Defence of the East Gate

[Deleted]

This couldn’t be happening. Who would want to attack the kingdom, and why? Lilith rushed to her post, having no choice but to be apart of the battle at hand. Regularly, she was the healer of the guard, nothing more. But this time they didn’t have enough people to cover every section. She didn’t know who was at her post with her, and she doubted she care. She was nervous. She was not a fighter, and never had been… She did have magic on her side, some of it would be able to help while other spells were useless. As she ran her hair trailed behind her, contrasting her all black clothing; regular shirt, with loose pants, and a long flowing black coat. In her hand was her newly obtained weapon, the Thorn Spear. The vine twisted around her, curling around her waist, resting there until needed, the green gem bright on her waist, while the blades shone and bounced with her movements. Her wand was inside her coat, in a breast pocket, while her dagger was resting on her hip. She had been careful recently, asking Killian to help her learn to fight, just in case. She never imagined it would be needed so soon. She was no expert, but she at least expected she could protect herself. 

As she neared her position, she was able to see what it was that was attacking Nova. They looked like undead creatures. From the depths of hell itself… Lilith spoke, her voice small and breathy. She ran the rest of the way to the Eastern gate. The volunteers had already arrived, but from the looks of it, she was the first Guard to show up. She knew there would be others, she just hopped they arrived soon. From the looks of things, the undead were not yet at the wall, she had time. They were not close enough for combat, and thus her Spear was not yet needed. She placed it on the ground next to her just for the moment. She then knelt down next to it. From what Lilith could see, the ground that the undead were walking on was mostly dirt and grass. Lilith pressed the palms of her hand firmly on the ground in front of her, and pushed energy into them, feeling the earth pulsate below her. In a matter of seconds, the ground below the enemy was shaking and rising, transforming into sharp spikes, making it difficult to manoeuvre around, and depending on the position of some of the creatures, they would be impaled, pierced, cut or even slightly hurt. But it would buy them more time and slow them down. It was the strongest long-distance spell she could do, and it would have to do. Lilith stood, picking the Thorn Spear up with her and stared into the red mod. The wind was harsh, throwing her hair in every direction. From behind, she looked like a villain, dressed in all black, coat flapping in the wind, hair protecting her and the large spear like scythe in her hand. Yet, from the front, she was pale, her eyes wide. She stood strong, but inside she was terrified. She needed to protect her home, and all the people in it. That was all she knew. Where is the rest of our group? She barked over to one of the volunteers, knowing she couldn’t do it alone.

@finn Noku Noru Louie Kanto
(The Spear )

[Noku Noru]

Noku sat in his studies with a book at hand. He flipped through the pages with his index finger to guide the paper as he read along the ancient text. Only to break his concentration when the doors to his study, which now seemed to be more like his bed chambers sense the fire, suddenly burst open with four guardsman. Panic instilled in their eyes; They all rushed over to where their King was seating by the window. Once within five feet all four guards dropped to their knees in respect.

" Your majesty! Hundreds of undead surround the Outer Wall and all the Gates! We have sent some soldiers there to hold them back, plus some volunteers have joined up as well your Grace. What do we do if they break into the city?! "

One guard spoke out first in a raspy, out of breath voice. Exhausted from having to run all this way from the Outer Gates to report such terrible news. It wasn't hard not to notice the way all four of them trembled, even with just one short glance up from his book he could see their armor shaking. Noku sighed heavily, his right hand slipping down to the binder of the book to snap it shut with just one flick of his wrist. His gold eyes trailing over to the window to stare out at the horizon where the Outer Wall stood. His features stoic and un-phased by the news he had just received. He straightening his posture and pushed him self up to stand.

" Alert the other guards. Have each man alert the civilians, even the ones at their homes. Instruct the men to tell the women to keep their children and themselves safe by staying indoors. If there are any able body men or young men have them be prepared for If - and only if- the situation changes and one of the Gates fall. Then focus on reinforcing the Gate and protect my people. "

Noku spoke in a demanding tone, passing the guards in a steady silent stride. His presence some what menacing as he walked to the doors to his study, servants quickly opening the door for him. However, Noku stopped right at the door way. His gold eyes trailing back to the four guards still knelt down on the floor. The Guards watching him in silence with wide eyes as they stared at their King.

" Which Gate would you say has the weakest defense at this point? " Noku asked, while all four guards looked up in surprise by his odd request. " The…The East Gate at this point my Grace…May I…May I ask why you ask your Majasty?" The second guard answered, some what stammering over his own words.

" I see and no, you may not ask why." Noku answered in a sharp reply, his attention turning back to the hallway where he walked down to the Royal Armory. Once there he entered the large room and removed his robes and replaced his kingly attire with his Royal steel armor set. The light color steel trimmed in gold and black elaborate designs of floral and dragons. He even placed a full helm over his head to hide his face from sight. His shoulders harboring wolfs fur that was sewn into a dark purple dragon leather cloak. He picked up his more favored sword, a large bastard sword that had been stored in the armory sense the last time it was used. A bitter memory that still brought a faint phantom pain at the side of his cranium. Once the sword was in his hands he secured it to his back. Then left the armory and traveled silently through the more secluded and secret passage ways of the castle. Finally emerging out when reaching the street near the East Gate. He entered the street, walking steadily as he neared the Gate's mouth.

The sound of crackling earth making him quicken his pace until the blonde hair woman came into view. Then the sight of the earthly spikes and undead caught his attention. So the reports were accurate and the situation was far more dangerous than what he had thought. His eyes trailing over to look at the Blonde hair woman through the slits of his helm. She looked very familiar and he approached her from behind.

" You woman! If you are a magic user then stay close behind someone with a sword or weapon; You will be better protected while you cast your spells." Noku called out to Lilith as he walked steadily past her, glancing over his shoulder for just a moment to see the look in her eyes. Obviously she had never seen battle before.. A pity, but he had to commend her. His cloak flowing gently behind him as he removed the sword off his back and began making his way to the un-dead abominations.

[Louie Kanto]

Another shot down the hatch. Four down sense the moment Louie woke up this morning in one of the Gallows Inn's beds. It seemed someone was kind enough to rent him a room for the night in his drunken stupor; His eye brows curled at the faint memory of drinking 10 bottles of sailor's rum sense yesterday afternoon. He sat groggily at the bar on an un-even stool. His features exhausted while he sported a five o-clock shadow that itched from time to time. Not used to having facial hair or letting himself get this far behind on his hygiene habits.

He assumed with less work, then the less money would be coming in. He would need to survive on the coin Mysteria had paid him for making sure the Fated at the Gallows found Bane. A sweet deal he had to admit, but now his coin pouch was becoming lighter by the day. A causality to the ways of a man who just wants to drink, fuck, gamble and party himself the night away. Which is exactly what he did during the first few days of the Festival of the Gods; However, now Louie was coming down from the high and back to the grind of Nova's harsh reality… He was nearly broke. Which meant no booze, women, or drugs…. Which was unacceptable!

" You drunk get off ye bum we gotta job! " A familiar squawk came from a large white bird that suddenly landed on his shoulders. " You pull my string fowl. " Louie replied, looking up at the bird on his shoulders with a scowl. " No spring pulling! Off ye ass and move! No time to waste!" Fynris hissed, taking his large beak and biting gently at Louie's ear to get him to get up and move. Which worked effectively as Louie jumped to his feet and tossed a few coins on the table for his drink tab. Fynris squawking happily in delight as the large bird held out a small parchment in his claws. The bird dropped the paper in Louie's hands and the already suited up mercenary glanced over the writing on the tiny piece of parchment. A tisk escaped his lips as he then proceeded to grumble and talk to himself lightly as he made his way out of the tavern and down the street. Fynris no longer riding upon his masters shoulders as he took flight and began to guide Louie to the East Gate. The entire way there Louie made sure he had the equipment he needed on him before arriving at the gate. Some what surprised to see the amount of un-dead coming towards the kingdom and people here to help with this so called 'job'. His red eyes trailing up at Fynris with a scowl. " Damn bird, this isn't a job… It's a god damn present!" He suddenly burst out into a giddy laugh, taking out his crescent staff.

A smile broke free on his lips and Louie reached into his pocket to pull out two small vials of Lunar Drops. In one swoop, Louie popped each vial into his mouth and swished the contents around in his mouth before swallowing. Then exhaling in satisfaction; allowing the plants chemicals to take affect while putting a white mask on over his face. His Staff drawn and Louie walked slowly up behind the Shiny Tin-can man and Lady of Black and so far did the most Bad-assery damage so far.

Louie kept his smile up, not even aware that he had already taken part in the un-dead battle. His arms swinging the staff as he charged past the man and Lilith towards the hordes. When he reached the first two unlucky un-dead men to cross paths with his crescent bladed staff; both un-dead men were sliced in half with a single swoop.

" SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER WHEN YOU SEE THE WHITE WHALE!! BREAK YOUR BACKS AND CRACK YOUR ORES MEN! With Harpoons thrust to the sky as we look him straight in the EYE! White Whale! Holy Grail! " He yelled out holding his staff up over his head as he continue to charge forth towards the hordes.

[Deleted]

The measured steps of marching boots could be heard heading up the wall. Finn stood in fine scale mail leading the troupe of soldier he had brought with him into the city. "Alright men, you know the drill, we are forifying the walls. Get boiling oil and wall defenses set up! Archers, find your spot and make sure you have plenty of spare arrows!" He roars as his men fan out and immediately get to work. Finn quickly and efficiently finds civilians from the town below who are not cowering in fear and says.

"Listen, we're under attack, and we need as many men as we can get. Anyone who can use a bow get onto the wall and you will be supplied with one. Those who won't fight start setting up barracades in the streets that we can withdraw to." He orders and as he moves from house to house giving orders, some of the people listened, others were spurred on by the motion of the first and pretty soon the people were beginning to fortify.

Finn moved through the streets giving aid and advice were needed. His soldiers did not need his orders for this kind of thing. A basic defense of the walls were standard tactics and hopefully some of those up on the walls would be smart enough to listen to their orders when the time came.

Finn was a bit disappointed in the turn out. Plenty of the men had been willing to help out, but if this had been the northern reaches almost all of the men and most of the women and children would have tried to pitch in. Life in the capital makes you soft. He muses as one of his mages runs up. "Send word to my sister to fortify, then send what aide she can. Then I want to you start gathering information, how many are we looking at fighting? Is there anything around that we can turn to our advantage? GET ME ANSWERS!" He shouts and the man immediately move to complete his assigned task.

[Deleted]

Thankfully she wasn’t alone for long. Much to her surprise the king was next to join her. She stepped back, moving to bow before the ruler of the kingdom in which she lived. But she stopped short, hearing his words and making a face. She should move out of the way of those better than her, be protected by others. He was not wrong, however he looked over her entirely. With all due respect, your Majesty, I am fully capable of protecting myself. With this words, and held the staff of her spear in front of her, tapping the bottom of it into the ground, the tip of the bottom blade piercing the ground, and the spell she’d previously cast intensified, the spikes rising higher, becoming sharper, making it even harder for the undead to make their way through it, even more being impaled by them. The vine attached to the spear whipped out around her, ready to protect her from what she couldn’t see. She doubted her king cared much if she protected herself or not, as he made his way forward taking on more enemies of his own. From behind he looked odd familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

Lilith then heard a familiar voice, pulling her from her thoughts, and she looked up and behind her, as a man rushed forward past her. Louie? Lilith kept herself from smacking herself in the face. Could such a man really be of help here? Lilith shook her head, looking at the mass of men behind her, being ordered by another man she’d yet to meet. Whoever he was, he was helping so she really didn’t care. She turned again, back towards the advancing dead, and ran into them, following the lunatic and her king.

She was unsure what these creatures were, but testing out spells would never hurt. Lilith focused her energy once more, and cast out a bubble of magic around her and far in front of her. She kept the king and Louie out of it, so they would not be hindered. It was her Evergreen eyes. If the undead could see, then their vision would be impaired temporarily, and all they would see was trees and bushes. They could hear the truth, smell it and touch it, but their eyes would be rendered useless for 5 minutes at most. The undead around the two men would also be impaired. They would notice the undead moving unsteadily and unsure of themselves, confused and disoriented — that is, if the spell affected them at all. Once the spell was cast, Lilith took no chances, lashing her scythe like spear out and slicing the demons around her to bits. This was not in her nature, and anyone who knew the elf as a person, would not recognize her. Even she did not know what drove her to this point.

[Noku Noru]

Noku strode through the scrambling crowd, lowering his bastard sword and hailing the man wielding the crescent staff.

"Fortify the lines! If we can't stop them here, we'll be overrun by nightfall. HEALERS, CASTERS, AND ARCHERS; remain behind the phalanx and provide support for the footsoldiers! SOLDIERS!! FORM A LINE AND PRESS THE HORDE! CUT THEM DOWN AT THE WALLS!! You, with the staff! Shadow this woman and that nobleman. No matter what happens, do not leave their side."

He thundered his command, and advanced on the undead, cleaving several in quick succession with the massive blade. Noku charged ahead, a whirlwind of steel glittering with the rays of the waning sun. As his form passed into the thick of the horde, limbs, viscera, and blood sailed past the heads of the creatures, leaving a trail of writhing and wailing bodies in his wake. He struck furiously into the crowd as he advanced, opening a tight path for himself and alternately shouldering, hacking, and sidestepping the gruesome creatures, pushing further from the soldiers fortifying their position at the gate. Each stroke of his blade fell more angrily, Noku frenzied and consumed in battle, and he began to shout as he cut down the enemy.

"FIRST the damned COCOA slut attacks me in my OWN BEDROOM,"(slash)" then someone SPIKES MY CUP, WRECKS up my city,(slash) and tries to KILL ANOTHER" (slashslash)"NORU FROM THE FUTURE!! The FIRE in my castle, the THIEVES in my city, and "(slash)" women lining up to MILK MY ROYAL PEACHES "(slash)", and NOW, HORDES OF FUCKING" (slash)"ZOMBIES at my gates! The gods must be LOVING this, just PISSING "(slash)" all over my life! Well damn if I'm "(slash)" going to let even one of" (slash)" you rotten shitheads taint the pavement of my "(slash)" glorious city while I still draw breath!"

[Deleted]

Astra had been told by some soldier that she should remain inside where it would be safer while the city was besieged by the undead. Her response was what anyone who knew her would expect, she laughed at the man and pushed past him to head to the east gate. She hadn't gotten to let loose in a while so this was going to be fun, enemies she didn't have to worry about having family or friends she would be taking them away from. She was running her wand in hand as she went to join the group that was at the gate she had chosen to go to.

She could hear the man with white hair bitching about something as he was cutting down the zombies around him, the woman with him looked like she was rather into this as well. Astra went to pick up the slack in the space between them using her want to hit a strike plate on her little bit of armor and get a flame started. It cost her less to do it this way than to conjure up a flame, feeding that flame some of her manna to extend it into a long whip she moved up on the zombies. The flame whip lashing out at them splitting their skulls open or starting their body on fire making the rotting flesh disappear faster though it smelled horrible. Not as bad as living flesh burning mind you but still smelled, she let the whip coil around her on the ground.

She was drawing in some of them to see just how many she could skull cap at once to better know her limits. She had managed three with one lash so far but it was not going to be enough if they kept coming in with these many at once. Then to her surprise the man who had told her to go hide came up behind her with a few others to form a defensive line behind her. Licking her lips she smirked a little bit as she gathered manna in her hand mumbling a small incantation under her breath to expedite this, holding her left hand up she aimed it at the hoard before her. The manna condensed into a bright red orb at the palm of her hand, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, return to the land of the dead and let the flames of the living burn in peace!"

The orb flew from her hand, arcing up over the hoard and then down into it setting off a firey explosion about four meters in diameter. The zombies on the outer reaches were knocked down and set ablaze, she looked to the other two and motioned for some of her guards to go support them instead of standing behind her right now. She could keep her distance easy enough so she didn't need as much support. She shouts over to Noku, Great way to blow off some steam huh?"

[Deleted]

Lilith was casting spell after spell, blinding the dead, bringing the earth into higher spikes around them, burning those she could reach when the neared her. Over it all she could hear the voice of the king ranting as he fought and the urge to roll her eyes couldn't be held back. Someone has anger issues. She called over the sound of the dead rampaging around them. It was out of her mouth before she realized it, and instantly turned red, realizing to whom she'd just sassed. Without hesitation she turned her back on him, swinging her scythe in action, tearing the five undead around her in half. The vine wiping from the bottom lashed out, protecting her back while it was turned.

A new person joined the fight, someone she'd yet to meet, though in this situation she far from cared who was helping them, as long as people did. She couldn't hear the words spoken, but she knew it was a spell of sorts, and she felt a slight rush of relief. Magic users were greatly underestimated these days.

[Sima Oratio]

Something was different today. The shop, was almost still quiet. For whatever reason no one was in sight, and Sima wasn't entirely sure what was going on. The air felt oddly still, as if an ominous presence was nearby. An odd sensation of worry rushed through his body, something was suspicious. "Civilian!" A towns guard quickly informed him to stay indoors. "Yes, right away" Sima responded to him by immediately closing the shop. It had been quite a long time since Sima had seen combat, in fact he was a little nervous if the place was being attacked. Sima made his way home, casually walking. He was never one to be afraid of death, so rushing back to the safety of home wasn't too pressing. However as he made his way inside he realized something was missing. "Lilith?!" His heart raced, when he could only think of her duties to the guard. He gripped his hands out of a slight anger. Lilith was Sima's family, at least in this world. The mere thought of her being in combat, or serving on the lines of war frightened him to such a degree. He took a deep breath, knowing Lilith's scent more so than anyone else on this world. Tracking her whereabouts would be as easy as pie! Sima was not going there to bring her home, that was idiotic. Lilith was a much stronger person now and treating her so lightly wouldn't go easy with her.



However regardless of how much he believed in her ability to protect herself, there was always going to be a worry that wouldn't quench itself unless he tried to be there. Slightly hesitating, the fear of Lilith not wanting Sima to see combat, he bolted out of the door. His feet hit the ground at least 4 times faster than that of an average man's running speed. The speed was quite impressive, but it did put a great strain on his muscles. Pain was already beginning to set in as his legs, which meant if he pushed himself too far he was going to tear to muscle. Pushing that aside he followed Lilith's scent to the east gate, leaping from one building, to the other, before launching forward in a large arc over what appeared to be a group of people in mid-combat. His eyes quickly assessed the combat situation. However, his eyes right now were bias. They were aiming at Lilith's survival, instead of the entirety of the group. So rather than attacking critical targets that could help the entire group, he aimed to relieve the amount of combat near Lilith. Perhaps this was because he was worried so much, but, he knew he could get scolded for what he was doing, or worse.



His arc reached terminal velocity as he launched back towards the ground landing on a target that Lilith had not hit yet, but determining her skills, it was easy to see that Lilith was having no problem. The force of Sima's impact hitting the undead creature was enough to shatter bones, it's skull in fact. However, the strain on Sima's legs, and arms were beginning to pile up. He'd have to take it easy for now on, and only use the strength he had been given for a dire situation. Losing the use of an arm, or leg, in this situation could be devastating, and he would be almost certainly forced to fight from the sidelines.

[Louie Kanto]

Noku's command caught Louie off guard. His running charge interrupted as he flung his legs forward to brace for an immediate impact. Gravel and soot went flying into the air as Louie slid and finally came to a stop by flipping over and stabilizing his balance with one hand and both knees planted on the ground. The slide cutting his pants fabric. However he didn't seemed bothered by the torn knee holes, his attention more focused else where. To his surprise louie stared at the King then over to Lilith. His brows finally knitted behind the crimson mask as he noticed two others come to the scene. One of them beginning to do the exact thing Noku had asked him to do. Well at least his work was cut in half. Though he was more interested in why the King chose to separate himself from the rest of the group and put himself in danger. Then a disturbing thought came to mind. Classy, but one that could be costly for him and everybody else in the long run. But as they say, curiosity killed the cat.

However, his next actions were cut short when louie noticed something coming out of Noku's armor. The beating of his heart sounding like a drum within his chest; the rhythm carrying up to his ears and flowed through his blood. Crimson eyes locked on the King now as he went further away from the group. Louie went to move but when he did he noticed something change. He couldn't move, plus butterflies? One by one different color butterflies emerged from the king's armor in sparkling light. The sky, trees, grass, even the countless of slaughtering of undead was highlighted in a glistening haze that sparkled and shimmered. The lunar flowers had finally kicked in. Everything was just so… Bright and happy!

The crimson haired merc couldn't help but break into a wide grin. With a spring in his mood and ego, Louie sprung up from the ground from being on almost all fours to standing up right. His crimson eyes etching over to stare at Lilith as she began casting earth magic to help defend the gate.

Now to him the woman appeared to be a beautiful, glowing goddess twirling before his very eyes as the earth rose to praise her every word. The bright fluffy haze and added music in his head was enough to distract him from the immediate danger he was in. Fully mesmerized and worst of all distracted to what he was most curious of all about. That was until he felt something chomp down on his right shoulder that was holding his staff. He looked over his shoulder, a corpse biting into his flesh ripping at the muscle like a fat man on cake. Highly unacceptable and In one quick motion Louie swung with his other arm and grabbed onto the un-deads shirt collar. Quickly flipping it over and using the end of his staff to do the finishing blow once it landed flat on its back. The staff stabbing through the head and crushing the skull. He then turned to look back at Noku, almost unfazed at being nommed on like a cooked ham. Thank god the Lunar flowers helped num the pain for the time being. Louie's shoulder was definitely injured, however even when bleeding he held his weapon and stared on with rose colored lenses.

Something had bothered him sense arriving here at Nova. Something he had heard ever sense the Gallows when Moca-choka was being put to death. A nasty rumor he had heard a while back from a group of men who had heard it from another man that had worked in the castle. Something he had had to find out for himself while he was so close! The haze around him and butterflies was almost like an inviting welcome. So with no more hesitation Louie suddenly burst into a sprint and with a marching style run, he closed the gap between himself and the King.

" NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA Ratman…"

With the other two here to help, Lilith was indeed protected. Which meant he realllllly didn't have to start protecting her until the situation got bad? right? Or at least thats what he thought as he charged and fell to his hip to another running slide.. " Noku! There's something thats been bugging me!! " He yelled out throwing his fist up. " Dick Punch! " He yelled out while throwing a punch up at his groin all while managing to slide between the Kings legs as he was preoccupied with the enemy.

[Noku Noru]

Noku's course of action came to an irrupt end; His body went numb and a familiar haze filled his field of vision. The scent of blood, mingled with the stench of the dead, eliciting a animalistic anger and his wrath turned to malice. A tingling sensation at his finger tips, accompanied by a burning, throbbing sensation emanating from his groin; His pupils dilated, his legs failing him, dropping him to his knees, eye level to his assailant. He stared directly at Louie, his eyes rolled back into his head closing his eyelids and upon opening them the whites of his eyes showed black. A hissing sound escaped with a long exhale, and his gripped tightened on his sword hilt.

Rising, he grasped the mercenary by his collar and tossed him directly into the horde of undead to his left. A piercing wail something between a shriek and a shout broke the clammer of all the clashing bodies and shouts of war, ringing with a potent echo that seemed a multitude of voices each at a different tone. The king assumed a horse stance, an unfitted a clasp at the hilt of his blade, drawing it apart to reveal two identical blades linked by a thin, glittering chain. It's color appearing to be purist silver, but through out many colors wherever the light fell.

He raised the twin bastard swords above his head opening his grip and allowing the chain to slide down his hands each blade dangling approximately two feet. The tip of each blade just breaking the ground. Noku bolted, with startling swiftness, wiping each of the blades up and around his body in a helix pattern as he charged along side the outer wall towards the southern gate.

The tingling at his finger tips escalated to a burning and pulsing sensation that now reached to his elbows. Underneath his armor, overlapping scales of deep ebony metal burst forth from Noku's flesh rapidly moving towards his chest. His golden irises thickened edging outwards into luminous halos within the black voids of his eyes. His flesh below his sternum began to shift and separate, exposing his ribs. Those watching him from ground and the top of the wall stared on in confusion and horror at the sudden change in the king's behavior. As the gleaming blades darted around his body, the limbs and viscera of the undead began to spin outward in every direction falling everywhere with abundant sloshing.

[Deleted]

Lilith was keeping her own fairly well, hitting every beast that came towards her, and was managing to keep them at bay for the time being. She knew that with time her stamina would wear down and she would be in trouble. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was glad the King had ordered Louie and Finn to protect her if they could. She knew she would end up needing it. While she bashed the undead down with the head of her scythe, the vine attached to it made her that the ones coming up behind her, or beside her, would not get to close, lashing out and slashing them back until she could get them herself. Every few minutes she cast her EverGreen spell again, causing the undead to walk aimlessly around her, seeing only green forest views, making them easier to bring down. She was just casting this spell again, as it only lasted 5 minutes, when a figure landed in front of her, taking down a small hoard of the undead with it. It scared the living crap out of her, causing her to jump into the hands of one of them behind her. She thrashed around, finishing her spell under her breath and kicked it until it dropped her, confused. She swung out her weapon from the ground and knocked its knees out, finishing it by bashing it's head in. She looked back at the figure, seeing it was Sima. He was too close to her! He could be impacted by her EverGreen spell, and unable to see anything by forest for 5 minutes. Sima, you need to get out of here!!! You aren't safe! She never thought she would be the one protecting him, but she grabbed him, steering him away, letting the vine push the undead away. Go straight, use your senses. Please, get out of here. Someone get him out of here, he's disabled for the moment! She called out hoping he wouldn't be too mad at her. The spell would wear off soon, and he would be able to help again.

During all of this, Lilith hadn't seen Louie run past her, straight for the King. She had been too busy fighting them off and pushing Sima out of the fight, but as she turned back, she caught the tail end of Louie's dick punch, and her purple eyes widened significantly. What was he doing? Louie!! It's not him you're supposed to be fighting!! She thrashed her weapon out again, sweating at this point, becoming more weak with every minute that went by. Lilith was just stunned that he would purposely attack the wrong person, having no clue about the curse he had just triggered. When she saw Louie go flying, her eyes got even bigger, the King thrashing around, no longer himself. By the Gods... Caught off guard and stunned by the King's transformation, Lilith was grabbed by one of the creatures, and she dropped her weapon in the process. She let out a shrill scream and thrashed around, but the grip was tight and soon broke her left arm. This wasn't good. The King was off the rails and she couldn't get a good enough grip on the thing to get out of it. Pain shot through her entire body, and she could barely move. Her healing magic couldn't work fast enough on a broken bone. Her vision was blurry, but she could see an increase in the creatures in the distance, causing shivers to go through her, fear her strongest emotion.

[Deleted]

Hearing that the undead had focused in the south east, Diamond went ahead of his boss Melda. As he did though, there was something that did set him off. And went to the more eastern area and something was making his blood boil. As soon as he got there though from the ramparts of the wall. He spots a demon of a man going into a rage and something was off. While looking down he sees an elven woman get mobbed by the zombies. The white haired daredevil kept running and then jumps off the wall landing on several zombies making a rather large impact. Diamond had used a bit of wind magic to decrease his velocity a bit so he did not break any bones. As he landed though, the mercenary charged forth bashing through several zombies like a bull. While charging forth he sees Lilith's dropped scythe. He uses his foot to kick it up and grabs it into his hands and then starts swinging the pole arm in a wide sweep slicing all of the zombies around him in half. Then moves in and then taps into the earth gem on the scythe and commanded the vine to strike out. He used the earth gem and altered the crystal to make the thorns into sharpend blades then simple thorns. The vine snaked out and struck with perssion and sliced the zombies up without harming Lilith. He then moves swiftly over to her.

"Lilith stay with me here...." he said coming over to her side and letting the sharpend vine carve up any zombie that came close. He tried to shake the elven woman gently back into reality. "HEY YOU GUYS GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE NOW, SOLDIER DOWN. I REPEAT SOLDIER DOWN" he yelled to a few soldiers. A few armored soldiers heard Diamond's yell and would be over soon. As they sliced and bashed through several zombies to try and get to the two of them.

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Astra didn't want to move too far as she had drawn her focusing circle where she was so instead she focused on area of effect spells. Launching more exploding fireballs into the hoard of undead and when they came in too close or were pushing her few remaining soldiers back she would call up a spinning wall of fire to burn them away and push them back.

Being careful not to burn her guards or the other's that were fighting out there with her, she hadn't noticed the elvish woman fall but when Diamond called out for them to get over there she knew help was needed. Though this kind of combat was draining for her she had to keep going and there was no time like the present to move to the aid of the downed woman. Her whip lashed out and cut through the undead in her path and she was learning that taking apart the heads to keep them down.

As she neared the two of them she pulled up a wall of flames and set it spinning around them to push the undead back. "How bad is she?" she asks Diamond since she had a way to heal the woman but wasn't sure if she should use it yet. "I may be able to help her but it is a one time use thing for me so it needs to be used wisely." She was looking around the battle field and Noku was like an avatar of death and rage which scared her a bit more than she would ever admit to. Her whip would lash out here and there to take out any of the undead that made it through the wall of flames she was keeping up still.

[Noku Noru]

The two glimmering bands of steel fell on either side of Noku as he bounded through the undead hordes, his stride pounding and tearing the earth, audible amidst the clamour of battle. The elegant suit of armor returned the last few rays of the sun as twilight's warm tones crept across the landscape, imparting the appearance of phantom flames leaping erratically from the king as he strode.

Beneath his gleaming exterior, the last vestiges of humanity were evaporating from his appearance. Large sheets of dark, overlapping metal replaced the flesh above and below his torso-now a fetid, rotting cavity with a few stray strands of decomposing viscera lining the ribs. Noku's canines elongated into fangs, and his eyes burned an ethereal ruby over brilliant halos of gold irises. The foul reanimated broke like reeds in his wake, parting like soil before the plow as another volley from inside the walls thinned the horde's advance. The Guards on top of the wall watched in horror and awe as they witness the slaughter, their mouths gaped, unsure of what they were seeing before their very eyes.

Noku's mind had begun to slip from the first moment of pain, and now his world was oblivion and agony. The initial wave crescendoed into a searing full-body experience as his transformation completed, cutting his final tethers to sanity. He charged ahead, vaguely aware of the foul stench around him and the rage it fueled. All before him was a blur further impeded by the helm, a true fog of war. Something he had not experienced yet within this cursed form. The sensation overwhelming and intense for him to focus on who was friend or the enemy.

As he approached the southern gate, his blind fury broke into a moment of clarity at the passing of a great shadow and piercing cry; a drake's wingbeat sounded above the din, drawing Noku's attention long enough to halt his rampage. He gazed skyward at the winged serpentine forms descending on the battle, forming a confused opinion of the development. His only response was an ear-splitting shout, as if to say "what fresh hell is this?!" In Noku's altered state, it was pronounced "HEEAAAAAAUUGGHHH!!!!!" in a resinating demonic screech. The undead were beginning to surround the king taking advantage of his distracted state.

Only to be scattered by the diving drakes that would swoop down onto the battle field; their arial skills no match as the winged beast riders tore through the sky and around the outer gates to give support to the on coming hordes. Their razor sharp claws cutting through the undead soldiers with ease with each calculated assaulting dive and sweep. Their aid much needed, however one rider's had made a grave mistake by flying in too close to Noku to help protect the 'Novian' fighter. The drake hovering over head taking a few undead men out with a stroke of it's armored tail. Success for the time being, until the king took hold of the drake's tail after a third and final sweep. The creature becoming alarmed and hysterical; it's cries of destress could be heard over the sounds of battle. Noku had a hold of the drake's tail and the cursed king tightened his grip, his grasp crushing the iron into the beasts flesh.

Another squeal from the dragon and the Palico rider began panic; The soldier quickly struggling to unharness himself to at least be free. However, Mylee was obviously not smiling down upon these poor saps. With a flick of Noku's wrist, the dragon was brought down to the ground with a harsh jerk and brutal crash. The creature now visibly in pain as it whimpered and squealed when Noku grabbed onto it's tail with both hands and then began to spin it around on his heels. The soldier and the drake going in circles around Noku for a moment while dust, debris and corpse body parts flew around Noku in a clouded ring. That was until he loosened his grip with a devilish grin. The Drake and the soldier flung mercilessly into the air before crashing with bone shattering force into the side of the outer wall.

The cursed king now standing in the middle of a ring of severed corpses; The first time he had stopped sense his transformation.