Basem scoped out the silvery moonlit city from a hill in the distance. A different style than the cities they were used to but not something he cared to inspect too deeply. More concerning to him was the fact that it was filled with vampires and other undead, all of which currently were swarming to one side of the wall, no doubt due to the paladin army fast approaching. And even more so the individuals stationed around glowing magical carvings, some of whom he recognized.
“Lots of vampires. But they’re going to fight the paladins. The enemy party is split up, by five magic circles- Undead are coming out of them. Strong ones.”
“Should just blitz them one by one as a group.” Yen suggested.
“If we did, they’d just gate everyone together.” Dante casually objected. “They need to split up to protect these undead summoning circles, but they’ll drop everything if we give them no choice.”
“They could just as easily target us individually if we were to split up.” Kamala argued this time. “It could very well be a trap to prompt as much, and we lack the means to respond as they can.”
“They won’t…” The others turned to Jean so he elaborated. “They can’t risk the paladins entering the city at the same time as us. They’ll be too cautious to try and take us down one at a time, plus they probably feel they have the advantage on an individual level. If we split up into groups, they’ll most likely stay the same.”
“And what if they just decide fuck it and go all in? We’ll get wiped.” Yen asked.
“They won’t…" Jean spoke dispassionately. "The players are Greater Lords.”
“What?”
“They think long term…” Kamala had a realization of sorts. “At least the one giving the orders does. We can trust they won’t become entirely reckless. But to be safe, we should divide ourselves in a way that compensates for each other if the situation changes.”
“How are they split up?” Dante asked Basem.
“The vampire prince… and the Shadowhunter. The old spymaster and a short man… Mentalist? A blood witch woman and the Seer. The magician in white clothes alone. The werewolf is outside the castle. I don’t see the dhampyr.”
“He’s inside.” Shin informed them.
“Then,” Dante spoke up. “Ashley and Jean to the Prince and Shadowhunter. Donny and Basem to the Spymaster and Mentalist. Yen and Mujin to the Blood Witch and Seer. Kamala and myself to the Magician. Shin and Karla to the werewolf and king.”
“What? No, Shin should deal with the shadowhunter first.” Yen argued.
“The dhampyr is more important, and Karla is are best card to keep their amazon from interfering. Those two need to be out of the picture. Ashley can handle the prince and shadowhunter and Jean can survive there, supporting when needed. The magician and Spymaster are bad opponents for you. Donny can handle the mind mage and Basem keep at range from the Spymaster’s wires. Kamala has to pair with me and I have to face the magician. That leaves the witch and the seer to you and Mujin. Between Sixth Sense and Truesight you shouldn’t find any surprises.”
“So you just take the easiest one.” Yen grumbled.
“He’s the one who needs to be killed the fastest. Thoughts?” Donny chimed in.
“A lot, actually.” Yen responded.
“Shocking.”
“Shut up. Me and Mujin don’t have any healing and that seer put a hole in his chest last time.”
“I’m stronger now.” Mujin frowned.
“And you put Jean in probably the most fucked group. Are you fine with that?” Yen ignored Mujin as she glanced over to Jean.
“Sure…” The puppetmaster answered, his attitude unchanged from the start, as he cast Nondetection on Basem to the hunter’s confusion.
“...these are likely the best pairings.” Kamala voice. “Make your fights short and aid the others as soon as possible.”
“Fine…” Yen relented.
Chariot watched as the paladin army destroyed the south gate and began their brutal battle against the undead. “Now.” At Dante’s signal they rushed towards the city.
The few vampires patrolling were mowed down by efficient use of skills and the party split into their pairings. Through the streets of the city they raced, coming upon their targeted opponents in an instant. And as they did so, Pierre snapped his fingers with a smile.
“Stage Change.”
Chariot and Nostravania both found themselves forcibly teleported to individual match ups in different locations. Basem darted away from a black arrow shot without warning and blinked as the huntress emerged from the shadows behind. The huntress glanced for only a moment before receded back through the shadows to relocate her prey gone into hiding.
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---
Donny found himself inside a large room, the floor flooded red with blood. He shifted past a shooting blade of blood and stomped away red tendrils as they tried to wrap around him, the shockwave making a clean circle around him. Blood coated his orichalcum axe as he shot forward, cleaving through the pale beauty in a red dress whose body fell as a puddle of blood and another rose in the distance. Donny gripped his axe and charged again.
---
“Hello, dear.” Mujin stood guarded before the Seer, who sat carefree on a pile of rubble. The calm eyes of the ethereal light pink haired beauty still as inexplicably unsettling as before. But still, Mujin assumed a perfect stance as he readied himself for a fight. Blanche smiled a little wider and more welcoming. “Try your best.”
---
A fist shattered Yen’s Greater Armament before she realized and slammed into the mystic protection that surrounded her, sending her crashing through the air. She cast the legendary tier Greater Protection again as she reoriented herself in flight as the Vampire Prince pursued.
“Just give up!” Ramsay laughed as he played their deadly game of chase, shattering her protections once more and passing through her body of flames, unharmed.
He turned with a smile, and a blindly fast sphere of fire slammed into him, sending him crashing through a line of buildings. Yen peered in wait from the sky in the uncomfortable lull that arose, ready to attack again the moment the vampire prince reappeared.
The ground beneath her exploded as Ramsay lunged into the air, his claws nearly reaching her head before she was able to fling him away by Vector. The skill did no damage and the vampire prince flipped upright as he slid back on his feet across the stoneladen ground and this time a second Comet was swatted away to destroy a large section of the city’s wall in a distance.
Ramsay looked straight at her with insidious glee. “So weak. You won’t last long.”
---
“Ev-everything i-is mad… madness…”
Jean stared dispassionately at the opponent before him. A small short man with a hunchback and patchy strands of gray hair, his body more vampiric and deformed than his status suggested.
“Are you m-mad too? You must be.” Dudley spoke in jittery stutters. “Everything has gone mad.”
Four puppets appeared besides Jean, two of the Mantis model with scythed blades for arms, and two of the Hornet model, with long conical spikes and a sleeker build. He knew better than anyone he would be at a disadvantage against whoever was in front of him, but the others were relying on him pulling his own weight.
The hunchback glanced up at him. “...are you sane? You can’t be. No one can.” The rambling Mentalist flew around his scythes and lances faster than it would seem he could at a glance, and far too certain.
“Ah, yes. I can read minds.” A strain fell on Jean’s mind, which he weathered, a serpentine puppet bursting from the ground around the hunchback. The jaw of his Cobra model opened, spewing green acid at the man. A flicker of Sixth Sense appeared in Jean's mind, and a puppet melted away as Jean switched places, his trait having alerted him to the danger that fooled even his senses.
At some point he had become muddled enough to target himself with his own attack. It was no mere illusion, but an altering of his very thoughts and how his mind interacted with the world. Jean looked at the mumbling hunchback in the distance and readied himself indifferently for a more difficult job than he previously thought.
---
Walter stood with the utmost elegance before his opponent, etiquette befitting, nay required of his station as Steward. He could not wholehearted find it within him to support Lady Blair’s plans but it was not his place to speak out what his king agreed to. Thus he would perform the duties bestowed him as best he could, as he had always done.
“Our last bout was left unconcluded. But I assure you this time-”
“Ah, stop talking, please~” Ashley smiled as she skipped towards him holding her scythe behind her back. “You’re not fun~”
--
“Welcome! My dear misfortune audience!” Pierre exclaimed with dazzling showmanship. “My sincerest apologies, but I’m afraid this show must be short.”
Dante flung two handfuls of throwing knives at the magician that curved in rapid strange trajectories. Portals bloomed to match and the knives sunk through, exiting the ones appearing behind Dante and Kamala. And those sunk through portals once again back towards Pierre who magically deflected them away. Several silver root spears shot up from the stone streets and passed harmlessly through his intangible form.
“I didn’t think you’d improve so much in such a short time.” Pierre twirled away to open air as he clapped his hands once. “But then again, the new world has that effect. Things change so very fast now.”
---
Shin and Karla rushed at full speed towards the castle. Waiting patiently and unbothered at the opened gates stood a large man with red sideburns. Shin did not even spare the amazon werewolf a second glance as he ran passed. Gordon’s eyes slides to the invoker and mauled out his arm but a thunderous kick sent him sliding away as the surface of his face burst to dust and quickly regenerated.
Karla’s Savagery enhanced Crush now did more damage to the indestructible man and broke through his immovable state as well. Shin passed through into the castle but Gordon paid him no more mind, focusing entirely on the icy blue haired amazon that burst before him without a shred of hesitation in her mind.
Shin rushed through the massive castle with prismatic as if it were his own, passing through the empty hallways and through grand doors that opened on their own to a majestic throne room. Shin slowed to a walk as he came before Virgil, seated with dispassionate eyes.
Shin’s hair turns white and his eyes red as a wave of pulse destroyed the carpet and throne in an instant. Virgil reformed at the side in mid air as three silver longswords soared towards Shin. A veil of pulse coated Shin’s own two swords as he shattered them all to pieces.
An ethereal energy melded with pulse until his blades were covered in a coat of prismatic ripples as Duality flared over. And he carved through Virgil in an instant. Prismatic cracks started to slowly spread from the dhampyr’s bisected torso as the glimmer of light faded from Shin.
And his own bloodied arm fell away, severed by a sword that slashed the moment his Light Blitz ended. Shin slashed with his remaining arm but Virgil shifted away in reforming mist, and the would to his soul started to heal as necrotic energy permeated further into Shin.
Shin made his double bladed naginata whole again and let it float in the air as he severed off the rest of his shoulder with a jagged edged palm and his arm regenerated whole. He caught back his soul weapon as Virgil’s silvery swords reformed around him in the air, not once having taken his eyes off him, a neutral expression on his face from the very start, his usual slight smile absent.
“You’re still not trying.”