Scene #8598: Soul Reaver: The True face of the Sarafan

Owner	Pose
Raziel	With some time to rest in a more comfortable area, they can push on. The pass that was blocked that offered them a road north was free now. As they move north, the temperature changes to colder. For Raziel, this seems to not bother him. Others might not be so fortunate. However, on the path to Uschtenheim, they would have to cross rough terrain, even with the road there. On the road there are markings. These standards placed down were those of the Sarafan. Unlike the ones placed down by Moebius' cutthroat armies, the Sarafan were disturbingly more organized. The impaled vampires were done in a near-perfect organization. Their methods seemed to be brutal, but efficient brutality. The systematic murder of an entire population. 'For all of the butchery of Moebius' crusade, this massacre was somehow more chilling. The killing fields of the Sarafan betrayed a more orderly ruthlessness. The cold-blooded righteousness of the true believer.' Progressing a little more, ducking into a cavern, an area protected from the chilling cold... There were a number of Sarafan warriors themselves. They were alert, and orderly, and almost immediately noticed your presence. They immediately saw Raziel and were drawing weapons. Those who could reach into the minds of others know that they could not be reasoned with. These were warriors raised from an early age into vampire killing machines. Those who could walk into the past and future could not find one where they accepted Raziel as a being who should continue to exist. In fact, almost everyone pinged them as 'other'. Anything that was 'other' did not deserve to live. 'Here at last in the flesh, I beheld my former brothers in arms. The warrior priests of the Sarafan order. Their lives were dedicated solely to the annihilation of the vampire plague. While I confess I felt a twinge of longing, a pang of grief for what I believe was my lost virtue... I regarded them with none of the reverence I formerly felt. For I had seen the human face of the vampires, and now I beheld the monstrousness of these men...' With weapons drawn, with these men beyond reason... You would have to fight your way through. The group of Sarafan that array themselves with you do so in an orderly fashion. These aren't the ragtag group of mercenaries that Moebius had hired. These are trained killers, trained to fight vampiric armies, trained to fight other less agreeable nations. They were the bloody hand of the circle... However, you have the high ground, and some are running to get their crossbows, right now it is you who have the advantage in how to engage them. However, it's already obvious they are used to fighting in groups and are moving clusters to work to try and bog you down while their archers get ready. No matter how you cut it, it's going to be a slog.
Trudy Grimm	Though visibly fatigued from the earlier ordeals with Moebius' soul trap and her particular method of helping Raziel contend with it, Trudy Grimm has been able to keep up so far. Entering a colder clime within the caves even rejuvinates her a bit, a brief reminder of her own frigid homeland and the inhospitable reaches beyond. Eyes closing at some point during the walk between the impaled vampires, the witch mutters, "Only the Allfather knows how these barbarians would contend with a foe who doesn't die on a bit of wood." Her gaze wanders to the book hanging off her side. Eyes closing with a sigh of surrender, the witch removes the tome. Its buckle unfastens, the covers spreading and pages flipping wildly. The Grimoire almost seems to sigh on its own, as if stretching after being tied up for so long. The Serafan behold a white-haired, dark-skinned young woman with a magic book. Despite her tired appearance, she cracks a shark-toothed smile. One hand holds out the Grimoire. The other reaches, producing the Rune of Death, Eiwaz, in sickly green flame. Around her feet erupts a circle of ancient runes. What follows is perhaps the most horrifying sight for any Vampire Hunter. The impaled corpses, evacuated of their vampiric souls by the method in which they were killed, begin to move. Joints cracking and popping against the stiffness of death. Even the more rotted shapes rattle and snap to life. One by one, the carcasses wrench themselves free, tearing pieces of their own bodies free in some cases, slumping on the ground-- then picking themselves back up. Prime time for their vampiric souls to reinhabit them. Those who are left abandoned continue to move on their own, that same sickly green flame burning in their eyes as the freed dead advance. One army to another.
Angela	"You know," Sal mutters. "When I picked up this gig I didn't think I'd be fighting Crusaders after." "You're telling me," M.O.M adds. "I just thought we would be taking some scans and bouncing." "I wonder what they taste like." Chewie adds. M.O.M and Sal glance over to Chewie and Sal, in particular, glares. "I'd call it the Sarafan Souffle." M.O.M is not psionic and decides to try out some diplomacy anyway, cupping his mouth and shouting, "Hey! We'd rather not beat the shit out of you, temporally speaking, dipshits!" M.O.M looks to Sal with a 'how'd I do?' expression, at Sal's disgust. "We're all human dumbasses! How are you going to even hunt a ghost??" "Oh like that's better." M.O.M mutters.
Timespace Riders	Sougo, his soft-hued shirt, hiking boots and rolled khakis stained with the accumulated detritus of long and sustained travel, naturally attempts to glean some understanding of the Sarafan warriors. His posture flickers perceptibly--moreso than usual, because the urgency of the situation leaves little time for subtlety. "That's..." his eyes close, hands already reaching for his belt. "Really too bad." Some time from now, there will be an encounter with an intractible old man, that will help him to overcome the last of his reservations with people like this. For the moment, some still exist, and it is with a kind of sluggish hesitation, despite the urgency, that he retrieves his belt. "Henshin." RIDER TIME! KAMEN RIDEEER.. (RIDER..!) ZI-O--ZI-O!! II! Black armor sports swept pink trim at the shins, hips, and gauntlets, joined by gold and silver--darkness and light--at the pauldrons and hauberk. The cuirass is overlaid by two silver watch wristbands, traveling all the way up the length of his helmet. The helmet's lenses are formed by pink katakana spelling RIDER, atop which rest two symmetrical sets of hour and minute hands--past and future. "I wish I could say I hadn't worried you guys might be this way," he says, as he summons a pair of shortswords which resemble the hands of a watch--one longer and primarily silver, the other shorter with a gold edge. "But those statues in your monastery didn't leave much room to the imagination." The Rider's helmet sweeps across the battlefield, over impaled vampires and down the road. "Even so..." He is charged by a tight cluster of warriors before he can put to action his plan for the archers, forced to bring up both blades in a hasty block. The longer of the two holds two weapons at bay, while the shorter holds a third, kept from striking the Rider's armor only by his enhanced strength. "The world never needed to be the cruel place you made it into." Taking a willing trade, he angles the shorter blade around the plane of one warrior's weapon to strike their face with his gauntlet, forcing an opening with a followup straight kick. Angling around the other two and maintaining the block with his other sword, he makes a horizontal slash with the shorter blade. It creates an aftershock of rapidly shifting polychromatic energy, exploding on contact and creating some extra distance.
Hellwarming Trio	The trio of Utsuho, Rin, and Satori find little suited to their taste as they float along a little above and behind Raziel in the crew focused on saving his world. With the region being as cold as it is, the latter two are huddled up under Utsuho's cape while she glows faintly/ominously with the power of the sun pulsing gently out of her, keeping her power in check just enough that nobody catches on fire nor succumbs to frostbite during the trek. They're certainly not comfortable, but it could be a lot worse than it is. They could be the ones on those stakes next, and hearing that thought from Rin is enough to have Satori putting an arm around the kasha to calm her down as they continue moving along. Utsuho gets a light pat from behind, too, even if the hell raven is hiding it far better. Utsuho: "I bet a lot would die if you shoved spears through them like that." Satori: "I believe Miss Grimm means a stake in the heart. Which... That would still be an unpleasant way to die." Rin: "Such a waste, too... Nnn. Bet they wouldn't like it if they got these through them." Knowing that holding back isn't necessary here, Utsuho and Rin float as high as they can in the cave without hitting their heads on the ceilings. Seeing the Sarafan running to get their weapons, it takes the pair a moment to realize that they really do have an initial advantage in this engagement! Naturally, that means raining fire down at the Sarafan, scattering their flames all over the place to try and throw them into disarray, to ruin their crossbows, and to draw their fire as the highest targets around. Utsuho in particular has her wings spread for maximum size-appearances while Rin darts around in the air all over the place, practically like she's taunting them. Utsuho: ""Souffle? Oh, that's the... The fancy one, right?" Rin: "Master made that once! It was... Uhhh. Unique!" Satori, meanwhile, is too distracted to pay attention to her pets as she does a bit of mental scouring. Rather than listening to what's going on in the battle, she reaches into the minds of the Sarafan, trying to find if they have some kind of priority on who to aim at. If there's someone they really want dead Right Now among the crowd of Elites present.
Raziel	The Crusaders look incredibly disturbed by their former quarries tearing themselves free from their own impalement. Scores of Vampires are freed in this manner, though not all of them act as you might think they would. Some start booking it, because they are in no condition to fight, or were not fighters to begin with. Others look confused but start to realize what has happened and look for weapons to start attacking with. Others, so far gone just rush at the Sarafan, tooth and claw. A minority, but large enough to be considered don't come back at all, and their zombified bodies slowly move at the warriors, aiming to engage them in a manner similar to the Feral ones. Diplomacy isn't going to go very well. In fact not a single one of them listens to a word you say, instead, they should various incredible insults and words that might make no sense to you but you vaguely feel are slurs. You can tell they are when Raziel narrows his eyes at them. They don't only sling insults, but crossbows are fired at Sal, M.O.M., and Chewie. More for Chewie because he looks the most off of the lot of them. Fire rains down on the Sarafan, but they are not used to fighting magic-using vampires. Some clump up and try and brace each other with their shields, others in the back cast their own magic to try and protect them from the fire. Rin distracts them, however, which makes things harder. However, she neglects the magic users, and soon the fire strikes are being mostly countered by magic blasts and shields. Satori can feel that Raziel is their primary goal, but her two pets fit under 'not human' and would be targeted too. These are human supremacists... and Satori can't help but think about something Kain said once... 'Can you grasp the absurd beauty of the paradox? We're the same. Sarafan and Vampires. With our holy wars, our obsession with Nosgoth's domination. Who better to serve me than whose passion transcends all notions of good and evil?' More than that, they have some unkind thoughts of her as well. These are men raised as priests, indoctrinated from nearly birth, and told the whole time 'they are doing god's will', so nothing they do to their enemies... not a single thing, could be considered evil to their minds. Sougo faces down the Crusaders who have moved out of phalanx formation and have moved to try and surround him. Another group moves up behind the first, attempting to isolate him from others. Swords swing down, just as he swings his own blades. They clash, but despite everything Sougo is far stronger. His slash gets one soldier, blasting him away, but another moves up to shield-check him before he can complete his full maneuver. Others, fill in to take his place. This is a maintained army, a well-trained army, and a well-stocked army.
Trudy Grimm	Feral, resurrected vampires and hollow corpses alike wade in amidst crusading warrior-priests. The dead who have not been repossessed by their original vampiric owners fight without care for their own self-preservation. Sacrificing limbs to get in close. Bogging down thrusting spears with their own bodies. Tearing at armor and flesh and weapons alike. At the back of the procession, Trudy stands. While she is a clear locus to the horrors unfolding around her, there's too many things between the Serafan and the witch to make getting at her an easy prospect. Her head dips forward, casting her face in shadows cast by unruly hair and accentuating the green glow of her eyes. Fingers curl clawlike around Eiwaz, exerting effort in a way that twists the rune like the dial of an ancient device. "Kill them over and over. Kill them to your hearts' content. Maybe you'll finally get tired of it." A handful of husks, abandoned by their occupants, lurch to a stop in the melee. Jolting upright, the rune of the Flame, Kaunnaz, searing into existence on their foreheads. A heartbeat later, all at once, each carcass explodes like a bomb had just gone off. Following that initial violence, there's a sort of...miasma, a dark splatter of blackened, sooty sludge. The Serafan who step into it start to feel the heat. As if walking on coals. A curse that clings to the metal they wear, spreading up through their armor, not stopping until everything metal they wear feels like it just came out of the forge. Something joins Trudy on the backline while this is happening. Crawling out of her shadow, a towering man in battered and cracked black plate armor. Green crystals project from holes and cracks, though he has no trouble moving. The Black Knight assumes a bodyguard role beside the Witch with his great blade.
Hellwarming Trio	Satori's brief examination of the Sarafan's minds confirms her... Fears? No, she was already expecting this kind of reaction. Some of it makes sense, at least, but knowing that something makes sense isn't nearly the same as liking it. Her expression dulls somewhat as she floats up towards Utsuho and Rin, joining them in weaving around the magic getting hurled their way. Somehow, the three avoid getting pelted head on by the blasts of water, whether it's because they're staying so high up, or because Satori's directing her pets' movements like a conductor with only her hands. Rin: "What's the verdict, master?" Satori: "They're vile. No need to hold back." Utsuho: "Whoa. Not even a little?" Satori: "We'll have no peace with any of them around. Just don't strain yourselves too much." Rin: "Really? Alright, you got it!" With no more qualms in their hearts, Utsuho and rin combine their power once again as they start speeding up in their flight. They dive in briefly to build up speed as they hurl even more indiscriminate fire at the Sarafan's ranged fighters, targeting their crossbow wielders and their magic users to try keeping their attention focused on the sky rather than the Elites on the ground. With Satori's blessing, they're even pumping out greater volumes of fire, with Utsuho dropping an exploding fire bomb at them in one pass while Rin's wisps keep drifting downwards slowly and menacingly like burning leaves. Satori, meanwhile, takes full advantage of their hatred of Raziel to start attacking them with him. Not just the way he looks now, either, nor just as how he used to look back when he was fighting alongside them, but both. Several of both of him, even, each one looking just how a particular Sarafan might have imagined him to look were he to attack them moment by moment.
Timespace Riders	Zi-O doesn't know the words themselves, but he knows the intent--to harm, and to hide. To tear down, and dehumanize. He may not be able to change them, but he can certainly attack where it hurts the most. "Does it make you feel bigger, to use words like that? That's sad." It really is, and he does pity the mindset--but the Demon King is socially canny enough to know that even genuine feelings can be weaponized. The shield bashes into his guard, thrown up at the last second. To avoid being kettled and overwhelmed, he reaches for a different Ridewatch--one bearing the helmet of a purple, dragon-themed warrior. Fire? Flight? Ether! MIA! The Zi-O II armor changes in a flash of light, its knightly silhouette made a little more primal by the inclusion of draconic features like fangs at the mouthguard, roaring dragons's heads at the end of his purple bracers, and most prominently, a pair of metal wings in imitation of a dragon's leathery span. He takes to the sky as well, and bombards the scarecrows with blasts of purple fire launched from his bracers. The wings beat powerfully and drive him into the air, where, from his vantage point up high, he risks fire from the archers in order to handle the kettling phalanx. His bracers stoke spheres of roiling purple flame. Blasts of fire rain down on the warriors that had surrounded him just a moment ago, his wings beating again to make a strafing run of his attack, and make himself a harder target to track. He whips between the stakes which formerly held vampires like slaloms, keeping low to the ground and using his metal wings to clothesline would-be interceptors.
Angela	Diplomacy isn't going well! Though, to be fair, it's the Info Team not the Diplomacy Team and the Information Gathering part of this mission has really gone out of hand since they're now fighting the equivalent of Nagel Und Hammer but for vampires. Chewie honestly looks pretty unassuming but he is wearing and wielding Lantern gear which is nice and fluffy except for the parts of it that look sharp and bitey. The Sarafan probably are not too fond of things that look bitey. He gets hit by two arrows in the chest which knock him flat on his ass but fortunately his EGO Gear resists some of the pain--but he'll probably bruise later He didn't like that. "Chewie!" M.O.M shouts. "Eh, boring conversation anyway." Sal says before wielding Wingbeat and charging forward to clobber a few Sarafan in the skulls with it while M.O.M supports them with waves of cherry blossom infused wind pulses that will largely bowl them over but is ultimately more an irritant compared to that mace coming in right at them.
Raziel	Feral vampires impale themselves on weapons or on spears wielded by back-line fighters. Zombies do the same, but with far less effect, causing weapons to be dragged out of some hands. What was worse, however, was the corpse explosion, the curse that spreads as the armor burns those affected. A group of men, with longer hats less armor, and more magical-looking cloaks step out to raise their staffs, each one with a symbol of the circle on it. "Behind us brothers, we shall banish these disgusting monsters to where they belong... starting with their ring leader!" they shout, and fire a blast of holy fire at Trudy and her knight, aiming to burn them from the inside out with the terrible flame that they inflict. Between Satori's mind illusions, and the pair of Rin and Utsuho, one of the Sarafan front lines are collapsing. A single soldier stands up, in brighter and more ornate armor than the others. "LINE UP! They are sub-humans! They are our lessers!" he shouts, deploying a large tower shield, and presses forward to protect his men, who stop being routed and instead line up behind him. Attempting to spear Satori, getting that she commands the other two. Zi-O's flames and maneuvering are doing a number on the attempted phalanx and isolation manuever, forcing themselves back to try and recover some defensive positions before he comes down again. Now it has to do with a very fast person, who can both fly, but do so in such a way it's hard to predict. A commander in the group has an idea, but he speaks to Sougo first, "You say that, while also wearing that monstrous armor! These things are a plight on our lands, monsters who murder women and children! They don't deserve any kindness, nor does anyone who treats them!" Spears strike up, trying to impale the Rider's armor and attempt to drag it to the ground. From here, Mages move around him, attempting to try and chain Sougo and his armor to the ground. Sal and M.O.M.'s counterattack is surprisingly powerful, smashing through armor with blunt force trauma, while also revealing weapons. Cherry blossom pulses follow Wingbeat strikes, crushing through their ranks and forcing another regroup. Numbers are starting to lessen, but it's far from over! A spray of crossbow fire covers retreating front liners, attempting to keep the two of them at bay long enough for a line to reform.
Angela	"Hey we're cuddly and you're fighting us too!" M.O.M shouts. Chewie lies on the floor for a bit longer, contemplating existence, the temporary nature of life for (most) people within the multiverse, why we given life are meant to die. To eat delicious food, Chewie decides, as he stands up slowly and charges forward, M.O.M supporting his advance by swinging Flesh Lantern at the nearest crusader's arm. Which will, of course, promptly try to bite it off. Indeed, if Chewie can see any open flesh out there he will definitely go ahead and take a bite. He is likely suffering some minor Corrosion but that's fine. It's helping you right now. And the best part is, he's not a vampire and he's only as vulnerable to being impaled in the heart as everyone else! "Dammit," Sal takes another swing. "Pull yourself together Chewie!"
Timespace Riders	"M.O.M.--never apologize that way to people like this. Yes, I do wear it! It protects me from vampires and humans both," says Zi-O defiantly, as he banks and flares his wings to halt himself. Spears erupt from the ground at the worst moment, striking his breastplate and greaves in a shower of sparks. The gathering mages are seen in glimpses behind folded wings held up protectively. Polychromatic light builds up behind those wings, filtering brightly above and below the Rider. "These swords of mine..." His wings spread dramatically, putting his augmented strength to contest against the mages' chains, granting him just enough space to swing his swords comfortably. "Have crossed with your order!" An x-slash sends a cluster of disembodied silver clock-faces racing to the ground, where they explode near the feet of the mages. "With Moebius' mercenaries!" A double overhead sends another volley towards the phalanx. "...and with Kain's grandchildren," he shouts, beating his wings and blasting at the commander in an effort to knock them off their feet. "I'm going to be the Greatest, Kindest Demon King of Time! This timeline of war and pain and hurt exists because the Timestreamer and his god encourage it--and it's going to end because I demand it! If that scares you, good! Vampire or human, people who hurt without thinking and hate without questioning -ought- to be scared of me!" With a war cry, he charges after the commander, shifting in midair to deliver a followup cross kick to their center of mass before they can hit the ground.
Hellwarming Trio	Utsuho: "Disgusting monsters? Hey, we showered!" Rin: "Okuu, I don't... Do these guys even have showers?" Satori: "It doesn't matter. Don't waste your breath, girls." Of the three, Satori is easily the most agitated by far by the Sarafan's shouts, and not even just at the ones directed towards her or the other Elites in their group. Seeing humans so dedicated to the eradication of the inhuman, calling them subhuman merely by association, reading their thoughts and finding their beliefs so directly opposed to those like her or Raziel merely existing... Satori: "Even the worst youkai back home are better than this." With the lines starting to falter, the three start moving in more aggressively to disrupt their ranks. Those targeting Satori find that she's actually having some trouble dealing with all that at close range, scoring a few nicks and cuts here and there while forcing her to take to the air again just to avoid getting run through. Utsuho and Rin have a relatively easier time swerving around blasts and bolts thanks to being used to dealing with projectiles in combat before, but they soon regroup with her to create a defensive wall of flames. Satori: "What are you so afraid of, anyway? Surely it's not just... Kain, is it? Or is there someone else you're truly afraid of?" The namedropping and the question are deliberate. Satori needs to know what they're afraid of, subconsciously or otherwise, to make sure her mind-scraping abilities bear fruit in the form of having exactly what the soldiers are thinking of coming right for them. Utsuho and Rin, in comparison, have it easier as they can just keep spraying fire all over the place so long as they keep it all away from their allies. Even the tower shield is not safe as Rin's wisps converge on the decorated soldier from multiple directions, fully intending to superheat that shield and his armor to practically bake the guy inside of it. Utsuho, noticing that there's mages trying to use their own fire against Trudy... Utsuho: "Is that all the fire you've got? Come on!" ... Takes it as a challenge, of course. She sweeps a laser from her rod to the holy flames being launched, then across the ground at the group of long hats. Pillars of flame erupt from the ground where her lasers go, both to try and consume some of those flames coming Trudy's way, but also to try and consume those magic users as well.
Trudy Grimm	Wizards step up. It's very clearly a contengent of wizards, by the way they dress. The witch's smile doesn't abate but instead takes on a more vicious edge. It's a subtle change, the curl of her lips and the corners of her eyes, that transforms something jovial into something menacing. It's a face that the spellcasters don't get to see for long as the Knight steps between them and his mistress. The Black Knight whirls his great sword forward and thrusts the point down, jamming it into the ground and using the broad flat of the blade as a makeshift barrier. Holy flame impacts this, washing around it and blasting the warrior. Curls around him, surrounding the witch he guards. The gout of divine fire is soon interrupted by Utsuho, sparing the Knight and Sorceress both. Wordlessly, he lifts his weapon up and sweeps it aside, scattering what remains of the divine light to the side with ashes now spilling from the joints in his battered, seared armor. The Knight soon collapses, powder spilling out even moreso, but as he hits the ground he-- disappears into his own shadow. Trudy, now alone, straightens her posture. The dark lines under her eyes are more obvious, now, but her actions are still fluid. "Wizards. Of course. A glorified fireball is easy... How are you with hexes?" She leaves her reanimated horde to fend for themselves, fixating her attention on the magicians themselves. Above her free hand she manifests Hagalaz the Air rune. A shadow amidst the wizard contengent darkens. Trudy presses the rune down where it vanishes into the shadow at her feet. A heartbeat later, a runic circle erupts from the shadow she'd tapped into, expanding in size. Another heartbeat passes; each Serafan caught within the radius of her magic circle is subjected to her newest curse. Somewhere between strangulation and suffocation and drowning all at once. The Curse of Stolen Breath, ostensibly centered on those who had just tried to incinerate her. The last time she invoked this was with Laguz; perhaps the Air rune will have a different outcome.
Raziel	Chewie is up... and... Well, there is very little you can do about /that/. The weapon bites into someone's arm, and seconds later he's screaming as blood is spraying across the battlefield. There is an unearthly screaming coming from the man before Chewie does him in himself. The act isn't just devastating to one soldier but shakes the entire group to their souls. They're close to panicking and breaking formation. All of them focus on Chewie now, swords come in to try and cut at his chest, and spears follow up to try and pin him. Also, some bolts fly at Sal and M.O.M. because the bit still has to go on. Sougo reveals his true strength. Friendship and camaraderie. To a degree, so do these men... but their goals are so far removed from each other that they are completely different. Sougo makes bonds with people, regardless of how they stand with him. These men only created bonds with themselves, over hate. Clock hands explode under more wizards and soldiers send some to the ground, others retreating to try and regroup. They have no idea how to deal with a flying madman, who claims to be the greatest Demon King and looks like a dragon. Besides trying to stab him. Some with a shield stand up, trying to brace for others that dash from both sides, trying to repeatedly slash at his armor. Satori drops Kain, but... It doesn't seem to take hold. They don't /know/ who Kain is. This period of time is so far back that Kain wasn't even born yet. The vampire they fear the most is... Janos Audren. More than that... they are part of a group that is moving north to hunt that vampire down. Or at least support a group that is. Of course, this knowledge can be used by Satori to bring their greatest fears to life. The monstrous vampire of all, larger than them, absolutely vile in appearance... and claws that just tear them apart. This combined with Utsuho and Rin's fire all but causes an entire line to route. However, the Commander pushes forward, aiming to slap Satori with the side of the shield and thrust a sword at her. "Your tricks won't work on me, witch!" Wizards, caught in the curse are gripping at their throats, choking because they are literally drowning. It's, honestly, pretty awful to watch. They turn colors, unable to break the curse on themselves, and eventually drop to the ground... more or less dead. A single wizard survives, He does so only by making a makeshift puncture in his throat and grabbing a small piece of plumbing. It won't last long, and he'll die before too long too... But he raises his staff. He vanishes. Appearing right next to Trudy, he dives at her, not to attack her per se, but to grab her. He grins a bloody grin, using the last of his magic to self-immolate. Aiming to also burn her in effigy.
Hellwarming Trio	They don't know Kain yet. Of course they wouldn't know. It's too early for that! Satori: "I suppose you're not ready for what we've seen, then. Your children would be thrilled to see him, I'm sure." With a self-satisfied smirk for no apparent reason, Satori keeps floating around just over the commander, dipping in and out of reach as though taunting him while letting those mirrors of Janos Audren run amok with Utsuho and Rin spreading the flames further. Her timing is a little off and perhaps even predictable after a while, though, giving him a shot at nailing her as she's dipping back in to try and goad him into a tiring swing. If nothing else, at least, she gets her feet up in time that the swing hits her hard enough in the feet that she gets sent spiraling out of control and out of immediate stabbing range. She still lands in a heap of rubble and equipment, though, dazed long enough that the Commander could get a finishing stab in on her if she was fighting alone! Rin: "You don't like tricks, eh? Then we'll just take you out the old fashioned way!" Utsuho: "No tricks? Fine. Bring it on, jerk!" Naturally, Utsuho and Rin are both mildly enraged by his attack on Satori. Rin stays in the air to hurl flaming blue wisps all around, creating a horizontal wall at first before they start closing in on the commander like a hoop. They move slowly enough that he could find a way out of that enclosure without too much difficulty, but Utsuho's moving straight at him far too quickly to let that happen. Utsuho is also on fire. She's practically immolated herself to do this, but it's fine. All she needs is to make contact with the Commander and let the flames seep through his armor, pouring it through his shield to make his equipment that much more unbearably hot just to exist in.
Trudy Grimm	She missed one. Without the Knight, a teleporting wizard has the drop on Trudy even as she tries to find where he moved to. He grabs onto her and her reaction is-- perhaps not expected. The witch lets out a shout and snaps the Grimoire shut. Rather than try to shake the exploding wizard off herself, she shields the book with her arms and body even as the blast envelops her in flames and concussive force. As the smoke clears, Trudy still stands, singed and bloody. There isn't much left of the man who attacked her, due to the way he died-- but the scattered limbs sink into their own shadows regardless as the witch straightens her posture with a sniff. "Not very, it turns out," Trudy comments with a hiss in her tone. She glances down at the Grimoire in her arms, pulling it away from her body and opening the blood-splattered cover once more. Only then does she assess herself, wincing at this touch and that. Too many things are broken or cracked. Taking a painful breath, the witch extends her free hand once more, producing the Rune of Ice, Isa. As she presses this newest rune into the reborn magic circle at her feet, the earlier Curse of Searing mutates from its largely nullified form into something new and equally terrible. Metal previously touched by Kaunaz now cools. First, perhaps a welcome relief from its heated state. Soon it becomes unbearably cold in the opposite extreme, metal shedding mist as moisture condenses near it, biting at bare skin, numbing the extremities of remaining Serafan troops. From the witch's shadow, a new monstrosity emerges. A tall, gaunt man in a long black coat and black pants, white gloves, his head completely encased by the beaked mask of a doctor beneath a distinctive brimmed leather hat. This new guardian looms behind the witch, his unnaturally long arms spread out in a posture that resembles a spider.
Timespace Riders	The warrior's weapons find purchase and strike Zi-O's armor, drawing grunts of pain from the Rider and setting his flight to an uneven wobble. But in spirit with his defiance, the Demon King continues onward, landing and digging furrows into the road. As he skids to a halt, his swords strike out in a flurry of blows, momentum added from his speed to bowl over and overpower guards along the way. Once he's stopped, Zi-O makes an about face and marches back towards the phalanx, intending to take the warriors out of the fight with a series of superpowered kicks and wingbeats. Every impact of his feet causes a point-blank eruption of purple fire, every swing of his sword carries an aftershock of shimmering temporal energy, effectively striking twice per swing.
Angela	M.O.M takes a hit in the shoulder and goes down--the Cherry Blossom gear can only do so much. Similarly, Chewie might be resilient to physical harm he is hardly immune. He is carved up acros his chest, the EGO Gear resisting those blades but not wholly, while M.O.M is staying down, screaming bloody murder and obscenities at the people who pierced him with arrows. "Fuck you fuck you god damn fuck you!" M.O.M writhes. M.O.M's efforts were not wholly spent in vain though, Sal is able to avoid getting skewered by arrows--but it is a little tougher catching someone with arrows when they are all up into your melee range. "I AM A FUCKING RESEARCHER NOT A FIGHTER. MY SPECIALTY IS BOTANY. BOTANY!! ARE YOU TREES? ARE YOU FUCKING TREES?! IF YOU'RE GONNA BE MY PROBLEM I'M GONNA TREAT YOU LIKE TREES AND CUT YOU DOWN LIKE LUMBER!" Fairy wings burst out of Sal's back as branches wrap around her arms and legs as she rears back with her mace, slamming it around in a wide arc. "I WAS TOP IN MY CLASS AT SCHOOL AND THEY HAVE ME HERE FIGHTING RACISTS! RACISTS!! IN THIS YEAR OF THE HEAD!" This journey may have been a bit strenuous for our Lorbos.
Raziel	Between Sal losing their shit, the Touhous being enraged by Satori being attacked and utterly destroying that man who dared touched their master, the absolute Toku explosion disaster that Sougo is right now, and the war crime curses that Trudy has laid into them... Some of the men lay unconscious or unable to fight, many more are... well not so much dead as unalived very hard. Most who were still on their feet retreated, running towards the city to the north. Others ran in other directions proving that this was an absolute route. Raziel, standing up and watching could only silently contemplate what was happening, what he had been lead to believe, and wondered... was what he was seeking as glorious as he had been lead to believe? A cold chill stirs in his heart... was he just like them..? Or... Shaking the thought, he turns to the others, "Is everyone alright? We can rest here and recover our strength before pushing on... the city is not likely to be welcoming to us either, so it is my suggestion we attempt to move around it.." He looks at Chewie, Sal, Trudy, and Satori the most. He almost wants to apologize, but right now he isn't sure what for.
Hellwarming Trio	None of the youkai trio look all that torn up over what had just happened to their commander. The animal duo look like they're still ready to keep going at first, but hearing their master pulling herself up and out of the wreck gets their attention enough that they hurry over to check on her instead of chasing the fleeing Sarafan. Satori: "I'm fine. Shaken, but... The path forward seems clearer than before." Utsuho: "Really? But what about the city he just mentioned?" Rin: "Yeah, we probably don't wanna go in there if there's more jackoffs like that." Satori: "... True. Although... Ah, never mind. We've heard plenty today from them already. Let's hope there's other cities still worth saving on this world by the time we're done here."
Trudy Grimm	Once it becomes clear that the remaining conscious Serafan are on the run, the witch lifts her free hand. In the distance, the Doctor ceases all forward movement and rises to his full height, staring after the unit he was pursuing. The object in his hands is dropped and he turns on one heel. In long strides, the Doctor returns to Trudy's side, adjusting his soiled gloves as he moves. The witch herself takes in a deep breath, letting it out in a pained hiss through her teeth. Gingerly, she closes the Grimoire's cover, buckling it and then releasing it to just dangle from its strap again. Lifting her gaze, she observes the battlefield, glancing towards ZI-O first, then the trio from Hell and lastly the crew from Lobotomy Corporation. After a moment, Trudy turns her attention to the strewn corpses. Extending a hand, shadows start to darken. One by one, the deceased sink into the darkness of Trudy's shadow dimension; collecting the corpses of both the husks of vampires and slain Serafan. "Well we can always see if this Usctenheim can compare to Hamarrheim. But... in the interest of avoiding more sketchy self-exploding wizards, I'm open to other courses of action."
Angela	Sal is somehow splattered wiht more blood than Chewie. They collapse to their knees and screams until the wings pull back into her body. They spit out some glowing green goop, and then flops onto their back, panting for breath. "Yeah." They say. "Yeah." M.O.M is still howling in pain because an arrow is in his arm and this is a potentially fatal wound when one doesn't have much defense against it. He's sweating profusely. Sal shakes their head slowly before making their way back to M.O.M and DRAWING A GUN. They point it at M.O.M and fire a bullet into his shoulder! It starts healing itself up rather rapidly. Chewie also falls over onto his back, blinking up at the sky. "Would've been better with spices." Chewie says.