3673/Tainted City in Flames - Stage 1

From Multiverse Crisis MUSH
Jump to: navigation, search
Tainted City in Flames - Stage 1
Date of Scene: 15 January 2016
Location: Fuyuki City <On Fire>
Synopsis: The Fangs of Nidhogg secure Fuyuki City for further use.
Cast of Characters: Lezard Valeth, 604, 687, Sanary Rondel, 834, 878, 908, 915, 924


Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
As the roomdesc summarizes, this city is in ruins, ever-burning. The hundreds of thousands of corpses that litter what's left of the buildings refuse to decay past skeletal state, charred grey bones held together by malice. There are rivers of BLACK MUD flowing down from MOUNT ENZOU, around which an anti-spirit barrier wards non-Elite ghosts away and imposes a very slight pressure on Elite ones.

People have been called to gather in the ruins of a church, where Gudako's Caster has already erected a weak Bounded Field that keeps those within invisible to the outside world. This allows observation of the city and planning without worries of being attacked by the wandering SHADOW SERVANTS, discolored, black and purple snapshots of previous battles that wander aimlessly. They are not people, really; more like images.

Gudako has a map of Fuyuki handy, a bit outdated given circumstances, set on a folding table. She explains, quickly: "We'll need two teams! Team one will have to be composed of people with magical expertise and will accompany Caster. You'll be working to subdue the spiritual barrier around Mount Enzou. It needs to become strong enough to repel the Shadows. After that, this place is pretty much ours, with natural defenses to boot! Team two will accompany Berserker. You're going to create a diversion and destroy as many Shadows as you can, so they don't scale the peak to disturb people working on it. They'll come back in a matter of days, but that's fine, they won't be an issue to us by then."

She finishes by allowing Caster to speak. The foxgirl says: "There's caverns under this city we can't reach right now due to the mud. But the mud is flowing out of them. Once we're established, we're going to want to clear that up and explore the caves. Whatever caused this, the source of the mud-- it might be a powerful Holy Grail. Even if it isn't, it's magic on a level we can't ignore. It's unfocused right now, but maybe we could make something of it. Another day, though~!"

OOC: Include in your +summary which team you are going with, SHADOWS or MOUNT. The split begins next round, so use this one to organize! Both parties will have stuff to fight and do, ultimately.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard Valeth could not ignore such a place. The very environment is burned, twisted, and scalded with rampant energies that /demand/ his study.

Thankfully, it is not simply himself, but also the Fangs of Nidhogg present, as well as other powerful, ambitious souls. Perhaps even souls who might be interested in joining forces. But that's something for the future.

The Necromancer of Midgard looks out over the devastation, the seething malice emanating from those bones something interesting to the man, as well as those vague, poltergeist-like murderous shadows. "This place has undergone quite the alteration." He mentions. "This is no place for anything that lives... But that means it suits our needs perfectly. Much like Lordran, this place will be reshaped to our needs."

He turns back to the others, his cape swirling dramatically. He can't resist, it's in his contract. "I am fairly adept at dealing with such barriers. I will assist with proceeding into the mountain and creating a safe bastion, along with any others who are capable of assisting."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     After a long week of (relative) relaxation, Sanary's looking as rested as she'll ever be. "No climbing, being loud... Yeah, I'll stick with Berserker on this one." The healer laughs confidently as she hits an armored fist against her shield, the chunky green armor rattling a bit from the impact.

     "I'll stick to healing and keeping everyone else powered up unless you need me bashing head." She waves a new-looking Physic staff in her hand for emphasis. Sanary has two of her three shields on her today, the oval metalbent shield worn on her back and the riot shield attached to her forearm. She's still got the gunaxe strapped to her waist, but that might not be needed depending on how the diversion goes.

     "Well... Unless you need me up with the barrier team." She doesn't sound quite as excited to join that team, but at least she hasn't struck down that possibility entirely.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Raine and Fragarach are here. The former is standing at the table and overlooking the map. The latter is floating off to the side, flipping through a shounen jump or something. She couldn't be bothered to actually be invested in this. "Huh. Well, this hellhole's seen better days, that's for sure." He'd question the logic of making this place a base, but then, that was above his pay grade.

     A shrug follows. "Well whatever. I'm not about all that magical voodoo woodoo. So I'm gonna help handle the shadows. Good? Good." Fragarach turned a page in her manga, black and blue gaze sliding over to regard the proceedings. "......" She'd suggest splitting up, but...that would mean actually putting in effort, wouldn't it?

     Better not say a word.

     Raine crossed his arms and glanced at Gudako. "So, how strong are these shadows? We gonna have a bad time, or are they business as usual?"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "I-" Ira states, puffing her chest out proudly, "Well accompany /team two/, because it sounds like you're going to need some muscle. Which I'll be happy to provide." The teenager grins widely, showing plenty of teeth, exuding a sort of pent-up aggression that has no doubt accumulated from far too much waiting around and not nearly enough shadow killing in the recent past.

    It did not help that the rest of her little persona-user group took off and had a fantastic romp in the Mirror Forest that everyone is apparently still crying and hugging each other over. The very thought of her classmates made her scowl in disappointment. Lezard had a point though. She could usurp control of the group and whip them into shape.

    "So what's with this whole...post-apocalyptic, ever-burning city thing? I mean, it feels kind of wrong but that's as much as I can...uh...get." Spoken like someone still getting used to having superpowerss.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     After having seen the Demon World of his own reality, this place was far less oppressive to Vergil then it would be to most humans... and yet it was permeated with a very human-like malevolence all it's own. It reeked of it, as if the black mud itself was the personification of all that was unsightly and foul about human nature.

     More reason then he already had not to come into direct contact with it. But it doesn't stop him from musing aloud on it - "Is this substance unique to the Holy Grails, then? Or is it something that's using the Grails as a vector?"

     When Gudako gives her briefing and outlines the options, Vergil finds it rather easy to pick - "I know a lot about magics in terms of knowledge, but using it on the level of spell-casting and wizardry is beyond me."

     As such, he strides over to what seems to quickly become 'Team Two' - Ironically enough, he's working with Sanary again, which he gives a slight nod to. A more casual gesture then the stoic-faced Son of Sparda seems keen to give. "I daresay I'd be best suited to eliminating the Shadows - you'll need skilled fighters if those phantoms are the remnants of long-ago heroes. Speaking of which, I don't suppose you have any way for us to tell who we'll be fighting down there?"

Valentha Summers (834) has posed:
    Space ripples and sizzles within the church, just above one of the pews during gathering period. Blue light crackles and expands in an instant... becoming a figure wearing the colors of the dying sunset. Shades of blue and purple flow across an elegantly embroidered robe that's clasped tightly closed by an ornately designed gold and silver broach of intertwined sun and moon. Her face is largely obscured by the robe's hood, save for the lower portions of it. Her skin's fair and a few wisps of finely textured blonde hair have escaped the hood's confines.

    Where she appeared? Well, hovering a good five feet over some pews. She's clutching a white staff nearly as tall as herself. It's wooden, and quite polished... and it, along with its bearer, simply reek with magical power.

    "Seems like I made a good choice taking this on for a first assignment. The real estate's uh... charming." The robed woman states in a clear voice and a language that the Multiverse at large definitely doesn't hear much.

    "The payoff had better be worth all the muck." She murmurs thoughtfully a few moments later, before floating off towards Lezard Valeth.

    It's there, after she lands near him, that she pulls the hood back and reveals her face. Green eyes and a fair, delicate face that just screams 'nobility from somewhere.'

    "Valeska of Bizantium. If you're looking for magical aid, perhaps I can lend some assistance?"

Ark Line (687) has posed:
No place for anything that lives, huh? How... familiar.

Actually, this place /does/ look familiar. There's a region in the Land of Steel that is covered in a substance like what's flooding this burning place. Ark hasn't personally been, but he's seen the images from the scout craft that got near it. He doesn't think even the A-RAYS go to that part of the world. The superstitious say it's full of curses... but that's ridiculous.

Ark stands in the church's ruins, wondering what it's for, while Caster of Steel stands patiently nearby. Ark is mostly at ease, though Caster seems tense. A little bit oddly, Ark is carrying what can only be described as a tome, a big, leather-bound text, the cover locked shut with a heavy clasp. Reference material?

"Barriers, huh? You can strengthen stuff like that, right, Caster?" Ark glances to his Servant. "I mean... I can help, too, but this is definitely in your wheelhouse."

Caster of Steel frowns, shrugging. "It is worth the attempt," the man in the suit says, vaguely.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
'Rider' is here. He has not yet worked with the Fangs despite membership, so it's time to fix that. The fact that this mission involves Grail Wars even makes it more important to him, a strange fascination in how a Fuyuki Grail could go wrong. He's dressed up in his robe, hood over his head with his bow dematerialized, as he glances at the map from afar. Pondering his options for a few moments, he moves over to the group that is becoming Team Two, as he speaks. "I fear that even if these are but images of those long dead, we cannot be so hasty as to dismiss them. For if they had skill once, it is unlikely that all that skill suddenly fades, and we Servants are surely a skilled bunch. Keep your wits about you and do not let your guard down."

'Rider' nods to the rest of the group as he approaches them, save for Vergil. In fact, Vergil may notice that he doesn't even so much as look at him! It would seem that he's completely ignoring Vergil's presence, as he instead manifests his compound bow into his hands, musing. "I will provide support from afar, for I have more skill as a sniper than a swordsman. Let us fight to make sure our allies remain strong!"

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "Yep! That's why I picked it," Gudako answers Lezard. To Sanary: "The guys fighting will probably need you more."

    At Raine's question, the magus answers simply: "Probably less strong than if they were fully incarnated as Servants, but each of them is probably strong enough to kill you if you let them, so, don't let them! They shouldn't be an issue if you take them seriously." In other words, place them somewhere in the 28-32 range if you need a reference frame.

    To Ira, Gudako also explains: "We don't know for sure! There was a Holy Grail here, and someone made a wish that made it... explode, split up. This is all that's left. But it's where we have to start if we want to understand things!"

    To Vergil, she nods. "I think so. I've never seen the mud appear places on its own. It might be using the Grails as its vectors, or it might be like... the Grails' blood. Part of the idea of settling here is to study it. We'll have an ample supply!"

    As for telling, she shakes her head. "It's a coinflip. Everytime we've come to scout, different ones have been awake and roaming."

    A nod to 'Valeska', afterwards! "You'll go with Lezard, follow his lead! The payment will be worth your while, we don't want to risk needing a second trip for this, so go all-out." She'll be paid her weight in gold, more or less, unless she has demands other than money, in which case arrangements could be made.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ SHADOWS

Both teams will be taking the same path, up to a certain point; leaving the safety of the Bounded Field means becoming visible. Not all Shadows react; many continue lumbering mindlessly, and some are actually fighting each other like mindless beasts. The occasional flare of magic or flash of light from a Noble Phantasm isn't hard to miss, although most of them are unimpressive, copies in name and appearance only, lacking substance and power.

When the mountain comes into view, so does the path leading up to it-- a massive, tall staircase leading up to a wooden, doorless gate. Shadows converge at the base, unfortunately. While the team heading up does so, those who remain behind are aggressed by three figures.

The first is a massive man, nine foot tall and with more muscles than anything else. He wields a massive slab of stone loosely shaped like a sword or axe, and has a single glowing yellow eye that otherwise breaks the black and purple discolored veil over him. With blinding speed, he makes Vergil his target, roaring wordlessly.

The second is a lean man with a spear, covered in fur and a bodysuit. His fingers extend like claws, his teeth look sharp, and his eyes crazy. Unpredictably he seems to teleport outright, like reality momentarily spasms out and just puts him somewhere else. Unfortunately, that's right in front of Archer, whom the spear attempts to shank.

The final shadow is a young woman in a suit. Her hands and feet glow, runes circling them. She's in Raine's face before anyone can blink, swinging a punch that could break metal plating. It looks like the theme here is speed and power.

~~ MOUNT ENZOU

Lezard, Ark and his Caster, and Valeska break off from the group, headed up the mountain. The anti-spirit field around them likely only has any effect on the Caster (and maybe Lezard), and even then it's more of a tugging pressure and not that much of a bother. With some fine-tuning, it could be made to ignore allies and be stronger, maybe.

Ascending the countless steps and passing through the gates, the group finds a ruined temple and courtyard. They stand atop the leylines of the city-- they're powerful, but tainted. It's the leylines that power the field around the mountain, that much is obvious.

But they are not meant to have an easy time here! Two Shadows stand here, a robed and hooded woman, and a man in a suit. They immediatly take notice of the intruders.

The man surges forward, targetting Ark Line. His blows-- he strikes with his fists, with such power they resound like gunshots. They're wild and unpredictable, messing with one's senses by overwhelming them. A blow headed left actually strikes right, up is down, a punch is actually a claw. It's like fighting blind.

Lezard and Valeska have to deal with the woman, who raises her hand and produces half a dozen beams of pink light. Pure magic, instantly deployed.

The two seem weaker than the shadows at the bottom, at least. It might be due to the field. They shouldn't take too long to rein in.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The approach of Ark and Valeska are handled in different ways. Ark gains a nod of acknowledgement, his nature and that of his Servant quite known to the Necromancer of Midgard. They are useful and logical people.

Valeska, however, gains a measuring gaze from the Necromancer, a pause extending as he considers the unknown being. There seems to be no sign of magical probing, so what is he even looking for?

After a few tense seconds, he smiles to Valeska. "Welcome. I am sure your aid will be quite appreciated." Well, whatever it is, it looks like he's cool with the hidden dragon.

In the meantime, the ascent up the mount is little issue to Lezard himself, though the pressure of the barrier causes a rippling pulse of crimson around him on contact. He pauses in the middle, feeling the repulsive effects. "Hmm. I wonder what manner of being would expect such a barrier to stop any significant incursion."

He shrugs, rolling his shoulders as they reach the ruined temple. Upon entrance, he takes in the appearance of the smouldering shadow guardians. He steps aside as the suited man assaults Ark, knowing the Liner is more than capable of defending himself physically.

More interesting is the woman in the robe. The pink beams of arcane energy surge forward, some of them colliding into a mysical barrier around Lezard himself, the attacks diverted with a thunderclap as the air around him distorts. A third beam punches into the barrier, pushing through as he twists, taking the strike on his shoulder as he is sent skidding backwards. the air around him smoulders, his cloak shredded as a bloody, smoking wound is made manifest where he was struck, instantly cauterized.

Lezard's expression betrays... irritation, as he reaches up to adjust his glasses. "Well well, a mage... And one that is vaguely competent, to be sure." He glances to Valeska, and then back to the shadow.

"Very well. We will show you what it means to contest the will of a true sorceror!" There is a rush of dark power around Lezard as he summons up the Manus Catalyse, the black, twisted rod taking shape out of formless shadow as he raises the object. The ley lines around him surge and flicker as he tests them... And finds them wanting. He cannot sup on these energies without knowing what effect they would have. Instead, he draws from his own voluminous reserves, an explosion of brilliant light spreading out through the air, resolving into a dozen gleaming spears of holy energy. "SACRED JAVELIN!" He calls out, returning fire upon Shadow Medea at high speed with salvos of gleaming holy lances.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "Heh. Looks like I'll be sticking to the ground, then." Sanary sounds rather pleased at Gudako's assessment, and she marches off dutifully with the others in her team. It's mostly familiar faces, so it should be easy enough to keep them good and healthy for whatever comes to assail them!

     Just as well, too, with the three shadowy figures approaching and targeting three of the five present. The healer's being good about actually doing her job as a healer today, though, opting to hang back for the time being and keep an eye on her allies. Seeing Ira not being targeted specifically, however, she does send some energy towards the Persona user before flashing her a confident grin. "

     "Go nuts. I'll keep you all powered up!" She makes sure to say that rather loudly before projecting even more of that restorative magic towards Vergil, 'Rider', and Raine as well. Even if the regenerative aspect of it might not be necessary, an energy boost never hurts! Usually.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     "So we're going in blind" Vergil sighs, though he isn't quite surprised that they're taking a shot in the dark. Given the environment's nature, they were probably one of the first people to come here in a long time.

     He also privately hopes that someone a bit more... sane will be the one studying the black mud. Confederate experts in this field, perhaps - like the witch, Medusa.

     When they leave the bounded field's protection, Vergil actually takes in a deep breath, as if something in the atmosphere actually appeals to him more then when he was behind the protective barrier.

     In spite of himself, Vergil cannot help but cast a deadpan glance to the so-called 'Rider' as the latter once more draws out a bow. "I suppose I'll make up the deficit in your skills with the blade, then. So long as you make sure our support is covered."

     When they approach the mountain, Vergil takes note of the three figures - and in spite of the forms being literal shadows of their true selves, the half-demon is still inwardly surprised at the speed the mountain of a man moves with, the ringing of steel filling the air as Yamato is torn from it's scabbard and clashes against the cruddy-carved stone blade.

     It quickly becomes apparent though that the warrior is very much deserving of the title as he doesn't try to simply overpower Vergil - instead, the blade is parried and brought to bear again, axe-blade and katana meeting in a swift flurry of exchanged strokes as sparks begin flying.

     However, in spite of the man's mammoth size, Vergil seems to be holding his ground fairly well, taking only a few steps back with every exchange - better then he truthfully would have done had his foe been at full strength - though he does spare a glance to Sanary, Raine and 'Rider', noting the latter two are already being attacked as well - as well as some grim amusement to himself as the self-proclaimed sniper is forced into a close-range battle.

     Time to see if he was any good at improvising, then.

Valentha Summers (834) has posed:
    "Perhaps it was stronger in years past?" Valeska surmises. "Everything is now in ruins, after all. With nobody to tend whatever rituals may be needed..." She too can detect the barrier's presence. The air being so thick with ley lines, her supernatural senses are ALL a-tingle. ... And not in the best of ways, all things considered. This place is nauseating. So much that she can't hide her disgust. Soft, small lips press tightly together as if to shut out the foul gunk!

    But she is ready for combat as the group reaches the plateau. Pink beams of purest, focused mana strike down at her... and slam into a sizzling sphere not unlike Lezard's own defense. Bluish light wars against the pink, sparks flying and shockwaves erupting from the impacts! ... But each hammer blow weakens the defense. Valeska scowls.

    "So much power from a few words and gestures... I was in the running for a challenge tonight. She might be a bit much!"

    The green-eyed sorceress doesn't seem TOO bothered though. Just slightly on edge. A glance is aimed at Ark Line. If he can keep the fistfighter busy... she sees what Lezard's up to and decides to attack from a different angle.

    Valeska's defense crumbles, but although she's pummeled by a few blasts she escapes skyward... just FLYING STRAIGHT UP under some spell's power. A few brief gestures and whispered words later...

    And LIGHTNING, one of nature's fiercest powers, lashes down from the heavens. Bolt after bolt, five in all, converging on the mage-shadow's form!

    "These Shadows are something else!"

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
As they walk the path, Archer prepares to break up from the group and begin taking out their foes from afar, where he can't get hit. It's the best strategy he has for unknown Servants.

Though, it's destroyed when the canine Berserker turns out to be capable of some sort of odd teleportation, appearing right at him. Just barely he slips to the side, dodging the lance as it comes forth and he feels it 'WHOOSH' past his side. Just one misstep could have cost him his life, had it hit him and pierced his armor. Quickly shuffling his weight, he smashes his hands at the back of the Cuzerker's head with his considerable strength, before leaping backwards and nocking an arrow onto his bow.

While in mid-air, Archer begins firing at Cuzerker. His shots aim to keep the Servant pinned, holding his limbs down so that he can't continue to warp towards him. Once he lands, Archer will quickly dodge to the side in case of a spontaneous warp, before firing another arrow straight in the direction of Cuzerker's eyes. Guess he won't be able to support, right now!

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     And out of the church, and the bounded field the group goes. They split up at the agreed upon point, with team two holding down the fort. And it's not long before they are beset by hostiles in the form of shadows. "...Wow." Raine mumbled, gaze sweeping between the three that had approached.

     But there was no time to be awed. The others could handle themselves. He needed to worry about not getting killed. And that was going to be a bit of an issue. She was fast. Too fast. Before he could blink, a woman in a suit was in his face, fist flying. "-Shit!" He cursed, and immediately ducked low, letting the attack just barely scrape over the top of his head in passing.

     "Damn, she's fast!" He didn't have time to call up his swords! "Fragarach, stop reading and hold her down!" The young man called over to the floating figure in white a ways away.

     With a sigh, Fragarach looked up from her reading and narrowed her gaze. Oh look. People were fighting. How quaint. "....." And with a sigh, she extended an arm, covered in a detatchd white sleeve, and muttered. "Luminous Chain." From all around the shadow woman, several small, white portals formed, and then chains of light burst out of them at high speeds, aiming to restrain the shadow.

     "Alright!" Raine grinned and held an arm out, red energy converging and materializing into a rather sizable blade. He gripped it in reverse and then held his other arm out. And in that hand, another sword materialized. "This is as good a time as any to try this out!" It was a Sith Vibroblade. That assassin droid gave it to him. May as well put it to use.

T "Here goes!"

     And the man in black lunged forward, aiming to cleave into the shadowy woman with a combo of two heavy slashes in quick succession, forming a cross. The truth was really that this was a bad opponent for him. Ironically, he was a mage killer. Not a one on one fighter. Put him up against someone with speed, power, and skill?

     Well, he had to hope Fragarach was feeling charitable on those days.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    Despite appearing as a big, dumb bruiser, Ira actually does take a moment to size up the Shadows as they arrive, Gudako's words clear on her mind about the strength of these things. As much as she wanted to throw herself at every single challenge that came her way, such a thing didn't bring her success as a bully. No, she had to be a careful predator and select her prey wisely. She assesses each of the shadows carefully.

    The fast girl Shadow peels off to strike at Raine, the speed dazzling to the persona user, though she merely grunts in response. "Alright. You'll do." She digs something out of her pocket-a zippo, it turns out-and stares at it. "Persona."

    A roar echos down the mountain as the regal-looking Beast flares to life behind her, soaring over the six-foot tall teenager with a powerful leap. Big gorilla-like hands reach out to grasp the woman, hold her still, and squeeze as much as possible. This way, Raine can get some free stabs in too.

    Ira herself searches the immediate area for something that can be used as an improvizational weapon.

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Ark shoots the Necromancer a quick grin. Caster tips his hat politely. Ark thinks Lezard is an impressive kind of guy, and he'd like to talk shop with him sometime, maybe expand his own limited magical abilities. Caster thinks he's dangerous, and recalls a saying about the distance between friends and enemies.

They move. Ark has helpfully brought the same airship he was using before, though with less drake-guts involved. He doesn't want to fly it through the barrier, but he doesn't want to walk near that mud crap either. He and Caster go down when the group go to pass through it, and Ark while Ark doesn't seem to notice it, Caster of Steel frowns in irritation when he pushes through. Ark shoots a look back at him, and Caster waves his hand. "We'll need to improve that barrier if we want to keep anyone out," Caster says.

Ark nods, turns, and pushes forward -- into the sight of the courtyard and the shadows. Ark glances at them, and his small group, and holds out the tome he's carrying. Caster of Steel takes it, taking a step back. Ark turns back around --

-- and has a guy in a suit come at him almost faster than he can see. Ark's eyes flash with amber light, a surge of poisonous Grain rippling through his body.

"CORRECT FUTURE!"

The first hit connects with Ark's forearm, the sound of a gunshot echoing through the courtyard. The back of his demi-gauntlet withstands the strike, the strength of the piece of equipment enhanced by the foreign magic surging through it. His stance shifts, but it feels sluggish compared to the overwhelming speed of the other fighter. A second strike comes in, slipping past his guard, clipping his jaw and sending him reeling. Ark can't follow him with his eyes.

This is not the first time he's had this problem.

Ark jumps backwards, his inhuman speed barely able to keep him from immediately getting laid out flat. Strikes from angles he can't predict clip him but don't do more than bruise, the fake reinforcement of his own body keeping him going. Suddenly, he stops, planting one foot and sweeping the other across the stones of the courtyard, kicking dirt and dust into the air. One hand is extended into it, the young magus snarling a word that translates to utter nonsense.

The next swing that goes through it feels like it's hitting a pile of sandbags, needing to power through them to get to the Ether Liner on the other side. Swings like gunshots leave holes in the hovering barrier of dust as if something had blasted apart a semi-solid wall. For all intents and purposes, it is. Ark doesn't do much magic, but this is a sort of material he can mess with.

Ark takes a step to the side, around another strike, and jumps straight up as the makeshift barrier gets breached again. He clears it in a single bound, flipping forward with that bone Knight Arm of his clutched in his hand like a blunt, square-tipped dagger. He sinks his fingers into the semi-solid dust cloud, changing his upwards motion into a sharp downward dive, thrusting the conceptual weapon down and forward when he expects the phantom to look up --

-- which will conveniently give him a chance to drive it through its eye when it does.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ SHADOWS

There's no doubt Sanary's healing will be useful here! In the unlikely event the Shadows land significant blows, nothing beats having a dedicated healer on your side.

Vergil and the largest Shadow go at it for a few rounds; swords clash, and under the strain of their combined strength the charred concrete under their feet cracks, barely able to hold the warriors up. The mindless Shadow pushes, and pushes-- intentionally taking steps forward even when it means the katana strikes him. His skin is hard as steel, but what's steel to Vergil's sword? Gashes and wounds accumulate on the massive warrior, slowing his advance. To make up for it, he roars, louder, and with a sudden surge of strength attempts a single, powerful blow to end the exchange.

'Rider' finds out that his Shadow seems... very skilled at deflecting arrows. His spear twirls with unusual speed and precision, intercepting as many of the arrows as is possible. One breaks through, striking a shoulder. Before 'Rider' can land, the Shadow has already disappeared, now overhead. The spear is swung like a club, trying to batter 'Rider' straight into the ground he was aiming to land on, with the canine Shadow on top.

Fragarach's chains manifest, tying down the female Shadow. She grunts, straining-- new runes appear on her gloves, making them glow brighter and increasing her strength. Despite the restraints, she's able to take one step forward, into Raine's blade. It burries into her side, and then stops there, as one of the Shadow's elbows wraps around the sword and clenches, locking it in place. With her four limbs held down, she takes another step forward, despite the sword inside her. One foot glows, shatters its chains, and then screams forward with a powerful kick, while the arm holding the sword tries to keep it in. It's reckless, but it's one way to disarm an opponent for sure. Or-- that was the plan.

Ira rides in, her large Persona bear hugging the Shadow. Unable to reach Raine and counterattack after all, all of her strength focuses into the one leg that's freed, and slams into the ground. The powerful shockwave (and debris everywhere) aims to send Raine and Ira flying back, but it's very indirect.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ MOUNT ENZOU

Lezard opens fire with holy javelins; the woman produces a set of barriers of her own, physical shields that withstand the initial strikes but break under the strain of the numerous projectiles. She manages, luckily, not to have her neck cut off, a javeling grazing her side, tearing shadowy robes, and another piercing through her stomach, an injury that heals itself when darkness coalesces into it.

Abusing the opening, Valeska lands a lightning bolt that electrocutes the woman, causing her to fall to one knee. She swings one hand to her side, muttering words drowned out by her shadowy state. The air around Lezard suddenly compresses; a spell attempts to lock him in a bubble of air and is causing it to implode. Valeska escapes sky-ward, and is targetted by another volley of bright pink lasers. There's more of them this time, and a central, much larger one.

Ark's dust barrier does well to hold his own Shadow back for a moment, since it can't see through it very well. It's when Ark attacks that it resumes its onslaught-- one fist reaches forward for the Liner, blocking the dagger by... well, getting hit. The bony weapon sinks into the martial artist's hand, for all intents and purposes ruining it. It clenches around the dagger though, and tries to pull Ark in. And towards his other fist. One strike, this time, not a flurry. A precise strike for the temple and the back of the neck at the same time. This martial artist is definitely a killer more than a fighter.

Meanwhile, Caster of Steel presumably picks flowers and adjusts his monocle, safe from all harm. The eyes of a Caster can easily pinpoint the center of the leylines, where everything connects. The field around the mountain is natural; it might be a result of this place being holy ground, however broken it is now. It pretty much means there's no resistance. Caster doesn't have to fight the influence of another mage to do anything here. But what does he want to start with? Try to take control of the area, boost the effect, maybe set something up to harvest the land himself first? It's pretty rich in magic. Not as much as his world, but it's not bad.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     A very skilled opponent for what was very likely a mortal figure in life... though given the power in his strikes, he suspected he wasn't entirely 'human'. If he'd thought the phantom was capable of articulating an answer, Vergil might have been tempted to ask the warrior's name.

     As it was though, he was the one who was winning - even though he was taking steps back, he was cutting his opponent. The trade-off of the other's brutish tactic of intentionally taking blows so as to close the gap, the behemoth's blows becoming more broad even as they fail to lose their finesse - he was trying to push Vergil into a corner.

     At the same time, the Son of Sparda could take this to his advantage a bit, using the gaps in the berserk warrior's guard to swipe at the muscles and tendons of his opponent to weaken him bit by bit, splatters of blood intermixing with the sparks in the air as the steel skin is cut into over and over.

     Then the black giant roars as one of the blows pushes Vergil back, readying for what seemed to be a final exchange - an all-or-nothing gambit - while Vergil simply slides Yamato back into it's sheath.

     "So... one cut, one kill. Alright, then."

     Dropping into a deep stance as he puts his weight on his forward leg, Vergil watches the massive stone weapon close on him, time seeming to dilate as the earth-shattering blow comes for him-

     -and then the ground under Vergil's feet shatters as he charges into the strike, Yamato's scabbard impacting against the jagged edges of the stone-sword to parry it away enough for him to get within the giant's guard, though the serrated 'teeth' still brush his shoulder enough to lacerate and draw blood just from passing by.

     An acceptable trade-off - and an impressive show of the bestial warrior's strength against a literal demon - as Vergil pulls Yamato free of the sheath and delivers the strongest blow he can muster across the black giant's chest, cutting deep enough to splash it's blood across his face and front.

     Whether it kills the giant though... that has yet to be seen.

Valentha Summers (834) has posed:
    "Oh... pumpernickel!" Valeska exclaims upon Lezard being assaulted by a space-time distortion. She seems to have sensed that spell the moment it was put into practice, but this is a time when probably nobody's paying any attention to where her gaze falls.

    Not like she can exactly afford to be distracted too much herself. But maybe...

    Maybe she can turn the tables.

    A delicate hand reaches out towards the blasts as her robes billow and wave in the winds of battle. Lips and voice shape syllables at tremendous speed in a largely lost language, Words of Power resonating with a deep wellspring. POWER flows from Valeska in droves. More than that, it swerves inwards from the ley lines in a way only a master spellcaster could orchestrate, woven into her spell expertly.

    Whatever spell she's casting though...

    Is not defensive.

    But she bites down on the urge to shriek as the storm of power courses across her, burning her limbs and abrading skin, knocking her sailing through the air with her whole body scorched and sizzling!

    Yet the urge to scream in apain doesn't win. Not for a Wizard of her discipline. Bluish light crackles at the blast's head as it carries her off--

    ... and reappears about ten feet BEHIND the Shadow Caster. Valeska's executed another teleport, albeit the escape wasn't perfect. She's far from unscathed. Her robes are scorched. A few holes've been punched through them and blood's clearly spurted all over them from within. Yet... she still stands.

    Still casts.

    The last words of power leave her throat just as she gestures wildly... and the air's filled with the cling-clang-rattling of chains! Glowing, phantasmal chains of sparking hot white metal(?) and wreathed in a blue aura flow in droves from her robes and fingertips. They move in arcs to encircle the Shadow then CLENCH TIGHT.

    These chains are more than physical binds. They sap strength, both spiritual and physical!

    "Are you quite done, restless phantom...?"

    She casts a look down to Lezard Valeth below. Hopeful that both her constraining will work and he can capitalize on it!

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The magical duel between Lezard and Valeska against Caster rages on. The Necromancer of Midgard hisses as Caster proves to be resistant to dying, like many Servants are, and he gasps as the bubble clenches down on him, the pressure intensifying quickly. Pops and snaps can be heard from his body as she crushes down on him, and he grimaces, raising the Catalyst and smashing it into the side of the bubble. There is a burst of energy as the side of the spell ruptures out, causing the implosion to blow out unevenly, leaving Lezard dropped to one knee and bleeding from internal ruptures. "Well..." He hisses. "I suppose it is time for the kid gloves to come off." He mutters, spitting a gobbet of blood to the ground as he scowls.

He stands back up, planting himself right where he is, and an explosion of Power gathers around him as he summons up a greater amount. Sizzling lines burn around him, a spreading array of lines and sigils that form a complicated, erudite array. This isn't one of his normal spells. In fact, it's not a magic of Midgard at all. Once he's seen the Shadow reconstitute itself from the blow, he realized he has to do something more... direct to prevent her from continuing to heal herself.

He thrusts out the Catalyst, intoning, "Breath of the White Dragon."

There is a sudden eyesearing explosion of white as a beam lances from the Catalyst, tracing forward through where Shadow Caster stands... And then there is an explosion of white as gleaming, blue-white crystals rip upwards, ensnaring, consuming, and shredding through anything caught in the momentarily delayed attack, shearing with deadly arcane power.

But that is not all: Those struck by the blast begin to crystallize, the cursed breath of Seath the Scaleless emulated in the strike as they begin to have their life forces entombed within. Even should one survive the strike, if they cannot shake off the curse, it will follow them still.

It sure is inconvenient that Valeska is trying to hold her still, isn't it.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    "C'mon, get her!" Ira barks at Raine as the persona keeps the binding solid with his big, beefy, hairy arms. The gorilla-warthog-looking combination of a Prince grunts and squirms, struggling to hold the Shadow still despite its bigger size. In terms of power, the Beast might be matched or perhaps even exceeded by the lone Shadow. All the better that the three of them are ganging up on her.

    From one of the crumbled buildings, Ira grabs an exposed piece of rebar and yanks at it. It bends but does not pull free of the concrete. Snorting, she plants her feet and pulls some more, cracks spreading as the stone starts to crumble. With one final, herculean yank, she draws the bendable metal free with a not-insignificant piece of concrete still very much atatched to the rebar.

    As she does this, the Beast continues to struggle to hold on to the woman Shadow but cannot do so for very much longer. With a grunt of warning, his muscles unclench and he backs off, seemingly freeing the woman to continue her assault against Raine and his chains.

    But it is in this moment Ira comes sweeping in, the rebar held low, the concrete-covered end aimed at the Shadow's head with a powerful upward stroke. A grin of malice is firmly on the girl's face, the teenager reveling in the unrestrained violence she finally gets to engage in.

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Ah crap.

     It sorta worked, and then it sorta didn't! Raine landed a strike, thanks to the chains, but this stubborn woman just grabbed into the blade. It's not long after that she shatters the chains binding her and lashes out with a fierce kick. "Crap-!" Raine had two choices. A; Take the hit and keep both swords. B; Lose one sword and evade. Considering the power behind those strikes? B, B, B!

     Without wasting any time to think about it, Raine released his hold on the vibroblade, keeping his original sword as he jumped back, barely out of the path of that kick. And even still, the rush of wind following it reminded him that just one hit from this lady was all it would take to put him in Citadel Medical for a week.

     "Okay, now what...now what..." He mumbled, eyes sweeping immediate area. Should he have Fragarach cast another spell? Should he just go all in? Or maybe-

     Nevermind! Ira's Persona grabs the lady, and creates an opening. "Heh! Nice. Let's get this over with then!" Flipping his blade, the man in black gripped it forward and lunged dead ahead ina dashing thrust.

     At least, that was the plan before she used her free leg to slam it into the ground and create a huge shockwave. "...Well, fuck." Raine cursed as he saw the indirect attack coming. "God damn it, I'm too committed! I'm going all in! Sanary. prepare to heal after this is over" Fragarach, gimme a boost!"

     The white lady glanced up from her manga and looked towards the ongoing battle. "...." Another sigh. She raised an arm, pointed in Raine's direction. "Zephyr."

     A current of wind immediately burst to life around Raine, forming into a drill like cone emission that theoretically would help him in his attempt to barrel through the shockwave.

     "Alright! Vortex Thrust! Haaaaaaaa!" Yelling spiritedly, feeling the roar of force and stone debris battering him, Raine charged straight ahead, aiming to pierce the shadowy woman.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Eye darting from fight to fight, Sanary's attention eventually settles on the Shadow that 'Rider' is facing. That seems to be the most disadvantageous matchup here, so perhaps it's time to tip the scales a little more in their favor!

     In a moment, anyway. First things first: actually using that PHysic staff instead of just keeping it around for decoration. Pumping some energy into the staff, she directs a long-ranged burst of healing energy at Vergil to help take care of that shoulder wound hastily. She keeps that staff in hand, but her next move...

     ... Is to start assisting 'Rider'! "I needed a live test of this, anyway..." She mutters to herself while focusing energy into her eye, taking a moment to adjust to the feeling of using a different matrix. Being careful not to prepare the wrong one, she breaks into a run at the Shadow while howling at the top of her lungs with the riot shield braced in front of her.

     She doesn't try to ram into it, though: That'd just be foolish without swapping the staff for the gunaxe. Instead, she takes aim with her eye and fires... Nothing?

     Nothing blatantly visible at first, anyway. Instead of something more obvious like the exploding heat laser, Sanary instead fires a thinner, grayish beam at the Shadow. She's testing her Break matrix today in an attempt to turn the offending Shadow to stone!

     Getting close, apparently, was just to be as loud and obnoxious about it as possible.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    Just as Ira swings upward, the shockwave strikes and blows her backwards. Even someone as heavy as her is definitely effected, though the beast less so due to his superior bulk. Ira, however, tilts backwards adn forces herself to throw her makeshift weapon down to anchor herself. Through this, she manages to not fall over.

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Caster of Steel mostly stands out of the line of fire. He doesn't feel the need to help the rest of their little group in fighting the phantoms; if he has to, he's going to ruin the temple up here when he does it, and nobody actually wants that.

But it's a hat he adjusts, not a monocle, thank you.

Caster skirts the edge of the battle, holding a clipboard against one arm and a pen in the other. He makes notes about the energy here and there, avoiding the fighting and doing administrivia instead. When he gets far enough away to be out of convenient lasering angle -- not range, but rather in a line of fire that'll make it easy for Lezard to interrupt the phantom -- he starts working on the actual alterations.

Caster pulls a cylindrical mechanical calculator out of his pocket, about the size and shape of a hand grenade. He uses it to run some numbers, focusing on strengthening the barrier to keep more phantoms from getting in and flanking them. Actually properly claiming the place is next, but slowing down anything that could give them more trouble is a priority.


Meanwhile, a short ways away, Ark has a bad time.

Ark's Knight Arm is not, strictly speaking, a dagger. When he has it folded up, it looks like a flat-tipped long knife, and it's narrow enough at the end to sort of fake it. It requires more force to use it like that, though, but given how tough it is to even scratch it, Ark doesn't care about using the extra muscle.

He ruins a hand, and he's pulled forward. Ark grits his teeth, tugged against the semisolid sand wall. The fist comes at him, a potentially killing blow if Ark has ever seen one. This isn't someone who fights for the thrill of it; this is (was?) a guy who was focused on fighting to kill.

In spite of the situation, Ark's face split into a fierce grin.

The first doesn't quite connect. Ark's body twists, his free hand goes up, catching the strike. He feels an explosion of pain from his hand and wrist, but the Liner ignores it with all the practiced expertise of someone who has had to fight while wounded time and time again. His elbow bends at an angle he doesn't want it to, adding another source of agony to the growing collection. He tenses, bending with the hammerblow instead of trying to fight against it. He doesn't lose his footing, which is probably the most important part.

Ark gets in up close and personal. He tries to twist the arm bearing the phantom's wounded hand by using Correct Future as leverage, the Knight Arm burning with Grain's poisonous power. Ark turns, yelling in equal parts pain and fury, slamming his shoulder into the man's chest the second he releases the uninjured hand with his now-wounded one. He goes through a quick and practiced motion, trying to lever him off his feet, swing him over his shoulder to slam him into the ground at his feet. His Knight Arm will have to be wrenched free, and he's going to make sure it hurts.

Helpfully, this would put him into face-stomping range. Ark leans on Correct Future's power, increasing the force of his downward stomp. If he doesn't meet fake-flesh, he is going to shatter the stone and crater the ground.

It is going to suck when the shock from that travels up his leg in a second.

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
As the Berserker turns out to be quite skilled against Rider's brand of murder, he realizes that he's going to need to think outside the box. And that means he's going to need to figure out exactly how he stands compared to the battlefield.

Raine and Ira are fighting Bazett. Raine is charging straight at her, which means any attack against her has a chance of hitting him. However, with Sanary Rondel at their side, any wounds could likely be healed, so this is not a pressing concern, as with the Beast. With Bazett having her focus on two combatants, she will likely not be able to dodge in time if she is attacked from another side.

The Berserker fighting Archer is skilled against arrows and can teleport, but it would seem that he does not have precise control over his teleportation. This means it can be used against him. He is almost feral in his methods, which also mean that distractions and taunts should work well enough for Archer's methods. Archer has a fair amount of strength, so once the Berserker is distracted, he should be able to overpower him enough to move. It is also likely that the Berserker is not smart enough, or doesn't care enough, to refrain blows from the other Shadows if it is forced into it. As such, Archer deems this plan not only workable, but likely the most efficent, especially with Sanary already using her new petrification attack.

All of this analysis happens within seconds, as Archer is slammed to the ground by the strike. Dodging his spear narrowly as it slams downwards, as it slices right past the side of his armor, Archer uses Sanary's distraction as an opening, shifting his weight in an attempt to slam Cuzerker off him and away, as he leaps up to his feet and back. Ripping off his hood, he stares the Berserker in the eyes, shouting confidently. "A manged mutt such as yourself should not be using such a proud weapon. You are nothing but vermin that needs to be put down like the waste you are!" He begins moving, expecting the beast to chase after him. And he's expecting that warp spasm to be used immediately. And that's what he plans on abusing.

Attempting to mentally calculate at what point Cuzerker will warp spasm, he waits until seconds before that, before changing direction at Bazett. Getting close to her, he turns towards Cuzerker...and barrels out of the way right as he predicts him to warp spasm, hoping that the Hound of Culainn will appear right at Bazett and strike immediately. Only time will tell if this actually works! It's going out a bit on a limb, but then, there wasn't much else he could do. Physical attacks are not his strongest suit, especially against another physical attacker, and his ranged attacks weren't going to work. So the next best thing was deception.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ SHADOWS

A single strike exchanged between Vergil and Heracles. The ground breaks and the two warriors pass one another. Heracles draws blood by sheer proximity; Vergil claims the giant's chest in exchange, bisecting the massive man cleanly in two. There's a thunderous crash as the torso hits the ground.

And then it stirs. Like time rewinding itself, the dead giant surges up with new life, his injuries sealed and battle condition essentially reset. He was definitely dead, there wasn't a doubt to be had there. Now he's not. A hero with multiple lives. He roars, currently disarmed. Without his rocky sword, his massive fists swing for Vergil instead, with an occasional kick tossed in. His body doesn't seem to be able to handle the movements he's making, sadly. The giant warrior is skilled, but something about his muscles is slowing the strikes. He might be more dangerous if he was coherent and didn't have those weird bony protrusions here and there. Not that getting punched by him right now would be pleasant either.

Ira applies UNRESTRAINED VIOLENCE to the problem. The woman's head bends to the side with a loud crack, skull shattering but the Shadow still standing.

Raine freeing herself, the sword is withdrawn from Bazett's body. With the same gesture, she attempts to put it inside Ira instead.

Then Raine hits, hard. His strike hits the woman in the chest, tearing her apart. Leaping aside, she is now missing half her torso and an arm. A very inconvenient loss. She raises her one remaining hand, and runes begin spinning in the air. They're healing her-- resetting her battle condition.

Until the mad dog, hot behind Archer, accidently beheads the woman with his spear, having suddenly warped by her and thrust with monstrous strength. There's a pause, and the raging dog glows a bit brighter in anger.

He pulls his spear back, and it erupts with red light. He is about to throw it, when Sanary's spell locks him in place. The petrification doesn't take hold, but it seems to paralyze him for a second.

Plenty of time for people to realize the glowing red spear is bad and to focus their fire.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ MOUNT ENZOU

Valentha's chains wrap around Medea. Her strength and magic sapped, it doesn't look like she'll be able to free herself from those bounds. She struggles, reaching into her robes to pull a weird, zig-zag knife out.

She manages to plunge the tip of the knife into one of the phantom chains, and for the briefest moment it looks like she's undoing the binding. This is interrupted by Lezard being angry. Engulfed by the blast, Medea is crystalized. In the wake of the beam of light is left nothing but a crystal statue, of exceptionally poor quality. The Shadow isn't really a Servant after all, so as prizes go she's a meager one at best. Still, that battle is won.

Caster begins the process of giving the barrier a boost, after mapping the area out. There's no doubt that map will help Lezard and Valeska when they're done dusting themselves.

Ark Line puts up a fight and refuses to die. The poison of his weapon will overwhelm the fighter it's lodged in sooner or later, so really all he has to do is survive. A shoulder slams into the Shadow's chest and pushes him back. He sweeps him off his feet, and onto the ground-- and as Medea dies, Ark Line notices something incredible. Whatever enhancements made the killer superhuman vanish. His grip on the Knight Arm is now null, and moments later his face gets stomped into the ground. And so the Shadow dies.

Leaving the team to do as they please on the mountain.

Valentha Summers (834) has posed:
    Valeska's torn the moment that dagger appears. She KNOWS it must bear some kind of special power... but between it and the onrushing crystal breath? She decides to vamoose. A difference of seconds and the chains would be dispersed as she pulls away from 'Medea' moments before they blast engulfs her...

    The similarly-dressed sorceress from Bizantium swoops through the air, gracefully landing near Lezard Valeth again. She does look like she's taken a beating... there's CLEAR bloodsoaking seemingly from her side and legs, but it's hard to say, under those scorched robes, just how injured she really is. Since she's FLOATING, not putting too much weight on the legs is... easily avoided!

    So there's no limping. Just a slight grimace. "Well done, wizard. Are you injured...?" She glances him over... and not just him, but the nearby Ark Line!

Vergil (878) has posed:
     As Yamato carves through the giant's body, Vergil's face is splattered with the dead behemoth's blood, though the Son of Sparda himself is all but unscathed. Letting out a breath, he flicks any lingering traces of blood off of Yamato's edge-

     And then finds himself staring in subdued yet still-visable surprise as the corpse reanimates, the bisected halves pulling together with a regenerative rate that even the highest of demon-lords would have been hard-pressed to recreate.

     This could /not/ have been a simple human.

     However... it seems he didn't return perfectly, as the force of his own strikes seemed to be overextending his joints and muscles. As such, while the giant was fast and certainly had strength on his side, Vergil felt he was undoubtedly faster. And without that ragged stone blade, his opponent's reach was considerably reduced - as was his ability to guard himself, letting Vergil make opportune cuts for his limbs.

     But, much to his irritation, Vergil found that Yamato was surprisingly losing effectiveness against the mountain of a man - almost like his opponent's skin had somewhat adapted to his weapon. Granted, it was minor, but it was still noticeable.

     Time to change tactics, then - even if Yamato wasn't nullified, best to at least make sure his hunch was right, as well as to hit with a weapon that would give the full amount of damage.

     "Summoned Swords."

     Pulling back a bit, blue energy flares to life around the demon-hybrid, forming into eight spectral blades that fired for the raging warrior - one for each limb, three for the torso and one for the head.

     And if that downed him, Vergil would be sure to decapitate the corpse and slice it apart - regenerative ability or not, there surely had to be a limit to how many times he could cheat death. It was just a matter of pushing him over that limit... and considering Vergil saw himself the better warrior here, he had little doubt he could do so.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
And that ends quickly enough. Lezard does in fact dust himself off, brushing away some stray shards of crystal as he approaches the crappy statue. "They say it is ill to speak unkindly of the dead, so I will simply say... Nice try." He says, smug as hell as he just leaves the statue there. It's not even worth his time to pick it up immediately. Maybe if Val is lucky he'll forget it's there and she can bogart it.

In the meantime, he heads over to Caster of Steel, who is already getting to work. Lezard appreciates initative. "Caster of Steel, how goes the work?" He asks. "Have you already gathered the information we need to alter the barrier?"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    As Ira regains her even footing, she feels a shooting pain in her gut. When she looks down, she finds a spreading stain of blood on her shirt and Bazett's sword being stabbed into her stomach. A pained groan escapes her and she wrenches herself free just as Raine strikes the woman. She steps backwards, one hand pressed to the wound, her whole body shaking.

    She has never been wounded this severely before. The pain is immense. "Sanary-" she croaks, "Sanary, I need your help."

    Distantly, she hears radio chatter. Stuff being bandied about about a noble phantasm and how damn dangerous they are. Even without really knowing, Ira can see with her own eyes the red light growing around the raging dog like a big, bad warning signal. She turns, only to stagger as another wave of pain hits her, forcing her to use her impromptu weapon as an impromptu walking stick to lean on instead. "Beast." she says to her persona, who has now recovered from the strain of holding Bazett down. "Get him."

    It's all the command needed. The Beast launches forward, loping on all fours, kicking up dirt and dust in its passing and its fervor to reach the dog-servant. Nostrils flare, steam rising from each, the eyes of the Beast glowing with fury, as if fueled by his barer's pain. When it arrives within arm's reach, it actually runs past Cuzerker, aiming to clothesline him right into the ground. Should that succeed, he will immediately jump on the Shadow and begin savagely tearing at it with his claws. All the while, he grunts and snarls, not unlike an animal.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     "So that's how it works..." Sanary's sounding rather pleased with herself at the effects of the Break matrix. Has she even tested it before? Probably not. Still, it seems to have done it's job, and just in time, too! Although the fight's not quite over yet with the spearman still standing, she does take a moment to use the Physic staff to send more healing magic Ira's way at her request.

     "I gotcha, Ira! Don't get too in over your head now." Thankfully, the healing from the staff comes as a burst of recovery rather than her usual regeneration boosting magic!

     With so many injured to focus on, she'll just have to trust that he and the others that had been occupied with the Shadow lady can finish it off even with that ominous glowing spear. Which is... Apparently, some sort of Noble Phantasm.

     Well, shit. Rider's and Raine's wounds will just have to wait a little longer, then, and the healer throws herself back into the fray!

     ... By literally throwing herself at the spear. Not the tip, of course, because that'd just be suicidal. Instead, she's aiming to grab onto the back end of the glowing spear and the spearman's arm, putting the full weight of herself, her armor, and her shields on that one limb to try and keep him from throwing the thing at all!

Ark Line (687) has posed:
Ark crushes the phantom with a move that still makes him connect with solid ground. The Shadow dies, and Ark yells, adrenaline up and heart pounding in his ears. He breathes hard, sweat running down his face. His good hand clutches Correct Future with a white-knuckled grip. If he was paying attention, he'd notice he was shaking.

That felt /really/ good.

It's going to be a couple seconds before he realizes how bad he feels. Valeska might be able to see that his left hand isn't closing right, and he's holding that entire arm a little awkwardly. When he takes a couple steps, he limps, favoring the leg he didn't slam into the ground hard enough to break stone.


Caster of Steel looks up, turning the clipboard around. He's made extensive notations, though a lot of it is in equations based on the Land of Steel's use of Grain. It works, here, though it's more scientifically-minded. Still, he's got the boundaries down. "I've begun strengthening it myself," he says, "to prevent interference. It will be very simple for me to claim this region as our own."

Winedark Archer (924) has posed:
Archer's plan worked right as he expected it to. Though now there's the situation of Cuzerker preparing to use his Noble Phantasm! Getting back to his feet and drawing his bow, Archer begins to fire several arrows at Cuzerker. He's expecting him to block them, but if he does, it'll just leave him open for the others' attacks. Vergil should be able to handle himself with the other Berserker, and then they're done. Fingers crossed!

Raine Arland (604) has posed:
     Raine skid to a stop on the other side of Bazett, panting heavily as he recovered from the act of carving through the blast and piercing through the shadow. He didn't even bother to look back as the shadow with the lance inadvertently finished her off. It was only when Archer mentioned 'Noble Phantasm' over the radio, that he turned to look.

     "Well shit-" He groaned and then turned, picking up his fallen vibroblade and glaring over at Fragarach. "Hey! Gimme another boost! And make it fast!" The floating girl didn't even bother to look up. She just turned a page before carelessly directing an arm his way. "Prominence."

     Both of Raine's swords burst to life with flames, and he grinned. "Okay, guy! Let's see how you handle this one!" And he dove forward, forcing his body to move despite it's protests. Mid-dash, he flipped the grip on his original sword to reverse, and then spun, creating a whirlwind of flaming slashes as he aimed to slash the mad Servant apart before he could let that Noble Phantasm loose.

     Better safe than sorry, he'd say.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ SHADOWS

Vergil conjures a hail of blades. They pierce through the giant's skin-- some of them, anyway. Enough to matter. Chest and heart pierced, head lopped off, the giant falls to the ground one more time. It does not get back up, this time.

Ira, wounded, commands her Beast to attack the canine Berserker. Knocked to the ground violently and then torn to shreds, the Shadow loses its off-arm and significant chunks of its body to the gorefest.

Sanary hurls herself at the downed warrior, trying to grab his weapon. Even torn apart like he is, he continues moving and fighting-- the loss of a limb and of significant body mass is nothing. This Shadow, whatever warrior he used to be, can fight even when critically wounded. Apparently another theme for today, as all three of the Shadows were that sort of fighter. He is doing his best to keep hold of the spear with the one arm, even using his feet to try to kick Sanary away. Well, the one good foot he has left, after the Beast was done with him.

A few arrows from the Archer impede the Berserker's ability to fight Sanary back though, lodging themselves in what's left of his chest and striking his heart.

In a last ditch movement, the Berserker sees Raine incoming. He hurls his spear away, presumably with Sanary holding on to it, so that she lands a safe distance away. He also puts the last of his strength into kicking Ira's Persona at least a meter back if he can.

And then he's shredded by Raine's whirlwind of fire.

Did he intentionally knock the two girls out of the way?

Ah well. Like every Shadow besides Medea, the Berserker's body (and weapon) dissipates into black mist, which seeps back into the ground.

It's around that time that the party can feel the barrier around the mountain going up full strength, courtesy of the other team. Shadows won't be bothering you now.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
~~ MOUNT ENZOU

It's lucky for Ark Line that 'Valeska' is a skilled healer. If she deems him worth healing, anyway! That's up to her whims.

Eventually joining Caster of Steel is Gudako's Caster, the foxgirl having helped size the area up a bit. She's mostly done her best to make the other Caster's life easier, since he seems to complain he's not much of a magic guy every now and then!

Without interference, it'll probably take five minutes for the group to bend Mount Enzou to their will. Twisting the leylines right, assuming control of the field to redefine its targets, and focusing its power would allow it to repel the Shadows without having any ill effects on those considered 'friendly' by the field's owners, and that'll be perfect.

Now they just have to start planning on what they want to build here.

But that's for another day!

Valentha Summers (834) has posed:
    Wow. Brushed off. Valeska blinks a few times, her expression spoiling faster than raw meat on a hot summer day. IGNORED! Oh well. She just huffs lightly and adjusts her robe, pulling the hood up over her head.

    Then gets to work with aiding the project.

Vergil (878) has posed:
     Finally, as the giant falls to the ground, Vergil decides he will not take chances this time - before the corpse even finishes it's decent, the Son of Sparda slices it repeatedly, all but disassembling it as he slices the body into multiple pieces.

     ... finally, after a few moments of gazing at the pile of flesh - possibly dissolving back into 'prana' at this point - to make certain his opponent is well and truly dead, Vergil shakes the blood off of Yamato's length with a single flick of his wrist and promptly slides it back into it's scabbard.

     An interesting opponent to say the least - and one certainly worth the title of hero, to have gone up against a demon such as himself. In a way, it actually made Vergil somewhat minutely regretful that he never got to learn the name of the historical warrior whom he'd bested today.

     With his own battle done, he takes the chance to gaze back at the other fight as it winds down - and sees the lance-wielder's puzzling final act of discarding his weapon and kicking the other opponent aside.

     That did not seem the kind of move one in his position would make.

     "How strange" Vergil muses as he approaches the group somewhat leisurely in the wake of his own battle's end. "It looked almost like he pushed them out of the way of that last attack. How strangely chivalrous." He doesn't sound impressed though - simply curious. "Perhaps more then just their fighting abilities bleed through in these 'shadows'?"

     Something else to study, it seemed - which they would likely have ample time for now, as Vergil can sense the barrier strengthen around them... though if anyone could perceive it, the swordsman actually seemed somewhat annoyed by the dispelling of the inherent darkness in the atmosphere. A rather telling indicator of just what kind of affinities the Son of Sparda had.

     "I suppose we're done here, then."

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
    The bleeding stops, but the pain lingers. Ira seems reluctant to move her hand away from the former site of the wound. It was ultimately kind of surreal since abilities such as these were virtually unknown on her world. But for the sake of living, she will happily accept that they exist and move on.

    She wheels herself around to watch the Beast do his work. She's almost about to command it to pull Sanary off the Berserker Shadow (why waste a good healer?) But between Sanary being chucked away and the Beast being kicked, dragging Sanary off will not be necessary, or feasable.

    After the kick, Ira lets the Beast disappate.

    "Hmm." she sees, watching the black mist left over that was the Beserker, "I kind of liked that one."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
     Sanary lets out pained grunts and mild curses as the Cuzerker kicks at her, undeterred by the risk of concussions and head injuries! She can always get that checked out in Medical if it gets bad, anyway, and it's not as if she's not wearing a helmet today!

     Still, that ringing in her ears probably isn't a good sign. As predicted, she does indeed hold onto that spear even as it's thrown away, tumbling around a few times in a confused daze once she finally stops rolling. Did he just throw her /out/ of friendly fire range?

     "... Weird. Chivalrous, I guess, but... Hm. Yeah, that was an interesting one." Picking herself back up, the healer props herself up on the riot shield before grabbing her Physic staff once again and looking up at the top of the mountain. "Looks like our job's done on both ends, then... Heh. Good work, everyone." With the fighting out of the way, the healer goes back to what she does best: Healing anyone that comes close!

     "You okay, Ira? Alright... Come on, everyone. I got plenty of energy to spare!" Ira gets her initial focus after that bout of bleeding, of course, swapping from the staff to just plain energy, aiming to speed up the Persona-user's natural recovery instead of... However the hell her Physic staff works.

     Not like she really understands it herself. Or cares, even.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard nods to Caster of Steel. "Excellent work, as always. We will assist with our own specialties. We should have this handled before too long."

Lezard is wounded, but he seems to be doing his damnedest to ignore it, as if his wounds were an irritation more than anything else despite their severity. The question from Valeska, however, gets a look from the mage, pushing up his glasses slightly to adjust them as he shakes his head. "It is nothing I cannot handle." He says. "Our concerns should lie with the ritual. Worry not about me." Perhaps he is attempting to mollify the woman he had ignored for slightly too long, or maybe it's something else. Regardless, he sets to his work, using his own runic knowledge to begin reshaping the area and preparing it along with the multitudinous disciplines of the others here.