7084/LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Central Shrine)

LI0: Black Swan, Yellow Hands (Central Shrine)
Date of Scene:	14 February 2020
Location:	The World R:2
Synopsis:	A desperate band of heroes works to keep Haseo distracted and away from the others as they work to empower the Relics. The plan has some problems.
Cast of Characters:	Shyra, 7132, Arthur Lowell, 7015, Alruna Greengate, Tomoe
Tinyplot:	Loop Zero
Tinyplot2:	Last Illusion

---

Shyra has posed:
    The world is on the verge of destruction.

    Beams of colored light surge into the endless sky. To the East, blue. To the West, white. To the North, black, to the South, red.

    And in the Center, a brilliant ray of yellow. The land around the Ruined Shrine has been slowly twisting, the trees and plains becoming dark. Within that area, the encounter tables have shifted into endgame monster encounters, the environment becoming intensely hostile as horrible and deformed creatures stalk the churning land.

    Across the entire world, the same music plays, just as it has been since the seal was broken.

    BGM: https://youtu.be/ICwnlNitmUw

    In desperation, a plan has been enacted: To force open the paths to the other three Relics, so the Blessings of the Spirits can be brought to bear upon Haseo to help counter the power he derives from the Evil God. The Vimana flies across the skies, stopping near each location as Shyra opens steps forward.

                          DEV TOOLS > FLAG EDITOR                          

    Things subtly shift in each location. A red stain appears outside the Red Birds Shrine. The Princess vanishes from her position in the White Tigers Shrine as she appears deep within, the doors unlocking. The Black Warriors Shrine collapses in on itself a couple times, and Shyra gets an embarassed look on her face before it uncollapses itself, the Shrine shimmering back into position.

    There are FOUR GROUPS, each with a task:

    The CENTER group is dedicated towards distracting Haseo and keeping him from directly intervening to stop the other groups. They are not to get stuck into battle so Haseo can't invoke any of his instant kill attacks, so stay mobile and abuse any mechanics and intel necessary.

Haseo, however, knows what's going on and will be dispatching opponents to interfere to several locations.

    The WEST group is to descend into the WHITE TIGERS SHRINE in order to acquire the blessing of the WHITE TIGERS SPIRIT. MORDRED has been dispatched here to intervene. Besides, she had an appointment here anyway.

    The NORTH group is to enter the BLACK WARRIOR SHRINE in order to acquire the blessing of the BLACK WARRIORS SPIRIT. A MYSTERIOUS BACKER has come here in order to stop the heroes.

    The SOUTH group is travelling to the flying RED BIRDS SHRINE in order to acquire the blessing of the RED BIRDS SPIRIT. Shyra drops that group off. Because of fiddling with flags, no one seems to be required to actually die this time, and Linehart isn't here. However, that means the TRUE CONTENTS of the Shrine are UNKNOWN...

I4 (7132) has posed:
Those that come with I4, well...they don't go to the same place as the others.  Instead, they're told to go to 'The World:R2' And to take the warp gate to Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.  Entering the cathedral will find I4 setting a few things up, including a strange data entity in the center of the room.  He motions for people to get out of sight because the moment the target comes through...well.  

Haseo gets a shortmail, the sender is 'corrupted', but the picture of the source seems to be a distorted image of the entity that he would know as 'Tri-Edge' and simply a location of the place of their last conflict, Delta: Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.  

Backing off, I4 would move to take cover as well.  Finishing the last bit of the trap.  The data entity takes shape.  It is a strange blue-haired man, with twin blades in each hand.  His outfit is orange, and his eyes are...dead.  Devoid of life and seemingly filled with an animalistic desire to kill.  Surrounding him is a strange blue flame, and the sounds he makes are just animalistic hisses.  

That would be the sight Haseo would see the moment he entered the Cathedral itself.

Shyra has posed:
    Shyra, after getting everyone dropped off, rushes back to I4's side and helps him. She is part of the reason why this is happening, she feels responsible... And that means she is part of the most dangerous part of the operation.

    She might be needed. She is a Holy Healer, after all.

    She follows along with I4 to the other strange world. Something about it feels... right to her, but she runs along with the others, her gaze sweeping over the strange, vital game world... And then they are taken to a Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground.

    Shyra does as instructed and hides, ducking behind the altar, shuddering a little as she sees the fearsome data construct. Is this what is going to bring Haseo?

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur remains aboard the ship, just for now. He looks tense, uncertain. He has brought aboard his ALCHEMITER and its assorted PUNCHCARD ALCHEMY APPARATUSES. Regarding the DEV TOOLS uneasily, he winces a bit and shakes his head. That... unnerves him, deeply, for various reasons. As, himself, a native of game worlds, such a thing is profoundly unsettling, to say the least.

    He's already cranking out some CRUXITE DOWELS from the CRUXTRUDER to ready up. He'll need to flit between locales, or so his plan goes, to alchemize content from content to fill in unloaded, missing chunks.

    "God, fuck, how do you look at that shit?" Arthur says, as he finishes punching another card to prep. "I sure as hell couldn't stand having something like that jammed in my menu all the time. Jegus, must be hell." So averse to infinite power, this god. He preps a spirographic GATE, awaiting the first call of some dire missing content, some miscalculated damage numeral. His breathing is irregular, forced into a relaxed state just to calm himself down. He stays there until she disembarks, and stays there even longer. He'll be holding here with his alchemy gear for now, not joining them in The World.

    "Alright. Let's turn a plan into a win." He's saying it to build his own confidence, not to build anyone else's.

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     Gets the @mail. Tri-Edge, of all the times it had to be now? What the hell was Yata doing, he was suppose to be keeping an eye out and alerting him when he shows up. But there's none of that... Just mail from the presumed murder. A normal person might suspect it to be a trap. Hell, Haseo's pretty sure he's getting played in some manner...

     But even still. On the off chance it really is Tri-Edge, he'd never forgive himself if he let this chance slip by.

     So Haseo's left. He leaves the throne room, and temporarily, the role of Evil God. Just to confront the man.

     He enters the door, revealing to everyone inside that he is indeed, just NORMAL Haseo, before attempting to assault the fake Tri-Edge.

     He may be a lower level than last time, but Skeith gives him an edge. How, he's not sure. His stats are definitely still lower, but he feels more equipped to deal with it.

     There's a flash of light as Haseo pulls out a broadsword from nowhere, the teeth on it spinning as he just aims to slap the approaching Fake Tri-Edge out of the way.

     "TRI-EDGE!"

     It's not going to be a repeat of last time. He's going to win.

I4 (7132) has posed:
Haseo flies at the 'Totally Legit Tri-edge'.  It even looks up at him, it starts to raise its blade, to do the stupid deflection trick it did when they first fought.  However, Haseo's savage and angry strikes appear to be /too much/ for it, and the blade cuts down the center of Tri-Edge in a decisive victory.

That was until the doors and the walls of the Cathedral glew with data that marks a lockout on it, in the lockout is a picture of I4 in 8-bit texture holding a stop sign at Haseo.  

"Gettem!" I4 says, popping up and shooting a blast of electrical magic at the back of Haseo's character model, like a jerk.  "Huh, I can't believe that worked, I guess that guy wasn't selling me an igloo at Florida man's house.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna frankly considers herself to be amongst sorcerors utilising deep magicks well beyond her ken. She's both right and wrong, but what matters now is an urgent feint to keep attention off the other three groups they've deployed. That much, she can readily understand. And do.

Concealed behind a pillar, she wordlessly mouths a prayer, holding the BLUE DRAGONS RELIC tightly to her chest while they wait for Haseo to take the bait.

When I4 leaps out from his concealment to take a potshot, Alruna bursts into motion. Running behind the pillars that support the cathedral's cavernous interior, she throws out her arm, sending her kite shield in a curving spin towards Haseo from the opposite side.

Shyra has posed:
    Shyra almost screams as Tri-Edge is cloven apart almost right over her head. However, this puts her in a good position to pop up at the signal. Haseo... I'm sorry! She says, moments before she unleashes her most powerful weapon!

                                    BIND                                    

    That's right! Haseo isn't undead so she's just spamming CC at him. Even now, she doesn't want to kill him.

Tomoe has posed:
A Nan said to Tomoe recently? How many people had you saved with your power? When she was in a low place doubting herself. It had put things in perspective a bit better for her. She had things she could do that other people could not. She kept that in mind before what was to be done today after all Haseo had proven to live up to his nickname the Terror of Death. She is keenly aware that directly fighting Haseo. It would be more hit and run, a game of rocket tag where Haseo wasn't the one made of paper. They had to keep him busy so he could not directly interfere with the shrines.

Tomoe was aware there were somethings thing she could not full-on face tank, Haseo was one of those things.

She had signed up with I4's part of the plan and was doing her best to be in hiding. She'd been to THE WORLD before, she was keen to listen laying in wait hiding inside the Chruch.

She waits sword in hand and shield ready, knowing it's only a matter of time with Haseo making his presence known? She follow ALurna and I4 out of concealment and will blitz across the room and much the same as Alruna she throws her shield at Haseo. She does not stop moving and vaults over several pews a she goes.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur notes something of tremendous concern on one of his exotic spellcircles. He slams several cards in quick succession, carves something exotic out of an elaborate cylinder of crystal, and manifests a series of duplicate flag terminations -- duplicate pieces from a doorway threshold, it looks like. This is flesh and blood, not code, so all he can use is something like ritual parts, he can't change reality itself.

    He moves as fast as he can to dive through the Gate.

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     The Fake Tri-Edge falls all too easily, and Haseo realizes at this instance, that yet he has been set up. He has no idea how they found out about what Tri-Edge looks like, or even this is where he tends to show up, but he's not happy.

     I4 gets him with a blast of electricity in the back, causing Haseo to stagger back as he quickly tries to face the direction of his attackers.

Then Tomoe and Alruna come running out, throwing their shield at the Adept Rogue. He quickly brings up his sword to deflect Tomoe's, but it leaves him open for the second shield, resulting in his face getting pelted with a long THUNK. At the very least, despite the awful noise, the only thing that seems to be left on him is a bright red mark.

     And then Shyra comes out with the binds. It snares the Terror of Death, and he just sneers.

     "Tch. You think this is all a funny joke, don't you? WELL, I'M NOT LAUGHING!"

     Haseo stands up, fighting the the bind as lights up with the all too familiar runes.

     "SKEITH!"

     And then he's gone, in a flash a light he's replaced with the massive, stone-like monster from before. At the very least, it seems different. It has two arms instead of a dozen, and it's a bit smaller than usual.

     It doesn't make it any less of a pain. There's a loud, inhuman roar from Skeith. It holds out a hand, firing a spray of bullets at the party before it starts phasing in and out of sight.

     It eventually positions itself behind Shyra before bringing its massive scythe down on the healer with not all the intent to do as much damage as possible. He's not messing around still, even without his 'buffs'.

I4 (7132) has posed:
"Shyra, watch out!" I4 shouts towards his friend, who he has to watch get plastered.  I4 gets /mad/, but unlike others, he turns his anger into thinking.  He doesn't get away from himself, he needs to draw Haseo's wrath towards him.  Hopefully, he'll forget she can restore them.  With a breath, he tries to think out his plan.

"No, if this was going to be a joke, it'd be funnier.  What this is, is me proving my point.  That just because we couldn't beat you then, didn't mean we couldn't beat you period.  There are many apparently that would see your downfall, and they passed that knowledge to me," I4 says, firmly.  

Bullets fly down, and I4 tries to deflect them with his blade as he charges the figure.  A few smack into him, each shot shreds a bit of his health away, but he just forces it.  His teeth grit as he runs towards the Avatar, and dashes towards the creature with his rapier.

Lightning surges around the blade, as he attempts to repeatedly strike at the creature with thrusts, before leaping away with a backflip, blade held at the ready as he gets ready.  Come on, focus right on me.  

"You've lost, and your own failure made it possible.  In a sentence, you are as predictable as yesterday's weather," Hopefully TAUNT was multiclass.

Shyra has posed:
    Shyra wasn't laughing. She wasn't laughing at all. In fact, when Skeith comes out again, she stares at the thing, her staff wavering in her hands.

    A moment later, Skeith is behind her. Once again, it cleaves through her with a murderous swing of the scythe.

                                    464!                                    

    Shyra's HP bar doesn't instantly vanish, but it does drop /precipitously/ as she is critically hit. Blood splatters the stones as she falls to her knees, gasping and crying in pain... But she falls back, scrambling behind her more durable allies as she desperately begins spreading healing magics across Alruna, mitigating the damage she receives in a way that the Paladin likely finds familiar.

    We can do it... She gasps, holding together as she continues to work to sap the energy and motion of the Terror of Death.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is thankful for I4's support in this fight as she knows how hard Haeso can hit.

"I'm not laughing either."

She sees Shyra has already come under attack by Haseo and then something else happens. A terrifying stone golem thing appears before her and the rest of the party. What the heck is that thing? She has no idea, what it is. The strange cry rattles her a bit, but not for long. Given the strange bullets, it starts firing at her.

Tomoe thanks in part for I4's support and her own abilities is able to deflect a good deal of the damage. With her shield taking the brunt of the hit shield but it's making to target Shyra and try to cut her down with a scythe.

She leaps up bounding of the wall into the air, wings sprout from her back and she flies up a bit. The wings are bright red angular and one can see through them like coloured glass.

She will buzz Skeith launching into several attacks making a go for it's 'head' and shoulders trying to keep it off balance long enough for Shyra to catch a breather, Tomoe flies up the kicks off the ceiling and land in another part of the Cathedral before getting on the move again, either leaping, bounding or flying as she goes. She just ain't sitting still.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna lifts her shield to defend herself, the familiar rattle of bullets ringing in her ears as they hammer on the metal.

"Shyra!" Alruna vaults over the pews to defend her from Skeith, slapping it backwards with a backhanded swing of her shield. She's still carrying the relic in her sword hand, glowing with a solid outline of light. "Keep your mind here and now. You have to trust the others!" she reminds the healer.

Alruna takes a deep breath, the pixelated water effects rising around her torso and focusing into a point just in front of her face. Her cheeks puff out as she blows the magic, like a dragon spitting fire, at Skeith, trying to infect it with a debilitating poison.

                                    WOODSIN

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     Shyra continues to try and sap at Skeith's strength. While it clearly isn't immune, there's a lot of Skeith in both the literal and metaphorical sense. It's working though, it's clearly slowing down, if slowly.

     Alruna casts a spell, it's a spell they've never heard of, and it clearly is aimed to debilitate it. It also clearly /hurts/ but whatever the effects of the poison may be, it's clear that Skeith's capability of persisting outdoes the poison. Even as the purple numbers tick above its head.

     Then I4 and Tomoe attempt to attack head on. There's the sound of clanking metal as Skeith, despite its size, is more than capable of matching I4's blows. Though it's clear that it's not completely concerned with its safety, as some of their attacks get through, stabbing through the massive monster's 'skin' and exposing the wireframe beneath.

     "Yeah? Well, I don't need The Evil God to beat chumps like you, so I really don't know what you're trying to prove!"

     As he's responding to that, Tomoe gets the chance to do her sick parkour tricks. Her blade cuts through Skeith rather easily, bisecting through its arm and shoulder. That should have stuck, and it does for a moment, but it eventually fixes itself, it reverts to what it was in the health department. But it does something, if only because it lets out an annoyed roar.

     There's another flicker as it repositions itself behind I4, crouching down to his level as it shoves the shaft of its scythe into the android's backside before disappearing yet again.

     It's in front of the entire party now, on top of the empty altar. There's another roar as the scythe disappears from its grip, both hands hovering over the rest of the group as it lets out another storm of energy bullets. No concern for accuracy, just a complete bullet hell as it tries to cover every possible inch.

Shyra has posed:
This is terrible. Skeith is wrecking them even without the power of the Evil God Discordia. Shyra's resolve is threatening to waver in the face of this absurd amount of firepower. The energy bullets achieve COMPLETE BATTLEFIELD SATURATION as Shyra attempts to create a magical barrier to forestall them.

    It doesn't. The barrier shatters, and Shyra is blasted by the bullets. Again, numbers appear over her head:

                                    265!                                    

    It's like the Terror of Death doesn't like healers or something. Shyra falls over, collapsing against a pew as she struggles to maintain focus... And what makes that hopefully simple enough is the back of Alruna. A familiar sight, the back of a powerful hero who can defend her...

    And she grits her teeth. We have to hold out... We have to believe... in the miracle. She grimaces. We have to believe in our friends... All of them... Fighting for my world!

    But she's fading fast. She knows she is. Therefore, there's something she is going to do right now before Haseo has the chance to take her out completely. She turns to Alruna... Glory of the brightest light... Shine down on this soul, and guide them along the path of valor once more! A pause. I believe in you, Alruna. You can do it.

                                        LIFE                                    

    Alruna is promptly invigorated by a glowing beam of incandescent energy, refilling her reserves... Will it be enough?

I4 (7132) has posed:
The scythe handle comes down for the back of I4's back.  He kicks off the ground just in time, flipping over a pew, right as the handle collides with the side of his chest, as opposed to the center of his back.  Flying, he flips mid-air to correct his momentum and skids to a stop, the blindfolded kid staring up at the monstrous stone figure.  

"Really?  Because right now you're looking a little hurt from this position, and you keep going after the least defended.  Sounds like to me you're scared of losing.  No, not scared.../terrified/.  Imagine that, the Terror of Death is /terrified/ of losing.  It'd be funny if it weren't so sad," he continues to comment, trying to get Haseo to do something stupid.

Pushing his hands to the ground itself comes alive, as data shoots out of the ground to try and impale Skeith.  This is followed by various blasts of data attempting to punch their way into the data of the Avatar, as I4 simply tries to do whatever he can to destroy the defenses and health data of the creature.  

"You might be the Terror of Death here, but I am beyond Terror.  You walked into my trap, where my rules are enforced.  You are separated from your power, while my allies make their move.  Even if you leave here...you already lost," This is followed by data violently (or attempting to) violent explode across the Avatar.  "This is why you were incapable of wielding that power.  Not because you could not, but because your mind is here, in this place.  You don't have the same desire to win there as here, while that woman you keep trying to kill will do anything to save her world from its fate...and we will do anything to support her."

"You lost the moment you put anything else before you attempt to take power over that world.  You probably lost long before that."

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna is going to get bruised to hell and back, even with the mitigation of Shyra's healing. Skeith's energy bullets pepper her plate armour, as well as her shield, only modestly denting the metal but the most reliable way to hurt a fully armoured knight is through sheer force of impact and Skeith's got bullets for days.

The paladin stands up under the withering assault and runs forward into the storm of bullets while Shyra behind her attempts to invest her remaining energy into the paladin. Alruna's legs pump harder, surging into Skeith with every onze of strength she can muster.

The relic isn't in her hand anymore. She returns to a more familiar weapon. Just a sword. Just her sword. Glowing with aether, Alruna jumps, propelling herself higher into the air than she intended. Making a surprised sound, she flails, trying to twist herself around into position as she nearly scrapes the ceiling of the cathedral. The radiant magic surrounding her is sucked into her sword, illuminating and amplifying the blade as she brings it crashing down on Skeith with the force of... well, a JRPG protagonist executing a limit break.

Tomoe has posed:
The battle keeps going, one of the other teams report in the Red Shrine is clear. That's very good news, it means so far they pulled off part of the operation now they just need to hold Haseo off a little longer. OR whatever this thing /is/. She can see the damage they are hurting it but hurting is no stopping it. Nore is it an assurance of delaying Haseo long enough to let the others finish their missions.

as the bullet rain down on her she wades through the storm. They hit her they do damage her leaving red angry wireframes where they strike and she keeps on moving.

More good news she's able to get a few defence buffs up on I4 as she's on the move hopefully that will help him pull through this. Seeing Shyra and Alruna are still up she's confident they at least last a little longer before they need to fall back.

She will take the weapon in hand again and flies right at Haseo trying to impale whatever he's become and drive at him full force intend to impale him and maybe even dive him into one of the walls. At the very least this should get his attention.

"I'm NOT DONE YET!"

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     The attacks all connect into Skeith. Between Shyra's Green DPS and the tank's refusal to aggro the floor. The avatar staggers, taking a moment to catch its breath against its scythe as the wielder is clearly running out of steam.

     And then I4 makes his speech, and his trap is sprung. Haseo doesn't even get to make a comeback as the ground sprouts data to attack them.

     There's a loud yelp from Haseo as it burrows into Skeith's model, the massive monster flailing before suddenly giving up. The three glowing eyes on its face dim out. That's it, that's a wrap. Even with Skeith, four against one is-

     N O T Y E T

     Haseo's in a dark place. He doesn't know where, but given the three glowing eyes, he has a good idea. He yells and scream to be let out, but he's not in control anymore. The Terror Of Death is.

     The lifeless Skeith, despite its deteriorating state, springs to life once more, the once dead eyes burning even brighter as it grabs the chains of data with an empty hand, crushing it with surprising ease before letting out a deafening roar.

     The Cathedral shakes as there's a completely different atmosphere in the room. This is no longer a fight to win. It's a fight for one's life.

Two massive arms are thrown out towards Shyra and I4, the limbs stretching and extending to reach them as it attempts to lift them high before throwing them hard into the ground below with a complete disregard for their safety.

     Once that's done, it flickers around. It's a lot more erratic, a lot less directed. It's a different pattern than Haseo, or probably any sane person would make, that's for sure. It appears once again behind the two tanks, scythe in hand.

     It swings. It's a wide arc, it covers stupid amounts of room given the arena they're in. It also doesn't stop at one swing. It swings twice. It swings three times. It swings well past the point where you'd have to, until its winded itself again and pauses to recuperate. It doesn't care. It just wants to cause damage. Wants to drag everyone down with it before it too, has to fade away again.

I4 (7132) has posed:
I4 could feel that they were nearly there.  Maybe if they could beat him here it could effect Shyra's world a little more?  Maybe I4 was getting too greedy for his plan.  Whatever the case, he was shooting for the best outcome.  

Of course, he didn't count for what happened next.  Something...changed.  The Avatar wasn't behaving like it was when Haseo was in control.  He calls out towards the others to warn him.  He tries to move but before he can the hands of the Avatar stretch out towards him.  

He tries anything to get out of it, even as the chains of his hacking are broken.  Even as he's smashed into the ground and beaten until...

I4 ends up on the ground, his right arm and leg are gone, torn off from the force of the attack.  Chunks of metal stick out of the sockets and spark.  He doesn't look like he's going to be moving anytime soon, or conscious.

Shyra has posed:
Shyra was holding out. She did everything she can. She believed. She hoped for the miracle.

    Maybe the miracle will come... But it doesn't need her for that, unfortunately. She already played her part. Even as she reinvigorates Alruna, Skeith strikes past and grabs her. She only has time to scream for a moment before she is smashed right into the floor, shattering a pew and crunching into the ground.

    She is brutalized... But she will live, with some attention. Hopefully.

    No one really wants to force a Game Over, right? RIGHT? Just leave the healer to bleed out for a bit.

Tomoe has posed:
Is it over? Did they put down Haseo for the moment? She's almost hopeful that it's over. She will take one step forward to what it seems to be the fallen monster. She's not entirely foolish she intends to make sure this is over.

Tomoe has to make sure Haseo is down, she's not going to be satisfied she's certain he's down. Being on guard for that is the only thing that saves he she springs to action as the lifeless Skeith arises once more, and something is happening here, the world shakes the massive monster is still attacking almost at random. Tomoe parries some of the attacks parried a few but they keep coming.

Her HP bar is being eaten away and sings of injury are showing up. There's also a danger she might lose her avatar state. Even a momentary lapse would be a likely death sentence for her.

She's got to push it hard and to her horror, her abilities are not enough to keep I4 safe and Shyra has fallen as well.

Something cracks it can be heard in her voice.

"SHYRA! I4!"

There's a look on Tomoe's face that's pretty murderous and she launches at Haseo or whatever it is.

She's being borderline wreckless here as she's trying to keep in Haseo's grill and she's clearly not pulling punches. She very likely will try to finish him off if she's able to.

She's putting all the power she can into her blows, as she's just trying to rip whatever this is apart with as much damage as she can muster. Letting out a wordless cry of anger as she does and keeps up her assault.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna lands on the floor with a thunderous crash, jumping backwards to defend herself and Shyra - Skeith is faster, however, and Alruna watches helplessly as the healer is thrown about like a rag doll. Hurling her shield at the arm does nothing to dissuade it from its grisly work. The scythe punches through her armour, sending in arc of blood splattering on the mirror-polished flagstones and eliciting a yelp of pain from the paladin.

Her shield returns to her just in time to fend off the next slash, and overextending to deflect the one after that. Alruna's lifeblood spills down her tassets, staining green with red. Her breath comes in gasps as her legs weaken from the effort of staying upright.

She isn't sure what to do. The beast looks like it's thrashing about in desperation - can they win by outlasting it? Her eyes flick down to the crumpled form of Shyra, and I4, horribly mangled.

...they have to try. "Twelve protect us." Though she doubts they have much sway here. Alruna grits her teeth and charges at Skeith.

She's a blur of movement across the cathedral, hurling herself into the stone beast. She slams on it with her shield to knock the monster off-balance, aether spilling out of her sword as she channels energy into it and flicks her sword this way and that, trying to carve the thing apart without having her blade bounce off its sloped angles.

Haseo (7015) has posed:
     The support is down, and Tomoe and Alruna hack away at Skeith. It doesn't put up much of a fight, pieces of it are carved off, revealing the wire mesh underneath its stone-like skin. But eventually it recovers. It pulls itself off its scythe as the wind comes back to it and the damage that was done begins to undo itself at a slower rate.

     It pounds its weapon into the ground as a declaration, embedding the weapon firmly into the solid stone texture before it starts phasing in and out around the battle field without much rhyme or reason.

     Eventually it stops with the erratic glitchy movement, appearing behind the two tanks before it just simply slams both of its massive fists on top of them. It's a simplistic, almost animal like approach to attacking, but damn if it isn't still effective.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe has two party members down, she knows she can't last forever and it is showing her form is warping fairly noticeably now there are red wireframes everywhere even part of her face has suffered that effect. She notices it's healing slower.

"You can't last forever can you?!"

She's able to turn in time to catch the attack. The force of the blows are effective alone it pushes through her defences just form the sheer force impact of the attack. All the finesse and planning of the earlier assaults it made are long gone.

It's fighting like a predatory animal and it's damn effective.

She will aim to slam the shield she carries into the attacking form whatever Haseo is currently in. Something is clearly up with whatever this thing is. It's seeming fight differently now.

"You want them?! YOU HAVE TO GET THROUGH ME!"

Her blade glows green, as she launches into a sword art sending two quick strikes aimed for Skeith's midsection or whatever passes for it. All the while she's really nearly in a panic, I4 and Shyra are down, Alruna and her are getting hit very hard and she's not sure how much longer she can last.

Alruna Greengate has posed:
Alruna is ignoring pressing problems to try and secure the victory - her fingers begin to go numb as she continues losing blood. But she can see victory in sight! They haven't got much further to go.

It's some tingle or premonition that causes her to raise her shield when Skeith disappears and tries to pummel them into the floor. A shower of golden sparks rains down around her as the fist drives her to her knees.

She coughs, looking down at a fresh tide of red running over her legs. She doesn't have the energy to cry, much less laugh at the absurdity of it all. Drained of aether and rapidly draining of blood, Alruna sees little and less in the way of options. "Tomoe, we have to leave! Fall back!"

She sounds desperate. Rallying one last time, Alruna struggles to her feet, trying to throw Skeith back, off-balance long enough. "Get I4 and take to your heels!" She punches the inside of her shield, exploding the lingering energies clinging to it in Skeith's face, and suits words with actions, turning to run for Shyra's collapsed body.

Haseo (7015) has posed:
Alruna flees, throwing one last attack to throw it off balance as they run with Shyra. It seems to work, though maybe it's because Skeith doesn't seem to want to take chase even though it probably could.

     Tomoe throws what could be considered a desperate attack, prompting the Epitaph to retaliate. Finally putting its thin legs to use, the digital devil winds back a leg, before delivering a massive rib shattering blow to the woman's stomach. Though, given the size discrepancy, it's really more of a punt. Still, it sends the Salamander flying, conveniently next to I4.

     It doesn't do anything after that. It's like it wants them to scurry off. Like it's more amused at them running for their lives than the actual wholesale slaughter.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is stubborn and durable it shows but it also shows it has its limits. It is also clear that she can not take much more either. She makes a call as Haseo kicks her again she goes flying using her wings to brake her fall a bit. She doesn't even pause once she's able to get up. She banishes her sword and shield to her inventory grabs I4.

"Don't need to tell me twice!"

With that done she will start to move to get out of the Cathedral as fast as she can fly. It's at this time she issues a warning to the rest of the teams that the delaying action is over and they can not do more for them.