Defense of the West Gate

[Deleted]

Garza ignored the sweat dripping down his face as he sprinted to the wall as best as he could, hoping would not be too late help. The veteran guard and soldier had been busy overseeing the evacuation process of the elderly and the sick that could not move quickly as the undead horde approached the city. He could not shake the feeling of dread, however, that something big was going to happen at the Outer Wall...and that he may be needed. Though older then most of the guards, his well toned and fit body carried him at great speeds as he finally managed to bound up the stairs to the top of the wall. What he saw took his breath away more so then any marathon he would run; the giant undead behemoth before him was not a good sign. His hands clenched into tight balled fists...and he scowled defiantly at the beast. He knew that he himself could not do much to such a large monstrosity, but he knew this; he was not about to give in to fear. He composed himself quickly and began walking along the wall in front of the soldiers and volunteer militia, who looked like they might bolt in pure fear....not tat he blamed them. He spoke in a loud, booming voice, the sound carrying as he addressed them.

"Stand your ground! We may be facing monsters the likes of which we have never seen, and I know you are afraid; any rational man would be! But if those monsters breach this wall, they will kill you families, burn your homes! And I am not afraid to bleed to keep my home safe...nor should you! We are soldiers of Nova! Let's give them a fight worthy of song and story!"

Garza wasn't used to these speeches, but he hoped that he would be able to inspire some form of confidence; as far as he could tell, he was the only ranking officer on this part of the wall. He didn't wait to see what kind of response he would get. Instead, he made his way toward what appeared to be a group of mages on the wall casting magic at the horde. The Bloodhound commanding officer was quick to move to them, and addressed them with a curt tone.

"You lot! Status report! I want details on the situation, now!"

As he approached Kail, he did hear about something in the sky, and looked up up what he could perceive as a figure with wings roughly fifty feet in the air. His eyebrow wrinkled in puzzlement and worriment. He kept his eye at the sky, though listened intently for any information this group was willing to give him.

[Nyx]

Nyx turned towards the bard watching as the tune of his song change, next the wave of water that washed some of the zombies away made her smile. More water that she didn’t have to draw from the air would make it easier for her to attack since she wouldn’t have to control it to form a large enough source to attack with. “Thank you.” Her smile growing more, turning her eyes to the weapon in her hand for a short second knowing that they all count in these situations.


Just as she felt a small amount of magic coming from it, her eyes were dragged to the ground, as a scream rippled through the air. Not letting her guard down she watched as everything came to ungodly calm almost as if that single scream was a God crying out because of they lost today already. Soon her eyes turned back to the sky was a flapping of wings could be heard. Looking towards the bard first wondering if he sprouted wings before her eyes scanned the area for the source of the sound.


Seeing a winged woman appeared if anything she would say that she reminded her of a harpy, but she couldn’t be sure. Nyx started to reach behind her for her staff because if she has to fight with the woman she will need a weapon she is used to handling. Her eyes focused on the woman as she started chanting a spell controlling the mist. “Kail, there is a woman in black up here just a little beyond our giant friend. I think she is controlling the mist calling the zombies change course of attack.” She said just was she watch the giant try and swat the bard out of the skies.


Getting ready to fly forwards and face the woman in battle when another voice broke the normal flow of the battle. Sighing she started to lower herself to the ground her eyes still on the woman in the sky until she just hovering just a few feet above the newcomer. “Well sir, as you can tell we being attacked by the undead. Our best weapon would be fire so if you can get the guards who are archers to stand on top of the wall and fire flaming arrows that would be much helpful to take out the rear fleet. We also have a giant who would be at our gates in just a few more steps, but we have someone stalking him at the moment.”


Taking a deep breath, she placed both her hands over the Mana Railgun pulling on the small strings of magic in it. Feeling it she channel her down magic into the gun a smirk on her lips knowing that now she can be a little bit more dangerous to attack and push the wave back. “Oh, there is also a woman in the sky who seems to be controlling the mist and calling some of the zombies away from our gates. I am going to meet her in battle so please don’t try and shoot her down from the sky cause you might hit me by mistake.” She said as she switched out the weapons, placing the Mana Railgun on her back and her staff in her hand.


With that she flew back into the sky towards the woman standing just diagonal of Rivers to not interfere with his battle. Pointing her staff at the woman, she voice loud and clear. “I shall be your opponent.” Deciding to go on the defensive against this woman to get a feel of her she waited a few seconds to see if she made the first move if not she would attack with a ball of water.

[Deleted]

Ri'Ariel nodded to the flying woman when she asked if she could help with aim casting another spell on Nyx to increase her reflexes that layered on top of the sight augmentation that was already active on her. Her guards were working pretty well at keeping the undead off of her but that scream that rang through the fetid air that stopped her and her guards for a moment. That was not an earthly scream that just pierced her ears, what ever it was wasn't a good thing to have to deal with on the battlefield.

She began marking each of the guards and her companions who were out here fighting before casting a mass augment to boost their physical attributes. She was doubling everyone's speed, strength, endurance, sight, and even their sense of hearing for right now. She couldn't keep it up long without the use of the sigil at her feet but for now it would help them compensate for the mass of undead that was forming here. "I've augmented everyone to boost your physical attributes so please don't let it go to waste," oddly her tone was very cold and seemed almost too calm for someone in the middle of a battle such as this. Though that scream had been rather unsettling for her she had done what she always does, filed the feeling away to be analyzed later.

[helena]

The black raven wings on the humanoid cloaked figure seem to move at a slow rate, hovering over the trees in a steady manner to watch the chaos below. It was almost like the woman was in a meditated state until a someone else made their presence known by announcing themselves. The woman turned in the air to stare down at Nyx; the hood hiding most of her face for the time being. However, a dark aura radiated off this woman. One that seemed to grab hold at one's soul and grab onto it with a iron grip. An this dark feeling seem to pour off of her as she stared Nyx down.

" You are not who I seek." "

The woman called out, her words sounding sweet yet towards the end of her sentence it suddenly sounded like multiple overlapping voices all at once saying the word 'seek'. Her hands lifted up through the heavy cloak; Both hands covered in gauntlets with sharp pointed finger tips. The hood finally drawn back to reveal the face of the woman the other winged girl had challenged. Black void-less pits, that would normally be eyes stared at Nyx as a crooked smile formed on her lips. Her head cocked to one side as the mist stopped forming from her finger tips. Her eyebrows scrunched together and a frown quickly form on her lips.Helena hissed, her wigs outstretching in a combat based pose as she awaited for Nyx's first move. Her body mostly hidden behind the dark cloak other than her wings and head.

"... You.... You reek of that bastards scent! Where is he?!"

 Meanwhile down below the undead hordes would continue moving towards the East and South Gate. The one's that were forced to stay behind, like the giant were force to fight. The Giant swatting away at the floating man; Too busy trying to bring the man to the ground to pay attention to the others at the gate while the rest of the smaller undead fought their way through the soldiers and those who volunteered to protect the gates.

[Deleted]

Kail had been watching events unfold until Anthony Garza showed up and the blond turned his attention to the man. But heard Nyx speak up and telling them that there was someone out there doing something. He nodded his head and was in thought and fended a few more zombies off. Perhaps he could ask Nyx for his weapon back and perhaps snipe the target and draw that thing in. As the blond was thinking this Garza had asked a status report from him and he was about to speak but Nyx did the honors for him. Kail was going to speak his plan until the winged magical girl rocketed off to face off against the unknown leader of this attack. "Damn magical girls" he said and was going to have to trust Nyx. But her brashness would end her up dead in this world. But darkly thought that she would serve as a good distraction while they could stop the undead hoard. His blade cut through another zombie disecting him in half. As Kail fought though he looked into the distance and saw Rivers get smacked down by the zombie giant.

"Serves you right you over confident bastard, well time to save a dumb ass" Kail muttered to himself and was going to gauge on how to tackle the zombie giant. That was until he felt a powerful force within him and looked to see a blue haired mage give them all massive buff to them all. "I thank you for this miss, I really do as well as everyone else. I will not let this go to waste......Sir if you can help your men at the gate. I'm going to take down the Giant out there" Kail said to Ri'Ariel and then Garza. Kail then jumped into the fray again with the powerful physical enhancement. He made a beeline for the zombie giant, the gunblade glowed red hot to a brilliant orange as the three fire gems were activated at once. As the blond got closer he became very evasive and once he got closer to the giant. Kail swung his blade hard with a double handed grip into the giant's left leg. The blade was hot as the sun or greater, the blond gambling on the fact that this heated blade would slice through like a hot knife through butter. On top of the physical enhancement, Kail knew that this thing was going to go down by his blade.

[Deleted]

On the perimeter coming from the North Gate, those already at the West gate would see a series of powerful explosions and the body parts of undead flying everywhere. A rain of fire pelts the undead that had been approaching from the North gate, along the wall, a tall male in a black mage's cowl hops from palisade to palisade casting spells at large clumps across the way.

The defense at the North had apparently been too strong for the hordes: whatever controlled them had recalled them to attack other gates that were potentially weaker. Plus the sense of a very powerful presence made it seem likely that whatever was commanding these hordes was approaching this gate. Roland and the guards should be able to handle the stragglers at the North Gate.

As Adrain stands atop a new perch looking at the new battlefield, he takes note of a few already engaged with the powerful entity overhead in the air. More fighters were here, a giant attacking among the smaller undead. The cloud was at it's strongest here it seemed, which was directly responsible for the rise of the dead.

The options were to attempt to destroy the entity in command and hope the undeath animation spell would end, or to try to forcibly dissolve the fog spell and thus prevent further reanimation. There were others directly engaged with the entity ahead, thus Adrain could not risk using directly offensive spells without potentially blowing up the defenders.

Thus, the logical course of action was to dispel the cloud in the present situation. His eyes glow as he looks at it, sensing out the structure. It was potent, but the color and the composition of the energy was very familiar to Caster's Sorrow at a first glance. Did someone figure out how to weaponize CS? That thought alone was terrifying in it's own right.

But if it was CS, then he thought he might be able to pull this off...but he would have to stop holding back his new power...the incantation would take far too long otherwise for the scale and power needed.

Adrain's eyes intensify in purple glow as he then begins to take on an aura of power. The speed of his movements were multiplied tenfold as he rushed and leapt into a patch of land that had no innocent bystanders and releases a potent explosion of force and fire that would knock away and incinerate any lesser undead. He kneels and then touches the ground, speaking faster in arcane language than anyone present would likely be able to keep up with as an incredibly complex arcane glyph glowing with white energy begins to manifest on the ground, covering a fifteen foot radius. Energy begins to be drawn to it from both the ambient air and Adrain himself.

It was a large scale of the Caster's Sorrow containment spell that he was all too familiar with from recent incidents, but even with his augmented power and speed it would take time to bring into a strength such that it would weaken or at least destroy the cloud. Weaker undead that would approach would have the magic animating them struck away and collapse into a pile of bones. Hopefully, others in the area would be able to fend off the stronger opponents until the spell was completed.

Adrain's posture was different than it normally was. While he was typically thought of as fairly gentle, he looked powerful now. His eyes intensely glow while his feet are locked onto the ground in a defiant stance, his right arm raised to the air to draw in power while his left hand continues to make gestures and glyphs that continue to expand and grow around him. His cloak and hair flow from the unnatural air flow that would happen as a result of this magic being gathered.

[Nyx]

Even with being at the distance from the creature Nyx swore that she could see a dark aura rolling off the wonder and holding her body frozen in the air. Taking a quick deep breath remember her training at the academy, all the fights she been in with a more powerful being. Her mind back on the battle at hand she tighten around her staff. Her body shivered at the word the woman said almost like thousands of lost souls trapped trying to find their way into the afterlife.



“You might not seek me but I cannot let you take the lives of people’s who time has not come.” Moving her staff from in front of her to left almost as if she commanding an army to halt as she started chanting her spell under her breath. Seeing the hood of the cloak fall from her opponent’s head made her stumble in her chanting letting the ball of water that had started forming dropping to the ground. Her hands falling to her side as her left hand loosen up on her staff a little her moving taking a step back from the shock.



Shaking her head trying to get the image out of her head that this was a trick it couldn’t be who she thought it was. Looking back the person never changed, she knew that she couldn’t win this fight. Taking a small flutter towards the woman, as she whispered her name. “Helena.” A simple word for any but for Nyx it was like her whole world was crashing down. This was Queen Helena of Vesha whose protector help her own kingdom in war.



Since her body was in shock it left her open for attacks as her mind try to work out that the woman in front of her even if she looks like Queen Helena she wasn’t the same person in this world. Her resolve strengthen knowing that if she didn’t fight the few people she come to know would die. Lifting her head, her eyes burning with the fire to protect her new found friends even from someone she might have known.



A smirk on her lips as she heard the woman. “I carry the scent of my God Zepon Mi’Lady Helena. Maybe I now carry of the scent of the jackass who brought me here. As for where either of them are who knows but until you defeat me you’re not going anywhere.” Knowing that casting a spell could be useless she, placed her right on her staff getting a two handed hold on her staff as she fly in fast her staff moving from bottom left to right slash aiming for her hips.

[helena]

This was beginning to become boring to the goddess of Souls. Such spunk did the child before her carry until her hood had dropped! Ha! Helena laughed on the inside, her chest rising with each inner chuckle. The goddess watched the magical woman before her in curiosity. Her eyes like black mirrors reflected Nyx’s sudden change in demeanor and her own mistake of dropping her guard would play back to her.

This made Helena smile. Oh her lips parted to show the jagged row of sharp needle like fangs that lined perfectly in harmony as a pleasant, but horrifyingly wicked grin. Fate had certainly out done himself. That sneaky bastard, bringing these beings of unknown origin into the world. This filth in front of her was one of them! Those vile beings that bare that devil’s scent. It was testing her patients enough to just float there listening to this girl babble.

Her gazed fixed on the woman, completely unaware of the NEW development that was happening all around from both above and below. The sky was growing ever darker with heavy, black fluffy clouds that rumbled to be set free of what they carried and what they kept hidden…

Fixed in battle, Helena kept her grin as the girl finally found what ever courage she had and was the first to attack. Or so Helena believed, un aware of Adrain or anyone from down below. Nyx was swift, however, her charge did not force the Goddess to move or even try and defend herself. Helena just stood completely still until the moment Nyx had nearly touched her hip with the tip of her staff. Helena’s reaction time was perfect, her body bending down to allow her arm to take the full blunt of the staff’s hit. The sound of metal clashing and sparks flew out from under Helena’s cloak. The cloth ruined, however Helena’s arm no longer looked like an actual arm. From her shoulder down to her nails her arm was completely made of metal, Nyx’s staff brought to a halt. Helena slid in close, taking hold of the staff with her right hand while her left arm slid along the blade and pole. Sparks once again flying as she closed the gab between herself and the other woman.
“ The blood of my Father you say? Now that is fascinating to think, however little dove that is hard for me to believe…. Those who have my dear old daddy scent have eyes of blood red and have been given a gift for those beautiful ruby eyes. “

Helena hissed to Nyx as her left arm finally moved away from the staff that was now being held secure by her other hand.
Helena grabbed onto Nyx’s throat, her hand feeling cold and metallic on the girl’s flesh as she began to gently squeeze. Helena’s eyes still pitch black reflected everything around them as she stared at Nyx with a more blank and emotionless expression.

"You were a brave soul…"

Helena spoke, her words carrying whispers with them as her hair became more animated and alive. The silver hair began to slither and wave as it began to grow. The silver strains of hair fanning out to reach around the woman’s body to attach itself to each little and every feather. Once the hair touched, it began to become rigid like a hook. The hook gripping onto the root of each feather and then one by one they were plucked in rapid motion. To anyone else seeing this it would all look like she ripped her feathers out all in one go, but to Nyx the feeling would be entirely different.

Helena then retracted her hair, the hair that was of no use falling to the ground while the length she preferred stayed in tacked. Then Helena would release her grip on the girl, allowing the wingless angel to fall to the ground to her doom if she must. While her attention finally was drawn to the ground to see where the girl would land. She caught a glimpse of the people below and above all… A very familiar object that was in one of the mortal’s possession. Her eyes fixed on a blonde headed child as she slowly begins to descend. Once again, not realizing Adrain’s presence as she glided down towards the ground to get a better look. Dropping her guard on Nyx assuming she had already fallen to her death while she hovered just barely above the trees.

You…… Have something that belongs to ME.”

Helena spoke, her words directed to Kail as she floated above looking down at the boy with murderous intent. Meanwhile her hordes advanced on and continued to attack in a more aggressive manner.

[Deleted]

The zombie giant went tumbling to the right side as Kail braced himself and there was a thundering thud. As the blond looked up and to where Nyx was in the distance and it was not something good. From what he could see that the goddess was tearing and ripping off Nyx's wings. This angered Kail a lot as it seemed that this being had no sense of mercy and just pure hate. Sure there were not nice beings out there. But this one just sent a fury in him but as his fury and rage were boiling in him. He could smell ozone in the air. It filled him with dread as of all things he was going to be struck by lightning and it seemed that the original target was the giant. That he had cut down just a second ago "Ah hell....." he said and he was going to die right then and there by random chance. No he had to live! He was not going to die in this world and be tourchered in whatever hell he was going to. The grey matter in his mind was going to risk it on this and he quickly started channeling for a spell. As the lightning bolt struck from the heavens. Kail tried to hold on as much as he could, as the raw elemental power surged and ravaged through him. He continued to focus and channel this into something he could use. Then something formed in his mind on what this should be. As this ended Kail dropped to on knee and used his gunblade to support himself.

Then Helena spoke saying that he had something of her's. Kail would look up and several discharges of electricity would arc across his body. His eyes were pure white as his blond hair had spiked up a bit and was free flowing then being tied up. "You say I have something of yours? Well you can go to whatever hell hole you crawled out of! Everyone in this world has thought of us as trash as abombinations! Just things to be killed for no damn reason! We were not brought here of our own will! But yet you give no mercy, well no more. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS WORLD'S SHIT! YOUR GOING DOWN LIKE THE WHORE THAT YOU ARE" Kail boomed as his voice was amplified by the massive influx of raw lightning magic. And like that the blond had moved in a blur of movement. The blond did not know or care if Helena could react, he was angry and his rage and anger that had happend to him through out the year was getting unleashed now. Kail ran straight at the goddess and made a seal right under him and then jumped up to Helena's level in the air. "Karma is a bitch, here is the payback" he said and then swung with his blade. The blade itself though had been super charged with the lightning as well. To the point that his blade was vibrating at a high rate.

Kail was determend to take off the goddess's weaponized arm or just take her head or something. He was out for blood and wanted to spill Helena's. He had enough of this world taking large chunks out of him and other fated. As the majority of the zombies had been fated as he saw some wearing clothes and other things. Either from earth or other various era's of his world that he could tell. "The only thing I desire out of this world is to see you bleed! If I die I will at least make sure that your going to remember this for a long time. WE ARE NOT YOUR PLAYTHINGS" he continued. Kail wanted to see other fated to not live in fear beacuse of this being. None of the gods, and the the majority of Nova did not care. There were only a few people that did outwardly care. This had to be a stand for the Fated, here and now. And he was going to make it at this moment in time. Kail was not going to fail on this or he would die trying.

[Nyx]

Her first instinct was to try a pull her staff away from Helena, her eyes narrowing at her mention of her eye colour. It wasn’t here fault that this world was messed up and she was sent here from some strange reason beyond her knowledge at the moment. “Sorry but in world Zepon doesn’t gift people with ruby eyes, he gifts them with powers to help protect his realms.”



Now trying to pull her staff away from it was too late, as her oxygen supply was now limited. Not able to let go of her staff as her eyes narrowed more at Helena hatred for the woman who was a mere copy of someone she knew from her own world. Even as she felt the pain of her wings being plucked out one by one like a chicken ready to cook.



After what felt like hours to her getting her feathers plucked out she felt the hairs move and Helena’s grip loosen. Now without her wings she started to fall towards the ground she had to think fast, gripping her staff tighter not to loosen it she quickly chanted her water spell, instead of throwing for an attack she pushed the water under her, letting in mold into a make shift bed under her to help slow her fall a bit.



Closing her eyes now knowing that the fall wasn’t going to be painless. As she was going to hit the ground she felt arms catching her and stumbling back before falling and rolling away. Opening her eyes she noticed that it was one of the guards, thinking him thank you, as her transformation ended.



Now on the ground drained magically, emotionally and almost physically, looking ground the battle grounds she noticed Kail rushing into the battle. She wanted to yell at him to stop not wanting anyone else to suffer for her own weakness to protect them. Using her staff to pulling into a kneeling position she asked the soldier who helped her to grabbed Kail’s mana railgun off of her back and hand it to her. Taking aim she fired it towards Helena’s shoulder, the force of the shot casing her to fall backwards. Draining the last ounce of energy she had to fight.



Lending on the shoulder of the solider she let him guide her back towards the safety of the wall since she was in condition to continue fighting.

[Deleted]

For the most part so far Ri'ariel had sat back and provided her augments to the people fighting alongside her while she still could. She watched with no signs of any emotion as the airborne woman was picked apart by Helena, a small bit of curiosity in her eyes at the powers that Goddess of Death had at her disposal. She made a mental note to look up more lore on the gods and goddesses the next time she had free time.

The giant toppled to the ground and she could tell the man who took it down was doing his best on top of being rather pissed off at the goddess. The sigil at her feet was unused still but she had a feeling she should use it now just to make things more interesting and well she could get some really good data out of it. There was the other man who had come down off the wall as well and she had only the two of them to augment other than herself so the energy she had at her normal disposal wasn't burning away too fast.

She used her staff to finish the sigil around her and spoke a few words to activate her channeling spell, she didn't look like she was too worried about what kind of energy she took in either. "Change is the only constant other than the passage of time, lets see just what we can do to force it's hand today. Teleska bear witness and accept my tribute." With this the sigil lit up and power from her surroundings flowed into her and from her to the two men who were still fighting, all the augments she had given them were increased exponentially. She had to take a bit of time and set up a conversion process as the energy passed through her though to make sure it wasn't still in the state that she absorbed it in.

"I apologize for this but there will be a backlash when this wears off you two so make the most of it," Kail was given even more physical augments to boost him to just before his body's limits. Adrian on the other hand was given the energy or manna in a pure form to fuel the spell he was casting to allow him to increase the yield and area it affected. Of the three of them she was going to pay the biggest price for all of this, Helena's cloud was part of the energy she was siphoning to the others and it was very very hard to revert it to pure energy or at least natural energy for them. She had no idea of how the goddess's energy was going to affect her in the aftermath of this.

[Deleted]

The cloaked mage had a limited ability to watch what was going on around. He could register that one of the flying defenders had been wounded and that the energy of the entity responsible for this was going to the ground level. Operating at a vastly accelerated casting sequence attempting to cast a spell that would require more time and resources normally, he couldn't afford to split his focus much.

Ri'ariel's chant about forcing time's hand was a bit ironic. As a surge of mana from her surrounded and entered him, Adrain's mixed heritage began to react to the potent, pseudo-divine power that was siphoned off from Helena's energy. It augmented the power and mana Adrain was tapping into the more closely align to the spell that was cast and traveled through his entire spirit and magic circuit, reaching into something at the deepest level of his being that had been dormant.

The mage's soul felt ablaze with power, barely able to be contained due to the surge from Ri'ariel. His body begins to strain under the pressure as his skin begins to crack and raw energy and mana seep out from various places on his arms and other parts of anatomy. In the worst spots, something strange would happen: scale would seem to grow and seal in the wound. At it's worst, between his shoulder blades, his skin would crack and widen letting loose a 'vent' of energy from either side that almost gave him an look of energy wings.

The pain was extreme, but the Archmage held it together: failing here would mean thousands would die at the hands of this 'goddess'. The added energy brought the spell to the critical mass as a silence fell in his chanting for a moment.

There would be no dramatic phrase, no final vocalization. The hundreds of glyphs carved of energy on the ground and in the air around Adrain would surge with power to his raised hand as Adrain floated a foot off the ground for a moment...

...then in an instant, all the gathered energy, all of the power that Ri'ariel had supplemented the spell with, launched from his hand as a beam of raw power, white in color straight into the red fog. The recoil of the spell would force Adrain back onto and his feet digging into the ground as the force continued to surge into the cloud. A thousand spellcasts worth of energy, of dispelling and removing the threat of Caster's Sorrow would permeate and penetrate the fog, surging forth throughout the entirety of the mana construct and attempting to unravel and dispel the energy that was traveling and animating this undead horde.

The light emitted from the spell would darken even the sunlight by comparison, rising and spreading constantly as the power and glyphs continued to work their power.

Adrain's body would begin to go through another level of strain as more cracks and scales began to manifest along his exposed skin and the smell of his blood would fill the air around him. As he focused on maintaining his spell, his mind's eye began to search through the Red Fog spell.

A caveat of large scale spells such as this that persist for a long time was that typically, they required a casting and mana upkeep from the caster. This is often where Counterspell focused magi can often turn an unwise stream of fire or blizzard against the caster in an instant. If Adrain could find the link that traced back to Helena, then there was a chance he could turn the power of that spell against her to strike her magic circuit: there was still a threat in the Goddess' presence, even if Adrain's effort was successful in causing the undead horde to fall apart. But if he could use the energy required in the upkeep to shut down Helena's circuit...assuming the same rules would apply to a goddess anyway...

He saw what he thought to be a pathway in the mana that led back to the orgin, and using what spare concentration he had, he attempted to reverse and ignite the flow of mana back to it's origin, attempting to burn the goddess' circuit from within and forcing her to withdraw.


At this point, Adrian was uncertain if he would survive this endeavor. There were words inadequate to describe the strain that he was under right now.

[helena]

The blonde-headed man launched himself from the ground with surprising speed, rising to meet the Goddess as she descended from the treetops, shouting more prattle about justice and mercy. These mortals certainly carried on about their curious ideals, obsessed with their own insignificance; Helena, however, was amused rather than disgusted, the pleasure of dealing such a crippling blow to the bird woman still fresh on her nerves. She grinned broadly, and opened her arms toward Killian as he approached, her wingtips tingling with anticipation, eager to knock him back to earth with a powerful wingbeat. The shimmering sheaves of her wings began to expand, her focus locked on blondie's eyes-she wanted to get a perfect view of their expression in his moment of failure-and at the critical moment, a faint tug on her planar presence, accompanying a brilliant burst of light, broke her concentration. Whomever cast the impressive bolt of mana directly into the red fog had also done something purely unexpected: he had attempted to sever her connection to the mana in the plane around her. Such a thing was, undoubtedly, impossible for a mortal, but his potent effort had produced an expected result, namely, catching Helena offguard.

The consequence of this minor distraction prevented Helena from tossing off Killian's foolhardy onslaught, instead permitting his highly-fortified attack to connect. Helena's eyes returned to Killian's as his blade bit deeply into her wing at the joint, his momentum carrying it the rest of the way through. As her left pair fell to the ground, a gush of dark liquid burst from the cut, spraying freely. Helena let out a piercing hiss, clutching the wound.

"SSSoooo, such a morrtal as this came through the void; one capable of wounding a Divine without killing themselves with the effort. I commend your spunk, but now you DIE!"

The force with which Helena shouted "DIE!" created a visible pulse that ripped through the air. At the same time, a pulse of mana rippled through the undercurrents of the magic channels in the area, as the bolt from the railgun sought its mark. Having none more of this bullshit, Helena opened her right wings, raised them fully back, and struck the bolt to the ground with a downward beat that launched her into the air. Steadying herself to descend on the blonde, her elevated view of the battlefield revealed a harsh blow to the effects of the fog, fully visible patches beginning to clear here and there, and framed in one such break, the form of Saden fell into Helena's reflective gaze, tucked stealthily beyond the edge of the forest, barely noticeable. He stood beside...her father, Zepon? Seated upon a throne of corpses, his probing ruby gaze was unmistakable, as well as its target: herself. The moment she landed; A horrible expression passed over her face, all scowl and hatred, and she thundered over at Killian:

"It's your lucky day, but take THIS as a down payment!!"

She drew her right hand from the wound, above her head, and dropped it to point directly at Killian's chest, her index finger extended as if slinging out a line of large black globs. The black globs shot rapidly in a vertical line towards him, striking him down the center at irregular intervals. The thick, dark, viscous ooze began to eat away at Killian's armor and permeate into his flesh, eliciting a searing sensation wherever it touched, seeping into his clothing. All about Helena, where the still-flowing wound spilled its inky gore, a pungent, nauseating vapor rose from the ground, and the plant life withered and rotted, imparting a sickly, dark appearance. Helena drew a circle in front of her, and vanished. The spot where she slipped from the plane rippled and distorted as she completed the transition, terrifying screams and wails emerging as she crossed back to Castle Morgg. The undead continued to skirmish, but those who wandered outside the confines of the quickly-thinning fog fell inanimate and collapsed with grunts, gurgles, sloshes, and a host of other unsettling sounds. As they began to fall, the cries of drakes drowned the moans of the horde, Palico's riders dispatching the remaining patches of fog, and the undead within. Zepon and Saden no longer stood watch over the battle, the corpse throne now a disorderly pile. Everywhere, the valiant cries of soldiers rose above the clamor of battle. The assault had been routed; the battle fell in favor of Nova.

[Deleted]

As the spell faded and the battle began to unwind with Helena's dramatic exit, Adrain began to re attune himself to his surroundings. Having used the new powers to accelerate himself had taken a dramatic toll on both his mind and his body. The overflowing energy that was seeping through the cracks of his body faded, and blood began to replace it, but curiously scale would begin to manifest and cover over it, not that Adrain actually noticed. If anything, the scales were what kept him together long enough to observe the fallout of the battle.

His eyes are drawn to where the goddess' wings were on the ground, bleeding a black fluid that seemed to poison the ground it touched. Yet they seemed to contain great...potential. He kneels down, pulls out a cloth and puts it around his hand, and picks up one of the wings, at the unwounded end, using a small spell to freeze the part where the ooze would seep. What applications could this thing have? The mage wondered. A piece of a goddess, it was an intriguing opportunity to study just what makes the divine divine. Assuming the wing didn't turn to life and attack him, he would wrap it in a sack that he would shortly pick up off the ground from either a fallen soldier or one of undead's. It hardly mattered. He ignored the other wing, thinking it may be appropriate for Killian to claim as a trophy of some sort if he wished, but he would come back to collect it if it was otherwise not taken.

Killian's dilemma with the acid wasn't obvious to Adrain at the moment, as he was a bit further off from where he was at the moment and in any case Adrain wasn't one to really use healing spells. If hailed, Adrain would probably attempt to aid him, but the best he could do would be to cauterize the wounds to try to burn the acid out or spray water, both of which might not be the ideal solution in this case.

Adrain's eyes turn to the sky, as he sees the mist begin to fade. As the fog dissolved, the power animating the undead would break and shatter, leaving them lifeless once more. He takes a few steps out to the increasingly quiet battlefield, his purple eyes scanning around for anomalies. The giant that was animated was a curiosity: giants were at best a legendary sort of creature, a bit of folklore, yet it was one to be animated. He walks in the direction of the giant, looking around as he approached for anything else unusual.

Once he got in range of the giant, he would hold his hands up prepared to unleash a flurry of fireballs upon it should it reanimate, but failing that he would look at it closer, trying to see if there was any information to be gleamed from it or anything really.

[Deleted]

Kail's eyes widen as his weapon shattered from the force of his strike as the amount of power it had taken in was too great. He then fell back down to the ground after the attack on Helena. And landed on his feet gently but was feeling exasuted from everything he did on the Goddess. But it seemed that he did a heavy blow to Helena as he had taken off a pair of wings or sliced them off. There was a slight smile on Kail's face as he gave her a rather bad day but it seemed that he would be paying for this as she launched some of her blood on him. What was shocking to him was the fact it was burning the armor he was wearing. The blond quickly took off his chest piece and used a water gem that was on his bracelets. To wash off the acidic blood off the armor and the acid did a number on it. As it seemed that Helena though retreated from that and the blond was panting heavily as he tried to get back to his feet. He found a discarded lance and used it as something to prock himself up. He collected the broken pieces of his gunblade perhaps they could be used to make a stronger weapon. He watches a robed mage come over and claim one of the wings. The blond was about to object to it, but through the haze of his mind though. He did remember feeling a massive amount of mana being used for something that was disapating the mist.

Perhaps this man was the mage that casted that spell, by every right he could take one of them. So the blond was not going to argue with him and it seemed that he was in better shape then he was. The blond was not in any shape to fight over too many of the spoils. Seeing the remaining wing though Kail used a sword that was laying on the ground and used a fire gem to catorise the wound preventing it from bleeding. Using the water gem again washed the remaining blood away and like Adrian though found a sack and put it in the bag along with his gunblade pieces. As well as raiding several of the undead bodies for items, weapons, and other things. Before he passed out from the lack of energy in his body "Hey man.....I owe you several rounds of drinks if we ever meet again" he called out to the mage as he saw him incinerate the zombie giant. Kail chuckled a bit as he seemed to have the devil's luck or whatever divine being was favoring him right now. The blond was tetering a bit too much since his limits were being reached right now.