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Gilgamesh      There is an intruder in the Moon Cell.

     No, more than an intruder. A mere intruder would be dealt with. A mere intruder would be flung out of the Moon Cell, discarded, or otherwise dealt with. A mere intruder wouldn't be able to withstand the Moon Cell's defense systems, much less usurp control over a portion of the territory. This is no intruder.

     This is a virus.

     And it's a virus with an exquisite sense of wealth. The infected territory is visible from *miles* away, a towering golden palace with high golden walls that spread outwards as a vast bulwark. Atop those walls are weapons that look like ballistae but most assuredly are not, manned by faceless drones with copper heads and shields on their backs. A vast golden gate stands tall, as if made for some giant or other terrible beast from an age long ago that no longer exists in the world.

     Once through the gate, everything changes.

     The atmosphere is oppressive, sick, pregnant with glory. The spiritrons that make up the Moon Cell are more than infected by this power, they're *jumping* at it. They're *feeding* on it. It's like the world is brighter just standing within the walls, like the legions of co-opted drones in bronze helmets wielding bronze swords and spears and axes and shields are surrounded by some self-evident glory. The taste of it is overwhelming. Even the nonmagical can feel it amidst the palm trees, the beautiful plants, the giant, staggering flowers, the...

     ...the giant pool in the shape of a G with a line through it?
Gilgamesh      It's like a cross between a Hollywood superstar's mansion and a palace out of the ancient world, some...nonsensical *thing* that crosses boundaries of time and space.

     The virus himself sits on a balcony overlooking the courtyard of the palace. He's sipping a drink from a golden goblet, being attended to by a group of attractive men and women in robes, all with glazed-over looks in their eye as they drape along the glorious golden beach chair like concubines on a throne, fanning him with huge palm leaves. He's talking on an iPad, in a video conference call, to a man wearing a suit and tie.

     It is most assured that one of the serving-folks walked him through setting that up.

     The virus is the King of Heroes, King of All Creation, King of Uruk and of Babylon, King of Denmark, who is strong as a star from heaven, who knows all the countries of the world.

     Gilgamesh's legs are crossed as he reclines in his chair, holding the plastic tablet in front of him at arm's length. He's wearing an open-top Hawaiian shirt floral-printed in shimmering silver and gleaming gold, exposing that very factually perfect physique for the world to see, and bright red shorts, and golden sandals. Sunglasses hang in front of his perfect face, slightly low on his nose as he looks at the pad.

     "You are the ones who desired a perfect King," he says matter-of-factly to the tablet, "You sought me out. You desired me. You pulled me from my time to govern you and placed me in charge. If you wish for me to govern, then do not question my orders."

     "It's not, questioning, exactly," the man says, "It's just that, Your Majesty, when we announce that...we're going to see arguments from the United Nations. There...there is this concept in this world called human rights-"

     Gilgamesh laughs. The man on the tablet frowns. "Sir, please, it could start sanctions. Sanctions the United Nations or the United States might-"

     Gilgamesh stops laughing. The man swallows. Gilgamesh stares at him until he bows his head. "Yes, Your Majesty. I'm sorry."

     "The wealth of the world will flow into our country. Those citizens will stop clamoring for rights when they live in luxury. They will stop clamoring for freedom when they live in glory. You will see. You will understand my wisdom."

     He pauses.

     "How do I turn this off?"

     The advisor on the screen tugs on his collar. "...the...the menu?"

     "..."

     "..."

     Gilgamesh just tosses the computer off the top of the building. It crashes to the ground far below, splintering. The King leans back as a serving girl peels a few grapes.

     "I hate those things," he says to the glazed-eyed people as he pulls a stone tablet out of the air. It hums with magic, words sketching across the air in front of it. He snaps his fingers.
Gilgamesh      Sitar music starts to play. The King of Heroes relaxes back and swirls his drink with a pleased look on his face.

     "Indeed this *is* a vacation home worthy of the King," he says cheerfully.
Tamamo no Mae     It was a nice day at the Millenium Capital, after all, it's after the Nerofest with Nero's gaudy outfit. The Caster is lazing upon her throne, content as she gnaws on this "hot dog" she made for Seifer, it's not bad, it's homemade so it's definitely better than what Nero makes. At least, in her opinion.

    "Alright, time to do..." she blinks, there's a window popping up... it's just red. The normal chimes that a Servant is invading her own land are replaced by something more threatening, actual sirens. "Nnngh...." she pulls out another window, frowning. Unknown entity... but there's a lot of 'gold' showing upon the window, even taking up her and Nero's former portions of land.

    Tamamo's not happy, and judging by things, Nero might not be either.

    She makes calls out, "The Moon Cell is under attack, specifically MY LAND is being taken over!" goes over the Concord radio's, some chatter and she responds, before throwing out on the broadband too. At least, she knows a few people are coming.

    Caster's already on the move, speaking upon the broadband. "Seifer, I'm going out for a while, I'll be home ... hopefully soon." she grins a bit and dives right into a peice of Gilgamesh's territory. She sends out the beacon and a summoning pad. Time to bring everyone here!
Nyrinel     MEANWHILE

"The face isn't... quite right..."

Someone has setup a low table in the relative proximity of Gilgamesh's prime sunning spot. That same someone is presently poking and prodding a mass of material on said table, it being manipulated with her bare hands like several lumps of white clay all put together. It looks like a bust. It looks like a bust of Vacation Gilgamesh, complete with collar and sunglasses rendered seperately.

It's absolutely Nyrinel. She's wearing a smock, and has her braid wound against the back of her head. All the sun makes her look especially pale. She occasionally wipes beads of sweat off her head near the bone-ridge across her forehead and sweeping back over her ears. "Maybe if I just... hmmmm." Nudge, nudge, Tweak, tweak. She peers between it and Gilgamesh thoughtfully, disappointed that she isn't able to get it as absolutely perfect as he is.

(Okay, she's a little bit starstruck. Can you blame her? King of Heroes. Divine beauty. C'mon.)
Nero      Over in the New Imperial Roman Republic, at the grand palace, literally a day after the Nero Festival has ended, Hakuno and Nero are relaxing out on a balcony overlooking the Moon Cell when suddenly...

     Suddenly there's a brillian, nonsensical, golden, THING that just interposes itself into the Moon Cell. Nero blinks mid way to plucking a grape into her Master's mouth. Hakuno blinks mouth opened.

     "Nero... is this another one of your stunts?" The Saber shakes her head. "Of course not! I just finished with my grand stunt yesterday!" She points off towards the structure, "That, there is a virus! A virus invading our lands!" The brunette sighs and brings up a holo menu to peer through some screens while Nero jabbers on the radio. "Hmmhmm... Looks like we can just teleport right over. Want to go take a look, Nero?"

     Nero, who finishes her chatter on radio looks to her Master and nods firmly. "Yes! Let us away at once! My righteous fury cannot be contained!" Aestus Estus is drawn and pointed at the castle in the distance. "Now, my Prator!"

     Hakuno sighs and hits a button, causing the both of them to break down into spiritrons, and fade away...

     ...And then they reappear from the gate, Hakuno and Nero both. The red clad woman IMMEDIATELY dives forward, blade cleaving through drones like a hot knife through butter. "Gilgamesh! You have made a grave error this day! Caster! Come!" Her Master stays back, of course, hands raised and swiping and poking through holo screens as she follows behind at a safe distance.

     "A vacation home though... Hm... Strange place to put one, but... Well."
Theurgus     Theurgus appears on the pad, tapping her boots on the pad before hopping off. She's holding two staves. One is her usual weapon, the marble embedded in the head gleaming a slowly rotating oilslick of magical energies. The other is a long, silvery spike that opens a flower-like antenna at one end. "I am on site. Begin the transfer. ACCESS!" She is engulfed in a pillar of light and code, emerging afterwards as Diamond Soul. "My offensive abilities will be limited while I am forced to carry my Relay, but I shall provide cover from above!" she says, flaring the clockwork wings of her Processors before bursting into the air.

    "Great Source! Mask of Bits and Code, fluttering wings, ye who bare the name of Program! Upon a wall of blue flame, inscribe a twinned lotus. In the abyss of conflagration, wait on the far Server. CONFLAGRATION DUST!" she recites, the marble of her staf turning a bright, shining red, before lances of intense flame rain down on the battlefield, trying to clear a path through the swarms of drones.
Solty Revant      After hearing what was happening and receiving directions, Solty Revant made her way here quickly. She was a bit torn, though. Miss Caster had been very nice to her, but Gilgamesh had actually helped save her adopted father from dying. Then again, Gilgamesh was doing something that to her was obviously bad. Showing up and simply claiming a place as yours when others are already living there, that's bad. Taking over the local residents, that's bad too.

     The green-haired android girl bursts through the teleport point before sliding to a stop. It takes her several meters to actually stop, but when she does she takes a moment to get a feel for the situation. And her green eyes widen like saucers at the sight before her. Some kind of...golden corruption spreading over the area?

     "What...what is happening?" she says aloud. Then as she hears all the talk on the radio she frowns. "Sorry, King Gilgamesh." she says quietly before she charges forward. Her fists glow softly with a yellow light and her already devastating punches actually cause her targets to explode. As she realizes that there are just too many to punch individually...she starts running. At full speed. With her arms held out like clothes lines. Each step she takes sends up a cloud of dust (or metal or whatever), and she is soon running about as fast as a supercar, but with the stopping power of a freight train. The path of destruction she leaves is probably visible from the sky, and pieces of drones as well as full drones are sent flying out like waves on water.
Krusty     Krusty was still in the Moon Cell after the end of the arena fight yesterday. He had taken the opportunity to do a little bit of exploring. It was also a nice excuse to delay his return to his work, if only for just a little. Lately he hasn't had a lot of chances to simply adventure, like he used to. However, he wasn't able to get that far into it when he starts to notice the people in the city he's visiting are starting to panic. Rushing about, raised voices. Krusty manages to grab a man that is running past and asks him, "What's happening?"

    The paniced man stutters, "I-I-It's an INVASION!" He's pointing into the distance. Krusty lets the man go, hurriedly walking to find an opening through the buildings around him. He quickly finds one on a nearby street and looks in the direction indicated... There he spots the golden palace in the distance. Krusty frowns at the sight, the intent of its owner already clear through the radio.

    Krusty raises a hand to his ear, waits for a moment, then speaks, "Misa, there's a situation. Grab Rieze and the first two raid teams and catch up with me. Got it?" Pause. "Sounds good. Hurry." Krusty lowers his hand again before reaching beneath his tabard. He pulls out a small whistle and blows. A few moments later a horse comes galloping from around the corner and comes to a stop next to the knight. Krusty mounts it and then takes off in a rush.

    The palace quickly getting closer, Krusty turns his head to see a few dozen more riders heading towards him from the direction of the nearby warpgate. They turn to move into pace behind Krusty, the two women leading them at the front speeding up beside him. Soon enough Krusty can see the army of drones not far ahead. He starts giving out orders, the formation of riders behind him solidifying with Krusty at the head. Within moments the cavalry formation charges into the drones. Krusty swings his sword at several while others are knocked over by his horse and trampled. Behind him a flurry of weapons are unleashed as the group of Adventurers cleave into the drone lines.
Nie Li     Certain events caused Nie Li to consider studying Seifer's living conditions. This lead to looking up what information the Concord had on Tamamo, the Moon Cell, and related worlds - what of it he could access, anyways.

    And it's enough information for him to know that someone taking over a far corner of the Moon Cell territory - already fragmented - is CONCERNING... but not a crisis.

    So when he arrives by stepping through whatever Warp Gate or summoning that Caster's prepared for them, one might wonder at how simply... at ease the young man is.

    Apart from an appreciative and brief smile for Tamamo, the youth mischeviously maneuvers his way to the point of conflict!

    Which brings the matter to this great golden land of pure, overwhelming....

    "... Such ostentatious and overbearing designs."

    He's not going to just come out swinging though! Not unless something threatens him. Or orders him to. The young man's more here to learn a few things of the area...

    And make sure that Seifer's wife doesn't get too hurt. Favors and debts must be repaid, after all.

    "It's amazing that this land reshapes itself to suit the owner's tastes, though. I wonder who could have made such a thing?"
Touta Konoe     A beacon is sent out and Tamamo alerts those closest...And some who she does not want to be close with to her aid. The last time that Tamamo's land ended up getting attacked as he recalled was when Demon Archer had attacked some time ago. It seems that this is a different sort of situation than that time however. Enough to warrant quite the army. Frankly the amassed man power is astonishing. Eventually Touta Konoe makes his return to the Moon Cell. Though it seems he's not alone at all.

    "Man, they really called in the cavalry on this one. Even I feel like this might be overkill..."

     Eventually he sees some familiar faces on the fore-front as he hopped off the warp gate.

     It's been a while since he's seen Solty but he recognizes her right off the bat as she's already chugging away towards the golden castle with the power of a train. He'll need to catch up in a moment. Then there's Krusty already getting on his steed to make a charge as well. Seemed like he hadn't left the Moon Cell either since the Nerofest ended. He didn't mind, if anything he trusted Krusty enough when it came to a group fight. Then of course there's the host and winner of the Nerofest charging forth through drones like she's a weed-whacker or something. To this he walks over to Hakuno giving a brief pat on the back.

     "Well, I didn't think I'd see you guys again so soon. Thought even less that we'd be fighting together. I guess if Archer was around you guys would have a big family reunion, huh?" Still with all these faces around he realizes that there's one person missing, Seifer. Maybe he was too hurt? Or perhaps Tamamo had told him to stay safe until he fully recovered? Well he wasn't sure exactly but he does know one thing...Someone's gotta look out for that crazy fox. So considering that Hakuno was her first master he'll say it so she doesn't panic too much.

     "Also, don't sweat too much about Caster. Even if Seifer's not around. She still has plenty of friends willing to look out for her."

     With that he heads off towards the battlefield performing his own weed-whacking schenanigans so that he can reach the Golden Castle along with the others. A flurry of sword strikes come to supprot Krusty's group of adventurers to which he shouts out to the spectacled warrior.

     "Krusty, looks like we still got one more round in the Nerofest to partner up for!" While this was definitely no time to be joking he seems to have a bit of a smile on his face.
Nobunaga     Pip, pip, pip, pip.

    A trio of small black shapes in ostentatious hats skirts the starting battle, scooting along the edge of claimed territory. The leader stops with a twirl, placing their hands down, and heaving the second into a tree. This is repeated for the third. A moment later, both figures in the tree hang down and haul their leader up into it. Leaves are nudged aside, and a small spyglass extends amidst hushed whispering.

    After a few moments, one of the figures pops out the top of the tree, flailing its arms in a series of obscure gestures.

    Some considerable distance away, a dark silhouette lowers binoculars from glowing crimson eyes, framed by a billowing crimson cape, "A new pawn has appeared on the board. Time to see how the other pieces respond." She takes a step forward, dropping off the Appropriately Dramatic Precipace she had been standing on.
Gilgamesh      All of a sudden there's a whole lot of irritating noise below the King's balcony. A whole lot of dogs just burst through the doors, slicing into drones, hacking into the bronze-headed soldiers with blade, fist, spell, and other. Nero, Touta and Krusty carve into the drones with ease, adventurers falling in behind their leader as they hack and slash into the soldiers. Solty pushes her fists into drones and sends them flying into the water. Lances of fire come raining down to explode them. The drones are no match; they're pathetic, powerless, pointless creatures that can barely fight back. They're cannon fodded holding the four main areas of the 'vacation palace' - the courtyard, the pool, the inside, and the balcony. As the battle starts, Moon Cell lines etch themselves into the ground, clearly delineating each field. Counters pop up near peoples' heads as they kill. There's even a minimap.

     Is this an effect of the Moon Cell? Or is Gilgamesh's presence distorting it that thoroughly?

     It's almost assuredly the second.

     Gilgamesh sighs.

     "So many mongrels barking on my lawn," He mutters as he sits up and flicks his sunglasses into his blonde hair, undoubtedly making Nyrinel's life enormously difficult in the process. He walks to the edge of the balcony, folds his hands behind him, and looks down. Everybody down there gets a look at him, the glorious golden King of All Creation, and for a brief instant one might actually be tempted to believe his words. He radiates authority, power, and glory in a way that no one else there does, as if it was part of his very being, as if it was encoded in his very blood. It might be. He is two-thirds god, after all.

     The King snaps his fingers.

     All around the battlefield, ripples open.

     This is not a good place to be.

     "Very well, mongrels. I may as well entertain myself watching you squirm, the King says, and his voice can be heard all throughout the Moon Cell. The next words probably strike fear into the souls of those who know what it is, who know what's coming - or had some inkling. They resound throughout the fields, and holographic WARNING FIELD HAZARD WARNING FIELD HAZARD signs flash in front of the challengers.

     "GATE OF."

     "BABYLON."

     What pours out of the Gate is nothing less than death. Swords, axes, spears, all manner of weapons, each more magical than the last, each a high-ranking Noble Phantasm that makes even jewels and gold look dull. Countless weapons, countless articles of pure and unbelievable magic, countless treasures of a time long ago, they stream from the gate from the trees, from the pool, from the sky.

     Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm *is* a field hazard unto itself.
Tamamo no Mae     With her 'minions' going, Tamamo grins at this, she didn't expect such a turn out, but hey, she'll take it where she can get it. Even if it also means allying with Nero.

    Especially with Nero...

    At least she has some reliable faces with her and she's fine with this. Letting everyone, but Hakuno, go ahead of her. "Hakuno, be careful. If some drones come this way, don't hesitate to call someone back to help. I'll leave a lot here to guard you." with this, there's a lot of support drones, Aggressors and even a /plant/.

    With this, Tamamo dashes off and flies into the next section, watching the 'carnage' come. She's going to take back her land, and possibly some of Nero's while she's at it, and nothing will stop her. She will NOT give up her stuff, not after what it took to get this. She looks up into the sky to the big cube floating above, the Moon Cell. She gives a brief nod and, with a kiss upon her ring, the Moon Cell shoots down a beam of light upon the fox!

    One possibly lengthy transformation sequence later.

    Moon Crux Tamamo enters the scene. "I'm not playing games today, like I was back at Nerofest!" she shouts, dashing into a group of drones, swirling around the floating 'tails' of ice to knock them silly, then pulling the 'tails' forward to laser cannon a group! "Mikon! Go, continue through, watch for trapped areas! I have no code casts to protect you from anything!"

    Speaking of trapped areas, the 'stage hazard' screen shows up and Tamamo's on guard... as best as she can be. The weaponry that flies out towards her smashes right into her, cutting into her, sending splats of blood onto the ground... and Tamamo's not having this, she's angry, she's MORE than angry. But not yet, she's not going to use her Noble Phantasm just yet.

    Tamamo pushes forward, letting whomever is in this room, deal with all the bots. She's going take a section herself and bring out the baddy. "GET OVER HERE, COWARD!" she shouts, lasering more things!
Nero      Hakuno Looks to Tamamo and nods. "Alright, Caster. I know that combat isn't where I should be anyway, so..." A bit, wry smile. "I'll be staying back here and hopefully not being killed." She's been through so many conflicts that a joke like that is more funny than morbid to her. Amazing. And then, several aggressors and a plant are deployed around her, and the brunette looks around and nods. "Thanks, Caster." A cheeky little smile forms. "I'd rub your tail as a reward, but I'm afraid your husband might kill me."

     And then, Caster runs off, with a wave from the Master. "Be careful!" She calls after the fox, before suddenly eeping at being pat on the back. She looks up from her floating screens to glance aside at Touta. "Oh, uh, Touta. Hello." She smiles sheepishly and then looks on up and ahead as Nero, Tamamo, and plenty others come barreling ahead to combat this drone threat.

     "... Y-Yes... not exactly how I figured the day after the end of Nero Festival would go, but... here we are." She shakes her head at the mention of Caster and smiles, looking over into the distance at said fox. "She'll be fine. Caster is very strong. In certain ways." Her head tilts just a tad. "Just like how Saber is very strong in certain ways. I'm proud to have worked with them both, and Archer."

     And with that said, Touta runs off, and the brunette waves in farewell. "Stay safe out there!" Hakuno calls, before going back to monitoring the battle situation.

     The battle situation being that Gilgamesh decided to unleash a massive storm of weaponry from his Gate of Babylon! "Uh oh..." She mumbles, looking a tad worried for the combatants.

     MEANWHILE

     Nero cuts through drone after drone, sparks, steel, and flame whirling all about her as she moves forward. ... Right up until STAGE HAZARD appears in her vision. "What manner of..." She looks up, and then balks. Swords, spears, axes, and the kitchen sink rain from the sky all over, striking the field, cutting into her in various places, while she swings her sword to deflect others. "YOU!" She growls in the aftermath, and dashes forward, cutting through the remaining drones before making her way to another zone. "Gilgamesh! King of Heroes! I acknowledge your ability, but be that as it may, you will not have this land!"
Krusty     Most of the horses ridden by Krusty and his guild go down fairly quickly, only able to take a few strikes from the drones before collapsing. At this point their riders jump off. Those on the edge of the formation start to engage the drones in melee fighting. Those in the middle are slinging spells around all over the place, some healing their fellows, others exploding or freezing drones.

    Krusty has also lost his horse and is in the middle of cutting a drone in two with his large sword when he grins and replies to Touta, "Maybe we unlocked the bonus boss." Unfortunately for them, it seems like it's the extra hard one.

    Amidst the chaos of the fight, not many of Krusty's guild notice the ripples forming in the air. Those who do aren't aware of their purpose until its too late. Dozens of weapons rain down on the Adventurer formation, many of them only surviving one hit before falling to the ground. Some manage to prepare defenses in time to at least prevent their death when the weapons strike, but still leaving them on the verge.

    Krusty and his two lieutenants fare the best, the weapon sent flying at Krusty digging through his armour but ultimately deflected to the side. Rieze raises a magical barrier to protect herself while Misa spins her scythe to deflect the one sent at her.

    Seeing the situation unfold before him, Krusty shouts to his guildmates, "Raid teams, clear the area! Misa, Rieze, we're pushing through!" Krusty begins to charge forward to the next zone, sword lashing out in front of him as he starts to clear a path with his lieutenants following.
Nyrinel Nyrinel's job gets much harder. First, she tweaks the nose juuust right... and everything seems much better with the world. She idly snatches a gold coin out of the air, so smoothly it seems like it just happened to land in her fingers and then disappear behind her smock somewhere. Back to work after that. A little adjustment; a closer look at the King of Heroes; another minute nudge...

'Mongels' appear. Nyrinel gets worried, largely because that means -- "Tch...!" Gilgamesh gets up and gets dramatic. The posing is ruined. She has to work from memory now, which won't do him justice. Her shoulders slump. Her expression fills with despair. Her ears fill with the voice of Kingly Command. She sighs deeply.

"Sire, if you insist, but I must ask that you --" Knives sprout between her fingertips out of approximately nowhere. She flicks them across the space between them, aiming up Gilgamesh's leg and hip, to slow him down and get him to, say, want to take a load off. "-- /remain seated/ until I have finished!!"

Nyrinel takes her art /very seriously/.
Solty Revant      Solty's charge through the ranks comes to a stop when Touta appears. She raises a gloved hand to wave to him, then starts forward again. She blinks in surprise and slows once more then that warning pops up. "...hazard?" she says quietly and looks around.

     Only for the proverbial flood gates to open and a torrent of deadly weapons to come flooding out at her and just about everyone else. "Wh-what in the...!!" She tries to endure, like she almost always does. It works on just about everything she's ever faced.

     It doesn't work this time. The many weapons cut into her armored body like it is tissue paper, and she is carried away in the flood of weapons with a pained cry. When she finally manages to extract herself she leaps back and lands in a heap, shuddering in pain and sparking with electricity along the many deep cuts on her android body. Her left arm is barely functional, and it looks like she is having trouble standing as she slowly gets back to her feet. "Wh-...what was that?" she says through clenched teeth, one eye closed against the pain. And also because of a slash along that side of her face.

     She takes a moment to collect herself, then charges forward again. Once again she is heading straight toward the golden throne, smashing as many of those drones as she can in the process and kicking up chunks of the ground with her powerful steps. "Stop this, King Gilgamesh! This place doesn't belong to you!"
Theurgus     Theurgus, being so high above the field itself, has at least a modicum of time to see the incoming field attack. The noble phantasms shoot out, and the flying Drive Core Controller just barely manages to thread a needle through the gaps in the fussilade. Red marks of damaged code, and fragments of formerly intact defensive shields fall away from her after the strike is done, leaving her worse for wear, but not in as much danger as those who had no warning before getting skewered.

    The DCC dips lower, and starts to fire short bursts of elemental magic at the Drones to thin their numbers and cut a path through to Gilgamesh's little impromptu throne on the balcony. She even erects a few firewalls to block off reinforcements while the main group push forward. "ONWARD. Locus is with you!" she calls out.
Touta Konoe     Field hazard? That was an understatement. What was going on was not just a field Hazard, it was a full on bombardment! An assortment of weapons come flying down like rain and Touta's doing everything in his power to dodge, but uhm...Let's just say that he's quite glad that immortality is a thing cause he's well aware he'd probably be dead ten times over with this clash.

     "I don't know about you but this bonus boss feels way overleveled!!!"

     That's the only immediate reply that he can to Krusty as he makes his statement about Gilgamesh. With just a wave of his hand he had caused such a massive flurry of attacks to rain down upon everyone. Even Touta's aware that what's going on is ridiculous. He's pretty sure even immortals would have a hard time trying to survive through all this nonsense.

    Though the one who looks like they're really receiving the brunt of it is the android girl who recognized Touta. The one who waved to him when she should have been paying more attention.

     "SOLTY!!!"

     He shouts but its too late and she takes a brutal assault just as he did. Though this girl seems pretty resilient as she just picks herself up and heads straight for the throne herself. Well that was no good. So seeing as she charges in he runs to make this a tag-team effort raising his blade once more just trying to reach into striking distance of this guy. Slashing away at what feels like an endless supply of drones as he tries to make his way towards the King of Heroes!
Nie Li     When the king of the castle gazes down at those gathered, well, Nie Li's there to be looking back. He hasn't been joining in any of the fighting yet, since he was actually hoping to get to the bottom of what's going on and scope the situation out for his allies first.

    But they just rush in...

    "This..." There's absolutely no words for such recklessness! His centuries of combat experience screams at how bloody STUPID this 'just CHARGE!' approach is.

    But the King is gazing down, and Nie Li's looking straight back up at him.

    Nie Li doesn't feel one bloody BIT of shame or guilt for trespassing here. The aura of authority flows around and past him like a stone in the middle of a river.

    The blue-eyed youth tenses severely at seeing that overbearing gaze though. The hostility in them is unmistakable, however cloaked by majesty it might be.

    And so his blue eyes shift subtly to solid, iris-less black.

    And it's a good thing, because then the air swirls with golden portals and he sees the tips of weapons emerge...

    Oh, CRAP!

    The only thing that saves him is well-honed combat instincts that no thirteen-year-old has a right to have. Shadowy blades extend from his wrist at tremendous speeds! And with a display of skill and agility the shadow-sickles clash and deflect with swords, axes, and spears, sending them flying off into the scenery, nearby drones, the ground, whatever and wherever. Hopefully not allies though.

    Nie Li's too on the defense to really track everyone. "Gah... to think I'd be pressured this much...!! What is that man?!" And where did he get so much AWESOME STUFF?!

    Nie Li can't help but feel a spark of quickly-subdued envy at this display of opulent, exorbitant, and overwhelming warfare!

    The onslaught contains as he begins to back up, sidestepping and parrying and zipping this way and that. He is NOT going to make the mistake of activating Void Form while under Gilgamesh's direct observation.

    "Tchk.... I might have to get serious just to survive...!"

    Eventually he DOES slip up, and an axe manages to come swinging out and strike him in the arm! *CLANGG!!!*

    Well. So much for THAT Silver-grade set of armor, worn under his clothes. The enchanted mail's chopped through, having only partially slowed the weapon. Blood drips down his arm, but far less than ought to come from such a wound...

    "Fine. You want to tussle with me? We'll see if you're qualified!"

    As soon as he backflips high into the sky, wisps of energy flow from the boy's ring, forming into a vivid blue straight sword that, at a glance, is just as lustrous as any of the pieces from the Gate of Babylon.

    He injects his spirit into the weapon, and the air grows charged with static. Overhead the skies swirl and darken, great stormclouds appearing to darken the palace.

    And then the lightning strikes down from the heavens in huge splashing bolts that scorch their way through fields of drones.

    One sole bolt also strikes out from Gilgamesh, coming from straight above. Lightning does, after all, prefer to strike the highest targets!
Nobunaga     As the courtyard fight wages on between guild members and homunculi, something curious happens. Small creatures, vaguely resembling a person in a black uniform, come pouring out of the spaces surrounding the Babylonian vacation palace. They don't join the actual battle, but rather, dash across the courtyard to the area underneath the balcony. Here, one hops on another's shoulders, and another-- and they begin stacking themselves up in a noisy, chattering pile.

    The last one to arrive is not one of these charicatures, but an actual person. She strides through the fight, only deflecting weapons that come her way. A boot is raised, and she...steps on the head of the lowermost homunculi. And ascends the pile like a staircase to the balcony railing.

    At the top, she tugs the brim of her cap down, stepping out over the railing and dropping to floor level. Behind her, the Nobbu disperse into the infantry battle.

    "I'm a little upset that I wasn't invited," the Demon Archer states, "So I've come to crash this housewarming party." Her lips split into a malicious fang-toothed grin, and she nudges her cap up just enough to show the crimson glow behind her eyes.
Gilgamesh      Nobunaga arrives. Gilgamesh's face genuinely lights up to see her. Like he's smiling. Like he's *happy* to see her. Her glowing eyes are just like his own. "If I had known you were coming, Demon King, I would have prepared an outfit for you. Accept my apologies. Unfortunately, this was a bit short-notice." He puts both hands on his hips and grins at her. On him, the ridiculous gold-and-silver outfit looks finer than the finest formalwear. Even this thing can't look bad on him.

     The sheer force of Caster's lasering tears through minions in the pool area. She hits hard enough that the counter just keeps climbing, and with Nero present, those numbers are going up faster and faster. They've already almost broken three hundred, each. It goes more and more rapidly until finally the pool flips. Red light pours up around the field. There's a big FIELD CAPTURED notice that flashes across everybody's faces in holographic imagery.

     Then the field goes yellow, and the message FIELD NEUTRAL flashes across Nero and Caster's.

     Because of course it does. They're both Queens. They can't both take the same land.

     Gilgamesh looks down at Nero and Tamamo. "Hmph. Calling the King of Heroes a coward? You are some fools. But the barking of mongrels cannot reach the King, and no matter how you cut through those minions you cannot-"

     Whatever he was about to say is cut off as Nyrinel knifes him. He grabs his leg, blood flowing down it. Even the *blood* is gorgeous; even the WOUND looks perfect, not a blemish, not the unsightliness of blood, but an affectation, a bloody one. He stumbles, turning on her with irritation in his eyes - and then the lightning bolt comes down and smashes into his back. One of the drones Solty smashes hits him and sends him falling forward, onto his golden lawn chair (it was a lawn chair, not a throne). The...serving folks...scatter. They're real people, and no matter how glorious Gilgamesh is, they don't want to die.

     Theurgus, Touta, and Krusty and his army come charging into the palace directly, carving through more regal-looking drones. These are the nicer ones, decked out in gold, with gold weapons. They're no match for the party, though; Touta's blade, Nie Li's thunder, Solty's smashing, Theurgus's blasts, and Krusty's soldiers and slashing are far too much.

     And then Krusty says something.

     Another FIELD CAPTURED message pops up as Gilgamesh stands back to his proper height. The inner field of the castle shifts colors, and the drones are swarmed by Caster's minions. That's two of the four.

     Gilgamesh just *shoves* Nyrinel aside with one hand and the strength of a star. He stops long enough to look back at Nobunaga. "If you want to come see for yourself, then feel free to follow me."

     "I am going to go be magnanimous."
Gilgamesh      Suddenly, a warning appears on everyone's holographic heads-up.

WARNING! WARNING! APPROACHING FIELD HAZARD! APPROACHING POWERFUL ENEM-

The warning hiccups. The words fuzz out.

THE KING IS COMING. ALL HAIL THE KING. ALL PRAISE THE KING. ALL FEAR THE KING.

     And then, like that, he is there. He emerges from the stairs behind the throne, clad in a gold-and-silver open Hawaiian shirt that shows off the majesty of a perfect body. In red shorts that show off the majesty of a perfect body. In gold sandals that prove even his feet without flaw. He's walking forward, and the power spike is enormous. A moment ago he wasn't even trying.

     "Ordinarily, mongrels," Gilgamesh says in his usual, condescending tone, "I would not bother to do this myself. But since you broke into my home and keep shouting at me to show you the truth of my words, I've decided to be generous and take you up on it."

     "Aren't you lucky."

     Then he laughs. His hand goes to his head. "Well. That, and I've decided to show off some of my toys. Feel thankful, mongrels! Feel glee! Not many get to see this delightful show."

     The Gate opens. Gilgamesh reaches in.

     What comes out is pure lightning without form.

     He's literally holding lightning. Caster, Nero, Nie Li, Touta, Nobunaga, and Theurgus can all tell without a second glance that it's not just any lightning - it's divine lightning. It jumps and plays in his hands like a slinky in the hands of a child, like a toy. An hilariously deadly toy.

     Gilgamesh holds up his hand.

     "I am the one who rules the Heavens."

     The magical power flares. The world goes dark around him. "I am the one who speaks for the storm."

     "I am the one whose words are thunder."

     "Awake."

     WARNING! WARNING!

     ARGES BRONTES STEROPES - LIGHTNING FROM THE BRIGHT THUNDERER

     He throws it. He is the very image of a god of thunder as the bolt of power leaves his hands, as it *ROCKS* through the field, centered on Krusty and his forces. Indeed, all of that divine wrath is given directly to Krusty and his team; everyone else just gets pieces as it splinters. Except Caster and Saber.

     Saber and Caster get swords flying at them. Swords they recognize. Swords they *know*.

     It's like he's insulting their very right to be kings.

     Because he totally is.
Nobunaga     "I rather prefer my uniform," Nobunaga responds to Gilgamesh regarding clothing, "My sense of taste differs from yours." Well, she is from ancient Japan. A notoriously modest national culture. Her eyes dart when Nyrinel attacks the King. Various other spells and attacks crash down around him, and Nobunaga simply watches with glittering crimson eyes.

    She places her hand on the hilt of her katana.

    When Gilgamesh shoves Nyrinel aside and steps forward to defend his claim with something... Those crimson eyes narrow. Something undeniably divine. A tool of the gods.

    "You should know something about me, King of Heroes." Her free hand gestures, and a rifle appears. This falls into her grip, comfortable and familiar, "My goal is to unify the Moon Cell. Through force, if necessary." More rifles begin appearing around her. As the cluster of weapons expands, so too does her shadow, stretching across the balcony. As it nears objects that are not stone or metal-- like curtains or the lounger or food or Nyrinel's unfinished painting (if it isn't rescued) they begin to wrinkle, sizzle, and burn.

    "You wanted to fight me. Creating a new territory and inciting violence in a previously peaceful country is a good way to get my attention. So I suppose I shall do as I have always done, and bring peace to this nation through force," The weapon she holds is held up, and in that gesture every rifle floating around Nobunaga suddenly swings around, aimed directly at the King of Heroes. She swings her held weapon down, followed by the noisy clicking of every rifle produced cocking back its matchlock lever.

    "Witness the Demon King's descent, and prostrate your corpse before Three Thousand Souls upon the Three Steps of Nagashino!"

    Her finger squeezes. The gun in her hand discharges, followed by the rapid staccato of rifles surrounding her doing the same.
Nyrinel The King bleeds.

The King bleeds /beautifully/.

Gilgamesh reaches out to shove Nyrinel aside with the strength of a star. Nyrinel steps aside like she was a dancer on a ballroom floor following his steps. Her slender fingers brush Gilgamesh's outstretched arm, delicate hand tracing musculature while red eyes follow the lines of veins and muscles up towards his shoulder. She sighs with obvious pleasure at such a simple thing. "Perfect," she says.

Up close, Gilgamesh can see that the sculptor is not at all human. Her eyes have an almost draconic cast to them, a slight narrowing of her pupils. Her fingernails are trimmed but the beginnings of clawlike in shape. Her skin is scaled extremely finely, giving her the almost luminescent cast that the sunlight provides. It gives her a ghostly pallor that has nothing to do with a lack of lack of exposure to daylight, and everything to do with the ridge of bones across her brow and swept over her ears.

He can also tell that she is perhaps /uncomfortably/ interested in him for his perfect pieces rather than for the sum of them all. Bleeding doesn't detract from it; it just lets her get a good look at her prize for potentially felling this King of Heroes... at his own request, no less.

She follows, withdrawing to a perfect distance for a dutiful servant, walking with the quiet stride of someone who is practiced in obedience. When he throws that lightning, she watches with awe. When it explodes into forks, she gasps. When he summons swords... she clicks her tongue. "Steel does not suit you, sire," Nyrinel opines. She reaches behind her and draws a pair of long bones off her belt, stuck through loops like extra material. The elf murmurs words of power, invoking Bone itself. She taps them together once, twice, three times --

Dust hisses to the floor as the bones simply change into her desired shape. Short swords -- long knives, really -- rest in her hands. Paired, with slender blades and a delicate curve to blade and hilt. Fine whorls are etched into the surface, making the weapons appealing to the eye and functional in the hands of an experienced warrior. "This will do you better."

Nyrinel tests them on Gilgamesh's perfect body. Long, shallow cuts, sweeping and whirling. Flesh wounds. Messy ones. "Once they have been anointed in the blood of the divine, then I can...!"

Meanwhile, Nyrinel's sculpture may begin to burn. It's bone, after all. It may blacken. Perhaps it will enhance the beauty of the thing.
Tamamo no Mae     Tamamo growls, "The barking of 'mongrels' who know the lay of the land, who have worked tirelessly to achieve this, to have some ... UPSTART ... take it, and not even a /SERVANT/. You are low, you are lower than the humans who can't use magecraft, you are lower than the insects that get crushed beneath my divine foot." with the Castle captured, Tamamo lets out a victory 'mikon', only to see the warning come into full view. "Drones, secure this area, I'm dealing with a flea."

    When the lightning is pulled out of the Gate, Tamamo actually backs up just slightly, she knows that lightning, at least in history, but when it goes sailing right past her, and into the group of people behind her? Oh, that just doesn't settle well with the fox. Not... at all. "Divine lightning? Do you have anything worthy to show me in that little bag of tricks you have there, oh JOKER OF URUK!?"

    And that's...that's when Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi gets thrown right at her. The sword of Japan... the sword she knows quite well... and the sword just so happens to peirce her side, embedding it right into her, the force of it knocks her back and she skids... she's injured, the wound bleeding, but she can't give up right now, she's got her own country to save, the Moon Cell to take over.

    She grabs the hilt and slowly pulls it out of her like a samurai would draw his own blade out of the sheath. "GILGAMESH. I Hold the Regalia, the proof of DIVINE AUTHORITY in the Moon. You are intruding on MINE... and to a lesser extent SABER's land. I shall not tolerate this indignant, abhorrent, beauty-devoid, gaudy area to sit around and infect the lands we so hold!"

    Tamamo stomps towards Gilgamesh, Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi in hand, lit up on fire. The two tail-options turn their tailtips towards Gilgamesh, the fox's face into a frown, "I am the DIVINE RULER of the Moon Cell, and a mere, KING... is NOTHING to me."

    "You threw the sword of my homeland at me. And now, I'm going to return it, tenfold!" For Tamamo, she becomes as a blur, the trail of ice and fire colors, bouncing from her original position, across enemy drones, then onto Gilgamesh. It's an Extella Maneuver, her high speed attacking! The last attack, the one directed at Gilgamesh, has the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi pointed directly at him, thanks to Nero, as she attempts to plunge it right into him!
Theurgus     Well, that's certainly a trick. Theurgus wasn't expecting electrical attacks, and the scintilating arcs of bleed-over electrical run off from that lightning bolt pop the gems mounted in her Processors, the defensive measures totally overwhelmed as they attempt to, but fail horribly, to absorb the electricity. She falls from the air, crashing into a wall from the impact.

    She groggily gets up after a moment, lifting back into the air on an unsteady pair of wings. "Is that... really all you have to offer?" she goads, twirling her staff and jamming her Relay into the wall behind her.

    "Phantom howl of the gibbous moon. Lohing sigh in the black abyss. Raucous laughter upon the high mountain. Lamenting wail in the blue valley. Appointed Star. Greater Protector, Grant unto thy vessel a boon of thy power. I summon the Wheel of Fate, spin unto this world, and render judgement. BLASPHEMOUS THEORETICAL! She aims the head of her staff at Gilgamesh, encircling his position with a gridwork of magical seals, and opens a rift that aims to pull him into it and crush his essense into nothing.
Krusty     Bits of a golden drone go flying into the throne room, Krusty charging in soon after having smashed the drone with a strike. His two lieutenants quickly follow in behind him, while the rest of his forces stay outside to cover their backs. Krusty glances around the well decorated room, admittedly a little impressed. That changes quickly though as Gilgamesh steps out from behind the throne.

    Krusty stands straight when faced with the so-called King, showing no fear of submission as he speaks, "You have power, I grant you that. But power alone is not all there is to being a leader. And you show none of the other qualities. And I doubt you ever will. So once again, your words mean nothing."

    Krusty watches as that floating light is summoned once more and Gilgamesh is able to wield lightning in his hand. But the knight doesn't budge, eyes locked with the King of Heroes.

    It's as Gilgamesh throws the magical power that Krusty rushes forward. He has time to barely get a few steps forward, but it's enough to place him ahead of his lieutenants. Those he leads. Those he is supposed to protect. It's enough for him to take the brunt of the assault.

    The lightning rips throw Krusty's armour, sparking across joints and burning holts of golden light into it. Krusty lets out a pained cry, barely audible over the sound of the thunder. The attack only lasts for a few moments, but by the time its over Krusty's armor is badly scorched, attesting to just how bad his body must be.

    The knight falls to his knees, before keeling over onto his side. Misa calls with concern, "My Lord!" Her scythe clatters to the ground as she rushes up to kneel beside Krusty, checking on him. Wisps of colourful light in the form of musical notes appear dancing around her, accompanied by a soothing melody. Small motes of light begin to rain on Krusty as Misa attempts to heal him. The look on her face suggests Misa is concerned that it's no where near enough.

    It's Krusty's other lieutenant who takes the sight before her the worst. Rieze's eyes are wide in shock, her hands trembling. But within moments her expression changes to one of anger. She grips the wand in her hand hard, quickly snapping it up above her head. Intense light begins to shine from the crystal atop it, easily lighting up the throne room and glittering in the copious amounts of gold. Through gritted teeth, Rieze growls at Gilgamesh, "How DARE YOU! Freezing Liner!"

    Rieze swings the wand down, pointing it in Gilgamesh's direction. The massive column of ice magic blasts forth from the magic weapon. It sweeps across the throne room at incredible speed, quickly expanding in size until it's easily able to engulf the king entirely.
Nero      Hakuno stays way way back at the edge of this warzone, using a holo screen to zoom in a bit and catch sight of what's going on here. No need for her to be up front to risk getting wiped by the spillover of a freaking Original Lightning Bolt. No thanks. She's just a regular ol human in the midst of these Warriors, Gods, Kings, Queens, and everything inbetween.

     They say that people die when they are killed. And yet, so many violate that statement to a gross degree. But no. Not Hakuno. She would die if she were killed.

     Nero meanwhile is left widening her eyes as pure lightning races past her and obliterates Krusty. "........" She blinks slowly, and looks behind herself to see what in the world just happened. And then she looks back. Just in time to see THAT SWORD flying right for her. "Is that-... IS THAT---!?" Nero swings Aestus Estus upwards just in time to clash with the Prototype Crocea Mors and keep it from running her through.

     Instead, it slices past her shoulder, causing blood to run down her form. "Tsk-!" The Roman Emperor grits her teeth, but then she grins. "Mhmhmhm! I see the irony of throwing the sword of my ancestors at me! Very droll! Fine then King of Heroes! Allow me to respond in kind!" She whips her arm out in Hakuno's direction. "Praetor! Command me!"

     Hakuno peeks out from behind a pillar and steps out with a nod. "... Okay." She raises her hand and frowns in concentration. "Saber! By my Command Seal; Show this King of Heroes your true power!" One of the sections of the crest on her hand glows brightly, then dulls, and then, Nero explodes in a billowing burst of crimson light, whipping up her dress and hair while she smiles widely.

     "As you command, my Praetor!"

     She shouts, and produces a single red rose from out of nowhere. "King of Heroes! You are a formidable foe! Therefore, allow me to show you my strength!" That rose is tossed into the air, where it explodes into a shower of petals. Meanwhile, the Saber's weapon bursts into a brilliant flame. A swirling prominence that dances along the surface. And then that sword is gripped in both hands and held back. Nero kicks off the ground, speeding forward a ways before she lets loose that furious flaming swing upon Gilgamesh.

     "Laus Saint Claudius!"

     Following those words, a massive, whirling explosion of flame bursts outwards in the arc of her slash and bathes the King's position in its scorching might.
Solty Revant      Solty lands on the balcony with the others, then blinks and watches in a bit of awe as Gilgamesh produces that divine lighting. As he raises a hand to throw it she draws back as well, ready to dash through the hit and deliver a punch to the King. But, she apparently isn't the real target of his attack even though she and a few others are standing before him now. The message pops up in front of her and she blinks in confusion just before she is hit with the radiant shocking power of Zeus's thunderbolt. She yelps as the electricity arcs over her, but compared to the last hit she took this is nothing.

     As she stands before Gilgamesh, Solty holds up the hand of her good arm. It steadily gains a bright yellow glow and begins to blur as it vibrates with power. "Sorry, King Gilgamesh! But, you invaded Miss Caster's land and she asked for my help!" she exclaims before leaping toward Gilgamesh, aiming a power-packed punch at his chest. She may not have the power of a star behind her punch, but it is still quite strong! And all that energy packed into her punch explodes on impact, adding even more destructive power.
Nie Li     Nie Li GAPES as Gilgamesh pulls out what looks like lightning itself. But it's... the same kind of lightning that he just used. Divine lightning from the heavens.

    A shudder runs through him. What are the CHANCES of encountering someone else with such powers?! His blood runs cold. All of his instincts are screaming that he SHOULD NOT face this man. Not until he's at least begun to cultivate Heavenly energy. Only death will come from facing him head-on like this, without a plan.

    And so every fiber of his being is on high alert. Finely honed survival instincts are the only thing keeping this boy - who is definitely the youngest of this bunch, at a glance - alive.

    DOWN comes the lightning. And Nie Li's brow furrows fiercely. He freezes in place, right as the lightning strikes...

    The air's filled with the smell of singed flesh, but...as the brilliant flash fades... Nie Li ain't there anymore. What the hell happened?

    Oh, but there is something ELSE. Far off to the left of where he was before, in a clearing where the drones have been scattered... there now stands a mighty, seven-foot-tall, and quite girthy PANDA MAN (albeit this panda has mostly brown fur) in the same clothes that Nie Li exchanges black fur for brown) that wasn't there a second ago.

    A streak runs down his front, a scorch mark across his chest where the lightning grazed him. The sword that he'd brought out has vanished. But he gazes up at the King with angry and determined purpose.

    *SMACK!* PAnda-form Nie Li slams his beefy palms together, fingers held flat against each other and pointed upwards. And he begins to DEEPLY INHALE.

    Spiritual senses would begin to surge, if anyone's paying attention, as his chest swells out and a mighty energy builds. No, TWO mighty energies...

    And then, the beast opens its mighty maw in a ROAR that's not so much beastly, and more the howling of raw energies unleashed into the world!

    A pair of glowing orbs, one of deepest black and the other purest white, erupt from his roaring mouth. They fly with the deadly certainty of meteors, but spiral around each other in a tightly-bound course straight for Gilgamesh!

    And when they near him, and mix with the flames of Nero's blast... the two orbs smash into one another.

    And the whole world in front of Gilgamesh will promptly go WHITE. A thunderous shockwave races across the battlefield, blowing anything loose over. And as for Gilgamesh's palace... unless it's utterly indestructible, whatever he's standing on will probably be broken to bits and fly apart.
Touta Konoe     Panic arises in Touta's face as this guy pulls out a literal lightning bolt...Instinctually Touta's already reding for his hoop while he still has the chance. Thankfully, Gilgamesh is generous enough to boast enough to allow him to get it moving, unfortunately it's not enough time to stop the attack before Krusty's completely overwhelmed along with the rest of his comrades.

    "KRUSTY!"

    He screams out the warrior's name like that's gonna do anything. It doesn't as he watches that divine lightning bear down upon someone he would consider a friend at this point. As the splinters of lightning spray down upon him though, Touta's left hand sweeps across in front of him. The splinters disappear as if they had been erased though if you were to look at the boy's hand there still looked like there was some static pulsating from his palm. He can tell if anyone else gets hit by something like that again it'll be over for them... So if that's the case...

    Touta's already well aware though, Gilgamesh truly is a monster in the most literal sense of the word. Even with everyone here it feels like they're barely making a dent in this guy... If they were gonna get back the territory of the Moon Cell that was gonna have to change.

     "Alright, let's try for this...Grasp the Earth!"

     Touta decides to use speed rather than power to try and get to Gilgamesh. His body blurs as he cuts through the distance, taking the opportunity of Gil's distorted attention from the attacks of the others.

     It's an attack that wouldn't be flashy, but it'll get him close and personal with the king...

     ("If I want to really dig at him I'll need to get in close...Man, this might actually kill me.") Those are the thoughts going through his head as he finally would appear within striking range of the King of Heroe's. It won't be as powerful, and it won't be as flash but it'll be an attack. An attack meant to put him right where he wants to be. Looking Gil dead in the eyes with a smug smile on his face and a bead of sweat that he's really hoping the King doesn't notice.
Gilgamesh      She shoots him in the back.

     Anti-Divine Bullets pierce right through the King of Heroes. They go in, they bypass his defenses, and they come right out the other side. Blood spills down his chest, glorious and beautiful. He grabs his chest, and Nyrinel surges forward, cutting into his skin. The flesh wounds are big and messy, and yet, again, even THESE are perfect, even THESE are beautiful. Even these gaping wounds in his chest and his arms are beautiful.

     Tamamo speaks. Gilgamesh is too far gone in real pain, some of the first he's felt in ages, to respond, or to catch his own weapon flung back at him. It digs into his flesh as she hammers him, bounding left and right, hitting him with fire, with ice, with high-speed slashes, and then she plants the blade right in his chest.

     Rieza hammers Gilgamesh with a blast of ice, freezing him. Then comes a whirling explosion of fire from Nero's Laus Saint Claudius, and there's steam, glorious steam, burning and blasting and scalding. As the King recovers, Solty comes swinging in, hammering him with enough force to knock him right into the wall. Nie Li's massive blast comes down, hammering into the battlefield, shaking the castle to its foundations. Touta doinks him in the face, and it's just the distraction Theurgus needs to seal him and close the rift. Gilgamesh's eyes widen, and then-
Gilgamesh      He's gone. He's surely gone. The rift closes around him, and disappears with a pop. He's gone. Everyone can rest easily. The field of the King, already damaged by the destructive power of Nie Li, starts collapsing without the King present, and-

     WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

     The rift explodes.

     The King emerges. His eyes are blazing red. His body is blazing red. Red lines have erupted all along his body, palpable magical circuits that mingle and complement the blood. Anyone with even the slightest sense of self-preservation feels something in the back of their minds as the King stands tall. Something...primordial.

     The King opens his hand.

     There's...a seed in it. A seed. A tiny seed, and nothing more...?

     "You wish."

     Gilgamesh's eyes are *literally blazing red* as he steps forward. "For me to take you seriously."

     "You wish to show me your divine right to rule."

     "You wish to show me that you stand tall enough to conquer me."

     The King thrusts the seed into the ground.

     The Moon Cell trembles. He straightens. The power flowing from him is astronomical, but worse is the feeling rippling out of that...thing.

     Spiritrons are being *devoured*.

     No. Not just spiritrons. The castle itself is collapsing in on that seed. Vanishing. Taken apart, piece by piece. The Moon Cell's HUD dies. The warnings die. The numbers die. In their place is nothing, as the seed grows into a sword. A long sword. Two diamonds, with a slender handle.
Gilgamesh      Gilgamesh grasps it in one hand.

     "O Heart of Man."
"O Soul Of Alaya."
"O Unyielding Spirit Of My Holy Charge."
"The King Invokes His Right."
"Consume."

     At the last word, the whole Moon Cell screams. It is an audible, palpable shriek of pain. Everyone can hear it. The Regalia shake. The spiritrons begin to lose their color.

     The sword keeps growing.

     And growing.

     And *growing*.

     The land turns to ash. No, not ash. Dust. The sword becomes the size of the castle. Then larger. It grows so large it touches the sky, still wrapped in Gilgamesh's hand like a longsword.

     "You wish to mock me, fools?"

     "You wish to make a mockery of the King of all Creation? You wish to provoke the wrath, to see the RIGHT of the King, to see the POWER of the King?"

     "Then I will show you my right."

     "That Which Consumes Planets."
"Slash Emperor."

     As he invokes the Noble Phantasm, an aura splits around it.

     Beyond it, they see a castle composed of chains. A crimson sky. A vision out of hell. A malice that would consume the world if it was given half a chance. The essence of vampirism. The highest form of predator. A Truth beyond that of the Moon Cell itself.

     The Real Of The Moon.

     Gilgamesh raises that impossible blade like it's light as a feather.

     His eyes are rage.

     The sword, the aura, and the raw, overwhelming, destructive force hammers into the ground with the force of a bomb.
Krusty     Gilgamesh appears to be gone.

    Krusty is lieing still on the ground.

    Misa slumps her shoulders as she gives up, her Bard music fading away.

    Rieze slowly lowers her wand after her large spell, then moves over to drop down next to Krusty and Misa. She looks at the latter, who just shakes her head. Rieze then looks down at Krusty, "... This hasn't happened since..."

    Misa finishes the sentence for her, "Not since the early days."

    Atleast the king is gone.

    Or not.

    Misa and Rieze both look up in surprise as Gilgamesh makes his return. With the sound of defeat in her voice, Rieze asks, "What is he?"

    Even as the massive blade is coming down towards them, Misa just gives Rieze a wry smile and says, "The 'King of Heroes', apparently."

    Krusty, Misa and Rieze are engulfed by the powerful destructive force of the Noble Phantasm.
Theurgus     Theurgus is beaten. Her magicks are spent and the flow of Resource from the Relay is becoming erratic since the thing has taken damage. She drops from the air with a pair of metallic thuds as her foot processors meet ground for one of the few times they've ever done so. She sees that giant blade forming, and finds she can only just about move. She dodges to the side, erecting a hasty barrier and reinforcing it with her staff to blunt the incoming hit. But she's knocked clean off her feet and into a terrain feature. The Relay finally breaks, and with it, Diamond Soul's form fades, leaving the untransformed form of Theurgus laying in a puddle of ow.

    She lays still for a long while, shattered patches of red code in spider webs covering her body; but eventually the DCC stirs, picking herself up with a wince of pain as her body tries to both split apart, and hold together.

    She speaks her piece over radio, then limps away from the battlefield, leaning on her staff for support.
Nero      Nero unleashes her strike, flames exploding and whirling all about, and... Gilgamesh is still here.

     He's still here and he's unleashing a that terrible sword upon them. Nero's response? Nero *grins* "Mhmhmhm! ... Ahahahahah! AHAHAHAHA! Yes! YES! Very good, King of Heroes! To stand tall even still! That is indeed to true bearing of a ruler!"

     Aestus Estus is raised. There's no goddamn way she's going to stop this. BUT SHE WILL TRY ANYWAY! "Then watch me! Watch as I stand up to this adversity!" And then Slash Emperor clashes into that comparatively tiny Aestus Estus.

     And Nero is nowhere to be seen in the aftermath of that hilariously outgunned struggle.

     Hakuno, however... from where she stands waaaaay way in the back. ... Facepalms. Nero is fine. Nero is always fine. She's Nero.

     More pertinently... Brown eyes pore over the data analytics of the Moon Cell as this battle continues and she quirks a brow. "....Hmm...." She brings a hand to her chin, and looks over at Gilgamesh...
Nobunaga     As Gilgamesh disappears into the void of Blasphemous Theoretical, Nobunaga swings her rifle back and up. The weapons floating around her remain aimed, however, and the look on her face remains stern.

    He's a God. It'll take more than one shot.

    She doesn't have an opportunity for a second.

    The chaos caused by Slash Emperor's emergence has Nobunaga shielding her face with both arms. The weapons about her are scattered, and when the great sword is swung, the impact throws her right off the balcony from whence she came, trailing a stream of crimson and flames. At ground level, various Nobbu break off from the infantry battle and congregate-- and the Demon Archer slams into them. Homunculi scatter like bowling pins, with only a few of them remaining in place.

    The leading Nobbu thrusts a hand upward, "Nobo no-nobu! Nobu no!" before dashing for the perimeter with the Servant held overhead with the assistance of its fellows. Other Nobbu disengage, joining the retreat.

    Face streaked with blood, Nobunaga tilts her head up, eyes narrowed to slits, a grin curling her lips.
Nie Li     DOWN COMES THE SWORD THAT SMITES THE HEAVENS THEMSELVES!

    Nie Li is stationary for only a split second. In fact he began running BEFORE Gilgamesh started to swing the sword. There's absolutely NOTHING he can do against something like that. All he can do is... survive.

    Survive. Grow stronger. come back and bitterly overcome it, and pay back Gilgamesh for whatever the losses of this battle are.

    He just hopes Tamamo survives, or he'll have a hard time facing Seifer in the future.

    And for the first time since his rebirth, the ancient man in the youth's body feels helpless and outclassed. It's a horrible feeling that he swore he'd never give into again.

    And so a burning, boiling rage starts seething inside of him the longer he runs!

    He's fleeing at top speed and even so, the explosion that impact unleashes--

    Nie Li's engulfed in it. A shape goes flying far into the distance...

    Could anyone survive that...?!
Tamamo no Mae     Tamamo stares. Gilgamesh is still up and, even after everything everyone did, it looks like there wasn't an end in sight. He would take over and all would be that. Then he starts RIPPING APART THE MOON CELL, that seed growing into a longsword, and then the chanting.

    The Moon Cell screams... the Regalia upon her finger shakes and cries in pain... at least Tamamo could feel it crying in pain. She watches the sword grow and grow... the land turning to dust. And she frowns.

    Tamamo backs up a bit, pulling out the MIrror of Uka in front of her. "Slash... Emperor?" she questions to just herself in the smallest of whispers. She can't dodge this, she can't block this. This is /definitely/ a Tamamo Killer attack.

    And then it lands... the sword crashes into the ground and the force sends the fox FLYING into a support structure still there, bouncing off it and faceplanting right into the ground. If anyone thought any better, the broken body of the Caster-Class Servant shouldn't be moving right now, the open wounds, the torn dress, the ripped ribbons. Mirror of Uka, however, isn't cracked. This type of destructive force is something the Moon Cell shouldn't be able to handle... and it doesn't, mostly.

    There's a twitch of the Fox-Caster's ear... and she slowly. Oh so painfully slowly gets up. The mirror floats around her and there, in her eyes, are the flames of passion, the flames of determination.

    Caster. Is. Done.

    "I respect your power. I respect your determination. I respect your drive." Tamamo starts moving towards Gilgamesh, slowly. "But I will not... respect you breaking my home, stealing my land."

    She starts to chant, talismans surrounding her.

    "God who resides in Izumo.
    Aesthetically certain,
    Breath of the soul.
    Residing in the mountains and watery heavens, Amaterasu.
    Let this freely become the proof of purification.
    Thy name is Weighted Stone of Tamamo.
    Become the sacred treasure, Mirror of Uka!"

    The talismans explode outward, showing a lot of Torii gates... Tamamo leaps up, robes in tatters, and she bounces off one, two, three of them, more talismans now floating around her in a vertical orbit. "Release! Eightfold Blessings of Amaterasu!"

    The talismans turn into orbs and they shoot out, four firey and four icy orbs, making a wobbly aimed shot towards Gilgamesh, and upon landing, the orbs explode if they hit him or even the ground around him, Tamamo floats to the ground, the arena returning back to normal after her massive Noble Phantasm was released.

    She drops down, and falls to all fours. She's spent, Seifer could feel it. It would probably make him worry.
Touta Konoe     The King of Heroes doesn't joke when he says that he's not trying. Or at the very least he imagines that compared to everything else this guy has done so far that this feels it would be the only time that he has gotten serious. A seed turns into a sword which grows, and grows, and continues to grow. Touching towards the sky as if it was...An orbital elevator. Yes that's the best thing that he can compare it to. A tower that reaches far above the clouds and into the stars. That is the best way he can describe the blade that the King raises out. It is a weapon so powerful that even the Mooncell itself is screaming in agony under the weight of this blade. This is honestly a weapon with such power that even if he cracked his gravity blade's power to maximum he would not be able to imitate the force of it's impact. If he doesn't dodge now, he can tell...This might actually be able to kill an immortal. As fear arises and instincts kick in...

     "COMPLEXIO!!! Raiten Taiso!!!"

     The boy lets out his battle cry and with it a light emanates from his left hand. Before Gil had unleashed the power of Zeus. Divine lightning upon all of those that stand before him. At that time Touta had taken that magical item and absorbed its power, planning to use it when the time was right. Well there was no more time to think about it. It was do or die, and Touta did not wish to die.

     The boy's hair falls to his waist just as it id in the final round of the Nero festival, but unlike before appearence becomes...Bright, as if he himself has become lightning that he had just merged with. Well, to be frank that's because it is. Though the other's would only be able to see this form for a moment because in the moment Touta invokes it, he goes into a Shundo that he has not shown before. Lightning Shundo, fast enough where his body is not even a blur. Just gone.

     There's only one place where Gil's sword can not reach and Touta comes to that conclusion that he needs to be there before it strikes. That place is where Gil is himself. In the instant that he vanishes within the slighest moment he's face to face with the King of Heroes. His blade raised above the king's head.

     Perhaps Gil wasn't trying but Touta sure would have to as he could not hold this form long. Just light lightning it left as quick as it came, so he'll unleash the strongest blow that he can upon muster the King of Heroes with a sword strike with the power of lightning imbued.

     "UWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!"
Nyrinel Nyrinel draws blood. It stains the blades of the bone weapons, the bloody wounds making the cutting edges crimson. She marvels at the patterns it makes across his skin and across the blades. The splash and splatter is absolutely perfect for what she wants. It --

The battlefield becomes treacherous as everyone else pours on the firepower. Nyrinel flits away, leaping backwards in a bounding leap like a deer in flight. She gets clear of the mass of incoming damage just in time, keeping well away from the tearing of space and the explosive force laid out by everyone who dares face the King of Heroes.

She doesn't do that. She stays back. Nyrinel kneels, placing the weapons of bone gently on the ground. She traces patterns in the crimson fluid, something like relief etched on her delicate features. She whispers things to them, coaxing the material to accept the blood of the divine... and, after long seconds of effort, the blood soaks into the bones like it was being swallowed up by a sponge. The stain spreads, slowly but surely.

Nyrinel removes her smock. She's still wearing her armor underneath, the bonemail flexing as she moves. She gathers up the weapons and wraps them in the cloth for safekeeping. Nyrinel sighs, looking up again.

Gilgamesh strikes. The sword that consumes planets themselves lashes out. Nyrinel reacts the only way she, when faced with such a force, knows how: by feeding it.

"O blade of hunger, I bid thee --" Nyrinel spreads her arms. The power she has collected rolls off of her in waves. It is divine energy unleashed in a step from its raw form, harnessed from animistic entities that know nothing but consumption. It is a fine feast. It is, for one who knows precisely how to endure the predations of such things, a finer buffer against harm. "-- feast!"

It isn't enough to stop all of it. The vast majority of the deadly weapon is slowed, blunted by the clash of powers, but the impact is still a problem. The blast wave knocks her off her feet, and if it wasn't for the bonemail, she might have broken something. She's toppled and tossed, clinging to her parcel tightly. She rolls, then comes back to her feet, a meager scrap of what power she has not yet invoked conjuring layers of brilliant blue-white barriers. They absorb the rest, shattering in sequence as the quick shielding is used up and the waves settle.

She staggers. Then, she moves forward. Nyrinel strides up to the King of Heroes on shaky footing, gathering strength as she does. She holds the cloth-wrapped parcel under one arm, the other twitching and moving with odd beckoning patterns. It crackles with something like static electricity. She waits a short distance away, holding up the parcel and then bowing, placing it at her feet in a manner of obvious tribute.

"As you have commanded, sire," Nyrinel says, smiling widely. She holds up her other hand. Her fingers, shimmering with a heat-haze of potential energy that gathers at the tips, are still stained with blood.

His blood.

Nyrinel clenches her hand into a fist, an audible /crack/ accompanying the gesture. Negative energy surges over the absolutely perfect channel between them in snaking bolts famished power. It's like she found the on-switches for all the physical components that make him 'go' and started running her hand straight down all of them, inexplicably shorting each in turn.

"Be entertained~!"
Solty Revant      Solty somehow manages to weather the storm. But, where she was once a perfect facsimile of a human, she is now a very obvious imitation. Electricity arcs over deep cuts and slashes. But...she isn't down. And Gilgamesh is still there, trying to claim something that isn't his. The battle seems over, but...still she stumbles toward him weakly. "...can..can we stop fighting now? I'm really tired and Roy is going to yell at me again..." she says. With Touta there she ends up leaning against him for support. "...B-but...if I have to...I'll keep fighting..." She holds up a hand and it gains that yellow glow once more, the outlines blurred with vibrations.
Gilgamesh      Touta is brilliant. He's completely correct. He surges forward, directly into Gilgamesh's face, and completely avoids Slash Emperor. In that instant, too exhausted to even hold off the Moon Cell's elemental terror, which ordinarily he would be able to completely ignore, still suffering from Nobunaga's bullets and all the countless attacks heaped upon him and clawing his way out of the void itself, the King's eyes flicker.

     Delight.

     He's delighted. He's enthused. Touta can see it as the sword comes swinging around. The fact that Touta avoided Slash Emperor doesn't anger him. It *excites* him. It delights him.

     Touta swings his sword around.

     Gilgamesh catches it in his free hand.

     The impact is monumental. It's like hitting an unstoppable wall. A shockwave ripples outwards through the dust of what was the Moon Cell. Gil is forced backwards, skidding through the dust until he stumbles on an actual field.

     He stumbles.

     It's enough time to give Nyrinel a chance. It's a chance she takes, negative power surging through him. His body bends backwards, wracked by agony. She can feel his very *ego* fighting against her power, trying to maintain control through sheer force of will. Terrifyingly, *it's almost working*, and it might have, were it not for all the other things that have his attention.

     And then Caster hits him dead center. Four times. One, two, three, four. Then four more times. One, two, three, four.

     The King goes flying. He rolls once, twice, three times, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, *sixteen*. He bounces *sixteen times* before he comes to a halt. His unstable footing from Touta's hit, the negative energy from Nyrinel's veins, is enough to put him so off-guard that he can't bring anything to bear to defend himself.

     And yet he still rises.

     He's burned. He's bleeding. He's crackling with negative energy. He's cut, he's broken, he's smashed, he's...just...

     He's still *gorgeous*.

     It's completely unfair that he can look so pretty with all that shit on him.

     Solty walks up to him. She raises her fists.

     Gilgamesh reaches out.

     His fingers brush through her hair.

     "You did very well."

     And then he just walks off, laughing to himself, as all the countless weapons disintegrate into golden sparkles, and the Moon Cell begins to reassert itself. His hand is on his chest.

     But he's just leaving. He stops at the edge and puts his hand in the pocket of his red shorts.

     He turns to look at them.

     "A thoroughly entertaining vacation, but I'm done now."

     He waves over his shoulder. "You should be proud of yourselves, you know! Not many can boast to have seen Slash Emperor and lived."