My focus narrowed.
No more time for side thoughts about system missions and plot.
There was a fight ahead.
I hovered silently in a spot non-visible from the boss room while giving out last-minute instructions.
'Light. Finish memories later. You're on field-of-perception duty. Dark. The minute we engage, I'll probably be switching in between forms quickly, not the cat one (since we haven't tried it yet) but I'm expecting the human and owl to be as quick as you can get it. Understood? Blank. You're on defense and split-duty with me for dodge. I'll be taking point. Agreed?'
{}
'Let's make this quick hn? Operation: Ice Fang, bon voyage~'
I didn't linger after that. After all, I still had things to do after this fight.
----
Player Ace's Live Broadcast:
[Player Code: Ace > Broadcast Status: Live > Viewer Count: 444↑+]
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[LIVE+Ace Mix-POV: .......]
A white-gray blur shot through the air. Silent as a drifting feather but ultimately unnecessarily so. For its arrival herald mayhem.
[Yule] almost seemed to teleport to the position above a wolf, unluckily cowering against the rooms' sidewall (right side), closest to the entrance.
King and Blank had no need to scan their surroundings for the positions and number of enemies. Not when Light was on top of it.
[Player entering [Elite-Miniboss] arena
{First reporting environment. Oval-ish room shape. Medium-small size. Estimate 3 seconds flight (top speed) side-side, 5, top-top. Room height, sufficient for flight. Our entrance at 'bottom' of oval. No other entrance-exits. Mostly flat ground and smooth walls. No major hazards noticed. Stand out items: a nest of bones at 'top'/back of oval, a (surprisingly complete) human corpse entombed in the ice floor, (on second thought) the floor is partially ice and unnaturally clear with a reflective purplish tint. Now reporting targets-}
While getting Light's report- blood was already spilling.
Soft *thwumps* of fluffy wings hid sharp claws as talons extended out to a wolf's shocked face.
Owls have eight talons, four for each leg; for prey, even large prey, suddenly having eight needle-knives peircing and ripping through you would be painful, not even mentioning that several of those talons were digging through soft eyes and dangerously close to brain matter.
Claws raked forward, as far as they could go, down and, only then, back.
There was a few miliseconds of stillness. Then.
[Player combat damage detected.]
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[Player critical piercing+slash damage dealt to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Health: -80".]
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[Crit damage effect detected | Source: Grievious (+debilitating) injury.]
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[Player inflicted status "Sightless" to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Effect: Blindness, eyes are unusable henceforth".]
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[Player inflicted status "Red River" to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Effect: Hemorrhage, -5 health per second".]
The still air of the room was again disturbed as a winged form retreated from a truly spectacular splash of blood, talons still carrying shredded flesh dripping from them.
Leaving only the tragic sound of pained screaming from its dying prey behind it.
{-initially 5 percieved targets. One now nonfunctional. Expected to be a non-issue until end of fight. Present active targets now at 4. Suspected "boss" unit percieved to be positioned at "top"/back of oval. Suspected unit now tagged "high priority" perception/risk target, suggested to avoid engaging until most other targets have been dealt with. Other targets, now tagged "prey", found to be clustered together on opposite wall. Prey seem to be attempting to move in the direction of the high priority target. Immediate action to intercept reccomended.}
We'd already been moving before Light had finished.
The thought had hardly needed to be formed for Dark to act in perfect unison with our movements.
As a ruffled feather fell, where an owl had been hovering in the air, there was only a teen, hands moving quickly, yet steadily, to catch and weigh a magically appearing deck of cards even as he "fell" down.
From [Ace's] first entering of the room to this exact moment, though much seemed to have happen, only 7-or-so seconds had passed; 2 for the dive [Yule] had entered as soon as they had spotted and chosen their target, 3 for the time between their talons sinking in and their disengagement, 2 now for them flying towards an unoccupied portion of the room to transform at (which non-accidentaly happened to be in front of the room's only exit).
{Warning. High priority target now also attempting to regroup with prey.}
Though we disliked using untested products in a fight ('-an oversight'), "desperate times call for desperate measures" and all that.
One hand holding the deck and one singling out a card to fake flick- once, twice- 'good feel-', take aim, {Blank, incoming.}
Blank got ready to deal with one of the prey that had split from the group in attempt to distract(?) us.
While I first killed two birds with one stone, 'heh-', by throwing a card at the "boss", ignoring it afterwards because it either got heavily injured (I had aimed at the eyes) or was forced off the shortest path to regroup with its packmates.
At this point the "distraction" was within pouncing distance so I had to deal with that first.
While it would be fun to watch Blank dance circles around the free-loot while getting kicks in, here and there-
-I also have no wish to fight an actual 4v1 instead of the current, much easier, successive 1v1s.
Random aside-
Science Factoid: Range weapons, especially throwing ones, tend to work best as mid range. Too close and there's not enough time for acceleration to work on that thrown/ammo mass. Too far and, again, not enough acceleration as air resistance and other forces slow down that thrown/ammo mass.
Review Question: Know what will fix that issue right up?
Answer: If the thrown/ammo mass is "sharp" enough, or the target "soft" enough, or- or- with enough initial force, it can work just as well with less acceleration as it would with more acceleration. Example: Does it matter if a sharp knife or needle go fast or slow through a piece of paper when pushed by a hydrolic press?
So I wasn't really that shocked when a card thrown point blank- like a meter-and-a-half(?)- non-metaphorically "split it (the prey) in two", down the middle style.
[Player combat damage detected.]
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[Player range weapon, "End", critical damage dealt to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Health: -70".]
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[Crit damage multiplier detected | Source: Compound causes (ex: damage location, attack distance, +4 more).]
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[Crit damage multiplier causes player range weapon damage dealt to enemy, "Snow Wolf", x2 | "Effect: -70*2 = -140 Health".]
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[Detected cumulative damage above enemy's, "Snow Wolf", max health | "Effect:
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[Enemy, "Snow Wolf",
Though not being "that" shocked does not equate to no shock, so I'll forgive the half a second it took me to react to the explosion (only mildly exaggerating) of blood and gore that followed that- uh- "situation".
Thankfully(?), the cards aren't big enough to completely cut the wolf into two sections so at least the mess was all in one place instead of being flung around everywhere (trust me I've seen the second scenario, it's not a fun time).
[Enemy, "Snow Wolf",
That must be that unlucky 1st wolf.
Unfortunately, that doesn't help me much, the "distraction" actually did its job pretty well. I had to deal with it and now...
'Light.'
{Reporting. Sadly, you are correct King. The remaining 2 preys have regrouped with the high priority target and seem to be readying to attack us.}
'Hn. Dark. Get ready.'
This is the part I hadn't looked forward to. I had been hoping that there were few enough wolves that we could single out and quickly cull them to prevent one of these exact scenarios.
The inner den had now been filled with the scent of metallic blood. Even the crisp cold air created by the ice's low temperature couldn't mask it.
That purplish glow emanating from the icy floor (and minutely from the walls) creeped deeper and deeper purple. There was no telling what would happen when the color reached full saturation.
The wolves had also seemed to change with the color's saturation. Especially the "boss". Whose ghost-white fur had now taken on a wispy quality that, when combined with the darkening reddish-purple tint of its' claws and what could be seen of its' teeth, fortold very annoying things.
'Boss is likely moving to 2nd stage. Light, secondary-task, Bestiary percentage. Blank. Combat priority, dogde-first, damage-second. Enemy likely has venom. Engaging prey first. 3- 2- go-'
[Ace] didn't just wait around for the boss to transform. Instead, throwing out several cards at once in attempt to both interrupt the boss and split one of its minions away from the group.
Sadly, this boss' 2nd stage transformation couldn't be interrupted.
Howling echoed. The den seeming to almost shake with it. The floor's purple glow now pulsing with a deathly sense of malice.
[Arena Activation Trigger: Reached.]
|
[
Snapping of teeth and snarling came after the howling ended, covering up pitiful whimpers of pain.
[Ace's] previous action having been partially successful, as the boss and one of the minions charged zir while the third was forced to hang back as a card had clipped its flank.
[Player combat damage detected.]
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[Player range weapon, "End", damage dealt to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Health: -30".]
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[Player weapon, "End", inflicted status "Ruby Red" to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Effect: Bleeding, -1 health per second".]
This seeming to have enraged the remaining two even further.
[Ace] was prepared for this. Throwing themself back (also taking the chance to stuff the "End" back into storage), the boss' claws inches from their face, a thought was all that was needed before *crick-a-crackle* an owl once again soared above snarling wolves.
Knowing that it couldn't finish off the injured minion without the two healthy wolves bothering it, [Yule] decided that it was time to finally fight the fight as it was probably intended (-not really).
1v2, hunter-owl versus wolf-boss+minion(s) is a-go.
{Whatever toxins those wolves have. Boss definitely has the upgraded version. From look and feel alone, one cut from those claws and we're going to have a bad time. And be careful with the eyes, it probably has +1 to that fear ability as well. I can feel the room's purple-thingy boosting it somehow. It's moving faster than it was at the beginning.}
Taking the hint for what it was, [Yule] finally decided on a hit-and-run kinda strategy.
Ze would need to be fast.
From the boss' speed and jump distance when trying to attack zir, it definitely has more
On the other hand, if he attacked the boss, hits could be turned into swings and he trusted Light and Blank to both see and dodge those swings.
Not mentioning that Light would kill it if it ignored their warning and got poisoned (*cough-[C6]-cough-again-cough*).
'Boss-first it is.'
Flying back to create distance for what they had planned next and knowing that the boss would be the quicker of the two enemies to reach them, [Yule's] muscles tensed in anticipation.
Owls couldn't "smile" the way humans did but [Yule's] narrowed eyes and slightly opened beak was the closest equivalent.
This next bit would probably be the most dangerous part of this operation.
'Dark. 2-s. Blank. Ready.'
An old memory came to mind, right before zir's body tilted down into dive position, then.
A long time ago (-[C1?]), someone important had told zir, "If I hadn't known that your bloodlust comes from the same place that you hold all that anger at injustice and rightous retribution at bay, I'd pegged you an adreneline junkie Apprentice-Mine."
Its' Shifu would probably berate it about backup and unnecessary combat engagements against unknowns if he were here. Hyprocrite that he was.
It was with that heartening thought that [Yule] crashed into his target with.
[Yule] had made sure that he dived at an angle where his beak and body would be hitting the boss' neck and side instead of the more dangerous but tantilizing target of its' eyes.
There was a muffled *thump-squelch* as beak pierced flesh and feathered body crashed into furred.
[Player combat damage detected.]
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[Player melee damage dealt to enemy, "Frost Wolf Leader" | "Health: -20".]
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[Player blunt damage dealt to enemy, "Frost Wolf Leader" | "Health: -10".]
Feathers that were then instantly replaced by skin as [Yule] once again transformed into [Ace].
Knowing that the minion was gonna be on zir sooner rather than later, [Ace] took advantage of the fact that zir's tranformation had thrown the boss off balance to fully knock the thing over.
Soft belly now exposed, [Ace] gave one last signal and-
-[Yule's] claws fell down where [Ace] knew the heart of most wolves rested just underneath the surface.
It didn't matter that there would be bones protecting it, not when [Yule] knew how to maximize the lethality of neddle-like talons to get in between the gaps of those bones and target the parts of the heart that were most crucial to life.
[Player combat damage detected.]
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[Player critical piercing damage dealt to enemy, "Frost Wolf Leader" | "Health: -80".]
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[Crit damage multiplier detected | Source: Compounded causes (ex: damage location, residual damage, +6 more).]
|
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
[Crit causes player piercing damage dealt to enemy, "Frost Wolf Leader", x2 | "Effect: -80*2 = -160 Health".]
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[Player inflicted status "Heartbreak" to enemy, "Frost Wolf Leader" | "Effect: Slow cardiac arrest, death within 4 minutes".]
{
Seemed "sooner" was now.
Since the minion was jumping towards them, teeth first, and they needed to go.
Those blueish-white teeth came uncomfortably close to his right wing, managing to snag one of his primaries (and getting saliva all over the tip of a second) before he could get away.
[Player combat damage detected.]
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[Player melee damage recieved from enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Health: -1".]
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[Player (Form: Yule) | "Health: 79/80".]
'Ow. At least it wasn't a tail feather- but- ow.'
It wasn't as smooth a flight as zir's previous performances. But getting out of jumping range was nice, since that pretty much spelled the end of the fight.
Taking a look at the boss-
-yep, boss' not looking so good.
Still alive. Probably not for much longer though.
Unlike the first 2 minions he had taken down, the boss' death will be clean, the thing to kill it won't even be bloodlost.
The thing that it needs to worry about will be how to get its' blood to still flow when its' heart stops working in a few minutes.
'Let's see- Light?'
{Most enemies neutralized. Out of 5 starting combatants, #1 and #2 have died (1 bleed out), 3 is now trying to hobble over to its companions, 4 is helplessly making noise at us from the ground, and the boss will be dead soon.}
'K. Clean up time then? (...) ^v^'
{/
Mentally sighing at my plans to avoid the clean up falling through, I begrudgingly waited until the boss had no more strength to try and defend its' packmates to handle the remaining minions before I could annoy the others into dealing with the rest.
I don't have much to say about dealing with the remaining two.
At that point, they were only putting in a token effort and I quickly put them out of their misery with straightforward card throws through the head as [Ace].
[Player combat damage detected.] x2
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[Player range weapon, "End", critical damage dealt to enemy, "Snow Wolf" | "Health: -65".] x2
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[Crit damage multiplier detected | Source: Compound causes (ex: damage location, weapon sharpness, +3 more).] x2
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[Crit damage multiplier causes player range weapon damage dealt to enemy, "Snow Wolf", x2 | "Effect: -65*2 = -130 Health".] x2
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[Detected cumulative damage above enemy's, "Snow Wolf", max health | "Effect:
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[Enemy, "Snow Wolf",
All minions having been neutralized, the only thing left to deal with was the boss that was on death's door.
'Light. Bestiary?'
{Was doing it in the background, here.}
[Bestiary:
Monster Type > Beast > Wolf > Frost Wolf Leader (2/2)
Element(s): Frost/Yin
Strength(s): Stealth/ Speed > Ambush/Tracking/Element
Specialization(s): Rogue (Major) | Frost Element (Minor) > Frost Mage Assassin (Major) | ???
Stat Block (Avg):
Health: ?/190+ | Soul: ?/? | SAN: ?/?
Physical:
STR [?|?] : CON [19+|?] : DEX [19+|?]
Mental:
INT [?|?] : WIS [?|?] : CHR [?|?]
Metaphysical:
SPR [?|?] : WIL [?|? : LCK [?|?]
Total: [?|?]
→ Note: As the subject also experiences a x1.5 grade bonus from being a [Miniboss] of an [Uncommon Journey].
Total Stats (w/out bonus):
Health: ?/130+ | Soul: ?/? | SAN: ?/?
Physical:
STR [?|?] : CON [13+|?] : DEX [13+|?]
Mental:
INT [?|?] : WIS [?|?] : CHR [?|?]
Metaphysical:
SPR [?|?] : WIL [?|? : LCK [?|?]
Total: [?|?]
→ Note: Average stats for B+ creatures (not accounting grade bonus) being a “10”.
Trait(s):
→ Snow Cloak (Passive) - Snow element cloaks the user's form, masking the user's scent, steps, and general presence.
→ Vengeful Wraith (Passive) - Yin qi flows through the user, it will guide you to all things living here, on this cursed soil.
→ Century Frozen Yin (Passive) - Concentrated Frost-Yin venom infects anything the user has bitten or scratched. Antidote: ?? | Unknown.
→ Berserk (Active) - User actively manipulates the resentment and yin qi within, and around, them with their
???
→ Note: Traits do not have "grades" nor "levels".
Details - Snow-ghost white fur that (when berserk/boosted) has a whispy mist-like effect, claws and teeth made of century old ice + yin toxin, leader, pack hunter, ??.
Monster Rating: B+ (Elite)
Final Classification: ??
Completion % → 40% (+45% = 85% (Cumulative))
→ Note: Due to an inherent characteristic, this monster's
'...Sooo...here's the thing-'
{/
'It's not stupid if I have contingencies in place! >:C'
/Then that's just called willful stupidity, Little Lord.\
Huffing at the snark of my own incarnations and deciding to be the mature one for a change, I stopped the back and forth jabs there.
I was on a short time limit anyways.
All banter aside. My incarnations and I all understood, and were 100% onboard with, my next plan.
After all, we hadn't planned a full on OP just to fall short of 1, out of only 2, objectives. Especially when we were this close to the finish line.
That being said. We weren't actually stupid nor careless, so I made sure that we the farthest distance we could be from the boss while still staying in steady eye contact range, a plenty safe 5-ish meters.
And no need to worry about the boss fighting us on this either, the poor thing is glaring bloody murder at us at the moment, even though it couldn't even lift its' head, probably hoping that it had lazer eyes instead of whatever eye-related ability it actually has.
We felt a speck of respect at that. We've always admired the fighters, survivors, those with the same stubborn will to live if only to spite their, oftentimes cruel, fates.
Hopefully whatever that artifact of ours create will have even a fraction of that will.
Now in position, eyes resting on the ground just beside the boss' head, it was time.
'Alright. Get ready to intercept with memories if needed. Boss' ability might still be boosted by the field effect. 3- 2- 1-'
The first thing that I felt when I finally met pale purple-blue eyes, the same color that had been illuminating the icy den before blood had spilled upon it and corrupted it, was a weak feeling of forced focus and aesthetic wonder at their beauty that tried to overtake me.
'Yea mate. Ya have to do better than that.'
[Player experiencing passive debuffing trait requiring
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[Trait
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[Trait
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[Stat check commencing... Player (Ace)'s
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[
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[Ignoring similar checks henceforth.]
Almost as if it heard my thoughts...and took it as a challenge. Immediately afterwards, its' eyes rippled and glowed with that purple-red energy and-
[Player experiencing active debuffing trait requiring
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[Trait
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[Trait
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[Stat check commencing... Player (Ace)'s
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[
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[Enemy, "Frost Wolf Leader", inflicted status "Beautiful Fear" to player, "Ace" | "Effect: Heightened emotional fear and 1st-person, all-senses simulating, hallucinations, +60 seconds".]
'...'
I just have to say, this-
"Let's all try and use [L̷͎̇o̴̘͠s̶̤̑ṯ̴̾'s] greatest fears against him! It'll definitely work! He has lifetimes of trauma bundled in him! Surely one careless poke and he'll shatter into a million easy-to-kill-and-or-use pieces!"
-"thing", is really- really- excruciatingly- aggravating.
Like yes. I'm so happy that you have some critical thinking skills there but have you thought about using some of those "skills" to think on why I, a fucking Psi Master in at least 3 different ways, would leave such an easily abusable weakness just out there for people to poke and prode at?
All to say, this 3D movie of [S̷͎͆i̸̢̇n̸͔̅] being tortured is really detailed! 8/10 horror movie visuals! They even got the character motivations down pretty well! [S̷͎͆i̸̢̇n̸͔̅] would 100% let himself be tortured if it meant his brother or I would be alive and safe.
Sadly.
The body double you have there doesn't really work for me.
See, my lovely Lord and I had planned for this! Look!
There's his [███████ Scale] now! Pulsing in that lulling rhymth he does to make me do whatever he asked last [Cycle].
Deep breaths. I need to start on a breathing pattern but I can't feel my lungs, or my chest, or this body to be honest.
Dissociation's a bitch as always.
I can't tell time when I'm like this. So I don't know how long it took. But- eventually.
'Higher end stage 2. Might need dual-mode, a bit.'
'Fingers? (...) Cold? (...) Oh.'
Getting feeling back in the limbs is always the weirdest part.
A self-concious tilt of the lips was all I could muster, so soon after, but I still tried.
'Thank you, Fae-Mine.'
A sideways hugged was ze's only response as I was teleported to our lounge in Alexandria proper.
Dropped gently on the designated "cuddles-couch" with its fluffy but non-overstimulating blankets and bundled into a firm chest, I was reminded once again that I truly had spent all my luck on these moments of love, of safety, of trust, and warmth, and family- most of all.
Quiet whispers were shared over my head.
If I had the thought for it, I would scold them for how obvious they were being about slowly waking one of my senses at a time but the warm bubble created by Dark's naturally high demon-dragon temperatures, the blankets, and Alexandria's familiar smells left little room for such thoughts.
Little by little, I settled back to myself again.
Though I could my incarnations' need to check me over and keep me still for a while longer, we had been in the middle of something before my little "unfortunate situation".
Still, knowing that I wouldn't be fully functional for a bit, I made good on my previous statement and asked one of my incarnations to dual-wheel with me for a while.
The three glanced between themselves a few times, Blank and Dark seeming to reach an agreement with a meaningful look before wordlessly pushing out Light to do the job they were initially made for.
'News while I was out?'
/Ah. About that- Little Lord. Uh- Light. How about you just show him?\
An eyebrow raised from those concerning words and uncharacteristically sheepish tone, I waited for Light to create a memory-screen showing whatever had happened while I was out.
Usually we would just share missed memories through our mental connection but memory-screens are also used if the one piloting the body at the time doesn't want others having to experienced whatever they missed (usually pain, annoyance, bad-things in general).
It quickly became obvious why a memory-screen was used in this case, as I watched a first person view of the boss' eyes flashing in satisfaction at catching me with its' ability, before its' death spasms and subsequent- fucking- explosion of whatever energy it had clearly been using to fuel itself with.
I thanked The Fool that our body wasn't actually pilotless while I was out, as the screen showed our body transforming into [Yule] and getting the hell out of dodge of whatever that energy wave would do.
However, its' dead packmates weren't as lucky, as the wave crashed into them and insta-freezed them in a process similar to nucleation in supercooled water except this was happening to flesh and-
'-Ewww, flesh-snow. Never thought I'd see something like that again after [C2]. Ew- man, just, ew.'
The memory eventually ended at [Yule] deciding to land on the (finally) dead boss' body since that was the only place that wasn't frozen over and covered in "flesh-snow".
A beat of silence as I processed.
'Well then. This [Cycle's] off to an "explosive" start eh?'