Scene #7011: FateParadox: The Second Malformation

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Eryl Fairfax	A tremendous howl splits the air of Neo-Tokyo as the massive, monstrous and mutated Assassin erupts from the ground. His form, now a twisted mangle of mottled flesh, tumorous muscle, and jutting bone blots out the sun and fills the air with a putrid stench. One more leg remains trapped in the hole in the street, but with an almighty pull that splits the road in half, that too is freed. Hikari Toromaru rides upon the beast Servant's head, cackling wildly as tendrils coil around him, forming a barrier against attack. And yet, his voice is still heard from loudspeakers embedded in Assassin's flesh. "I think we can call this Grail War won, don't you? I posses an indestructible Servant, one whom constantly siphons magic power from all near available sources, including other Servants. And all my opponents were either an ingredient in this apotheosis, or are before me right this second!" Another round of braying laughter. Media and military aircraft begin their approach, but those powered by magic immediately begin to nosedive upon getting within a half-kilometre of Assassin. "But! There is still something for you all to gain from this. At the end of a Grail War, a wish is granted to Master and Servant both! Assassin has no will of his own, his wish would be whatever I order him to say! So to that end..." Assassin takes a step forward. A building collapses in his wake. "The second wish is up for grabs! Whomever sides with me to end the War today is in the running! Should there be multiple entrants, the last one standing is the victor! Remember, the wish will only be granted to a Master and Servant pair, so don't get cute and try to take me out at the end!" Assassin screams again. Those two massive tendrils, their stalks thick as ancient oaks, ending in vicious barbs, flail and pound the ground wildly, braying bloody challenge at any who oppose him.
Touta Konoe	The sky is darkened by the towering figure of Assassin, the only thing even capable of still challenging grandiose it is, is the orbital elevator that climbs into the heavens even beyond it. It's stench riddles the street with disgust that would put even the worst slums around the city to shame. It's single step causes havoc and destruction upon the street that warrants the attention of the unsuspecting populous. Though even with all that, there's a bit of relief to be found... A young man helps a Servant back to their feet, an arm that had been devoured reattaches itself as though it was never even taken, the only signs of it's possible loss being the sleeve of the black gakuran that once covered it now exposes this arm to the elements. With a smile he turns towards his companion, "Heh, you really had me going for a second, Rynith. Here I thought I was the reckless one but then you do something like that! Thought I was gonna be the first immortal to get a heart attack!" He jokes and quips for a bit, yet as the Servant starts upheaving the roads that expression turns a bit more serious as he looks at the goliath. The Servant can feel that her mana was being drained, and yet at the same time...Was probably being restored just as fast. A pactio card held in the young man's hand, clearly taking notice of the drain that was likely even happening to him as well and yet was still making sure that her mana costs to exist were paid. He says nothing of it though, at least not with words. Instead he looks at his hoop, taking notice of something that makes him give a less than pleased look. "Guess I can't just Magic Cancel this one...Though not sure I'd even be able to use it on something this big without it doing some damage to the city. He places his hand to reach for the comm at his side. At first it sounds like he's speaking to several of his comrades or people amongst the group in hushed tone. But as the conversation ends...He goes back on the comms once more, enough that even Hikari can hear him in his towering giant of a Servant. "Hikari, I hope you're using that wish of yours to make me disappear, cause if not even if you get that wish I'm gonna beat you so damn ugly people are gonna be calling this blob pretty!" From there, Touta has to make a climb, jumping through the debris on the street Touta makes his way to traverse up the large tendrils to try and make his way towards Hikari and the face of the beast. As he does so, he brings his blade to the tendrils to tear through it's flesh as he tries to climb up it!
Staren	Yet another aircraft approaches the city. This one DOESN'T nosedive, although Assassin absorbs /something/ from it. As it gets close, legs unfold under the fuselage and it flies to where Staren and the others were fighting, hovering and then landing in the street. The cockpit canopy opens as Staren flies to it, and he grabs... a bunch of sword carrying cases, courtesy of the Concord. One is even sized for Gwyn! Staren's quick to pass them out, so they can have proper physical weapons again. He KNOWS beam swords aren't the same thing and will only get in the way of a true swordsman's skill. Then he straps himself in as the canopy closes... (Continued...)
Ritsuka Fujimaru	Last time on FATA/PARADOX: >Gwyn takes up the Dragon of France in his hand, and hurls her at Avenger. Now, Jeanne is faced with a difficult choice. On one side, a transformed Assassin is threatening one of the few places Jeanne has been able to lay down something resembling roots in. On the other side is a Saber that... Well. His existence just rubs Jeanne the wrong way. The others could probably handle the Assassin on their own, anyway. Besides... % Jeanne glances towards Touta and Rynith. Save the celebration for after the battle, won't you? Ugh. I don't have enough time to deal with all of you and that other pain, so." She lets out a confident chuckle, then turns towards Gwyn. "... Assassin's Master! You'd best live up to your end of the deal if you survive this." Drawing her dark sword and flaming banner once more, the non-Paradox Avenger narrows her eyes towards Gwyn. "Care to dance? You Sabers are supposed to be the strongest, aren't you? We'll see...!"
Tanya Degurechaff	With the beast absorbing magic, artillery spells are useless. Tanya suppresses the urge to push her magic through the combo rifle Staren gave her. This at least allows her to focus her magic on her flight unit to counter the drain effect Assassin's antimagic presence is having on it. Mostly she just harasses with laser fire in short bursts, though she doesn't presume that's going to have much of an effect on its own. No, the golden-eyed magus has another plan in mind. Eyes shoot towards Touta as he scales the monster's body, then to the 'cage' of tentacles surrounding Hikari atop its head. She flits about in front of it, maintaining a mostly safe distance during her harassment. Her actual plan becomes obvious when Assassin roars. Immediately, Tanya snaps her weapon's aim upward and she engages the grenade launcher, lobbing an explosive straight at that gaping maw.
Richard Stadler	Stadler tabbed a few more rows in the spread sheet software he was using, entering in another small equation into the value, and then clicking save. Leaning forward and peering through glasses at the result, and a firm nod. That should at least show fuel consumption in a different- The STE on the desk rang, and Rick picked it up without devolving too much attention from checking Cell D34. "Stadler." A few seconds, and the clattering of keys stopped. "Are we sure on that? Because those types really don't absorb magic." A pause for a few seconds. "Oh. Well. That's something new and terrifying, then. Thank you. Launch anything at Andrews we can to delay, offload whatever's on alert to the network drive. I'm on route." It didn't take that long at all, actually. Gates and proper logistics allowed disperate forces scattered accross a country to gather fairly quickly, It still took time, though, as a small column of armored vehicles rolled down a Neo Toyko street, flanked by one or two tanks, swerving through traffic. A few miles behind, a battery of towed guns moved in the opposite direction, trying to set something up over in a safer zone. Civilians were a concern, of course... as were the rest of the high powered fighters deciding to try and take a piece of it off. Which they would need, really, because if Rick was honest, the only time they'd seen a Tyrant this large was in worst-case contingiencies. Time. It still took time to set up, which meant a little delay was in order. It wasn't much, but two F-16s, light fighters alreadly down to half fuel running excercises around Shaw, streaked over the high-tech skyline at high speed. They couldn't aim the fire well at that speed, and most of the 20 millimeter shells would bounce off armor or impact uselessly aganist flesh, but it would give what other forces Rick had more prep time in setting up positions.
Reiji Arisu	Things have gone from bad to absolutely, positively awful. Without access to elemental magics, there's not really all that much that Reiji himself can /do/ to something as ridiculous as the colossal Nemesis. And yet, that's... Exactly what it is that he has to do. What other options are there? It isn't as if he can stop doing his job just because of a little handicap. All that needs to be done is a little improvisation. Of course, he doesn't have a plan /quite/ yet. But that, again, is ultimately immaterial. Assassin and its master are a threat not only to the city, but to the Multiverse at large. Reiji affixes a protective mask over his nose and mouth. It might not do much against such a massive source of disease and pestilence, but it's /something./ Hopefully an Elite physiology will take care of the rest. The exorcist rushes forward, darting between Nemesis' flailing tendrils. If the monster itself is functionally invincible, then his only chance is to take out its master. But to do /that/ he'll need to get close-- to set himself up for a single, lethal opportunity...! And until then, he makes good use of the blades so generously distributed by the Concord, carving a bloody swath across the giant's body as he fights his way to the crown of its head.
Staren	As Staren's readying his opening move, /JEANNE TURNS ON THEM!/ Staren points the gatling railgun at her, but Gwyn says he doesn't need the help. Staren nods and moves the mech out of the way so it won't get caught up in their fight, hovering down the street. The beast absorbs magic. He can't use his sniper railgun (and didn't bring it.) But uh. He's Staren Wiremu, and having a giant arsenal that's mostly tech-based is kind of his THING. Everyone is probably expecting what's coming next, and Staren aims not to disappoint. Staying out of range of the tentacles for now and using the city for cover... Assassin is kaiju-size. It can only catch glimpses of him, but he only NEEDS a glimpse of Assassin to target it. Just as the F-16s come in for their strafing run to no doubt draw Assassin's ire, twenty-three more targets launch out of the street behind a building, arcing high in the sky, spreading out at wide angles, and then streaking down at Assassin, trailing exhaust. Missiles, not mini-missiles but the larger kind a human might be able to fire a single one of from a shoulder launcher, rain down on Assassin and explode with all the force twenty-fifth century science can muster! Attack launched, Staren reveals himself, his machine hovering over the city. He doesn't want Assassin to strike buildings that aren't evacuated yet... and well, he can't PREVENT that but he can at least not encourage it.
Eryl Fairfax	Rynith is looking bad. The ambient magic drain is taking its toll on her before Touta channels some more of his own through the Pactio. "Touta! You-" she begins, before stopping and taking a breath. "Well I very well couldn't let you be eaten. Then I would be dead anyway." She conjured her wand and says, "I'll back you up. As Touta races up Assassin's tendrils, she blasts lightning at those that sprout from the monstrous Servant's body to lash at him, keeping Touta's route clear. Saber takes the large blade offered by Staren and clutches it firmly, looking up at Assassin with undaunted eyes. "'Twas a clever gambit, Master of Assassin," he booms. "But thou hast vastly overstepped. I hath felled beasts far greater than this." And then Jeanne steps to him. He looks to her with disdain somehow visible on his face under that beard. "Thou art a craven, to take benefit of this. But it shalt serve you not. Come forth, mad dog, and be laid low." He raises a hand and conjures lightning in it, hurling it at Jeanne almost dismissively before rushing forward and burying his sword in Assassin's heel. As Tanya levels her grenade launcher at Assassin's drill-shaped mouth, she spots something awful in the depths of his anatomy. Avenger has melded fully with the uvula of Assassin, his form crucified but his mind still aware. He looks up and seems to say something before the explosion causes him to disappear behind the flash and smoke. Fighter jets come to assist, peppering Assassin's torn hide with rounds that spurt a sickly green fluid. Hikari just laughs. "Ah, and now the world governments take notice. Too little too late. Soon they'll be pieces on my board, same as the rest." It is at this moment that Touta arrives, carving at his personal barrier. "Ah, Touta! A shame you managed to slip free of Avenger. But don't worry, I'll have a nice lab bench set aside for you." Abruptly, teeth erupt from all around the cocoon, adding another layer of defence and threatening to skewer the boy. "And don't you worry Miss!" Hikari adds over the loudspeakers, addressing Jeanne. "Your services will be rewarded! Just try not to die to the mana absorption. That doesn't turn off easily!" Reiji charges in, carving a bloody swath along Assassin's body. Each wound leaks green fluid, and as he soon discovers from getting soaked in it, it's caustic and also drains magic at a far more expedient rate. Once it does, it quickly evaporates, leaking it into the air to be absorbed. Staren blasts with missiles that tear large chunks out of Assassin, but the wounds begin to fill in and scab over near instantly. "Ah, Mister Wiremu," Hikari says. "Your death with be the sweetest of all. Well, I say 'death' but I'm not going to let you die. You would just come back, wouldn't you?" His tone is scathing. "You, who turned from your biology to embrace metal and silicone. Everything we need is in our physiology, and you rejected it. 'Scientist' 'Immortal.' You deserve none of these mantles!" Assassin's flesh begins to bubble as massive warts sprout on his skin. Each of these then erupt into pressurised blasts of pus. They blast with cutting force, aiming to strike the fighter jets out of the air, as well as the nearby Elites and Paradox Servants. Jeanne is spared, however.
Ritsuka Fujimaru	Jeanne sees that movement from Staren in the corner of her eye, and she stares right at him. She flashes him a shit-eating grin as if daring him to turn his guns back towards her, then refocuses on Gwyn once again. "Yes, yes, craven this, wench that. And yet, you still feel the need to respond? I'd have thought someone so illustrious would be above that." His lightning spear comes, but she's seen it before. She's ready this time, and she barely flinches as she steps aside, the attack grazing against her and giving her a nasty shock by proximity. Still, if he's going to throw it dismissively at her, she might as well make a show of not looking as affected by it, too! Just as long as she doesn't have to take one to the face directly, anyway. Zeroing in squarely on the Saber, Jeanne leaps towards him, going for a rather straightforward thrust of her sword in passing. The attack doesn't stop there, though, as multiple spears sppear in the air around her, launching backwards at Gwyn to cover her back!
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya's eyes go wide. She wrenches her weapon sidelong, and that disgusting bodily fluid stops just short of her body. A blue barrier becomes visible when struck, though it's the force that ultimately gets her. The field holds, the girl pushed back by the pressure until she smashes through a 10th story window and tumbles out of sight. Inside, cut and bruised, the Major mutters under her breath, "I could just say I got knocked out. I'm small. There was a lot of force behind that. Completely believable." Raising an arm, she rests the sleeve over her eyes, "...Can't really leave this as it is, though. As easy and as tempting as that is..." That same arm shifts, reaches, collects the strap of her discarded rifle, she drags it closer and hefts it, checks it for damage. Things seem intact. She at last picks herself up, brushing shards of glass loose as she does so. Before long, the girl is outside and airborne again. Going for apparent chinks in the monster's defenses didn't work as well as she had hoped. So there's the next obvious weakness. Tanya ascends easily above Assassin's head level, sweeping her free hand to produce a somewhat-fuzzy magic screen. Multiple red points materialize, then converge to overlap on Hikari himself. Tanya then lifts her rifle to point to her own side, blatently away from the Master. When she fires, it's on full auto, and she sweeps the rifle in a full 180-degree arc as she does so. Each beam fired arcs impossibly-- Converging on Hikari's defensive cage from multiple directions. She's only guiding them with magic. The laser's own damage rating will have to do on that front.
Staren	Staren switches to fighter mode and tries to swerve out of the way of Avenger's gunfire, but to no avail; bullets tear into his machine's armor anyway. <"Silicone? What kind of bodies do you think I'm using, exactly? It's /silicon/, you nitwit! And it's not about rejecting flesh -- flesh and steel both have their benefits! Both can be enhanced! I just happen to be better at working with steel!"> The fighter flies high over the beast, trying to stay out of tentacle range but keep its attention divided. Streaks of blue light fire from the underside and twist through the air down towards Assassin, exotic energy aiming to cook and explode its surface while Staren focuses on defense. <"I'll grant you this: I thought you were nothing but a sleazeball hiding behind a servant, but you have ambition worthy of the Concord. Unfortunately for you, turning against us shall prove your undoing!">
Touta Konoe	Touta's attack find purchase thanks to Rynith's cover-fire, though only to be stopped just as he reaches the large cocoon protecting Hikari who assures Touta of what's in store for him. "Tch, man you really are petty aren't ya?" That's all he can do as he's forced to step off the head of the goliath less he gets done in by the teeth. Though what ends up really getting him all messed up is an attack he wishes he never had to experience. Something that pulses out with enough force it literally destroys the just reattached arm... "Was that...Was that I think it was...GROOOOOSSS!!!!" An attack of pressurized pus. This was probably one of the most disgusting attacks Touta's been attacked by and he's been attacked by quite a few since being in the Multiverse. There's only a slight relief as his arm grows back if not a bit slower from the magical drain... "Uuuuh, I know I shouldn't say this but I'm really glad my arm got blown off by that...I don't wanna imagine if some pus got inside of it or something...Bleggggh." He seemed to be taking the blow well enough at least that to make remarks like that. He makes a bit of a displeased looking face though trying to figure out some way to try and deal with this thing. "If we could just get past that Cocoon...Rynith I'm going back in. If you see an opening let him have it!" Touta shouts to the Servant as he goes in for another climb up the tendrils, this time being more vigilant of any that try to arise from upon it to stake claim at his life. Should he make it to the cocoon again he'll like bring his blade back against Hikari, though this time he knows about those teeth, and this time...He's gonna use his gravity blade to ensure that he can try and break through that cocoon so Rynith can get a better shot. And who knows, maybe it'll be an opportune time for Tanya's attack as well!
Richard Stadler	The fighters were fast, and light, but they also hadn't been prepared for the threat they were facing. The two pilots from Shaw were used to missile warning tones and anti-aircraft fire reaching up from the skies; pus jumping out was not something they were expecting. They're trying to turn around for another pass before both find themselves hit. One of the pilots loses a wing, managing to grab his eject handle and fly out over a few buildings. The other takes the hit on the belly, the pus slamming through the floor of the fighter, and taking the pilot with it. It lost control, and it's vector was already pointing down the street Rick's people were coming from. Wreakage and JP5 slammed across the street in a fireball as the column ground to a halt, two lead Humvees tumbling in the same conflagaration, along with their clues. "Son of a /bitch/." Stadler spit out, his own track coming to a halt as he worked the harness to come to his feet. "Bastard takes out my people and monolouges about the world's government. Senators aren't doing this to him. Elevate automatic weapons, M2s and Bushmasters. Concentrate fire, find me a weak point, and where the /hell/ is that arty?" The vehicles assembly into the best line they can manage amoung civilian vehicles and wrecked streets. Fifty caliber machine guns mix with 25 millimeter chain cannon to lash up at the creature. The rounds were heavy, and more often then not, incendiary. Rick /had/ prepared for something like this.
Reiji Arisu	Of course this thing's blood is acid. Of /course/ it is. And what more, he can /feel/ it draining away his magical energy. His eyes tighten as he tears into the second and third artery. As that awful, oozing pus bursts from the wound, his sword is returned to its sheath-- and then slices out again. Around his swing, the air screams and snaps, the shockwave blasting the spray of pus clean! It's not just the monster's strength that's a threat. Its very /being/ is anathema to life itself. An all-consuming, all-devouring horror of corrupted flesh...! Nevermind that every single cut feels like he's lancing some kind of super-pressurized pimple. It's gross. Super gross. If he wasn't wearing a mask, some of that ichor might have ended up in his mouth. The thought of this stuff getting /inside/ is just... Reiji has to fight back the urge shudder. He still has a climb to finish. Step after step, strike after strike, Reiji rises. He targets arteries and tendons whenever he can find them, hoping to drain the beast of its surging lifeblood wherever and whenever he can. The mana that the blood saps... It's released into the air...? Maybe there's something he can do with that.
Eryl Fairfax	"Kings and Gods both ne'er let a challenge go unanswered," Gwyn replies simply as he dusts off some of Assassin's acidic blood. She lunges at him, and he sidesteps to avoid it, but the backspray of spears catches him, several running through him and causing a spray of blood and embers. "Lord Gwyn!" Cenedril calls with shock from a hiding place (a dumpster). "Spare me thine grief," he grunts, ripping out a spear and grabbing Jeanne, throwing her against Assassin's malformed heel, and attempting to run her through with it, pinning her to the creature so his magic absorb and acidic blood both can damage her. Hikari speaks again as Tanya flies back out. "Degurechaff, are you really going to reject my offer? I've read about you. Someone with your ideas belongs behind a desk, not starving on the front lines with the rabble. Join me!" But as Staren comes whizzing by, baking Nemesis's flesh and releasing a somehow even worse smell, his tone turns irritable once more. "All you ever do is nitpick without even addressing the core of what people are saying! You are a disgrace to the intellectual community!" He sneers in response to the backhanded compliment. "Please. You wouldn't know ambition if it did THIS to you!" One of those tendrils reaches for him, the tip splitting open to reveal another, smaller tendril that extends its reach. It attempts to ensnare Staren, before spiking him hard into the ground. "I'll be ready. Ill have to aim carefully, least Assassin get stronger," Rynith says in response to Touta before preparing a spell. Touta rushes to the tendril barrier once more and brings the full weight of his sword down on it, ripping it open and revealing Hikari's surprised face. At that instant, Tanya's laser cluster strikes, as does a bolt of lightning from Rynith's wand. "No!" Hikari shouts, forming a magic barrier to mitigate the attacks. But still, he is electrocuted and a laser blasts through his arm. Hooked up to said arm is a tendril connected to Assassin. "You think me a weak point? WRONG!" From his coat he produces three vials. One is tossed at Touta, the other takes flight and flies at Tanya, the third does the same at Rynith. All three explode upon getting close to their targets. Vehicles roll upon upon broken roads and open fire on Assassin, drawing more and more blood. He opens that cavernous mouth once more in response, and throws up a ball of acid at them. As Reiji carves his way up the beast's side, it shifts its weight to slam said side against a skyscraper. The movement of his legs is like a truck coming right at Gwyn. But even as the exorcist is driven against the glass and steel, a pair of arms reach out to pull him to safety. "Son. Breathe. Get it together." It is somehow, impossibly, Shogo Arisu.
Staren	<"If people can't just SAY their core problems, it's not my fault I can't solve them! I can only solve the problems I see!"> Staren retorts. The tentacle wraps around his plane, starting to crush it and flinging it down, but an arm with a beam sword cuts itself free so that Staren can /narrowly avoid/ actually crashing into the ground. The fighter's not in great shape though, the underside full of tiny holes and the plating around the middle warped where it was crushed, except for the extremely resilient cockpit plating. <"You're the disgrace! Science and technology are for helping people, but all you care about is yourself!"> Staren pours on the speed and flies close, nearly ramming Hikari as he flies by and tries to catch him with that beam sword as well, probing his defenses, or maybe at least making him jump!
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya snaps off a single shot, intercepting the vial. It explodes anyway, enveloping the girl in flame and shrapnel. Shards of her degrading barrier tumble out of the smoke, dissolving in Assassin's presence. The girl maneuvers out of it, trailing sparks from her flight unit, patting out flames that had caught onto her bodysuit. "It's all about risk assessment," Tanya states in response to Hikari's disbelief, "I assessed the risk you're taking by betraying an alliance of some of the most ruthless, ambitious, and powerful people in the Multiverse-- well." An eye closes in a wince, though she masks it as a wink to go with the off-kilter grin on her young face, "When you do the math, my chances are far better on the Rhine than anywhere near you." She racks the underslung launcher on her rifle, ejecting the spent casing of the grenade she'd fired earlier. A fresh round is selected, shoved in, and the slide racked forward again. The girl whirls around, aiming for half-a-second, then fires. Hikaru might be expecting another high explosive grenade. But this one is a smoker, surrounding the monster's head and its master with dense white smoke to blind them both.
Ritsuka Fujimaru	"Hmph. Is that the case? Well..." Jeanne grunts as she gets grabbed out of the air, then braces herself as she gets flung whole-body for the second time today. Although she knows what's coming when she collides with the screwed up Assassin, there's not quite so much she can do in that position. To make matters worse, Gwyn charges right into her, and she sgasps out loudly as that spear plunges right through her side. "Keh... Heh. This is what I was looking for... A real fight against a real Servant! One without interruptions!" Jeanne starts laughing as the madness seeps into her eyes, her blood and her banner burning even hotter as the latters bursts into flames beside her. Swinging it up towards Gwyn, it's more of a distraction to try getting him off her as she forces herself up onto her feet, spear and all. She winces as some of that acidic blood splatters onto her, acting as yet more motivation (besides the mana-sucking aura around Assassin) to take the fight somewhere else. In this case, she's opting for a more aggressive combat strategy to try and push the Saber back. "Show me your power... Lord Gwyn, was it? You face the Dragon Witch, Jeanne d'Arc!" Rather than trying to hold her ground, she goes back on the offensive, swinging her flaming banner and sword in tandem while advancing steadily towards Gwyn. A swing of the banner conceals a thrust from the sword. A thrust of the sword turns into a shoulder tackle. The shoulder tackle turns into a feint for a boot to the chest.
Touta Konoe	Touta's blade cleaves through the barrier letting the two weaponized mages strike at Hikari, though only to reveal just how assimilated with this Servant he's become. "Tch, don't get so smug. Just wanted to slap you around a bit more than just hitting the Servant." He says that and yet it feels like anything they try to do to really harm him proves to be fruitless. Though seeing the way he connects to Assassin's body the only idea he has is to just try and follow through. The bottle is thrown his way and the explosion occurs. Touta doesn't have a clue what's in it whether just a mix of chemical or some sort of magical concoction but even as Touta does all he can to avoid it he finds himself still feeling the tinge of heat from the blast. Hikari finds though that even a burned Touta, the side of his body looking covered in burns for a moment is still sturdy enough to continue to push through to the offensive as he tries to continue in closer with the barrier down to try and cut the tendril connected to Hikari's arm. He's got a feeling he knows which arm it is, and why it's being connected. But until he dislodges it with a strike, he can't guarantee anything...
Richard Stadler	The vehicles continue to fire on the monster above them... for perhaps too long a time. The acid ball that comms out of it's maw rolls across armor that had at least been designed for biological hazards, but even it wasn't enough to absorb all the damage that was being done to ablative plates, and some of those vehicles weren't well armored at all. The Humvees are all but wrecked, one of them outside the acid zone still operation, the others melting metal and automotive glass as the troops dismount, quickly trying to get somewhere the acid isn't dripping and eating through armor, gear, clothing and flesh. The acid sizzles aganist the paint of the Fox vehicle Rick was still in, paint and arrmor bubbling and popping beneath it; the guns on the Bradley's were warpped and first stops as rounds stop feeding properly. "Christ, the next time this happens I'm advocating for tactical nuclear weapons /first/- Yes?" He's back on the radio, breathing a sigh. "Finally. All right. I need some help here; light smoke over the front of our line. Grid EC 1345 9321. Ranging fire at 1345 9327. Send it." The artillery, a battery of towed guns, had finally managed to set up in a traffic roundabout large enough to do so. Commands were given, and relied, as a light volley of fire came down. Smoke shells peppered the area in front of the vehicles and dismounted infantry, where more lethal rounds splashed aganist the target. They were light, but they were creeping closer and closer... attempting to bracket the large creature.
Reiji Arisu	How much blood does a servant normally even have? This thing is obviously an exception. It's huge, it has huge guts, its guts are full of blood-- and it's actively draining the mana from the world around it. Regenerating. Healing-- possibly faster than they can adequately /damage/ the thing. But what else can they do? To just walk away here, to turn away and condemn this place to an apocalypse of cadaverous flesh? No. They can't. /He/ can't. If magic does not work, and conventional weaponry is simply unable to do enough damage to render Assassin inert, then he must simply seal the space /around/ it. To deploy the final, fatal trump card. Is the situation desperate enough to merit the sacrifice? How could it not be? Reiji sets his jaw. He scythes upwards, digging in blade after Concord blade into the creature's hide to act as footholds. Each one dissolves in a burst of corrosive blood mere moments later, but they serve their purpose-- Not quickly enough. The monster lurches, throwing itself into a nearby skyscraper like an animal scratching its flank on a convenient tree. Reiji winces and rushes upward, desperately scrambling to escape the crush of fetid flesh, glass and steel. Almost, almost-- but not quite. He feels the thing's side smash the air out of his lungs and hears the shattering of a hundred panes of glass...! But... To his surprise, none of it ends up in /him./ He opens his eyes, blinking in disbelief, only to find himself staring at... "...Dad?" Reiji asks, a million questions running through his mind. "How-- but-- I /saw/ you use the Demon Gate Seal. How are you still... Were you summoned again!?" It's probably not the right time. The pair of them are still perilously close to an angry biohorror. Breathe. Get it together. How is he supposed to do that in a situation like this!?
Eryl Fairfax	"Says the one who joined the Concord!" Hikari yells at Staren. "You think they're going to fund your little immortality project out of the good of their hearts?! Of course not! Every single person you 'save,' they're going to nickel and dime for the rest of their extended lives! You just didn't want to have to deal with a budget!" As Staren flies by, he cleaves into Hikari, but the boy retaliates with another vial. This one explodes into something very akin to riot foam as it tries to engulf the catboy, but it doesn't stop at 'suppressing.' It keeps expanding and squeezing like a vice, trying to crush his armour entirely. Tanya gives her answer, and Hikari can't help but laugh. "I can't hate the logic, I suppose. A shame." As she blinds he and Assassin both with smoke, the sounds of his coughing fill the air. However, he still has something in store for her. A cluster of vials shoot out in a scattershot around her before bursting. Whatever their contents are, they cause a very rapid descent in the temperature around her, icing over her weapon and flight unit. Down below, Gwyn is still locked on combat with Jeanne, face fixed in a rictus of a scowl. He staggers back to avoid the burning banner and falls into her rhythm of swipe to thrust to charge. He raises that massive sword to gain some measure of defence against it. "Lord Gwyn!" Cenedril calls out in horror. But suddenly, his hand lashes out to grab Jeanne by the throat. "Dragon Witch, art thou? I hath slain numerous dragons. And I shalt tell thee... THOUST FLAMES DO NOT COMPARE!" He raises her above his head, and lightning comes down one, twice, and three times to strike her form before he spikes her to the earth. And then, with a rallying yell, he charges Assassin once more, a leaping thrust to bury his sword into their massive neck. From amidst the smoke, Touta rises and swipes. There's a scream from Hikari as he feels his blade connect. "DAMN YOU!" Hikari shouts, his hands lashing out to grab Touta by the throat. The other attempts to jam a vial into his mouth before he kicks the boy away. When the vial breaks, it expands into sharp metal to fill his mouth and head with itself. "You think yourself brilliant for noticing that?! Watch this!" Hikari raises his arms, and more of those tendrils come out of Assassin to jab into his back... only to be severed again by Rynith, coming to assist. Hikari howls an outraged scream. Artillery comes raining down, slowing Assassin's advance. He begins whipping one of those main tendrils around like a lasso, building momentum in it before abruptly severing it with the other. The mass of flesh goes flying at the artillery several streets away, poised to crush and scatter them. In the building, Shogo offers Reiji a grim smile. "Misha paid the cost for me. He was on his last legs." His hand comes up, and roughly pinches Reiji's cheek. "Why are you falling into this thing's rhythm? An endurance battle is where something like this shines. Coming at it with mundane blades just because it 'absorbs magic?' You saw the juice it sprays, right? There's a biological limit to how much it can take before it begins sublimating into raw essence. All we need to do is hit that limit in one go. And I think I know how." He leans in, and whispers his plan to Reiji.
Staren	Staren retorts, <"You think the Concord is going to track down every person I help out of some need to-- wait, why am I arguing morals with YOU, you're mass-murdering a city right now!"> The foam spreads over his plane and starts to crush it; Staren pours on MORE SPEED to blow most of it away before it can reach its maximum crush potential, then has the mech transform to humanoid mode to break it up further, but the damage is done -- although ironically less visible now, as the crushed parts are hidden under a thin layer of foam. The machine slows to a halt in the distance and turns, firing a spray of deadly hypersonic steel from miles away with the gatling railgun. It's /something/ to slow down the beast's growth, at least.
Ritsuka Fujimaru	Jeanne's so focused on her offensive that she gets caught by surprise when Gwyn takes hold of her neck. She spits out muffled obscenities as she struggles to free herself, the height difference being a bit of an issue when it comes to finding any leverage. It's not looking all that great for her, but she's got some ideas on what's to come and how to handle it when he raises her skywards. It involves spears. Lots of spears. Conjuring spears from above her, they form an impromptu shield/lightning rod to shield the Avenger from that holy lightning, each blast disintegrating them on impact. They've done their job in keeping her unharmed, though, and Jeanne finds her chance to retaliate when Gwyn spikes her downwards. She rolls with the landing to spread the impact, kicking off the ground at the last moment to spring back onto her feet. "You boast of killing dragons, but you can't even slay one peasant girl? Were those dragons merely hatchlings, then?" Despite the derisive laughter coming from Jeanne once again, it's clear from her stance that she's adjusting her strategy. She can't afford to take those lightning bolts head on, and she can't charge at him while the Assassin is still sucking mana out of the air around him. That leaves fire. "If you're so anxious to feel my flames, then go ahead and take them!" Clenching her fist tightly, Jeanne raises it and slams her palm into her ground as dozens of dark fireballs appear around her, launching themselves towards Gwyn after a few moments and threatening to light him aflame! Or Assassin, but she's not too worried about him at this point. Rynith doesn't look like she's doing particularly well, either, and Hikari seems rather crazed already, but she'll just have to chalk that all up to battle-madness for now. It's not like she cares what happens to that Servant or anything.
Richard Stadler	The artillery Stadler's called down doesn't do any appreciable damage... but in the end, it wasn't meant to. THe shells fired fall on the buildings to the side, the street to the back, marching closer and closer. "All right, we've got it!" Stadler's on the radio. "I-" He pauses, stopping as the thing starts to whip the tendril up and around. Rick knew tendrils; knew that most creatures of this type used them as ranged attacks. ANd knew that if it was going to go for the vehicles in front, it would have been at a lower angle. So what- "Tendril, front, left side! Aim for the base!" He yells through the radio. It was a snap move, without a thought of what it would do. But the artillery was in the open and the most powerful force he had on the field. He had to do something. And he did. The fire did seem to deflect, send the tendril with the force it was going to use to fling across streets right down on the vehicles in front of them, with that much more power. The world went a kilter, and then Stadler tried to push himself up again. The radiowoman was coughing and still mobile. The other aide du camp was dead, throat caught on a metal shard. The driver peppered by glass and nearly bisected by the tendril that had pushed the armored vehicle up onto it's back, and shreading the treads of one of the Abrhams. Stadler had a decision to make. He was bleeding men, and his front line power and command and control had been degraded. If the creature didn't hit his artillery now, it would do so, soon, esspecially after the next attack, and he barely had enough working vehicles to get his people out. If it went on for longer, he'd have the only choice of holding or dying. He winced as he put weight on his left leg, twisted, possibly with the ankle broken, grabbing the handset that dangled from the vehicle. "All X-Ray, this is a fallback order! I repeat, fallback order. All dismounted, load up with what you can and leave what isn't driving. Artillery will leave after. Before they do. Load incendiary, and /fire for effect/." At the front line, wounded men were pulled on top of tanks, shoved in surviving fighting vehicles. There were dead men there, and they were left. There wasn't enough room as the vehicles pulled back as fast as they can. The artillery would do the same... but not before every gun, coordinates locked in, fired shell after shell, elevation changed to create a time on target effect. And here, at least, Stadler was prepared, becasue you didn't beat a BOW with shrapnal. You burned it to cinders.
Tanya Degurechaff	Tanya ascends, ejecting that spent casing from her weapon, expression turning stern when vials scatter out of the cloud she'd provided. So was it a waste, then? She brings her weapon aside, shield briefly flickering when the icy grenades detonate around her. The barrier cracks further, with shards of ice piercing the Major's uniform in places. With a grunt, she ascends only a little further before her flight unit gutters. She guides the inevitable descent to a rooftop, wrenching out the power cable and discarding the bulky flight unit's main casing by lobbing it over the railing. It'll be destroyed when it hits the ground-- and that should adequately contain any Imperial secrets from getting out. And with that priority settled, she examines the blaster rifle Staren gave her; Iced over and likewise useless. With a scowl, she discards it and unslings her battle rifle. Pausing, she taps her earpiece, listening in on the radio chatter. After a moment, her shoulder shake, "Heh..." She racks the bolt of her rifle, ejecting that spent casing from what feels like days ago. Her voice comes out as a pained hiss, "I'll build a pile of corpses so high I can climb it to Heaven and kick you /right/ in the balls, Being X..! If magic power is what we need, then..." "Heavenly Father, take his pain away, according to Your will." As she speaks, the pendant beneath her battle uniform begins to glow, a golden light shining through cloth. She rises, swinging her weapon down and taking aim, "Grant me the power to act as Your hand of healing in this Earthly kingdom." Golden light leaks from the sealed firing chamber, leaking out around the locked bolt, "Take his pain and instead fill his heart with hope." The report has more in common with a rocket launch than a gunshot, shedding magical energy as the bullet sails. It's already starting to ignite by the time it reaches Assassin's massive body, white-hot with pressurized magic. She's once more aimed for its mouth and that figure she spotted inside moments ago. If her calculation is correct, it should be somewhere within Assassin's mutated throat before it releases its magic in a remarkably violent fashion.
Reiji Arisu	You know what really gets a reunion down? Massive blood loss. Reiji might have been pulled out of the proverbial frying pan, but he ended up falling right into a blaze of broken glass and twisted steel. "I... He absorbed the backlash from the technique...?" It's... not unheard of. Tragic none-the-less, and still doesn't answer a vital question. "But without a source of mana, how are you--augh!" His cheek! It is pinched! Thoroughly pinched. It also bleeds a bit more, because there's apparently a tiny piece of glass lodged in there. Obviously the thing Reiji needed was less blood in his body. "Falling into its-- I admit, things weren't going as well as they could have, but I was planning to... Take out its regenerating, barrier-ensconced master. Hmn." His brow furrows. Maybe this was not the best plan-- and it sounds as though Shogo has a... better... one...? "You... You know he's not going to want to let her go so easily, right? After what he went through to save her, asking him to give her up--" It's callous in the very best case. But-- if they don't. If they let this monster continue its rampage, will anything be left alive in its wake? "--But then, it's not his choice to make, is it?" Sacrifice. Did it always have to be sacrifice...? "This thing can't be allowed to remain in this world," he says, his hand resting atop his arsenal of weapons. "...I'll be ready. Just give me the word. But until then, I've got a pace to try and set." And one more plan to... Attempt. Whether it will work or not is something else entirely, but it's worth the attempt. Reiji grits his teeth and leaps through the pain, blood running slick down his arms and legs. Killing the abomination slowly isn't cutting it-- fine. Then he'll climb it as quickly as his legs can allow. He'll race to its zenith, to the master bound to its crown. Reiji selects his weapon-- a blade that Shogo would find unfamiliar. A blade that Saber would not. "Hikari," Reiji growls as he crests his final jump. "This has gone far enough. I might not be able to defeat you here-- but I won't allow you to win!" He draws and strikes in the same instant, his blade moving so fast that it seems invisible to the naked eye. Or... Maybe that's not the result of his /speed/ at all. In his hands is the blade of an assassin, a sword of certain death, forged BY death. A weapon that passes through physical barriers as if they were empty air. Barriers... Like, potentially, those enormous teeth protecting the arm containing Hikari's Command Spells.
Touta Konoe	The blade cuts through and Touta finds his first clean hit against Hikari now. Though even while confirming his suspicion's about that hand, he gets a vial of explosives jammed into his face, and his face becomes dynamite. His head bursts like a balloon before he falls from the top of the beast again. Though he's able to heal quickly, new revelations from Archer reach the group. A plan that can almost assuredly stop Assassin and Hikari, but at the cost of Lancer. By fueling Saber with her mana it was possible to create a powerful enough Noble Phantasm to end all of this. But the truth was...Touta didn't want to give up a friend. Even if was to save his town. He was a bit greedy like that. If there was a way that no one had to die...He'd go for that option. He finds himself deliberating with the other, it's an unfair choice they ask him to make. An unfair choice they ask of Lancer to make. "Like hell..." He looks back up to the towering Servant and back down at his hoop, the metal structure was chipping up here and there and looked like it'd snap if used too much longer but..."Degurechaff if it'll give me cover it'll work." He starts putting the hoop around his waist as he gets ready for his plan. Something that was rather...Arrogant of him to try and pull off, but looking at Rynith who was clearly not in a position to take anymore fighting, and the city that was already taking a hell of a beating he felt like this was the best thing he could try to do in this moment. He turns back towards Rynith trying to smile knowing how discontempt she probably was with all of this "Alright, Rynith...I know you don't agree but...I really am counting on you right now. More than you even know. And Reiji, when we finish this Hikari guy off you better be ready to bag him too..." With no more words he spins the hoop around his waist as it starts to spin around him without even moving his hips. For a third time, he rushes up the tendrils back towards Hikari, He cleaves through any obstructions as best he can hoping that Tanya's smoke will cover his ascent. He's already confirmed what he's looking for when Hikari dislodged his hand from those tendrils. It was the hand with command seals. Touta's goal was simple...Use Magia Erebea to absorb them, then use them to command Assassin to stand down. It didn't matter what Hikari would do from there as long as they could control Assassin, if they could get him to go into the sea or go into Spirit form and then disperse from there this fight was over. It just had to work... So Touta would come up to the head once again, planning to put all he could into destroying the barriers Hikari would put up, but Reiji's already there with a blade of his own. It was the perfect opportunity. Should Reiji's blade slice throw, it'd give Touta the chance he need to slam his own attack into Hikari to subdue him, then latch onto his arm to take his command seals. There's so many things that ca go wrong in honesty...But if there's a chance it'd go right were no one had to die...Touta had to take that chance. It was just the kind of person he was.
Eryl Fairfax	"So deluded," is all Hikari says in reply to Staren. The hypersonic metal cleaves through Assassin, and another volley of pus is fired at him in response. On the ground, Gwyn is engulfed in dark flames entirely. He flees, putting distance between himself and Jeanne before his own flames overwhelm the dark ones, his form illuminated in burning light. "You state 'peasant' to wound me, wounding thyself also. This is all mere childish pique, is it not?" His sword blurs, cutting deep into Assassin and severing a large chunk of flesh that he hurls at Jeanne. Fiery shells bombard Assassin and begin spreading across his form. Pustules burst, their liquid contents helping to stem the flames. Tanya takes flight and fires a supercharged shot right down Assassin's throat again, where Avenger is ready to receive it. The spend magic is absorbed, and Assassin's form shudders again, tumors rapidly propagating across his form and then rupturing as he struggles to withstand the influx of magic. Reiji comes at Hikari from behind, while Touta comes at him from the front. Quickly, he tries to weave more teeth around himself to act as a barrier, but Darkdrift finds his flesh regardless, scoring him deep and leaving him open for Touta to grab. There's a great flash as he attempt to peel the Command Seals off the boy's arms, attempting to wrest control of Assassin off of him. In this moment, Assassin stops moving entirely. "Don't you dare!" Hikari yells, drawing up more tendrils to pump himself with mana. This is absorbed - no, pushed into Touta like a hose, attempting to overwhelm him beyond his limits while safeguarding the seals. Someone embraces him from behind. Rynith's form is translucent again, like it was when they first formed the Pactio. She can't go on much longer. "When we met, you said this wouldn't be a Master-Servant relationship..." she whispers. It's not spiteful, but more a reminder. "I can't hold myself together much longer. It's sacrifice... but on my terms this time. I'm sorry, I won't be accepting that job after all." She begins draining all the excess mana from Touta through the Pactio, so much so that her form begins to shine, her silhouette fading even faster as her concept struggles to contain it all. And then, right after giving Touta a kiss on the cheek, she flings herself from Assassin's back. "SABER!" she calls out as she plummets towards the god. It's hard to tell under the beard, but he might be smiling ruefully. "Thine sacrifice shalt not be wasted, Paradox Lancer Rynith." He reaches an arm towards her, and their hands clasp, a meeting that gives birth to a flash of incredible light. "NOW! GIVE HIM ALL YOU GOT!" shouts Archer, leaping from the building as his hands blur, forming signs. "Shinra Bansho - One With All Creation!" All the metal and rubble is animated at once, flying at Assassin like a hose, battering and crushing his immobile form.
Tanya Degurechaff	Lifting her rifle, Tanya grimaces at the gruesome spectacle of Paradox Avenger's reaction to the magic loaded into her shot. The bolt is rocked back, ejecting that smoking cartridge with a dramatic spin. She sucks in a breath, letting it out unsteadily. That spell...usually doesn't need anything as a follow-up. She's going to have to dig deep to keep fighting. Swiping her free hand, she projects her screens-- which jump and fizzle like a TV with poor reception-- and then brings up her rifle. The image zooms in on Hikari as he wrestles with Reiji and Touta. Her eyes close, another deep breath taken. When her eyes open, they're narrow, intense and focused. The image zooms in further. As soon as Tanya has the opening, she squeezes the trigger. A lance of magical blue light streaks from the muzzle of Tanya's rifle, tracing a highly accurate line straight for Hikaru's throat. For some, a risky shot. For Tanya von Degurechaff, calculated and precise.
Staren	Staren is miles away, he has plenty of time to dodge the pus. But he doesn't just step aside. The Star Hawk leaps into the air, becoming a jet once more to fly closer, closing the distance in seconds. It returns to humanoid form in a blur in the air above Assassin, now holding a massive revolver with a barrel the size of a battleship cannon. Built in hope of fighting back against the monsters that prey on the powerless, empowered by its creator's madness and desire to give humanity a better chance in a world where it's been dealt a shitty hand. Staren pulls the trigger and two rounds leave the barrel, shells with mighty impacts belied by their size. It's not, in itself, a killing blow, but hopefully Assassin will feel this one!
Ritsuka Fujimaru	Gritting her teeth at Gwyn's retort, the Dragon Witch still manages to crack a wider grin at the sight of the imposing knight moving away from her flames. "Why yes. Yes, it is. And yet you can barely withstand this 'child'!" She says as she's pelted whole-body with a giant chunk of mutated Assassin meat. Flames surround the interfering Avenger as she starts burning up her reserves of mana to get that flesh out of the way, taking quite the big blow to her pride even though she just powers right through it. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think this would be the perfect opportunity to finish you off just to rid this world of your horrid existence!" And yet, those flames simply continue to churn as her gaze moves off of Gwyn. She watches as Reiji and Touta pin Hikari down with their sword and hoop techniques, as Staren bombards Assassin and Avenger, as Reiji and his father unleash their magic upon him, and as Rynith pours the last of her mana into the Saber while a certain child seems rather distressed by that course of action. It'd be so easy to just take advantage of all this. Kill the Saber, take the wish, and be on her way. And yet... Jeanne turns her gaze fully towards the monstrosity while raising her black blade. She swings it in front of her and points it at Assassin. "La Grondement Du Haine!" A beat. "... Oops. The Saber is moving too quickly for me. Watch out." She states in a half-hearted tone and with a completely deadpan expression as the flames surrounding Jeanne expand rapidly, surging forwards in a massive wave. They flash right past Gwyn, instead aiming straight at the giant. As the flames reach Assassin, yet more geysers of flame erupt from the earth beneath it followed by numerous spears, each one poised to drive right into the beast from below. There's two at first, then they rapidly grow in number before exploding from within!
Touta Konoe	Touta feels the world in slow-motion as Rynith pulls him back. He sees her fading figure that tries to tell him that it's just simply her time. And...He doesn't take this well. He looks back to her, calling her name. He screams an unsightly shout as he falls back towards Saber to finish the job. He tries to follow but, the hoop around his waist finally breaks...And with it...All the mana he's stored can't be contained, and simply erupts causing a little explosion. It's enough to keep him from following. Enough for her to go to Saber to... "Don't do it..." Rynith's form begins fading more and more, the pactio card glowing more brilliantly than ever before and yet it's colors fading just the same, "Rynith stop! We can find another way! Stop! Don't! Saber wait!!! Don't Pleaaase!!!" Touta Konoe might be called many things in the Multiverse and he might have done things that people consider immature but there's one thing this boy has never done in front of others. Something that no matter how truly sad he might have felt he repressed or simply regardless of how immature he might have seemed at times never did...But this time, he cries. This young man bawls his eyes out pleading to his friend not to do what she aims to do...And before anything else, Touta watches as his shouts get overshadowed by the sound of Saber's Noble Phantasm. Touta stares at what occurs in a look of despair that can only be seen on the face of a child who watches someone close to them die before their eyes. He can hear the voices of the others telling him not to waste her sacrifice, and he knows that and yet...He's so conflicted, he feels so much more pain than any sort of physical pain he's come across. It tears him up inside, and those painful feelings begin to accrue with it... The magic that drives Touta immortality was dark magic, magic derived of the purest of negative emotions and well...In this situation they had much to thrive on. Black Miasma began to cling to Touta's person, his hands becoming gauntlets of black magic. His shoes ripped through as demonic claw like feet spruced out from under, and a form of that miasma began to materialize down Touta's spine before continuing down to what looked like a tail. It was in instances like these that people would remember that Touta Konoe while so easy going was not human, right now he wasn't even properly a vampire...He was an immortal monster. And a master that was about to let loose all it's malice on this Servant in one final strike as he let out his scream filled with tears. "AAAAaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"
Reiji Arisu	Rynith makes her decision. Reiji watches with a remorseful grimace as her form shines, saint graph burning and overloading with a surging tide of mana. This was her decision-- her choice as a being granted a second, third and fourth chance at life. All of that, all of it has led to this point, to this moment. Reiji looks to Touta-- he knows, he understands the boy's grief. He'd felt it before, keenly. How many years had he spent chasing after his father's memory? How much time had he wasted, never understanding his father's heart in that final, fatal moment. "Touta... Touta, listen," Would he listen? How could he be expected to. The grief, the anguish, it could consume any heart. And it does. Reiji winces, standing point blank before a surge of so much dark, monstrous energy, "You're the one... The one who gave her another chance. You gave her the freedom to make this choice, to decide where and when to spend her life. To make more of herself than just a conjured memory!" Reiji grips tight around his strange, deathly blade, burying it just an inch deeper-- before tearing it viciously out of Hikari's body. "She decided that your life, and the lives of all the people in this city-- in this home she was given-- were worth her sacrifice! Her memory, her legacy, is in the continued existence of everything she loved!" Darkdrift is sheathed. His father begins the assault. Earth and Metal pound into the indomitable colossus, drawn from the very stuff that makes up the urban landscape. Reiji selects his next weapon. Sorin, his father's own sword, erupts from its sheath with a punishing spray of rime and elemental water-- a wave of cold to freeze the protective cage of fangs in place. "I know... I know how you must feel right this minute, but Touta, it's alright. Those feelings aren't wrong." Sorin is sheathed. Hollywood takes its place. In a single burst of gunfire, he aims to shatter Hikari's last line of defense, to leave him open for everything that is to come. Anti-spirit rounds explode into the frozen fangs, scattering the essence of Wood into the world. "That pain, that guilt, they're proof of the life she wanted to save. Proof that you ARE the person she believed you to be!" Hollywood is holstered. Reiji seizes one last weapon. "Don't lose sight of who you are. Get a hold of yourself, Touta! Cry, scream, let the tears flow until you can cry no more! But don't ever forget, those are all how you know--" Karin is drawn, shedding sparks into the lingering motes of Hollywood's elemental energies. They ignite, setting the world on fire, burning flesh and bone alike. "--That your heart is still human!" Reiji strikes, driving his burning blade for Hikari's injured arm-- but more importantly...! "The cycle of elements is complete," Reiji intones, gathering the whirling elemental energies for a single, final blow. "Shinra Bansho," One more stroke. The power crushes inward, imploding around the point of impact. "One With All Creation!"
Eryl Fairfax	A lance of light cuts through Hikari's throat and he staggers back. With all of Assassin's mana pumping through him, the wound closes into a massive tumor that presses against his shoulder and head, forcing his head aside. His breathing quickens and becomes ragged as he realises how bad the situation has gotten. The massive rounds fired by the Star Hawk hammer into Assassin's still form, tearing open massive wounds all the way through. Regeneration is slow due to the battle taking place upon his back. On the ground, Jeanne disregards her battle to 'accidentally' attack Assassin. Hikari is too caught up to notice however, and the Servant is skewered and burned. The spears raise him off the ground, leaving him trapped. Touta, in the depths of his despair, begins to warp before Hikari's eyes. The boy comes face to face with the monster he had been goading, and begins to scream as his hand is crushed in Touta's claw. His fist is brought down on Assassin's back, driving him down on the spears more and causing a sickening crack as his massive spine is broken. As his father batters the Servant, Reiji strikes Hikari himself, bringing the full cycle of elements to completion upon him, ripping apart all his defences. "No! NO! I REFUSE TO LOSE LIKE THIS!" he screams as his Command Seals are themselves sealed. Assassin begins to write and buck now. "If I'm not in control, then Avenger's Master is! Do you have any idea what that might me-" "IT MEANS NOTHING." Saber has ceased glowing so blindingly, but he is still glowing. His form is incandescent, shining like the sun itself. This is him at full power, the full glory of the King of the Gods. "Archer. Archer's kin. Be thou prepared. Boy... get clear. T'would break Lancer's heart should you join her so soon." He strides up to Assassin's impaled form and stands directly underneath. Taking a slow, deep breath, he says to Cenedril. "My Master. Prepare thine Command Seals. They shalt be... necessary, after this." He raises both his arms, and intones; NOBLE PHANTASM: LINKING THE FIRST FLAME
Eryl Fairfax	r The flames are immediate, and absolute. Were it not for Reiji and Shogo directing the flames straight upwards to pierce the clouds and enter space, the city would be annihilated. The heat is tremendous, warping steel and glassing sand. The tar in the road bubbles and boils as the air shimmers and warps. This is the Sun. This is the fire that brought disparity. A miracle beyond the god's miracle, brought to bear upon Assassin, upon Hikari. Only two things remain at the end, and neither are Assassin. There in the crater, a broken and warped form. Avenger, crumbling away. The last vestiges of a barrier he managed to erect with mana siphoned from Tanya's supercharged shot shatters. "Degurechaff," he chokes, heedless if she can even hear him. "When you crush my land... do it swiftly and thoroughly. Let no resistance form, no splinter cells linger. End all thoughts of resistance... so that the civilians are not caught up. So that my family..." He wheezes, as he begins to fade. "There is no God in war... it's no place for anyone. Least a child..." He's gone. Also standing there is Gwyn. He does not glow any more. His form is a withered, charred husk. The cost to pay for his Noble Phantasm. What remained of him after he threw himself into the First Flame. It is only natural that by invoking it, he returns to that state. But a Servant he remains. A tearful Cenedril watching him aimlessly walk from left to right, and raises her hand. "By our contract I bid you, Gwyn. Follow me, until the end." A Command Seal is consumed, and the Servant crawls from the burning hole to join her. And in an instant, Ruler is behind her, alongside the mysterious hooded figure. "Cenedril of Astora," the figure says. "As the last Master with a Servant remaining, you have won this Grail War." She is proffered a map, with directions to the cave Reiji detected so long ago. "Please report here at your earliest convenience to claim your wish."
Tanya Degurechaff	Assassin is incinerated. Standing atop a damaged building, Tanya observes the flames of Lord Gwyn consuming the monstrosity and its traitorous Master. Calmly, she repeats, "It's all about risk assessment, Hikaru Toromaru." She doesn't remove her eyes from the sight, even as the beast burns away to ashes. But once the flames die out, it is not Cenedril or even Jeanne that she pays attention to. Sighting something in the crater, Tanya lifts her free hand. Her magic screen slides over and down, zooming in on Avenger's battered and mutilated form. Twisting her hand, she turns up the volume, catching the majority of the words he croaks out. And when he fades, Tanya's face twists into a scowl. The magic screen is dismissed, and she leans forward against the concrete railing, "No God in war... That's the most sensible thing you've ever said." She tilts her head back, staring at the sky. The golden light within her eyes swirls and fades, along with the glow from within her combat jumpsuit, "...Goodbye, Colonel Anson Sioux. I'll see to it Legendonia is properly managed." Not that Tanya herself oversees the integration efforts. But she has enough pull to nudge the right kind of people into the right positions. Something she's intended to do for a while, now. Might as well get it done before matters with the locals have a chance to turn septic.
Staren	Staren fires a second shot just to be sure, while all the crazy magic is going on. Although he has to back away quickly, lest the release of magic cook him inside his machine! And then... it's over. He doesn't even have to listen to a last retort from Hikaru, the guy just says he refuses to die but doesn't /actually/ live. Some mage he was. The Star Hawk lands by the crater and watches what happens next. Did they just win the war? But Ruler (isn't he dead?) appears and gives Cenedril a map instead of a wish. Suspiiiicious. There will be time for dealing with that later. Now... <"It is done. Paladins, send your relief to Neo-Tokyo. I will do what I can for those who fell defending it."> He transmits, then climbs out of his machine, and with energy wings appearing at his back, flies to Touta. "If you want her to live again, then don't give up. There's a multiverse of possibilities out there. She's beyond my help, but perhaps if you look for another way... You'll find one. And I'm sure your friends will help you. Good luck." He places a hand on Touta's shoulder, then turns and flies away. Staren flits between the crashed vehicles and the smashed ones and the dead members of Richard's team. Making sure those who are alive can be stabilized with nanites, and that those who aren't... that their brains are kept in good enough condition for him to revive. Soon squads of robots arrive to help distribute medical nanomachines. This is going to be a long night.
Touta Konoe	It was over. The battle in Neo-Tokyo, the grail war, it was all over. Touta thanks to those of the Multiverse finds that Hikari is dealt with, the threat vanquished. So why is it that he still finds himself grinding his teeth. Why does he still have the urge to crush more than just Hikari's hand but bash his face into the boiling pavement? Why does he have the desire to lash out against Saber who used his Noble Phantasm to protect his world? Why does he feel so much pain even though he's immortal? He knows the answer, but it doesn't make accepting the cold-hard reality any better. "Rynith..." Perhaps it was justifiable to say that she gave her life for this, that as a Servant that she was just a familiar, but he knows arguements against those as well. He knows that she wasn't a mortal any longer. "...Even without the grail...I would have tried to..." He would have tried to maintain her. It was difficult but not impossible to keep a Servant without a Grail to handle the upkeep and someone like Touta was sure it was possible. But that seemed to no longer be the case. And then as if adding fire to this...He appears. There's a rising of miasma once more as Touta's just about ready to pounce but instead he finds himself falling to the floor shouting that man's name. "Naaaaaagi!!!!! YOU BASTARD!!! Where were you?! Where were you when Assassin attacked the city?! Wasn't it against the rules?! Did you just stop caring?! Did you stop caring about the rules?! Or did you just stop caring about this world?! ANSWER ME YOU BASTARD!!! NAAAAAGIIIIIII!!!!!" Touta's body is limp. It's one of the few times it appears like he's for some reason not healing, and yet like a worm the poor boy tries squirming across the ground towards that man. "ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!!! NAGGGGGGGI!!!!!"
Reiji Arisu	It's over. Assassin is quite literally a pile of carbon. Gwyn has been reduced to the burnt-out husk of a god that Reiji once knew him as. Everything is ash in his mouth. In a single instant, the Grail War was brought to a close. As Ruler appears to award Cenedril her wish, as Touta screams for an explanation, Reiji fears... They'd played right into someone's hands. He looks on and sighs-- Touta needs to get it out of his system. He needs to scream until his throat is hoarse and his tears are spent. Then, maybe there would be time to heal. And for Reiji... "...Dad," he says, looking over to where the Archer inexplicably still stands. "I... What's going on? How are you still... Here? Do you need me to form a contract-- Did you figure out what the one running this war has got planned? There's... There are so many questions. Too many questions." And so little time to find an answer to them all, now...
Ritsuka Fujimaru	The battle is over. All Servants involved in and native to this war have perished save for Gwyn, and that's confirmed when Ruler announces the Saber as the victor. Lowering her blade, Jeanne lets out a long and heavy sigh of exertion before looking into the crater where the Assassin once stood. She sees some kind of strange husk. Were it not for the Ruler announcing Cenedril and his role, she wouldn't even believe that this is Gwyn. She approaches the pair, sword still drawn and anger still burning in her eyes. The Avenger raises it, looking as if she's ready to cut him down. Once again, it'd be such a simple thing to do, and it'd be a great final screw-you to the Saber as well as putting her on even more people's radars. And yet... "Tch... There's no challenge here any more. Leave, and don't forget that I could have killed you easily if I wanted to!" She sheathes her blade, and instead makes her way towards Touta, eventually stopping nearby while he bellows at Ruler and starts dragging himself towards the man. His form is unfamiliar, one she's legitimately never seen before. She can't even recall ever seeing him this fired up over anything, and a small part of her wants to just bring him right ot the Ruler to see how badly that goes. Alas... Jeanne doesn't do that. She sighs again, then reaches over to hoist Touta up onto her shoulder with her back to the Ruler and keeping Touta facing the man. She waits until Touta's done getting that anger out of his system and the Ruler is finished responding, then heads off down the road.
Eryl Fairfax	Ruler looks down at the weeping, screaming form of his descendant and says nothing. His face twists into a grimace and says nothing. He looks away and says nothing. Shogo is smoking as Reiji approaches him. "I'm rooting myself to the world with Shinra Bansho, drawing power from creation to keep going." He offers a tired smile. "Yeah, I became an existence that threatens the natural world to keep going. But don't worry, I won't be around much longer." He taps his smoke to dislodge the last of the ash, and then grips Reiji's shoulder. "I scouted that cave you found... there's something in there. Something... primal. Son, you need to be there when that wish is granted. I don't think it will be that simple." He stubs out his habit, and cuts of Shinra Bansho. Immediately, he starts to fade. "Goodbye son. I love you." He's gone.