Agazuul sent forth his green flame skulls, destroying some of the skeletons between him and the south-western door. The rest he took care of with fire’s fury. The room before him seemed quite strange, there was no floor or ceiling to speak of; there was one stone path that led to an open temple structure with a ginormous gorgahldium cauldron atop it and weapon racks surrounding it, everything else was a deep purple with eddies of lilac and lavender. Agazuul took the leap and found himself walking on that stone path as he looked back as if he was standing on a wall. The cauldron brimmed with a malevolent green light and bones were given animation crawling their way out of the cauldron a dozen at a time grabbing weapons of the racks. What do the other rooms hold, Agazuul wondered and could not deny his awe at this sight. Agazuul rushed forwards as arrows flew his way. Drawing his blade over his arm he reached out towards the temple; the blood formed a swirling pool there standing against a pillar. As the skeletons closed in he drew out more of the blood crafting a second portal just before him. One moment he was running along a stone path the other he stood at the temple. He quickly took the temple portal and sent it over into the endless energy that surrounded this space, sending the skeletons who had given him chase out into the void; falling endlessly. I’ve never tried to make a portal this big, Agazuul thought as he inspected the cauldron. He cut back into his arm pooling blood around him. He drew eagerly upon it swirling it underneath the cauldron bigger and bigger but it wasn’t enough. Agazuul remembered the teachings of Ludwig.
“Any person can lose up to 14% of their blood without any hamperance to their ability. This is what every Sanguinator should consider their limit. You can push yourself further but it will debilitate you; nausea, increase in heart rate and respiratory rate. There will be anxiousness and uneasiness which can cause you to act irrational and even forfeit the advantage you bought yourself with blood. You can already lose consciousness when losing 20% of your blood. You should never exceed the threshold of 30%. There are some who have crossed this threshold and survived but those are few and far between. At this stage you’ll be confused and disoriented, your breathing will be rapid and shallow. When we’re talking of over 40% there is no coming back from a mission on your own, if you have a good team around you they can care for you and give you a chance but you have a chance of organ failure and most likely you’ll slip into a coma.”
Right now I’m already past the first threshold, to make this work I’ll have to flirt with the edge of the second, Agazuul steeled himself for the task ahead. He drew upon the blood drawing the portal wider and wider with a groan and screech of metal on stone, the cauldron tipped into the great purple void scattering hundreds of skeletons. One down. Agazuul thought to himself taking steps back towards the door, his knees buckled and he nearly fell with a grunt of effort he righted himself trying to draw the blood back into his body. His momentary loss of focus caused him to lose the blood drawn over the void.
As some of the blood reentered his circulation he immediately felt a lot better, but he only had so much to give. Agazuul jumped out and he found himself righted before he hit the floor of the throne room. The western and eastern pillar had fallen, blue and pink liquid spilled across the floor, black wrought-iron cauldrons of great size lay there dented remnants of the liquid remaining. In the east lay Death&Demise their body buried under the rubble of the pillar, Lixiss had become thrice her size currently engaged with Scortas, his acid sword biting into the stone where they battled. Kordaminak seemed still in heavy battle with wrath made flesh and the remaining few skeletons that Lixiss hadn’t cleared already kept putting arrows in him. Agazuul sent forth a few more green fire skulls to seek out some skeletons before dashing over the south-eastern door. Agazuul could hear the slam of the south western door–the threat he had stopped as the door in the southeast became visibly larger before his very eyes. Out came a skeleton as large as Lixiss wielding a scythe that matched its size, its eyes blazing with a green light. Screeching black specters came from the western door and made their way to Lixiss as from the northeastern door came flying skeleton heads wreathed in flame spewing flame towards Kordaminak. Agazuul knew he had to work quickly lest his only two remaining allies in this fight be taken out. Another glance at Lixiss from a different angle revealed a story to Agazuul that of a fight nearly gone awry and of divine healing; a tear in flesh still visible on her right cheek. Agazuul focused on the fire within that primeval power within. Gouts of flame exited through the wounds he’d made for his blood magic, his pores seemed like fumaroles. A sort of mist started to form around him, his hair started to crackle, his eyes shifted between yellow, orange and red like fire breathing. His blade without needing blood magic turned a bright white, Agazuul could hear liquid bubbling above him as the aura of fire’s fury extended itself. The giant skeleton swung its scythe towards Agazuul. Agazuul drew two quick circles, one in front of him and focusing his mind on the bubbling liquid for the other as he slid underneath the scythe. He stood above the creature now on a platform that held a cauldron, the liquid had turned to a column of black smoke trying to find gaps in the ceiling. Agazuul set his back against the cauldron legs against the pillar and pushed with his legs. The cauldron was sent crashing down, Agazuul could hear Scortas shouting;
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“No!” in unfiltered undeniable frustration. One more toy taken from the Duke. Agazuul thought to himself before jumping from the platform following the descent of the cauldron which had neatly fallen on the giant skeleton's head disorienting it. Fire’s fury was brought into the skull on the giant cutting through the cauldron with ease, the metal touched by fire’s fury almost instantaneously melted and as Agazuul gracefully pushed away to backflip off the giant molded itself around the skull. The door behind him slammed shut. That’s south done. Agazuul thought as he made a quick plan of action. He moved his now fiery circles one right in front of him and the other at the halfmoon pool, his heat turned the pool water to mist. Scortas turned around to meet him just as the specters had begun attacking Lixiss. Her blade struck true but there were a lot of specters. Agazuul would have to buy her more time than just a simple distraction.
“Ah fire and brimstone how lovely of you to remind me of home!” Scortas said.
“You SHOULDN’T have!” He roared as he struck out with sempiternal agony. Agazuul blocked the first hit with grace but the second struck him. The acid would’ve bit through any other man’s bones in mere seconds but Agazuul's flaming form turned the acid to vapor before too much harm could be done. Agazuul switched to a one handed hold and used the free hand to pull the fiery circle of where he came from quickly towards Scortas as it approached he threw the other circle towards Kordaminak. Scortas nimbly dodged the approaching circle without ever needing to look back.
“You think you’d get me so easily?” Scortas said scornfully.
“I just did.” Agazuul answered as the portal passed through him. Maces crashed against a blade wrought in orange flame. While wrath made flesh’s skin turned two shades lighter by fire’s fury. Kordaminak’s skin remained a pure black as Agazuul passed him by. While he gave little indication of it the fiery flying skulls pestered Kordaminak. His swings were unnecessarily wide in a desperate attempt to destroy a few, leaving him wide open for a counterattack by wrath made flesh. Agazuul used the reacquired portal flames to create wings instead and soared towards the skulls; they were quick and surprisingly nimble. Carl’s burgundy blasts were capable of pushing things away, Agazuul never much saw the point in that. His green skulls could draw things towards him, he quickly unleashed a trio whose bone rattling screeches pushed the flying skulls towards fire’s fury. The northeastern door slammed shut quickly followed by the western door. The eastern door opened; shambling zombies pouring out by the dozens, but Agazuul needed only to approach fire’s fury’s aura melting the necrotic skin from their bones. The door slammed shut leaving only one. Agazuul kicked of the eastern wall and soared towards it as he made his way through he pulled the wings back in through the openings where fire raged. This room held no zombies, skeletons or ghostly specters. It didn’t hold any undead, the room didn’t look peculiar or even intricate. It was a very simple room with only one object in it; a mirror. The mirror was of gold with symbols that related to Orcus and his domain; spirits in agony, dying, death, the various undead. Agazuul approached wearily trying to ascertain what this mirror was even here for. He saw his reflection and it saw him. The reflection was off, it stood there still even as Agazuul made to move his arm but as he made to leave eager to return and help his friends. Agazuul found himself stopped by an invisible wall viewing another him grinning at him.