Chevaleresse

Mitsurugi simply gave a slight, nearly unnoticeable shrug at Empi's comment, before diving into the battle herself. She flashed from target to target, delivering a quick strike or two before flickering to the next, her movement fast enough to be nigh-invisible. She favored speed over agility, but still felled her fair share of foes. She made her way over to Navin, carving away at the front edge of the path between him and his target. It was a good plan, trying to assist in destroying the siege engines before they could set up to assault their presumed refuge. Hiroki, on the other hand, was utilizing the weight and power of her mech to bash a path directly to the gates. She swung her main cannon like a baseball bat, crashing straight through the spine of one of the skeletal warriors before the end spat hot death at one of the enemy soldiers. Her shoulder guns worked mostly autonomously, mostly saturating the enemy line in front of her with plasma and occasionally shooting an arrow out of the sky entirely. A beast leapt toward her, only to be crushed underneath one bulky foot and then blown apart by the leg-mounted cannon.

"Okay! Um, QB? How do I get to a practice room?" Something about the white and pink robot seemed a bit off. It had a cute design, sure, but something about it was. . . creepy. . . Or maybe she was just on edge from the events of the day. Ayaka goes to practice her Appeal!

"All you have to do is break through to the keep. They're focused on attacking the front, not defending the rear, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Now, let's not waste any more time! Onward, men! I'll be right behind you up until we reach the gate - then I'll have to retreat in spirit form until you convince the mages in there to drop the ward long enough for me to get inside it!" She points her sword over the last hill between the group and the keep. Once over it, the structure comes fully into view, along with the force besieging it. Hundreds of the skeleton-things from before mill about or barrage the great stone walls of the keep with arrows, along with decidedly more living-looking soldiers in simple chain and leather armor. Among those are a few in more ornate, and sturdier, plate armor in red and gold colors, sitting astride horses. The area is dotted with half-built siege engines, as well as more bonfires that light it up as if it were day; as the group climbs a hill, a fireball streaks out from the battlements of the keep, crashing into one of these and knocking out one of the beams supporting the construction. As that particular conflagration spreads, the source of the numerous existing fires is made clear. It doesn't take long for some of the mounted troops to notice the party; they shout and wave their own blades in their direction, causing a good portion of the group to turn towards them and ready their weapons. This, in turn, prompts a barrage of arrows - several of which seem to glow slightly - to fly out toward the besieging force, with some finding their homes in the flesh of the enemy troops or striking the dragon tooth warriors just so. After a moment, a series of booms rattle off in quick succession, destroying more of the blue-gray things. Freefrom combat initiated! Objective: Reach the keep in one piece!

James scrabbled in the dirt hurriedly, his blazer folded up on the ground near the door. He wasn't sure why he felt like he needed to rush, in all honesty; this spot behind the house he stayed in was sheltered enough from view - though the lack of a proper magical workshop was unfortunate - and this wasn't a busy area, especially at sunset. Just a few more arcs to draw out. . . and done. He stepped back from his handiwork on the ground, reviewing the result: it looked damn near perfect, if he could say so himself. He walked back over to the spot he'd put his blazer down, and picked up the bottle filled with a crimson liquid next to it: cow's blood, bled off of a few that were kept nearby in the midst of the night. (Rent isn't a cheap thing.) Also unfortunate that it wasn't fresh, but from what he understood of his studies, simply establishing the circle should suffice for this ritual. Odd, really, that it was so simple. . . A few moments later and the blood was carefully poured, filling the grooves in the dirt. James glanced down at the red tattoo that had appeared only a few days ago on his left hand. Two arcs that barely didn't meet at their ends to form a circle, and a third arc inside them. It made him think of the moon, almost. . . Maybe it meant something about the Servant he would summon? A legendary hero, at his command. . . That would prove to those stuffed shirts at that academy that you didn't need an esteemed lineage to be a good mage. He stretched it out toward the circle, and began the chant he'd written down and memorized. "Blood flows unhindered Stories of greatness intertwine My body is yours Your heart I desire Brandish your soul against my foes Come forth with me unto victory!" The circle lit up with a blinding flash of light. Maybe doing this outside wasn't the best idea. . . Or he was about to be incinerated.

Ayaka's sniffles slowly subside. One last big one sounds as she pulls her face off of Yuki's shoulder. "S-sorry. Um, Stella said that we need to become better idols, right? I'm going to go practice some so I don't. . . you know. Does anyone want to come with me?"

Ayaka got halfway into an indignant noise before it turned into outright sobbing. She hugged Yuri with all her strength - despite having just met the other girl - pressing her face into the other girl's dress. "I was so scared! I was already so nervous about the concert and then I fell over and everything I was afraid would happen did! And then we almost died! I don't understand anything that's happening right now. . . I just wanted to be a famous idol . . ."

"As a Master in the Holy Grail War, you should already have full knowledge of what I can do. Like I told you before, I'll explain everything when we're in a secure location. The short version is that there are seven Heroic summoned into seven Servant vessels; their classes are Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. Rider is already dead, I took care of him myself before I lost my previous Master." She turns slightly to face the group as a whole. "Now, are you all ready to move out? That fort is under siege, and you're going to need to fight through without my help. One of their mages put up some sort of ward against Servants; this is about as far as I can go and still fight."

"I-I just said I wasn't scared. . ." Her expression didn't exactly inspire confidence in that statement. "Even if it was weird and crazy and I thought we were all going to die and the show was so bad I wanted to die until someone actually started to kill us and I realized I didn't want to die and-" Ayaka cut herself off with a sniffle. "A-anyway, what are we going to do? I don't know if we can even survive another one of those without Stella around." The idol looked like she was about to break down into tears right there.

Oda Nobunaga's character sheet has been added to the OOC. Nobunaga shivers a bit - and does actually seem to expand and contract at the surge of magical energy. To a significant and possibly concerning degree. "Overwatch?" The woman frowned. "I really should have read that contract. Reading is important, you know, especially if the game master's trying to tell you something. Or if you're to be signed into a binding contract. Ah, well, it cannot be helped!" She stretches her arms and legs a bit, and then abruptly summons a rather worrying number of arquebuses, pointed at various members of the party, which proceed to cock themselves. Before promptly vanishing. "I feel fantastic, yes! Though I won't be able to wipe away another group like that for. . . three days, at this rate? Possibly less. And there's this taste in the back of my mouth that I can't quite describe. Anyway! I was answering questions! Firstly! That mage was Assassin. Strange, I know, you would have thought she were a Caster. I have no idea if she has a territory set up anywhere; she'd need to have some sort of massive energy supply to field this many monsters at once. Second! We can't lift that siege, because the enemy is infinite. Until Assassin and Caster are both destroyed entirely, they will continue to create and send minions at them. And you. Third! Civilians! Sadly, as far as I can tell, most of the ones that once lived here have been driven off or killed. There was a war here before that rift opened up and everything went even further south of plan! This time it wasn't my fault, I promise. However, there are other civilians in this world, and I doubt that the other Servants in their current states will stop after destroying that keep and seizing the leyline underneath it. As for the war. That particular explanation can wait! Mostly because we've spent far too long sitting here! As far as I can tell, that keep is your only chance for living until you can help me kill the rest of the Servants and end the war."

NPC Sheet: Oda Nobunaga

Nobunaga looks confused for a moment, then the grin from before spreads across her face. "This is new. Excellent! Quite frankly, this is likely a better means of sealing a contract than what I had to offer previously!" She takes the pen for a moment, looks at it with curiosity for a moment, and then signs her name on the paper: 織田信長. "And a. . . DNA sample, you said? If you say hair works, then very well, but I'll hold you to explaining what that is later." She plucks out one very long hair and places it in the box. "And besides, if this contract fails, it's not as if it will go any differently for me than if I had never attempted this at all."

"I'll answer everyone's questions once we get this taken care of; it's rather important. Izzet Lexiel, my name is Oda Nobunaga! Dairokuten Maou - Demon King in the language of you westerners, Unifier of the Land of the Rising Sun, and Archer-class Servant of this very unusual Holy Grail War! Well, the middle part was only mostly. And then the monkey took over! Anyway! I require your assistance because I am roughly sixty seconds away from ceasing to exist entirely! It's really quite problematic." Nobunaga nods. "I used up my remaining mana reserve to blow away those warriors. If that doesn't convince you that we're at least on the same side, then it cannot be helped!" The woman doesn't seem to be particularly bothered by this prospect.

"I see, I see, yes. . . I'm not a mage myself, but if I had one. . . Is there a way for you to record that spell for me?" Abruptly, she claps her hands. "Speaking of! Is anyone here a qualified magus? I need the services of one immediately! If you could just make a contract with me right now, that would work into my plans excellently!"

Hiroki, still feeling a bit paranoid, decides to remain inside her suit of walking death rather than expose herself to stray arrows. She builds her Hellfire Mantle, and then blasts it backward; as it turns out, the Knight had a fairly appreciable top speed despite lacking somewhat in acceleration and general maneuverability. She rocketed forward like a somewhat small, angry meteor. Mitsurugi, for her part, flew along close to the ground, skimming the patchy, well-trodden grass. Lexiel thinks she can see lights of the non-bonfire variety over another set of hills and some distance away, but it's difficult to make out at this distance. Plus the ever-looming threat of being riddled with arrows tends to keep one at a lower altitude than they might fly otherwise. "Stop in this ruin ahead! There's more forces around the keep itself." The ruin in question was gutted, evidently set aflame at one point. Its charred timbers still outlined the frame of what was once a good-sized building; perhaps a mead hall? It was difficult to tell. "We have several things to discuss - like that cauldron! That was amazing! Just imagine what I could do with something that could melt down and reassemble concepts with so little effort!" A grin that was equal parts gleeful and somewhat sinister appeared on her face; an impression probably not helped by her eyes, which were the same color as her cape. Meanwhile. . . Those still in the castle come to. The landing had been rough, very rough, and it was a fortune they were all mostly unharmed - and that whatever technology and magic had created the castle had held under the abuse that the vehicle suffered. The air near the drawbridge, as well as the smaller entrance the group had used to enter the place in the first place, seemed to shimmer and warp slightly. All characters currently in the castle may post in the castle threads, and move freely between them, but may not exit the castle.

LOTUS decreases one of Morgan's cooldowns. Wyvis reinvigorates Sachi, healing her for [13] health. Atton yells more advice at Mitsurugi, increasing her RES by 14. Morgan heals Navin, Bridgett, and Venus for 18 health. The skeletons press in, the clattering of their bones combining into an almost deafening cacophony. Even more of them arrive over the hillside, already taking aim at the fliers in the party or surging down to crush the rest of them with sheer numbers. An entire battalion rushes at Mitsurugi, striking at her for [0] damage. The second battalion starts to split up. Their charges toward Dackly and Tama Vajra are announced by musket fire, their blades falling toward each one of them for. . . Wait, musket fire? The skeletons headed toward the plant-gorgon and the ancient deity are blown off course, sparks spraying off of them where bullets struck them in legs and arms. Another figure appears over the hillside opposite the one the mysterious witch had come from, illuminated by firelight. A woman (or girl?) in a black military-esque uniform, with a scarlet cloak, long black hair, and a military hat with a large crest reminiscent of a rising sun, currently floating up into the air slightly. "Show your corpse to the three thousand realms. HEED MY THUNDEROUS ARRIVAL!" Hundreds of what appear to be. . . old muskets? Someone learned in these things might have recognized them as arquebuses - appear in midair around and behind her, and point themselves at the fighting below. "THIS IS THE DEMON LORD'S THREEFOLD VOLLEY!" Red-white lines blast out as the rolling thunder of all of them firing in sequence rings across the battlefield. The blasts strike the skeletons surrounding the party, and indeed every one of them in sight, multiple times, sweeping them away in a series of three bursts. As the group processes what just happened, the girl drops to the ground and runs up toward the party. "Well, don't just stand there! The human fortress is that way!" She's somewhat less intimidating up close, if only for the fact that she's about five feet tall. "There's a gap in their forces between there and here that opened up because of you dropping in here, we can talk on the way. Now go!" She pulls out a katana, shorter than many specimens, the back portion of the blade a red matching her clothing, and points at a gap between the hills.

D13

Jade fires a round into the battalion of archers for [14] damage! Hayle fully restores Dackly's health! You'd think a plant wouldn't be soothed by icy chill, but . . . Solomon fills Dackly's mind with visions that are hopefully helpful and not of the maddening sort. Atton yells at Dackly, which somehow makes her smarter. Laver snaps Empi out of her. . . thoughts. Dackly petrifies the everliving shit out of the newly arrived Beasts, instantly turning sixteen of them into statues, the steel blue of their bones turning to a stone gray. Gozer is stunned. Bridgett shoots the archer battalion for [8] damage. Isobel relaxes Sachi, allowing her to move this turn! Halley inhibits the movements of the remaining beasts with a blast from her gun. Edmond welds the first group of archers for [12] damage! The next strike will deal [19] more damage. Liliya slashes at one of the warriors for [9] damage. Aurora shines a holy light on Hiroki and Samantha, healing them for [14] health and removing a harmful status. Tama Vajra blasts the archers with lightning yet again for [53] damage! Two fall to ashes. Empi rather irritably places an affection charm on Dackly. Sachi offers forth a challenge to the newly arrived warriors! Wyvis offers Mitsurugi a massive power boost. Melina conjures a shield around the stunned Leon. Walmond adds to the ongoing electrical lightshow for [6] damage. [Pass] The skeletons are not paralyzed. Lambda charges her blades. Nessie uses her seiba beamu! Destructive energy blasts out at all of the archers currently on the field, removing the rest of them from existence! Morgan fully heals Samantha, Navin, and Empi! Friedhold blasts the warrior horde with cold! [Fail] He successfully freezes them, increasing the damage they take by 25%. Ritsu chainsaws more beasts for [16] damage. Magna reanimates one of the beasts to do her bidding. Magnum does his best to drive the hell away from anything that seemed to be about to put some scratches in the paint. Venus reduces one of Kino's cooldowns. Kino mostly focuses on not being incinerated by the sudden laser occupying the space her target once did. Lexiel decides to one-up their foe and summons a dragon, ordering it to strike the warriors for [16] damage! Samantha, likewise, does her best to not get seiba beamu'd out of existence. Hiroki went deathly silent. Not that she tended to make a lot of noise in general, though being in a hulking suit of armor that dispensed death tended to increase her confidence somewhat. It was fortunate for her that her teammates couldn't see the mixture of abject terror and blind rage that contorted the girl's face. None of them think anything of me. I might as well not exist to them. All this work for nothing, no recognition, nobody cares about who I am. Fighting all of those people, coming all this way, but nobody cared. They're just going to mock me, tell me exactly what I am to them, and then throw me away. Why would they care . . . ? No. I'll give them a reason. They'll know who they're messing with. They'll regret this. They'll regret everything. I'll show them! The cannons on her mech heated up, the ominous glow of plasma leaking out of their ends as they swiveled toward Atton first. A light washed over her, breaking her out of the destructive process going on inside her mind. N-no, why would I. . . I've never actually hurt anyone before. They don't deserve it. They haven't even really done anything. . . She swung her guns out, pointing them in the general direction of the horde of sword-wielding skeletons, and let loose. Hiroki's Curtain Fire inflicts [75] damage to the Warrior Horde, destroying one of the skeletons in the torrent of plasma. Mitsurugi shakes her head, clearing it of the unwelcome thoughts the mist had brought up. Her mind was a bit more resilient than that, and besides; if she were betrayed, she would either flee using her superior mobility and destroy them utterly with nature's wrath, or fail to do so and join the rest of her people. Now, however, she had these mortals to defend, and defend them she would, as she always had. Mitsurugi unleashes another Storm Sign, dealing [710!] damage to the Warrior Horde! Eighteen of the skeletons are blasted apart. Five of the warriors rush at Bridgett. She takes [24] damage. The remaining four of that group attack Navin for [25] damage. The ten remaining warriors of the second group attack Sachi for [35] damage. The remaining beasts tear at Venus for [33] damage. Forty more Dragon Tooth Warriors arrive. Twenty more Dragon Tooth Archers arrive. Twenty more Dragon Tooth Beasts arrive. Status More skeletons approach. There will only be time for five actions before they do.

Laver increases Atton's intelligence momentarily. Dackly violates the laws of physics and common sense, sending the entire volley of arrows scattering uselessly to the wind. The universe sort of squints and scratches its head. Gozer blows up some of the mist! The mist seems angry! Solomon lifts the barbecue goblin above the battle! Atton fully heals the entire party! The extra energy bursts out of Samantha for [0] damage! Bridgett bombards the group of archers for [145] damage! Three of them are blown to pieces befriended instantly. Halley suppresses the warrior horde for 1 damage, disabling their basic attacks and defenses. Edmond welds the archers again for [18] damage! The next hit will deal [27] additional damage. Liliya knifes the beasts for [15] damage, destroying one of them! Tama Vajra blasts the first group of bowmen for [52] total damage! Two collapse. Aurora blasts the horde with piercing light for [20] damage! Venus fires a powerful, precise shot into the newly arrived Archer Battalion for [83] damage! Two of the things shatter instantly. Kino reminds the soulless, mindless automatons of their oncoming demises, disabling all of their nonbasic actions. Ritsu chainsaws one of the remaining beasts for [17] damage! It falls to pieces. Lexiel summons her Lightkeeper. Samantha tests the theory that the best solution is always to kill it with fire, setting herself ablaze and blasting her foes for [37] damage. She takes 27 total backlash damage as two of the archers cease to exist. Walmond causes the storm god's blade to arc with electricity. Lambda taunts the newly-arrived warriors. They would glare, if they had eyes. Jade fires a powerful round into the beasts for [73] damage, blowing three apart on the spot! Hayle blasts the archers with frost for [10] damage. Magna strikes one of the warriors with her scythe for [8] damage. Soryn elects to use piercing damage on a bunch of things with no blood or organs for [8] damage. He takes 7 damage. Leon rapidly strikes the archers for [39] damage! Two of them crumble. Hikari heals the vampire back to full health. Again. Victoria shoots the newcomer archers for [13] damage. Navin unleashes a third flurry of explosions for another [100] damage total, blowing four apart! Friedhold blows [4] skeletons into the crackpot. Morgan strikes . . . nothing, as the only remaining beasts were now skeleton stew. Magnum telestrates the mist. [24 vs 29] He is unable to discern anything about its nature. Kagari changes songs! Her targets are no longer wounded, however. Prei conjures elemental spears. Empi places another counter-curse on herself. Sachi defends. Mitsurugi unleashes another Eruption upon the warriors for [45] damage! One of them is slashed apart. The warriors swing ineffectually at the goblin. [20] fall into the crackpot as they attempt to reach it. The archers not currently stunned by their own arrows riddle the airborne goblin with arrows, causing it to violently stop existing with a faint popping noise. Abruptly, a massive shadow appears over a nearby hillside, distinctly hovering in the air above it. "That's quite enough." A woman's voice echoes across the field, amplified by something unseen. A magic circle draws itself in the air behind the shadow (something that may have reminded Bridgett of her homeworld), revealing a woman with some sort of garment over her head for a brief moment; the thing is black, with crimson lines creeping along it, almost making it look as if her eyes had been stabbed out. The cloak spreading out behind her looked similar, and was the source of the large silhouette. The rest of her body was covered in a lavender robe, with a darker triangle of material over the space between her shoulders and her waist. This, too, had a number of crimson lines spreading across it as if it were an infection, albeit not as many as were present on the cloak. What could be seen of her face was a deathly pale color, as if she were a corpse; her lips were stained black. Several lines of magic erupted from the circle behind her, spiraling toward Dackly - and striking her crackpot, knocking the alchemical contraption over and sending its contents spewing across the battlefield. The circle fades, and with it the brief glimpse of their attacker; the group can briefly hear the woman laugh mockingly. The pink mist advances with her departure as if it were alive, suffusing the entire group. Each of them begins to have a creeping feeling of paranoia, as if at any moment any of the others could have betrayed them, could have already sold them out, could have been a spy for the foe the entire time; they should strike them down before. . . ! Navin, Empi (well, it might have triggered some. . . nonstandard thoughts in her, but we won't describe those here), Hiroki, Sachi, Dackly, Leon, and Gozer are particularly affected; each one takes 10 damage and is stunned as they attempt to quiet the violent thoughts within their minds. 30 more Dragon Tooth Warriors arrive. 20 more Dragon Tooth Beasts arrive. The spilled essence in the Crackpot roils. A form gradually rises out of it; first wings, with naught but a faint distortion in the air, and far larger than what would be needed to heft any of the foes they had met so far. Then a monstrous spine and tail, studded with wicked-looking spikes. Ribcage, and finally the great skull of a dragon. It roared at the group, soundlessly but conveying a silent blast of terror, dealing [3] damage to Hiroki. Sachi takes [9] damage, and her regeneration is disabled for the round. Navin is already stunned. Empi takes 5 damage. Leon is already stunned. "Oh? This is unexpected." The party - those who aren't trying to convince themselves not to murder their teammates, anyway, can make out a faint gesture from the shadowed woman. "Why, thank you, whoever and whatever you are. Conjuring one of the Dragonkind is beyond my abilities even now, but you were kind enough to create one for me." The skeletal beast beats its wings thrice, and then takes off into the night. "I do hope you enjoy the company I've provided you in return." The silhouette shrinks, and vanishes into the night.

Lexiel summons two more goblins. Her aura heals Hayle, Kino, and Jade for 3 HP. Samantha attacks the beasts for [18] damage; she telekinetically bludgeons one to bits. She takes 9 damage as backlash. Gozer safeguards the goblins! They have a total of 25 res currently. Dackly petrifies some of the mist! The portion nearest the party turns into a sort of aerogel and drops to the ground in one lump. Laver shanks Samantha in the back for [-12] damage! Solomon abuses more books to cause [11] damage to the horde of warriors. Atton does some ill-advised shouting, removing a stack of bleed from Samantha and Hiroki and being physically tossed by his face several feet backward by Hiroki for his trouble. Bridgett blasts the archers for [42] damage! None of them become her friends, though one of them turns to ash. Edmond welds the archers for [24] damage! Another is blasted apart by the arc. The next hit will deal [30] more damage. Liliya stabs a beast, the last vestiges of lightning on her knight blowing it apart for [30] damage. Walmond casts another Healing Field, helping Kino, Jade, Tama Vajra, and Solomon recover [14] health. Lambda boosts her next hit by [8] damage. Aurora fully heals herself and Samantha, and seals half of the remaining wounds on each. Tama Vajra continues to contribute to the large amount of electricity being tossed about, dealing [27] damage to the archers and blowing another apart. Leon uses his Nightmare Slasher on the second group of warriors for [35] damage, cutting one of them apart. Halley shoots the non-senatorial skeletons for [10] damage. Wyvis strikes at the beasts for [15] damage. Melina transfers 20 of her health to Hayle. Morgan heals himself, Jade, and Kino for 18 HP. The backlash deals 15 damage. Friedhold uses his Sonic Boom to fling [1] skeleton into the crackpot. Magna takes the only functioning part off of the first Dragon Tooth Warrior, destroying it. She'd find that her new arm didn't quite want to do what she told it to and was also a good foot longer than the other. Soryn creates a somewhat disturbing shield made of his own blood to protect himself. Venus shoots the air where the first warrior used to be. Kino slashes at the air. Nessie continues to charge her seiba beamu. Jade shoots out the knees of the second group of warriors for [5] damage, impeding their ability to strike their foes in melee. Victoria fires at the archers for [14] damage, shooting one of them in half. Ritsu chainsaws a beast apart for [13] damage. Prei attacks, and her spears strike with her, for [7], [0], [0], and [0] damage. Kagari sings. LOTUS targets the weak points of the beasts for his team. Navin strikes repeatedly again for [100] total damage! Four of the beasts are shattered instantly. Empi places a counter-curse on Mitsurugi. Sachi defends. Mitsurugi unleashes another Eruption at the second group of warriors for [27] damage! She gains Empi's Affection buff (+8 DEX.) Hiroki fires another wave of Curtain Fire for [16*10] damage! Four of them collapse under the barrage. The second warrior horde rushes at the goblins. [6] fall into the crackpot. The remaining two stab one of the goblins to death. The horde rushes at the remaining goblin. The remainder [roll 18] fall into the pot. The archers riddle the goblin with arrows, which bounce off. The beasts attempt to devour the goblins, to no avail. The rest [roll 8] fall in. Despite Dackly's interference, the mist continues to creep toward the party. . . Thirty more Warriors arrive, accompanied by twenty Archers. Aurora takes 5 damage. Samantha takes 5 damage. Hiroki takes 5 damage. Solomon takes 5 damage. Status

L5 LONGBOW THE MAGE WITH THE GODDESS'S IRRITABILITY AT THIS SAND

"Damnit Bel! Do you know how hard it is to fit a wyvern inside without a battle going on?" She wasn't much for all of this intrigue and such going on. Betrayals like this did provide an opportunity to put down a lot of good-for-nothing people, though, so there was that. The spy had mentioned something about crumbling walls. She looked around for a moment, glaring at the the walls without picking out much, until Ecquis seemed to smell something. The wyvern pointed his nose at one seemingly unremarkable section of wall. Looking closer, it did seem to have some sort of cracks running through it. . . E13, Devil Lance wall

Samantha wreathes herself in purging flames, healing for [21->only 2 damage taken->2 hp!] A weak wave of flames washes over the skeletons harmlessly. Lexiel summons some delicious, barbecue-soaked goblins (discussed in Discord)! Her aura heals Venus, Kino, and Dackly for 3 each - or is it the savory odor of the sauce coating the goblins? Solomon continues his abuse of all things book bordering on obscene, blasting the beasts with a barrage of them for [50] damage! Two of them are bludgeoned to pieces. Atton seals shut some of Solomon and Samantha's bleeding wounds. Dackly whips out her crackpot! Gozer shields her during this process. Laver smacks Samantha over the head with a healing strike for a whopping [0] health healed! He swears he can hear a trombone somewhere. Bridget prepares to befriend the shit out of the evil dragon skeleton things. Jade fires his gun [7->5 rounds left->5] times in quick succession, dealing a total of [0] damage as the shots ping harmlessly off of the tough material of the warriors. Hayle infuses Dackly with a pleasantly chill sensation, healing her for [18] HP. Empi places a delayed curse on the third group of skeletons. Sachi attacks the second group of sword-wielding skeletons for [5] damage. Hikari follows up for [7] damage. LOTUS helps Atton be more efficient and reduces his cooldown, allowing him to heal again next round. Navin unleases another series of explosive punches at the beasts, dealing a total of [76] damage to the beasts! Three more of them become naught but dust and chips. Edmond welds an archer for [9] damage! The current arcs for another 25, blasting it to pieces. The next hit will deal [16] more damage! Liliya punishes the beasts for bleeding her teammates, dealing a total of [62] damage! Two of them fall apart and cease moving. Halley strikes the magical warriors with a paralytic blast, reducing their strength and ability to move efficiently. Aurora heals herself and Hiroki with astral light for [2] HP, and seals some of the wounds on each. Tama Vajra blasts the archers with lightning for a total of [55] damage with Edmond's assistance, blowing two of them to bits! Walmond heals three of his allies for [11] HP. Lambda taunts the beasts into striking her over her allies. Wyvis donates some of his power to Jade, increasing his DEX and RES. Melina heals and reinvigorates Venus, Dackly, and Mitsurugi, increasing their HP by 10 and lowering their cooldowns by 1. Ritsu does more chainsawing on the beasts for [11] damage, cutting one of them apart. Venus's bomb explodes for [24*10] damage, blasting eight of the things apart! He fires another shot into them for good measure and [17] damage, knocking another over. This shot somehow heals him for 6 HP. Hikari follows up for [7] more damage. Hikari heals Mitsurugi for [24] health. Victoria quickly fires her weapon twice. The second shot goes wild, but the first lands for [8] damage, blowing apart another beast. Friedhold sends a stinging, biting swarm to inflict [5] pure damage a turn for 8 turns on the horde of melee skeletons. Morgan uses his Teleport Splicer, dealing [40] damage to the mass of beasts! One more bites the dust. Nessie continues charging. Magna and Soryn just sorta stand there, I guess. Magna would have gotten a strange look from Hiroki if it wasn't for her being distracted by having her armor perforated - an experience she was not used to and likely would not come to like any time soon. She started to swing about wildly at the beasts, cannon slamming into their bones for [9] damage and [Success] sending them reeling, unable to retaliate against her or the rest of the party. Mitsurugi, for her part, simply shakes her head at Empi's battlefield commentary. How did that woman get here, anyway? She didn't seem to be much of a warrior - but that didn't matter right now. She could feel the energy of the storm beginning to gather within her. With one hand, she made a sudden lifting gesture, blasting the group of skeletons around her before she dove in with her blade for [21] damage; she made a second pass, trailing more bursts of flame for [22] damage. The lone skeleton of the first group, battered and quite literally on his last leg and unable to reach the delicious goblins, limps forward and swings at Hayle for [8] damage. The skeletons of the second group are drawn off by the brief distraction of stabbing two hapless, yet delicious-smelling goblins to death. All of the skeletons in the third group, in the process of running at the goblins, somehow manage to find themselves in Dackly's Crackpot. Seven of the horde suffer a similar fate, inexplicably leaping into the pot as they clamber over one another to reach the now-dead goblins. The rest, no longer distracted, strike at their foes; three leap at Jade for [30] total damage, three target Friedhold for [3] damage, three hit Edmond for [6], more slash at Mitsurugi for [11] damage, another trio hits Liliya for [15], and the remaining two hit Bridgett for [7]. Eight of the archers line up a volley. They release their arrows at Hayle, riddling her with arrows for a total of [35] damage. Three take aim at Mitsurugi for [20] total damage, two shoot at Hiroki for [0], and the last two shoot Friedhold for [5] damage. THe beasts are all too distracted gnawing uselessly at Lambda or reeling from Hiroki's counter to attack. Samantha takes 15 bleeding damage. Aurora takes 10 bleeding damage. Solomon takes 5 bleeding damage. Hiroki takes 10 bleeding damage. It sounds like there's more than just the enemies present approaching; what sounds like footsteps and more rattling echoes from somewhere nearby. Somewhat more worryingly, a pinkish, barely-visible haze begins to creep onto the field. . . Status

"Wuh - I'm not acting! Why would you even say that?" The girl gave a comically exaggerated frown to match the expression she was wearing, before reverting to her "neutral" expression. "Anyway, I'm Yoshida Ayaka. We're going to be working together a lot, so you can call me Ayaka." She nodded, for no readily apparent reason.

Locking because the OOC exists now

suicidally overconfident waver THE GODDESS'S CHOSEN HERO WHOOOAAAAYEEAAHHHH