middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Finale: All teams

The Will to Fight: Finale: All teams

The Far Gate

Given that people have scouted ahead, it will be no surprise when those who arrive at the Red objective find an army of demons there. Unlike the other packs they have encountered, these ones are not roaming, and don't appear to be heading towards the city. Instead, they are guarding something.

A gate. It is larger than the others they have seen so far by an order of magnitude, and if there are this many demons outside, the keystone must be guarded just as well.

For those who are actually on the red team their SCA will flash up a message: This gate has multiple keystones. It is the focal point for other gates closer to the city. Close it.

Around the City

In the Caverns

Once the rockfall was cleared, those that wished to could make their way back towards the city. They might come across demons on the way, small packs scouting the land and hunting survivors, but for the most part their way will be clear until they get to the city and to the Voidtrecker camp.

For everyone else, there are plenty of non-combatants that need protecting. The cavern itself remains warded against demons, but patrols still pass and keeping everyone safe and hidden is important.

Almost all the citizens have thrown off the mind control now. Some of the younger children have started having nightmares, and keeping everyone positive and calm is harder than it was before with a goal in sight.

In the City

The sigils hum and glow. For those feeding them power it's a very long couple of days; though once the monks are free they join in, brusquely waving off any questions or concern about their wellbeing to focus on the task at hand: protecting the city. They will of course accept any extra energy. The wards are not meant to go out completely, it will take a lot of energy to restart them.

By the eleventh day it is clear something else is wrong. Some of the focus stones on the city walls are out of place, either knocked awry in the battles before the false peace, or sabotaged by demons. Either way, for the wards to fully activate they will need those not giving energy to go out onto the walls, to find the stones and align them. It's not too technical but might be dangerous, because outside the walls, a fight is about to begin…

The Battle for the City

The attacks have gotten more frequent but on the evening of day ten they stop. Silence. No gates open, no demons attack. The whole night is spent in a tense, almost eerie silence.

It is broken at dawn the next day, two massive gates open, one to the north of the city and one to the south. Demons march out, heading towards the city.

Not just demons, they each have two large structures, siege machines. It seems they wish to knock this city down completely, securing their victory over the humans.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As curaga settles over the team and injuries heal, someone squeaks in surprise, and a "What was that?!" quickly follows. Thanatos doesn't have time to ponder the completely foreign sensation of life magic on Death Incarnate. Not when there are two demons heading towards him and a third towards Caster.

The sluggish demon is dealt with first by Thanatos as he can take advantage of its slower movement to try and slice cleanly through its neck with his sword. If he's able to do that, then he can turn his attention fully to the other demon. If he can't, then his fight is going to be rough.

The relentless demon will give Thanatos more trouble. Even as he gives up the attempts to mercifully end its life, the way the demon moves and its speed forces Thanatos to parry and dodge more than attack. (Even more so if he can't kill the sluggish demon.) "Tsch! No one else is dying today. You're coming with me one way or another." He keeps the relentless demon busy, though, and he'll do everything to keep himself the target, not Caster or anyone else.

~~What kind of a battle doesn’t have proper dudebroing? These demons have no appreciation for style!~~

Their attack interrupted, Prompto couldn’t help but feel frustrated considering his limit break had also failed, but it wasn’t that - he was thrown from the back of the giant that was a problem - nor was it that his Drillbreaker got soaked through, man that was a mess wasn’t it?

His clothes also got splattered with the miasma, he’d had no cover at all in the position he’d been in. “Six damn it.” Prompto grumbled. He looked at his Drillbreaker and made a face, it probably needed a proper cleaning before he could use it again. Back into the Armiger it went and his handgun came back out.

He felt energized for but a moment with Lightning’s spell, before he started feeling that heat, that draining from the miasma as though it was trying to sap the life out of him. He was in the process of getting up, using his hand to get back on his feet but then he swayed.

“...I don’t feel so good…”

The healing spell is welcome, even if Alley isn't particularly wounded. It's still a good second wind, and the Inquisitor rips more aggro off others every time whatever is hitting her goes down to someone else's attacks.

Reliably ripped off, too. Once something's hitting her, it tends to tunnel-vision onto the scarred elf and her crackling mace.

He feels that healing spell run through him and takes a breath, sticking a hand into his bag as he grabs a Snuff Soul, throwing the thing in his mouth so he can restore some magic. As he chews he summons Nemesis, shocking the demon closest to him and diving into the fray again.

He's trying to use his low height as an advantage here, stabbing where he can see breaks in the natural armor of the demons. As much as he wants to be more useful, all he can do is stab more demons and feel useless.

Emporio, surprising probably no one, is still flying. And that region of demons-barrier-keystone is getting much closer.

He'll have a backup plan if it looks like the barrier is still up before he gets there- but for now he's really, really hoping someone gets rid of it.

He doesn't have anything to break it after all- just whatever chemically induced sunlight he's been able to pull together with Weather, along with a sharp bunch of ice. Worst comes to it?

He'll let the wind and jetstream slam that icicle into the barrier wholesale, while skipping out to veer off course a bit; the momentum will keep his speed to a point, but at least he won't crash into a barrier then! (And maybe he can use that time to dig out a potion while he's at it.)

But if it Does go down?

He's keeping his own force behind that ice.

The blast pushed him and Prompto back, disorienting him a little. At least the miasma, again, was more of the same. A constant batter to his psyche, trying to drain and exhaust him. Nothing new for Noctis, frankly. No, really the worst part -

"Oh, gross," Noctis complained. He's going to need to order a dozen more shirts somehow, if the missions - or rather, their enemies - were always this gooey. He dismissed his big-assed sword (serrated edge for optimal armor-slicing!) and pulled out a more reasonably-sized one again.

Right beside Prompto, he caught him as he swayed. "Woah there, buddy," Noctis felt a swell of worry, but - there's a giant friggen giant still around. What would Ignis say? Or Gladio? "You good? We're going to get stomped if we don't get moving."

And he tried to shuffle them off out of the way before they were, just in case.

What the hell?

What was with these incompetent demons?!

How the hell did they manage to inhabit a world that wasn't a Netherworld, and fail to turn it into one?

"These aren't demons at all!" Zetta said, fury manifesting in an aura around him as his mana power raged with him. "These are pretenders! Someone just slapped the name on them! This is an abomination! This is an outrage!"

This was...

Ideal, actually.

The 'demon world' wasn't a Netherworld at all, huh? Well, as it happened, Zetta's plans required a Netherworld, but only at the end. At the start, any world would do, because any competent demon that was insanely powerful and possessed of an incredible amount of mana power (by normal standards) could simply make a Netherworld out of a normal one! All it took was one powerful curse!

Settling down, and letting a smirk replace his anger, Zetta refocused his mana power -- not to wrestle control away, but to establish control, to chain the land itself to his will and his power. Suck on THAT, so-called demon world.

Zagreus has two options, and both look grim. But for the keystone to fall, the barrier needs to come down, and though he's fast he's not Emporio fast. But he can make damn sure Emporio gets to his destination, if he could just find a way there.

Then he gets an idea. Horses can leap, right? If he can just vault them over the group at the front, then maybe he can break the line of mages at the back, and remove the barrier. He briefly glances down at Little One in front of him on the saddle, telling her simply, "Hold on tight, if you can get a shot in, take it. I'll cover you, my friend."

Then Zagreus lines up Gestalt Odin for the maneuver. "Fast as you can, mate," he says to the mecha-horse with a friendly pat to his withers, before charging toward the mass of demons with swords drawn. But instead of attacking head on, he shouts, "Now!", hopefully misdirecting the demon fighters in a feint.

And he takes the leap, his blades directed instead toward the mages, ready to cut them down.

Raven is definitely under a strain, between her will and the one-eyed Giant's. But she is going to focus, and let her anger and frustration and annoyance fuel her powers further. "No...you... don't!" Redoubling her efforts to bind and hold the giant in place. A silhouette comes up around her of her astral self--a great dark-energy raven, with claws spread out and grasping. As if to help her hold the giant in place.

Getting off a quip is the most important part of being a smooth-talking annoyance in the side of everybody everywhere. Even when hurt and in pain, that's how you let your enemy know you're not beaten.

Well, death-lite over here was helping by killing the demons who stood against her. That works too.

"Keep 'em busy!" she tells him, gathering her mana for another big curse. The targets? Whatever giant demons still stand. Just enough to bring them down to earth, really.

This is her only real offensive option, since her Noble Phantasm could only weaken abilities and items used against her.

....well, that and physical strength. As a Caster, she's not strong compared to other classes of Servant. But compared to most people, she's superhuman, especially hopped up on this much mana. That won't be useful against those giants, but.

She punts the crawling demon once it's close enough. "Gross."

Kairi was a little relieved about how she was healing people and so her main focus was now going to be focusing on those who needed healing.

You get healing, you get healing, you all will get healing. It was the least she could do, but was slowly finding out she was going to be running out of MP rather soon.

She doesn't go splat. That's a bit of a surprise but she quickly gets her bearings, this is Lightning's horse but it is not the priestess riding it, rather the man she met in the kitchen.

It seemed he was much more effective at fighting than cooking. Luckily. She nodded at him and held on tight with one hand, pistol in the other.

Taking a shot from on top of a flying horse was something she had never done before, but she wasn't about to give in, to not try. So as they leap and faint she aims for the mages, one, two, three shots in quick succession, using the emptiness for its best use, keeping her mind clear and helping her aim. Hopefully one of them hits!

Cool quips are denied. Dudebro moments are denied. Zetta will need to spend some time continuing to do what he is - the demon realm doesn't seem to be giving him any response, even with the outpour of mana. Will he also be denied, or will he not?

Thanato's blade goes through the demon successfully, but the frenzied demon is illogical, grabs at him with its claws and if isn't thrown off, will start to dig in with them with surprising strength. Desperation can go far. Claws can go even deeper. Caster's bop to the demon's head is sufficient, but as for her spells...

Blood spurts out more from the open wound on the handless giant's back, like a searing stabbing pain that has the giant thrash one at the shock of the pain. Anger courses through it, and it grabs the scythe it had set down, still with its rows of jewels set in the stone, never targeted. The giant doesn't raise it as it has before, but instead swings it with the jewels set to face the battlefield that everyone not behind the giants is on. With the great swing, out from these jewels...

Come an array of large spheres of anti-life, creating a bullet hell. They start spreading across the field, new rows being created with each new swing of the giant. They are neither fast nor slow, and they are hard to take down - but may burst with a strong enough hit, especially of light. But don't be close, when the act of bursting them causes a release of poison and drain into the atmosphere.

Prompto and Noctis are out of the way, safe from this. But not from complete danger, as a whip reaches out to try and slash Noctis across the face, another charging in with an attack coming, aimed at the Prince too!

Up in the air Raven is safe, but she is fighting hard to keep the one-eyed giant still. It is a battle of will and strength from both sides; the half-demon sorcerer making the demon struggle, even though it does slowly rise. Up on one foot, then the other...its head is bowed as if being pushed from above by gravity itself, but it lifts its arms, shaking. It is trying, if not yet near to, to reach out for where Raven is. She is in no threat right now, but...

Inside the demon realm.

It is a race to the keystone, where the demons have become alerted to the danger approaching from the skies and from ground. Who will reach first? With Emporio propelled by wind from Weather Control and from outside the realm, and Zagreus and Little One being thrusted forward at a fast gallop.

Fast sprinting demons are already running in to meet Zagreus, the whip wielders readying their weapons. Already the magicians are throwing out chains of anti-life out at both Emporio and the trio, that will whip and tangle around them if they connect.

But Zagreus's plan will go off, and it will be Odin who reaches troops first, knocking whip users and magicians back. The sprinters are scrambling, making a run back to where they should be.

It is a mess of demons around the trio, and they will need to act faster. A whip wielder slashes with its deadly weapon at Odin's legs from where it's been knocked to the ground, another standing, coming over to grab at those on the eidolon. One sorcerer throws out a chain of anti-life around Odin's neck, tugging it and causing an agonising drain on the summon in an attempt to end its existence quick. There is no holding back now, no time for games.

The barrier still stands. Will Emporio hit into it, or does he still have time?

There's not going to be much time here, so Caster has to prioritize. First priority is this pale, death-like twink that's been helping her out. "I know I said to keep their attention, but," she moves in, mana giving her speed to cover the short distance between them, "I think this one is growing too attached." A sickly green glow covers her hand, and she shoves it into the demon's face (with a little anime hop if it's taller than her), combining a curse and a blow not all too different from the one that a demon did to her not too long ago, hoping to literally shove it off and away.

That's.... about all she has time for before she has this bullet hell descends. Thankfully, this is definitely the kind of large, indiscriminate ability that her Noble Phantasm can weaken. The question is, even if lowered by magnitudes, how much power is going to be left in it?

"If you've got any more tricks, now would be a good time." Otherwise, it's going to be all she can do to try and move around these giant balls of anti-life. Thankfully, she's back to full health thanks to all this healing magic, and with as much mana as she's absorbed she's full of energy as well. Let's hope it's all enough.

Zagreus does not hesitate. Anything attacking Odin will have dual greatswords swung at their limbs, their necks, any spot that he can slash at that will cause massive damage. He particularly focuses on the sorcerer with the chain, because if Odin falls, he has no way of extracting Little One or himself. Emporio, at least, is safe from the mages' ire.

He has to dismount, at least temporarily, if he's going to deal the most damage to the sorcerors, and hopefully the barrier. Zagreus fights like a God, his strikes true and quick, as Lightning's Haste still affects him. He will not let Little One be targeted, but he will try to leave her openings if he can.

But that barrier has to go. The keystone being destroyed is the thing that will turn the tide of this battle, and Zagreus knows that. Any shot he can take to destroy the barrier, or even weaken it, he has a Bloodstone and Lightning's greatswords ready. But until then he's got several demons to tango with.

Ken is fast. Ken is agile. Ken is also in the middle of this bullet hell, and has a weakness to dark attacks. He dodges and rolls around some of them, but there's too many. He gets hit by one, then another, and another...

He feels his skin blacken, vitality draining out of it. His vision grows fuzzy, and he drops to his knees, his spear falling to the ground beside him. He presses his Evoker to his head and lets out an anguished scream of rage and pain, pulling the trigger again and again and again to cast Hama on the spheres heading towards other people, the light-based spell wrapping seals around them before bursting into light.

Maybe he'll be hit again. Maybe he'll run out of magic first. He doesn't know. He's not sure he cares at the moment. All he can think of is punishing the ones doing this, causing this pain, draining the life out of everything.

Breathing is hard, but that's fine. Just keep firing.

Once, Thanatos darkly said to Zagreus that he was the opposite of the Prince. He wasn't very good at escaping things. He was good at being captured.

The frenzied demon lunges forward, knocking into him and forcing him to touch the ground. Claws grip his forearms. Golden ichor bleeds from those claws, but Thanatos doesn't feel the pain.

He doesn't scream aloud, but his body language speaks for him. His eyes are wide. His body goes rigid. His heart races. He can't catch his breath despite not needing to breathe. He feels shackles, hears a kind voice apologizing. (Liar!) His vision goes dark. Enclosed. Trapped. I failed everyone. No one's coming. Why isn't anyone coming? Don't they know where I am?! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I failed! I'msorryimsorryimsorryimsorry!

Mort squeaks rapidly. Not alone! Not alone! Let me go let me go Not alone! Let go let go letgoletgo Not alone! LET ME GO! NOT ALONE!

Caster's hit and curse to the demon's head spurs Thanatos out of being frozen in terror and into action. If Thanatos is able to shake off the demon thanks to her curse, he'll shift himself above it and drive his sword through its body using gravity and wings to add more force.

If Thanatos is unable to shake off the demon, then he and the demon go through a series of rapid shifts higher and higher, bell tolling each time, until Thanatos then dives down from the sky and smashes the demon on the ground/boulder/another demon/whatever he can find. He doesn't care what state he's in after. Not as long as it lets go!

Mort will continue to squeak at Thanatos the entire time.

Raven narrows her 4 red eyes, fists clenched, and her astral self's talons grasping. Holding on to the demon even as it's fighting her. She really hopes the others can take the Handless giant down, because she definitely needs help with the One-Eyed giant.

Impossibly, fantastically-

There is still time.

Not quite because Emporio had it, however. The chains are coming right toward him after all, and after all, they will whip and tangle if they connect.

It takes a hell of a swerve off course to avoid that.

It's not one he can't return from however. It's one that's dire enough that he can turn his head and see the ones fighting for the barrier mind, but it's one he can return from and that's key. Like a boomerang, he's veered off in a seemingly useless direction, only to use that energy to coast him back on track toward the keystone.

Hopefully that barrier goes down before he has to Really hit it though. (But at least he's probably drawn some heat perhaps?)

It was by someone’s saving grace that they found themselves behind the demon with the giant scythe sending horrible anti-life balls at the group of Voidtreckers.

Unfortunately that didn’t solve the more immediate problem that his clothing and arms were splattered with miasma, draining him of his life with every breath. Prompto wasn’t kidding, something was off. He didn’t feel great. He felt tired and sluggish, more than he thought he should be.

Noctis tugging him aside made him nod. “Yeah I’m fine.” He said with an easy little smile, even if he didn’t feel it. There was no need to worry his best friend.

He saw the demon running towards Noctis and raised his handgun, firing off a shot. He struck his target in the shoulder just as his vision swam. A second shot went wild.

“Noct-” Whatever Prompto was going to say died on his lips as his eyes closed and unconsciousness took over, leaving Noctis with an unconscious Crownsguard and two attacks coming in fast.

There was definitely no need to worry his best friend.

Noctis didn't exactly believe him, but they had bigger problems. Sure, they didn't have to dance around bullet hell - but there's something lashing out with a whip - shit, striking Noctis across the face - before Prompto shot it -

And Prompto collapsed.

His heart was in his throat, barely ducking them both below the other strikes, falling to a knee with his friend clutched against his chest.

No.

No!

A huge pressure built behind his eyes - a headache like no other. His eyes were flashing purple, a holy power - people were falling all around. Prompto was unconscious in his arms. He knew who was asking.

Noctis let the Titan come.

Titan was large, as tall as the biggest skyscraper he'd ever seen in Insomnia. The god lumbered in from nowhere, each step shaking the landscape. It bellowed, called by the fallen comrades of the Chosen King in the field, and picked up a large boulder from the ground, digging it out with it's bare hands.

When the Astral threw it at the demons, it'd kick up lava and dirt in its wake - a giant crater would form. It's from the grace of the Astral itself that no allies would be hit by the attack.

Anger? No, we're now long past that as that wave of energy sapping hit Vegeta again, feeling his ki draining as for a moment his hair and eyes flicker out of Super Saiyan, returning to their naturally darker colors before sparking back up again. This wasn't anger anymore. This was rage. And rage was just as strong fuel, if not even stronger, than ki for a Saiyan. Especially Vegeta.

For Piccolo and maybe a few others who are highly aware of energy changes or able to spot very high speeds, they may see Vegeta flicker for a fraction of a second, a flare up of red rather than gold as he pushed through into God form, using it's extra speed to flip him over the top of the handless giant's head and onto it's other shoulder to avoid it's grasp as he snarled at it. "You're tricks won't work on me! You think I am not capable of avoiding that?!"

"Do you have any clue who you are messing with?!" Gripping on tight as it thrashed around at the attacks of others, Vegeta slammed his other fist into the handless giant's eye. If it doesn't give under the first hit, he repeats it again, and again, attempting to bore a hole through it's eye and eye socket to within it's skull.

Edited 2021-03-26 06:17 (UTC)

With everything she has pouring into her weakening connection with her Eidolon, her entire torso seeping light as she feeds it magic, there's nothing for her to do but dodge as much as she can, and keep those around her topped-up and conscious. Not with spells, any more, because there's no longer mana to spare, but by pulling the pin on an Aegisol and grabbing Ken by the back of his shirt, pulling him back enough that she can pour most of an Elixir over him in a shower of magical particles.

The aegisol sprays up, a mist settling over everyone still fighting within the chaos of spheres. Increasing their defense, setting shimmering barriers over their skin. It could be just enough to keep them up, as long as Ken keeps casting, Kairi keeps healing, and Alleyana keeps the remaining demons off them.

Odin's cry is deep, but as Zagreus flourishes the Zantetsuken blades they spark with lightning, ready to be released wherever the godling might aim it.

Edited 2021-03-26 11:32 (UTC)

Thanatos is able to shake off the demon, already in great pain from its scales peeling off, the demon's head is thrown and, by the power of her curse, its rapidly deteriorating state is increased tenfold as its muscles begin to atrophy. It is a mercy by that point when Thanatos pushes it off and plunge his sword into its body. Limbs writhing in agony, it will finally still with an expression of great pain on its face.

But then come the bullets.

Caster's gifts will do her well in weakening the ones around her, making Thanatos safe and anyone else that comes near, giving easier passage. They will feel an uneasiness, a shortness of breath, but with Lightning's aegisol will further help everyone for the passing swarm of orbs.

Ken's use of Hama bursts multiple of the bubbles without causing a release of a miasma, protecting others around them, but also clearing some of the way ahead of them, towards the giant themselves.

And more fortunate is when Vegeta comes upon the handless giant with all his rage and fury, his presence bringing the sweeps of the bullets to an end - those on the battlefield still move through, but they will not return or revert back again. He is worth its immediate attention, the scythe is dropped to the ground as Vegeta starts to mess around its face. He will get close to its eyes and, still affected some by Caster's previous curses on it there is some success where Vegeta will plunge in and break some way into its eye. But-

At the same time, another giant in its own right appears, even amongst those on the field: Titan is summoned. And it is by a great blessing from Astral indeed that the boulder that comes for the demons directly by the Prince and his friend, and many others, smashing into the one-eyed demon, throwing it into the handless giant. Still everyone will need to watch out as the demons topple, large clawed hands smashing down, causing tremors through the ground.

The giants are down. But for how long? And what can people do, with the giants closer to ground level?

For the one-eyed giant, nothing may need to be done as it is lays limp across the other giant's legs, much to its aggravation, furious at this weakness. It shoves at the head of the demon to get it off, and as it does-

The demon giant's body will be shoved in the direction of Noctis and Prompto, still behind them. There is some time before the massive form of the giant comes dropping their way, and Raven's power may still be influencing it, holding on.

It is up to what they can do - or what their luck decides - if they make an escape.

For everyone else - the handless giant is a sitting duck.

Inside the demon realm.

Emporio will need to hope he doesn't hit the barrier any time soon, as it sticks, the clash in front of the barrier even against the sorcerers not bringing it down. But because of that clash, he doesn't get immediate attention. Because...

Zagreus has drawn it. He comes for the demon chaining Odin, and at first it will dodge with a swift speed of its own, but a second slash will be what's necessary to taken it down, too much of its focus on attempting to take out Odin already, that the first miss may have been more luck.

The sprinter demons are also catching up to them, the first few jumping in for them, pouncing with claws ready from behind the god, for the eidolon, while the whip demons will be putting themselves in front of the sorcerers, who are using their own nimble speed to scatter about, to make distance. They are calculating, high gnarlish whistles bringing some of the sprinter demons to come to them, though not all.

The sorcerers won't bother the trio. After all...

They start to charge greater spheres, and shoot them off towards the sky - not at Emporio exactly, but at the iceberg that is his cargo. A larger target, and far more of a concern, even as the atmosphere of the realm is beginning to chip at it, in the same way much decays within the realm. Chunks of the ice will split of those that hit - some may be avoided but not all.

The magic of the Astrals was still coursing through him as the Titan left, as quickly as he oddly came. One would think a giant god of that size couldn’t simply appear and disappear. And it seemed to work!

And then a giant corpse was being flung at them.

Shit.

Noctis had never been able to do this. But he can’t second guess himself - he’s too furious and desperate to - he simply acts, clutching his unconscious friend and bodyguard close.

He picks a point in the distance - warps - and falls far, far short, carrying a whole second person, something he could never do.

But he still did it enough. He and Prompto were just out of range of the falling corpse.

But it came with a price. Noctis felt the effects of Stasis slam into him, making him dizzy - vision swimming as he dropped Prompto. He collapsed next to him, fortunately on his side as he vomited - and passed out.

Two unconscious but alive Lucians strewn on the battlefield.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

ROUND

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

ROUND

no subject