1009/Perfection in Immortal Crystal

Perfection in Immortal Crystal
Date of Scene:	21 November 2014
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	Priscilla and her phantom co. face off against Duke Seath.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, Priscilla, 168, 183, 253, 395, 560, 570, Lezard Valeth, 610

---

Priscilla has posed:
    Again, the summoning rituals are drawn in another strange place, though this one is by far a more surreal sight than simply rare or memorable. The circle has been written on what appears to be one of the flat sides of a giant, hexagonal crystal, stretching across the yawning abyss of a gigantic cave, over which looms a tower of glittering blue glass that bristles in all directions like a monolithic snowflake; shining with a bright, steady white light that harshly illuminates the mountainside despite the perpetual night sky of Lordran. Almost everything as far as they eye can see is rendered in the same textures and colours. What perhaps once might have been a mine is now the inside of an enormous, blue geode; crystal growths of gargantuan proportions growing from wall to wall and locking into each other, upon which rest what look to be butterflies of some sort, but obscenely large if the distance is gagued correctly. The circle is far enough in that the observatory tower of the Duke's Archives is just barely visible by looking up out of the cave mouth, but there is still a ways to go deeper.

    Adalbert must have gone home safe to Firelink Shrine, because Oscar has come all the way out here after being brought news of the area, and for a change, he and Priscilla seem to be getting along. She's in the middle of handing him something with a verbal explanation as sight and sound slowly come to the phantoms one by one, which he seems to accept gratefully, letting her turn to address her more familiar cohorts instead. "I see many of the same faces as before. I trust thou cometh out of equal desire to put an end to the Duke for his crimes as much as offering any form of aid to this world. Such is more than an acceptable feeling. Duke Seath hath lived too long and misused the time and powers given to him too greatly. Give no quarter, as he is a known liar and traitor many times over. I suspect he shalt giveth none himself."

    To each phantom in turn, Priscilla hands out curious little grey stones in the shape of malformed human skulls, though the shape appears natural rather than carved. "These crystals are a deliberate, engineered blight. The magic that courses through them is harmful to thine body and spirit. It shall most likely be used against thee. Whence the physical side effects beginneth to show, crush this in the palm of thine hand. It shalt work only once."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard Valeth has had interest in Lordran ever since hearing some interesting details of the situation there from Priscilla. He is a man very concerned with the nature of the soul, after all.

So why is he here, limned in red? IT IS A MYSTERY TO EVERYONE and surely has nothing to do with his general moral outlook, that's just silly.

This does not prevent Lezard from presenting himself with his normal aplomb. "I am most grateful for this opportunity to work alongside you, Milady." Lezard states smoothly. "Be assured that we will have an end to it this evening." He smiles, then, and adjusts his phantasmal glasses. He accepts the small skull-stone, and examines it intently. "Fascinating." He states, but he says little more.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The BLUE SPIRIT known as Psyber is summoned in a pretty uneventful manner. He adjusts the coat he's wearing and then looks around, twirling a revolver in his free hand as he lets out a tired sigh and listens to Priscilla explain the situation, "Alright, Pris. As ever, I'll follow your lead and watch out for Nathan. Not that I'm happy this has turned into a two-part mission, now featuring one hundred percent more sidequest."

    The hand not twirling a revolver tiredly rubs along his jaw and he lets out a yawn.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan, as is often the case, is here to provide a brief, secondary briefing, shortly after gratefully accepting the... Human skull. Uh.

    Well, anyway, he provides his data. "The information we have been given so far is indicating that the Duke himself may have become physically and spiritually enhanced by various acts of experimentation that have caused no shortage of difficulty to other warriors who confronted him. It is said that his vitality is unending and that he heals instantly from all injury. We have no indication thus far of how much of that is true. Expect high endurance from our enemy. He is also extremely intelligent, even now."

    "From the sound of it, he is using the functional equivalent of chemical warfare. Watch for environmental hazards. The duke himself may have altered his form. Expect something draconic, but do not depend on that." Hall takes a deep, calming breath and gives a brief nod to Psyber. "Thank you." He says, simply. "And know that I expect you will be helping Priscilla quite a bit, alongside helping our efforts to restore Lordran, today. This is no 'sidequest'." And hey, Oscar! "Thank goodness you are here, sir. I have the feeling we will need your help from the beginning of this." Now he seems intent on moving on, or at least discerning how to do so. Where's the exit off this platform? Nathan's ready to hike through crystal dragon hell, clearly, and intends to press on.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The group is summoned into the CAVE OF CRYSTALLINE CONGLOMERATIONS, in which copious amounts of the eponymous (would-be) precious gems make up the walls, the floors, the lethal abyss below, and virtually everything else in sight save for those haunting butterfly creatures. One would think this sort of environment would get a real rise out of Mizuki's quirky tastes, but it seems this might be an exception after all; rather than greeting the area with reverence and a soft smile as she usually does, she instead arrives with faintly narrowed eyes that demonstrate considerable irrititude. That, incidentally, is not a word, but it's the only thing Mizuki can readily conjure to describe her feelings. Her arms would fold and her gaze would skate across the spires of the cave's roof until she finally announces her sweeping assessment.

    "Gaudy." Evidently less verbose when regarding things she doesn't much care for. "That's all this place is: gaudy. It completely lacks the temperance fine craftsmanship that the archives themselves were possessed of. Never did I think I could be surrounded by crystals and be so utterly repulsed as I was in that festering, dank hell in which we encountered that spiderwoman, but alas." Turning to Priscilla, she would conclude: "Yes. Any 'Duke' who would allow such a gross impropriety to exist deserves schooling of a particularly physical and wounding variety." Because all of his other character flaws are clearly secondary to that. Absolutely.

    Mizuki would relent in her ranting long enough to give Priscilla a smile, however, accepting the seemingly plain stone with a thankful bow. Then she would open her palm to give it a thorough inspection. "It's unnaturally lovely to see a stone whose radiance does not wrack my senses with its flamboyant nature in light of our surroundings. I'll treat it with the utmost care." Until it's appropriate for her to crush it in her palm, at least, right?

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Once again a journey to the land of ancient Lords, and once again the gold phantom of an old knight emerges amid the group. Rather than the lighter chain and surcoat of an Astora knight, Amalthea is decked out in the heaviest of her gear, gleaming yellow-lit full plate, her lance; Wishblade in one hand, shield slung on her back and a mug of coffee in the other.
    It reads 'Multiverse's #1 dad'.
    A long slow sip, and she heaves a small sigh. "Are you sure you're alright with this, Priscilla?" She does ask, before elbowing Psyber for his attention, and passing her mug over.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko appears, rising to her feet in the form of a gold phantom. It occurs to her again just what a convenient method of summoning this is, a thought soon followed, as it ever is, by wondering when the land will force her to take advantage of its 'not really dying for reals' rule. She's actually a little surprised that things have gone this well so far, though less so considering the people involved.

    She takes the not-human skull, placing it somewhere secure without much comment, then listening to Nathan further summarize the dangers they know of.

    "He did try to kill us already, didn't he?" The armored Puella Magi slowly twists her arms, absently checking the articulation in her joints as she looks at the surroundings. "That... adds to our sufficient cause, for coming here to put a stop to him."

    She'll move out along with the rest, summoning a kite shield as they go.

Sakina (610) has posed:
    Sakina appears once more as a white phantom, coming into being near the back of the assembling group. The quiet pyromancer takes a moment to look around the brilliantly crystallized space before she mentally files this whole area in as 'unimportant'. At least in her own goals. Still, she's offered to help, and she's not one to waste a chance to gather more souls.

    The hooded woman walks up to the group, then accepts the strange stone Priscilla hands to her. Holding it between thumb and forefinger, she lifts it up, turns and examines it, before tucking it into the satchel at her hip. That done, she listens to the situation in further silence, manifesting her pyromancy flame in her right hand and slowly curling her fingers around it in contemplation. She's being given full freedom to go all-out on this dragon; not much more she could ask for, really.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    When EMIYA SHIROU appears, he's wreathed in the golden aura of Phantoms of Justice! What else would he possibly be?

    And he takes a few moments to adjust his fiber-weave protective vest and some other bits of armored gear he's been picking up from the armories. He's experimenting with a set of armored gloves, right now. Not the plate-armored gauntlets of knights, but something more modern instead. These strangely-textured gloves offer much better grip and protection than they let on.

    But other than that, he's dressed in utterly normal clothes. And seems to be unarmed.

    Yeah, like that'll last.

    The boy makes a face when he's handed a weird skull-stone thing. Distaste! That thig's ugly. and creepy.

    "Do I want to know why they look like this?" he mutters aloud before pocketing it and nodding gratefully at Priscilla.

    "Trace.. on!"

    A few moments of concentration later, while he walks on with the others, twin swords appear in his grasp. In the right is a dull-matte white shortsword, and the left has an identical shaped black one - with a hexagonal crimson pattern covering the blade. The Yin and Yang symbols are elegantly workd into the joining point between grip and blade, and they have no guards.

    It's Kanshou and Bakuya. Now he's definitely ready for anything!

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is ready once more she knows horrors awaits the order to gert going she falls in trying to get to the front of the group knowing what her job is going to be here. She's got her sword out and shield she's ready as she's ever going to be here.

"So here we go, I'm not sure honestly either way shall we put an end to this madness?"

They can at least cut the Duke out of the world, right? This world's got enough bad things going on, without this guy around and she's not very intent to show mercy for once not after what she saw...

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"Considering your temperment?" Lezard replies with a smile to Shirou. He seems perfectly pleasant for having tried to kill him the last time they met. "Ignorance may be the best policy in your case, Magus Shirou." He smiles for a moment, turning to examine the area with an intense expression. "Similarly, I would advise against examining the crystals too closely. They might be... quite upsetting to you."

Priscilla has posed:
    "A second part was inevitable. We were in nope shape to challenge the Duke and had no information as to his abilities. After reading some of the more accessible tomes, I now believeth his obsession with crystals and immortality art not unrelated. At some point inside of this mine, there must be an originating point from which all the crystal grows, most likely dispersing its power through it. Locating and targeting it may considerably cripple him, as far as I conjecture." Priscilla seems to mostly brush off Lezard being a red phantom. After all, nobody who used the word 'milady' ever turned out to be a bad person, right? Oscar seems to be feeling a little grim this evening judging by the subdued nod he gives Nathan as his sole reply. Perhaps he is beginning to feel that his companions are starting to reach their limit, because something is obviously weighing on his mind.

    I do not believeth this place was designed purposefully, Lady Mizuki. It grows in much the same way that the accursed crystal hath grown inside the living subjects exposed to it." She hesitates for a moment before replying to Amalthea, but does so with confidence. "I hath been sure of this for longer than thou hast known me." She helpfully offers to Shirou "It is the form those souls slain by crystal . . . crystallize into." Petrified souls. Cool. Oscar doesn't really know the history here, and he doesn't really care. Shifting impatiently the entire time, once Priscilla seems as if she's done talking, he immediately takes the helm.

    The way forward is a series of perilous makeshift bridges of crystal that slant back and forth across each other, leading to slippery downward slides and even worse upward climbs. The drop below is absolutely dizzying, so anyone with a fear of heights is very much advised not to look down. Strangely, despite passing fairly close to several of the alarmingly large butterflies, they do little other than slowly flex their wings, steadily releasing glittering flakes of what almost looks like snow into the gorge below. The walkways are just barely large enough to walk single file across, but the space between them is so vast that one could steer a jet through them. Finally, as the base of the tower is reached, the glassy walls funnel in to a wide tunnel, which then opens into a series of broad caverns linked to each other.

    The first few steps into the forefront of one of these caverns meets with a thunderous rush of air. The luminescent flakes falling softly through the air shake and tremble from the downdraft that suddenly beats against the floor. The violent breeze fills the caverns with a dull, chiming roar, and then a thundering crash as 50 feet of dragon smashes into the open floor. Even for those who had met the everlasting dragon of Ash Lake, Seath is a bizarre sight to behold. Stark white from head to toe, cast in shades of blue by the reflections from the walls and ceiling, there isn't a single scale on his gaunt, skeletal body, where every bone shows through his leathery white skin. Six, brightly glowing wings extend from his back, insectoid in appearance rather than draconic, radiating shifting hues of cyan and violet in the same way that do the short tendrils extending down his back. The lower half of his body terminates into three, massive tails rather than a set of lower legs, trashing over the ground like the tentacles of an enraged octopus, and visible shards of crystal jut from out of them like malignant growths, piercing out from the inside. The room shakes again as the Duke 'speaks'. Though the sensation is somehow less inextricably alien than that of the true dragon, the sound seems emenate from the vibration of the surrounding crystal itself, pounding into the ears from every direction as something fierce and heavy clamps down on the mind. An unintelligible howl of shaking glass and keening wind resolves into a single, understandable expressiong.

    /YOU/!"

Priscilla has posed:
    "A second part was inevitable. We were in nope shape to challenge the Duke and had no information as to his abilities. After reading some of the more accessible tomes, I now believeth his obsession with crystals and immortality art not unrelated. At some point inside of this mine, there must be an originating point from which all the crystal grows, most likely dispersing its power through it. Locating and targeting it may considerably cripple him, as far as I conjecture." Priscilla seems to mostly brush off Lezard being a red phantom. After all, nobody who used the word 'milady' ever turned out to be a bad person, right? Oscar seems to be feeling a little grim this evening judging by the subdued nod he gives Nathan as his sole reply. Perhaps he is beginning to feel that his companions are starting to reach their limit, because something is obviously weighing on his mind.

    "I do not believeth this place was designed purposefully, Lady Mizuki. It grows in much the same way that the accursed crystal hath grown inside the living subjects exposed to it." She hesitates for a moment before replying to Amalthea, but does so with confidence. "I hath been sure of this for longer than thou hast known me." She helpfully offers to Shirou "It is the form those souls slain by crystal . . . crystallize into." Petrified souls. Cool. Oscar doesn't really know the history here, and he doesn't really care. Shifting impatiently the entire time, once Priscilla seems as if she's done talking, he immediately takes the helm.

    The way forward is a series of perilous makeshift bridges of crystal that slant back and forth across each other, leading to slippery downward slides and even worse upward climbs. The drop below is absolutely dizzying, so anyone with a fear of heights is very much advised not to look down. Strangely, despite passing fairly close to several of the alarmingly large butterflies, they do little other than slowly flex their wings, steadily releasing glittering flakes of what almost looks like snow into the gorge below. The walkways are just barely large enough to walk single file across, but the space between them is so vast that one could steer a jet through them. Finally, as the base of the tower is reached, the glassy walls funnel in to a wide tunnel, which then opens into a series of broad caverns linked to each other.

    The first few steps into the forefront of one of these caverns meets with a thunderous rush of air. The luminescent flakes falling softly through the air shake and tremble from the downdraft that suddenly beats against the floor. The violent breeze fills the caverns with a dull, chiming roar, and then a thundering crash as 50 feet of dragon smashes into the open floor. Even for those who had met the everlasting dragon of Ash Lake, Seath is a bizarre sight to behold. Stark white from head to toe, cast in shades of blue by the reflections from the walls and ceiling, there isn't a single scale on his gaunt, skeletal body, where every bone shows through his leathery white skin. Six, brightly glowing wings extend from his back, insectoid in appearance rather than draconic, radiating shifting hues of cyan and violet in the same way that do the short tendrils extending down his back. The lower half of his body terminates into three, massive tails rather than a set of lower legs, trashing over the ground like the tentacles of an enraged octopus, and visible shards of crystal jut from out of them like malignant growths, piercing out from the inside. The room shakes again as the Duke 'speaks'. Though the sensation is somehow less inextricably alien than that of the true dragon, the sound seems emenate from the vibration of the surrounding crystal itself, pounding into the ears from every direction as something fierce and heavy clamps down on the mind. An unintelligible howl of shaking glass and keening wind resolves into a single, understandable expressiong.

    /YOU/!"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard nods, having knelt to look intently at the crystalline wall. "Your analysis is logical, milady. Manufactured crystals must begin with a seed of some kind." When Priscilla explains the origin of the stone, Lezard simply smiles faintly.

They travel through the caverns, and Lezard moves with the others, refraining from additional comment.

They reach the innermost caverns, and Seath makes himself known. Lezard looks up and adjusts his glasses in the face of the horrifying appearance of the Duke. "Well well." He says to no one in particular. "Most impressive indeed."

He withdraws to gain distance from the terrible Dragon. He removes a book with no title from his coat, and withdraws a scepter tipped with a ruby.

He does not bother to shout his defiance. That's for people with personal investment or people who have the capacity for moral outrage. Lezard simply prepares.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    On the long trek downward, Kimiko has time to wonder at just how dangerous this environment is, even without monsters or brigands and blue phantom armies or giant butterflies actively impeding them. Forget bringing an army down here, under the best of circumstances--even for someone as good at keeping on her feet as she is, there's a risk of plummeting. She is not afraid of heights, and does look down. The sight is a bit unreal. Where would she even end up, if no one caught her before she slipped off the edge?

    The dragon arrests all prior thought--if a dragon it is. The appearance bears certain resemblance to assumption, but the differences defy all expectation. Still, there can be little doubt. "That's him, then. So, now he talks. Of little, I imagine." Her tone is soft, but there's a hint of scorn. She doesn't think much of the one who gave up the earlier opportunity for diplomacy to spring that trap, nor of the one who engineered the trap in the first place.

    "General Hall, commanding?" She's working her way out in front, but also keeping just enough to the side not to block field of view for others in the group.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan follows, shuffling over the walkways carefully, deliberately, and with a neutral sort of mannerism, as if this were an ordinary, everyday hike. He is, of course, saturated, emotionally, with terror at the idea of possibly being eviscerated or having his friend killed by a sociopathic Mad Doctor dragon, but he keeps that, as ever, under his hat.

    He doesn't flinch in the slightest as a rush of air meets him, nor when the massive dragon slams into the ground. This is what Nathan lives for: High tension moments, staring down a hostile foe while they speak. "Her, yes." He says, simply. "I come expecting the traditional welcome appropriate to the friends of the rejected daughter, and I have no doubt you will be happy to provide. However, you are an intellectual and I know you value the merits of discourse and mutual benefit more than the violence typical of lesser races."

    Despite the wind, Nathan stands firmly, crossing his arms as his robes flap around him, still completely blank-faced and stoic, speaking in his monotone. "Our intentions are to recover the souls necessary to utilize the lordvessel and restore this land. As we understand it, your intentions are to achieve immortality and power not unlike that which was denied to you by your birth. Each of us have secondary motives, but this is the core. And they are not, by necessity, mutually exclusive."

    Nathan attempts to open up a dialogue here. And he's trying to do so in a way that minimizes the time expenditure for Seath. He figures the dragon will appreciate an approach designed to respect his intellect and not waste his time. That's the only hope he has, really; chances are, Seath might just ignore him and intend to squash him. "Are you willing to negotiate? Or will we escalate immediately to the barbarism?"

    He's put one hand up, fist clenched, signaling to hold the attack until Seath indicates that he will not speak, but making the rather reasonable assumption that Seath will refuse to negotiate entirely. But Nathan is required to try. He can't NOT try, in fact.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "Nathan get back!"

    A phrase Psyber would utter several times along their way forward. In front of an icy drop. Near any given monster. Around an icicle that looked just a LITTLE too sharp for Nathan to be near. These are all things Psyber says this about.

    When SEATH appears, however, Psyber goes ahead and switches over to, "Nathan, stay behind me and try not to get hit."

    His tone is stone-serious and, after Nathan makes his speech, Psyber deliberately moves to step between Nathan and Seath. The last time Nathan tried to reason with him, it was a trap. Now, Psyber isn't taking any chances. Though Nathan has told them to hold the attack, he does raise his revolver and aim it, pulling back the hammer.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki's wings and sword would appear in unison, making for a fairly dramatic display as she turns her head vaguely to respond to Priscilla. "Like a parasite, then; a blight that threatens to encroach upon Anor Londo and Creation knows what else should it be allowed to continue on as it is. All the more reason to see it purged. I've no interest in seeing beauty overtaken by mindless monstrosities, whatever forms they may take."

    As they walk on, Mizuki finds herself more and more glad that she chose not to wear a dress this eve. Less chance of tripping and falling to one's imminent doom that way, generally speaking. She stops before one of the butterflies for a spell with interest, her mouth forming a small 'o' and a folded fist raising to her chin as it usually does when she's thinking. This likely puts her at the back of the group, but she doesn't mind that particularly. Especially given this walk is so dull, dull, insufferably -dull-. Crystal upon unchanging crystal, footstep upon agonizing footstep. By the time her hair is blasted by that rush of wind, she's practically grateful -- if she had to stand that trudge for another moment, she would've...

    ... oh dear metaphorical -God-, what is that.

    One of her feet would slide across a crystal as she fixes into a more formal sword pose than usual, leveling her blade with as a pronounced frown burns itself upon her countenance. Flinching only slightly at the final, resonant howl, Mizuki would ease her posture. Her arms would fall to her sides - though the left hand keeps firm hold of her blade, of course - and she would stare down the illustrious 'Seath' with a decidedly scathing glare.

    "What a warm welcome this is. Truly befitting a Duke to loose guttural cries with no conversational value whatsoever upon seeing the first guests he's likely had in many a year. Truly, kudos, kudos -- I'm sure our negotiations with one another will go marvelously in light of your hospitality." And that will have to be her word in edgewise. As soon as she's finished she would point her sword toward him, attempting to anticipate any movements born of anger, spontaneity, fear, or some combination of the three. Likely the former two considering their opponent's hubris, but one never knows.

    She would back up just enough to be able to whisper to Nathan, "I have little confidence in negotiation amounting to anything. The moment he strikes - indeed, I do not need any sort of foresight to know he will - I can allow you to leave time briefly to arrive at safer ground if it would behoove you to do so."

    Phew, man. Between this guy and Tesla Mizuki is about freaking sick of mad scientists for the time being.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Oh dear. Shirou only suddenly realizes that LEZARD VALETH's been with him the whole time. He gets jumpy pretty fast, and has to tamp down the sudden tensing up he does! "... Eurgh." But Priscilla sets it straight anyways. Yeah, Lezard's right - that is pretty grotesque by Shirou's temperament. He grips his weapons ever more tightly in anger. This stuff's supposed to be NATURAL?

    And if that wasn't bad enough, when they finally make their way through the crazy caverns - quite a hike, that - and to the Duke's chambers... "Wh-whoah!"

    He's almost bowled over by the gale. he -is- frozen in place for a few seconds by a jolt of fear. Seath is... a terrifying sight to behold.

    And not good at pleasantries at all.

    "Come on, what is it that anyone important around here has against Priscilla?!" He blurts. First Gwndolin, and now this.

    ...He really feels sorry for her. Doesn't she have any friends?

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Sure of it for longer than Amalthea has known her. If that is the case, the unicorn purses her lips. Still, her gauntlet curls around the haft of her lance as her horn dips in a nod. "So be it." She trudges along with the rest through the journey of bridges and dizzying heights, and once upon the entrance to the caverns does she pause to steel herself with a breath.
    The very caves shaking with Seath's 'voice' is all it takes to put her on her back foot, fingers clenching around the grip on her shield. She does the best she can to not look hostile, but the immense white beast that is Seath the Scaleless is... Unnatural.
    Amalthea has never held much fear for dragons, but time and taboo research can drive the mind wild and insane, and Seath has had a lot of both, which could lead to an extremely violent situation should he deem Nathan's attempt at negotiation not worth his time.
    One hand reaches forward, setting on Mizuki's shoulder. "Izuki-May, ix-nay on stigating-in-ay the uke-Day." Hissed quietly.
    Speaking of. Very slowly and very subtly Amalthea turns the mug in her hands so that 'Multiverse's #1 dad' can NOT be seen by the ancient dragon covered in crystal.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is ready to fight and more than willing to put the Duke down she's not even sure what you might consider the duke to be. She's got no fear of heights so the glance dowanwards does not put her on edge. She grips her blade as she moves in and then well as they pres onwars they finall run into the Duke and she calls back to the Duke.

"So your the Duke."

Priscilla has posed:
    The crystal cavern continues to scream out in such volume that the air shivers with every resonant vibration, sounding as if it is about to crack and fracture at any moment. "Immortality is already mine. I do not intend to give up anything. Soon, the sun will set on last of the gods of Anor Londo, and only I will be only one fit to be its lord. The others will surrender their souls to me, and I will succeed where Gwyn failed. There is no place for your intervention here, nor will I engage in 'discourse' with my inferiors. You are not guests, and I will not negotiate with you. Instead, I will be taking back what is mine." It is at this point that the fact that the dragon has no eyes becomes obvious, because there is no stare to judge the intent of when he pointedly turns to look at Priscilla, standing motionless at the back of the group.

    Priscilla freezes the instant he does. Her fingers squeeze around the haft of her scythe to keep from trembling, and even her tail completely ceases to move, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an onrushing car. She'd spent so long thinking of this moment. Fantasizing of her return home and her finally having her revenge. And yet, even surrounded by her closest friends an allies, she finds her blood running cold and her feet glued to the floor. Ages old fear, ingrained into her psyche, threatens to overpower her; drowning out her common sense in a deluge of overwhelming panic. At the very instant she takes one, halting step backwards, Oscar breaks into a dead sprint, finally grasping the situation, and unwilling to stand for it a moment more. The knight of Astora charges headlong in a display of near suicidal bravery, closing three quarters of the distance before anyone can do anything to stop him.

    Seath doesn't let him get any closer. The dragon rears back his head like a snake gaguing the distance of its strike, opening his mouth, and then the set of secondary jaws inside, with a rumbling hiss of air, and then a bone-rattling, primal roar. A blinding beam of pulsating white light issues forth from his maw with a deafening screech, lighting up the cavern in dazzling, prismatic colours as it strikes the crystal. The beam races over the ground towards Oscar, who hurls himself out of the way at the last second, and then continues straight into the mass of Elites behind him, carving through the ranks with enough magical energy to incinerate a person where they stand. Where the light hits the ground, the floor explodes with jagged, knee high crystals, fit to impale anyone unfortunate enough to be standing close.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "I understand, then." Nathan says. "There will be no offense should we choose to make an ineffectual gesture, in that case. I am sure you understand."

    His clenched hand is thrust forward, pointing to Seath, the simple wordless gesture clearly meaning that the group should attack now. And he instantly assesses the situation; Kimiko's defense, Mizuki's time manipulation, or Psyber's forceful movement, he allows to handle the matter of his own personal safety, as at this point diving out of the way on his own with his own unpracticed motions is really going to be more inconvenience than good to him. But, you know, someone should handle that. Otherwise he'll be incinerated painfully.

    Somehow, while he doesn't have the presence of mind to dodge reliably on his own, he instantly makes several battlefield assessments. "Split. His breath attack does not spread. Minimize clustering. VIP is Priscilla, get her out of the way." She's frozen, and they need to make sure that beam doesn't hit HER too! Oh god this is kind of terrible.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Assuming Nathan isn't otherwise impeded (by being incinerated), he's going to attempt to activate his [SCAN] Scholar Magic ability, attempting to discern ELEMENTAL, MAGICAL, SPIRITUAL, or ANATOMICAL WEAKNESSES in the physical body of Seath the Scaleless, utilizing supernatural perception to try to discern the appropriate route for harming him.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    With an immense beam of power and light raking across the floor and carving into the ranks of Elite, Psyber's priorities shift.

1) Protect Nathan
2) Survive Initial Assault
3) Ascertain Attack Vector
4) ???
5) Watch Seath Die for upsetting Priscilla.

    First order of business is to protect Nathan, "Talky-times done, Nate. You need to get back now." Psyber says. The half-angel plants a palm square in the center of Nathan's chest and pushes with an immense amount of force. It's not painful, but it definitely carries his usual superhuman strength. The goal of it is to send Nathan sailing straight back, maybe drop him on his rear a bit roughly, but put him out of the way of the initial assault. Psyber would rather see him with a scraped knee than impaled.

    With that accomplished, supplemented and aided by whatever other external forces, Psyber turns to step two. The half-angel makes a risky maneuver and runs in towards the dragon as it arcs its breath towards the group. The half-angel would rather run INTO existing crystals than risk being caught in the breath. This means that he drops into an easy-paced slide, but that the action of it causes him to run straight through the razor sharp additions to the battlefield. Boots seek to clear out anything that might directly impale him, but there's a lot of low-ground mineral to draw cuts and wounds across him.

    Coming out of his slide, Psyber rolls easily and in a practiced motion, coming up onto a knee. His revolver is raised. The cylinder is opened to quadruple check for this mission it's still loaded with the ammunition Priscilla gave him. As he brings the weapon up, he recites something:

    "Jeremiah, Chapter Six, Verses Thirteen to Fifteen. It reads: For from the least to the greatest, they are all greedy for unjust gain. And from the prophet to the priest, they have all dealt falsely. They healed the wounds of the people lightly, proclaiming 'Peace, peace' where none can be found. Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they had no shame, for they did not know how to blush. Therefore, they shall be chief among those who fall, and at the time of their punishment, they shall be overthrown. So judged the Lord."

    The half-angel then fires off all three Lifehunt bullets in his revolver.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Once she's finished giving Seath a baleful gaze and 'advising' Nathan, she would turn her attention next to Priscilla. Priscilla, the girl who is currently standing unflinching in the face of the scaleless dragon's rage. Or... wait. "... Priscilla?" She calls to her once, hoping for a reply that, given her tension, likely doesn't reach. "Priscilla!" No, that isn't 'being unflinching in the face of fear' at all -- that's the epitome of fear itself. She mobilizes as quickly as she can to dash to her aid, but by the that time Oscar already has his shit in gear. His brazen charge elicits a white lazerbeam, blinding as any of the crystals that were already choking the atmosphere. Thankfully, Mizuki is able to use this as an opportunity; the strike likely doesn't have the luxury of any precision, so Mizuki blinks in instants over to Priscilla, grasping her hand in attempt to either (1) break her out of her stupor, or (2) drag her out of harm's way if the former plan fails.

    We can fret over the flagrant invasion of personal space later.

    Should Priscilla allow her hand to be held or not, Mizuki would proceed to cloak as many people as she can aside from the two of them - likely inclusive of Kimiko, Psyber, Nathan, and Shirou before she reaches her limit - in personal speeding fields to work their magic. Still assuming Priscilla's cooperation, Mizuki would yank herself and the crossbreed out of time for a matter of seconds, likely just long enough to ensure that the pair lands outside of the path of the oncoming lazer and a good distance away from the Duke to allow for acquirance of bearings.

    That little burst of activity has her good and exhausted, and she would vastly prefer to worry about keeping up her speeding fields than hacking at Seath herself, so she uses her sword for the thing she usually uses her sword for when she's being lazy. A hole is rent in space-time, and a pair of figures appear from the void before it closes. One, a pinkette bearing a poisonous grin; the other, an eerily serene silver-hair with folded hands. Each of the two have big ass scythes in addition to their assorted traits and effects.

    The pinkette would rest a horizontal hand over her eyes, letting out a punctuating whistle. "/Phew/, man. Talk about ugly!" A fanglike tooth would peek from her mouth as the hand lowers, joining the other to grip the scythe as she turns to face her more demure acquaintance. The latter would ask, simply, "Do we go, sister?" The reply that follows is, of course, "You better freakin' believe it."

    And they're off. Like the inhuman blurs of energy they most certainly are, Callia and Palora begin to dart around Seath's head, not necessarily trying any strikes of their own but still doing their utmost to get up in his cranial business, Palora shouting at the top of her lungs to get his attention. Might be helpful given the whole 'the Duke is blind' thing.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou sees the mouth opening and his experience with dragons - that is, from mostly rumors and myth - says MOVE. So he does. He puts power into his legs and leaps, vaulting forward, up, and to the side at an awkward angle! Kanshou and Bakuya are brought up to parry some of the beams, and Shirou manages to plow through most of that relatively unscathed. A bit scorched, but nothing too bad.

    But he bungles the landing. Even if he's drawing on the experience of the hero who wielded Kanshou and Bakuya, and even managing to Reinforce himself a bit better because of it (hey, at least his legs aren't exploding from the inside out this time!) he's simply not used to such manuevers!

    He bungles the landing, rolls weirdly, and slams hard into some sharp crystal edges that dice into his flesh. "Aghh--"

    The crystals are stained crimson, but he bites down on the pain and rises up... only to FLING BOTH ARMS open widely.

    Kanshou and Bakuya are released after being charged with prana! They fly in opposing boomerang arcs... and their intersection point is Seath!

    If they strike, they will explode into a hell of pure magical energy running wild, akin to small grenades!

    Well, THAT's a new trick! As is the tremendous speed with which Shirou projects a second pair of his newest weapons and drops into a new combat stance.

    "Don't even think of touching her, you old beast!"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard happens to be prepared for this. Dragons always do this. A teleportation circle completed, charging up and flashing brightly as the maws of Seath open. Nathan is sent sprawling from Psyber, and Lezard steps over to stand beside Nathan, inclding him in the effect moments before the blast hits.

They reappear on the other side of the cavern, the crystalline growths spearing through his former position. The Sorceror of Midgard levels his cane and shakes his head. "Seeing you suffer such a fate /would not do/, sir." Lezard states simply as the circle fades. He then quickly puts a little distance between himself and the Librarian for what comes next.

He levels his scepter, and channels his power into one of his spells. "Fire Lance!" He pronounces, and a series of flames erupt from the scepter to smash towards Seath's rear while he's occupied.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Given the other oddities of the duke's origin and appearance, Kimiko has doubts that Seath will attack with something so mundane as setting the field on fire. There's not much here to burn, anyway, apart from the more flammable of the phantom elites. What the first attack will do, she has no idea, and if she doesn't know what it can do, trying to take it head-on is less of a safe plan than getting the hell out of the way. That thought finished, and Seath's first attack clearly coming as the knight charges, she gives a word of advice via radio.

    "Dodge." At the duke's words, she clicks her tongue. Whether his confidence is deserved or not, he is now a mortal enemy, and non-tactical thoughts slowly bleed away as Kimiko acts at the limits of her reflexes, enhanced now by Mizuki's magic.

    Psyber's in a better position to get Nathan out of the way, so she leaves the two of them to that, without so much as watching it happen. In fact, she leaps in the opposite direction, obeying the directive to scatter, and then comes charging in from a slightly different angle than the others, avoiding the path of that first strike and the crystals it shot up. She further doubts that line-based attacks are all Seath has to work with, but claws, tentacles and wings are all, generally, easier to block with a shield than are magic crystal growths.

    The following thoughts go through her mind, a little too quickly to properly verbalize: Point: Seath claims immortality. Unverified. Likely extremely resilient; high pain tolerance. Attracting attention via attempts to directly damage may take unacceptable time. Physical strength? Uncertain. Worth testing.

    Kimiko does not know what Psyber has loaded in his gun. She does know that he believes it enough to kill the duke. She has no such confidence in any weapon in her arsenal, so again, she trusts that he'll handle it. If it doesn't turn out as expected, they'll work with what's left.

    A thick cleaver coming to a razor edge appears in Kimiko's hand as she runs, and she strikes the cavern floor as she does, throwing up sparks and finally swinging the weapon around to crack the ground beneath her, as she comes to a dead stop about sixty degrees off from the direct approach to the scaleless dragon. The planted blade morphs into a more firmly planted stake as her hand leaves it, yet still holding on, now, to rapidly lengthening, weighted chain. With a full-body spin, she tosses the weight in an arc that curves through the air in a manner that wouldn't be possible were she not also manipulating the motion of the chain in flight. It goes /past/ Seath, curves around and returns to her, morphing into a second that she slams into the ground at full force beneath her heel, before grabbing both chains and pulling as hard as she can.

    She might not be able to damage an immortal dragon, or even hurt him enough to get him to pay attention to her, but if his strength isn't infinite, and she catches any part of Seath beneath the loop, she'll get his attention this way. Maybe in time to help some of the rest get their shots off.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe says "All right then since you won't talk, shall we get to fighting."

She looks at this /thing/ for a long moment trying to get ready to fight as he's got no plans to talk. Not that she had any expections that this would end peacefully. She keeps her weapon ready as she now moves in trying to back up the knight whose charnging in. Tomoe's totally going to try her think to get in the Dragon's face she knows what her job is.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    That went as well as expected.
    Seath thinks himself better, and worthy of ascension to the position of ruler in the darkness. Amalthea is vaguely unsurprised when he refuses to negotiate.
    And becomes hostile.
    The lancing beam of prismatic light, and sudden onrush of blooming razor crystals that it spawns in its wake is horrifyingly fast. "Well shit. Okay Mizuki NOW you can antagonize the duke." She concedes before flinging herself aside. Normally Amalthea is all for soaking damage with her body. But not this time, when the risk of corruption from those crystals presents itself. With a clanking rattle and clatter of heavy platemail she tumbles, and it takes her a second or so to pick herself up due to the heavy weight. For a brief instant she regrets not wearing her lighter armor this time. But she asesses the situation with a keen eye. Mizuki has Priscilla taken care of. Nathan is... Apparently rescued by Lezard. This leaves her free to not worry about them. For NOW.
    Shifting her grip on her lance, the unicorn sets her boots only briefly in her stance. Before snarling, launcing herself in a mighty jump-pack assisted LEAP that vaults her up to the ceiling of the crystal chamber. A flip and her boots hit the cave roof, before her legs push off with an immense force, doubled by another burst from her jump-pack, aiming to join the fray against Seath proper and plunge Wishblade in somewhere deep, where it looks like the cancerous crystal growths are the thinnest.

Priscilla has posed:
    Nathan's SCAN finds that Seath has no vitals or weakpoints to speak of. The lack of scales make his exterior soft and weak, but the crystalline 'infection' appears to have spread throughout his whole body, making his inner structure increadibly tough. Despite having relatively low elemental resistances, his defenses against magic seem almost perfect, meaning it would take a ridiculously powerful sorceror to so much as scratch him with the arcane arts. More importantly, he can sense not only Seath's connection to his remaining channelers all across the country, but also to something else. Something possibly even more powerful than he is.

    Priscilla flinches as Mizuki grabs hold of her hand, seeming not to even notice her until she makes physical contact, and then recoiling violently when she feels it. Put off balance by her reaction, it is fairly easy for MIzuki to yank her stumbling out of the way, putting her just clear of the maelstrom of crystal blades that jet from the ground behind her. The crossbreed falls to the ground, but swiftly picks herself up, finally remembering to breathe as in the few seconds of frozen time she has. Staring at Mizuki with a dumbstruck expression, she opens her mouth to say something, and then abruptly stops, turning invisible equally as suddenly to hide any emotional response to being saved like that.

    Seath seems to have no intention of moving from his spot as the rest spring into action. Callia and Palora orbiting around his head seem to distract him, but only enough to give a couple of swings with his massive claws, by no means slow, despite his size, but aimed mostly to backfist them away from him rather than kill. Emiya's blades explode against him with little effect; the magic mostly absorbed by the crystals permeating the Duke's body. He would be best advised to rely on them as physical weapons instead. Lezard's fire magic seems to have greater effect, blasting open a scorched crater in the dragon's back with a shower of smoke and crystal fragments, revealing bone beneath. Amalthea's high speed plunge takes her lance straight through Seath's neck, accompanied by a jarringly anticlimactic puff of blue dust rather than a proper spray of blood.

    No sooner has she done so than her lance is forced straight back; shoved out of the wound as the Duke's flesh restructures itself faster than possibly any regenerator any of the gathered Elites have ever seen. The wound closes flawlessly in a fraction of a second, possibly fast enough to knock her off her perch if she isn't careful. The smoke hasn't even cleared from his back when Lezard's wound does the same; the flesh literally un-scorching itself as it returns to pristine condition and the crystal beneath it regrows. The cavern rumbles with a pulsating wave of force that feels like psychic laughter of such metaphysical volume that it hurts just to experience.

    Seath raises one palm, and in it, a conflagration of blue fire springs into existence like the birth of a tiny sun, drawing in some manner of mist from the air around it, before it is crushed in his fist. The space above him suddenly fills with a swirling constellation of stars, each glowing the same, ethereal, blue-white colour as the souls left behind by the dead in this world. Winking into existence in rapid succession, what must be hundreds of them cascade over the ceiling, bearing down on the party with an overwhelming glow. Then, almost all at once, they resolve into a meteoric deluge of magic; resolving as man-sized spears of light that rain down across the entire battlefield in a howling storm, detonating where they make landfall.

    Then Psyber's bullets take Seath straight in the chest. The wounds are tiny. Laughable even. But for some reason, the dragon lets loose an agonized shriek as the miniscule potholes appear in his flesh. Rather than healing over, they swiftly begin to worsen; crystal dulling and cracking, skin flaking away, and flesh peeling back as it seems to necrotize in fast forward. The dragon might have given as good as he got ho

Priscilla has posed:
    however, because for Shirou and Psyber, their open flesh wounds are starting to freeze over; petrifying as their phantom flesh turns to the consistency of glass. Kimiko gets the chain over Seath's neck where it locks in behind his horns, preventing him from raising his head all the way. Having to give up on Mizuki's summoned fighters for the moment, he wraps both hands around the thick chain. Rather than attempting to pull it free however, the metal simply begins to smoke in his fingers as it slowly turns to brittle glass; leaving a brief opening before it finally shatters completely.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Were Psyber in his normal form, his natural regeneration might be able to at least stave off Seath's effects, creating an equilibrium between necrosis and regeneration. Unfortunately for Psyber, he does not have such an effect at this very moment. He'd be crushing one of those skulls like Priscilla said, but a particularly large gash across his hand has caused his arm to lock up in a crystalline form and be rather difficult to use, even with his immense strength.

    "Well shit," Psyber says, finding it rather difficult for himself to move as the crystal and petrification spreads over his body. Eventually, the buildup becomes such that the half-angel, trying to reload and get a couple more shots off, finds himself totally petrified. He really should have listened to Priscilla about dealing with that curse buildup as soon as possible.

    Because moments after this last lockup, the blue spirit cracks and shatters in a cascade of crystals. Big reward, but sometimes you have to make a nasty trade.

YOU DIED

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan is shoved away, his face showing no reaction as Psyber and Lezard ensure his safety. Always a completely stoic face, even as he barely escapes a massive, deadly beam unscathed. He simply says, "Thank you." In his usual calm, tranquil monotone as he gets to his feet. And then, massive spears of light are raining down. At least Nathan's now more around the edge, giving him room to break into a sprint and dodge around the environment with the efficient but clumsy movement of a battle-hardened Action Survivor, barely escaping being impaled multiple times.

    Well, there goes Psyber. "You were supposed to crush the skull." Nathan says, darting by Psyber as his phantom fades. Sliding under one of the massive spears and scrambling to his feet, only barely escaping unscathed because of Mizuki's magic, Nathan comes to where Mizuki herself has taken Priscilla. He tries to snap her out of her trance. "Priscilla, the Lifehunt bullets appear extremely effective. It would appear that you are uniquely predisposed to assailing your creator. Please, can you assist?"

    Meanwhile, he's looking, intensely, around the environment. For more crystals, honestly, but for UNUSUAL kinds, that may appear connected to Seath in some capacity. If he's channeling his power into something, they need to be aware of it, and it's clear by now judging by Psyber's bullets being effective that his power is extremely effective if used against himself. Seath is the kind of dude to keep a magic death ray around here. Are they needing to worry about that? What is that thing his channeler-power was being directed into? Or maybe out of? Nathan can only really observe using his regular old non-magic eyes for clues, though...

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe has an idea that that magic is going to do jack here after all and she wonders is her magic /really/ magic? When she thinks about it she's a almost like aq solid light hologram right? So would it even be magic? She's not sure she should risk experoimenting rtight now as so many othes are having the idea to focus in on hte weak poiints psyber made.

"Hey you? Ya I'm talking you."

She launches into a sword art striing rapidly for his chest to make the wounds even worse.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    I've said it before, and I'm saying it again now: tanking ballistic magic the likes of which Seath is calling into existence now is not Mizuki's forte at. All. Worse still, her ability to fade out of existence doesn't work nearly as well on spells and incantations as they ought to. So, in a bit of a panic, Mizuki responds in the only way she can fathom at so late a point: she calls a massive slowing field into existence around herself and, assuming she's still in some shock, Priscilla, attempting to use it as a temporary protective dome. To the crossbreed, she would state the following quickly and cleanly: "The moment this field falls, this attack will come down right over our heads. If we leave precisely as the outside spell concludes, we may at least be able to mitigate the damage to ourselves. Now, when I say 'go'..."

    The spell hits outside before she can even finish. Flames billow into the sphere from all sides. Mizuki strains to constrict time near the top further, and at least marginally, she might succeed; the flames outside the field would likely dissipate before the 'ceiling' of fire would reach Mizuki and Priscilla outright, giving them just enough time to dash out to the left and right. Once Mizuki is certain Priscilla has reached a safe distance herself, she would drop the barrier, allowing the final bit of Seath's magic to scorch the field with some delay. Much of this fire would at least graze her as she leaves, searing her legs and causing flakes of energy, curiously similar to Seath's own, to flake off of her person.

    As she fumbles to find a safe place to land, Callia and Palora would be returning from alcoves of safety they had sequestered themselves in higher up to avoid the brunt of the spell's devastation. Darting about as before, this time they would focus their attacks on the wounds left by Psyber. Moving so quick as to mimic warping, the girls would indiscriminately hack and slash at Seath with their scythes with intent to deal as much damage as possible to the nonregenerative regions in that time frame. Then they would attempt to retreat, ideally regrouping at an extreme of the cave that's a good distance from the Duke himself.

    "Damn," Palora would likely be wiping some blood from her jaw; she didn't escape those swats from Seath's hands entirely unscathed either. "overgrown lizard's got more fight in him than I thought." Spit. A toothpick goes flying, and another grimace blossoms. The girl's hands grip her weapon tightly. "Nothin' we can't handle, though." Callia would nod her agreement before the two would resume their assault on the weak points, at least until they run out of energy or are otherwise incapacitated.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    That... Did not go as planned. When Wishblade is summarily shoved free of the wound it had caused, Amalthea grunts. She does, indeed, lose her purchase and perch, sent tumbling backwards through the air. It's training and quick reflexes that flip her to right properly and land on her boots with a heavy CLANK-CLANK, with enough force to shatter the stone and crystal beneath her in a tiny crater.
    There's a particularly foul curse as Psyber is rendered a petrified mass of crystal, but she pushes herself on. He'll be fine back at Njorun. She can still fight. Which is why she pushes herself on without much of a second thought.
    She spies where Psyber's bullets hit. Where the effects of Lifehunt begin to wear at Seath's 'immortal' body. This is her target as she re-adjusts her grip on her lance.
    And hucks it.
    A mighty throw, worthy of the legendary spear it flies straight and unfaltering. But this is not done without a cost of her own. Caught in trying to re-balance herself after putting all her weight into the heaving toss, her shield comes up too late, the mass of souls turned into magical spears hail down, and several slam the gold phantom unicorn construct. With a grunt she staggers, the beginnings of petrification beginning to show, slowly creeping up her boots, cancerous crystal growth spiking out from mithril shins, locking knees, distorting thighs, hips- creeping upward. "Agh god fucking dammit."
    Up it goes, slowing her body as she takes a single trudging step before her legs freeze- then torso- arms- locking her face in a snarl of frustration where she stands.

YOU DIED(?)

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    As the first point in the chain corrupts, Kimiko loses her ability to control it. This is immediately apparent, and she reacts quickly by causing a clean break further down. So--she can get a chain around Seath, and it can hold him. But he can break any weapon she touches against him. Can he do that from any part of his body? Possibly worth checking. But if she wants to make it strong enough to hold, she can't also resummon it over and over, not without paying a price.

    Psyber disappearing like that causes the girl to flinch. It's not something she expected, and it's not something she's seen before, unless you count the way the blue phantoms that ambushed them that time before faded out after being defeated. It takes her a precious moment to remember that this can't properly kill him. It's not supposed to be possible, anyway.

    The moment passes. She charges in. Magic spears fall and explode around her. She's not directly covering anyone this way, but if she can make a nuisance of herself, that means she's more likely to direct attacks here than let the duke focus on anyone else working at opening up the wounds Psyber's charge left. Not that that'll be possible if he can keep up with attacking the entire room at once.

    Even with Mizuki's magic, without any kind of safe zone, she can't dodge everything while also trying to attack. First she's grazed against her shield, then against her back, then the explosions knock her off course. Her armor, at least, is no more pervious to direct magical attacks than it is to physical ones, but damage materializes as if the plates have been crushed and then scorched, and she's looking rather the worse for wear when she picks herself back up off the ground. Still, she leaps, kicks briefly one crystal-covered tentacle-leg, and throws a weighted chain to, if her aim is true, loop several times around Seath's wrist. Back to the ground, she pulls and she runs, working on the idea that he needs to touch something with claw or tooth to destroy it. Might be wrong. Let's see.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The moment Shirou feels his body crystallizing, he slams a fist hard against his pocket where the skull is! That stings, but it does the job. The curative effect had better work like Priscilla said it would!

    Because while Avalon's able to counteract the curse, without Saber nearby it will be quickly overwhelmed. As it is, right now the Sheath is only slowing the curse's progression... just enough.

    Enough that Shirou managed to save himself, anyways. But he won't get another shot at that...

    Shirou gazes skywards, feeling the insane flood of magical energies gathering. The moment he sees the beams start coming down-- "Uuooahhgh!"

    He swings Kanshou and Bakuya at the one that comes straight at him. The energy compresses momentarily, and Shirou's repelled backwards just as the swords break and all that power's unleashed. He's hurled backwards - but from the explosions' rim. It scorches a nasty gash down his side, taking out chunks of an arm, but he avoids being utterly vaporized at least.

    That hurts. The pain's enough to get his head pounding and heart screaming at him to run, but he just grits his teeth.

    This creature is a dragon. If the swords that fell monsters are no good against Seath, then the spear of Ornstein should be another story.

    "My body...is... made of swords!" Biting down the pain, he executes projection two more times. IN his left hand a modern bow compound bow appears, and quickly fills up with magic to reinforce it tremendously. IN his right... Ornstein's Dragonslayer spear congeals from golden light, crackling with lightning as Shirou closes his grasp about it.

    What happens next is probably very unexpected. The spear lightly reshapes, the cross guard stretches and warps into a shape similar to fan blades, while a notch grows in the hind end. Though the proportions are pretty damned weird and the bow can barely take the weight, Shirou draws the altered Dragonslayer Spear back... and lets it fly.

    The moment it leaves his bow, well... the bow tears itself apart and snaps, the string flailing back and lashing him across the shoulder. It vanishes quicly enough.

    The SPEAR, though? The spear crackles with a storm of lightning, quickly entering a corkscrew spin to stabilize its flight. It's headed straight for Seath's side!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"You are welcome." Lezard replies to Nathan, not wasting any time himself. Lezard purses his lips as he looks over the situation. The beast is immediately healing from the damage except for where the special bullets were used. "Interesting."

Unfortunately for Seath, Lezard Valeth is well versed in the vagaries of souls and life force. The book in his hand opens, and he looks over the pages for several seconds.

He does not have time, however, as the howling Soul Storm crashes down upon them all. The surge of magical power causes Lezard to look up, the glowing souls reflecting in his glasses. "Tch!" He says, before immediately raising his scepter.

The impact of the magic is colossal. The barrier becomes visible as the power strikes, Lezard's barrier holding it at bay... for a few seconds. And then the barrier cracks and shatters, the piercing hail of souls striking Lezard and knocking him down.

He gets back up, grunting in pain, but his hand comes away from his side covered in blood. "Well..." Lezatd states. "Now this has become personal."

He looks up at the mighty dragon, and he frowns, watching him intently for several seconds. "Where is it? Where..." He's searching for something, his hands seemingly running across invisible threads.

A moment later, he pauses, and blinks. "Such arrogance... You will live to regret it. But not much longer past that..." He says with a smile, teleporting again.

Where is he going?

Priscilla has posed:
    "For the love of the Lords, do not call him 'creator'." Priscilla spits out at Nathan with an unusual amount of vitriol, especially towards someone she likes so much; before finally murmuring. "Such was mine intention from the start." Shaken to her senses by Mizuki, she regards Seath with visible, palpable loathing; the helpless fear of before nowhere to be seen. According to instruction, she waits just long enough for the last of the soul spears to hit the ground outside before running out from under those hovering over her head, vanishing into the aether as she makes a straight line for the dragon's flank. A few moments later, a massive, gaping slash splits open in his side, sending gravel sized fragments of crystal rattling against the walls. This wound too, fails to regenerate, but with Priscilla so close to him, Seath can't possibly miss. He reignites his breath weapon, blasting the crossbreed full on with a blindside angle, where she reappears with a sickening thump as she collides with some of the crystal spears from before. It takes her several seconds to start moving again, where she wrenches herself free of the spikes one limb at a time; dripping blood, but seemingly unphased by the curse; stopping only to pick up her scythe again before stumbling forward, where the dripping trail of blood suddenly turns invisible as she does.

    The dragon's beam continues from person to person in an elaborate, tracing sweep, going from Mizuki to Shirou to Lezard to Kimiko, and then to Pallora, Callia and Tomoe in the air, only to be pulled off target before it can continue to Nathan as Kimiko's chain upsets his balance by pulling down on one side of his body. Tomoe's blades slash in quick succession over the slowly spreading wound in the dragon's chest, instantly healing where the edges of each blow land outside of the affected area, but cleaving deep within its bounds. Amalthea's weapon plunges all the way up to the hilt into the gap left behind, where it should have gone straight through a living thing's heart and lungs, but Seath still seems to have the presence of mind to yank it free with his free hand and cast it at Amalthea in a casual effort to shatter her body. The dragonslayer spear itself pierces clean through his ribcage from one side to the other, exiting cleanly before shattering against the ceiling of the cavern. The exit wound heals over, but the entry wound, right near Priscilla's attack does not, and the sheer power of the anti-dragon weapon seems to have completely caved in several ribs and shattered the crystal beneath, causing the dragon to clutch his side in abject agony.

    "DO NOT EVEN PRESUME TO DARE." The air itself utters to everyone around. Finally wrenching the stake of Kimiko's chain free from the ground after several attacks have landed on him in quick succession, Seath brings both his hands together in fromt of him and sets off another miniature solar system of spiritual flame between his palms. The flare of magic grows in size and intensity for several seconds, and then explodes outwards in an overpowering wave of fire that engulfs the cavern from wall to wall, carrying a bone-shattering shockwave along its already lethal, disintegrating winds. Lezard is just in time to avoid being caught in it, but Nathan should be able to get the idea of why. The wizard had been looking to the very rear of the cave at the time, which Seath's body conveniently blocks. All the way behind him, something is glowing ever so slightly brighter than the surrounding crystal.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard doesn't need to deal with silly things like 'body blocking'. Seath might feel the twist of space warping behind him, but by then it's already too late. "Your research... To freeze the soul, immortal, in purest crystal forever, is it not? And with the soul thus preserved, the flesh will ensure. It is fascinating, really."

A hand reaches out, brushing lightly against a thin, delicate crystal. It seems almost organic, solitary and unusual amongst the others. There is a brilliance to it that is unlike anything else seen outside of Seath itself. "It is so beautiful, is it not? But as I warned you... Such arrogance does not deserve to go unrewarded."

He then clenches his hand over the crystal, black lightning crackling from his hand as he begins channelling dark power stright into the delicate construction. "Such things travel both ways. The prevention of death also allows for such /exquisite suffering/." The energy wracks the crystal, growing in power rapidly as he draws it out to just long enough before Seath can attempt to crush or blast him, before he proceeds to shove a massive surge of power into the crystal which should overload and shatter it into pieces.

"Now watch as your life /literally/ crumbles around you, Duke." Lezard pronounces with dark pleasure.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki comes to rest in the air, her paralyzed legs hanging in useless suspension, her scorched wings barely able to keep her aloft. She's breathing heavily now, the residual blue flakes falling off of her spectral form growing ever more dull in color. The world might well be blurring and twisting for her, now; she's wasted too much energy. Too much power. Too much time. And yet, something exists in the background the serve as a source of renewed energy. It exists, but does it ever go down like a tank of the most insidious bile.

    A horrifying visual is reflected in the light of her irises: Priscilla is lain upon a crucifix of crystals which she must forcibly extricate herself from, bleeding all the way. She couldn't care less as Seath charges another lazer -- rather, she just hangs there for a spell, dumbly. But then there's a sudden change. The hand carrying her blade quivers. Her already red eyes seem to burn ever hotter with a sort of indignation her demeanor might not have been thought capable of accommodating. Nevertheless, though, it does; filled with a rush of adrenaline the likes of which she has not been born to in too many years to innumerate, Mizuki is able to summon the strength in her being to arc over the lazer, though her left wing likely endures another paralyzing scorch that begins to visibly cripple her movement immediately after. But still, she stays aloft, her form off-kilter as she levels her blade at Seath, her expression crazed.

    "Tell me if you would DEIGN, Great Duke: what manner of paradise does a corrupted essence like yours seek to create? What manner of utopia?" There's a flash behind her eyes, and a spur of the moment inkling thrust into her mind via an unusually well-timed fit of authorial foresight. "Tell me: haven't you experienced all the pain Priscilla is enduring now, at your bidding? That isolation, that hate, that scorn, that exclusion? Are you really so far gone as to have disregarded the meaning of all your struggle, all your ideals, your very -soul-... all to achieve /immortality/?" She would cleave the wind with her blade. "NONSENSE! All you've bought yourself with these aeons of struggle is your own eternal DAMNATION! It is your business if your masochism exists on so grandiose a scale, but no longer will you doom this world - and doom that which is dear to me - with your ill-conceived delusions of grandeur! Seath the Scaleless, you are not immortal! You are a phantom of the past, and on this day you shall be exorcised from the world you haunt! Be it by my hand or some other, you shall be reminded of that inevitability you fear more than anything. You will know the face of the abyss. You will know demise!"

    Her sermon concluded, Mizuki would summon all the strength remaining in her wings to charge forward. On her way she would summon speeding field after speed field after speeding field, launching her at the widest wound of non-regeneration. This charge would occur -as Seath's second barrage occurs-, meaning that her phantasmal essence passes straight through the blast on its way. Though she might yet make it to her desired endpoint in time, this would still likely be lethal; her form would be frozen fully, her blade flying to an indistinct point on the ground before it, along with its wielders spirit, vanish from the world. So, in other words,

YOU DIED.

    ... though that was only one part of the plan. Callia and Palora receive and inaudible cue from their mistress, moving stealthily but quickly to Priscilla's defense as Mizuki falls. Thankfully for them, however, Nathan already has things under control when they arrive. Palora indulges a long, deep sigh of relief while Callia pats down her dress, meandering over to Priscilla. "Is there any way I can ease your pain? Please, if there is any particular area upon which I could focus healing, make me aware of it posthaste."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe has clearly got this thing's attention as they all move in upon it he rblade scoers a hit making the wound woorse and she says.

"What that your a mad, power hungry, have no sense of respect for people or life?! I'd take Zeus over your sorry ass as a god any day of the week!"

Tank job to get the hostile's attnetion on her but then comes something else. The massive burst of energy.

"Oh hell."

Wings kicks in and she jets up into the air just barely avoiding the shockwave even then she's clipped and her HP bar drops from green down into the mid yellow somewhere.

"..."

She drops back to the ground and laucnehs into another assult this time there'sd several rapid sword strikes followed by a shield bash.

"It's beings like you that make it hard for a lot of worlds to sleep at night! YOUR MADNESS ENDS HERE!"

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Well he has certainly disqualified himself from the term 'father'." Nathan says, dryly, as he begins to run anew. "And other words I could call him would not be /polite/." Then Priscilla gets wounded! "Oh dear." Nathan says, concisely. "Kimiko. Amalthea--!" He sees Amalthea suffering the effects of HORRIBLE CRYSTAL GROWTH! "We need defense immediately." He sees that spiritual power building up in Seath's claws! He rushes by Amalthea, SLAMMING his skull-remedy against her, trying to get the awful crystal blight out of her. "With me." He says, trying to get her to come along.

    And then he leaps to Priscilla as the massive fire-wave approaches, slamming both hands together and speaking briefly in Old Realm language to cast a spell, allowing any further defenders to reach him, and then flaring both hands out to cast IMPERVIOUS SPHERE OF WATER, summoning a magically-breathable sphere of intensely damage-resistant water-barrier, trying to halt at least most of the flames and ensure their phantom-summoner doesn't die, thus dissolving their phantoms.

    And also, you know, trying to protect the wounded form of one of his friends, but who cares about that, right? He sees Lezard already has Seath's... Whatever it is, covered. And is doing something to it. It seems important enough, so he assumes Lezard knows what he's doing and is helping out properly here.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Dammit! Shirou should be protecting Priscilla, but this enemy's too much for him. He can barely not die here! "Damn, what good am I against a dragon...?!" The spear did the job, sure, but it didn't kill Seath, he is only getting the occasional attack in because Seath periodically focuses on one person instead of EVERYONE.

    But if there's nowhere to dodge, what is Shirou supposed to do?

    The incoming beam is too big, too wide, and too fast moving. He cannot possibly dodge this one. So if he can't dodge--

    "Trace, on--!"

    Then he can at least try to endure it. No other options left at this point! Prana surges through Shirou's magical circuits as he prepares several designs, all copies of the same thing! The magus extends a hand and forces them out into existence. A silvery, filmy light manifests out in front of him, becoming several Tower Shields stacked one in front of the other. That's a BIZARRE arrangement, alright, but it saves him.

    The beam slams straight into the first and endures for a third of a second before shattering. The same fate sunders the second. Then... the third silvery shield caves just as the beam sweeps on past. it buckles...

    But it doesn't utterly break until the fire slams into it, HURLING Shirou off his feet and into one of the cavern walls. He hits like a sack of bricks and then topples to the ground, bleeding from a plethora of cuts along his arm where the force of the impact became backlash.

    NO. He can't fall here. His life isn't even at risk here. He exists to be Priscilla's sword and shield, her knight. That's his purpose for this battle.

    "Nnnnnnnnggggguuuuuuuaaaaaghhhh...."

    So even though his battered, bruised, broken body wails in protest, he stands up. His shifting and rising flesh creaks, however. Like dozens of swords jammed close together like teeth, grinding against one another. Creak, CREAK, SCREEEEEEEEE.

    He can't take another blow or two like that. So there is... "... No reason left to hold back!"

    Even if he 'dies' here, it can have an impact. He can help. There is something he can do that even Seath cannot ignore, no matter how grand his magical resistance might be.

    Shirou's eyes close, and the warrior-in-training focuses. Both hands drift downwards and grip at the air. Though his head begins pounding from the strain, he reaches down deep, putting every erg of his will to see Priscilla triumph into the effort. He ignores the crystal dragon, he ignores the sharp and chill air. He ignores the screams and sounds of battle. For this one brief moment he doesn't ned any of tehse distractions. His own weakness is a worse enough enemy, he can't afford any more.

    An image appears in his mind - a glorious sword not made by human hands. It's entire length is a gleaming silver, with a metallic grey-blue handle. The weapon is sleek, masterfully crafted, and utterly without ornamentation. A pure weapon made to defeat enemies and nothing more. A weapon fit for a brave knight.

    Sir Gawain's prized weapon begins appearing in Shirou's grasp, though the weapon's still slowly coming together. Sparks of prana fly every which way from the blade as it extends into existence, congealing from motes of light and a surge of prana, and Shirou sharply yells from spiking pain.

    Mental pain, not physical.

    Of all the swords he knows of, this one is the greatest. It will do.

    If he can complete it, and use it fast enough!

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    If Seath had first targeted Kimiko, it is nearly certain that she would not, at this range, have been able to avoid it. As the fifth target, she has a moment's chance, and she makes as much of it as she can. With another kick, she both slams down her holding stake and sets herself to leap away from it, making a moving target as the beam begins to sweep over the room. The speed with which it moves still catches her by surprise. Seizing on some desperate chance, she executes a roll in armor remarkably similar to Oscar's--and comes up alive, but with crystals spearing half her body. It rather looks as if she /shouldn't/ be alive.

    Her hand is still free. It clutches the skull-like charm, and crushes it in the same motion as she grabs at the ground with her other hand and pulls herself free, tearing her legs yet further in the process. This should be fatal, but she won't yet allow it to be.

    She has the chance, then, to see the next attack coming. The flare is growing, and at any moment she knows it will explode and finish her off. It's undirected--she won't be able to dodge this one, and in her current state, expects not to be able to block it, without any knowledge of the precise form the attack will take.

    She stands, a sudden motion bereft of signs of pain, though somewhat clumsy, as if fully numbed--as she is, sense of pain disconnected for the sake of continued action. Her balance is good enough to last just 'till the spell goes off, a sudden leap carrying her in front of where she's--pretty sure Priscilla still is, a large, round shield freshly summoned to her arm. She sets herself behind it, fully expecting the heat of the ensuing explosion to conduct through her armor and flash-fry what's left of this life.

YOU D--

    Instead, Nathan rescues her. What gets through is so far diminished that the minimal in-combat healing her powers allow her is just barely letting her hold on. Her wounds will take more time to close than she can realistically expect, especially with how her left leg has been mangled, but her armor is strong and there's no immediate problem with her magic.

    Taking this chance, she pulls back her arm as if preparing to toss a javelin, and a steel pilum conveniently materializes in her hand, the end opening to a series of wicked barbs as she throws it for the wound left by Priscilla's scythe.

Priscilla has posed:
    Seath turns too slowly to stop Lezard. He is only just able to look over his shoulder, partway through a rotation, before the wizard's dark magic courses through the primordial crystal, and then back along the link to himself. Coruscating arcs of black energy crackle over the dragon's massive frame, blasting open holes that heal over as fast as they appear, but sending the dragon into shrieking paroxysms of racking pain. Just as Lezard finally breaks the delicate crystal in the shape of a budding tree, he is caught full on by a straight blast from the dragon's maw, turning the wall behind him into a glass-edged blender.

    The destruction of the crystal throws the Duke into a rage, abandoning words entirely as he simply begins blasting left and right, aiming at anyone who makes the slightest sound. The Duke snatches Tomoe up hacking away at his tails up in his claws, crushing her in his grip, and then firing on her at such a point blank distance that she is practically in his mouth when the breath weapon goes off. Mizuki's sword connects bullet wound to scythe slash in a single, cleaving swipe, before the shockwave takes her out completely, but thankfully Nathan prevents Palora and Callia from being wiped out as well, from whom Priscilla begrudgingly accepts the bare minimum of healing, before closing in once more. Kimiko's pilum plunges deep into the previously existing wound, and similar to Mizuki's sword blow landing just a moment before, none of the damage that falls outside the affected area regenerates at all. The damage stays permanent.

    Having been lost in the confusion, Oscar reasserts his presence by having finally finished scaling the dragon's back, having survived every spell thrown the party's way by simple virtue of being in bodily contact with their caster. Finally pulling himself over the Duke's wings, he takes a short sprint across the slope of his neck, and then drives his sword into the dragon's skull with a leaping plunge, stabbing it all the way through and into his mouth. He hangs there for several moments, hacking and stabbing with vicious strength, until the dragon finally wrenches him free and tosses him aside.

    Thoroughly shredded by attack after attack, Seath makes one last ditch effort by slamming his tails against the ground in unison, causing the ceiling to crack and a hail of crystal ejecta to fall from it. The jagged stones freeze in midair before coming close to hitting the floor, with one especially large spire hovering over the Duke's head. Rearing back with a seething roar of anger, pain, frustration, and desperation, he fires the next flare of magical energy straight into the largest crystal, where it diffuses into a cascade of white-hot lines that bounce from shard to shard, splitting over and over again, until every levitating crystal is completely saturated. All at once, they discharge thundering pillars of light that smash into the ground like bombs; curving through the air with a limited degree of homing to find specific targets rather than hitting indiscriminately. Oscar manages to brace himself behind his shield, but is hurled into the wall for his bravery. Priscilla seems to have escaped unscathed as the beams have all aimed for cisibile targets. As for everyone else . . .

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    What a terrible situation. Frozen and encased in crystal, the unicorn knight may as well be dead. A few last twitches of her hand around the skull-shaped object in her grasp says she's trying- and failing to crush it herself, as her very own lance is returned to her with violent force.
    It is Nathan Hall that comes to her aid, smashing the purging stone against her, and with the faint shimmer of an inward glow of gold, the unicorn's crystal form twitches again. And then SHATTERS. A cascade of shimmering stone and crystal sloughs off her body as Amalthea's body instantly surges into motion- snatching the Wishblade out of the air on its return course to her, the impact and last second grab forces her into a twirl that she quickly recovers from.
    "Shit, thanks Nathan, I thought that was it there, for a second."
    She need not be told twice to follow on him, immediately taking a protective stance over the union general as he races for Priscilla and Kimiko. In an instant, as the group is enveloped by the protective water bubble and Kimiko frees herself of crystal, the unicorn is at the Puella Magi's side, shield up and forming into a practiced two-woman phalanx wall.
    She missed Lezard utterly ruining Seath's day, while she was petrified, but this does not mean she does not CAPITALIZE on her new freedom, hoisting her lance once more, reeling her arm back and...
    Hucking it AGAIN.
    The winged silver spear practically sings as it sails through the air on course for that vulnerable decaying patch of lifehunt afflicted crystal once again.
    Shirou is tracing. She sees this. He will need time won't he? This might be why she tries to get Seath's attention on her. Specifically her.
    "You seek to rule, but long after all your precious crystal has turned to dust, I will keep walking this earth." Figuring to enrage the dragon further by flaunting her own immortality, while Oscar decides to stop playing Dark Souls and start playing Shadow of the Collossus on the Duke and brutalize Seath's skul..
    "Well I'll give him credit, that knight's got stones."

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard is still laughing as the annihilating breath rushes over his body and it begis to crystallize. A hand crushes the Purging Skull as it begins to glass over, and the crystal breaks off of his body, leaving him to merely be shredded.

YOU DIED

A teleportation circle begins forming within the center of the cavern several seconds later.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan disperses the water sphere, letting those who took refuge in it leave immediately. And he knows what to do now. He's going to tank whatever magic hits him. Nathan Hall is not a very good tank, but he shouldn't need to tank for long. "It is no trouble, Amalthea. Now, just a moment."

    Nathan Hall cannot kill another sapient being.

    However, in such an urgant situation, Nathan has no trouble helping them to kill themselves. One more bit of Sorcery. Emerald Countermagic, specifically. Nathan blasts up and towards the crystal shards that fall from the ceiling. Several blasts slam into him as his mechanical wing-pack spreads wide from under his robes, flapping wildly. They blast through his body with intense traumatic force, blowing vicious holes in him.

    He slams, clumsily, into the massive spire that hangs over Seath's head. by this time, the followup attacks from his allies have likely taken Seath's attention, hopefully. Nathan himself finishes summoning the willpower and essence needed to execute Emerald Countermagic. And he casts it on the great spire that hangs over the Duke's head, in spite of the pain caused by the explosive magic that slammed against him. As he does, he says, in a firm, monotoned voice:

    "You are an awful father."

    Emerald Countermagic, the targeted magic-dispelling attack, attempts to disrupt the levitation of Seath's own massive crystal above his head.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The sisters streak and zigzag through the air once Nathan's guarding field has fallen, doing their utmost to avoid the hellfire of luminant crystals. Their speed may yet be enough to keep them from considerable harm, but nevertheless each of them would likely accrue small bits of damage along the way. A corner of Palora's cheek sears and crystallizes. One of Callia's arms - thankfully not the one handling her scythe - is frozen entirely, falling limp in the air as she continues her circuit.

    When each of them finally cease moving, it would likely be after all the stones had fallen. Palora, whose right eye has been fully crystallized at this point, would exchange nods with her sister. Then they would each sink their scythes into the open, non-regenerative wounds in unison, using their curved edges to dig into is flesh and hold themselves against him. Then they would ignite their blades, ideally sending fire coarsing through his insides.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    "I'm alive." It's with some surprise that Kimiko notes this, but there isn't much time to dwell on it, as that fact may shortly change. Amalthea is also alive, which the Puella Magi is very glad to see. With her, Psyber, and Mizuki all gone, and she being on her last leg, herself, even with the advantage Lezard just bought them... But she does not plan to see this fight end in defeat.

    "There's always hope." That comes in a murmur.

    Nathan is doing his own thing, and she doesn't know /what/ he's doing that requires him to take all those hits, but she's going to assume it's necessary, and in any case she's not in a good position to do anything about it. Her left leg is nonfunctional and it's only through direct control of the armor over it that she's able to keep on her feet. Worse, this next attack is coming from multiple directions, and is at least partially tracking.

    Kimiko gets to see Oscar's attack, but not how he blocks one of those beams on his shield. It would make her feel a little better about how she's now doing the same thing, moving to Amalthea's rear, and taking advantage of the unicorn knight's presence so that both their backs will be covered, magical death raining in from all sides.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's eyes are half-closed, but they open quickly enough when danger swarms overhead. Soul Arrows EVERYWHERE, every which way. But he doesn't simply stand there.

    He PARRIES.

    With Gawain's combat experience flowing through his muscle memory and subconscious, Shirou ducks and weaves some Soul Arrow shots, only to bring the Noble Phantasm weapon about for a full-parry against several. The parry efforts do pay off! Soul Arrows explode on contact, sending fragments of magical energy through his body in a wildly spreading pattern. Various sized beams dice through his body, vaporizing through skin and muscle and inner organs. A full quarter of his body mass is seared off. There's not one place that doesn't bear a scorched, sizzling wound. There's a hole through his stomach and the only reason things aren't spilling out is that they've been vaporized.

    He's not dead, yet.

    Though the boy staggers, spitting out blood, his focus wavers only briefly. He's probably dead.

    That doesn't concern him. Only one thing concerns him right now, and staying alive through the fight isn't one of them! "All processes complete... trace off!"

    With a triumphant swing, Shirou casts aside a cloud of magical energy to reveal the finished weapon. A shining holy sword filled with power far beyond what he put into it. The shortswords from earlier can't even compare!

    Gathering his strength he flings the sword up towards the cavern's ceiling. The spinning weapon freezes in midair and SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINES

    SCORCHING HEAT emanates from the ceiling area even as Excalibur Galatine falls back down. Where it floated only briefly, a MINIATURE SUN now burns with radiant glory. The light streams down around Shirou as he grips the weapon with what's left of his hands -- he's missing a few fingers from one of them. Blood leaks from the boy's lips, but furious determination burns in Shirou's eyes - he's not falling yet, even as his Phantom manifestation wavers.

    Scorching prana streams across the ground under him and outwards, forming into a swiftly expanding Magical Circle of intricate and ancient design.

    "Sorry, Priscilla. This is all the help I can offer.... Holy Sword of the Stars swing once again! The Resurrected Sword of Victory.... EXCALIBUR..."

    All of this gathered energy floods into Shirou's projected weapon as he raises it up and, with ALL of his remaining strength, takes a single step forward and SWINGS.

    "....GALATINE!!!"

    For one instant, all sounds, all vision, everything is drowned out by the blinding power that flows from the sword. The horizontal slash transforms into a broad yet somewhat focused arc of scorching sunfire drawn through the air. It is not a projectile, however. For that slash covers much of the cavern at an upward angle to avoid catching anyone else! The blade slashes into the crystalline walls and almost certainly will engulf Seath... but if it doesn't...

    The ensuing scorching wave of sunfire probably will! It's over in an instant...

    ... And the moment it's done with, SHirou's body loses all strength. it topples forward, and both it and the sword swiftly vanish as Phantoms do.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The teleportation circle completes in the brilliant aftermath of Galatine's strike. In the brilliant light, there is a shadow.

"Heh. Very impressive." The shadow adjusts gleaming glasses, and everything eventually resolves as Lezard observes what is undoubtedly the final moments of Seath.

He says nothing. He's said all he needs to. He just wants to watch Seath embrace his final fate.

Because it's so richly deserved.

Priscilla has posed:
    As Nathan approaches the core crystal at the center of Seath's diffusion array, the dragon takes a swing straight at him, aiming to snatch him out of the air and crush his fragile body in the palm of his hand. His claws just barely scrape the librarian's back as Amalthea's spear takes him in the chest, and then sends him reeling back, missing Nathan by a hair. Mizuki's creations catch him before he can make a second attempt, ripping into him with their scythes and thoroughly charring what intact white skin remains into charcoal black, even more effective without the ability to heal. This buys Nathan just enough time for the emerald countermagic, and the massive crystal spike resumes plummeting along with the others, smashing down between Seath's shoulders and slamming him flat against the ground, leaving him in no position to move as he struggles back up once Shirou gives his all for one last attack. The surge of prana blasts over over him like a supernova, turning the ceiling and rear wall of the cavern into a shimmering blaze of molten-red light as the crystal overheats, pops and shatters. One of the dragon's arms comes free entirely, hacked off along with all the wings one one side.

    The ground rumbles once more as the Duke finally feels the need to resort to words once again, clinging to life by a thread. The bizarre double set of jaws works slowly as he speaks; the psychic sound of which is barely audible, rather than the skull-splitting tremor of before. "Wait! You've bested me! I submit! If you want the Lordsoul then I will give it to you! The archives are yours! Clearly it is you who-" His speech cuts off suddenly with a wet, cracking thump; simultaneous with the neck at the base of his skull splitting open with a spurt of, finally, black, liquid blood. The once mighty Duke goes silent, and then completely still, crumbling to the ground with a resounding crash. Priscilla resolves into existence with one foot on the back of his neck, her scythe lodged in the back of his skull, and the parting words to her father: "I hath waited long enough for this. I shalt not wait one moment longer."

    The draconic corpse ripples as if caught behind a heat haze; dispelling as though a mirage from the start. The ruined flesh turns into colourless mist, which then spews forth a veritable torrent of souls, burning as a ghastly white inferno that consumes Seath's body. Finally, at the center of it, one can see one particular flame that outshines all the rest. A blazing sliver of golden fire that illuminates the entire cavern as the midday sun, painful to the eyes to look at. Spiritual senses of any kind register it as a blistering wave of heat that is uncomfortable to even be meters away from, and yet Oscar limps towards it all the same, stopping in front of Priscilla just long enough for her to give him a subtle, silent nod, and then thrusting his hand into the fire. The blazing light of the golden soul envelops him for a moment, before slowly fading into his armour, and then vanishing completely, leaving the cavern as cold and silent as the grave.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The Blue Spirit of Psyber has managed to slowly meander his way back through the zone and over to the fight area, looking around carefully. He lets out a low whistle as he watches Seath die to scythe-related-cranial-trauma.

    "Damn," Is pretty much all he says.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Back to back, weathering the onslaught of Seath's final desperation with Kimiko, Amalthea only peeks out from behind her shield as it all dies down and Seath meets his end. At the scythe of his own daughter.
    A slow, weary, sigh and the gold phantom unicorn rolls her shoulder out. Arm numb from holding up her shield during the magical assault, steam venting from the joint in a hiss.
    That's it then. Planting her hands on her knees for a breather, the unicorn closes her eye for a moment. And then picks herself up, gaze lingering upon Priscilla in her act of defiance. "Mn." Is her only thought on the matter. It was a rough battle. If not for the fact that the group was comprised largely of phantoms, some of them might not have been coming home now. A good thing they were.
    "The fuck did you do, anyway?" That. Was to Lezard, on his return, as she stands up straight. More observant than she acts, it seems, as she bends to pick something up off the ground.
    It is her #1 dad mug. A slow sip of cold coffee and she elbows Kimiko, passing it her way for the last gulp or two.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is getting into quite the fight hwere with the Duke but she's trying to keep him on the ropes for the otehr t be able to finish the damn beast off. She isn't going to call him anything else other than a beast for as far as she sees it? He is nothing more than one a ramid animal in need of being put down. She's done a lot at this point and now she gets in their face once more just trying to keep her self up but one more wack and even with all her endurance she's gong to go down. IT thankfully seem to be over as Priscilla comes in and finishes off the Duke as he grovels for his existance.

"Offer declined."

She walks up with her blade intending make sure the Duke is down but there's no need.

"Thus this world's a little less horrible..."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan's kinda heavily wounded. Slamming into Seath on that giant crystal tossed him away. That, alongside the explosive wounding, crystalization, bruising from being thrown... Yeah, he's just kinda KO'd on his back, but he's aware enough to watch. It is an impressive display. Thousands of years worth of emotional catharsis! The death of an evil, awful immortal dragon! The recovery of a super-powerful spiritual construct!

    "Clearly."

    He can barely struggle his way to his feet. Time to talk mostly to Oscar now, giving him a firm nod. "Well." He says, with a dry sort of tone. "We have slain an immortal dragon together now. I would call this a very good start to our endeavors, if it were not painful, deadly, and indicative of profoundly awful trials yet to come. It was an honor to fight alongside you again, good work. I would shake your hand but I think both of my arms are wounded beyond that state."

    That done, he heads to Priscilla now. He just sort of stands next to her, staring at the awful spot where the corpse was. He just kinda watches the proceedings, figuring she'll do the same for a bit. Then he asks her two questions, in sequence. "Do you feel any more at ease now?" And then, "Do you wish to talk it over?" He clearly doesn't mean "right now", just sort of, you know, in general.

    There's also the palpable sense that he'll definitely be fine with accepting "no" for both answers.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    It's over. It's over, isn't it? Kimiko's looking this way and that, keeping her shield raised, making sure she hasn't moved out of position relative to Amalthea, even after the magic ceases. Is there anything else, anything waiting to snatch their victory from them? It's not really possible or her to just accept and relax immediately, but after repeated confirmation, she does. Her shield lowers.

    Her senses are a bit dulled. An unfortunate side-effect of the tecnique that's keeping her up. Not /all/, however, and she can still smell coffee. It's not her usual addiction, but she takes it all the same, with a silent nod of thanks.

    What the heck did Oscar just do, anyway?

    Nathan seems to have the other pressing matter in hand. Other than 'everyone being wounded.' But that'll mend, right? She's not sure how this is supposed to work, exactly, but at least they're in Njorun and close enough to medical, either way.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"The description supplied by Milady Priscilla of the motivation of the Duke, as well as what I have observed myself of the properties of the crystal spoke to me of a possibility this would exist. The Duke sought immortality. Therefore, his research would be based around some method to defeat the flow of time. Flesh must, after all, eventually fall to Time's ravages."

He casually walks past Amalthea, gesturing to the cavern. "Upon observing that he was recovering rapidly from most of the wounds, it became apparent that he was using a method of linking his life force to another object. A phylactery, if you will, which would both preserve his life force and amplify it to render all damage moot. He would need a connection for such a thing."

He stands within the nook where the Primordial Crystal had grown, now shattered, and he bends down to pick up a fist-sized shard. "So I simply followed the connection. The rest is as observed."

Priscilla has posed:
    Oscar takes to gingerly sitting on the floor, unbuckling a glowing orange flask from his belt and taking a deep couple of swigs, barely even lifting the visor of his helm to do so. Priscilla, shortly after him, drops to her knees; letting her scythe clatter to the ground beside her as she leans back and stares emotionlessly at the ceiling, letting her blood gradually soak into her dress as she stops to simply comprehend the fact that she had finally killed Seath. It wasn't nearly as dramatic, climactic, or even satisfying as she had always envisioned it would be. She feels . . . blank. Spent. Out of anything left to feel. And yet, at the same time, a weight is lifted from her shoulders; one so old that she had gone numb to the feeling of it being there. ". . . yes." She finally says to Nathan. "It was not what I had expected but . . . I will give it time to fully sink in."

    Oscar does Nathan the kindness of a knight's salute, still waiting for the estus to fully kick in. "And with any luck, this will be the first and last of the four that we are meant to fight. Seath's power was owed to but a shard of Lord Gwyn's greatness. I cannot imagine crossing swords with the Lord Izalith or Nito. This soul however . . . I can only carry it, not take it into myself. It is too much for someone as human as me to embrace." As if on cue, the silent flames of the massive repository of souls left from Seath's death begin to drift towards both him and Priscilla, slowly swirling around them as the personal gravity as a world native absorbs them. Priscilla regains her senses just in time to stand up, wade through the flames, and clasp something with both hands at the very thick of it.

    "I will see thee put to better use than any good thou didst make in life."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The amazement of what just happened starting to fade, and the battle at its end, Psyber's priorities almost immediately shift.

    Heading away from the place where he was standing, Psyber wanders over towards Priscilla when she leans back and looks up. He's not very good at individual emotional support. In fact, he's pretty crap at it. Which is why his form of comforting her is to shove her in the back slightly. Not hostile, but more a way to get her attention.

    "Hey. Red's not your color, you'd look like shit in a red-hemmed dress. Stick with the white outfit." He notes, trying to drag her away from the pool of blood. He's not addressing the incident with Seath or any of that at the moment.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Palora is probably leaning against a wall with a new toothpick in her mouth like the coolgirl she is, but Callia is doing something a bit different. Hefting her scythe for what is likely to be the final time this evening, she creates a portal to Mizuki's world in much the same way the lady herself does with Aelinos. Some moments later, the girl steps through the portal and glances about, her gaze coming to rest on Priscilla when she finally locates her. She contemplates offering some words, or approaching her, but ultimately she decides it would be best just to be a presence. Somewhat uncharacteristically clamping a hand around her wrist and standing neutrally, Mizuki would remain, herself entirely unsure of why she had even seen fit to return to the scene in the first place.

    Maybe it's that morbid curiosity she's so fond of. Or maybe, just maybe, she couldn't help wanting to be here for Priscilla. But is it really -for- her? Some small part of her can't stand the thought of leaving the crossbreed to her devices when she's likely hurt, so maybe this is more her deal. Genuine empathy isn't entirely foreign to Mizuki, but to the extent she's feeling it right now? Perhaps a little bit.

    Her eyes may wander shyly to Psyber somewhere along the line before eventually leading her to study the ground.

    Somewhere in the distance the softest -plink- of another of Palora's discarded toothpicks might be heard.

Priscilla has posed:
    Seeming to have what she needs, Priscilla allows herself to be dragged off by Psyber, making a mumbled noise of inarticulate complaint before giving in and limping after him. She does everyone the courtesy of dismissing the phantoms who are damaged enough to be in severe pain with the use of her black crystal, and then begins the long trudge back to the nearest bonfire.