"Before we were pitted against one another. Much like many others who find companionship in the sparring court, I found death in the pit. If the Goblin Holds need from the Blades, I will make sure I am part of the efforts." -Child, page 7.
Kingdom of Renalta
With the combat resolved with at least a temporary ceasefire, Dirge nods for his other son to stand by Oran's side. His son, growling, limps there--obviously having been in the camp for fighting rather than surrendering. Still, he made no aggressive movements towards Murderok, who could easily end them. Mikan unstraps her short swords from her sides and tosses them to the floor, fulfilling her end of the deal. Dirge nods with appreciation, but Mikan pays him no heed, instead marching straight down the tunnel into the next room.
There is a faint, purple glow around the small, circular chamber, which was built around a rather humble looking reflective, silvery liquid. Being a few feet from it, even the not magically inclined members of the group could feel a sense of dread being near it. Only a couple steps descended into the liquid, which seemed to have an endless depth to it. Reaching James would require walking around, along the edges of the wall, on those two steps. Standing beside James was a small child, though this child was entirely unfamiliar to everyone there. Dirge, however, seemed surprised to see the child.
"Rat?" He asked aloud, whispering it almost as though he feared causing the child to vanish by simply saying his name. The child however, only manages a confused smile, still seeming highly disoriented.
James, meanwhile, was on his knees, arm deep into the silvery liquid, looking to be in a great deal of pain. Growls could be heard emanating from the pool, though not from any animals that anyone there could feasibly discern.
"AH! Dirge, DIRGE! Why didn't you hold them... A while longer?!" Dirge turns away, unable to look James in the eyes. James shakes his head and looks up at the group, sweat pouring from his brow, the occasional uncontrollable twitch running through his body.
"Let me finish my work, and I will explain everything to you!" Mikan glares at him.
"Why should we do that? How do we know you're not ripping a demon through this... Portal?" James laughs, manically, and then swallows. Blood was starting to run down his lips.
"Because I am bringing back your child, as I said I would... Because any demon I drew into this room would kill me first. Take your pick... You may kill me afterwards if you wish, or hear me out. Either way, I care not." Gurgling could be heard from the pool, and his eyes seem to light up with a mad sort of glee.
"Almost there... I can fix everything... Just let me do so... Dean, Mikan! We traveled together, and I could have easily slain your queen and her bitch then, but I didn't! LET ME FIX THIS ONE THING BEFORE I DIE!"
Cennick and Abjaar notice out of the corner of their eyes that, in one of Mikan's hands, she was holding Zin's Magic-Breaker. She must have swiped it off the body. Such a device would likely easily disrupt the magical font, all one had to do was throw it in, and it would likely kill James in the process through sheer feedback. Yet, she hesitated, her grip on it so tight that her knuckles were white, in spite of the cold look in her eyes. James' eyes had already spotted it as well, though he said nothing: He merely stared at it, fear in his eyes.
Imperium/Amazons - The Dream of Empire
Armerza easily manages to scramble out in time, though Sonia had a greater distance to travel. Her magic struggled to keep back the few fastest of the insects, and before her, a small group of them had managed to cut her off from freedom. Before all hope was lost, however, a bolt of fire strikes them and burns them to cinders. Gremlock's cover was of great use after all. Fahim reaches out and grabs Sonia, pulling her through the doorway as the golem moves to blockade it with its body. Fahim nods to the golem in thanks, then speeds away, in the rear of the group. Behind them, they could hear the golem's metallic form struggling and screeching as thousands of insects attempting to batter their way through it, to no avail. As they continue to make distance, the green soul gem lights up, the soul of the golem having found its way there.
As the soul gem starts to glow, the temple around them starts to shake. The one force that kept it intact was no longer connected to it, and all the ancient pressure was now finally being allowed to do to the temple what it should have done centuries ago. They quickly manage to find their way to the main room, then the staircase. Ascending it rapidly, they could hear some of the passages behind them collapsing, likely sealing away whatever was there for yet another endless eternity. Bursting out into the jungle, they would find Veira panting heavily, before she simply falls onto her back, too tired to even continue standing, much less talking.
Fahim, meanwhile, found himself entirely stable, though his breathing had grown a little heavier, it didn't seem entirely necessary. He looks around, seeing a group of Amazons, and a group of three Imperial scouts, tied up together. They were the three Imperial scouts who Sonia had summoned to help them with the puzzle. One of them brightens up as he spots the group, excitement in his eyes. Fahim sighs, then brings his hand up to the bridge of his nose, a look of agitation plastered across his face.
One of the Amazons steps forward and glares at the group.
"Explain why Imperials who we specifically barred from entering this temple were found leaving it!" It takes the group a few moments, but they manage to recognize her as Queen Ethlinn, the leader of the Amazons. A second Amazon, an old looking shaman, steps up beside her and whispers in her ear, pointing at Sonia's bag, with the soul gems in it.
"You have an ancient Amazonian soul with you?" Queen Ethlinn asks, with a little less hostility than before. Though still clearly looking irritated, there was now a presence of confusion as well.
While Veira remained unable to speak coherently, Fahim glanced about at the group with confidence. He would answer the questions, if nobody else would.
Kingdom of Liveria - Ancestral Bonds
Wordlessly, Zoe and Andrea descend the rope next. Zoe notices the demonic agent's nasty looking whip and lets go of the rope, falling down to the ground and rolling to avoid any real harm. Andrea, however, isn't so lucky, as her grip on the rope slips due to her excessive eagerness to escape. She falls and hits the ground, falling unconscious as a result of the rapid, unplanned descent. She was, however, still alive, somehow. Huil, her spider, descends after her as she last commanded, and crawls along the ceiling. Seeing the orc Rayvon was engaged with, he dives onto that target and starts ripping through the orc's flesh with his fangs, quickly shredding the orc into several bloody bits through the spider's sheer strength alone.
Above, with Huil, Andrea, and Zoe all gone, this left Kasim to face the next couple of orcs. The first was no trouble for him to put down, as an arrow leaves his bow and precisely strikes an orc between the eyes. Another orc however quickly dives through, unarmed, ready to beat Kasim to death with his bare hands. Howling and yelling with glee, he is interrupted as Rayvon's pet, Haruuk, attacks the orc. Haruuk buries his maw into the orc's neck, though his jaw isn't quite enough to crush the orc's throat as the two start struggling with each other. With nobody else left to descend down the rope, this left Kasim alone with more orcs coming. He would be overrun very shortly, if he didn't move on.
Laenaia's attempt at magic was far more clear this time, as though Amanda were guiding her hands again like she had before. The shadows wrap around the war chief's chest leaving him in a state of shock and terror as he dropped his weapon and started attempting to rip away the shadows. This gave the princess an opening, which even a novice could take advantage of. She clumsily steps forward and manages to imaple the war chief's chest, sending him falling backward, now bleeding to death as he struggled to breath. The princess then looks at her hands, shaking as she sinks onto her knees and stares at them in horror: She had just taken a life, perhaps a first. Whether it was or wasn't, it still seemed to have a rather traumatic effect on her.
Gabriel is easily able to dispatch his opponent, though the Agent of Wrath lashes out at him next. The angel attempts to block it, only to watch the chain wrap around his arm and cut deeply into it. Gabriel winces as he falls onto one knee, attempting to resist the dark urges that were being commanded to him through the whip.
"She'll betray you, just you wait. It's inevitable... You should turn on her first." The Agent of Wrath taunts, only for Gabriel to spit at him.
"Never!" Gabriel was, for all tense and purposes, locked down, until someone else could liberate him.
Goran the Dire Wolf remained deadlocked with the Orc he was engaged with, both unable to land any decisive blows, as they both seem more preoccupied with their own survival than anything else.
The Agent of Wrath growls and then howls in frustration.
"WHY DO YOU NOT FIGHT BETTER WHEN ANGRY?! You are ORCS! You are FAILING ME! Where are my reinforcements?!"
From behind the Agent of Wrath steps an Orcish Shaman. Before the Agent of Wrath could issue him orders, however, he speaks, in a challenging tone of voice.
"The reinforcements on this level of the cavern system have been convinced that your leadership is inferior to that of an Orc. You wish us to die for you? Prove yourself worthy of it. I, Shaman Molkar, challenge you to prove your mettle with what you have remaining to you... Unless you are a coward." The Agent of Wrath starts to scream incoherently, in a tongue that none in the room could understand. He was infuriated by the Shaman, but couldn't do anything, as Gabriel retained a hold over the chain, preventing the Agent of Wrath from regaining control to strike another target.
Zoe sets up her crossbow, having gone unnoticed by the Agent of Wrath in all the chaos. All she needed was a few more seconds of time, and she could likely kill him herself. That left nobody to help Kasim's Dire Wolf, however...
Goblin Holds - Antiqua Scientiam
As the ARGMOC draws all the attention, this leaves Fafnir with a clear and easy ambush on the two Lust Hounds. He is easily able attack one before the two noticed his presence, ripping through it with a clear ease of purpose. The other turns to attack Fafnir, and though Fafnir sustains minor damage, he easily rips through the second lust hound as well, looking all the bloodier for it.
With the two lust hounds out of the way, the imps turn and see Esyllt coming. Panicking immediately at the sight of Venatrix traveling alongside her, the imps immediately scatter rather than remaining to fight. One, however, at least has the sense to light the fuse and fire it aimlessly into the distance, so that Esyllt would be left with having to reload it if she wanted to use it herself.
This left just the Shapeshifter, Doom Guard, and Agent of Pride.
Aslo's bullet from Maeven's musket doesn't quite hit its mark, instead ripping through the flesh and hitting the collarbone of the Doom Guard. It howls in agitation, but isn't stopped from impacting with the ARGMOC. It manages to cut it open as the ARGMOC then steps upon the Doom Guard, crushing it underfoot from its sheer mass. However, in the commotion, the shapeshifter managed to climb up onto the ARGMOC's leg, where the Doom Guard had managed to cut it. The Shapeshifter pulls out his foreign blade, wielding it with an unnatural ease that implied it was more than what it seemed on the surface. He takes a single swing, and finishes cutting through the leg. The ARGMOC then starts tilting, before ending up falling towards the building Aslo was in. The ARGMOC falls onto the building, though doesn't entirely crush it, leaving Aslo intact if he didn't attempt to escape the building.
Inside, as Child gained the spirit of a duelist, the ARGMOC falling over onto its side sends the Agent of Pride, Child, and Unamo falling onto the wall. Maeven howls and screams in pain in the background, grabbing her still intact leg as though it had been cut off along with the leg of the machine.
As Child recovers from the fall, the Agent of Pride climbs atop Child and attempts to pin him. Child, having the spirit of a duelist inside, doesn't allow him to succeed. As the two struggle with each other, Unamo climbs back onto her feet. With her spell casting interrupted, she pulls out her ritual dagger and charges into the Agent of Pride, knocking him off Child. Unamo tumbles over top of Child and the Agent of Pride, and before the Agent of Pride can recover, Unamo swings wildly and impales the Agent of Pride's hand to the wall.
"CHILD, NOW! FINISH HIM OFF!" Unamo shouts, as she barely manages to repress her panic.
In all the fighting, the Brave Imp was sent flailing into the wall, where he once again became dazed as he landed head first against it.
As the dust outside the ARGMOC begins to settle, Aslo would notice that the Shapeshifter--Enigma--had vanished in the fighting. He could possibly be in hiding, ready to strike again, or he may have seen how the tides had quickly turned against his masters and chosen to flee instead. Either was a valid possibility.
Kingdom of Tuleria - Unto the Breach
Aëyr's orders are followed to the letter by the Imperial Scouts, who fire at the Doom Guard's face as it charges towards them. It bowls past the rest of the group as the arrows penetrate its skull. Nonetheless, in its last few moments of life, as it falls, it manages to reach out and strike at the Imperial Scouts. Only one managed to have the sense to dive away, as his two compatriots are crushed underneath the mass of one of its large arms. As Aëyr recovers from avoiding the doom guard herself, she manages to fling her stone and hit one of her target's eyes. It turns its attention away from Yuri, slipping past her as she was preoccupied with the other humanoid demon, and charges for Aëyr.
By a sheer act of mercy and luck, the humanoid demon misses its first strike, having lost some of its depth perception. Aëyr, nonetheless, stumbles and falls backward onto the sand. As the demon raises his blade to finish her off, Otto bowls into him violently, impaling the demon upon his large blade and ending its life. As Otto heaves himself up off its corpse, the demon's blade could be seen protruding from his left shoulder, where it had slipped underneath one of his pauldrons. He rips the vicious looking blade out, then spits a little blood out. He was bleeding to death, though he remained on his feet, for now.
Yuri, meanwhile, with only one target left, is able to strike the humanoid demon back with her shield. Before the humanoid demon can retaliate, the remaining Imperial Scout notches an arrow and fires it quickly, hitting the demon in the thigh. Its howl of pain is cut short by Yuri's deft follow-up strike.
As all of this goes on, the Agent of Lust snaps its tail like a whip against the sand. As Quar tells the Magician-Buccaneers to run for the portal, and as Toorg goes into a defensive stance, Arkos charges forth as he had before against the assassin. Underestimating his opponent, the Agent of Lust moved faster than he did, and in a single motion, rammed one of her clawed hands through his chest. He looks down, and for his last few moments of life, he suddenly realized how frail life truly was. The Agent of Lust then tosses his lifeless body aside, and focuses her attention on Quar.
"What are you going to do, little boy of the woods?"
Quar, seeing the corpse of Arkos, began to seethe with rage. His staff glowed with a bright green, as his grip on it tightens.
"THIS!" He slams his staff into the desert sands, and sends several vines burrowing rapidly through the sands. Though the Agent of Lust manages to evade the first couple, the rest burst out around her and bind her, barely holding her in place.
"TOORG, SMASH HER!" He struggles to maintain the spell, feeling himself grow weak at the knees, but otherwise remaining on his feet.
"WE JUST HAVE TO BUY A FEW SECONDS TO WIN NOW! COME ON, BIG GUY! HIT HER LIKE A BALL AND SEND HER INTO THE SKIES!"
