Another Horizon IC

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Araki (4, 8)

As the dust swirled around Araki, how he interpreted the sensation slowly changed. It was less that his body weighed several times what it should, and more the bone weary tiredness after a long day of sparring; when one didn’t want to move out of exhaustion. His thoughts on the matter were pushed aside by an unmistakeable sound and as he opened his eyes to cleared air before him a groan accompanied the second thump. ‘Of course it wasn’t that easy.’ He might as well have done nothing for the creature’s rising generated enough wind to blast the dust past Araki into the fallen trees behind.

The sight that was revealed wasn’t exactly heartening either. At the edge of the massive crater, he saw a broken party strewn under the creature’s massive shadow. Those that were still conscious could barely walk, if even that, and there looked to be a few unconscious. As red liquid poured out from within the creature’s shell, almost like lava, Araki rose to his feet in spite of the ache in his body; he wouldn’t simply stand by and do nothing. As the creature’s core was exposed, he took a deep breath, steadied his stance, and threw his hands out to send a blast rolling away from him towards the creature.

It slammed into the creature’s body without so much as an effect, splashing against the rocky skin like water. More telling was the fact that the force simply ceased to exist upon contact with one of the many “threads” that exuded from the sphere. Even as the blast had crashed against the creature’s skin, Araki still had a measure of control, the fine fibers seemed to dispel, devour, or otherwise simply nullify his magic. It wouldn’t be too off to assume that the sphere would do similarly if he attempted to damage it with magic. A bit of a conundrum given all his offensive capabilities were tied with magic in one way or another, and one he didn’t have anymore time to contemplate.

He watched as threads attached to the creature’s hide and in turn the closest limb began to move, raising up into the sky and dwarfing Alexa beneath it. Damned if he knew he’d be able to do anything, but Araki wasn’t about to watch someone die before him. Streams of water formed behind each of his hand, and despite the strain it put on him, Araki spun fast enough that his feet dug trails in the ground beneath them. His hands clasped together and so too did the streams converge into a single length of water. As the mass’ tip left his zone and stretched out to a thin point there was a sharp crack as the water whip easily snapped past the sound barrier. With that he let the mass of water free and was practically flung to the floor from the momentum. The style was not meant to build up that fast and his body was strained enough from the pressure in the air, so it wasn’t a surprise to him. He just managed to prop himself up on his hands as the blade of water made contact with the “shell” where the raised leg was attached.
 
The reverberating thump; the unbroken sound of the foe they had been sent against. Such simple things were not enough to stir Ashe from the state in which she found herself. Not even the sound of scraping from the horn against ground, or the dull yet echoing thrum of a heartbeat was enough to give wakefulness to the girl's unconscious form. No, it was something much baser, much closer to the instinct found within preyed upon animals. That sense of danger was what Ashe had awoken to.

Still lying on the ground, still disjointed; awoken to the cooling flesh of the enemy around her. Awoken to the yet to be still material slithering down her mouth, throat. Gagging, struggling, unable to breath. The flesh began to seep through her clothes; felt as if it seeped through her very pores. Suffocating, entrenching, burying; she struggled yet. As the liquid finally became a solid around her, an eye, a nostril; this was all that could be seen of the girl. She wished to scream, but could not move her enclosed mouth; her throat full of hardened flesh, and only breathing due to some miracle of fact. She swallowed; she fought against her bonds; the latter to no avail. The most the witch could ask for was for someone to notice her; notice the fledgling gale amongst the the tornado.

(6,6)
 
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With a pained groan, Charlotte worked to extricate herself from her tangled position amongst the branches. Her call had gone widely unanswered, and in the lull in the few minutes after the impact, all she could hear in the distance were similar cries. Clearly the attack was rather brutal, but people were alive, and the behemoth of a rift beast was dead. If she could just get herself free from this tree, maybe she could go help the others that were a tad bit more injured.

Snapping twigs as she pulled brambles out of her linens, Charlotte slowly lowered herself so that she could reach her pole arm. With some effort in whacking, hacking, and slashing, she finally freed herself of the prickly tendrils of the tree and dropped down onto the dirt ground a few feet below. Quickly inspecting herself for injuries, she was relieved to find that she had only sustained a few minor scrapes and a splinter here and there rather than a spearing or a broken bone. With a sigh, she looked around to get her bearings, picking the leaves and twigs out of her hair as she did so.

But just as she began to make her move back to the smoldering battleground, a low, but loud thump stopped her in her tracks. Her left hand, which was loosely grasping her weapon, tightened, and she stared apprehensively towards the location of the crater as several more thumps played out in rhythm, like a heartbeat. And slowly, the massive figure of the rift beast rose over the treetops once again, confirming her fear that the beast had not been finished off after all.

“…You’re kidding me.”

In the aftermath of such a catastrophic blow, it was clear that nobody was in a condition to continue to fight. Charlotte was still sore as hell from the fall, and was sure she’d sprained something working herself out of the tree, so she was not exactly on point, either. But if she couldn’t have a go at it with her lance, maybe she could have a go with a death ray. Hopefully nobody was on top of the thing. After all, she was still mentally able, at least for the moment.

She was still far off from her original position, but Charlotte had a clear line of sight to the beast. So, she focused her attention skywards, collecting the rays of the sun, and with a strike, sent down a brilliant beam of light to strike at the beast’s exposed innards…

And it didn’t do shit. Maybe it smoked a little; she couldn’t tell among the dust. So she wiggled the beam around a little, but this was to no avail and looked rather foolish from an observational standpoint. Disheartened and quickly tiring, she stopped her attack. She wasn’t sure if it was resistant to magic or to heat, and she’d rather not spend the time experimenting. With caution, she headed back to the clearing; it was probably better to regroup with her friends and get the full picture.
 
Raiga -- 6,5
Raiga growled with a mixture of frustration, pain and disbelief as the beast rose once more. Fucking damn it! Of course it wasn't going to be so easy to kill this huge bastard... and now, with his dislocated leg and sorry state, how was he going to do anything against this beast? The feeling of extreme gravity made it hard to stand. He'd trained carrying extremely heavy things on his back over many miles, but this wasn't the same. This fight was beyond any test of endurance he'd ever been through before - and he expected no less.

As if the situation wasn't bad enough already, a gooplike mixture of flesh began to literally rain from the sky. Raiga began to turn to dodge, but he hadn't even moved a single step before the glue-like flesh began to stick his feet to the Earth. Blocking above his head with his arms, Raiga did his best to stop the fleshlike goo from coating his entire body - even afterwards, his legs were still firmly attached to the ground. If he was going to be forced to remain standing in this, he needed his left leg to be stable. Looking at the dislocated kneecap, Raiga winced and took in a deep breath, before twisting the kneecap back into place with a sickening, agonising *click*.

Looking sidewards in desperation for something that could help this mad situation, Raiga watched in absolute horror as a girl was literally buried alive in the gluelike flesh. He tried to move towards her, to help her, but what could he do? He'd been made helpless by this damned monster, and soon the brown haired-girl disappeared under a layer of this viscous substance. No. He wouldn't allow it - nobody deserved to die or be left like that, he needed to call for help.

"HEY! SOMEONE'S UNDER... THERE!" He yelled at the top of his voice, making it quite clear where the buried girl was, before looking up. The heartlike structure... was that... was that what needed to be destroyed? The very heart of the beast... if only he could... move his fucking legs--!

It was no use. He couldn't move whatsoever; he need to wait for the others to do something about this, as much as he hated it. He was at a constant battle not to be bought to his knees by the gravity, then buried exactly like that girl was. The world was a blur. His body was simply pain. This thing... it HAD to be destroyed, no matter what. In some kind of desperation, he threw up his arms, making a sandstorm whirl around the huge, red heart. Maybe that would blind it... probably not... but... it was just a desperate attempt to do something.

All Raiga could do was sit and wait. Wait for an opportunity. Anything.
 
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Striking at the joint in which the crushing limb was connected to the shell-like torso, the blade of water sheared through, and instead of forcefully smashing into Alexa, the stone pillar fell instead, now tumbling down onto the prone Raiga as well.
 
As the massive leg came crashing down towards Alexa, she mustered all of her strength into trying to move despite the lessening effects of Charlotte's gravity, and was just about to leap out of the way before someone else hacked the limb off with a blade of water. Marveling for a split second at her good fortune, Alexa nonetheless prepared to get out of the Rift Beast's range before it tried to attack her again. She needed to get a safe distance away to recover for a bit before going back in.

"HEY! SOMEONE'S UNDER... THERE!" The foreign brawler shouted as Alexa turned her head to see Ashe being entombed in a literal pit of flesh. Looking around, Alexa saw that she was pretty much the one closest to her former classmate's location. That settled it, then. Someone had to get her out alive. With a determined glare on her face, Alexa trudged over towards the buried girl, hacking away at the flesh with her sword to try to rip Ashe free.

"Goddess damned...loosen up already!" Alexa growled, shaving away another layer of flesh as she reached out for Ashe's hand. "I swear, Ashie, you better not be dead!"

(6,6)
 
Verek's eyes shot open as sharp pain shot up his leg. It quickly faded, only to return seconds later as another thump reverberated through the ground. With a groan he managed to sit up, and saw his own knife hilt protruding from his thigh. The sight brought on a wave of pain and nausea that forced him to grit his teeth to resist screaming. The battle wasn't over yet, there wasn't time for injuries. As the beast rose to its feet Verek tried to do the same, carefully easing the knife out and putting some force on his leg by pushing it into the ground. Even that movement was hard with the feeling of exhaustion increasing. The resulting pain was too much however, and he relaxed, unable to do much but stare at the monstrosity as its cauldron emptied itself. His eyes widened as he saw people below being flooded by the liquid. Where's Ashe?

Two attacks slammed into the rift beast with little effect, their power harmlessly dissipating against its body and innards. Another attack slammed into the creature's raised leg and was much more effective, slicing right through the skin and deflecting it from its target who was stuck in the goo below. It sent the pillar off to the side. One of the others screamed that a person was below it. Shit. He pulled himself towards the edge of the crater and flicked his knife towards Raiga. A whip of ice grew from the blade all the way down to the man. The surface lacked its normal sharp edges but wasn't entirely smooth, meaning someone could grab it and secure some sort of grip.

"Grab a hold!" he yelled. He wasn't sure how helpful he'd be given his own weakened state but with how everyone was getting stuck it couldn't hurt. Once they had grabbed it he'd begin pulling.
 
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Too slow. It was useless. USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS USELESS!!!!

Somewhere in another world, a vampire was unleashing a flurry of fist attacks, but in this particular one, there was no flashy, dynamic, violent outcome to Verek’s actions. Instead, as the white-haired boy extended his whip of ice out towards Raiga as a lifeline, he would realize this. Just because the pillar of stone had been severed from the body didn’t mean that it was going to fall down any slower.

With the seventh thump of the day, the pillar fell onto Raiga’s body.

Also, as an afterthought, the sandstorm did nothing, falling back down almost the instant it went up.
 
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Going through the thick green again, the shaking earth that followed the thumping of the beast made it quite clear that it was still alive. "Tzch..." Hopefully Alexa, everyone, would still be okay. After all, she had no clue what was going on there, except yet another thump, before the colossus blocked out the sun for the black hair again.

"ALEXA?!" At first, Aresia couldn't see her, and for the second it took her getting closer to the beast and the crater, could only hope she wouldn't be under one of those legs. Thankfully though, at least this concern didn't become reality. While her employer was indeed inside the crater, she seemed okay. But wait...was there...someone buried!? Hopefully she was, for her circumstances, okay too. She had Alexa's help after all. With checking on her employer done, and void of the knowledge that someone else was just about to get crushed by the falling object that was once the monsters leg, Aresia now looked up. "Tzch..." The head was still missing, but even so it didn't make any fuss about hiding its core, or at least that's what Aresia thought it would be.

With the draining exhausting slowly crawling back into her body also, the maid butler strengthened her stand. "Muspellzheimr" With that word spoken, the very air she was breathing around her got hotter and she gave off a slight fiery aura. "Let's see how you like that!" That said, the maid butler lifted her left foot into the air, and not unlike the giant rift beast, the black hair made a stomp, laughable in comparison, but a stomp nonetheless. And that was all she needed, as her feet made contact with the ground, an explosion occurred, propelling her towards the heart-like structure. "HOOOORRRRRRYYYYAAAA!" A small flame appeared around her fist too, nothing threatening, really, but it was giving her more Omph behind the punch. Though as stupid heroic as her entire action was, it was deemed utterly useless as her fist made contact with the heart-like sphere. "Urgh..." Not just that, apart from her enchanted fist practically hitting a non destroyable object, the exhaustion was, way up close, way stronger than she had expected.

Pushing herself from the sphere to safely land at the edge of the crater again, Aresia needed a few seconds to grasp some air. "Now you've done it." It would have been okay if that thing cracked or anything, but no, this sphere thing was hard as fuck, not to mention her entire attack was weakened the closer she came to it. For a moment Aresia considered using Collapsing Dreams, but that was something she hated even more to use then what she was about to do now. "Muspellzheimr - Laevateinn." And with those words spoken, the air around Aresia itself was set ablaze, and the definition of heat around her was now setting a scale that was above the beast. How long ago was it? A year? Her first fight against Alexa? Even so, how could she have forgotten the wonderous warmth she was feeling now? This wonderful feeling of...power. With the already torn suit starting to incinerate away, burns slowly started to stain her pure skin too.

Not wasting anymore time, Aresia stretched out her open palm. How many would do? 2? Maybe. But then again if she already bothered going so far could just go all the way. Fixating her view on the heart again, she spoke.

Come Forth, Darkness of the Abyss, Burning Sword!
And the Conflagration of Mist, Shadows, Enmity, Destruction, and Vengeance!

With each of those words: Mist, Shadows, Enmity, Destruction and Vengeance, muttered, a sphere-like small light appeared on her each of her fingertips, accompanied by a blazing effect to a maximum of five.

Set he and I aflame, burning to our very foundation!

Continuing her chant, all five of them joined together on her palm, creating a bigger sphere. And then, the maid butler closed that palm. And the wild fire around her became even wilder, mixing and jointing together, creating a dance of death and destruction through its mere presence.

Another explosion occurred, and the red storm was propelled towards the heart once again.

HELLFIRE CONFLAGRATION!

And hopefully, the attack that was said to pierce heaven itself so that it may burn from the inside, would do what she wasn't able to do before.
 
Raiga -- 6,5

A whip of ice, heading right for him. Just as the huge column of stone had fell, a faint glimpse of hope appeared in Raiga's eye. But no - the stone column... it was coming down too fast due to the enhanced gravity. There was no way he could stop something like that, was there...? Even with Talentium, it seemed hopeless. Perhaps his last thoughts should be of his fami-

No. He had to try something. Not here. He wasn't going to die now, not after his whole life... had been leading up to this moment!

Just as the huge pillar of stone was about to mix Raiga in with the flesh coating his thighs, he flung his arms above him in a blink of speed, his gauntlets glowing with a soft, light-gold energy that caused a small pool of light under the dull, grey rock:
"CAS...'KIIIIAAA...!" He roared, grabbing the column of stone in a desperate last effort to survive. His legs made a gruesome *crack* at the intense pressure of the stone, but all thoughts of pain were blotted from his mind. Barely managing to hold up the huge rock, Raiga threw one final punch into the column of stone, sending it shifting slightly to the right side of him with a left hook (towards 6,4), where it landed will a dull, squelchy thud against the congealed flesh.


Dribbling blood from his mouth, the surge of adrenaline worn off, and the pain hit Raiga like a meteor. The bones in his legs were probably snapped like twigs from the impact; if he wasn't useless and helpless before, he definitely was now. Baring his teeth to try and blot out the pain, Raiga let out an agonised groan. He was being forced to stand on his searingly painful lower body, thanks to this... thanks to this damned flesh! He'd been put through hell before, but... nothing... not even half of the worst thing he did could compare to this. He couldn't fight the pain any longer, even after everything-

And so, Raiga blacked out. Before he fainted from the sheer pain, he wondered if he'd wake up again. And if he didn't wake up to see the world again, if his death would even have a slight point to it.
 
Elthrad Raske
Current Position: (5,7)

Elthrad’s question was quickly answered by the rift-beast itself as its heartbeat cut through the silence above him, dashing the hopes of the talentium users. The half-elf, lying at the lip of the crater in a pile of rubble, began trying to tear free of the stone and dirt that had left him partially buried. However, his leaden arms and legs were not making much progress in the dead soil. He could feel roots around him, exposed by the blast, but his magic senses told him that they were lifeless and of no use to one of his meager prowess.

He grunted in pain as the beast’s hot flesh began to drip down, binding his already encumbered legs even further. He couldn’t even reach his sword, which had landed beside him. The viscous fluid had mostly fallen on his lower body, as he was near to the edge of the crater, but some still managed to pin his left arm to his side. The more he struggled against it, the more he began to feel the effects of exhaustion seizing his muscles, if he didn’t break free soon he would be utterly useless.

The sound of combat had been renewed, clearly some were still on their feet and fighting. He could see the flashes of magic from above but not make out where they were from. The thought of comrades dying while he was stuck like a helpless child renewed his vigor, albeit temporarily. Then his efforts came to a halt as above he felt it, the light and heat of a roaring flame above him. His eyes went blank and his body stiffened with fear.
 

Though her comrades returned to the world of the living, Raela was cut short in her attempt to further help them up. Her legs had begun to catch in the Rift-Beasts viscous flesh. Closer to the edge of the crater than others, she still had a chance to jump from the bog before it had fully entrenched her. With a brief moment of panic, she tried to figure out what to do. She wasn't equipped to deal with the ensnaring mass due to its liquid state, and she could barely reach out to Ashe, who still remained in the muck. It was to no avail. With a growl, she retreated back a step and glared at the misshapen rift beasts twisted form.

Gripping her shoulder tightly, she grit her teeth and and took a deep breath before rolling it in a circle. She cried out briefly, but regained her resolve. It wasn't immovable. That was good. Looking out into the vacated bowl of the rift-beast's upturned body, she knew what she had to do. None of her comrades attacks were working, and only the aloft core of its body, held by a web of strings, seemed like a possible weakness.

With a raise of her hand, she summoned her scythe again and gripped it tightly.

I can do this, she thought to herself, eyes glowering at her target. She took another few steps back, and then broke into a sprint, launching herself off the craggy peak of the crater's edge and towards the rift beast. She had to land this perfectly, or else she would fail entirely. Soaring through the air, she brought her scythe backwards and readied it to slam into the creature's side.

There!

With a slight angle, she sunk the talentium-lined blade into the rift beast, the handle of her weapon allowing her a view of its underside. Once more, she'd have to aim and time it all perfectly. A glance below revealed certain doom; a cess pool of black liquid she would undoubtedly drown within. Raela kicked her legs forward and back, gaining momentum. As soon as she had enough, she launched herself forward, parallel to the beast's underside. As soon as her hand left the scythe, it vanished in a puff of smoke, just as quickly materializing in her hand once more.

The core of the beast flew closer and closer, and soon enough it was but an arm's reach away.

Now!

Time froze, and Raela hovered just beneath the core. This was the third time she'd used Timeless Waning within the hour. She would surely feel its effects as soon as it was over. The pain in her shoulder reminded her that avoiding such pain was a fruitless effort at that point anyway.

Aiming carefully, she swung her scythe in wide arcs, severing each of the core's strings several times over, just to make sure. They did not sever while the sword art continued, appearing as if her weapon merely passed through them like an ethereal blade. With a click of her fingers, the art ended.

She fell, picking up in speed on her way to the ground; there was no way she could use her art again to stop her momentum.

As she continued down, she witnessed the strings finally split from the core, all at once. She could only hope her assumption was right. Already she could feel the effects of her overdoing it. Raela closed her eyes and let the exhaustion overcome her, falling unconscious in midair.
 
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The flesh on the ground was burnt away as Aresia’s crimson flames expanded, turning into ash and blown away by hot winds. The ground itself blackened around her, charred beyond recognition. With an explosive roar, the storm of scarlet flames shot upwards with divine ferocity, smashing into the core of the beast. For a moment, the vicious assault almost looked as if it was successful, the countless threads radiating from the beast beginning to disintegrate from the immense heat. Feeding off this new ‘fuel’, the flames blackened, a dark, raging tempest that wrapped all around the rift-beast’s shell. Its black exterior turned red, magma-like, as its entire body began to give way to the hellfire conflagration that devoured its insides. The monster’s pillar-like limbs started melting into slag, its body breaking even though its core was alive. It was a war of attrition, between the black flames and the black beast, and slowly, ever so slowly, the beast began to falter.

Then, like a candle snuffed out by a quick puff, the storm disappeared, leaving behind a sphere that was almost grossly incandescent, countless threads shooting out of it to replace all that it had lost in that exchange. It seemed like even the one of the strongest attacks of Muspellzheimr Sword Arts wasn’t strong enough to take down the beast.

There was a despairing atmosphere, stronger than their almost crippling exhaustion, that loomed down on those who had fallen in the battle.

As the void left by Aresia’s flames funneled cold wind into the furnace once more, the final piece fell together.

Six hundred and sixty six slashes in a single instant, before the beast could even notice it. The strings without enough time to reinforce themselves after devouring the black flames of Musphelheim, snapped, and the brilliantly white sphere, almost comparable to the Sun, fell alongside Raela, smashing into the ground beside her.

Like a puppet with its strings detached, the red veins that coursed through the body of the monster disappeared. It moved no more, as a series of cracks developed over its body. One by one, pieces of the beast fell down into the crater, revealed to be nothing more than a pile of rocks. The horn hardened, crystallized, and then shattered, turning into a silvery, sparkling dust.

All that remained was the heart of the beast, which only grew brighter and brighter, becoming unbearably incandescent, enough that its heat could be felt even by Araki, sitting at the far end of the crater. There was something within the core, and it was growing bigger and bigger as the seconds ticked by. An immense amount of pressure forced those nearby to stay still, as a hairline crack developed on the surface of the sphere.

Light spilled out, a boiling, maddening light that looked as if it was made from pieces of something.

The core began to shake, rocking violently from side to side, almost vibrating from the internal force that wished to break free.

And then…

A magical circle, glowing a soft, gentle yellow, bisected the sphere horizontally, subduing its instability. A second one joined, intersecting the first and forming a cross, before the two of them rotated, creating a three-dimensional magical array. Runic chains of silver wrapped around it next, binding it so thoroughly that not a sliver of the 2 meter long sphere could be seen, and following that, the voice of a young woman could be heard.

It was a song, a lullaby, an incantation, spoken in a tongue that was only used for the highest order of spells now. Each delectable syllable melted away from the mind before it could be truly understood and, as the incantation continued, the chain-wrapped sphere began to shrink. Soon, it was small enough that one could hold it comfortably in one hand and it was there that the mage revealed herself.

Dressed in an Astopolion military uniform that differentiate itself with its red-and-black theme, as opposed to the normal blue-and-white theme, the petite woman had hair like the night sky, an inky, starry black that complemented the yellowed moons that were her eyes. Walking down into the center of the crater, she picked up the chained sphere and spoke another ancient word.

The runic chains, glowing a warm silver in the afternoon light, evaporated.

In her hands was a pearl-smooth ball of milky red.

It was only in the conclusion of the battle that the unnatural sound of a great airship could be heard, and, for those more astute than the common man, they would understand the identity of this individual instantly.

A former captain of the Astopolian army, and a rare example of a ‘pure’ mage.

Ellenil Esprit, the writer.
 
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Ashe watched, as that was all she was capable of doing. Head cemented, her single, unenclosed eye was transfixed on only a minuscule part of the rift-beast's towering, lumbering form. She could barely hear; the muffled screams of her compatriots being what was only the least bit recognizable. She could barely feel; the brief winds of a battle raging the only distinct sensation along the sliver of exposed flesh. She could barely think; the mentality of a caged animal taking over as she struggled against the binds of her prison, the very fiber of human being that told her to be still lest the pain grew worse.

As the flames of Aresia's attack enveloped the monster before her, so did the "flames" of another being to her. Ashe's eyes rolled back, displaying the worrying milky whites as her breaths became even more labored. Ashe was no longer there, on the blasted crater of a battlefield, but somewhere else; somewhere she couldn't describe. The flames, the flames were there. She wished to take a step back, for primordial fear of being burned, yet was held in place. The flame spoke.

"Do you wish to live?"

The witch was stunned. What kind of question was that? She took a hesitant moment to answer, yet as her mouth moved to speak, the "flame", the "place" was torn asunder; a curious sensation of being ripped yet whole followed the girl. It couldn't have been more than minute until her irises returned to their rightful place. She was able to catch a glimpse of the battle's aftermath -- the black-haired woman with the ball of red; the rift-beast no longer -- before her eyes ultimately lidded over and Ashe collapsed.
 
Even as the ice was extending towards the man trapped below Verek knew it wouldn't be in time to save him from the pillar. The whip evaporated into nothingness as his mind gave up. Down below he could see Aresia obliterating the sphere with her sword skills. But it only seemed to be making the sphere shine brighter. A figure dashed past him and launched themselves at the beast's side, digging a massive scythe into its side. He watched them as in the blink of an eye the tendrils disappeared and the sphere was cut loose. Dammit he was up on the crater's edge, feeling useless and growing weaker by the second. Tearing his eyes away from the fight below he quickly cut a part off his jacket and tied it around his neck, stemming the flow of blood somewhat.

he was done in time to witness the final collapse of the beast's body as its form fell away to nothign more tan simple rock, the vibrant red lines dying away to darkness. It instantly made him think of Cykes and thew runetech lines used to direct people to the burrow. Had it all been some giant runetech construction? Between the heat, pressure and that idea he sat transfixed at the sphere's next move. Runic chains appeared around it as beautiful music swept through his mind. The sound drew his gaze to the Astopolian Captain, the one who had meant to be speaking at the university earlier. And then his eyes were drawn to the sphere in her hands. The surface the colour like that of blood and smooth.

He wanted it.

The power of that beast in a gemstone, all thought of safety and concern for his family and friends were washed out by the sight of the stone. Curse his uselessness and Aresia's reckless feeding of the sphere. It could have been his. It would have to go to Cykes to be studied, there was no better place. Perhaps he could find a way ...
 
Not yet. The beast burned. Not yet. Aresia burned. Not yet. The world around her burned. Not yet. The amount of exhaustion the beast put onto her was more than the life devouring flames could give her, and thus, it was truly a battle of attrition. A battle of attrition Aresia was still confident in winning. After all, her attack wasn't utterly useless, surely it wasn't the most effective, but it was doing work. Maybe using her Sword Skill would have been a better option, but considering people were barely hanging on, she didn't want to give them the last, small, push into the afterlife. So, instead, Aresia continued to burn. And with every passing second it became harder and harder, seconds become minutes, minutes hours, and hours days. She didn't know how much time passed and maybe, just maybe, if she was better at her Arts, like combining her current attack with From the Ashes, she could have done it, but she failed. Aresia believed in herself, until the last second, until the last flame faded out of existence, she believed in herself. And then, then Aresia fell, she could see the damage done, yet, the core was still intact.

It was gone, right, the very same arm which hand initiated the attack, the very same arm she instinctively used for a pathetic attempt of stretching it out towards the core and the dancing girl, for the purpose of another assault, was partly gone. There wasn't even much bone sticking out, right, she did use all five of them for god knows how long after all. Apart from the part missing arm, Aresia was literally nude, even her trainings weapon was no more, and while it may have pleased the one or other pervert. There was nothing beautiful about her anymore, her hair was gone, her skin, while it could have been considered an artistic masterwork of various shades of red and black with a spots of her original skin, was even painful to look at. Was it a miracle her eyes were still intact? Was it a miracle she was even still alive? Was it a miracle she could think more or less straight despite all the pain? No, it was just the way of the Muspellzheimr Sword Arts.

Even so, the burned body was falling. Shifting herself ever so-slightly, she put herself into a position that her head was pointing towards the beast while still giving her a view of the core, and how it was ultimately cut loose. Good, in the end, their combined efforts did something. Now, without a body, hopefully it would be helpless. The maid butler did consider using her Sword Skill, her miracle, mid-air, the shockwave maybe feathering her explosion. But in the end, she would still take some fall damage, and all she had to do was surviving the fall. After that, she could still rise From the Ashes. Aresia didn't even realize when she hit the ground, her body was already numb enough from the pain, so whatever damage was not of concern. In the end, it was all the same. And then the maid butler heard it, a tune so beautiful that put her on the verge of passing out. It was beautiful, she couldn't make out the words, but she closed her, ready to drift off until... No! No! No! No! !No! How could she?! She still had some Oomph left in her, and Alexa was around, there was no way she would allow her to witness Aresia like that. There was no way she could just laze off while her Master could still be struggling with something. No. Aresia opened her eyes, full of determination. She had to fix herself, now. And thus, she finally brought forth her miracle, a shockwave that had enough force to make those blink that looked into her direction was enough time to make flames rise from her body once more, those flames however, contradictionary to the violent nature of those before, gave off a warm vibe, like a mother embracing her child. And as Aresia's body was covered in ashes, the miracle did all of the work it had to do... .

Aresia coughed as the ashes decided to lay down onto her, now complete and unharmed, body, including her face. Using this Sword Skill while not moving, or standing, was kinda inconvenient. But it worked nonetheless. She coughed some more, her attempts freeing enough of her face to be capable of breathing at least. Initially the maid butler wanted to move her regenerated arm, or her entire body, to set herself free. But she didn't. Her body wasn't listening. The only thought keeping her awake was for the sake of her Master. Well, at least, the ashes covered her now perfectly fine body, unless some strong wind gust decided to be a bitch. And hopefully, someone would have enough civility to check on her and give her at least some clothes. That didn't help against her hair though, in a condition as if it had never been cut before, only shortening itself through the circle of natural death, it was now around 4 feet long.
 
As even Aresia's strength failed to dispatch the Rift Beast, Alexa whirled back around to glance at the monster for a moment before turning back to continue freeing Ashe from the pit of flesh she had been buried in. The faster she got Ashe out of this thing, the faster she could go and help the others bring the titan down. With a final hack of her sword, Alexa cut away the last few bits of flesh that bound Ashe before ripping her out of the pit and leaping off, setting her down a safe distance away from the battle. Turning back, Alexa prepared to rejoin the fight, only to see the beast be bound by one Ellenil Esprit.

Well. That was one way to settle it, she supposed. At this point, she was simply grateful that the battle seemed to be over. With a sigh of relief, Alexa surveyed the battlefield for a moment, trying to determine if everyone was alright. And then she saw a figure falling from the sky.

"Aresia!" Alexa cried out, shoving mana into her tired legs to dash towards the plummeting maid. Building up speed as she ran, Alexa leapt up from the ground, soaring straight towards Aresia. "Got you!" She yelled triumphantly as she caught the combat maid, landing on the ground with a crouch as she set the woman down.

"Honestly," She huffed, smiling as she panted for breath. "What would you lot do without me? When we get back to Cykes, I'm getting you a drink." Alexa said, plopping down on her ass.

___

Meanwhile, a dark-haired man wrapped in fine leather armor landed at the edge of the crater, his cape whirling around him. He nodded in respect to Esprit before surveying the dead Rift Beast, as well as the assorted fighters on the ground. The man took it all in as he paused for a moment before opening his mouth.

"Wow." Fion Seyour remarked dryly as he looked down to the bottom of the crater. "I'll bite, how did you lot cock this fight up so badly? What, did the Rift Beast just drop an artillery blast on itself and commit suicide out of sorrow at seeing your performance? Honestly, now I sort of want to plunge a sword through my chest at the thought of you lot being the future of Dansila."
 
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Elthrad Raske
Current Position: (6,5)

Beads of sweat dripped down Elthrad’s face as vivid memories clouded his vision. The stench of smoke and burning flesh, the sounds of stone cracking from the heat and the distant clash of metal against metal. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, the memories were gone. A soft and familiar voice had roused him from the grips of fear, and now guided his mind back to the situation at hand. The flesh that had weighed him down was gone now, and although he felt far from great he struggled to his feet. He had some minor skill in healing magic, and there would be wounded to tend to without a doubt.

As soon as he was on his feet, the source of the voice became apparent. None other than Ellenil Esprit, the face from his past he had been surprised to hear was in Cykes. It shouldn’t have surprised him that she would involve herself in this fight, but had he known she would be here he would have been far less reckless. He knew now that he would look like a fool. Just in time to chime in on his failure was a stranger to him, but clearly an asshole of some importance. Fortunately, Elthrad had the liberty of not living in Dansila.

Big words from someone who wasn’t here,” he replied, before walking to the most severely wounded he could see. Raiga. Kneeling beside his friend, he set to work straightening his broken bones while he was still unconscious. Then he began assessing and trying to stabilize his condition with his limited grasp of magic.
 
“Shit…” The plan had been for the raised limb to simply crash to the ground and break from the impact, but for one reason or another the severed piece pitched forward instead. As it crashed into the ground just a dozen meters or in front of Araki, he raised a hand to shield himself from the cloud of dust that was raised as a result. He barely managed to open his eyes given the conflagration that had enveloped the beast’s exposed core and was quickly forced to glance aside as the flames spread over the entire creature’s frame. He didn’t know how long the fire raged on for, aware of the oppressing heat that radiated from it, but the blinding glow disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

And in its place floated the core, just as blinding as the flames had been, seemingly undamaged and quickly repairing if the countless threads being spun out were any indication. Unable to look away, Araki was only vaguely aware of the falling form that dropped out of view.

Then the world froze. A disjoint that jolted Araki’s focus, a moment cut out of his awareness; in which the countless threads were severed and butchered apart. As he blinked and took in the new situation, this time he was able to act to try and help the falling form. Hands thrust forward and he felt his telekinesis take hold of Raela, bringing her fall to a halt even as the severed sphere continued past, before he began to move her towards the crater’s edge.

He didn’t manage to move her that far though as he had to set her down a few meters short as a sudden wave of heat washed over him, taking him by surprise. Eyes forced shut by the sudden piercing light that emanated from the glow, Araki managed to stumble up on his feet as the sphere’s rocking intensified. Unsure of what to do in the face of the mounting pressure, the decision turned out to be one he didn’t need to make.

His skin tingled at the presence of magic that made his insignificant and Araki shivered as he watched the sphere compress and shrink until it finally fell to the ground. While the colors and design of the uniform were familiar to him, the person that approached wasn’t; still from that feat alone she deserved the highest respect. With her arrival, he glanced up as he noticed the noise of airship in the skies above. Still… with that this was thankfully over at the least; a bit more than he expected from what was only supposed to be observation of his first Rift Beast. With a flick of his hand he scoured his clothes of dirt and dust before he floated down to the bottom of the crater.

“Anybody need help walking?” Raela had been slowly floated over to where the others were and though it wasn’t effortless to hold the unconscious girl up, he could still help a few others walk if need be.
 
“God dammit.”

Charlotte said these words in a mixture of shock, relief, and surprisingly enough, disappointment. She had only just returned to the scene of the battle, which flurried on as she trudged through the undergrowth of the forest amidst the aftermath of a half-baked and rather sad solar strike on the beast. She’d witnessed her maid-in-arms’ blazing efforts and the ultimate fall of the rift beast; Charlotte was happy, but all the same, she was out of the game for half the battle. What she did arrive in time to see, however, were the unconscious of her bodies and a familiar figurehead preaching to them. Oh, and it seemed they took the book signing to the battlefield.

She made herself look mighty innocent as Fion Seyour spoke, quietly forgetting her drop-slam technique she’d executed earlier. Despite that, that entire sequence had struck her as odd; she was rather certain that such an attack didn’t have the sheer distributing force to drive down the beast. But she knew well enough that that wouldn’t appear the same in other eyes, so Charlotte couldn’t make much of a particular retort. Instead, she took her attention to her fellow combatants, where she still stunned that about half of them were knocked out. At least their injuries didn’t seem immediately life-threatening.

Her eyes drifted over to Raela, who Charlotte hadn’t seen since the battle initially broke out. She was one of the unconscious, and interestingly, was being held up by magic by one of the few standing members. Seeing Araki, she assumed he was the one holding her up and with a hand gesture signaled that she’d help. Picking up her fallen scythe, she strapped it with her lance before wrapping an arm underneath that of her friend’s.
It didn’t take long for her to find Alexa and Aresia, who, for some odd reason, was unconscious and naked. The maid was not going to be happy when she wakes up. With a sigh, she made a grimace as a greeting towards Alexa before setting down the vampire next to Aresia before sitting down herself.

“That was not a battle I expected.”
 
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