Scene #7933: Temple of Three Winds: The Immortal One?

Owner	Pose
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	The raid on the Temple of Three Winds has nearly crippled the cult. Reanimation, brainwashing, and a weapon of war have all been pried from its grasp, in a very short time. Now, it's time to crush what remains of it. "Al that remein art forouten drede biwalled withinne," says Bercilak, pointing down the cold, silent stone hallway. "We shouldst agess hard resisting." The further down you go, the wider the hallway gets. It culminates in a long room kept lit by an ominous red glow that seems untethered to any likely light source. Braziers smolder, flames having been recently snuffed. Prayer nooks lie empty, curios discarded in haste. Wide, evenly spaced stairs lead to an arch with some poor soul's long-skeletonized body trapped in some kind of crystal block. Beneath the arch, there's an immense bust of a clearly nonhuman head, that Bercilak would have to stand on his axe to see over. The mouth of the statue is open in a furious bellow, revealing a heavy stone door. The silence in here is oppressive--if Bercilak is right, and the remaining Temple 'faithful' are holed up inside, then the door is utterly soundproof or they're being extremely quiet. The door may be closed, but it isn't locked. Now would be the time to get preparations underway. And speaking of... your metaphysicist ally and Bercilak interpreter Flux speaks up. "Yo, Rita. Hold up a second." As the manifestations of his emotions patiently hover behind him, Flux begins navigating an AR display only he can see. His hand gestures seem part typing, part mystic. Bercilak never seems to need to do that--but one thing their nanites have in common is the helpful message that pops up via AR for those on the receiving end. In this case: FRIENDLY NANOPROGRAMS: Odin's Missing Eye Infuse With Knowledge There are 'details' windows Rita can open by focusing on the option, but in all likelihood she won't need to. In the depths of the sea, when she'd needed privacy or solitude, Rita no doubt had places to go. Deep enough below the curtain of water, the light doesn't penetrate. Her telepathic commands, however, have never been obstructed by the likes of physical matter. Those travel through a different medium, and Flux has given her the ability to see it just as she sees light and darkness. Not only the ability to see it, but to manipulate it. "If you get the chance," Flux cryptically advises. "Take it." "Bikki," he says. A stack of old, yellowing pages is floated over to her--the rest of the manuscript for the Ape Fist technique. "Translated it for you. There's a good chance the guy who wrote it is gonna be in there, so be ready." Finally, that leaves the nobles. Phreak doesn't have anything for SilverAsh (though Bercilak's aura of 'healing and combat effectiveness' is certainly useful). Pramanix, through another program of Flux's called 'One Mind, One Purpose,' is given increased focus that should make her snow-summoning easier to do in a melee.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix: "If hard resistance awaits us, then all we need to do is break it down!" SilverAsh: "It may not be so simple. We encountered troublesome resistance before, so their defenses here must be far stronger than anything we've faced." As always, the nobles seem to have different ideas on how to approach what looks to be the final battle against the cultists. Pramanix looks as though she's ready and raring to go, taking Flux's focus-boosting program gratefully as she finds her steps becoming easier, and the movements of her bell flowing far more smoothly than usual. She doesn't ring it yet, though, instead listening to the door as though that might help her actually figure out something about whoever's inside. Alas, she doesn't hear a thing, and she just looks more jumpy and ready to just charge right in there. "They might not be expecting us yet. We should get the jump on them while they're still preparing." SilverAsh, meanwhile, has his eyes closed while occasionally drawing his blade out of its scabbard a few inches before putting it back in and repeating the process. An eagle perches upon his shoulder the whole time, throwing an intense gaze all about the room to keep SilverAsh covered even now. "Is there anything of note in those pages? If we can squeeze out an advantage at this last moment before the battle, having the greater element of surprise on our side could render the battle won before it starts."
Hibiki Tachibana	Stepping into the temple at first evoked an uneasy feeling. The hastily abandoned room they find themselves in, and the tension resting in it standing in front of the door leading beyond, should evoke that feeling three times worse. They're going to potentially be going up against one hell of a being. And while there definitely is some of that, it'd kept in check by the determination to see this all through to the end. Hibiki is standing in place, staring at the stone entrance in silence and with her thoughts left to herself, until Flux gets ger attention. "Hm? These are..." She lift her hand to take them out the air, glancing over them...she could only barely make out what the pages were trying to convey before, but now... "...The Ape Fist of Khalum." Her hand comes down to rest where Connor struck her with the blazing hot attack before. That was enough to give her an idea on how it works. But with this, a lot more comes together. The last piece of the puzzle she needs, she can put a pretty good wager on being right behind that door. "Thanks, Flux. I'm not going to be caught by it a second time. I got some ideas now." Though Hibiki Tachibana is one to slack on her school homework, you'd never imagine it from how intently she's pouring over the writing right now. She'll be ready this time.
Rita Ma	"Huh? What is it, Mr. Flux?" Rita waits patiently while the metaphysicist types, then inhales softly in surprise as "Odin's Missing Eye" takes effect. Her eyes dart around, glancing at things unseen to others- but despite her momentary confusion, she grasps what he's saying. "I understand." Her tone is solemn. "I will. Thank you, Mr. Flux." "'The guy who wrote it'," she repeats a little bit later. "So, the Immortal One won't be alone in there." A little discouraged sigh. A little white-blue light appears by Hibiki's shoulder, with no evident source. It casts its glow on the yellowed pages to make for easier reading. Rita doesn't say anything, but smiles. "I'm sure it'll be okay, though. We've made it this far. I'm ready when everyone else is." She looks unsettled by the atmosphere, but it's not a lie. There aren't many ways for Rita to 'get ready', after all- no equipment to manage, no magic to prepare. She could do stretches, maybe.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	When everyone is ready, Bercilak breaches. A hooded doorkeeper on the other side attempts to intercede with one of those gruesome spinal-cord scythes. Bercilak overpowers the swing, pinning the weapon to the ground with his axe, stepping forward. A heavy steel boot splinters the bones in the cultist's foot, eliciting a howl of pain that's quickly silenced by Bercilak's bucket helm crashing into the cultist's face. The Green Knight steps over the fallen, unconscious lackey, into what must surely be some kind of meditation chamber for senior members. It is the most well-lit room thus far, by a considerable margin. Pillars flank your approach as it widens out even farther. An altar at the back is provided by what can only be described as a demon--leathery wings, clawed hands beady eyes, scaly skin the color of pale sand. It stands slightly taller than SilverAsh, and it is far from alone. Three exarchs guard the altar with the demon at the north end. Two reverends and two cultists wearing as-yet unseen brown robes take up the center of the room, and a smattering of the last few rank-and-file faithful form a human chain at the front. Your entrance is observed with an icy glare from the demon. "The Immortal One," says Bercilak, prying his axe from the ground. "No," calls the demon, on the opposite end. "A humble servant, reborn. I took the first steps on the Path of the Immortal One, as did Khalum before me. Behold," he says, clawed arms held wide, a fanged grin wide on his face. "The visage of Uklesh the Frozen." [Vicinity] Uklesh the Frozen: Your sacrilege ends here, infidels. The winds of time will bend to His will, the Immortal One will take his vengeance and paradise will be ours. His wings beat, lifting him into the air, as his clawed hands extend. He gives a command. [Vicinity] Uklesh the Frozen: Destroy them. Bercilak and Flux make quick work of the rank and file. At first. But the brown-robed clergy and the Exarchs are at work on some kind of collaborative program, and soon the tides begin to turn. Cultists find angles they should't. They seem to be exactly where you don't want them, find advantage where there is none, and opt out of any kind of disadvantage. Your movements seem slow in comparison to theirs--when they don't outright flicker between places. In some limited fashion, the cult does control time, if only the winds of Present and Future.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix: "Hibiki, could I get those pages after we're done here? Maybe I could learn something useful~" SilverAsh: "No. No, you should not. Your hands wouldn't last." Pramanix: "Th-they could!" It's time to head in, and the battle begins in earnest without much more time wasted. Leaving the front line to Bercilak, Pramanix already has her bell ringing and her steps timed to begin the snow-summoning ritual while SilverAsh moves ahead to capitalize on Bercilak's initial rush. They both pause, however, as Uklesh the Frozen addresses them. SilverAsh: "All that will end today are your ambitions. Lay down your arms, or we cannot guarantee your safety." Pramanix: "The prayers of the wicked will never be truly answered. You still have a chance to amend your ways if you leave now!" Despite their big words, however, the nobles find their movements stymied by something they don't quite understand right away. The cultists are moving faster than they can react to, getting cut up and nicked every which way before backing off. Their own movements don't seem to be slow, but there's something unnaturally fast about the cultists. Picking up on that strange detail, Pramanix tries to slow them down by intensifying the snowstorm. The ground where the cultists are coming starts icing over rapidly from the intense cold, leaving SilverAsh to start hacking away with wide-reaching swings aimed at making even split-second dodges dicey.
Hibiki Tachibana	"Ah...let's worry about that when we're actually out." Good job buying time, Hibiki. Breach. Right behind Bercilak, after placing the manuscript pages back into storage, is Hibiki moving up alongside him prepared to act the vanguard for their sudden entrance. There's no idea what to /really/ expect, but she still can't help but purse her lips tightly when they're looked back down upon by-- "Khalum before you...?" It takes a second before it clicks into place. Not the Immortal One, or his champion written about, but someone on the path towards that - and as far as she's concerned, that's not a good thing. Not only have they not found who they were expecting to, but a whole new problem has cropped up... She's braced up, and the first cultist who steps up that isn't already gotten by the pair receives a boot to the gut. "Nobody's going to be taking vengeance! All the messed up stuff your cult is doing here, what you did to Connor...it's all stopping now!" They've been through a lot in here already, so they can't be defeated now. ...But it's not going to be easy. Before she knows it, the same one she kicked is back and obnoxiously hard to deal with, and when more of the warriors join in with the same exact boost to their capabilities, she finds herself getting battered around more than she has any right to. "Why are they so..." Exactly where she doesn't want them to be. Seemingly blinking around. One step ahead...the winds of time. She thinks she gets it. With a grunt, she abruptly swings a leg up and then brings it down in a stomp, the ground around her shaking with the impact enough to offbalance the nearest cultists--before she rushes forward to shouldertackle one of them out of the way, and keep on going in a charge towards the clergymen. "Then let's see what happens if I do something about you guys...!"
Rita Ma	"So you're not... where is he, then?!" A question that Uklesh is very likely disinclined to answer, but it's worth a shot. Rita sprints across the open floor of the vast chamber, eager to be at the fore with Bercilak and Flux. At first she has the idea of simply plowing through the line of cultists, and for a few moments it seems to be working- even without any special technique, ordinary fighting men fare poorly against her speed and bone-shattering blows. But then there's the working. Rita reaches for a throat, but her fingers only find air. A cultist swings at her; she dodges effortlessly, and then their weapon flickers to connect. (It shatters rather than cut her, but she yelps anyway.) "Mr. Bercilak! Mr. Flux! Hold here, okay?" Rita leaps back out of the melee, kicking off the floor with a backscatter of stone. Turning invisible, she dashes to the side, sprints along the wall well above the cultist line, and leaps back down to reach the reverends and the brown-robed cultists. She reappears descending on them with a ballerina-like spin. A handful of her cloaked tentacles lash out with the motion, aiming to whirr through their group like a buzzsaw. Hopefully the exarchs behind them don't intercede...
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Pramanix finds the snow summoning ritual proceeds, even when the scythes, hammers, limbs and clubs of the cultists find purchase. Being able to opt-out of disadvantage doesn't necessarily help when your opponent can just saturation-bomb the area. She's able to neutralize the temporal advantage by slowing them down physiologically. That makes it easy for SilverAsh, Bercilak and Flux to get the upper hand. One by one, frostbitten, exhausted cultists are cut or beat down. Sailing past the melee, Hibiki and Rita tackle the clergy, quite literally in the case of the former. "He always where He needs to be," cryptically replies Uklesh, as Rita invisibly leaps across the chamber. "If He must come here, so He shall--and you shall all know the price of ignorance." Before they can turn their temporal expertise on the Exarchs, the brown-robed clergy are cut into ribbons. Hibiki, meanwhile, shoulder-checks the reverends and knocks them aside. They're winded, but it's easy for her and Rita to finish them off. Uklesh hisses and charges across the room, claws outreached. The Exarchs behind him concentrate their efforts, not on enhancing Uklesh, but on stripping your strengths away. Strength fades, muscles tire, fatigue sets in. This, as the winged disciple makes dive-bomb passes on each of you. It's not just that his claws are sharp, or that he's strong enough to be dangerous--contact with his skin, as demonstrated by Flux, carries the risk of brief but immediate paralysis.
Karlan Nobles	Pramanix: "Tch... How irritatingly vague. Can't you speak more plainly about your god?!" SilverAsh: "... But isn't speaking in such uncertain terms your job, too?" With the front lines moving further ahead, so do Pramanix and SilverAsh move to join Rita and Hibiki in tangling with the flying Uklesh. They can still feel the sapping effects of the Exarchs' magic, however, and even Pramanix's increased focus from Flux's 'One Mind, One Purpose' program is muddled somewhat just in time for Uklesh to start swooping in. The dive-bombing bowls the pair of them over, and it takes several moments longer for them to recover than they would in a regular fight. Pramanix visibly struggles to pull herself up, and she begrudgingly uses SilverAsh's arm to stay upright with the fatigue hitting them both far sooner than normal. Pramanix: "It's those people in the back... We'll need to subdue them if we want to turn the tides!" SilverAsh: "We could also slay them without repercussions for once. Do recall where we are, si... Pramanix." Pramanix: "... Right, the resurrection!" With a clearer conscience and a clearer path, the siblings turn their focus on the Exarchs in the back. Rather, Pramanix and SilverAsh's eagle do just that, as the former starts opting for more brute force methods in conjuring and hurling a storm of icy bricks down at the casters. Tenzin/the eagle, meanwhile, starts doing his best Uklesh impression and dive-bombing the Exarchs along with the frozen projectiles to buy more time for Silverash to close the gap to start slicing them up himself.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki will be sure that any of the program-users that Rita doesn't get herself don't get back up again, through well-aimed snap kicks to the skull to knock them unconscious. They were certainly a problem, but they're not /the/ problem - that's Uklesh stepping into the fray himself without much warning. "Ah...!" Turning her head up, she's already primed to move, but the strength-sapping effects that the Exarchs are pushing upon them throws her off just enough that she expects to be able to get out of the way, but can't quite do it in time. The shredding claws clip her in the side and draw blood just as she's rolling away, imbalancing her to the point she has to catch herself on a knee. Though she's not down for long, even with paralysis and lethargy trying to keep her floored. After only a second, she's springing back up in a low and quick lunge. "Then bring him on! Then we can put an end to all of this in one go...!" But it sounds a lot like he's not going to even think about showing unless he has a reason to. Which means for now-- She goes to cut him off while he's making a pass on one of othe others, fist reared back only to be thrown in a wide hook aimed at his torso, to cut his momentum short right in the air. A burst from her Symphogear's thrusters whirls her back in the opposite direction right after, her knee coming towards his back with body-wracking force. "But we'll start by stopping /you/ and all the messed up crap in this place for good!"
Rita Ma	The reverends and the brown-cloaked cultists become neatly apart, with the only evidence of the cause being bloodstains that hang in the air. Shortly those, too, disappear, though Rita seems fascinated by the bodies. For a long moment, it's hard for her to turn her eyes away. No, not even a little taste. I'm in the middle of something important! My friends are depending on me! Even if I guess it's ethically fine since they'll just reclaim- Fortunately, Uklesh is there to get her out of her own head. The dive-bomb catches her off-guard, but Rita blinks out of existence and leaps to the side, reappearing a second later and ten yards away. "Mr. Flux!" she shouts in alarm. An invisible tentacle wraps around the metaphysicist's waist and pulls him away from the fighting, into a dark, quiet corner. He's still breathing, isn't he? Good. Behind Rita, SilverAsh and Pramanix are taking on the Exarchs. I'll have to keep them safe. But without touching his skin... Rita's foot hooks under a cultist's scythe and kicks it up from the floor, where she catches it in her hands. A sizzling blue liquid spontaneously slicks its blade. She's a little unsteady from the strength-sapping ritual, and definitely unpracticed in its use, but Hibiki gives her the opening. Just as the magical girl knees him in the spine, Rita leaps into the air in front of him, scythe pulled back as if she's about to swing a baseball bat. When she swings the blade, it 'clotheslines' his torso to use his forward momentum against him, added to her own. The acid left behind makes the cut even more grievous, and notably reluctant to heal.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Rita's save comes in the nick of time. Flux is pulled away, just before a parting shot from a crumpling cultist's sword pierces his ribcage. Though his body can't move during transit, his eyes have enough movement and life to convey his thankfulness. As she dips out from the darkness, she can hear him catch his breath. Icy bricks pelt the Exarchs. It's not that they don't fight back--far from it. But every time they're brining up those AR displays (no doubt some creation of the Temple's, in their case), there's a huge chunk of ice or a pissed off eagle there to snap them out of their concentration. When SilverAsh sprints up, he's met with three staggered clergymen hastily reaching for their clubs. It's clear, when he approches, that these few were selected based on their mental aptitudes over the physical; they're 'capable' fighters at best. Stumbled and staggered, the Exarchs can barely get their weapons up in time. Though the hardened vertebrae of the clubs could theoretically pose an obstacle, the weapon's reach is as limited as the individual users' skill. They're little match for him, especially when he's cutting loose--too conservative, too off-guard. As the three Exarchs fall, Uklesh is snatched from the air by Hibiki, and subsequently driven into Rita's scythe. His beady eyes bulge out as he hits the ground in two pieces, acid scoring the polished stone floor. Rita's new sense sets off a tingling in her spine. Some new instinct warns of another presence, a few seconds before it arrives. If it could be called 'seeing,' this sense, then this next figure is more clear than Uklesh. With the physical sense of sight, one may easily compare this new figure to the one on Hibiki's manuscript. Khalum, the master of the temple's martial art, appears before the altar, his body constructed in seconds by a swirling vortex of blinding blue light. To look upon him is to invite a nagging, phantom pain into one's mind; the insidious thought that something within you is lacking, if only you could point to what. It turns to discomfort and full-on dread if dwelled upon. He has undergone a transformation, resembling none of Rubi-ka's 'metabreeds' of humanity. His muscle tone is too perfect, his upper body on display, while a gossamer black robe conceals his legs. The shape of his head resembles his student, but it has been encased in entirety by a veiny, brown chitin, which has also colonized and massively augmented his arms. A kiai rattles the chest as his hands are suddenly ablaze. He clears the distance between each of you easily, with wild, nimble leaps, and gratefully takes trades--though Hibiki, having studied his style, is sure to guess this. Any strike against him is repaid with intimidating speed and force, exacerbated by his flaming grasp. Any attempt to simply evade is also answered--in this case, with fireballs and telepathically delivered punches that shatter stone and crack braziers behind them.
Karlan Nobles	With the Exarchs and Uklesh both torn apart, there's a brief moment where it almost seems like the battle is over! The pair from the mountains don't even get a chance to take a breather before they're already being approached by someone they can't even look at. They both look at Khalum directly, but Pramanix is the first to turn away as she redoubles her efforts with her snow-calling dance. Pramanix: "So the saying /was/ literal!" SilverAsh: "An enemy we cannot face without facing away from him. How ironic." As Khalum starts dashing around to trade blows with everyone, SilverAsh meets him head on. It's a little too hard to evade any of his attacks without being able to look at him, though, and he's forced to just contend with that burning grip through relying on his supernatural regeneration. Pramanix doesn't quite have that luxury, and it's only through conjuring ice shields hastily that she's able to get away alive, albeit with some nasty burns on her arms for good measure. Pramanix: "If we can't fight looking directly at him, then... Plan B!" SilverAsh: "Was there a-" Pramanix: "Yes! Rita, Hibiki, I'll set it up!" Without elaborating further, Pramanix starts whipping that indoor blizzard into a frenzy. SilverAsh's eagle is forced to actually take cover in the process as that sleet and hail comes at Khalum from all angles, clattering against the ground where he's standing and even against itself to indicate his position even while he's leaping around. Should those chunks of ice start sticking to him, meanwhile, they'll create even more noise while blanketing him in (mostly) white with Pramanix's attempt to bypass (what she hopes is) the visual component of his mental attack. SilverAsh, meanwhile, catches on relatively quickly once he hears all that noise. Rather than trying to guess at where Khalum is by slashing after he's already gotten hit, he dashes towards the noise with his eyes shut and his cane-sword firmly in its scabbard. Once the noise reaches its peak, he draws that sword with a stupidly fast slash in passing, then whirls around in a quick spin to deliver two more slashes right down the middle to complete the shape of a large Z for some reason.
Rita Ma	Rita visibly shudders at the new presence before it's even arrived, interrupting the congratulatory look she was giving Hibiki. Her scythe falls from her hand to clatter on the floor, and one hand comes up as if she's going to bite her nails. "Is that...?" But no, this isn't the Immortal One either, formidable though he may be. When Khalum approaches her, Rita reveals her advantage: with so many limbs, she needn't lower her defenses to attack. She stays nimble, keeping her arms up to intercept strikes, while invisible tentacles deliver cruel cuts from angles he can't defend. That only goes on for a few seconds until the nagging pain forces her to scrunch her eyes shut. "Ghhh. Is this what you meant, Ms. Pramanix? It's horrible..." Even effectively blinded, Rita retains a sharp sense of where Khalum is through the scent of blood coming from his injuries. That's close enough to continue lashing out with her tentacles that way, but not to defend herself as she had before- instead she opts to turn invisible to shake his attention. Only when Khalum has been safely covered in snow does Rita reappear at a comfortable distance. Tentatively opening one eye to aim, she extends her palm towards him. Her arm begins to glow from the inside-out, first revealing veins, then revealing the silhouette of bones, and finally becoming too incandescent to show any detail at all. "I'm sorry it took this long for anyone to save you," Rita says, closing her eye again. "I hope..." She fumbles for a moment, searching for the right sentiment. "I hope you go on to have a happy life, without this casting its shadow over you." A beam of scouring, concussive light discharges from her arm. It is surprisingly quiet, sounding only like a roar of air, but strong enough to scour the etchings from the stones and shatter the wall behind him.
Hibiki Tachibana	Uklesh is down in two halves by the time Hibiki touches back on the floor thanks to Rita's expert follow-up, panting for a bit of breath back and clutching at the spot she got sliced and managing the smallest smile towards Rita. She still feels numbness radiating out from the spot, but she's made herself shrug off worse. And...she doesn't have many tears to shed over Uklesh, either. If he's counted among the ones coming back from this...she'd like that. "Hah..." At least Flux is okay too...good. It's not over with just that, though. She was hoping it wouldn't be. Up there at the altar, she knows who that is, even if not the Immortal One. From appearance in the texts, yes, but the sensation she gets is much more confirmation. SilverAsh was right; the wording wasn't lying. Just looking at him fills her with something she doesn't like. An annoying, awful feeling that pries at her worst parts. She has to close her eyes for a moment. "Khalum..." That kiai resonates through the room, and she goes from squinting them tight to keeping them loosely shut. Then the room is a storm of motion, and she rushes forward to meet it. Every time the martial artist moves to her though, she's on the backfoot. She knows his style, but her own is one of energy and aggression too. Any punch he throws is returned in kind, but hers are repaid even harder. For every body-trembling punch she delivers, she only barely avoids taking the flaming retaliation head-on by 'feeling' more than seeing them being thrown, and each meeting is a short burst of exchanged blows and blocks before the magical girl narrowly escapes danger. Pramanix calls out. "...Alright! I think I've just about...got it!" Coming off of another painful retreat, Hibiki catches herself and lunges back in at full speed while he's being buffeted with ice, finally opening up one eye wide as she goes. She had to let all those hits be thrown at her - so she could get a first-hand experience, from the source, of the Ape Fist in action. It's far from a perfect understanding, but with that and what she got from the manuscripts-- She comes in with a momentum-driven straight line punch, intending to hit him as hard as she can. But this time, she won't shirk back. Immediately after throwing it, her other fist is already tightening up, arm coming back - defenses entirely lowered. He's going to return her punch, and she's going to do the same right after. And when she does, she'll take it to the chin, and use the pain that'll come with it to drive her blow forward that much harder. There's no flame, but there is the golden shine of her Symphogear's internal energy, building up within her gauntlet as the piston rears back only to pound back in, releasing the devastating burst of force that comes with it point-blank, at the same time Rita's blast is coming in.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Khalum is utterly silent, save his shouts. Where those are concerned, they're unleashed seemingly as part of his style, to startle, intimidate, control the fight. He is a masterful martial artist--but his control is slipping. His fists and palms deflect ice even in the midst of a blizzard, but there's only so much he can do. Every deflection makes his burning grasp colder. Every movement made to stop one impact allows another. As his form grows more indistinct in the blizzard, so too does his ability to cloud the mind. He's wading towards Pramanix, attempting to get the stop in, but... As it turns out, shattering ice (and battle cries) make him easy to find. SilverAsh can close in. The issue--as seems to be the raison d'etre of his entire style--is the reprisal. The first is too fast for Khalum to respond to, in the blizzard. A grunt escapes him, as silvery lifeblood weeps from the wound. He manages to stay standing, long enough to employ his signature technique. Upon the third slash, Khalum retaliates with a roundhouse, letting the momentum carry him into a flurry of hi-low mixed kicks--only for Hibiki to knock him so hard he's forced by the impact to face her. Focused on trading blows, he calls upon the style's trademark technique, the Ape Fist itself. For a fleeting moment, the two of them, arms reared back and glowing with energy, battered by the freezing cold, look like some space-opera take on a classical painting. When Rita's light blends in with the already overwhelming energy, it's washed out completely. Hibiki's only sign of success is that she doesn't feel the counterattack after her shattering impact. When the smoke clears, there is no Khalum. Whatever Hibiki's fist shattered is now simply a residual shadow left behind by the immense energy in that heart-pounding moment. Broken pieces of chitin are the only clue there ever was such a being. When the blizzard subsides, there is silence, but it's different than before. It simply is--there is no choking, oppressive element to it. It doesn't last long. As Hibiki had guessed, the Immortal One needed a reason to show up.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Standing before you is a figure whose skin glows and is crusted over as if it were molten earth rising from beneath the planet's mantle. He is as tall, as built, as heavily armored as the Green Knight, though his armor is black and spiked. He wields, in one hand, a massive curved blade rendered from some unknown, glowing red material. The hilt is long enough to hold the weapon with both, and is fashioned (?) to appear as the head of some tendriled beast, spewing the sword as would a dragon with fire. His voice is calm and even. His presence is undeniable. But Flux, emerging from the shadows with his manifestations, casts Rita a knowing look. With her sharpened psychic senses, she knows that this is a trick; a bioluminescent lure attached to something much larger and much more dangerous. In other words, Flux's program has put Rita into what is likely a very familiar position by this point. "When your civilizations were pulling themselves from the mud, I beheld the fall of mine. Before any of you were so much as an errant thought in the mind of your most distant ancestors, I was burning, unable to die, on the sun-blasted, lifeless skeleton of the world I once knew. And when humanity came from across the stars, tens of thousands of years later, I fashioned puppets in their shape, lived among them through several lifetimes, and studied them." Bercilak's boots clank unsubtly against the floor as he wordlessly approaches. The blade of his axe grinds beside them, drawing sparks. The Immortal One lifts his blade, shifting to a two handed stance. "As the human Nathaniel," he continues, as an ear-splitting clang resounds from the impact of the two immense weapons, "I saw the influence of our long-dead people upon humanity, and this heartened me." Two more impacts, and the melee fighters circle each other like predatory animals waiting to strike. "...the similarities are too great. In the scant eight hundred years they have known it, humanity has warred over control of this planet, and every day they grow closer to learning its true power." "The Seint-Gral," says Bercilak, jetting backwards to make a lethal swipe with his weapon's ridiculous range. The Immortal One ducks back, extends his hand, and pulls Bercilak over, clotheslining him with the wrenching sound of metal being deformed. "Indeed, knight." Flux, one hand behind his back, in sight of Rita, holds an index finger out. Almost there. The Immortal One attempts a deathblow on Bercilak, but is stopped by the interference of Flux's manifestations. "This temple..." It's taking him more effort to fight, now, but his focus is still clear. "...the great work of 'Nathaniel,' has stood for one hundred and fifty five years. I am sure that, by the reckoning of your mayfly lives, it seems an accomplishment that you should destroy so much work in one day, and force me to begin anew in hiding." The healer-manifestaton is dispersed with a stroke of that massive blade, the aggression entity immediately after. Where's the third? "Know this: Those responsible for Rubi-Ka's death, those whose ignorance blinded them to the brilliance of my work, will be clawed from the annals of time, dragged to my new future, and made to face justice. I need only take the first step." "The first step's a doozy." "What?" The tranquility manifestation drops down from the ceiling, tendrils flared like the points of a star, and bombards the Immortal One--from Rita's perspective, it's like looking at the headlights of a search vehicle in the dead of night. Blinding, but also illuminating--she can see the faintest tether, stretching from the core of the glowing being. "NOW!"
Karlan Nobles	With Khalum's apparent end, Pramanix ceases her ritual, and both she and SilverAsh finally breathe sighs of relief when they hear nothing. No chanting, no sounds of combat, just peace and quiet for the first time in what feels like days. She's about to let out a pleased noise of celebration, too, when that momentary respite is interrupted by the arrival of a truly unearthly burning figure. The siblings stare at the new arrival at first, hands still clutching their respective weapons/instruments tightly. They don't recognize it for what it is at first, nor do they attack when the figure starts to speak of the past. They tense again in seeing Bercilak's approach, but they continue to observe the Immortal One, waiting for the right chance to strike even after the Green Knight has already engaged him in combat. It's the signal from Flux that finally gets them moving again. Pramanix hurls her bell forward and upwards as the ritual resumes almost immediately, creating a thin layer of ice on her shoes to let her skid forward rapidly with a swirling mass of ice crystals gathering around her hands. While she builds up speed and ice, SilverAsh is already circling around the Immortal One, seeking out the clearest angle outside of Hibiki's and Rita's immediate punching/tentacle-stabbing path. He lunges forward once he finds the right spot, sheathing his sword once before drawing it immediately afterwards. Although there's that telltale shwinging noise when he does that, it doesn't turn the entire area in front of him into a massive deathtrap. Instead, he's swinging at precise angles specifically to avoid friendly fire, each slash distinctly aimed at a different limb to try and dismantle the Immortal One. By the time SilverAsh is done swinging, Pramanix finally finishes skidding around the summoned being with an array of icy crystals trailing behind her. She leaps forward to snatch her still-ringing bell out of the air and lands behind the Immortal One with uncharacteristically precise movements, then whirls herself around to direct the trail of crystals into turning the Immortal One into a pincushion. Although none of the icicles are individually strong enough to punch through the first time, they seemingly have minds of their own as they pull back and launch themselves inwards once more.
Rita Ma	Rita still stands upright as the dust clears, but she breathes heavily, forces herself to swallow despite a dry mouth. Her fingers relax, and her arm drops to her side. "Great work," she murmurs quietly, casting an exhaustedly sunny smile over to Pramanix and Hibiki. She looks depleted in a way that is neither emotional nor quite physical. 'Dimmed', maybe. When the ominous presence arrives, Rita hastily fades from view but rests a hand on Flux's shoulder. When he holds up the single finger, she squeezes in confirmation. It's a fake. No, not a fake exactly- an appendage. Its real heart is... The tranquility manifestation descends and illuminates the Immortal One. More saliently, it illuminates that gossamer tether. There. The nanoprogram he'd lent her, Odin's Missing Eye, doesn't just allow psychic presences to be seen- it allows them to be touched. And if they can be touched... Rita unravels from invisibility at a terribly inconvenient moment, carefully chosen amid her allies' attacks. Her tentacles look like mirror-ribbons on one side, still pointlessly refracting the world around them. They all curl back, arching like vipers. And they all strike at once, spearing into the Immortal One's body- and into the tenuous thread behind it. Her expression and body language are passive, polite. Her eyes are ravenous. The latter matches the act better than the former. Her tentacles greedily swallow a glowing semi-liquid something, not only from the Immortal One's avatar but from the thing behind it; not only what is needed to 'live', but what is needed to 'exist'. It is the biological scraping against the ontological, with hungry teeth. And when it is extinguished, and the last blue drop has flowed back into her, they all pull free at once to re-weave her human guise and let what little is left of the "Immortal One's" body hit the floor. Rita no longer looks depleted, but radiant. She seems about to say something to the Immortal One's extremely final remains, but instead she turns to give her allies a thin, worried, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry you had to see that," she says, and means it. "He's gone now." She means that too. To Flux: "How did you know?"
Hibiki Tachibana	The silence of the aftermath is deafening. For several seconds after the fact, she's only able to stand there with her arm still outstretched, panting for breath and eyes still wide like she's expecting a punch that isn't actually going to come. Then the moment is gone, and her tensed body goes limp as snow falls from her shoulders, a quiet breath being taken in. Khalum...is gone. But with how he showed himself... ...There's one more. The atmosphere has entirely changed. Just as she'd never mistake Khalum despite never seeing him in person before, there's no doubt in her mind who this earthen figure really is. Her mouth falls open slightly beneath her scarf, but words don't come out. Just slow and slightly ragged breaths, only to close again as Bercilak moves ahead. She doesn't move in to fight alongside him. Even she, it seems, can understand that it's not the time for that. Her head doesn't turn but her eyes barely do, towards Flux and Rita, and then back. There's a grimace at his dismissal of what they've done today. Her fist tightens up at her side... And then, right with Flux's shout, she's going right in as if she wasn't out of it a moment ago. With Pramanix and SilverAsh taking the angles outside of the shortest and straightest one she likes, she has a clear path to go straight for him - with no fancy maneuvers, just a singular wide and wild haymaker punch thrown as she goes to pass by him, carefully mingled in between SilverAsh's slashes to hit like a freight train and unbalance him with all the strength she can put into it. It's enough to crack air and dent even that thick shell of his. But she doesn't need to do more than that. Skidding past him, she comes to a stop just as Rita gets the opportunity to make her move...and she pointedly only glances back over her shoulder to side-glance at the other girl sapping away at the source without watching it head on. After which, she lets out a soft exhale, and finally does turn around in full. She looks...sympathetic? Upset? Looking down at whatever's left...but the words on her mind - I feel bad for everything you had to go through - remain unsaid in favor of looking back up at Rita. "...Looks like that's finally that, then..." She slowly tilts her head towards Flux. "...Right? Not that I don't believe Rita, but a lot of stuff here is hard to wrap my head around..."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	It happens within a startlingly short timeframe. The life begins to leave the Immortal One, the glow dimming and sputtering. At first, the defense is vehement. Then it's frantic. And then, he falls, as if he'd forgotten how to stand, his curved greatsword clattering to the ground nearby. Without that glow, his skin is the color of marble, and dark grey veins can be seen in places. SilverAsh and Bercilak both hewed limbs from him, and his towering form is shot through with puncture wounds from Pramanix. With the blowing of a draft from the open door, a fine dust winnows away from the body. Bercilak nods--it sure looks gone to him. He gives Rita a thumbs-up. Flux looks at Rita, and opens his mouth to say something, but thinks better of it when Hibiki asks a different question. His eyes flick towards Rita, asking a question in place of his words. Does she know? It's not suspicion--something more benign. "Nanites," he answers with a smug grin, leaning on his crooked staff. Bercilak shoves Flux, armored gauntlet nearly forcing the smaller man off-balance. "Yeve an actual sware, shit-hed," good-naturedly goads the knight. "Fine. I guess that doesn't tell y'all shit, anyway," Flux admits. His brow furrows. It's clear this is something that his world takes for granted, so it takes him a moment to explain. "...Nanites are incredibly versatile things, but it takes work to use them, and depending on the kind of programs you want 'em to run, you need different skills. Because of some..." This looks like a long story, by the way his eyes flick upwards. "Evolutionary shit that happened to humans, we stopped being homo sapiens and started being homo sapiens solitus." He doesn't look much different from an average human, but-- "Basically, all of us have psychic potential, and it's possible to develop that potential. Psychic ability has a lot of applications, but with nanites, you can really do some crazy shit. Like summon manifestations of your emotions, or temporarily provide esoteric, detailed knowledge to somebody." He glances towards Rita, nodding. "I knew because my particular set of skills makes me really good at seeing things that light doesn't reveal. He's dead dead. Whatcha say we get the fuck out from here and get some Bronto Burger?"
Rita Ma	"No thank you, Mr. Flux," Rita says, a little nauseously. "I'm pretty sure I'm full."