrown! No, she'll resort to just pumping magical power into her anklets to lift off, angling herself at just the right way to hurtle herself right down the hallway without touching the ground. She doesn't land quite that gracefully, slamming right into a wall and resisting the urge to just drop back on the ground in case there's still pressure plates even there. Then again, everyone else is landing without exploding...

     Well, she can land when it's confirmed to be safe. For now, hugging the wall and watching for oncoming enemies!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra loves being a godless cheater. Upon reaching the next room with Nero, she sees how everyone else is faring and immediately casts Float on her Servant. "Just go right across, don't touch anything." Kyra shifts so she has an arm wrapped around the back of Nero's neck, holding on, and apparently completely okay with being carried. Maybe she just permits it because it's Nero.

Priscilla has posed:
    The first kunai meets no response at all, plunking into the floor shallowly as the tip secures itself into a tile crack. The second landing near it does something else. The friction ignites the golden dust caking the floor, and the two metal conductors connected to it by their points finally form a complete circuit. The golden resin goes off, arcs of electricity surging between the two of them, and then the others landing simultaneously, turning the room into an oversized Tesla trap. No doubt trying to turn the handle to let one's teammates through would result in immediately death by electrocution.

    The current situation is a better outcome than that, but simply floating a few inches off the floor won't help, as the snaking tendrils of violently crackling electricity will simply reach up for them. There's no immediate pressure, but there's so much resin here that it might take hours to fully burn out.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero was going to do something mad like run across the wall at Servant speeds(tm), but Float is a much simpler solution.

     ...Or well, it would be, had that trap not gone off. Nero rolled her eyes after regarding the activated electric trap. "Well, it is a very good thing we arrived late." Seems like she was going to have to do this the less easy way after all.

     Crouching low, Prana gathered again, and then Nero leapt forward and into the air. Her greaves made impact with the wall and she ran across at high speeds. The Float spell helped make it a bit less of an effort, thankfully.

     Hopefully she didn't activate any wall traps, and then would land on the other side without issue.

     "What a dreadful place." Nero muttered after.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
What's a ninja to do with a sudden inadvertant electricity storm? Run-float like hell! She makes a leaping roll out just as she catches some tail-end zapping right into her tail. She flops to the ground more than lands, hair all frizzed up and generally looking less than happy as remnants of zappy-pain sparks from one of her horns, flittering out.

Yari sighs, takes a quick drink, and then turns to the others to make sure they're alright. Next course of action?

She sends a fake-Yari clone into the next room to scout ahead of the scout, and relay back some information. And hopefully get a good idea of any potential death traps in the area.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Time to keep flying! Or grinding her armor against the wall. Whichever works, really, as long as it keeps her away from that freaking electricity. After some bouncing off the walls in the more literal and unpleasant sense, Sanary comes to a stop next to Yari and nearly just collapses right on the spot.

     "... Should've gone with the throwing." She groans tiredly before forcing herself back onto her feet, bracing her hand and shield against a wall before looking back at the rest of their group. "Looks like most of us are here, at least. Everyone holding up okay?" She seems ready enough to take the front again, at least, but it's clear that she's getting somewhat worn down by the... Everything.

     Stupid lightning.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     "I dunno, all the movies say Ancient Egyptian pyramids and tombs were trapped like this." she replies, groaning inwardly as she can hear all the yelps from the room after Yari tested the far wall. She was physically fresh since entering the Fortress, but mentally she could use another lizard to punch. She was too tense to really be shocked at another sadistic trap, but it was only her own cunning that had kept her relatively unscathed so far.

    Her shoes were caked with tar still, though most of it had dried to where she could walk, it wasn't quite as conductive. Leaping through the hallway quickly as the last comer, she slings a small firefly ball at the kunai to try to shut down the conducting circuit. She only touches the floor briefly with her serendipitous resistance to the resin lightning, but still dove into the following hallway to get out of the trapped guard room. "Damnit..." she stood up, blocking the hallway into the next area for a moment to look back at the others.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is just moving oin with the rest of the party and things keep getting /worse/ this really is a hell maze, the more she thinks about it. She has to focus however on the horrible traps before them so they can make it through. Maybe she did learn something from Diaster Dy after all? Who knows but she's now being very cautiouss in prssing ahed with the party.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
"Hey Yari!" Kyra calls out, "You're a ninja, don't you have a water scroll? Maybe if you use a water scroll in the room it'll short out the trap!" Yes, she's saying this even as Nero runs along the side of the wall. She's apparently still of the thought that traps need to be disabled the farther a person progresses in a dungeon. That /is/ what they taught her in school after all.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari considers it amidst her scouting, but shakes her head!

"I don't have enough magic to put out a room that large! Too much resin, not enough volume in water!" She offers, voice vaguely apologetic. It's certainly a good idea, but currently far beyond her abilities to flood a room without a small body of water to mess around with!

Priscilla has posed:
    One up and over. Two up and over. Three up and over. Fourth straight through. Then the fifth is the credit to the team and knocks the kunai out, rendering only contact with the floor surface itself lethal rather than simple vague proximity. Momoyo's tarry shoes are adequate for that business. The sixth has it easy by comparison, as does the seventh if he so chooses. For the first time so far, the victors-hopeful have met with partial success rather than scraping by at the last second on the seat of their pants. Are they getting the hang of this? They've certainly learned something about the adage that there is no such thing as 'too safe'. Especially not here.

    Which is why it's such a surprise when they emerge blinking into the sunlight and the cold wind whipping through their clothes at the highest altitude of the central tower. The staircase behind them is far too long and steep to consider a viable route back under pressure, but the roof itself, laid out vast and wide below them, could be used to play most any popular sport with its size and utter, level flatness, save for the handful of steps that lead up from the various walkways that join it.

    The place would be anticlimactically completely empty were it not for three things. One is the ring of softly glowing light at the very end of a paved outcropping at the far end of the building, narrow and precarious. Second is the giant shadows looming over them, cast by a pair of thirty foot tall monstrosities of stony black and grey skin and misshapen, though still vaguely humanoid limbs, heavy and stooped as it under the weight of the world, and each bearing massive iron bracers and completely face-obscuring helmets of a rather odd shape, each stood at the highest points of the surrounding guard towers, no doubt the operators of the fortress' massive machinery.

    The third is the lone figure standing at the center of what could only be described as an arena. A nine foot tall shape cast in radiant gold, clad in heavy armour and bearing a sword and shield emblazoned with the emblem of the sun, somewhat at odds with the templar-esque bucket helm plonked over his head, to which it seems the wearer has only begrudgingly allowed someone to add the traditional dragon's horns as ornamentation. His voice manages to boom all the way across the lofty height, despite the tinny reverb of his helmet muffling his bombastic, jovial nature. "Well met all! You're certainly looking a little worse for wear, but with only three down? I daresay you've exceeded my expectations." Solaire laughs, swinging the somewhat oversized sword from its point down position to rest over his shoulder.

    "As you can certainly guess, I will be your final obstacle. Only this way can I be absolutely certain that all those who complete Sen's Fortress are truly the real thing. Fear not however, you won't have to fight me to a stop! All you must do is reach the ring of light behind me, and to lay your hands upon it! Only one of you need pass me! However, I will warn you." He pauses briefly for dramatic effect. "The bout has already started."

    The air whooshes for but an instant before the sound of deafening crashing reverberates from the flagstones. It seems the giants still have plenty of those firebombs, and have begun throwing them straight onto the party where they will explode and burn on impact. No time to think and prepare a strategy here. A real, military unit should know how to work together as one mind after all.

William Pauwel has posed:
WHO TURNS THE AIR INTO LIGHTNING? Seriously!? ONLY ASSHOLES, THAT'S WHO.

    Will pales and jumps a full foot back as the world immediately in front of him suddenly becomes a roiling fuzzball of electricity. It's like someone tore apart a yarnball except all the string is actually lightning. Like some kind of... Thunder Wool. "S-seriously? How long will this even last!?"

    At least, after a little while, most of the electricity seems to die down to the point that one could safely make it through the next room. The floor still seems... dangerously bright, though. Will plays it safe, tapping the back of his heel against the stones. At the sides of his boots, small rubber wheels press down into the ground. He leans forward, and a soft whirr of a dozen servo motors fills the air, scooting him safely across the way.

And he ends up...

Staring down a... Giant golden statue?

A robot?

    No, that's a man. A man of some variety, at least. Will feels his spit catch in his throat as he struggles to swallow. There's something about that guy's... presence. It's strange, simultaneously awe-inspiring and jolly. But...

    An explosion. Will hisses at the sound, tugging his hat down to keep it from flying off into the breeze. "More of those things? Dangit--" Leather whips against Will's hip as he draws, the Solano's alabaster frame gleaming briefly in the light as the young Chaser takes practiced aim and launches a single bolt of plasma at each incoming clay sphere. If they're as volatile as he expects, they should just burst in mid-air, far from the battlefield. The handcannon's barrel flashes with every shot, discharging power from some unknowable source deep inside its complex machinery. "I'll snipe down as many of those darned things as I can! You guys just focus on the big guy!"

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Finally, someone to crush. Someone to vent all this stress on. Every so often she flings a firefly at a stray firebomb, covering Nero's advance as well as she moves in a pair with the blonde. "Start taking out the giants so we can maneuver. We're going to crush this maniac." she snarls, pushing past the rest of the team to start dodging the fireworks, leaving only room for the Servant to maneuver.

    When she approaches the arena though, she has no choice but to focus on the bombs for a bit. Slinging bits of energy here and there, she quickly waves her companion in closer. As soon as the rest of the party could cover the brawlers, they could actually get past Solaire... but Solaire's aura was massive and utterly radiant. Momoyo could tell tackling him alone was suicide.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari is quick to use Sanary, Nero, and even Momoyo as a meat shield when the man himself (and his giant friends!) make their presence known! She pauses to let William and Momoyo deal with those bombs. She instead works on finding chinks in his armor and his weaknesses: staying back, the ninja starts to lob dozens of kunai. Explosive-tag laden ones aim for limbs and helmet to weaken his armor. Poisoned shuriken fly to try to pierce through thick armor on chest and hands to deliver their paralytic payload.

Even a few armor-piercing stiletto knives are hucked at the man, offering smoke-bombs and a small cloud of poison to obscure and hopefully make his day that much worse, before she offers one last volley in a handseal!

There's a wall of flying metal for Solaire's way. "Fuma Shuriken!" Calls out the ninja, thrown projectiles multiplying as she throws magic into the mix.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary winces slightly as the cold air nips at her, the sudden shift in temperature and brightness actually stunning her for a moment. If it wasn't for the fact that she inside of that gauntlet had just tried to kill them the entire time, she'd almost be in awe right now.

     Alas, she doesn't have the opportunity to do much sightseeing as Solaire's voice booms out from ahead of the group. "Touching a... Thing, huh? Okay. I'd say it sounds easy enough, but after all of that before..." She looks at those stone giants, then at Solaire with a weary grin.

     "... Figured it wouldn't be." She says that not a second too soon as the giants begin to move, and she readies her shield once more. She's relying on William to take down most of those bombs before they even reach the group, but the cleric-turned-human shield is more than ready to provide some cover of her own.

     Raising the shield above her to intercept the bombs that aren't shot down, the cleric channels the rest of her energy into her eye. It takes a while, but she's occasionally shooting explosive lasers at the giants' footing when she isn't recoiling from a bomb. Even with that gear's natural resistance to fire and augmenting her ability to guard, it's not as if she's invulnerable. After all those shocks and harpoons and more fire from earlier in the dungeon?

     She's just hoping someone can actually make it to the goal before her body gives out.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero set Kyra down once they arrived at the top. For once, she didn't die! An accomplishment! Once Solaire was seen, and revealed that he would be the final obstacle, the blonde smirked. "I see. So you were the man who crafted this blasted place." She stepped forward, materializing Aestus Estus. "We need only touch the ring, yes?" Then they didn't need to fight him to victory. Just till someone broke through.

     "I shall enjoy this!" And she dove forward, moving in tandem with Momoyo as the two headed for the arena. Taking advantage of Blink and Float, Nero swerved forwar in a zigzagging motion, and while she did so, her blade burst to life with flame. She could sense that this man was not to be trifled with, for sure... BUT SHE WAS GOING TO TRIFLE WITH HIM ANYWAY!

     Hoping the others covered their advance well enough, Nero reared back and closed the rest of the distance. "Rosa Icthys!" And then let loose a furious flaming slash at the golden man himself.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    At this point, Kyra will take a 'slightly less dangerous trap' in this dungeon over a 'disabled trap' since the latter simply didn't seem to be possible at all. Once in a non-electrified area, she unwinds herself from Nero and sets down, blinking in the sunlight of a vast, vast room with an enormous giant man in it. She gasps a little at this, which is more surprising than the misshapen monstrosities, which she's pretty sure she's seen when visiting this world before.

    "Oh, hey Solaire! I'm glad to meet you in person!" she calls back, though her voice is tiny in the arena, "This fortress is flat-out sadistic. These are the most sadistic traps I have /ever seen/ and I've watched every single episode of 'World's Most Extreme Dungeon Crawls'! Some of these would be completely unbypassable without-"

    She looks up overhead to see something hurling down at her. Kyra's eyes grow big as the firebomb explodes in her face. The white-colored phantom winks out, extinguished.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is just keeping together now and they enter into the sunlight, the cold wind whipping at their bodies, and given how Lyria dresses this is actually a bit of a problem for her. She shivers but she gives no other sighn of complaining, she peers at the thing ahead of them trying to get a feel for it. Oh dear there's monsters here of some sort, she brings up her pistols and got ready for a fight. She looks to them for a moment tiling her head.

"Ah I see, so that's the rules? Fine with me."

She grins and then is trying to get moving, because the giants have things to rhow at them and they are fire bombs, she breaks into a run now trying to avoid the incoming shots.

She hears Momoyo and is happy to do so she reaches out again trying to get a feel for the earth here, what can she call on, what can she finds out about the floor under the huge knight, is there anything there they can use. She's not going to be able to do more than dodge and do this however.

Priscilla has posed:
    Normally those firebombs being chucked willy nilly by trained and powerful giants would be cause to scatter any less-disciplined unit, and even then, it would be extraordinarily restrictive to the movements of a larger one. Accurate, rapid fire guns aren't even close to being invented here however, and homing energy attacks are only available to sorcerers, who have a much longer casting time than Momoyo can fling the Killer Fireflies out. As such, the barrage is effectively stopped in its tracks, though it takes two Elites to do so, clouding over half the arena with the rapidly condensing blanket of smog caused by the wall of fire repeatedly blossoming above them. The bricks crumble under Sanary's repeated blasting, even as the distant waves of pressure hammer down on her shield over her head, forcing one giant to slowly back away from his supply of munitions

    Solaire will not be so easily deterred however. As the flying wall of shuriken barrels down on him, he stands completely fast, staring into the intimidating swarm of whizzing blades, and only reacting at the last second. He throws his arms out over his head, and then the air explodes outwards with a spherical burst of rippling white magic, or rather, divine energy; a wall of raw force slamming into the fusillade and scattering the shuriken like leaves. The explosive kunai go off regardless, but only peppeter his armour with shrapnel, hail on a tin roof for the most part, save the few that draw flakes of phantom glitter-blood. He meets Nero head on like the rest, Dawnbreaker spinning once over in his gauntleted hand with a valiant chuckle of excitement. "As will I!" he replies, the roof suddenly rumbling as he takes one, cratering stomp forward.

    There's no fancy name to this one; just a mythical sword and the old god of martial skill at arms. The flames explode as he meets her blade to blade, washing over his golden form and burning away his surcoat, only to be blasted to embers as the followthrough to his swing prevails, throwing Nero back with an utterly impossible application of raw strength, applied straight to the weakest leverage on her sword; enough to rip a warrior's arm off were they not a Servant. He follows up by casting his hand out skyward, firing a sphere of incandescent sunlight that shoots to a dizzying height before coming to a rest, beating down on the battlefield momentarily before roaring to life as a shower of searing bolts of lightning; a veritable artillery barrage of divine thunder coating the entire width of the rooftop, making a seemingly impassable screen for anyone who wants to keep their head.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari's eyes widen as the man all but batters away practically every shuriken she had on her, save a few. Normal beings would be a pincushion, but his divine strength proves true! The ninja is silent, keeping behind the far-sturdier Sanary at first, before that falling rain of lightning is released from Solaire!

Doing her best to help the woman, she offers a wide burst of lightning in turn upwards to meet...and hopefully turn aside some of the blast! She herself manages to dodge a majority of the blast, thanks to her own lightning, but even with some fancy ducking, weaving, and general ninja-speed movement, she still comes out of it weakened, and almost on her last legs. She quickly chugs a potion.

And then the ninja backs up, spying that massive cloud of smog that's been created. Similarly, she starts chucking smoke bombs around herself, and generally trying to get as much of the battlefield leading up to that ring! She's quick to cover herself, too in concealing smoke!

One more handseal, and a trio of fake-yari's leap out from the smoke, trying to make their way over to the ring of light! Yari herself is working her way over more carefully, keeping to smoke, and trying to be both silent and swift as she uses her clones to try to seek out any remaining dangers aside from Solaire, possibly distracting him for the group!

Sneaky ninja go!

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Momoyo wished that had been her, but Nero deserved the first clash as much as she did. "Tch." she muses, letting Nero take the assault. The bolts were a pain, but for someone not in the thick of combat, even the semi-random pattern was possible to slip through. So she did. She couldn't let Nero get knocked off the edge of the Arena, so instead she slipped behind Solaire's right leg. This was the spot... hitting this should take down his mobility enough to let Nero use her larger atta<span style="color:ks.

    cxterm93">"Kawakami Style Forbidden Move: Fuji Smasher!!!"</span>

    This was, after all, Momoyo's poise breaking attack, and she was reasonably proud of it. Slamming her fist right into the back of Solaire's armored knee, she set to force him to a kneeling position, and get pincered between her and the Servant. This also would bring his head lower for one of Saber's more vicious strikes if she could pull it off, and using a shield was tricky off-balance.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     The good news is that with all that fire focused on the giants' ammunition, not too many of those bombs come through, and only one person is lost! Sanary's looking as strong as ever despite her fatigue, and one of the giants backing away means less targets to worry about.

     The bad news is that Solaire has lightning. Too much lightning. So much lightning that Sanary's fairly certain she's going to get taken out by it even with the shielding boost. What's a nearly worn out healer to do now?

     Rely on someone else to handle that horrible lightning, of course! Taking advantage of Yari's cover this time around, the cleric takes a quick breath before bellowing out mightily! "SOLAIRE! It's time to finish this!" She shouts out in the loudest voice she can muster, even pointing her icy Charge Blade at the golden knight.

     "Take this if you can!" A small green light cloud projects from her into the sword, then from the sword into... Nobody. No, that last laser she fired at the giants really took it out of her, and just getting that much healing magic out is enough to get her eye to shut down as well.

     But with any luck? She can at least hope that provides a momentary distraction from what everyone else is doing before she gets nailed right in the head with a lightning bolt.

     S A N A R Y I S D E A D

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    It actually takes quite a bit of time for Kyra to come back. She dies a second time just trying to navigate on back by herself. When she finally reaches the chamber with Solaire again, she is grumbling, miserable and angry. "This is why parties always stick together...!"

    She has tasted the sensation of death and feels all the more worse because of it. How does Riva endure dying repeatedly? Kyra would go crazy if she had to experience that so often.

    She doesn't announce her presence at all, merely electing to sneak around the perimeter of the arena as fast as possible, perhaps following the lead of Yari. Her shoulders are hunched and there is an odd look of shame on her face as she moves.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero had shot forward like a bullet.

     And she was also blown back like a bullet.

     Eyes widened in surprise, she turned in midair, stabbing her sword into the floor and dragging it through to slow her forced flight juuuust in time to avoid falling over the edge. "That was...quite something." The Servant mused aloud, biting back pain as she observed the ensuing lighting wall.

     But there was no way that she was done just yet. After surveying the situation, she noted that Yari was attempting to sneak towards the ring... And Momoyo was attacking from another side. Perfect. Then she would attack from the front. Keep the man distracted.

     Nero raised her blade, gripping it in both hands before her. And then she turned it. There was a click like a lock being undone, and then flames flooded into existence all over Aestus Estus. Like a faucet left unattended. Thankfully Kyra didn't actually die! Nero knew that this whole Phantom thing meant that their real bodies were safe. And that she could still draw on her Master's Prana.

     Because the time to strike was now!

     With blade held back, she spread her stance and lowered as Prana gathered. Like a furious current, streams of blue and white particles appeared, infusing the Servant. And then she stepped forward.

     The next instant, Nero shot forward like a bullet, raging sword in hand as she weaved through the lightning.

     "Laus Saint Claudius!"

     And that slash, emitting a flood of brilliant flame, was unleashed, aiming for Solaire's midsection, upon which a blossom of crimson flame would explode outwards on contact. Right after Momoyo had unleased her 'Fuji Smasher'. A two pronged attack. How would the giant of a man deal with this?

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is just getting to crazy time here trying to not get splattered, there's a heck of a lot going on, she blade in his hand. She is trying to get past, she's a slipery one and then she darts about keeping with her allies, but not close enough to make them the targets for AOE, she does however have an attack however of her own. She shift her feet launching several powerful gusts of wind to support those fighting! She also wondrs where did Kyra go?

William Pauwel has posed:
    The Solano is a bizarre piece of technology. It has enough power to fire no more than three bolts of plasma in short succession, but even that is enough to keep up with the enormous clay balls sailing through the air. What it is not necessarily enough to keep up with, however, is a literal deity. Will winces as Solaire's divinity thunders across the arena- but it's not the shockwave that floors him.

    What red-blooded Chaser predicts actual magic? Hell, what kind of adventurer deals with a giant who can fling entire electric storms in ball-form like it was nothing? Lances of golden lightning scream through the air, slamming into the ground all around the Chaser. If he were not on rubberized wheels, his legs would all but certainly be trembling at the shock.

    Instead, as he lunges to dodge, he takes a bolt square to one arm.

    To his credit, it's his right arm. The bolt streaks in, drawn by the coruscating plasma coils at the heart of the family sidearm. It surges down the length of his limb, sending him into a fit of violent seizures as it blasts through his nerves, scorching his spectral skin black. Will struggles to force himself up, to lift his sparking gun again, but his arm fails to respond, and the lightning continues to fall.

But all they have to do...

Is reach that golden circle.

His right side scorched black, his nerves burning and convulsing, there's no way he could possibly cross the distance- not on his own two feet.

But--

But--!

    Will's eyes tighten painfully. His muscles scream as he forces them to move. They don't need to move far. He slumps into the seat of his great, iron horse, its wheels and chassis as battered and beaten as its owner. But unlike him, it can still move. He's half-slumped in the braces that anchor him to his machine as the Mistral lurches forward, picking up speed, its motor roaring louder and louder until it overwhelms even the din of thunder. He may not be able to aim or shoot, but if he can just make it there, then--!

Priscilla has posed:
    "Good! I see you've learned!" Solaire bellows out in an obviously pleased tone. "Passable teamwork, but don't think you can conquer this fortress so easily!" The man is a whirlwind of motion and divine might, the blazing flame of divinity inside his soul endowing him with absurdly superhuman abilities. Casting miracles without a talisman (after all, why would he need to invoke his own name to pray for one?) he launches a blaze of sunlight into the air which seems to float almost gently upwards, before suddenly blinking with a great, vertical sunspot like the pupil of a watchful eye. Under the miniature sun's light, the real Yari glows like a beacon, and so he wheels on her first, dismissing her clones as hopefully too insubstantial to claim the ring, and hurling an incandescent spear of crystallized sunlight, seething with writhing arcs of raw, godly power. It flies forward like a rocket more than a javelin, blowing right through one of the clones without even slowing down, trailing embers in its wake.

    The process of doing so distracts him just long enough for Momoyo to get behind him, and subsequently the thunderous blow connects with the back of his knee. A normal man's leg would have been blown right off. Probably Solaire's himself were this last year. As it stands however, it instead sends him crashing down to one knee, splintering the flagstones as he absorbs the shock with his other leg. He stabs the point of his shield down next to it as Nero uses the split second to advance right into her range again in the blink of an eye, hunkering down behind the titanite relic just as the blade of fantastical flame strikes its surface, exploding into a colossal fireball.

    The shield is straight up wrenched from his hand, sailing end over end before clattering to the ground far away, scorched across its entire surface, but the warrior of sunlight behind it seems to have come out in one piece, the edges of his armour glowing a smouldering cherry red where it isn't charred black. Regardless, without fear and without pain, he retaliates in an instant. Already /on/ his knees, he completes the gesture with his arms, and the air once again roars with a wave of brilliant white light, a hundred times more powerful than before, and with five times the range. Unlike the simple Force miracle to scatter projectiles, the Wrath of the Gods hits like a big fat bomb, capable of glowing away scores of warriors at a time, and Nero and Momoyo are right at point blank. If either of them keep their footing, all they have to look forward to is a flash of a hefty golden blade screaming at them like a cannon shell, left then right, laying about with colossal force.

    In the time it takes him to do that however, Kyra and William are both slipping past. They're exceeding the range he can nail them at without travel time, and the giants know it, redirecting their fire to try and land right in front of the two as Solaire casts a smaller bolt of lightning which splinters into a dozen crackling flechettes of energy, spraying their general area to make it harder to dodge.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Widening her furious red eyes, she realized with this attack she was not going to get another hit on him. She needed to dodge, but was lined up right with the goal. It was now, or never.

    Backflipping backward like a ninja, she gracefully times the flip just close to the midpoint of the invisible force. Invisible, at least, to many people, but for her it was merely a radiant golden extension of his aura. With only a split second while the remaining force of the blow simply sends her backward, she crosses her arms to protect herself from the brunt of it, the blistering aura already shredding her skin invisibly.

    She was not going to be able to handle that sort of attack regularly.

    But now her body was hurtling exactly toward the glowing ring. Her shoulder slams into the ground, and she shakes her head, reaching desperately over her shoulder to try to tag the inside of the circle while he was preoccupied with Nero in front of him. Any other day she and Nero could have taken this pounding regularly, but any minute the giants were going to start throwing bombs again, and their remaining cover fire was all dead.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Her clones dismissed and herself frighteningly exposed thanks to Solaire's sun-powers, Yari feels disturbingly naked and alone without the cover of darkness and smoke. Spying Kyra and William slipping forth, the ninja makes a choice! With herself effectively pinned and facing possible death, she focuses on /them/! She makes several handseals, then ducks low.

As that divine splatter of lighting aims for William and Kyra, Yari's hand hits the dirt. Three walls of rock and earth rise up from behind the duo, thick mud and dirt and stone ready to take the blow and give them the cover they need to get closer and into the ring!

As for herself? She only gets one earth-wall, the ninja flattening herself and rolling at the last minute. It's not enough, as the wall gets utterly shattered by Solaire's sungod power, and she screams out as her leg and tail get nearly pinned by a lightning god-ray spear.

There's blood and suffering and general pain.

Yari's HP Bar Before: ---------------

Yari's HP Bar After: -

If only she had another potion or a non-sneaking healer. She offers one last smokebomb and kunai to give the fleeing pair enough cover and anti-trap defence at the ring of light ot hopefully let them get through.

Nero (880) has posed:
     It was chaos.

     Nero grit her, and planted her feet into the ground as that golden blade came for her. She raised Aestus Estus to defend and catch the strike.

     That was not happening.

     The blades clashed.

     Nero goes flying...and flying...and flying...off the edge and out of sight.

     N E R O H A S P R O B A B L Y D I E D

     But she did her part!

     Maybe.

     Hopefully.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
The ninja squints, delirious amidst phantom-based pain, annoyance, and general hatred towards so-called 'gods'. Also in respect at such an impossibly strong, jovial man!

"Nnngh...owe us all some drinks after this...Mister Solaire!"

Yari Takane demands Sunpraised Beer. /DEMANDS IT/.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary's actually feeling considerably better after reforming at.. The very beginning of this entire place. Shit. Well. Only one thing to do. Time to shlep all the way back to the top and hope nothing goes wrong! If she's lucky, she'll at least get back up there by the time everything's over. Or... Who knows? Maybe everyone'll need a boost by the time she gets there.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra is being super careful to not attract any attention to herself. Given that she's a glowing white phantom, it's impossible to do. She is, of course, spotted-not by Solaire but by the misshapen giants that are backing up the newly ascended god. The second it becomes obvious that she is noticed, she moves faster-not Haste fast, but a lot faster than before. Fire pours down from above and appears to be /mostly/ repelled by a blue shield that flickers around her. Those well versed in White Magic will recognize a Reflect spell for what it was. It'd help her very little against actual physical things but the various forms of energy attacks are repelled, for the most part. She's not unscathed.

    Kyra doesn't take any shots back or even makes any attempt to fight. She just runs, eyes focused on the 'prize' of reaching the lighted circle.

William Pauwel has posed:
It's not going to be that easy.

    Bolts of lightning streak by, slamming into walls of solid stone as Yari calls the earth to do her bidding. Will grunts weakly, leaning to one side, then the other as he tries to put some kind of cover between himself and the all-too-jolly thunder god hurling death-bolts his way. Soon, the lightning is no longer a problem.

The giant explosives being hurled his way-- those haven't ever stopped being a problem.

    One erupts nearby, bathing the world in fire and brimstone. Other continue to fall-- one directly overhead. It's impossible to outrun, especially as he is now. But then, he's not running.

Will sees it coming. The things tumble laboriously through the air and cast massive shadows- it's hard not to see them coming. He can hardly move, but he doesn't need to. All he needs to do is to twist his hands forward and gun the throttle.

The Mistral responds.

    Will sails forward, explosive boulders bursting behind him. It's almost like Will's in some kind of action movie-- like this were some terrible adaptation of some beloved childhood franchise, and he had somehow landed the starring role.

Cool guys, as everyone knows, always turn away from explosions.

Lyria Mason has posed:
Lyria Mason is just happy to have not ended up splattered all over the terrain, but Solaire is proving to be a hell of a fighter, the reports don't quite live up to what he's able to do. She will have to keep that in mind. This is certainly one of the more crazy fights as she just starts to move, she drops a smoke bomb and hope to the gods she's able to make it past and for the objective she's just going to put everything has into speed, maybe she can make it, maybe she won't but she's keeping an eye out for hazards to dodge. Solarie really is something.

Priscilla has posed:
    That brings it up to six. Quite an impressive count, especially considering the calibre of the Elites present. The count probably means that any ordinary group would be completely obliterated by now, never mind at the very top floor. Though he may have bested the Elites that have come for him in a direct contest of arms, that isn't the objective of the exercise, and a handful of them are already well past. Spinning to his feet, Solaire bursts forward, after Momoyo with the kind of speed that doesn't come from fancy agility so much as raw, explosive strength. She's the closest, and thus the only one he can really catch with his sword. Dawnbreaker suddenly ignites into a glorious inferno of holy lightning, coruscating up and down its length to the point where it leaps to sizzle and crawl over the surrounding terrain, drawing erratic black lines in its wake. Even Solaire can go for the backstab from time to time, aiming to ram the blade straight through Momoyo's spine.

    All he can do with his other hand however, is to channel that miraculous power and fire a concentrated orb of that pulsing white force, flying straight thrue through the smoke cloud to where he has long since memorized where the ring of light is, rather than trying to aim through all the smoke. Anyone who gets there a little too eagerly will be at ground zero of the explosion, and likely hurled bodily from the rooftop and down the cliff below, but there's no way it'll get all of them. Regardless of who touches it first, the ring bursts to life like the beacon of a lighthouse, shooting straight through the smoke and bathing the rooftop in almost scalding sunlight. The giants stop dead, as does Solaire, solely to applaud in appreciation with the clank of gauntleted hands mashing together. "Excellent! Excellent! Even knowing who was coming here, I'm very much impressed! Now, what kind of host would I be to turn down a drink to heroes worthy of braving Sen's Fortress?" His laugh is loud, boisterous, and entirely genuine. After all, his design is a success.

Yari Takane (691) has posed:
Yari doesn't bother moving. She grins, as she spies her allies reaching that ring of light, and Solaire's boisterous approval. She might prefer the darkness, but even she can appreciate the light.

And a drink to success. Her phantom fades away, and soon enough, she'll toast alongside both a god and her allies-slash-frenemies best, having learned much from such a hellish romp through Sen's Fortress.

Momoyo Kawakami (928) has posed:
     Bleeding on the ground, her phantom self was at risk of fading away. While well within Kyra's reach to stabilize, it wasn't necessary now. Still, that horrid feeling of slow numbness, the feeling of losing track of her surroundings and her body shutting down after being impaled by a God... she had finally come close to experiencing death. Violently coughing her phantom's blood all over her hand, her wrist was still past the circle and therefore had won.

    "Ghh..." she murmurs, losing track of her fading thoughts as her phantom self fades. It would take her no time at all to rejoin the closing festivities and confirm the reports, but this was at once a frightening and peaceful experience nonetheless if it wasn't stopped, her hand quivering in the light.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    It's true, Kyra could have stabilized Momoyo. But why bother? Every death in this dungeon has been earned and a small part of Kyra, meanly, believes it would be wrong to deprive people of the experience here. /Especially/ since it wasn't permanent. No, Kyra's all to focused on getting to the ring, which she succeeds in doing, ending the aggressive torment of everyone here. She sighs, exhausted, afterwards.

Nero (880) has posed:
     Nero is fuming at the gates of course.

     She died valiantly.

     Three times.