7068/LI0: Desperate Assault (Side)
From Multiverse Crisis MUSH
| LI0: Desperate Assault (Side) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 09 February 2020 |
| Location: | Last Illusion |
| Synopsis: | Shyra attempts to lead a preemptive attack on Haseo in order to dislodge him before he masters the powers of the Evil God Discordia. It doesn't go well. |
| Cast of Characters: | Shyra, 7191, Tomoe, 7015, 7197, Rean Schwarzer, 7141, 7132 |
| Tinyplot: | Loop Zero |
| Tinyplot2: | Last Illusion |
- Shyra has posed:
Time repeats, time repeats.
This is where it was all destined to end... Just... not like this. The Seal is open. The world is in danger. Discordia has been released... But Haseo still has the power. A sudden idea from another member of the Paladins gave Shyra an idea: Maybe they can strike before he knows how to use the power of the Evil God.
And so Shyra and Pazkar charge through the Temple, taking familiar paths, fighting familiar foes. The Holy Healer keeps those present alive and well while they battle their way to the inner sanctum of the former Yellow Emperor.
So it is that Shyra bursts into the throne room, her silver staff Azkrepys outstretched. Evil God Haseo! You will not be allowed to destroy this world! It's up to us to make it anew and heal it! Your selfish ways will not cast this place into ruin!
- Pazkar (7191) has posed:
A gearknight in golden armor stands besides Shyra. Pazkar is here, and as Shyra confronts Pazkar, he nods, as he takes a combat stance. A massive shining wrench is in his hands, as he points it at Haseo.
Evil God! You will be struck down tonight! I am the unbreakable Pazkar, and I will not allow you to ruin my friend's dream.
- Tomoe has posed:
Haseo getting this power had troubled Tomoe. The young man's general attitude and behaviour brought back very bad memories for Tomoe. He reminded her of people, some she wishes she'd never met. It's too late now he's gone full evil god and seems to be buying into the hype. She was quick to respond to Haseo She was quick to arrive after Shyra and Pazkar she was flying into the temple and not halting till she reached the room.
"So this is how it's going to be? Shyra and Pazkar are trying to finish their world and you are just looking to get off on destroying what others have made!"
- Haseo (7015) has posed:
EVIL GOD Haseo is sitting on the throne, a laptop and a sheet of grid paper resting on one of the arms as he flicks the mouse through screen after screen. He's been writing things down, dungeon and town layouts mostly. A start of future ground work, presumably.
And then Shyra and her party bust in through the doors, and Haseo straightens up a bit. The Rogue looks a bit different, extra arms appear to have sprouted from the boy's model, eyes cover his hands, and weird glowing marks adorn his skin. But beneath all that, he's still recognizably Haseo.
"Your friend's dream is a load of crap. I've been out of bounds, I've /seen/ Discordia. If your friend's there he's already dead. Anyway, took you all long enough, was starting to worry you all died cause of the stupid debuffs."
He pulls himself up from the throne where the Yellow Emperor once sat, using his extra appendages to pull himself up. There's a shark-like grin on the Evil God's face as he dismissively rubs his nose.
"So, I honestly doubt it, but you actually want to stop you know, crying about your dumb script for a bit and actually use your head? I got more power than you can possibly imagine, the only thing I need to figure out is where I need to use it to break your stupid world in half and build it back up. That's what you wanted, right? That's literally why you called everyone here."
He's not exactly lying as he speaks, but it's clear that fixing the world of Last Illusion to him is little more than an after thought. He's clearly mostly in it for the power.
- Mordred (7197) has posed:
Unfortunately for the natives to this world and those assisting them, Haseo will not be the only one standing against them. As they enter the Temple's throne room, flames light up one of the darker sides of the room as the Evil Knight's stand-in marches forward with giant blade shouldered and an empty paper bucket in the other hand, the latter of which is incinerated within those flames a moment after appearing.
It smells a little greasier than before.
"How bold of you to come charging into the Evil God's home, brave warriors!" The Evil Knight announces her presence, turning away briefly to cough a few times before facing forwards again. "Unfortunately for you, your journey will come to a premature end before our combined might. This will be your only chance to escape, so choose wisely!"
If nothing else, at last she's sticking to the character premise relatively closely.
- Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Rean shows up not long after the other two, sword already drawn. He fully expects Haseo to just use his regualr abilities against two people who have never seen him fight before. And even if he has no idea how to be an Evil God, that's no reason to leave the other two in the lurch against him. So he's here to even the numbers a bit.
"No offense, but the kind of world you would build would be a million times worse than this." Rean says, moving to stand next to Shyra and Pazkar.
- Linehart (7141) has posed:
Ka ha ha ha ha.
The textbox appears moments before the music shifts. It's not an overwrite - that's not possible, not with Discordia's theme playing. It's a mixture. A second song joins in, remixing itself into the soundtrack flawlessly. Hints and echoes of it can be heard amidst the chanting. The pace of Discordia's theme picks up.
Linehart.
The Mirror Knight strides right through the door. He is a seven-and-half-ish-foot wall of metal black as midnight, of red-scar visor glowing with eerie and ominous light, of clawed gauntlets and smoke-trail cloaks. He makes no noise as he walks, but the presence of his music within Discordia's Theme is enough to make his presence known, and he is not the type to hide regardless.
The Mirror Knght simply walks past the assembled heroes as if they weren't even there. In his right hand is a spear too large for humans to wield. His left is an empty, malicious, blade-fingered gauntlet. His stride is bold and hunched forward from the sheer mass of him, like a great beast stalking towards its prey. There is no cry of 'fear not', no reminder that he is here, no kind words for the party to reassure them that he is their ally. Linehart passes them by as if they didn't exist.
Your lack of introductions is distressing. Is that the best you can offer? 'How bold?' 'Combined might?' 'Your only chance to escape?' What weak-willed words. Your new master is surely no better.
Linehart's gauntlet waves to the side, those fingers gesturing idly into the room. Here at the end there can be no escape. There can be no boldness. There is only determination and necessity. Death and despair, or victory. To stand at this point is to acknowledge that one of you must be undone.
His hand starts glowing. I am Linehart, the Mirror Knight. My Sphere is Evil Knight. Come, then; be broken upon me, who waits at the end of the world, at the end of all things. This dark spear shall be your doom.
- I4 (7132) has posed:
I4 was worried that Shyra and Pazkar had just run off to try and fight 'the new evil god' and all that. This seems like a terrible idea, but at the same time despite this I4 couldn't just let his friends run off and fight without trying to help. With the world how it was, it might be that he could help them.
He doesn't immediately announce himself, instead of taking time to try and scan the surroundings and try and get himself familiar with the data. Of course, Haseo's words cause him to look right up at the new 'evil god'. Especially with that 'break the world'. The last thing that everyone needed was someone who didn't know what they were doing breaking things.
"POD. Beam cannon, full power," he says, before a beam of energy shoots over everyone's head, aiming right towards Haseo and trying to knock him both out of the chair, but also probably hurt him. The white-haired boy with the blindfold stood at the source, already with a light blade drawn.
"I was unable to help yesterday, because of my responsibilities at home, but let me make up for it today, and kick you out of the admin role once and for all. You should let someone with experience figure out how to make things work in this world, instead of some kid with a power fantasy."
- Shyra has posed:
Haseo is certianly off script. But then, he never really HAD one. Shyra is taken aback for a moment as she sees the power arrayed before them. The Evil Knight too... Of course it would be like this. The Evil Knight serves Discordia, after all... And The Knight wasn't defeated and freed of the influence of the Evil God this time because... The plot wasn't followed.
Shyra shrinks back before the two powerful, confident beings. For a moment, she glances to one side, then the other, her heroic facade wavering as she seems to be trying to grasp for something to hold onto to give her confidence.
But the Hero isn't here. .. Or is he? Rean steps forward and gives a glib line, and Shyra's resolve firms up visibly as he does so. I can't trust you. She says, simply. You would throw away all the work of all my friends, everyone who has been doing so much to help this world, to heal it and help make it alive again...
The unexpected happens. Linehart himself arrives to take up his blade against his hated foe... In a manner of speaking. Shyra is taken aback, about to consider him another potential enemy... But he stands against Mordred. Linehart... You're helping us? She sounds completely confused at this... but she nods. With him here, keeping the Evil Knight busy... We have a chance!
She turns back to Haseo and points. This might not be how it was before... But the dream still lives. You can't find Jorin... Because he lives within me! There is a flash of brilliant light.
STRENGTH
Crimson energy dances over the heroes, fortifying their offensive abilities. Fight, everyone! For the future of our world!
- Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is bristling at this point as Haseo, he's hitting a lot of buttons with her notably his seemingly mad lust for power at all costs. Unexpected but not unwelcome back up comes in the form of Linehart, she's worked with him before and doesn't have the history that Shyra does with him. I4 showing up along with Rean makes Tomoe feel more confident about their issues. Tomoe is a tank she knows what to do and she will move to get in front of Shyra.
She feels the buffs building up and she gets a bit of a grin.
"My world would be hosed if other people didn't step in to help us. If someone like you had butted in back then? I'd likely not bere here."
With that she'll end up charging at Haseo, intending to catch him with a shield slam following that up with several quick sword swipes.
- Pazkar (7191) has posed:
Pazkar ignores Haseo. As Linehart and Mordred both arrive and move to square off, Pazkar takes his wrench, and faces Haseo.
The STRENGTH spell washes over him. Pazkar feels the power. He charges forward, his wrench going up...
MOLEKNAR!
Charged with lightning, it swings down, moving to smash straight into the 'Evil God'. It should do a lot of damage, Pazkar's not holding back and spending all of his MP immediately.
Certainly, nothing bad will happen.
- Mordred (7197) has posed:
Linehart's criticisms have Mordred's eye twitching underneath her helmet, and some of her demeanor breaks audibly as she grunts in irritation. "Tch... I was gettin' to that! Not like I had a real script goin' into this or anything..." She mutters while shaking a hand off, then listens closely as Linehart issues his own introduction.
"... Hn. That one wasn't too bad, I guess." Mordred's definitely taking some mental notes there as she rubs her head through her helmet. She can't admit that it was cool, but it's hard to dispute! Either way, she firms up her stance as she lowers the blade from her shoulder to a more combat ready stance at her side. "But since we're doing our own... I am Mordred, Knight of Treachery, slayer of the great King Arthur, and Evil Knight of the God of Chaos, Discordia!"
There's a brief pause as she glances at Haseo from the side, but refocuses on Linehart once more. "Words are cheap, so let's skip the monologues. Face me head on and don't hold anything back!" A pillar of flame blasts up from behind her to punctuate that last part, a trio of fireballs launching out of it towards Linehart to begin the battle of Evil Knights!
The fire also helps disguise a bit of stage-whispering in Linehart's direction. "So. How's that?"
- Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Linehart is here...to fight Mordred? And bully Shyra some more. "Shyra, ignore him. We've got a fight to win." He nods to the healer as she buffs everyone, and then runs towards Haseo, sword ignited. He opens with a wide strike, aimed at some of Haseo's extra appendegaes.
- Linehart (7141) has posed:
Linehart isn't actually very talkative. Once he's done what he came to do - said what he came to said - he locks up. It might be kind of unnerving for Mordred, and other people, who are likely used to people who banter, chatter, and blather all the time. Linehart is just...a wall. A wall of emotionless, musically-backed murder with a creepy red visor and a creepy giant spear.
The hit comes in. The fireballs crash against Linehart, splattering against his armor. There's a light sizzle as light meets shadow, as flame meets metal. The metal is heating up. It's probably none too comfortable for the...man?...inside?. It's...really hard to tell.
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The number pops up above his head. His hand whirls around to grab the yellow fire, crushing it into shape. Seeing him manipulate magic is an entirely different thing - it's not the artful spellcasting of someone like Merlin, or the straightforward magic-ness of someone like Shyra, but rather a brute-force approach that just sort of strangles the magic into shape with raw physical power. The fire twists in his hand as he brings it smashing down into the ground.
FIAT IGNIS
Lava.
Lava erupts from directly underneath Mordred. Ash and flame and magma and rock come shooting upwards around her, crashing against the ceiling of the throne room. It's a volcano in microcosm, an explosion of the raw, magmatic flame that lurks at the heart of the world, a fire from the core of creation. It threatens to overwhelm, to devour, to-
-do absolutely nothing to anything except Mordred? Not a rock, not floor, not ceiling - nothing at all has been melted, touched, slagged, or had any new and interesting and on-fire rocks introduced.
Weird.
- Haseo (7015) has posed:
Haseo sneers at everyone. It's the same. Everyone is the same. They tell them how to use his power, that he shouldn't use it. That he shouldn't have it. And what's the alternative to that? Sitting there and going back to being powerless. Fat chance in hell like that will happen, not until he's destroyed Tri-Edge, not untill he's saved... He's saved...
That doesn't matter, not now. He's just going to show them. Show them how pointless their attempts to stop him really are. The Adept Rogue's model starts changing again, a crimson red aura surrounding him as various glyphs and runes float over his skin.
"Come on...Come on..."
Tomoe's and Pazkar's attack connect, while Rean's attack aims for his extra appendages in an attempt to lop them off. The cuts hurt, but his body seems unnaturally tough, while the rest of the attacks send the Evil God flying back into his throne. Dust flies as he impacts, but other than that, he pulls himself once more, only to be blasted by I4's attack.
His words are drowned out, but clearly he said something. Something that caused the scenery in the throne room to change.
The party now stands in a landscape of pure chaos. Colors and lights of all types mixing together to make an almost blinding nonsense. Perhaps the most stand out thing about the change, however, is the exteremly massive being in the distance. A massive mass of arms, with eyes where eyes should not be. There's only one thing it could be, the true
EVIL GOD DISCORDIA
Though, the being doesn't seem aggressive. Doesn't seem provoked. It just sits there. The main concern is Haseo, or rather, Skeith.
Much like Haseo, it appears Skeith didn't escape the changes either. Various, blowing eyes and markings now litter the Epitaph's design, along with multiple arms that now seem to sprout from out of its shoulders and armpits. One pair of arms is holding a scythe, while the others seem... Relaxed...
The free hands start waving around in a circular motion before the hands adopt the mandala formation, it's fingers coming together and then...
Nothing. Tendrils of pure nothingness appear to assault the party. It's not a game, there's no damage numbers, or notices of status afflictions being afflicted. It's real, it's visceral, it 'hurts'.
- I4 (7132) has posed:
Damage done to target: negligible.- The box with arms says, chiming in with its robotic voice. I4 squints, trying to figure out how that was even possible. There was no barrier he could detect, no special defenses he could understand. There must be hidden data...
He calls out for support and immediately retracts into his own world. The POD's produces a scanning antenna as he attempts to scan the creature. Not just Haseo and his avatar, but the creature just sitting there behind them.
There had to be some connection to be exploited, some way to hurt it. There had to be something in the code that could give him information. Something, anything he could find...even if it was grasping at straws. He knew this was important for his friends, and he was worried that failure here could...
It could hurt Shyra in a way he's felt before. How he felt when he heard that the mana was the fault of the humans he was built to protect. The contradiction in his programming that protecting them might make them unhappy. That he might have to...no stop thinking about it. Not right now, not here.
Do the job in front of you, just like her. Just like S6. She wouldn't let things like his emotional weakness stop her.
- Mordred (7197) has posed:
So much for trying to get some feedback on the pre-fight banter. Making a mental note to do just that later, Mordred refocuses her efforts entirely on the fight with the Mirror Knight!
First things first: Figuring out what the heck he's even doing. "Ain't ever seen someone wield magic like that before..." She murmurs under her breath as that fire is forced into the ground to become lava, coming up far faster than she would have expected from a spell like that. Instead of trying to juke around it, though, the Evil Knight temp opts instead to take the the burst of flames head on as it sears into her armor, making the whole suit rather awful to wear as the sound of sizzling can be heard.
Just as well, since it's helping to get her blood burning a little more literally rather than just figuratively. "That's what I'm talkin' about... Keep it coming, Linehart!" As she charges right through the fire, that sword is brought over her shoulder and completely behind Mordred, swinging it forward at Linehart at the last moment in a wide arc more like a barbarian trying to cleave through a mass of foes than a skilled swordsman trying to cut down a single opponent.
- Shyra has posed:
And just as quickly as she marshalled her resolve, it's already being shaken again. The Evil God is manifest. There is no way to prepare. She remembered the battle before... They spent a lot of time keeping the Yellow Emperor in maintenance to maximize their buffs beforehand. This time? Not so much.
The Evil God... It's really true!
But the attacks come. The nothingness tendrils rip through her and the party. There are no damage numbers as she collapses to her knees immediately, shaking. That alien... feeling. That reality. Everything is much more intense here...
But she leans on her staff, pushing herself to her feet. She knows what to do. She is, after all, a Holy Healer.
HEAL3
Green sparkles rush over everyone fighting alonside Shyra, soothing and closing wounds and mitigating much of the damage. Maybe if she can just hold on, they can outlast Haseo...
- Tomoe has posed:
Haseo goes full evil god, very much full evil god. She sees the form of Discordia before her a mass of arms, eyes. It's very much nightmare fuel of the highest order. Still, it's more Haseo who seems to be the problem. He is looking quite freaky himself and the attacks start tendrils of nothingness hit her.
it's really painful and Tomoe is getting the hell knocked out of her. She will attempt to keep in Haseo's face as this isn't a simple task, no he's quick he's now boosted with evil god power.
Already a good third of Tomoe's HP bar on her HUD has dropped away and she's showing several wireframe cracks from the injuries she's taken so far.
She'll start chanting, causing golden runes to dance about her body, she keeps chanting for a second longer and launches a fireball for Haseo.
Shyra's heals help but it could just be a matter of time it is not able to restore all the lost hp and if that attack was one of Haseo's weaker ones? They are in far more trouble than she thought.
- Linehart (7141) has posed:
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The sword smashes into Linehart, hammering against his armor as he and Mordred are thrust into the roiling chaos of Discordia's battle room. The blade hits him hard in the side, crashing against him with all the strength she can muster, which, as it turns out, is a lot. He's actually physically lifted off his feet for a moment - just a little, but enough. He hits the manifest madness with a silent motion, his knees buckling only slightly, only enough to prove that he's not some kind of robot or machine. His hand clamps around her blade, clawed gauntlet locking onto metal. He's strong - not as strong as she is by a lot, but strong enough to make this inconvenient for her, strong enough to make it hard for her to move freely.
His spear disappears from his other hand. Again, he seems to start strangling the air with his free hand, strangling the magic into being. Light visibly stretches and screams in his presence, the rippling colors immediately around him and Mordred going briefly dark before they explode back to life.
FIAT LUX
The light from on high comes down in pillars, darkness and starlight bursting into being above them for the attack and then swallowed once more by the chaos of Discordia's battlefield. The bolts of light rain down on Mordred like hammers, splashing into the liquid madness, sending droplets of nonsense splattering across armor.
- Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Everything changes, into a swirling space of rainbow colors. Standing in the middle is something just as bewildering, made of hands, eyes and other things.
"...This is Discordia...?" Rean murumrs, staring up at the being behind Haseo.
Tendrils of nothingness slam into his stomach, sending him flying into the air away from Haseo. He staggers to his feet, spitting up some of his lunch. Shyra's healing helps a bit, but he's still wincing.
"Stay focused!" Rean shouts to everyone else, even as I4 informs them that there's no winning this. "There has to be something we can..."
He trails off, not sure of what to do himself. So he shouts, rushing Haseo again, rapidly striking at him.
- Mordred (7197) has posed:
As Haseo commences the battle with the forces of not-Discordia, Mordred notices quite a bit of what's being said. There's a few more annoyed utterances under her breath, but she'll just have to air those grievances later when she has a better grasp of what's going on and when she's not busy facing her predecessor in this role.
First things first: Figuring out where his next attack is going to come from. As she keeps pushing that blade into Linehart's claw, she squints as those spears of light pierce through the darkness and blind her momentarily. At that range and with her weapon trapped in Linehart's grasp, it's almost assured that the Saber would be skewered!
Except she doesn't hold onto the sword like a fool. Instead, Mordred brings up a boot and kicks forward hard into the blade's handguard. That mighty kick serves the dual purpose of launching her backwards, just narrowly evading those falling spears of light as well as providing a means to try forcing the silver sword forward into Linehart and along his gauntlet at the same time!
- Pazkar (7191) has posed:
Pure nothingness lances into Pazkar. He staggers backwards, the sheer blast smashing him back with his armor. His health bar depletes very, very low...but his natural Absurd Healing and Shyra's healing both focus into him.
Textboxing a grunt, Pazkar takes Moleknar, and smashes the wrench for another strike, trying to knock him backwards. This is bad. Real bad. Haseo hasn't even really broken a sweat, and he's already in final phase. They could probably keep this going for a bit, but if he unleashes a Finisher Move...
Well, it's over.
- Linehart (7141) has posed:
Mordred kicks off Linehart, avoiding the space lasers from space as she drives the blade into Linehart's armor. It sinks in, and Mordred gets her second confirmation - there's *someone* inside that thing. It's huge, and horrifying, but it's definitely *a person* - the impact thump from under the joints felt like flesh, not like steel. He doesn't seem to *bleed*, but she doesn't need bleeding to confirm she's doing damage - she can feel it, and see it in the numbers that keep popping up over his head whenever she gets a good hit in. He's not invulnerable and he's not a robot.
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But there's also the sense that Linehart doesn't *care*. He's not a dancing warrior, nor does he block and parry - he just moves forward, regardless of what happens. It's like fighting a Berserker, but a Berserker who can cast spells instead of just swing (mindlessly or otherwise), a Berserker who combines durability with magical potency.
The imposing Evil Knight twists the air around him again, grabbing onto something that isn't there. She can see earth gathering in his fist, as if he's crushing mud out of nothingness. The mud flails and twitches. The mud wraps around his hand as he drives it forward, as if he was punching her in the face.
FIAT TERRUM
The chaos erupts in another splattering of colors. It's not just an earthquake attack. Pillars of earth, mountains, come jutting forth from the roiling nothingness, spiking upwards as if to crush Mordred under the very weight of *being hit by them*. They go shooting upwards into the sky, and-
-then disappear, again, having done no damage to anyone or anything except Mordred.
- Mordred (7197) has posed:
The difference in their fighting styles becomes even more apparent as Mordred continues battling against Linehart. Whereas she's picking and choosing when to evade and when to push through, he just pushes through as a default reaction! "Damn... You're pretty nuts, you know that?"
It's not an insult, if her amused, yet fascinated tone is anything to go by. "Don't think I've even seen anyone power through crap like that before..." Bracing once again as Linehart grasps the magic out of the air, Mordred looks for the direction the attack is coming from as well as her best method of approach.
She was't quite expecting another attack from below. The ground all but punches her square in the everything from below the neck, the impact launching Mordred upwards with those spiked pillars! Rather than waiting to go through the process of slowly decelerating and landing, though, the Servant takes advantage of the Evil Knight abilities once more!
She teleports. She appears closer to the ceiling above Linehart, crashing into it for a brief moment before launching herself right back down at him. There's little in the way of technique or finesse beyond that initial maneuver, opting instead to just aim for slamming right into him with raw power, speed, and gravity on her side!
And also getting closer to where she left Clarent. That would be good, too.
- Haseo (7015) has posed:
Rean charges at Skeith, prompting the massive stone monster to reach one of its many arms out to grab the Thor's Academy Student by the head. The Epitaph gives the boy's cranium a light squeeze, as if to establish some sort of superiority, before blinking in and out of a existence for a moment, now slightly closer to Tomoe as it throws Rean at the swordswoman, specifically into her fire spell to act like a human shield.
There's another flash as Skeith once again disappears, this time appearing behind I4, scythe hand. The strike comes fast, though rather than the blade, it's with the hilt. Inhuman strength slaps the android towards Tomoe and Rean, piling them up. Grouping them together...
Its hands start moving again, in the same circular motions it did last time. It eventually stops, it's hands resting on the prana mudra as the area around the group of adventurers shakes.
And then fire. An all consuming fire. Even if they're 'lesser', they're still a god. They're gone in a flash. Just like what happened with Haseo. There's a deep, almost mocking laugh that comes from Skeith, distinct from Haseo's own voice. It seems pleased with it's own work, though it's still not over. It turns towards the last remaining party members, towards Shyra and Pazkar.
"See? See what happens? You guys keep telling me 'Haseo you can't, Haseo no' and look where I am now. Look where /you/ are now. If you two have any last words, now's your chance to say them, I'm done with these games."
The voice is clearly Haseo's, complete with text box reverb and all. Skeith responds to this threat by raising its scythe, pointing the blade at the remaining Last Illusion cast as it waits. It's clear they can't win, so why doesn't he afford these two their last two cents before snuffing them out as well?
- Linehart (7141) has posed:
Mordred teleports. She's trying to use the Evil Knight Sphere against him, its rightful (?) owner. Though it's a thing he would shed, given the choice, it's part of him - it's his more than any other's, something intrinsic to him, inherent to him. When she goes to teleport his hand comes up and around, and raw force meets raw force. She's stronger than he is; the impact ripples more of the liquid nothingness, sending it rolling in tidal waves around them. Chaos kicks up in all directions, in time with Haseo's destructive blaze sweeping across the battlefield. Even the implacable knight, under the dual assault, stumbles backwards, damage popping up above his head first from Mordred and then from Haseo.
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??????
He doesn't say anything. No grunt of pain. No resistance. No fierce glare. No growl. Just that same, maddening silence. Mordred probably has Clarent back, but Haseo has put him into a situation where Haseo - and Discordia, both of them - can focus all their attention on Linehart. He may be disgustingly powerful within his own world, but Linehart is no longer the Penultimate Boss, and he no longer has the massive boosts he once did. He's merely an NPC now. A dangerous one, but an NPC all the same.
And he doesn't want to chance Discordia getting inside his head ever again. He can feel its eyes staring at him. All of them. Those hands, gazing at its servant. Mordred may be playing the role but the role she is playing is 'Linehart,' and he is the template from which it spawned. Discordia knows its slave.
So with no better option Linehart simply charges at Mordred.
And disappears into her breastplate the minute he makes contact with her.
...weird.
- Shyra has posed:
Everyone is fighting hard. They are doing their best to defeat the imbued Haseo. Shyra believes they can make it. As long as they can hold out. I4 keeps warning them that they can't win, but Shyra believes.
She has to believe. Everything is going to be fine.
Unfortunately, it isn't fine. Everything goes straight to hell. She's about to ready another attack, but then the inhuman monster Haseo has become simply... vaporizes her friends.
NO! NOOOOO! Shyra screams, turning in horror as she attempts to cast a healing spell to restore them. We can't give up! We can't-
A moment later, the scythe cuts through her, and she falls, tumbling lifeless to the floor.
===========================
| G A M E O V E R |
===========================
What part of 'you can't win this' don't you understand?
> RELOAD
QUIT
- Shyra has posed:
They charge into the dungeon. Shyra leads with a defensive buff instead of an attack buff. It makes no discernable difference in this situation. She heals again, and then Haseo unloads again, just like before. The stench of the burned metal, the sight of the obliterated Rean, Tomoe, and I4 just as visceral as before. I C4N'T L3T YOU D0 THIS! She screams, raising a barrier to try to buy enough time...
It's not enough. The scythe punches right through it, shattering it like so much glass before it tears her open. Again, the burning, numb pain as she falls forward into oblivion...
===========================
| G A M E 0 V 3 R |
===========================
Listen to Four Eyes already.
> RELOAD
QUIT
- Shyra has posed:
They charge into the dungeon. Shyra attacks, her face wild as she casts a binding spell. It doesn't stick. Of course it doesn't stick, he's the final boss. Panic overtakes her as she collapses to her knees in growing despair, barely getting the heal out... But this time, when Haseo begins his combo, she lunges forward and tries to interrupt it.
She simply dies early this time, being torn apart and blasted as Haseo laughs at her attempt. Oblivion comes once more...
==#====#=@===$=&====@==!=&=
| G 4 M 3 0 ^ 3 R |
==&==@===##====$===%==^==*=
GET OUT
> R3LOD
QUIT
- Shyra has posed:
They charge into the dungeon. Shyra locks up, shaking as she looks back and forth. There has to be... There has to be another option, they need...
The Evil God attacks, ripping through them, and Shyra screams. This time, she doesn't heal. Instead, she casts something else.
WARP
There is a flash of light that streams upwards through the room, engulfing the party members as they glow.... and vanish moments before Haseo destroys them yet again. They are deposited outside of the Central Temple, wherein Shyra wavers, looking around at those present and smiling...
Before her body flickers, staticking, becoming healer-shaped noise for a moment as she collapses forward, falling on her face where she lies there, flickering and glitching out where she lay.
- I4 (7132) has posed:
The blunt end of the scythe smashes into the back of I4's head. He can't even turn in time to avoid it, he can't even defend. He goes flying and smashing into his friends. Eating dirt, he tries to get up from his position. The POD attempts to carry over I4's blade, though not being very helpful right now.
However, several attempts to restart the situation finally result in the WARP spell taking them safely away to the temple. On his hands and knees, he looks up as Shyra gives them the smile, and then starts distorting.
Oh no.
He can't move, but the POD rushes to try and help lower her down gently, as it starts scanning her signature. I4, shuttles over to her, trying to her trying to look for data irregularities. Maybe he can stabilize her until someone can actually heal her.
"Come on..." he says, firmly focused on the task at hand.
- Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe has a look of horror when Haseo uses Rean to intercept her shot she tries to track where the enemy is going next, ye the's too fast. So this is how it's going to end? It is very likely to end baldy and the term wipe fills Tomoe's mind. She's caught in the next attack she's smacked hard and she's now piled up and ends up grouped up. This is not good Haseo has to be up to something. She looks left, she looks right and tries to track Haseo then her eyes focus on him.
She's got a nasty red impact on her torso where Haseo's last strike caught her. This looks like its this is where it's going to end for her, like this? She tries to utter out someone's name but there's no time. She's vaporized. Leaving only a short live burning red flame where she was.
Then the world reset and the right goes over again, unaware of this, the whole fight plays out again and again with Shyra trying new thing but it always ends the same way. Death claims the party.
Each time the loop plays out? That's how it ends death until Shyra chooses to drag everyone the heck out of the.
Like everyone else Tomoe is warped out and lands roughly but is alive, then she sees Shyra's state and looks very panicked. This isn't good her friend is not looking very well and there's little she can go to help.
"I4 if you need me to do anything just /ask/."
She does keep back letting I4 get to work on the fallen Healer.
"Soon as we can move her? We need to get out of here."
- Mordred (7197) has posed:
Back in a position to grab her blade, Mordred whirls it around herself as she moves back into a stance more suited towards actually defending herself instead of diving on top of Linehart. "This has been a pretty good fight, you know... And you've given me some good lines to chew on. But now, let's end this!"
It just doesn't quite end the way she expected it to. As she charges Linehart to mirror his own, she's just about ready to bring Clarent down upon his head before he just sort of disappears.
That's new.
"... Uh. What." She's pretty sure she saw something, but... No, the light's already dim as hell in here. She even throws up a few more flames to try and see where the Mirror Knight's gone, but the flickering lights probably serve to conceal his presence more than they help the Mirror Knight's temp see where he even went. Letting out an irritated grunt, Mordred turns back to Haseo while resting that silver sword against her shoulder again.
"I... Guess that's that, then. A successful first defense!" She sounds like she's cheering, but there's some disappointment there. It's not too hard to figure out why. "So... You gettin' used to your new moves?"
- Shyra has posed:
Shyra is, for lack of a better term, in bad shape.
I4's examinations immediately point out that the healer is heavily corrupted. Whatever happened in there, she apparently pushed herself heavily. Her body is still holding together. Sort of. She's probably not going to actually die from this, but... She's going to need to stop and recover for a while after this.
As the others hang over her, trying to keep her going, a textbox pops up:
SSdtIHNvcnJ5Li4u
- Rean Schwarzer has posed:
Haseo grabs him by the head, and then uses him to block Tomoe's fir4e spell. Rean cries out, as he's thrown into a pile with her and I4.
He can't hear anything, but he sees Shyra's glitched out textbox cross his vision as everything becomes bright.
"Shyra!"
Rean lands hard, the impact aggravating his already burned back even more. He lets out a few coughs, lying flat on his back. ...They were outside now? He tilts his head to look over at the others...and spots Shyra, or rather a glitched out mess in her spot.
Rean winces, trying to ignore his burned back for a moment. "ARCUS, Activate." He mumbles, a ring of blue light surrounding him as the spell 'loads'. A spray of blue light appears over Shyra, raining down on her wounds. It'd probably be just enough to stabilize her, but nothing more.
- Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe keeps back, she can't heal so she keeps back and let those who can heal? Do so. She will help if Shyra needs to be moved to get out of here, she doe snot want to stay here too long. Who knows if Haseo is going to run out after them to finish them off.
- Haseo (7015) has posed:
Oblivious to the fact he's been doing the same thing over and over with slightly different variations, Haseo keeps winning. And winning. And winning. Eventually, Shyra's had enough. The party's gone with a spell, and Skeith and him are left to linger in the void of absolute chaos and it's god DISCORDIA.
There's a laugh from inside Skeith. Haseo's laugh. The laugh of a boy who just realized how awesome their new toy is. It really is great. This role. This power.
His mood is instantly soured not long after though, as he realizes it's only here. Only in this game. He comes down from his high, before returning back to the throne room. Back to his throne. Back to finding a way with how to use this god found power to bend this mockery into an actual, living, breathing world. After all, if he accomplishes that, nobody can even argue he was ever in the wrong. About power, or about anything.
