3450/God Will Rise - Part One

God Will Rise - Part One
Date of Scene:	26 November 2015
Location:	The Tundra
Synopsis:	The town of Lucrelia requests aid dealing with an Incarnation, and also Lyner makes his return!
Cast of Characters:	Deelel, 385, Riva Banari, 560, Ayako Hasekawa, 675, Sanary Rondel, 757, 821, 908, 916

---

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Off in a certain corner of the frozen reaches known as The Tundra, lie a certain city-state. Walled off on all sides, it was like this place had no intention of interacting with the rest of the multiverse at large, despite having unified at some point or another.

     That would change on this day.

     At the western gates to this city, military forces had mustered. Reinforcements to be precise. Infantry, calvary, heavy knights, archers, they were medieval in appearance, lacking that typical modern aesthetic. The gates were opened upwards, and the military force rushed out.

     In the distance, a pillar of light and flame could be seen rising in the distance...

     Miles ahead, standing atop the edge of a snowy hill, with an imposing mountain range looming far ahead, a figure in a hooded white cloak watched what seemed to be a large scale battle in progress. A battle between an army of knights, horsemen, archers, and infantry wielding swords, spears, axes, and firing steel tipped arrows. What were they fighting?

     It was huge. A massive, featureless, white entity standing at roughly fifteen meters. It would have been invisible against the falling white snow, were it not for the fact that it was cloaked in a brilliant flaming aura. It stepped forth, sweeping it's long arms downward to attempt to wipe out the soldiers beneath.

     "......"

     After a minute or so of silent observation, he brought a hand into his hood and to his ear, to make use of a long neglected communications tool...

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
'The military forces are engaging what looks to be a divine presence.'

That's not exactly a set of words that inspires Yuna to throw in on the side of the military without learning more; however, it DOES prompt her to come and investigate - while reminding herself that not every god out there is necessarily benevolent towards humanity. Given the situation, she's already in her Light Suit when she emerges from the nearest warpgate; she's got the full Matrix of Light with her as well, since she doesn't know what the situation is going to call for. It's not impossible that she's going to wind up having to turn around and go home - but she wants to at least find out what's going on BEFORE she makes any further decisions. And if the 'divine presence' is actually trying to wipe out the mortals for reasons of its own, then Yuna's prepared to join the battle - she may not like to go up against a god (or goddess) worth the name, but she likes leaving helpless innocents to die even less.

On the plus side, her Light Suit somehow keeps her adequately warm even when it's this cold, so she's grateful for small favors. Yuna heads for Lyner's position, letting Elner home in on the warrior's radio for her.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Masteeeeer, it's cold here," the pink-haired, fox-eared and blue-robed Caster complains, although given her dress code one would think she's worried about herself. The fact she's doting over her master and trying to wrap a big scarf around her tells another story.

    "You should just make me a charm of cold protection instead of a scarf, you know? Scarves look dumb," Gudako answers, although lucky for her the scarf IS magically charged and she's getting half of what she asked for.

    "Just wear the scarf! Please let Caster take care of everything~" she answers, before tapping her chin. "Although, why are we here? You didn't say," she remembers to ask.

    "Just curious about the divine presence," answers her master.

    And so one can find the pair standing at the edge of the battlefield, on a slightly elevated mound of snow. The presence of a second, dematerialized Servant can't be hidden, either.

    "What are we going to do?" Caster asks.
    "Dunno! Let's watch a tick and figure it out."

    She muses having Caster empower the massive figure. It'd be fun, for sure, but there's not enough data to calculate the return on that investment yet. On the other hand, if it's something especially divine, its essence would be pretty valuable.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako of course responds to the call! After all, Misha seemed to recognize the voice calling for help. She's dressed in her witch outfit, sitting side-saddle on a floating broomstick. She can take someone else along for the ride as well, if they should need it. The broomstick has room for another person, after all. A faint barrier surrounds her and her passenger if any, to both keep the cold and the snow away to make it easier to see where they are going.

    She glances about quickly for the 'divine presence' and... doesn't have to look for long. That's one huge... thing. Not to mention that flaming aura! "Uhh... this could take some doing..."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    A really pertinent question for the situation: is a 'divine presence' people? And why are they fighting with a settlement anyways? Shirou's determined to figure this out, although doing so's pretty hard on the back of Ayako's flying broom. FLYING BROOM? yes.

    It's COLD out here though, and it's not long before he starts shivering. "T-...trace, on!"

    But he wastes little time putting power through his flesh and bones, magic circuits thrumming to life. It's enough to stave off SOME of the effects of the cold on his body. But it's just a temporary measure that will keep him operating, rather than the healthiest of deals. Reinforcement has some serious limits. Thankfully, Ayako's magic is far better at this.

    There's just one problem.

    Shirou's grimacing at the distant creature. "What the heck is that thing?! Grgh, I can't hold on and fight with a bow too! You'll have to drop me off. What do you make of this thing?!"

    What's more, how does one fight it? He's not sure if it even has a physical body...

    For now, Shirou just holds on and reinforces his eyes to get a much closer look... while he holds onto this ride for DEAR LIFE.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Divine presences. Something about those things just rub Sanary the wrong way, and she's more than happy to make her way to the Tundra in style! Or... As much style as one can manage on foot. She can't afford to waste too much energy off the bat depending on how powerful those creatures are, and there's always the possibility of not fighting them at all.

     Apparently, she's not the only one with that idea, and she remains near the outer edge of the area while approaching Gudako and the fox-eared caster. She's dressed properly for the area for once, wearing the fuzzy Lagombi armor with her gunaxe and shield strapped to each side of her hip.

     "Didn't miss too much, did I?" The healer raises her hand in a stiff wave to the two, already looking a little antsy and ready to just get in there herself. She raises an eyebrow at the familiar faces starting to gather, although her hand remains firmly on the shield for now. "Could be fun, but... I dunno. What do you think?"

Misha (757) has posed:
    It's been a long time since Misha Arsellect Lune has been out this far in the Tundra. Her reasons for not returning have been pretty obvious. For one it's cold as hell- and despite the oxymoron, Reyvateil are not precisely any more resistant to frost than a normal human. Also the last time she had poked this way years ago in her wanderings the people were pretty nasty!
    If it wasn't for the voice she had caught over the radio, while in the middle of cooking dinner. There was only one choice.
    Let it be said, it was not one made lightly when she threw her heaviest robes on and stumbled in a mad panic out the door. "Mir! Stew on the stove- don't do anything to it just KEEP STIRRING."
    Dinner doesn't stand a chance.
    The ride in was impossibly long- at least to her, looking agitated and worried the whole way, in the hold of a standard Union transport. She could care less about divine presences, when the doors pop open and she comes toppling out into a snow drift with all the grace of an eagle. Crashing a blimp.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel was one to respond to the call, Deelel had bee restless as of late and found the need to explore and do what she could. She just had to get out and the call for help came. The cold doesn't seem to bother her too much but she does have a cloal on with glowing lines on it and her face is hidden by a one way dark helmet which seems to have no way to actually take it off. She presses on a bit behind Ayako.

"This reminds me of the outlands back home..."

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    A Divine Pressence in a snowy frozen terrain? Well it's like that mission was made fro a Shivan. The Galandian air transport swings over the settlement and towards the gigantic God creature.

    The silver and bronze clad Judge leans out of the transports side door, looking towards the firey aura of the creature. Troubling.

    Cirra constantine grabs hold of the descending line, clips it to her belt and jumps out of the aircraft to repel down to the ground before unclipping the line and letting it go. "I'd like to know why it's here in the first place." she summons her Judge Blade from thin air. "But until we can ascertain why, we'll have to coordinate a defense. Either slow it down, or turn it back."

Riva Banari has posed:
IT'S TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL.

Riva was/wasn't/will be available when the call comes out. It's hard to tell, really, there's a little instability there- oh wait, no there wasn't. You didn't see that.

Or did you?

Minor causal theoretical timeline instabilities aside, there is a roar across the tundra as the transport flies over. Riva leaps out dramatically from the transport to POSE AS A TEAM when she whumps into the same snowdrift Misha does, vanishing into a pile of white fluff...

Which then erupts as Riva pops back up, crying out gleefully, "WHEEEE SNOW! Man, I love winter!" She yells happily, her huge anchor-like maul on her shoulder as she grins widely...

And then she pauses, looking back and forth. "Meesh? Meeeeeesh, where'd you go- oh." She looks down, and reaches down to help Misha up. "Come on, Misha! We've got a problem to solve and CERTAIN PEOPLE to find!" She says, a determined look on her face as she assists Misha with a brushoff. "Now look your best, this is going to be super important!"

Is she even paying attention to the fact that a giant divine thing is menacing the town?

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako continues to fly and... then spots Riva whump deep into the snow. She pauses for a bit too long of a moment as she sweatdrops. "R-Riva..." And then flies down to where she... landed. Is that the right word for it? Either way, it's good to rendezous with others in the Union! Besides, Shirou would probably appreciate being on solid ground. Well snow, anyway.

    She startles slightly as Riva pops back out of the snow. "A-ah." Ayako giggles a bit nervously. "I... I love snow and winter too, Riva! But... anyway..."

Archer (821) has posed:
     Humans always ended up in the same position - the same sorry state - if left alone long enough. Be it sooner or latter... the end result was unchanging.

     At some point, they were going to reach for something they should not have - choose a path with the worst possible consequences. And all because they never knew when to stop... or because they had already pushed too hard and any further action was merely the final straw. r
     It was a scene all too familiar to the Counter-Guardians of Alaya... and to Archer in particular, it was a scene he was well and truly tired of witnessing.

     He materializes out of his astral form atop the wall overlooking the fight, a fair distance from the fighting itself. Normally, it would be too far out to render proper assistance... but as a Servant of the Bow, it was the ideal vantage point for him to render support.

     It was, after all, the most prudent choice to take when facing an unknown entity.

    It was never a good thing when humans were found fighting divine entities... and that creature, for lack of a better word, could hardly be anything else. However, like most of those present, he had not committed himself to the conflict as of yet - but only because he was examining the situation first. Observing it's methods of attack and defense.

    After all... it wasn't like he had a choice in which side he would pick. He was a Counter-Guardian - even if this was not his world, he felt ingrained to serve his duties to Alaya - thus, humanity would be the one he would defend... regardless of the justification or lack thereof either side had.

     "Trace; On"

     His mettle-black bow appearing in one hand, he levels it at the creature... but does not summon forth a weapon to fire from it. Not yet.

     Let the others test it's defenses for him - show him what will or won't be most effective, or either form or expose a weak-spot for him to target. After all... it would do no good to fire blindly and hope one random projectile did the job.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     At Yuna's eventual arrival, Lyner stirred from his attentive watch on the battle's progress. He turned his head slightly, hood obscuring his features as he gave the girl a sidelong glance. "You must be one of the Elite responders. Thanks for coming." He smiled under his hood and looked back towards the field of battle, not moving to help out the struggling military just yet. ...It was as if he were contemplating something. "That army fighting down there." He started, keeping his eyes on the battle. "They're not doing well." That was obvious. "They must have known this going in." His gaze rose to the giant entity sweeping the army left and right with it's flaming swings. Shouts of pain, fear, and determination filled the air.

     "Do not give in, men! We will push this abomination back! Fight! /Fight/! Do not let it approach the city!" Down on the field, a man clad in ornate armor, riding on horseback, rallied, sword raised in the air.

     And they did not run. Despite the fact that they were clearly on the losing end. The combat forces before rallied themselves back into formation and charged the entity again. Were they out of their minds? Did they believe that strongly?

     Lyner watched still, and shook his head. "Inspirational, wouldn't you think? But..."

     The flaming presence was not affected at all. Every swing, slice, stab, cut, every arrow fired at it...they all struck, yes. But it was like cutting through water. The white form gave for just a moment, before simply taking shape again.

     It raised a foot, and then it simply stepped forward, right /into/ the military formation. Shields were raised and roars of the determination of men followed. "Ahhhhhhhhhh! Hold strong! We can do it! We will not fail! We will-"

     Crunch.

     That foot overcame the manmade barrier of shields keep it from the military personnel below. And then it made landfall. Snow immediately melted away, the stomp was enough to create a shockwave and blew away the rest of the forces on either side of it's foot.

     It was hell.

     True Hell.

     Is this what it means to fight against god?

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "I know what to do~" Gudako suddenly tells Sanary.

    It's as the monster advances and crunches into the army that the master whispers to her Servant, and the Caster nods firmly, before producing a dozen or so paper talismans and ofudas. Scribbled on them the Japanese symbols for CONTAINMENT, ATTRACTION, DEATH, ARENA, ANTI-DIVINE and a number of other similar ones. They begin glowing, brightly, as she releases them. The paper slips rotate around the Caster rapidly, she chants something barely heard, and--

    The paper slips shoot out, forming a large circle around the battlefield. A powerful magical barrier links each of the slips, forming a dome of transparent but definitely present sorcery around the area.

    The Bounded Field has two purposes: 1. none can leave it, at least not without significant effort. The army can get knocked into the wall of the Bounded Field by the monster and try tor etreat all they want, but they won't be able to run. 2. the gap between man and god is reduced a little bit. It's a blessing, basically it'll empower the nobodies to fight the monster. Just a bit.

    ALSO, IT SHRINKS.

    The Bounded Field will perpetually shrink towards the god, forcing the army to fight it. No matter how bad things get. No matter how bad they're getting wrecked. Entering the Bounded Field, on the other hand, is completely trivial and easy.

    Gudako watches with a wide smile, her typical 8D.
    Caster dusts her hands, before summoning her large mirror, which starts orbitting her slowly. Never hurts to be ready if things get awful.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "... Damn. That's actually pretty cool." Sanary lets out a half-whistle, chuckling a moment later as she watches that Bounded Field take effect. "Maybe not for the guys stuck in there, but they might have a shot now." She tugs her hood on and shivers lightly, a thoughtful look still worn on the healer's face. Fight or observe? Excitement or safety?

     If it was just her, charging into battle would've been a given. Nobody to worry (too much) about backing up, just getting in there and testing her limits. But with that little stunt, there is the very real possibility someone could take offense to that. Sanary stays put for the time being, although she does fiddle with the odd chunks of wood haphazardly taped to the inside of her shield.

     "Well.. I'll head in if they need backup, at least. Or... Ah, who knows."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods to Lyner, then winces as she sees the 'god' stomp into the massed soldiers. "Do you have any idea what kind of a god that is? Or why it's attacking and going after the city and its defenders?"

She doesn't have a whole lot of time to linger for discussion; while she's waiting for Lyner to answer, Yuna beckons for Erina to join her - not just to rendezvous, but to combine. A few moments later, Yuna is in her Flight Form, granting her increased mobility and a little more firepower to work with. Once she's done her second transformation, and has hopefully given Lyner time to answer her other questions, she flies towards the fray, passing into Gudako's Caster's Bounded Field with relatively slight hesitation.

Of course, she opens fire immediately - trying to keep her distance from the 'god' as she snipes repeatedly with the Matrix Divider, going for precise shots aimed at potentially vulnerable or noteworthy areas. If she can find any spots that are particularly susceptible to damage (even with her Light/Holy-based firepower), she'll call those out to her allies over the radio.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    WHUUUUUUMPF! Shirou leaps off at the last moment and goes skidding through the snow several feet, almost slipping... but he comes to a halt near Riva and Ayako and immediately rises to full height, glances around for any trouble... "This has nothing to do with how we look and everything to do with taking down that MONSTER! Divine presence, really?!" He's finding this hard to believe. But the sight of it crushing through a battalion of soldiers has him immediately clenching his teeth and on the verge of panicking.

    A plan forms in his head rather quickly.

    "/My body is made of swords./" The young magus chants, both hands extended and grasping the air. Trickles of power flicker, then flare mightily in his hands. A black, japanese-styled bow materializes in one hand. The other...

    The other is taking much longer. A golden-blue swirl of light whirls and shapes, taking a bit longer. It's a good fifteen seconds of hyper-intense focus or so until an ornate sword, gold and blue, is fully formed and raised up against the bow.

    Upon its hilt are letters, an enscription that leaves little doubt as to its origins. 'Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightwise king of all England', they read.

    He's almost gasping for breath once its finished. Although this one's within his reach, crafting a Noble Phantasm of this rank is no small feat.

    Shirou draws back his bowstring, flexing the mighty yumi. At the same time the sword in the stone shifts and slims to have a different balance and slightly more aerodynamic form. It won't be stable at very LONG distances, certainly... but for this?

    For this, just a hill away or so, it's enough.

    "Maybe this will give it something to think about! Caliburn!"

    And with that, he lets the 'arrow' fly. The wake of his shot kicks up a WAVE of snow that might well... half-bury Ayako and Riva, but oh well. The sword gleams golden like a shooting star. Like a shooting star, its lifetime is also quite brief.

    Should it strike that creature in its upper body - where Shirou aimed at - it will probably shatter and go off like a hand grenade. Paltry, as so-called 'broken phantasms' go. But possibly enough to knock this creature for a loop!

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is quick to pick up on the fight below she's getting a feel for the battle. She looks to Lyner for a moment before she says.

"Yes we're here to help."

It doesn't take very long before shockwave comes the entire battle becomes a living hell. She can only stare for a moment this brings back memories of the very not fond sort as she surveys the battle. Archer has a point focus oin the monster and let the men do as they will.

She makes note of the confederate, she will not forget this. For now she summons her keyblade and gets ready to move in she gives Lyner one last nod before she moves on to get into the fight there's no much else she can do as she moves in. AS she leaps into the air she pulls out a baton, which forms wireframes and then fully becomes a small jet which Deelel leaps on and flies towards the battle site, this is just to get her there and she fires a few bursts from the machine's light machine guns. Energy pulses cross the skies between her and the god, but it's just to keep it's attention for the moment.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Sputter! Pfft! Prhft! Plurt!
    Misha emerges, hoisted from the snow, already shivering to the bone by the time Riva yanks her out of the drift and works on disting her off. It's better than being up in the air in that terrible flying tin can transport that went super high.
    That was a nightmare.
    Green eyes blink the snow-filled confusion away. There's no team pose, but she quickly regains herself with a huff. "I don't care about looking my best- I just want to find him--"
    As important as that is to her however she can't help but turn her eyes onto the carnage. The 'divine' being, wreaking its terrible wrath upon the locals, doing their best to defend their homes and... How they can do nothing. How they are crushed underfoot-- how they're now TRAPPED in place with it. The Star Singer visibly cringes, hugging her arms to her chest. Awash with a sudden flow of emotions, longing, need, fear, and pain, she does only what a Reyvateil can when bathed in turmoil.
    She sings.
    Her voice lifts, soft at first yet reverberating with power. Watching the men pour their all into the attack, and not so much as scratch it- as though the creature simply let all the attacks pass through it. It was familiar to her. Her voice rises, echoing with power as she chants a language that strangles the translation effect- converting not into words, but raw emotion and pure power as she utters them, joined by flute and drums from seemingly nowhere, a chorus of many voices flowing from her lips.

    o/` ~ "Rrha ki ra exec... hymmnos PURGER!" ~ o/`
    o/` ~ "En yehar nha near yor." ~ o/`
    o/` ~ "Was ki ra selena anw hymmnos PURGER!" ~ o/`

    It is a song once used to force digital beings into the physical realm. A song seemingly PERFECT for the situation as she reaches to the distant Tower of Eolia, connecting to its many processes for a sliver of its power in enacting her will upon the world, and by extension this vicious 'god' through her song.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako blinks her eyes when Shirou says that phrase of all things. When the bow materializes in Shirou's hands, she has an idea of what Shirou is about to do. So why not help him out? She thrusts her hands towards Shirou quickly, and the barrier that surrounds her swiftly transfers over to Shirou. This barrier's one to repel the snow and help things fly through the air-she was flying pretty high just a while ago, after all. But it will help anything that Shirou should shoot out of it as well!

    Although she isn't prepared at all for the wave of snow that the 'arrow' kicks up! And so she is fluffed off of her broom and buried in the snow. At least she likes snow!

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva is exuberant in almost everything she does. "Hehehehe, We should go out and play in the snow sometime, Ayako, I bet you could do /awesome/ things with snow!" Riva giggles...

But then she squints and frowns at the stuff coming over her radio, looking out over the distance towards Archer and huffing for a moment. It's a pointless gesture even if Archer's supernaturally keen eyesight could pick it out easily, but it helps her feel better. She's someone who wears her emotions on her sleeve.

The horrible beast gets the attention next as riva turns to look over at th massive and deadly thing. "Soooooooo... Does ANYONE know what this thing is?" Riva calls out. "Either way... Your lead, Misha! I'll cover you for now, just tell me what you need!" The creation of that field causes her to stiffen for a moment. This complicates matters immensely. "We gotta move fast or those people are hosed!" She calls out, pointing dramatically....

Just in time for Shirout to bury her with the backblast of his attack. Snow-coated eyes blink for a moment in the pile, before there is a low rumble....

And a sudden explosion that hurls snow away in all directions, red-gold Anima spiderwebbing through the ground as Riva raises her anchor-like maul and putting it back on her shoulder. "Okayyyyyyyyyyyy, back to business!" She looks back at Misha as she begins singing in that strange language, Hymmnos.

She nods, and hangs the hammer on her back, pulling a pair of MP9s from her coat and flipping them in her hands. Circuit-like patterns on the weapons light up in blue-green energy, that flows through them, and the slides rack without her even touching them.

"Let's rock." She stays between the beast and Misha, not really knowing what's up with the somewhat ominous song as she lays down a fusillade of Anima bolts that strike towards the massive beast in a firehose-esque wave of energy blasts.

Cirra Constantine (675) has posed:
    Cirra watches as the entity simply steps on the gathered army. It's power is...considerable to say the least. She frowns as it simply steps on the men in front of it. The bounded feild only makes it even worse, and apon hearing it's effects she briefly considers throwing Caster and her Master into the field.

    Instead, the Judge pulls a Law Card out from her side and holds it out in the air, stabbing it through with her Judge Blade and slamming it into the ground.

    "The. RAMPART!" The magic lines shoot across the ground and grow up over the defending army, growing into a half-dome of crystal spikes to provide a nasty defense incase the entity attacks with another stomp.

Archer (821) has posed:
     As Archer had believed, the men attacking obviously had no intention of pulling back. Moreover, they knew what the risks were, if the commander's screams echoing over the radios were any indication.

     One of the baseline tenants of the self-destructive 'path of the hero'; facing death no matter what the odds... even when it was obvious you could not win. Doing whatever you could, if only just as a stalling measure to buy time.

     While he outwardly expressed disinterest in Riva's gestures at him, inwardly he felt sympathy - even pity - for the soldiers who were now effectively lost to the Hell of war... but there was nothing to be done about it - focus had to be applied on the creature. r
     ... not that the soldiers had a choice anymore, the bounded field that was now around them going up to both seal them and shove them closer to the creature. A move that has him gazing at the Confederate as if asking whether she did that to help them keep the beast contained... or to motivate the Union members to fight harsher by placing people in danger. Perhaps both?

     Regardless... it seems that now is the time to strike-

     -though he winces slightly, one eye closing as a sharp pang pricks at his temple as the Golden Sword of the Victorious takes flight. A weapon far too close to his long-forgotten past for comfort.

     Either way... it seemed that the first attacks had been made. So he would focus on the spots those strikes landed.

     Prana flares to life in his hand, until it formed an ebony black 'blade' - or rather, what could barely pass for one, little more then a narrow core with a tightly-coiled series of edges wrapping around it.

     "I am the bone of my sword."

     Upon being drawn back on Archer's bow, it coils even further, becoming an arrow that soon comes alight with prana, the energy running down it's length into the tip.

     "Hurnting!"

     Then it takes flight, transforming into a crimson bullet or magic that shoots across the battlefield, fated to never miss it's target so long as the Bowman keeps his aim fixed on the target; in this case, the impact site on it's chest where Emiya Shirou's Caliburn had hit. An attempt to add damage to that site - or perhaps even punch through it.

     He readies the next shot - and if Yuna finds any weak points, he will direct them there. They need a definite foothold against this thing - or else it was just going to plow through them all.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Lyner glanced back at Yuna again, and Deelel as well, noting her presence. "Well..." He looked on ahead, wincing at that stomp. "I don't know what it is, and I don't know why it's attacking..." He looked off towards the mountain range rising high into the sky, creating a backdrop to this hell of a battle. "But I know that it came from that mountain." At that moment, a Bounded Field formed, entered around the divine entity, it was like a grim countdown to the end. At this point, the soldiers locked in battle were beginning to notice the presence of outsiders.

     "W-What is this!?"

     "I feel...stronger!"

     "I feel like I can take on the world! Lets go!"

     And with renewed vigor, they reform and charge again at the beast, unaware of the secondary...effect.

     Meanwhile, one plucky soldier who was thinking about running away ran facefirst into the barrier, unable to retreat. "H-Huh!? I can't get out!" And it was gradually pushing him back. He fell over onto the snow in shock, wondering how they were going to get through this when...

     Suddenly several energy shots were fired, courtesy of Yuna. They strike the flame cloaked creature, and pierce directly through it, creating large holes that lasted for several moments...and then they simply began to get smaller and smaller before closing up completely. Deelel's rapidfire energy bullets riddle the 'God', filling it will countless small holes, but the result is much the same as it was with Yuna's attacks. They closed back up soon after without any sign of pain or hindrance.

     And then came Shirou.

     Caliburn is traced, knocked back, and aimed. Power builds up, an arrow of the sword meant to be held by the one who would become king of Britain.

     It is fired.

     Racing through the air and kicking up a wave of snow, it flies over the army's head, and right into the creature. An explosion of brilliant light follows and once it clears, the creature is missing it's entire upper half.

     "....."

     Soldiers lower their weapons. They look back at Shirou, Deelel, Yuna, and the others as if they were looking at monsters. "Is...Is it over?"

     "Captain! Look!" One panicked soldier cried out. Everyone whirled around then to see...

     The flaming giant was reforming it's upper half, rising up and retaking it's shape before having been struck! "Is...Is this abomination immortal!?"

     "Can we...can we win!?"

     "No! Do not give up! We have what it takes! We are knights of Lucrelia! We have a duty to perform! To protect our citizens!"

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     Right as things were looking grim, a song began to pierce through the despair filled air...

     Purger.

     Lyner knows this song well. Surprised, he can only glance off in the direction the singing was coming from. He only knew one person who knew that song. "...Misha?" But she was too far away for him to make sure, and they were in the middle of a battle. Lyner, stared for a moment longer, and then decided to turn back to the battle.

     The effects of Purger...well, it was plain to see, even through the Bounded Field. As if interfering with a connection between two points, the flaming entity's body began to distort in places, similar to TV static. It stumbled back a step, making no noise, but it's movements were clue enough. Something was wrong.

     As Misha continued to sing, the effect continued. Suddenly, the mountain behind the creature in the distance lit up for a brief moment. The entire range. Glowing a ethereal white. ...And then it faded.

     "....?" Lyner watched all of this, and then smiled. "...It worked."

     The 'god's flaming aura became less intense. It's white form looked the same but...

     It all became clear what kind of effect Misha's song had when Riva's magic bolts barrel right into the creature. It takes the blows, and several holes are opened up in it's body. Stumbling back another step, it 'looks' down at itself. The holes weren't regenerating. From behind Cirra's crude spike wall, the soldiers all begin to mutter. "It's not healing. That song...it worked?"

     Silence.

     And then Hrunting makes impact. Blam, an explosion follows. A long, white arm lands roughly on the ground, kicking up a wave of snow.

     "We can do this! We can win! Come on men!" And like a flood, the remaining soldiers rush out from behind Cirra's wall, weapons to bear against the entity. It seems to realize that something is utterly wrong too. Because where it's mouth would be, a hole opened up, and an orb of red formed, growing larger and larger...And then it fired. A beam of flame burst forth, striking the ground below, and then continuing forward in a straight line. It tore through their ranks, and rapidly ran across the ground towards Shirou's position, as well as Deelel and Cirra. As well as Riva, Misha, and Ayako.

     But that wasn't all. The beam continued, rising into the air and threatening to fly straight towards the city in the distance. Would Caster's Bounded Field hold up? It was getting smaller, with an unintended side effect of causing the beam to backwash back onto the battlefield from behind. Screams of terror soon followed as the two front assault was staged.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna still isn't entirely sure if this entity counts as a god; the fact that it can be injured so 'easily' is a pretty good argument against it - although it also regenerates from any damage that even the Elites can inflict ...

At least, until Misha starts singing.

The hairs on the back of Yuna's neck stand up as she hears the Hymmnos incantation; she can't entirely place *why* that gets her attention so. But the effect on the creature is unmistakable and undeniable: it's *mortal* now. "Elner, see if you -"

Yuna's call to the robo-faerie is interrupted as the monster revs up a massive fiery beam. "SHUGOSEIHEKI!!" Yuna yells, letting the Matrix Divider vanish as she invokes her kite shield, the Wall of the Guardian Star as she named it - and tries to tank as much of the fire-beam as she possibly can. She's going to do EVERYTHING she can to stop the blast from continuing onwards to menace the city; if she can protect some of her allies (Elites or otherwise) while she's at it, all the better, but stopping the line of fire from hitting the city is her paramount and overriding concern.

Even if it means *SHE* gets burned to a crisp instead.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako stays buried in the snow. In fact, she sinks deeper into the snow. She loves snow, after all. And although she can't really see the results of her helping Shirou, she can definitely feel... something building as the red orb flares in the entity's... 'mouth'.

    Well then. It's a good thing that she's deep in the material she has the most affinity with! Indeed, being buried in snow is almost as good as having an ocean around her! Ayako quickly gathers a massive amount of snow as the fiery beam charges. And as it fires, suddenly she bursts out of the snow in front of Misha, Riva, and Shirou! "Multi-faced Ice Barrier!"

    A barrier seemingly made of beautifully faceted ice swiftly forms to shield the four of them from the beam!

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Success! The Bounded Field seems to have forced some measure of cooperation amongst the heroes. The effort to reward ratio here is pretty astronomical-- compared to trying to tell them to stop arguing, or to arguing with them, really this was the optimal, fastest, least-effort choice. Gudako would pat herself on the back but it'd look weird.

    Luckily, if people put effort into defending from the beam, the Bounded Field will hold up. It's pretty strong, and Caster isn't a shabby Caster by any stretch. But it's not foolproof! And concentrated effort will definitely break it, if the 'god' has a mind to doing that. Damage to it certainly slows the rate at which it shrinks, for now.

    Gudako continues smiling, despite the death glares she gets. She wonders if the creature is really a god, or something else. She also wonders what that music is-- what it did to the monster. It seems... more present? Actualized? It's hard to say from this far! Caster would have better luck analyzing it, surely. "Mm, mm~! Caster! Let's start draining it. If that thing really is a god, we should try to keep a shard of it. Maybe mister Valeth will know what to do with it."

    "Of course, master~!" Caster replies with a grin.

    Caster produces another set of ofuda, three. CRYSTAL, DRAIN, ESSENCE. They whirl around the foxgirl, glowing a bright pink, before she directs them towards the creature like bullets. Assuming they can latch on, the curses contained in them attempt to start draining the monster, and to crystalize what's being drained in Caster's hand. Life force, magic, divinity-- maybe nothing at all. It's worth trying, though!

Deelel has posed:
Music's always had power Deelel knows this, she recalls the power of some of thes songs that were were sung during the battle to create Afterus and again she's awed by the power that she sees she knows Misha is doing what they can to help them She knows she's in good hands with Riva guarding her and as she closes the Keyblade takes shape in her off hand the Dual Disc. Lyner's words keep sqwith her as she contiunes her attack run, she see it healing and she knows what she should do.

First dodge the swords of human kind's past she flits between the weapons and banishes her craft after a moment. It turns to light once more and Deelel is left dropping there the keyblad e in hand, she's gfot a plan here. While the music has no direct effect on Deelel it still contain power Deelel is born from it and she seems to adjust her tactics based on the song she's going to take her Keyblade to this thing, the weapon was created to fight things like this wasn't it?

Thern comes the beam she can only. She was goign to attack but with this blast she starts chanting a spell to ward her self and hopefully some of the troops from the blast. It won't stop the damage entirely but it could allow them to live through the blast and Deelel her self is hit hard she's rather smoldering in it's aftermath as she hits the ground, but she has an idea well once she gets back on her feet.

"...Somedays it just doesn't pay to boot up."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Wow. Wowzer. caliburn was ten times more effective than Shirou expected. he's left gobsmacked, staring wide-eyed at the results. And the strange magic of that song. He quickly sees where it's coming from too. Misha! Who he doesn't really know, but... she's just become a critical part of this battle. Without her they'll be VERY bad off. And there won't be ANYTHING left of the army.

    He's just slightly starting to relax and focus better when ALL HELL BREAKS loose. He gets a horrible feeling when that hole appears, red power gathers...

    A whole year's worth of battle experience in the Multiverse tells him where it's going to fire too. He moves without thinking, casting the bow away and LEAPING over to the singing Reyvateil and the other girls.

    Right. In. The line of fire.

    Fiery determination burns in the boy's soul. Even if he has to burn himself out, he will NOT allow that hellbeam to so much as TOUCH the girls. He has only one way to possibly protect them however. Inhaling deeply, the boy extends a hand, grits his teeth... and calls a specific Noble Phantasm out. A design is formulated and refined in the mind-splittingly agonizing seconds between seconds, his conscious flickering from overload.

    Making a SHIELD is an art very different from a sword.

    But bright mauve light flashes from his palm, arcs of prana scorch outwards from his arm and flow outwards...

    "RHO... AIAS!!"

    The tiny mauve singularity explodes, blossoming outwards in the space of just a second. Five 'petals' blossom out, each slightly ragged and ephemeral. The design's a bit un-even as it's missing two petals, but... oh well.

    Thick, convex layers of power shoot outwards one after another, totaling five. It's like a flower... and a shield, at once.

    And it's HUGE, several times taller than Shirou himself. A portable fortress wall. Or perhaps... five fortress walls.

    A HELLSTORM erupts the moment that beam slams into it, heat and magic deflected and absorbed in torrential flows. The fireworks alone are blinding. It only takes a few seconds before the first layer of this mighty defense starts cracking... then SHATTERS, only for the second to begin ablating...

    And behind it, covering the critical females, Emiya Shirou stands tall with his legs braced against the ground and spare hand grabbing the one handling the projection, grunting and groaning and glaring DEFIANTLY at the Divine Monster!

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     That was probably as good of a time as any to get involved. "Looks safe enough over here. Alright, wish me luck!" Tapping her hand against her head in a quick salute to Gudako, Sanary directs some energy towards Gudako and Caster to give them a little boost to their magic recovery before turning towards the battlefield proper. She puts enough magical energy into her anklets to send her rocketing upwards and forwards into the air rapidly, but lacking in finesse! Not that she really needs it for the time being, seeing as how she's aiming right for that battlefield and the diving being making a mess of things out there.

     And then she notices some trouble in the form of a giant death beam headed right for the city! She doesn't pause in her flying charge at the creature until spotting Yuna readying herself to block that thing head on, and the healer sighs before halting her flight to stop beside the heroic idol.

     "Hey, Yuna. Mind if I...?" She pauses for a moment, staring at that beam coming ever closer. One hand is held towards Yuna to direct some healing energy her way, the other readying her own kite shield to aid in that impromptu human wall. "... I had something for this. Ah, whatever. This'll suck either way!"

Archer (821) has posed:
     His meager skils as a magi outside of Tracing weren't exactly something Archer had felt he could pride himself on at any point in his existence... but even still, he was adept enough in sensing magic to tell the 'song' - truthfully closer to a projection of magic in and of itself - had seemed to sever whatever power the entity had... and apparently, that power was sourced from the mountain.

     This seemed to deprive it of the troubling regeneration power it had, resulting in the attacks from himself and Riva satisfyingly appearing to maim it.

     But then it launches it's attack for the city, and Archer forces back the twinges of dread as he readies another arrow - he will have to leave the defense to those who are present on the ground. After all, it was not his current duty to defend - if anything, this was the best moment to attack as most of the others seemed busy with defense.

     Though he does spare a moment to note, to his interest, that Emiya Shirou's projection is again evolving - he'd never seen the boy project more then four of the Aius's pedals before now.

     It was an improvement... but there was still a long way to go. And all for a direction Archer knew would never get the boy what he wished for - even now, Emiya Shirou was throwing himself into the fire ahead of everyone else, willing to sacrifice his one life so brazenly.

     In that... Emiya Shioru would never change, it seemed.

     Sighing, Archer refocuses on the creature, the blueprint in his mind's eye entering the physical world as it's manufacturing processes are accelerated and improved upon in a split-second.

     If this creature was 'divine'... perhaps a weapon attuned to that would be more effective slaying it. It was hardly radiating a 'pure' aura - if anything it seemed more like a stubborn flame then a holy force.

     Thus, the shimmer of prana condenses into the radiant design of the archangel's blade; the Holy Sword of Roland the paladin. It's structure is reinforced as Archer draws it back and takes aim at the creature's 'face'. Holy light gathers into it's edge as the blade twists and distorts to a narrow spindle suited for it's new purpose-

     "Durandal!"

     -and takes flight as an arrow, cutting through the sky like a white bolt of divine radiance on a path that will, if uninterrupted, take it piercing through the creature's 'head' and, if it is truly mortal, hopefully slaying it... or if nothing else, crippling it enough to be quickly finished.

Misha (757) has posed:
    o/` ~ "En ma ki ra ks syec parge tes ar hymmne mea..." ~ o/`

    Even in the face of dange, Misha sings. She will sing- and she will continue to sing no matter what may come her way. Were everything to end today, Misha Arsellec Lune would be that girl who sings at the end of the world. By now her voice has hit crescendo, joined by phantasmal chorus and a beat that shakes the heavens and sends pulses racing in time with the drums. But it is not an act that comes easily.
    Even in the chill cold of the Trundra, sweat beads visibly on her brow as she focuses her voice, her feelings, and her very soul into this outpour of energy to keep this false and terrible god bound to a physical realm. She does not move from her spot, hands clasped together over her chest as she sings her very heart out. So she will need the cover when the deadly divine unleashes that bolt of radiant death.
    It is a credit to the almost ingrained combat training Reyvateils only vaguely receives, that she does not panic, nor bolt nor run. But she remains, planted firmly where she is, trusting in Riva, Ayako, and Shirou; one standing directly in front of her while the other two layer defenses. It is a distinctly wholehearted level of trust she places in the three while she focuses her all on the Hymn, Purger.
    "Uff..." It should be noted, that she can apparently speak, even during the act of singing. "It's been a while since I've sung this one. You all might want to pick up the pace, I don't know how long I can keep it up."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's eyes light up as she sees the Hymmnos break the god's connection to whatever was powering it, making it finally vulnerable. "YEAH! WE CAN DO IT!" She yells, thrusting a gun in the air in triumph...

And then she sees the massive chargeup. "Ggggh!" She emits eyes widening. "HOLY SH...NIKIES!" She yells, dropping her guns as she brings her hammer to bear. The weapon seething with red-gold Anima as she shifts from ranged burst offense to defense again...

And then she sees the hellfire blast explodes outwards, to slam into Ayako's barrier and Rho Aias. She stares for a moment, the hammer held before her as the blast begins shearing into the defenses. She nods to the others, and smiles. "Teamwork is going to win this, but we can't just let it keep smashing us, or we're all gonna die. In this case, the best defense is killing this damn thing!" Misha seems to have the same opinion, urging them to kick this up a notch or ten. She grimaces, then, and looks back to Misha, nodding. "I'm going on ahead. I'll be back, I promise." She says, badore setting herself, and closing her eyes.

There is a sudden surge of Anima, Riva seeming to... swell, growing large as she launches into the air, hurling herself forward.

Hurling herself int othe beam.

She drops like a comet, smashing into the blasted ground as she crushes forward, struggling against the divine blast that begins melting her as she pushes forward.

Something about this seems... Oddly familiar. A sense of deep deja vu mixes with the growing, burning agony that makes itself known as the divine assault tears at her, breaking around her in waves even as she burns.

Burning, bleeding, and afire, Riva crashes towards the godlike being like a comet. The tested and worn material of the Ajoran Maul seems to glow red-hot with heat and the seething Anima channelling through it, and she explodes through the other side, immediately twisting and hurling the weapon up into the air, sending it crashing into the beast and hooking onto it, a golden tether trailing back to Riva herself. With a surge of motion, she is pulled upwards, sending her flipping up into the air. She slams into the beast's side, scorching as she impacts the seething surface of the creature.

With a ringing noise, Riva pulls out a plain longsword, inset with the Templar cross. As she twists it in the air, burning lines of red and gold light up as the Anima circuits come to life, and Riva shears it into the beast, before rebounding and skidding along the horrible monster, coming to a stop aboce and center of the beast, stopping unwittingly sirectly above where Durandal should strike. She whips the blade through the air, inverting it and holding it in both hands as she breathes in and steadies herself.

"Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them."

With a sudden burst of Anima, the blade in Riva's hands flares brilliant gold, and with a scream she drives the sword straight downwards into the beast, releasing a deadly pulse of Anima even as she cuts straight down in a cross-cut attack with Durandal.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     The beam tore through the battlefield, blowing away soldiers in it's line of fire as it traveled across the ground. Thanks to some quick thinkin by Deelel however, the rest were spared the lion's share of the damage by virtue of being on the sides, as well as her defensive magic.

     Yuna's invocation of Shugoseiheiki meets the traveling beam. Both forces clash, and Yuna can feel that despite being severed from the source of it's power, this energy being fired was still more than potent enough to raze the city to the ground, should it pass the various defensive fortifications being leveled.

     Despite her best effort, Yuna, soon joined by Sanary, is pushed back, and the beam travels further. It reaches Ayako, Shirou, Riva, and Misha at this point, and additional barriers are added. Rho Aias, the Seven Layered Shield of Aias, though missing two layers. As well as Ayako's Multi-Faced Ice Barrier. With the the four of them on the case, the beam seems to be held in check for now.

     But they don't have to hold it long. Riva hurls herself right at the beam, charging the divine entity behind it. Upwards into the air...and then right towards it. A longsword is drawn, a prayer is offered, and then the blade is driven right into it. Anima pulses, as she cuts straight downwards.

     Durandal follows, piercing through the sky like a holy bullet, launched from the knight of the bow, it finds it's target, striking true. It's head is pierced right through in a flash of light.

     And right then, several ofuda latch onto the creature, draining it on whatever energy it was continung to muster. Caster would find a palm sized shard of white growing in her hand for her efforts.

     The beam eventually dies down as the 'God' is cut down. Cleaved and two, and it's head vaporized from it's body, it tumbles down to the ground, and with a crash, a wave of snow is kicked up, creating fresh snowfall.

     Silence followed.

     Soldiers, who were taking cover and defending with their shields, peek out. "...Is it over?"

     It did not get back up.

     "It's over! We won! It's over!"

     From his vantage point, Lyner let out a small sigh. "You can always count on the Elites to do something." And with a smile, he stepped forward, sliding down the hill and proceeding to approach the aftermath, hood still up and cloak still fully around him.

     The remains of the army all began to celebrate, though the elites present were given suspicious glances now and then as they gathered themselves. No one made an effort to actually approach and talk. They may be figuring out how to do so.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Master look! It's a... thing," Caster says, showing the white crystal to Gudako. The magus eyes the piece of magic, and then gives a thumb up. Caster snaps two fingers afterwards, and the Bounded Field vanishes, the twelve ofuda that were keeping the circle linked consuming themselves in pink flames; and then, freedom!

    Gudako and Caster approach the winding down victors, the master evidently feeling no immediate shame at what she did. "Good job! I thought you guys were going to spend a hour arguing while everyone was dying, but you actually pulled through! That would have been such a waste of time." And of lives? Well, she doesn't care about that, honestly. Faceless mooks aren't people.

    "Name's Gudako! ... I don't know who half of you are. Ugh! Caster, learn their names for the report, won't you?" Gudako produces her cellphone, and immerses herself in MOBILE GAMES.

    Caster takes a polite bow in her stead. "Hi! I'm Caster, that's my master. It'd be useful to use if you could all introduce yourselves! ... and maybe explain what's going on, if that wouldn't be too much work~."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
If Yuna had known a blast like that was coming, she most likely would have stayed outside Gudako's (Caster's) barrier and summoned El-Line. The Matrix Figure is much larger, much sturdier, and reasonably capable of actually tanking blasts that could destroy cities; Yuna was in, arguably, her most fragile armor and trying to do the same thing. Sanary's healing support is probably most of why Yuna is still alive and relatively un-roasted, when you get right down to it.

As it is? By the time the beam's onslaught forces Yuna behind the joint barrier raised by Shirou and Ayako, Yuna's only staying in the air by dint of sheer stubbornness - and when the other two barriers take the pressure off of her shield ...

Yuna just flops to the ground behind Misha, Shugoseiheki vanishing once again. Yuna's exposed skin is VERY noticeably reddened from the heat - the Light Suit's defensive barrier protected her, but it was a REALLY close thing - and her armor looks like it was about to start *burning* off of her.

Yuna is also either fast asleep (and deeply so), or simply unconscious from the strain. It takes a couple of moments before her Flight Form armor glows and disassembles, Erina of the Sky reassembling next to Yuna and - ever so gently - picking her up. "As Elner said, Yuna will be fine," the purple-and-white android says to those closest by. Erina also nods in thanks to Sanary - but she heads off shortly thereafter, with Jiina and Marina following. Elner remains on-site to take note of further discussion, and so forth.

Plus Yuna was REALLY curious about the mountain range that was glowing just before the 'god'/monster unleashed a credible imitation of hellfire.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     As they're being pushed back, Sanary regrets not wearing her other set of armor. Whereas that one would have been more effective at both withstanding the beam and aiding her in blocking against it, this set is definitely suited more for evasion and ice-based attacks. The arm holding the shield, oddly enough, is actually mostly unscathed even by the time she falls back to that giant barrier.

     The one that was directing healing energy into Yuna, though ?Well, the good news is that the damage won't be permanent. Her arm is just a little... Crispy. Thankfully, having all that healing magic swirling around it did mitigate the damage somewhat, and that's probably the only reason the cleric can even move her arm now.

     Son of a... Freaking... Mmrgfh! E-everyone okay?" She mutters a few quiet curses to herself while getting on one knee, setting the shield in her lap to start channeling energy into the staff-bits taped to it. Nothing happens at first, but eventually? Healing magic just starts covering the whole lot of them in that little area!

Misha (757) has posed:
    "Fwahh...!"
    That's not Hymmnos. No, that's Misha finally bringing her song to a halt, when the creature falls. Were it a true god, it would not have wrought such havoc for no discernible reason. Heedless of the cold, the Reyvateil drops to her knees with a small puff, taking a moment to catch her breath.
    Perhaps a little more intense than how she had planned her evening, and she dare not even think about what Jakuri has done to the stew. "Ah..." Then she remembers the reason she came. Back on her feet in an instant, fatigue forgotten, she wades through the snow towards the recovering soldiers. "H-Have any of you seen a young man in white armor? Blonde hair, blue eyes, big stupid smile? -Anyone?" She'll start demanding that answer of the men, heedless of their distrust, before making her way to ask the same of the MYSTERIOUS HOODED FIGURE.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako sighs with relief as that... thing goes down. She drops her barrier and takes a deep breath. Oh! But first! Riva! She quickly pulls her broomstick out of... somewhere, hops on it and flies over to where she last heard Riva's voice. She did have quite the mouthful to say as she was tearing into that thing! "Riva! Where are you?"

    She floats a few feet above the ground while looking around. Ayako does smile and wave cheerfully to the soldiers that have survived. And then she floats down to treat some of their wounds while looking for Riva.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    The beam sweeps past, destroying three of the five petals and leaving the fourth layer cracked... but somehow, Riva and Archer bring that thing down with an assault that leaves Shirou stunned and jaw-dropping. SERIOUSLY, did Riva just do that?!

    "Just crazy..." Yes. Yes, she's VERY crazy.

    Rho Aias fades, crumbling away into component prana as quickly as it appeared. Shirou drops to his knees... breathing raggedly hard. His arm's bleeding, no doubt from the backwash of holding up Rho Aias against that. Flesh is torn and muscles agonized... but then... in comes Sanary. Sanary to the rescue!

    "Huh?" He finds himself standing pretty easily, the injured arm no longer bleeding. Still wounded, but... that's an improvement. "Thanks! Looks like that teamwork really worked out!"

    ... Although here comes Caster wandering in. Shirou blinks, tensing lightly. He's seen her before. And likewise. And what's more... she's the Caster who just casually trapped people. "Emiya Shirou, though I'm sure you knew that. Caster, was making that boundary field a shrinking deathtrap really necessary?" He's eying her disapprovingly, but at least... not very judgementally. The boy's exasperated more than outraged at the moment.

    Too much going on to really think.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel was able to make a differnce which mde her glad, but there ws the main enemy to worry about and this is where she starts to get a bit nuts. In one hand she's her keyblade and she's finally back in teh fitght he's going to run for the body she's not sure if the thing is dead or not and she wants to be sure the thing is down the magical weapon humms slightly as she moves towards it cautiously she's hurt to the point should anyone see her right now? She's not bleeding, but has glowing cracks on various places all over her body, for now he's going to try to confirm the thing is dead before moving to helpt the wounded.

"Let's make sure it's down for good."

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     At the approach of Misha, the soldiers on the edge give her a look. "Hey, isn't she the one who sang that song?"

     "Weird, she looks kind of familiar."

     "Are they Einherjar? You saw what they did, right? They took down an Incarnation!"

     "Never seen this man she's talking about."

     "Can we trust them?"

     All sorts of comments filtered through the gathering of soldiers. Many were off collecting the dead, others were securing the area, and plenty more were forming up with the captain of the company.

     It doesn't look like anyone has SEEN THIS MAN though.

     The hooded man is approached by Misha next with the same question. He was actually headed in her general direction, about to check on everything, so her approach gives him pause. "...Uh...Ahahaha..." Hey that vaguely idiotic laugh sounded familiar. "I think I know that guy." He reached up, pulling back his hood to reveal his face. Blonde hair messily spiked back, blue eyes, and an idiotic smile. Yep, that was Lyner.

     "Hey Misha. Long time no see."

     And /that's/ the first thing he says in greeting.

     Ladies and gentlemen, Lyner Barsett.

     At that point, the captain of the soldiers approached. A middle aged man clad in armor, with a helmet atop his head, visor up. "AHEM! Sorry to interrupt, but I want to extend my thanks. You all were a great help. I don't want to imagine what would have happened, had we not been given your timely support." He looked hesitant, but after a shake of the head, went on. "I think it would be prudent to invite the lot of you return to Lucrelia at your leisure. We should talk proper."

     The knight captain glanced over to the fallen body of the giant entity that had just been taken down. It was dissipating, particles flowing back to the mountain. "...Here is not the place for it, as we can clearly see."

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    It takes a while, and a lot of milling about healing the soldiers, but... eventually, Ayako manages to find Riva! It seems she was buried in a snowdrift when that thing went down. Of course, Ayako has no problem moving the snow out of the way. She even does so gleefully, flinging it about in small snowballs.

    And once she finds Riva, she greets her with a good dose of purple healing water. "Found you, Riva!" Ayako smiles brightly and offers Riva her hands to help her back onto her feet.

Archer (821) has posed:
     And just like that... it's over.

     As the entity dies from the combined assault, Archer lets out a breath as the battle ends, expelling what one could call the tension of battle.

     That wasn't quite an easy encounter... but it could have been far worse.

     Glancing at it's body, Archer muses on exactly what the creature was. It hardly seemed like a true 'god' - perhaps a creature akin to a soldier of such an existence, but hardly of the same ilk. Then again, the nature of the Multiverse seemed to dictate that what equated 'Goodhood' might be quite different between realities.

     Turning his attention to the assorted Elites far away on the battlefield itself, Archer narrows his eyes at the Confederates - Sanary Rondel and, if the Caster were to be believed, 'Gudako', wondering if it was for personal gain or just passing interest that they helped. On the other end of the spectrum, many of the Union members seemed rather battered - the girl with the kite-shield and the girl who'd charged the 'god' being first and foremost, though Emiya Shirou had, like Sanary, received heavy damage to one arm.

     He doesn't bother going down to greet any of the soldiers - he simply retains his position atop the wall... watching with narrowed eyes as the creature's body dissipates into particles, all of which retreat to the mountain that had glowed before.

     Some part of him seems to urge simply firing Caladbolg at the peaks and level it to be safe, but he couldn't afford to act so rashly when they didn't even know what they were up against - or if whatever was there could deflect his shot.

     Either way... it seems that this was far from over... not that he expected it to ever be that comparatively easy.

     He does however pause to listen, over the radios as well, as the white-cloaked man makes his presence known and extends a formal thanks to everyone.

     Maybe he'd be the one to give them some answers about all this?

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Caster gives a wide shrug to Shirou. "It was my master's idea, and it worked. You were all wasting time arguing, it was important to impress the gravity of the situation on you all~." The way she speaks, it's obvious the Servant doesn't have that much more concern for life than the master does. She sounds sweeter and less insane, if anything.

    Gudako makes idle note of the term 'Incarnation', but mostly she's letting Caster handle it. The pink-haired foxgirl smiles to the guards, though she also watches Lyner with interest when he turns out to be the man that the singing girl was looking for. Sadly, she doesn't know him! Or the girl. Mostly, she could tell whatever that singing was, it was pretty potent, but that's not exactly hard to figure out either.

    Cutting to the chase, Caster asks the guards: "Incarnations... how often do they show up? And how do you know they're gods, and not just very powerful monsters? There's a big difference, you know~?" Well, SHE would know, for sure.

Riva Banari has posed:
The horrible beast falls, and massive snowdrifts are kicked up into the air. Riva vanishes in the cataclysmic fall, and everything goes silent for a bit.

Riva doesn't answer things immediately, everything going dark. Dark and cold. For a little bit, she wonders if she's dying again.

And then she twitches, a blast of pain running through her body. NOPE. NOT DEAD. With a groan, there is a crinking sound, and when Ayako finds Riva and pulls her up, she has an unwrapped taco hanging out of her mouth, her horrible wounds visibly healing, albeit slowly. "Mmmph! mmmfh mmphle." She says, getting splashed with healing water. This speeds things up dramatically, and Riva is soon standing again, crunching on the taco as she swallows. "Thanks, Ayako." Sanary calls to her too, and she waves over to the healer. "I'll be fine! Just gimme a sec." She calls, her Anima seeming to repurpose itself to restoring her body when she's not using it to kill things and not die. She turns to give Ayako a hug, and then walks back out into the midst of the troops, waving to them in greetings, but she's looking for someone specific.

WHERE IS MISHA- oh, there she is... AND LYNER. Okay, good, that's handled. There is a moment where she almost starts trying to LOOM over Lyner, but she winces, grimacing in pain. Stilllll not quite healed yet. She'll just let that go down how it will, instead heading over to meet with the others. "Hey there, guy." Riva waves to the captain. "No problem, it's why we're here. Lucrelia, right? Okay, I'm down to stopping in to visit." She smiles. "After all, I probably have to talk to a very stubborn guy over some beers."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary raises an eyebrow at the hooded man, looking from him to the woman that had been signing just moments earlier. The whole thing between them just draws a confused shrug from her, and her attention soon returns to that captain inviting them to what sounds like this region's name. She shakes the staff-bits out of her shield, the chunks of wood brittle and worthless after expending their durability with that concentrated burst of healing.

     "Sounds good to me. We'll be back to look around properly another time, then." Grinning after a moment (albeit still painfully with most of her arm red from the burning), she manages to snap him a quick salute before scooting over to Gudako and Caster. They're the only other Confederates around, after all, and it'd probably be less awkward to stand near them than anyone else!

     She isn't about to just leave, though, and her attention soon returns to the other Elites in the area. Archer gets a particularly long stare, although she doesn't seem to be so mistrusting as to just focus on him longer than necessary to give him a nod in a greeting. Ayako gets a friendlier wave and even a slight grin, her attention shifting to Riva quickly once she hears that response. "Easy now. YOu and Yuna took it pretty bad, so." More healing energy is sent her and Yuna's way before Sanary lets herself relax again, glancing over at Shirou and Deelel while waving them over and keeping more energy circulating around her arm just in case.

Misha (757) has posed:
    Sorry grateful village NPC, Misha Arsellec Lune's mind is on a single track at the moment. She was half about to turn to the next local defender when she hears that voice.
    Jade eyes snap back around, shooting wide open, the Star singer going dead still in her tracks as she stares, attention locked raptly on the source.
    "/LYNER!/"
    The cry is shrill and loud- and followed immediately by Misha completely throwing herself at the youth once the hood is down.
    All of her weight.
    And she's much bigger now than the last time he had seen her.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako waves back to Sanary and follows cheerfully after Riva. She does however, take another look at Shirou... and smiles as she notes that Sanary has already healed him a bit. She does give him a ball of green healing water to help with the low prana situation, though. It's better than getting an awful headache later. But other than that, she just stays behind the others, idly sweeping the brush of her broomstick on the ground behind her.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Welp. Caster's explanation leaves Emiya Shirou gaping. And off goes the fox, leaving him staring into empty space. Then rubbing his face profusely. "Geeze, why are so many Servants completely unreasonable?!" He exclaims, exasperated. Caster might hear him, or maybe she won't. He doesn't follow her. Instead he starts following after Ayako- and gets splashed with some water that leaves him blinking a bit, arms coming out as if he jsut got shot. "Uh?!"

    But it does get a glimmer from his Magic Circuits. Oddly visible through his flesh this time. They glow for just a moment. He jitters in place as if it just gave him the willies, but.. "Wow. Yeah, Ayako would make a great Caster..." He mumbles to himself without really thinking.

Lyner Barsett (916) has posed:
     A young guard near Caster hears her question and stares at her. "God? No, what are you talking about? An Incarnation is a fragment of God! Filled with hatred, it comes to try and destroy us!" So he said. He seemed passionate about it. "This is the third time in about two months. But they were never this strong before..."

     So that's how it was. But there would be no time for further talk, as the guard ran off to join the rest.

     ".....Well." The captain arched a brow at Misha's antics, as well as the general disparity between the group in action, and the group at rest. A few blinks were had, and then he sighed. "Well. Like I said, come at your leisure. Just ask for Captain Laurence when you approach the gates. They should let you in."

     With that, he turned away, armor clanking as he rejoined his men. "Alright, come on men! We're to report back!" They got back into formation, and proceeded to march away, whatever remnants of the forces were left.

     MEANWHILE.

     "Huh?" That was the only word Lyner had time to utter before Misha TACKLED HIM WITH ALL OF HER WEIGHT. "WGAHFHK!" And he is bowled over, crashing into the snow backfirst and swirlies in his eyes. "Whu....guh...-- Hi?" That was all he offered, once the vertigo wore off. "N-Nice to see you too? How've you been? Everything good?"

     Really, Lyner?

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "It's because you humans are really good at betrayal and hatred. Naturally, it stands to reason that anyone who has lived a life grander than any human and become a legend amongst them, would have experienced the very worst humanity can bring to bear. The treason, the anger, the violence, the bloodshed and wars. Us Servants have the unique perspective of having died from those things, and coming back centuries later to see how nothing has changed, despite all it cost us," Caster answers Shirou-- directly, her voice a bit more serious for a moment.

    Then she turns toward Lyner and Misha, smiling. "Ah~ but sometimes I forget humans can be beautiful and honest too. Aheh~..."

    Without being able to get more out of the guards, Caster finally opts to dematerialize, joining Berserker in hanging around Gudako but not being visible. The master ponders, and then decides she's done here! It seems there's no more questions to get answers to left, just arguments about morality and... whatever all those things she doesn't care about are.

Riva Banari has posed:
"Captain Lawrence, got it." Riva replies with a smile. The healing from Sanary gets sparkled at her, and she looks even healthier, now, almost like she didn't just charge into near certain doom. She heals fast when not fighting, apparently!

In the menatime, now that all else has been handled, Riva creeps around and ducks behind a snowdrift, watching Lyner and Misha intently. This seems to be /super important/ to Riva for some reason.

"Wow, that guy really /is/ an idiot." She whispers to Ayako, who is probably hovering by her like usual.

Ayako Hasekawa has posed:
    Ayako of course, is hovering by Riva. Literally. She's trying to hide right by her, lying down on her broomstick in hopes that it will help her keep a low profile. It doesn't. In fact, it makes her stand out more. Hiding just isn't something she's good at. She whispers back at Riva, "Well... everyone's dumb in some ways, right?"

    Speaking of which, Ayako's witch hat is obviously poking out of the top of the snowdrift Riva and her are hiding behind.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is very thankful for Sanary's help right now she could use the healing she's too tired to make use of her own blades abilities as she banishes it.

"I could really use some energy right now."

She mutters to herself as she seems to have confirmed that the thing is down at least for the moment and she's now going to mee up with Captain Lawerence and the rest.

"That was an experiance I have to admit and the name's Deelel...just what /was/ that all about anyway?"

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Eh? Ah, let's see if this works, then..." Sanary takes a short breath before directing some more of that energy Deelel's way, focusing more on the stamina regeneration aspects rather than physical healing. Would it work? Who knows. It's worked on Digimon before, but that's neither here nor there!

     Either way, she seems satisfied enough, and the healer glances around slowly before taking up a position behind Ayako and Riva. Why? Lack of anything else to do, mostly. That, and keeping her arm against the snow feels quite nice with how hot her arm still is. She keeps her voice down while giving Ayako a light nudge, trying to watch Lyner and Misha without drawing too much attention their way.

     "So what am I missing? I'm... Guessing they're really into each other or something?"

Misha (757) has posed:
    THUMP.
    That is the sound of Misha suddenly headbutting Lyner's chestplate. "Is everything good? Is that all you have to ask?!" Blurted with a huff as she glares up.
    Hmph!
    "You don't even notice anything different? Anything at all?!"
    No, Misha did not get a haircut, before that line of thought is even broached. The Reyvateil HUFFS. "Lyner Barsett, you're such an idiot!" Wow she sounds irritable. But then calms almost as fast.
    "... But you're my idiot."