2019-03-09: Ballad of the Fisher King

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<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

Before

                                  Krosse

"This is it, then? The thing you claim can save us?"

It is such a small thing, King Krono thinks as he stares upon it. A little bauble, made of a crystal he can't identify. A pale violet, smooth and perfectly round and looking so delicate it might break if handled wrong. And yet...

His hand reaches out towards it. Hesitates.

... he can't shake the feeling of something tremendous and worrying beneath that unassuming surface.

"No. 'Tis the thing I claim shall grant you power."

The voice, a tinny warp, comes from behind the king. There stands a knight in white, their face completely shielded by a helm with no features nor even visible eyes. Nothing save a polished radiance that seems to almost obfuscate them in splendor.

King Krono sees nothing when he looks back towards the Trial Knight. Nothing but the reflection of his own worried, weary face.

"I don't see the difference. If the Metal Demons have returned, it's power that I'll need to keep the people of Krosse safe. Power that we're in too short supply of. Kislev and Aveh cannot even set aside their petty squabbles for even a second to acknowledge a greater thread, and Adlehyde..." The King's brows furrow. Age and a lifetime of service to his people have worn it down towards a wrinkled crease of concern.

"... how does it work? What does it do? I've never seen anything like it."

"'Tis a relic," explains the Knight to the King. "One older than the entirety of your kingdom and all your forebears, from a star not your own. 'Tis a thing that was born of necessity. It shall take the sins of your get upon itself and grow endlessly off gorging its slakeless thirst, for that is what it was born to do."

"I don't understand. You're speaking in riddles. How is this meant to help us?"

"Make no mistake, your grace. That thing you look upon is an object of power untold." The King's gaze inevitable returns to that orb as the knight speaks. He feels something in it. But he can't grasp the shape of it.

"I shall teach you the way to use that power, to harness it, to grow it to heights unfathomable. I shall teach you the cost involved. This Orb shall be yours to do with what you will, to use however you wish. Until the day I return for that which I am owed."

King Krono of Krosse presses his lips into a thin line as a radiant white light envelops the Trial Knight. He thinks of Adlehyde, as the knight's final words echo in his ears. Of the Metal Demons. Of the kingdom. Of his people.

"'Tis but up to you to determine whether it is truly power your people need."

And he resolves himself.

"No matter the cost."

<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

                                    Now

Krosse

"'What we truly need.' Feh."

Krosse Castle is a place that has seen dramatic change in the past year. It is a thing much less in sight, and more in feeling -- lacking the palatial fineries of some of the other seats of power on Filgaia, Krosse Castle's simple splendor has been spoiled by a pervasive and crippling sense of paranoid dread that thrums through the cracks in its walls like blood through veins. As the focal point of the Malevolence gripping its kingdom, Krosse Castle is by far the most affected by its malign, lingering presence.

And the people within, all the moreso.

One by one, the seals protecting the way further into the king's last bastion are shattered. Outside in the city proper, Drifters and unaffected soldiers and even the citizenry themselves help to protect and establish order in a city that has been so bereaved of either. And the Malevolent Domain continues its expansion, its heady grip pounding upon spiritual senses with a slowly mounting pressure that testifies to just how much Malevolence its origin point has soaked since the Drifters have been gone.

Past those shattered seals, the deeper one gets into Krosse, the more warped and winding its architecture becomes, directly affect by the Domain slithering its ever-intensifying tendrils through the castle's structure. There are Guards -- but none provide tremendous challenge for the Drifters that have come.

And it is there, deep within, that the King of Krosse waits, staring upon the Anomalous Orb. It once looked so simple to him.

Now, it is like a little sun of violet, flaring with unwell life. In moments of clarity, he can see it now. See it clearly for what it is.

The sight of it, in those moments, inspires an unwell feeling from deep within the pit of his stomach that King Krono of Krosse has excelled at smothering out, in recent times.

He stands there, in the otherwise spartan splendor of the Malevolence-seething inner sanctum of the castle, a large rectangular room beset by stony columns and designed in a ridged, downward slope towards its center, located in an intermediate point between the throne room and the catacombs beneath. It was, at one point, meant to be a location to keep the king safe in times of need. Now, it is meant to keep something else entirely safe.

Set upon a protective pedestal, contained by symbological runes ostensibly meant to protect and control it, the Anomalous Orb pulses with sickening light, a grand pillar of Malevolence streaming endlessly up from that altar. The Orb sucks in that ambient Malevolence even as it releases more of it back out into the world, a beating heart for a Domain that has afflicted this kingdom for too long.

"I think this is the end of the line, Timotheus."

King Krono has seen better days. He looks almost hollow, eroded down into a gaunt point of stress and paranoia. He holds fast onto an old lance, point biting stone floor as he leans into it for support, his sunken eyes staring at that Orb with a mixture of emotions.

For now, resolve still holds fast to it.

"I have done everything I could, everything I thought I could." Brows furrow, wrinkled by age and exposure to a thing he once thought a bauble.

"We can't stop now. We've sacrificed so much. Too much. And now that we finally have this power to protect ourselves, they come to undo it all? No. We must hold them off. This can't have been for nothing. It can't." Fingers grip more tightly onto that old, aged weapon. He hardly looks like he has the strength to defend himself, much less the Orb. But he stands fast. Proud. All kingly will, concern for his people warped to an inverted mirror of its former self.

Only one piece of doubt, festering at the edge of his senses.

Tis but up to you to determine whether it is power that your truly people need.

"... No matter the cost."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "No. We cannot stop here."

    So speaks the figure to the king's left, the learned magus Timotheus Lovelace. Over a half a year ago had he been summoned from the halls of the mages of Marze, and here he now stands with the corrupted walls of Krosse Castle.

    He is the king's senior by at least three decades, yet the wizened wizard stands the taller of the pair even if he must use the gnarled staff in his hands as a support. His dark eyes glitter with an inner fire not often seen among mortals. Here is a man obsessed.

    "We have nearly teased out the mystery of the orb, my liege. There remains but one more avenue to us. One way to seize the power of the orb and bring it under our control. And for Krosse, to bring it with us to eternity." The Symbologist pauses, stroking his long white beard as he gazes upon that sphère catastrophique before them both.

    "The orb bends those of a weak heart to its control. It breaks them."

    The old wizard's determined but impassive expression breaks now into a smile -- confident and terrible to behold, creasing the mix of Symbological tattoos that wind their way across his aged face.

    "Take up the orb, my liege. Only a strong heart may control this sphere. Take up the orb, and impress upon it a king's love for his people!"

<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    Amongst those gathered within the walls of the Castle Krosse here, there is one that did not go to Elru. She did not, in the end, meet with the likes of her companions Clive Winslett, Jet Enduro or Gallows Caradine as she had a more personal quest to attend to.

    A mistake that she made a long time ago, under the influence of Malevolence.

    A mistake she's vowed to clean up under her own power, as much as she's able to, since as she once said to a Knight who administers Trials...

    Guilt can be a strength too.

    A mysterious figure has been helping (hindering?) Drifter teams throughout the streets of Krosse, attempting to assist with the entire situation which she had no ability to resolve under her own power alone. She needed help, from those who had travelled to Lunar and back, braved the depths of Uzda il-Jam and vanquished Mother...

    But that's all right. Because together--

    Together, their wings shall lift them far higher than the blue skies.

    "It's not the end, King Krono," speaks a young woman's voice. A familiar one, from the Catacombs; from within his dreams, back when she garbed herself in the black draperies of Malevolence, her hair turned ashen white.

    Now, she is back in familiar violet vestments, her chestnut-brown hair tied into braids whipping in the wind as she holds a gunsmoke ARM amidst the light of a nearby lamp as she stands amidst several of the columns.

    "... I did all this to you."

    She scowls for a bit.

    "The dreams. The portents. The suggestions which so slowly, but surely took away at your mind and made vulnerable a bed for this Domain that now plagues you and your kingdom."

    She places her hand to her chest.

    "I am guilty of this. But..."

    Her eyes narrow as they take on a steely resolve, as she steps closer to the center dais where the Anomalous Orb pulsates with its sickening light. She gazes for a moment, towards Timotheus.

    "I can at least bring those that can help here. The Drifters that so saved us all from Mother..."

    She glances softly behind her, with a smile.

    "They can help end this nightmare."

DC: Virginia Maxwell switches forms to Dream Scion Virginia!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

There is maybe one problem with seeking power to protect your kingdom from the Metal Demons...and that's the war is over. Mother tried to throw the Photosphere into space and Ethius sabotaged THAT and then, well, a certain fella decided to make sure even that was eradicated. Can the Hyadeans be all that threatening with most of their Quarter Knights dead? Perhaps. But at the moment he's not certain Krosse is even aware that the war is over. Soldiers have frequently acted as if the war was still happening and maybe, well, maybe that makes sense when you turn your home into a nightmare city and block off all travelers from entering. News doesn't exactly travel fast in those conditions.

Fei knew that he'd have to return to Krosse to settle this matter. It may have started in Lahan. Maybe started since time immemorial, but the plague that is malevolence must be quelled. Some part of Fei tells him that perhaps there are some costs that are too much for such determination....but maybe not many.

Fei's expression is surprisingly unsympathetic as he makes his way through the castle, making his way towards the Orb, making his way to the king.

"Does a kingdom that turns its back on its allies deserve to stand strong?" Fei asks, eyes narrowing when he focuses his gaze on him for a moment. He even listens, yes he listens to Virginia Maxwell, but he shakes his head. "He chose to listen to them, Virginia. Take blame for your part if you want, but--"

He looks back to the king. "You turned your back on Adelhyde in its hour of greatest need but they survived without you. The war against the Metal Demons is over. You are spending too much time looking at an orb..."

He curls his hands into fists. "When you should be looking at your people! Your loyal soldiers! We did not do this, the Metal Demons didn't do this. Not even 'K.K' did this, really! You did this! You turned your kingdom into a hell upon earth thanks to your own cowardice!"

Well Fei, he tells himself despite his anger, you should know.

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    The crunch of splitting, buckling wood echoes through King Krono's place of sanctuary. Iron hinges groan beneath impossible strength. Another impact reverberates through the room, the right half of the door visibly buckling inward. The third impact tears the door from its mountings with a hideous shriek of tearing metal. It flies inwards, slams into the floor, skids a good foot or so, and stops. Plumes of dust curl upwards from beneath.

    "King Krono!"

    A voice that the King has not heard in a year's time cuts through the miasma. White Knight Leo steps through the open doorway, his cloak billowing out behind him. His immaculate white uniform is stained with dirt and grime and blood. He gestures at the Anomalous Orb, its sickly light gleaming off the edge of his blade. "STOP! Unhand that thing at once! Your fear has brought your people no end of suffering! If any love for them remains, you will stop this madness at once!"

    But King Krono isn't alone. Leo glances at Timotheus, scowling deeply enough to reveal the sharp fangs he has in place of canines. He's about to hurl invective at the man when a lantern appears, and then the teenage girl carrying it. Leo's gaze falls upon Virginia as she confesses, and stays there. His eyes grow wide. He glances back at King Krono.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius was part of the parties that swept the Research Hall. He took the lack of apparent security detail as an urgent sign that they were running out of time - if there was no further need to guard the place where the critical research was conducted...
     Ethius does not dwell upon the apparent weakness of before, where the Domain's power shut out his ability to channel his Symbology. He only fixates on why he is here and what he is going to be doing here. The very foundations of this place are soaked in magnified fear. Fear of things out of their control, fear of things that cannot otherwise be stopped.
     The way he carries himself would do little to ease the feelings - he destroys any obstruction with a precision and coldness that might be blood-curdling even outside of this context, his pragmatism the polish on the shield a reinforced spirit now bears. In his left hand, an evil-looking polearm with eight insets - one filled. It is doing double duty as a walking stick. Ethius wills he has to go down there, and this will allows him his way through the warped passages as such he can reach the inner sanctum.
     Somewhere in Virginia's spoken reassurance of what led to this point, Ethius does not emerge from the shadows so much as he just does not respect the personal space of the mounting shadows themselves, an unyielding stare as he holds out the palm of his off-hand in the sorcerous equivalent of raising a pistol. He announces nothing to be heard for the record as he stares down the blinding blight like he were some sort of agent of inevitability itself.
     Sorcerous electricity crackles off of his open hand as he twists his fingers and chants a quick set of syllables for a rare 'wasteful' display of a low-yield Symbological spell.
     That is his warning - the Domain can no longer seal away his power. While others have their say, Ethius waits for 'the word' to act decisively... or perhaps he has already decided on what that opportunity will look like without telling anyone.
     His eyes narrow slightly.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Spending so much time in Krosse, and leaving the rusted corpse of the thing that destroyed and redefined his life in his wake, Leon Albus has began to see flashes of Malevolence. His Resonance has risen; has increased, to the point that it comes in spider-like flashes of lightning of purple and black. The world shifts, sometimes; Hellions blink in and out.

He needed time to heal and recover, in his exhaustion after striking Gryndille down. His coat is torn and riddled with holes. Blood is still caked on the left side of his face, though he can see out of the eye. His feet carry him forward with a grim determination, and Argent Divider -- blade telescoped out and extended -- is held in one hand. Light glints up the silver blade, shining in the darkness as the last seals are battered down.

He walks up a little after Fei. He spits some blood onto the floor, and then his head tilts a little to the side; he lets Fei do the talking, though he glances at Virginia, and then to Leo as he bursts in. His eyes turn, finally, to Timotheus.

"You've put this mad notion into his head?" he says. "Are you the architect of this bloody, miserable business?"

<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

A creature that was once a person falls to the side - Ashton Anchors kicks it with a boot to dislodge his blades.

The entry into the Castle itself has been difficult yet easy: one could not call it simple, but the fights have paled in comparison to the rest that have happened in Krosse. The battles before broke the back of the Malevolent resistance.

As the Drifters breach the final sanctum, Ashton pauses. Creepy exhales bathing the fallen monstrosity in dragonflame. It's a mercy, and after the Guard Captain at the gates? The swordsman doesn't want to risk the fallen becoming fuel for greater horrors.

They enter the throne room as a mass, spreading out to prepare for whatever awaits them. Ashton says nothing - given what they've seen so far, he expects the King to be wholly lost to the corruption. That the man seems merely drained and withered rather than bestial is a surprise.

But that does not change the path ahead. The Double Dragon Duelist sets himself ready, blades in hand. The Orb is too powerful, too corrupting. It won't be given up so easily. Ashton suspects it -cannot- be.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"I feel like I've seen the letter K more often than I've ever seen in my life," Talise mutters. Turns out she needs her little jokey-jokes to keep the Malevolence from digging too deeply into her consciousness.

It's hard. But she can do it now. This time, the Trial Knight won't get her.

The King, however, is another story.

'The orb bends those of a weak heart to its control.'



 "Oh boy," Talise mutters grimly from her spot just behind the door, dreading the idea of trying to do to the Orb what she read in the lab.

They've nearly teased out the mystery. Talise clicks her teeth together and exhales, then glances black. "We need to stop that thing, quick."

Behind her, ace courier Benedict Greygust is pale, having a bit more of an ordeal handling this much Malevolence than the rest of the Fox Company - but he nods anyway. "Keep their attention for a minute."

Talise shoulders forward, though it seems that Mysterious Drifter V.M. already has it handled. She practically smashes the door off its hinges, whirling her sword into a ready position and brandishing it towards the king and the sorcerer. "That's enough of that!" she shouts.

Leo gives his speech; Talise is coming in not far behind the White Knight. It's an odd pairing, but one that feels right, somehow. She sweeps her free hand towards the King and his sorcerous ally. "You don't seem to realize that you've already failed the Trial. If you've got any love for your kingdom at all, you'll set that Orb aside and end this. There's still time for you to do the right thing."

She gives her head a firm shake and makes a show of setting her jaw, then drawing herself up with indignation. "Think of the men who are loyal to you! The people of your own kingdom! All that you've given them is a horror borne of your own cowardice--"

Talise's monologue is interrupted by a sudden sound.

    *CHUNG*
            zwiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

Benedict Greygust used Talise and Leo's monologues as cover to skulk along one side of the room, level his crossbow, and fire it straight at the Orb in the hopes of shattering it. The bolt rips towards the malevolent sphere--

    ...but his aim is off by a hair.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    The many warriors and Drifters present smash into the the hellish sanctum of the depths of Krosse Castle, some with words of kindness, some with words of rebuke. Ragnell offers neither; she strolls into the room behind the others as if she were on no more serious a mission than heading to the corner store to pick up a bottle of milk, arms folded behind her neck.
    
    Part of this is a front. While Ragnell has ways of protecting herself from Malevolence, it's particularly thick here, and it itches like poison ivy against her skin. But part of it is... well, who Ragnell is. It's her way of being defiant in the face of something that could consign her to a fate worse than death.
    
    Yet, while normally she might also offer a few quips, some smirking sarcasm, or something of the like, she... doesn't, here. She steps to one side, leaving the others to do as they well, and leans on the wall to watch and listen. Her gaze turns sharp towards Benedict when he attempts to shoot down the Anomalous Orb--but that doesn't work out so well. Just how poorly *will* it turn, one wonders?
    
    Ragnell waits to see.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna remembered how she felt the first time she experienced the Domain emitted by the Anomalous Orb. It was a horrible, weakning experience. Deprived of the powers she had become accustomed to using, she was forced to flee... But that was then.

Now.

Now, Layna strides confidently toward the castle's inner sanctum. The doors have already been thrown open thanks to a certain White Knight, so she strolls on in.

"We meet again, King Krono." Layna says, coming to a stop. Everyone says their piece, and Layna smirks. "...They said all the good parts already, so I'm not gonna repeat it. You and Lovelace oughta back away from the Orb. Otherwise, I'm gonna hafta get a bit mean. That trick you used last time's not gonna fly anymore."

With that said, she glances in Virginia's direction. It had been a while since she had last seen her. They'd both been busy with their own things.

"Good to see you again, lass." Layna comments as an aside. There's a proud look on her face. "Looks like you've matured since last I saw ya."

<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

As others sieged the buildings of Krosse itself, one person was oddly absent. Though most likely felt his actions. Literally. Tremors that seemed to emanate from around what field-laying areas remained untainted signaled the heralding of a Sentinel. An older voice booming over the main of a Malevolence-torn land and clashing of steel.

Those transformed of Krosse sought its source. None returned.

And when the foes ceased to trickle out to investigate, the source of it made their move, toward the castle itself.

---

Sentinel Elvis had found his way into the castle with no short amount of trial by combat. Of course, he succeeded, though a true foe lay ahead. His outfit has a few marks and cuts, but otherwise he seems unharmed. Perhaps strong medicines or magics were used to extend his gladitorial session.

He saunters onto the scene, containing the husk of a King, and a power source quite unfathomable. Of course, a devils advocate is present as well. "Humans have no business meddling in such powers, for it feeds on the worst parts of people to become manifest. Your fears, your hate for your enemy, is what makes it strong, and by making it strong, it consumes you."

"Save your people, while you have the chance. Be rid of that object. There is still hope yet."

Elvis cracks his massive hands.

"Don't make me take it from you by force."

THe things Humans get themselves in to. Their lives are fleeting, and as a great scholar once said, 'To err is human'.

Perhaps they jsut need to be shown the best way to help themselves. And that Orb surely isn't it.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly enters this great space with Fei, which is, at least, consonant with the patterns of history. Tired, strained slightly from her previous efforts to reach this point, she does not speak up right away -- Fei, of course, is hot when she is cool, and speaks words that are perhaps harsh, but also which bear the weight of truth.

Chaos is accelerating. Another precipice of history.

I wish we were still camping, Elly thinks.

She takes in a huge deep breath even as the white-haired form of Ginny appears. Even as Leon speaks his peace. Her eyes turn not towards any of them, nor even on King Krono, but past him, towards the white-bearded man. and Elly raises her left hand to point towards him as she puts everything she has into screaming,

                                  "WAIT!!"

and it is hard and strong enough that it gives her a momentary coughing fit.

After this Elly continues, voice slightly raspy. "'Mother' is dead! The Metal Demons that lived are putting down their arms. The war is OVER! We won! Whatever you - hah - whatever you choose, you DON'T have to rush into it, your majesty!!"

Somehow she doesn't stop looking at Timothaeus during this.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil still feels the oppressive pressure of the Domain, worse and worse as time goes on. Even a year ago, it would have forced her will back into just her person, prevented her from using the bulk of her power. But now...

Lily has naturally gone back to gather Leon, as she moved ahead. Her attire is less damaged--she is less damaged, because of the power she sapped out of the great machine Gryndille in its defeat. and now, she walks with Captain Albus, her hands at her sides, as she looks to Virginia, first--Virginia, a girl who once just wanted to deal with the guard dogs in a prison, and has come so far.

"..."

The others speak; the way Lily sees it, what King Krono has done must be answered, and there will be no peaceful resolution to this. But she has spent enough time with those of kinder action to give them that chance. Besides...

"I have seen the results of your magic," Lily addresses Timotheus. "I've seen what your Symbols have done to creatures let loose."

 Lily's hand is wreathed, for an instant, in shadow--one, then the other, as Dark Ether floods about her, flaring for an instant.

"...But it's not my words that matter here."

Lily says nothing else to King or Archmage, for now; she does not strike. She merely remains, beside Leon, and waits. "...It's good to see you, Maxwell."

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    "Uh, playing with that sounds like the absolute worst idea ever. You know when you've got that guy in the corner of the inn and he's losing real bad at cards so he's going 'no, no, it's totally cool, I'll win this time because I'm due'? That's kind of what this is," mutters Shalune to herself as she fights the urge to tug her bobble hat down over her eyes for the sake of safety. She doesn't expect anyone to be listening - it's not like she's yelling it across the room at the pair - but it feels better to voice something rather than let the tension inside of her continue to mount.

    Big Shal is not with her this time; Shalune knows full well that everyone's favorite friend is going to be a lot more use helping to excavate a safe path out of town and offering a hand loading up the Fereshte with refugees. Taking her on a crusade through the Malevolence-laden streets would have been-- maybe not foolhardy, but definitely a bit selfish. The thought of bringing Diablo... well, even if she'd like the extra insurance, she's not so far gone that she'd drop an ancient golem on Krosse and call it a day.

    (Besides, it's not fixed yet.)

    She's careful as she hefts her odd weapon in her hands, hanging back as the other Drifters pile in and letting the pair in front of her talk - even letting Virginia's inspiring speech wash over her as she checks the connectors along the slim white staff and then pats her pockets to ensure she's got plenty of ammo packs on hand. She draws in a breath; a little voice in the back of her mind wonders what exactly she's doing here in so dangerous a place, separated from Jay and Lunie.

    Maybe Lunata's right that they've changed too much. Maybe this is her own fit of angry pique, choosing to do something so reckless after the fights they've had recently. But--... but even if she's not exactly feeling this fight in her heart, she can at least get right behind making sure the people she knows make it out of this safe. Because if there's one thing she can understand, she thinks as she steals a glance towards Josie and then towards Lily, it's family driving you absolutely nuts.

<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.

    Chime doesn't rush through the castle, following the sizable group of people that have gathered within the city. The short ARMs Meister is by defination this time a tagalong having only followed in after exhausting what she could do outside among the city helping citizens. Despite her tagalong status through, she does listen with curisousity to what the others have to say as she watches.

    With no input of her own through, the elf just continues to watch with a mild expression for once her age showing in her eyes as she watches. An eyebrow does arch in amusement as someone attempts and misses. Chime scans the room curiously as she listens not watching the King or his Mage at the orb.

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia Lynn Adlehyde, Princess Who Should Probably Be Queen By Now But You Can't Rush These Things of Adlehyde, had been getting things in order in her home. It's a big job. Lots of work to do in a city-state that got blown up twice.

But she has work to do yet.

Fei storms in. Cecilia follows in his shadow, her staff in hand as her boots glide through carpet. This whole place crushes down on her, but the light inside her refuses to gutter out, pushing back the darkness. "Your Majesty," she says, quietly compared to the roaring defiance of others. "...Krono," she says, because she too is royalty.

Her eyes track up that horrifying pillar of malevolence, barely contained - not even contained at all, really - by Symbological artifice. "You cannot keep doing this to your people. This has to end."

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

This ends here. This ends now.

Cyre Lorentz strides through the haze of Malevolence like a man possessed. Not possessed by the Malevolence, of course. The distinction must be made. Cyre is possessed by a totally different kind of impulse. This task has been a year in the making, taking a long and winding road that led across two worlds to this place and this time.

Malevolence, he was told, is the result of humanity repressing its own true face. The energy of self-denial and inner conflict that arises from the schism between who we are and who we present ourselves to be.

Well.

Right now, Cyre Lorentz is pissed.

And right now, as ever, he has absolutely no good reason to hide that fact from the world.

"You should have seen this coming when your white knight decided to use our land as a testbed for this disaster of a plan," he growls as he passes across that final threshold, into the presence of the King and his loyal wizard. "And for what? Your people suffer in the streets, your most loyal defender was turned into a cannibal beast. Pick up your spear and clench those teeth, King of Krosse," Cyre takes one more step. His footfall sends a shockwave of hyper-compressed air shrieking toward the great, Malevolent orb. "Because there's gonna be a whoopin' today, and you've got a hell of a lot to answer for."

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    "I dunno, Fei. I think there's something t'be said 'bout a king whose weakness was the safety of his own people."

    Gwen filters in with the rest of the assorted cast of Drifters, her sleeve drawn and her bared ARM idle at her side. "But from what I've heard, I ain't he'll stop now. The look on that man's face is one that's given up on going back. But that doesn't mean he's beyond hope." Fog grey eyes look towards King Kronos warily. "Your majesty. Please. I remember what your kingdom was like before. It was one of the last places that seemed unaffected by the desert. The people were kind, and the cuisine was great! I always liked comin' here for deliveries. ... I'd like for that to come back, but that can't come back without you coming back to yourself. Right now, with things bein' so uncertain, the people here need a pillar of certainty. That's you, not the orb. The orb can't do that."

    Or maybe, the king will simply destroy everything in an effort to cleanse himself of his sins.

    Gwen's lips tighten at the intrusive, disturbing thought, though it feels true. It was the sort of sickness that drove Janus to despair, even when he oddly never fell to the corruption of Malevolence.

    As she spots Virginia, Gwen's frown turns to a relieved smile. "Hey, Ginny. You can't blame yourself."

    While Gwen's own approach is gentle, she doesn't have the same anger or stakes as others have here. As more voices fill the throne room, Gwen turns her head towards the oddly quiet Ragnell. "... Ragnell."

    What was Ragnell's stake in this?

<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia had been mostly focusing on cleaning up the streets in her guise as Mystery Hero X, during which she was handed a note by a certain Skeleton, which she will more than likely never realize the true meaning of. Even so, she eventually made her way inside the castle when the seals were already broken, meeting up with a few others and making her intentions clear to join the push to the castle's inner sanctum.

But where is she now? It seems someone's late to the party. Even as the door is getting bashed down, an activity that would certainly appeal to the red-haired pugilist known for her superhuman strength and fondness for using it to smash thing, Xantia is nowhere to be seen. Did she get held up somehow?

Not quite. The fact that the crashing and rumbling noises don't cease even after the door comes down is the first hint of that. An already cracked wall sporting more and more cracks after the sound of each impact is another. It's a simple matter, really. Xantia didn't need to go to the door. Xantia is making her own door.

With a final loud crash, bricks shatter outward, directly followed by the figure responsible, having employed a flying kick as the final effort to force their way through. As the dust settles, they land in a crouch, their long, flowing white cape drifting down their back. Rising quickly, they immediately take up a fighting stance, and from the bracer on their right arm an energy blade springs forth, its color as red as the woman's plentiful hair.

Yes, it's unmistakably Xantia... but her outfit is completely different from what she usually wears. Today, for the very first time, she's wearing body armor, colored red and black with gold trimmings.

Though it covers the entire torso, this new outfit emphasizes freedom of movement rather than the greatest amount of protection possible, thus being both lightweight and flexible, leaving the legs mostly uncovered. It features a pair of elongated shoulderplates, underneath which the upper arms are left bare, but bracers now cover both lower arms - the one that was there already tailored to mostly resemble the new one on her left arm. A couple of crossed red and black strips of the same flexible metal on her left leg are also new, only the red gloves and boots featuring white star decorations are still the same as before.

Given Xantia's known (and to many inexplicable) fondness of Id, the armor's color scheme is undoubtedly no coincidence. Nor is its general design. Those who saw Xantia's 'ideal self' as she imagined it, during the Umbral Mirror incident or the expedition to Fereshte Village, will notice a striking similarity between what it was wearing and what Xantia is wearing now. All in all, it isn't difficult to deduce that this was custom-made for her: Xantia provided a description, and Carina Wynne's design flair did the rest.

This must be the 'surprise' she mentioned before she set off, and the reason why she was a bit late to arrive. It took a bit of time to get changed! She may have this fancy new armor now, but unfortunately, she can't simply summon hers the way Carina can.

But now that she's here, she's absolutely ready to fight, grinning confidently and making a fist with her left hand, causing lightning to burst forth, and addresses the monarch responsible for this whole mess. "King Krono, I presume? Not the K.K. I was after, but you're pretty obviously evil, so I hope you're ready for a beating!"

Who needs deep motivations? Just beating up the bad guys is good enough, right?

<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


The Domain is if anything larger. Yet it's a sign that he's grown stronger that it wasn't affecting him so much - right? Hiro tosses his sword from hand to hand, using his sword arm to test a few strikes. Making certain his recovering shoulder was limbered up for what's about to happen. It's done not so much as a violent threat, but simply practice. "Swell - swell. I'm not even feeling sick yet."

Then Ruby starts gagging in mid-air. Putting her pawsies over her mouth. Hiro looks at her in concern. Then.

Ruby pounds her little pawsie to her chest. "J-Just a hairball." Hiro gives her a momentary look of further concern, before smiling, "Guess you've gotten stronger too Ruby." He reaches out with a hand to rub her head, beckoning her to sit down on his shoulder for a while.

Approaching though - it's Leo who gets him back into the mood, as his entire expression turns serious. "Leo's right... If it's your people you love instead of power... then come to your senses."

And then Elly, he simply nods at, as if agreeing that this paranoia towards enemies that are no longer a threat is unfounded. His eyes float over Timotheus, sucking in a breath, and his grip upon his sword tightens, eyeing Leon - as Ruby looks upon Fei - then at the King - adding on to his calling out of the King's cowardice. "There's still time to make the right choice you know. To do the brave thing - to admit you did wrong and make amends."

Virginia causes a swell of positive feeling - pride perhaps within him... "We're with you Ginny." He says with a smile, glad she's not deciding to shoulder responsibility alone.

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Silence, fools."
    Thus comes the wizard's response, shortly after Leon's pointed question. "I am Timotheus Lovelace. I am here at King Krosse's request. And I am here to understand and direct the power of this boon that has been delivered unto us."

    The heavy staff thuds against the tiled floor as he takes one step forward, dark-eyed gaze impassive as he regards those who have come to plead their case... or to cast blame.

    "'End this nightmare'," he echoes Virginia, only to scoff aloud. "Ha. A feeble argument, from a feeble girl. I care not whether the Metal Demons and their 'Mother' have been felled." He turns his head towards King Krosse. "Dangers yet lurk in this world, my liege. Have we not seen evidence of such? We must protect Krosse from those who would do us harm. Take up the orb, and sieze its power--"

    A metal bolt lances through the air.
    At speed, Lovelace weaves a spell, a sizzling arc of electrical magic that intercepts the bolt. Ash litters the tattered carpet that leads up to where the orb continues to glow darkly: the bolt is no more.

    'Wait!!' shouts Elly then, on the heels of Fei's denunciation of King Krosse himself, which follows Leo's own declaration. Timotheus' gaze lingers on him only to then divert her way and there rest. Layna speaks then of how they 'ought to back away'.
    Timotheus shakes his head. "My liege. Do not pay them any heed. They seek now only to dissuade from this path to which you have devoted yourself. They seek nothing more but to tether Krosse to the fate of other nations both weakened or crumbling. Let us seek now our own future, our own path!" the magus declares, lifting both stave and free hand into the air as he further exhorts the king, as if to drown out the arguments against what they now attempt to undertake.

    Lily alone speaks of something else. Of the monstrosity she fought and downed, on the outskirts of Krosse.
    Timotheus regards her for but a moment. "You fought it, did you? I see my assistant did not dispose of them properly. No matter. He has received what he has deserved. As shall you all."

    But it is one figure among the others who here join that draws the ancient Symbologist's attention as she strides forward through the crowd here gathered, intent on him and him alone. A glance passes between her and Shalune -- the only break in what is otherwise indefatigable purpose.

    "Josephine. So good of you to arrive at last. I trust you finally received my messages? Or were you too busy cavorting with the ghosts of the past to send a reply?"

    The cannon has been left behind. She steps forward to say what she has decided to her father:

    "Katriona's dead."

    With that pronouncement, Josephine stares Timotheus Lovelace straight in the eyes.

    The gaze that meets hers may as well be stone, for all that there fails to be anything -- no flicker of recognition, no glimmer of anger, no hint of regret, nothing -- in his eyes.

    "I do not recall," he informs his only daughter, "that name having any meaning to me."

    Josie's own reaction is swift: naked fury wings its way across her face and in the span of a heartbeat she's drawn her sidearm, aimed it at her father.

    She's permitted to hold that pose for barely half a pulse more. With a flash of light and a thunderous crack she receives her father's reply. It sweeps her across half the court to deposit her in a smoldering heap. Just once she convulses, then lies still.

GS: Josephine Lovelace has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    "She ever had a poor influence upon you," Timotheus Lovelace comments, gazing impassively upon the form of his daughter. "Well. We will save the words for later, once you are in a more agreeable mood. At the moment," and his gaze turns from her to the others here gathered, "it appears I must deal with an ill-timed intrusion."

    "Worry not, my liege. I will have the situation soon well in hand."

    BGM: https://stuartchatwood.bandcamp.com/track/the-senescence

    He turns to those assembled before him, magical power corruscating off the gnarled staff. "Now come, you interlopers! Allow me to demonstrate my power!"

DC: You switch forms to The Learned Magus!
DC: Timotheus Lovelace switches forms to The Learned Magus!
<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.
<SoundTracker> Merciless King -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHBNuItAErg

"... You."

It is the first thing uttered by King Krono, a dusty creak of weary anger, as the doors to his sanctum -- his peoples' sanctum -- are blown open. The Drifters -- the resistance -- the people who have come to take Krosse from him. One by one, they enter, unbowed by the weight of the Anomalous Orb's Domain. Resisting the spiritual pressure that once laid so many of them low. His lips tug into a deeper frown. His sunken eyes train on the first and loudest amongst them, the one most familiar --

"You dare try to question my love for my people?"

Leo.

Cracked lips pull into a snarl. King Krono's once tired face becomes animated with a flare of anger that more powerfully expresses itself than anything else. The pall of Malevolence shimmers and coils around him like a well-worn shawl.

"You, who lulled my people in with false promises? You, who BETRAYED and ABANDONED us?" His arm not holding that aging lance -sweeps- outward, his gaze livid. Gesturing to everything around them, as if this twisted horror could somehow be a point of pride.

"ALL THIS is for my people!"

It is a raw fury that doesn't quite fade from his features, even as his attentions finally catch on to the others that arrive. Some familiar, some now -- all of them, to his mind, hostile. All of them the enemy. And perhaps especially so --

"Pirate," he hisses lowly, his hand curling tighter around his weapon almost defensively. "I see you all can resist the Orb's effects now. If you think I will kowtow to you, though -- any of you -- just because of that... you are sorely mistaken. The Orb grows stronger by the minute. And I will not be so gentle ejecting you out of MY kingdom, this time--"

But it is as his threat reaches its zenith of forcefulness, as he starts to turn towards the Anomalous Orb just as Timotheus suggested, that a voice cuts through. A familiar voice. A voice from the catacombs. A voice from his nightmares. Fatigued eyes flicker in an uncomprehending blink.

It's not the end, King Krono.

"... You..."

The echoed sentiment comes differently this time. Less accusatory, more uncertain. He remembers Virginia. Remembers her claims. His grip on his lance loosens just slightly.

"... No," he half-mumbles to himself. "That couldn't be. I... I saw it, it was so real..." But the haze of doubt, the sight of him visibly wrestling with something imposed on his mind, only lasts so long -- and makes him ripe for the words that Fei Fong Wong launches at him next. His expression twists. A scowl of both frustration and anger flares briefly across his lips. He looks like he might rebuke Fei outright, and yet --

-- and yet, he hesitates to do so. Something like guilt makes its way, subtly, into his stare. "Adlehyde had fallen, our enemies were at our door! I couldn't risk my people's safety! And if not the Metal Demons, then what if Kislev or Aveh bring their constant war to our land? What of the monstrosities of Elru--" Said, perhaps with unintentionally remarkable timing, just as Elvis wades through the opened gates.

"-- what of even greater threats out there, biding their time? I -- cannot forgive myself for what happened with Adlehyde, but I..."

But despite his denials, and despite Timotheus' appeal to his paranoid instincts, his urging to claim the Orb's power, there is hesitation there in the king. A hesitation that only grows stronger in the light of others' appeals, in Talise's distracting speech to overcome his fear, in Gwen's potent description of what his kingdom once was, and what it could be again --

-- in the appearance of--

"... Cecilia--?"

Sunken eyes widen. And for a moment, King Krono of Krosse pauses. The shroud of Malevolence that surrounds him wavers. "... I am sorry, Cecilia, I truly am." He starts to turn, his hand falling away from the Orb --

"But--"

And a shining bolt of metal flies straight past the King's head.

Right for the Orb.

It goes wide. Electrical magic catches it in a cage of pure, Symbological power. The widened eyes of King Krono change from shock to fury.

"PERFIDY!"

Winds sweep at Cyre's beck and call, bringing the potent wrath of the Guardians to bear. The King looks to Cyre. To the Orb.

And within a second, all talk of reason dissolves away as the frail King of Krosse lunges for the Orb. He reaches as winds lash out. His fingers curl around its bending, spherical form.

And diseased light fills the air in a surging backlash of compressed wind and ill intent.

And within the tempest, a king struggles with an immense weight he was never meant to bear. A power he was never meant to have.

A sickness he was never meant to be afflicted with. And it changes him.

"GAH-- AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

---

"aahhh... haahhh... haha... You would try to take my kingdom from me, my power, my people..."

BGM: Merciless King -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHBNuItAErg

And in the seeping morass, a figure rises. Far larger than the King once was, bedecked in a shimmering, that shimmers with a strange, yellow light. Dressed in the robes and armor of a king, silver hair radiant. His lance, once old, immense and opulent and flowing with power. He looks as glorious as a king ought to be.

Save for the pulsing veins of violets, blacks and blues that stretch throughout his body. All of them tracing back to a source --

--a gaping, black, abyssal hole at his chest, bleeding unrestrained Malevolence that flows all the way to the Orb imbedded into the hilt of his glorious lance.

"You say you'll take this from me by FORCE? Then COME! AND I WILL SHOW YOU FORCE! FORCE TO SAVE KROSSE, TO SAVE ADLEHYDE!"

"FORCE TO MAKE GRIND ALL OUR ENEMIES UNDERFOOT!"

DC: King Krono switches forms to The Wounded King!
<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    "Well, I can't say I acted alone..." Virginia answers Leon. "But I certainly helped coax the door open." She presses her lips as she listens to Fei, maybe not quite taking the perspective that the King is as much at fault for listening. Maybe she has a different perspective on it, being the one to nurture such thoughts for months on end...

    Maybe she's just that much of a softie.

    Leo and Talise emerge to announce their presence, with Greygust firing a round already -- but it's Layna that she personally knows and remembers, winking as she waves her off-hand revolver. "Thanks, Layna. It wouldn't have been possible if you didn't give me that chance."

    She chuckles as well at Lily and Elly. Man, it's been ages since they first met to bail Fei out of a desert prison and she got a 10,000 gella bounty as a Puppy Thief. "You too, Lily. And Elly."

    More people come in; Gwen and Hiro among them. She nods gently towards the both of them. "Not letting that weight crush me, Gwen. And we're doing this together, Hiro... just like old times."

    Her lips thin further as Timotheus addresses her.

    "I am alone feeble. I was weak and vulnerable enough to be influenced by Malevolence, and turned to a Hellion."

    But she draws her pistol and the unthinkable happens--

    As the flash of light draws through the antechamber--

    "Skeleton!!"

    A valiant Skeleton that never gives up emerges from an emergency portal!!

    The flying Josie impacts against him--

    ...

    ... well, Josephine's fall is at least broken against a pile of bones which when you think about it isn't the most comfortable shock absorber, but Skeleton really is trying even as he explodes from the sheer impact of trying to catch and prevent her from crashing against something more dire.

    A weak skeletal thumbs-up accompanies the eventual stop of their momentum against ground.

    She bites her lip at the King as he looks on with uncertainty, as he struggles through as she speaks, "It was meant to look real. It was built on seeds of convenient half-truths, because paranoia works well upon fears that linger only on the edges of your peripheral vision..."

    She sucks a breath further.

    "But--"

    That diseased light fills the air, and wind and illness rushes through her as she holds her arms out and winces. Her eyes widen as she stares towards the Malevolent form that King Krono has taken.

    "I'll help stabilise her! Do what you need to to get through to them and stop that Orb...!"

GS: Virginia Maxwell has attacked Virginia Maxwell with Ready! Lady Gunner!!
GS: Virginia Maxwell has completed her action.
GS: Virginia Maxwell takes a solid hit from Virginia Maxwell's Ready! Lady Gunner! for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei pauses, looking over to Cecilia as she arrives shortly after him. That probably keeps him from throwing hadoukens at the king. He exhales, calming himself. He has had a good look at what the Orb has done to the city, and it hasn't been ...great.

It's difficult to tell how much of their behavior is because of the Orb and how much because it is who they are. Malevolence has to find something to roost in, after all.

Fei smiles for a moment at Xantia. Sometimes she is a simple gal but sometimes a simple gal helps keep you rooted. He knows she has her own troubles. It's a measure of her strength that despite everything...she can still be who she is.

"Xantia." Fei says. "Glad you could make it. Ah--but..." He tilts his head. "Those colors are they..."

**BASHFUL**

WHAT.

SHUTUP IT LOOKS GOOD I DON'T CARE

Fei lets out a small smile but it's gone quickly. Elly is here. His friends are here.

"Adlehyde still stands." Fei tells the King. "I know what it's like to feel like the world is overpowering...but you made the same mistake I did. No man, no king, can carry the weight of the world alone. We will still help you if you wish it!"

But something happens. Josie gets her words in on Timotheus and Timotheus...

He...

He....

"Without even a second thought..."

He struck her down... Dad....

FEI ID SYNCH UP: 10

"Ethius..." Fei murmurs. "Sorry for holding you back. You were right."

He then turns towards Cecilia, a small twisted grin flickering onto his face for a moment.

"Lynn." He says which is how you know this isn't Fei speaking. "He'll listen to you. We'll crush the poison bottle in his ear. You save the king. It's not too late."

And then he looks to Xantia. "Help her, sis."

And with that Fei turns back to Timotheus, looking briefly winded, stumbling back for a moment. He raises his hand to his forehead for a moment and then looks towards Elly. "Elly... I..."

His fists tighten again.

"I don't think I can forgive him!"

Virginia is looking after Josie. "Counting on you Ginny!" He says as he charges Timotheus, unleashing a swerve of quick palm thrusts for his body to get a feel for his defenses. "I won't forgive him!"

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise was really hoping that they'd be able to preempt this before it got out of hand. She was really hoping Benedict could get a clean shot through and cut the legs out from under the fight.

Josephine's dad is faster. The bolt hits the floor in a smouldering heap. Benedict curses and begins to load another one.

Then something else hits the floor. Someone else. "Ghhh," Talise hisses at the sight of Josephine going down - and Talise can't tell if she's alive or dead.

    Another body on the damned pyre.
    It was almost Fei and now it's Josie.
    By her OWN FATHER.

Curling her hand tightly around the hilt of her sword, Talise bunches her shoulders, taking a slow breath in through her nose, then letting it out through her teeth. Horrible emotions threaten to burst through the emotional bulwark she's been erecting against the Malevolent Domain - emotions that might seize her, and twist her, and make her what the Trial Knight nearly made her.

She focuses on another one. Something she's known in her gut - something that had been stamped out of her until that day in the sepulchre of a ghost of aeons past.

The crossbow bolt did more than fail. It's driven the King into shock and fury. Diseased light pulses forth as the King grasps the Orb and emerges awesome and horrific all in once, a picture of resplendence and twisted nightmare pulsing from that abyssal rift where his heart ought well to be. Talise looks upon him with a lump of emotion in her throat, but it's not anger or fear that's wrestling to the top of that pile of feeling.

She shakes her head and purses her lips, sighing with a heavy puff of breath through her nose.

"I'm sorry," she says genuinely, steadier than she's been in awhile. "Fear's a hard thing to deal with. But you can't lash out like this without just feeding it more. We don't want your kingdom--"

Rastaban's blade gleams as Talise twirls it to a ready stance, planting her heels apart in a stance Leo wouldn't recognize. It's not a Waning Crescent standard. "We just want you to end this!" she shouts, before lunging forward.

She sweeps to one side and comes in swinging, slashing out with a couple of quick strokes aimed to try and test the King's defenses - or to try and slash through them and create an opening.

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked King Krono with Testing the Waters!
GS: Talise Gianfair has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Hagan!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

Leon's silver eyes narrow, slowly and angrily, at Timotheus. He mutters under his breath, but doesn't speak out quite yet. His hand stays on Argent Divider at his side; his fingers curl about the hilt-slash-handle, and the look that ge gives Timotheus is withering. He breaks it to glance to the side, back to Josie, and he waits.

It's her father, he reasons; it's her show. He still feels his lips forming a line at the word that someone named Katriona is dead. He looks back at Timotheus, lifting Argent Divider -- and then Josie is blasted, sent hurtling into the nearby stone wall.

"JOSIE!" he shouts, and his expression has shifted into one as shocked as it is angry. He turns his head, then, eyes narrowing. "Your own daughter! I've a mind to--"

His eyes shift, to meet Lily's. Always at his side; as angry, if not more, than he is. He knows how to use that. "Lieutenant," he says. "Let's put an end to him."

He hears King Krono talking, but it has to be paid attention to belatedly -- until the Merciless King swells into existence. Leon's eyes widen for a moment more; he takes a step backward, before he sets a blood-coated jaw, and looks back to Timotheus.

"You heard Virginia!" the Captain calls out. "Bring the King down, and his archmage with him! Come now, Lovelace! This wouldn't be the first palace I've wrecked!"

Leon snaps Argent Divider to the side. The blade telescopes inside; two barrels snap into position, just as he levels the shotgun for Timotheus's center of mass one-handed. He squeezes the trigger, and a shotgun shell explodes out, hurtling for his chest.

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Shotgun Blast!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Testing the Waters for 100 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

There is little, to an observer, that is mystical or interesting to a wizard about Lily Keil; she is dressed in ordinary clothes, with the bearing of a soldier. She can see, of course, the logic; there are dangers, elsewhere. How often has she sought power, to accomplish her goals, to protect those close to her? How far has she gone, to secure what might she deemed necessary?

"It's that simple, then?" Lily asks, and this is not logic that is fair to a calculating mind. The ruin of an assistant who knows not even his crimes--Lily's expression does not change. She was already wearing a mask of emotionlessness. But here is the one figure--the one on whom Lily was waiting in the first place. Lily's eyes slide to Josephine for the moment, and she nods. She is not precisely at attention, but her bearing shares a similar kind of waiting; this time should belong to the older woman. And so, Lily waits. She listens, to a father insisting on what his aughter should be--

Lily cannot be certain whethr the spike of rage she feels in that instant is hers, or Josephine's, given her focus on the other woman. In the end, it does not matter--that spell makes its reply, and Lily feels it. She does not shout, but she is angry--her head turns, and she meets Leon's eyes, gold to silver. "...Thought you'd never say so, Captain."

Lily sprints, then, skidding down beside Josie--

She hits the ground, skidding to a kneeling position--as Josie hits the pile of bones, and Virginia claims she'll get her. "I'm relying on you," Lily tells Virginia. "I don't want to lose her here."

From there, she looks up at the King, changed, monstrous, wretched...

And turns her head to the magus as she rises to her feet. "Timotheus Lovelace..."

BGM Interrupt - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5TGj4uBmso

"Demonstrate all the power you want. ...You have power." Magic around Lily gathers, rippling the air about her person as she narrows her eyes.

"I am power."

Lily throws out her hands, and the space between them erupts into frigid mist, becoming a great lance of ice that rockets towards Timotheus.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Polar Burst!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Leon Albus's Shotgun Blast for 99 hit points!
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield! Statuses applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace critically Guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Hagan for 25 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Lily Keil's Polar Burst for 63 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.

    As things play out, and the fighting inevitably begins Chime finishes her survey of the room and grins slightly as she begins to effuse her usual cheer and hope. At least till Josephine is blasted with a bolt of lightning. "Oh, now that was rude~" she says, a little shake of her head. The short elf draws both her crossbows and begins to make her way around the room.
    Her movement is simple. Distance to avoid conflagrations that'll hit multiple people. Also clear her lines of sight being easily only two thirds as tall if not less than most of the gathered. As she moves, she watches the room making sure when she begins she'll be in a good place to help and attack

GS: Chime Isa has attacked Chime Isa with Survey!
GS: Chime Isa has completed her action.
GS: Chime Isa takes a solid hit from Chime Isa's Survey for 0 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Timotheus strikes down Josie.

Elly feels the world seem to telescope a little. Her eyes widen. They seem to keep widening...

She sees the King. She hears him. She hears his pain but it sounds beyond reason. The pain of a maddened beast? She bleeds for him, just a little in her heart, a pain of sympathy. He explains himself. Perhaps it was wise.

Oh, Elly thinks: How many horrible things, were reasonable decisions made in a seat that only had a limited view? The Princess comes, and so does -- Perfidy!? No, Cyre -- a horrible transformation begins. And for Elly she can only see Josie. Is she dead?

Elly feels a cold weight in her stomach. Perhaps she was slain outright in a single blow. There is nothing at all in all of her magicks that can aid that. People are screaming. Leon is moving ahead. She looks at Fei.

She smiles at him, very faintly, and sadly.

The smile disappears as Fei goes into action. Elly advances, breathing in deep steady patterns as she stares straight ahead.

She is feeling wordlessly, intuitive for the openings. When Lily strikes first, which is no great astonishment, Elly doesn't have words to throw into the mix. What she does do is reach for that lance of ice and distort it as it goes, increasing its edge and reinforcing its crystals, willing with a subtle press for the edge to increase in length, in narrowness. To see if it can become a monomolecular fractal blade in midair.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Etrenank Elegy!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Xantia busts into the scene...with a new set of armor? Layna sends her an appraising look.

"I wondered what was in that bag of yours. It's a good look, lass." Layna comments with a grin, before nodding toward Virginia.

"You earned it yourself, lass. I can't take credit." She replies, then turns her attention back toward King Krono.

"Guilty as charged." Layna replies as he addresses her with a low hiss. She smirks and cracks her knuckles. "...So you wanna do this the hard way, aye? Fine by me. Don't say I never gave you a chance to save your sorry hide."

It looks like others have the same idea - particularly as a gust of wind rushes for the Orb, which the King rushes to protect.

And nearby, Josie is struck down by her own father, even as the king is warped and changed by the Orb.

Layna grimaces as she looks upon the King's new form. On one hand, she would've felt a little bad about punching the lights ou tof a tired old man. On the other, this new form of his looked much more formidable. This would be more difficult than she thought.

"...Right." She says, exhaling and sending a nod toward Virginina. "Do what you can, lass. We'll keep 'em occupied."

With that she rushes forward alongside Talise. She moves quickly and, unlike her friend, she has no words for King Krono.

Nothing but a quick jab at his gut.

GS: Layna Manydays has attacked King Krono with Vengeance Rush!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Events unfold as they do - colorfully, tragically, dangerously. Ethius emotionally fixates on what must be done, as Josie is hurled aside by her own father. Emotions of fear and anger stir all around him, magnified by the King's take of a Power that is far too much - even Ethius has to take a moment to bring a forearm in front of his face to brace from the expulsion of power.
     This stays his hand only for so long as he ducks low and brings both hands to his quarterstaff, stabbing the tip into the ground for balance. Somewhere in all that, he hears Fei's apology. The quiet white-haired Symbologist gives him no sideglance or stink eye - there is a sense of cooperation and acceptance about how the matter must be handled in play, and so...
     "I have seen your work." Ethius remarks as he rises. "Your studies as concern the Malevolence phenomenon are coprehensive." This is... odd. Normally he'd just not say much and just go into lunging at him? Ethius holds out his left hand from his hold of his weapon, fluttering his fingers in sorcerous gestures. A Symbological spellcasting - Timotheus would recognize that tell immediately, as Ethius chants the syllables under his breath from under the bandanna around the lower half of his face.
     The patterns of light that follow once again flaunt his resistance to the Domain's power, as the heat gradually rises to unbearable levels, to try and stress Timotheus' focus and weaken his ability to muster power in the wake of those bearing down upon him.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Overheat!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Josie goes down - hard. Ashton takes a half-step in the direction of her fallen form, but stops himself. There's little he can do to help her, but the instincts still are there.

No, it's better to let those who can do the most good handle things. And for Ashton to use his skills where they are best plied.

Just where that is becomes obvious: much as there is sure to be anger towards Timotheus, he isn't the greatest threat here. The Orb - the source of it all? That is what must be destroyed.

A small bit of Ashton does worry about what happens afterwards. The release of so much energy would be...

No. This isn't the time.

Sureness of purpose. Purity of action. That is the way now.

Swords rise, and the swordsman surges forward. "As the lady says! Let hearts and blades sing with righteous fury!" The spellsword spins his blades as he charges, flicking them at the air.

A moment later, a whirlwind forms ahead, forging Ashton a path to the King as he rushes in close. "We'll not get another chance at this!"

GS: Ashton Anchors has attacked King Krono with Hurricane Slash!
GS: Ashton Anchors has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Timotheus, who appears to have a direct connection to Josephine--her uncle? Her father? Her grandfather?--basically expresses that he's a horrible hungry-grubbing man who doesn't care about the consequences of his actions. So, your hypical human, really. Ragnell eyes him as Josie pulls a gun on him--then snaps around in blatant shock to follow Josie's bereaved body when Timotheous in return zaps her across the room. She doesn't seem to be *dead*, but she sure won't be joining the fight. To Virginia, she nods. "All right--you keep doin' you, Ginny."
    
    The King, meanwhile, hesitates at the pleading of the people, at the appearance of Cecilia--but then that arrow flies, and the King makes his choice. Ragnell draws her paired pistols, steeling herself against the waves of Malevolence with the knowledge and will to do what she must. When Gwen calls her name, Ragnell smirks and winks her way.
    
    "You can't be *that* surprised t' see me, Gwen," she drawls. To Hiro and Ruby, she jokes, "Long time no see, eh?" with a wink to boot. To Cyre, she calls, "Looks like you're pretty pissed 'bout all this." And then finally to Cecilia, she says, "Let's see what all your hard work's come to, Cece."
    
    Then she calls up a Seraphic arte, glyph forming at her feet, and directs the bolt of lightning that forms overhead down towards King Krono--or the creature that was, should be, King Krono--and his Orb-set lance. "Blitzstrahl!"

GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked King Krono with Blitzstrahl!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Vengeance Rush for 97 hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a glancing hit from Ashton Anchors's Hurricane Slash for 43 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Blitzstrahl for 85 hit points!
GS: Disrupt! Statuses applied to King Krono!
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo's face tightens. For a moment, it's unclear if he's going to turn on Virginia, castigating her for her role in all of this. If he'd only known there was more to Krono's fear than Adlehyde, he'd--

    Too late now. Leo swallows, and turns to face the king before him. He can't afford to doubt. He never could. "You cast us out," Leo snarls, his lip curling. "Your people suffer and die as this plague runs rampant! Put down that Orb, or Goddess help me, I'll--"

    Cecilia. She shouldn't be here. Leo lets out a hiss of breath as a woman he swore to protect steps forwards. Part of him desperately hopes that King Krono will listen to her.

    It doesn't work. Things unravel. "King Krono, no!" Leo roars, and he surges forwards towards the ailing monarch. The wall of Malevolence slams into him, stopping him in his tracks. Leo strains against it, gritting his teeth. When he can see more than eldritch energy, his heart falls into his stomach. The moment passes. Leo sets his jaw, focusing on the newborn Hellion before him. "Whatever you think you have, it is nothing before the might of the living Goddess." Something glows pearly-white at Leo's neck, soft and reassuring.

    "HYAH!" Leo roars. He steps forwards, planting a foot on the stone. He raises his blade, and in the blink of an eye, he brings it down in a ferocious two-handed strike--what would be a finishing blow against many foes. Against what King Krono has become, it's more of a testing strike.

GS: White Knight Leo has attacked King Krono with Flash Blade!
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!
GS: White Knight Leo has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


The King responds furiously perhaps he was hoping for better. Perhaps he was hoping for something different. Those hopes get dashed in his accusations against Leo. There is hope perhaps found in his recognition of Cecilia. His apology - and there is Josephine, and Hiro lowers his sword fractionally, because ever does he trust her to bring sanity to madness - with her pragmatism. Especially with Cecilia addressing the King.

Yet there's no sanity to be found here. None at all, in what happens next. A pronouncement of a death - that must have held meaning to him. A drawing of arms in fury at a denial - a shot at the orb. And then Josephine is on the ground before his sorcerous might.

"You-!"

He can only grasp the depths of condescension which must come only from family. The King's accusation of treachery.

And then power swells within him - creating a figure of unrestrained malevolence. "Don't forgive him then." Ruby bristles, as she responds to Fei. "I personally - think you should knock this sucker out Fei."

Hiro just watches the King in silence for a few moments longer. Thinking of this - thinking perhaps of what Ragnell told him recently.

And then he double takes as Ragnell appears, "... guess I shouldn't be surprised. Given that we were chatting at his doorstep."

As his gaze levels upon the King there's something tight in his voice, "And just what did you give up for all that power? You think it's worth it." There's a grimace on his expression as malevolence bleeds throughout the room. "I think you haven't really thought this through at all. You're delusional - thinking the real threat is from all sides."

Testing his sword in one last swing, he finally starts dashing forward.

Ruby flaps off his shoulder, and just suddenly lands on Ragnell's shoulder. "Soooo... ... ... I've got nothing." Ruby cringes sheepishly, trying to use the Seraph as a barrier, "You just always stand at a safe range."

Hiro doesn't so much as leap, as allows his feet to skid, sliding around on the stonework more due to a gust of wind that suddenly pushes him at his back, pivoting at the last moment, he tries to drive his blade into the King's flank as he tries to blow on by him. "I think you should be more scared about what'll happen to you the longer you keep drinking from a poisoned well."

GS: Hiro has attacked King Krono with Poe Sword!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Quietly, Shalune furrows her brow towards the glance that Josie shares with her. She's not about to interrupt a situation like this with anything audible - but the expression is pretty clearly her unspoken warning to be careful. That she's smart and experienced enough - despite appearances - to know what could go wrong here.

    So it's a little bit awkward when Josie immediately gets blown back into Skeleton's thankfully waiting arms. "--Josie!" she yells out of sheer shock, then grits her teeth as her grip on her staff tightens until her knuckles are white. "--you--" Whatever else she can think to say is bitten back, at least for the time being; something tells her words aren't going to do a great deal here, after all, not when the very air of the place is twisting and gathering around the King as he transforms into a walking nightmare.

    In response, Shalune immediately and reflexivel averts her gaze, focusing on that brief jolt of anger towards the Lovelace symbologist. It's easier to do that than split her attention, and worry about things too large to take in.

    "--Miss! Here!" she calls as she digs into her coat, finds a roll of something soft with a hard core and yanking it out - a collection of slim vials, separated and protected into a series of pockets in a bundle of padded cloth. Jacqueline Barber may not be here to dispense her medicine, but Shalune is nothing if not prepared and in possession of a coat with a whole lot of pockets. She slings the bundle underarm towards the Drifter, trusting in her to catch it.

    The Wolves launch forwards on the attack, starting with Leon and Fei and Lily; Shalune is not nearly so offensive by nature, and rather than join them she instead jukes sideways, breaking into a run that carries her around the periphery of the battle. Another delve into her coat allows her to pull out a slim metal cylinder with its edges ringed by yellow strips of colour - she slams it into the head of her shotstaff, driving the canister home with a satisfying 'thunk' sound and then an equally pleasing click, diving afterwards for cover behind an ornate bench.

    "--you're a terrible father!" she yells, not really sure what she's doing but feeling a rare sort of ire and anger. Driven by adrenaline, the words slip out anyway: "She's your daughter! You can't put down your research - your goals - for even a second? You can't trust her?!" Shalune calls as she brings her staff up to her shoulder.

    Aimed at Fei.

    Thankfully, it isn't a bolt of laser fire - instead, the canister itself detaches to arc forwards over the intervening space, rupturing from the impact. In its wake trails an effervescent mist; more of Jay's potions, but weaponized in a rather Shalune style.

GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Hand in Hand!
GS: Shalune Amira has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Shalune Amira has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: Fei Fong Wong takes a solid hit from Shalune Amira's Hand in Hand for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Fei Fong Wong!
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Several terrible things happen in quick succession.

Cyre can't claim to be... proficient in matters of family. Heck, he ran away from home specifically to avoid having to confront certain unpleasantries associated with his own relatives. But this? To be so estranged from one's family to...

His eyes flash dangerously toward the court wizard. For a moment-- a faint, split second, Cyre's attention is diverted. Enough to interrupt his act of perfidy, enough to give King Krosse the time he needs to become...

To... become.

The shaman scowls at what was once the King of Krosse-- at what, if they fail here, shall forever be the King of Krosse. He remembers why they've come, why he came. Josephine-- Josephine is being tended to. If they don't destroy the orb, then...

Then what happened to Wehaca, who's to say how many more will suffer the same?

Clarity of purpose fills his mind. The wind surges around him, surrounding each of his limbs in a screaming whirlwind. "Force? That's right, King of Krosse. If that's what this'll take! If we need to force your eyes open, then that's what we'll have to do! Besides, with you lookin' like this--"

He scythes forward, carving the air into arcs of razor-sharp wind as he passes. Each time, the cutting shockwaves carry forward, cleaving at the king's terrible form. "I won't feel bad about beating up an old man!"

GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked King Krono with Stepping Wind!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia's pretty sure she nailed the dramatic entrance, a very important element of her hero training. Fei's reaction to her new look - well let's be honest, it wasn't exactly Fei she wanted a reaction from, and she can't see The Other Guy's reaction, but she thinks it's safe to assume that it was a good one. So she smiles in Fei's direction, not adding anything verbally. She does reply to the compliment she receives from the pirate captain upon her arrival: "Thanks, Layna! If you want to be a hero, you have to look the part!" So she was told, she sees no reason to doubt this. Yeah, this is a good start. Things are going to go well today, she just knows it.

Absolutely nothing goes well after that. Xantia was intending to let Josie deal with her father, in her boundless optimism naturally assuming that work out for the best. She was certain that they just needed to have a little talk, probably a little punching because that is always a good solution to problems, and everything would be fine.

Somehow she wasn't at all expecting Josie would try to shoot her father, which is a good general indicator of her judge of character. The retaliation for this, too, is swifter and more brutal than she expected, causing her fighting stance to lapse as she stares wide-eyed, suddenly unsure of what she should be doing. She didn't have much of a plan coming here, but already things are completely different from how she was expecting things to be. And that's before the king throws himself in the orb's direction, transforming into... something bad, she's pretty sure.

Thankfully Fei makes it easy for her, instructing her to help Cecilia. "Got it," she acknowledges with a nod, and rushes over to join up with the others approaching the king. Who, let's be fair, did just provide an open invitation for using force. She's always ready to oblige such requests, quickly reassuming a confident bearing, then rushes in, lightning gathering in her left hand.

And then, right in the middle of setting up her attack, she acknowledges Ragnell in passing, calling out, "Ragnell, I'll apologize later over cake, okay?!" ...alright then.

Whatever that was all about, Xantia continues on to lunge at the king, delivering an electrically charged palm strike before quickly hopping back, slamming her fist into the opposite palm and spreading out the lightning aura across her entire body. "Alright! If it's force you want, I've got plenty of that!"

GS: Xantia has attacked King Krono with Elemental Fury!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

It seems despite everyone assembled here, the yintend to use the power of that item. It felt like it was from beyond somewhere man was not meant to reach. "You just don't get it. None of you do. I have yet to understand the motives of some Humans. Perhaps I never will. But allow me to help correct you on your ways!"

And even as he girds himself for combat once again, something angers him. The lancing of young Josephine. He watches as she hits the wall. He slowly turns back. "She's one of the better ones I have had the pleasure of meeting. She can hold her own in a debate."

"I think I am mad at you now."

It doesn't take long for Elvis to leap into action. A simple hand gesture, and three hexagonal pillars shoot out of the floor, even here in the castle, and all three immediatelt attempt to spam inward toward the wizardly fellow. "You tamper in powers beyond your comprehension! You soulders reduced to slavering fiends, your city being choked of everything that would help them!"

"How could you be so blind?"

Elvis takes a moment to wrap his hands tightly in synthetic cloth, and begins to slowly walk forward toward the Lovelace kin.

GS: Elvis has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Hi-Crush!
GS: Elvis has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elvis has completed his action.
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's Etrenank Elegy for 114 hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a glancing hit from White Knight Leo's Flash Blade for 67 hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Hiro's Poe Sword for 108 hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Stepping Wind for 97 hit points!
GS: Riposte! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace guards a hit from Elvis's Hi-Crush for 67 hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a glancing hit from Xantia's Elemental Fury for 55 hit points!
GS: Mighty! Statuses applied to Xantia!
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Ethius Hesiod's Overheat for 49 hit points!
GS: Jam and Weaken! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    "I figured you would've played it smart and stay out of danger," Gwen says with a playful grin at Ragnell. "Then again, you *did* tell me about what was goin' on here."

    VIrginia is also given a wide grin. "We'll all do our part, Ginny. Just don't carry much weight than you really need to."

    Her quips and helpful pick-me-ups stop as King Krosse seems to be listening to their talk. Gwen is initially surprised, lured into a sense of hope. One boot sounds against the carpeted floor, the courier taking one step forward-

    And like that, the hope that initially bloomed by that hesitation in King Krosse's hand is dashed. Josie lies on the ground, her father urging them to come at him, and the king is...

    He is... his heart is...

    The urging of her companions brings Gwen back from her initial horror. "Ginny, we'll take care of this part!"

    Could she really willingly take down the king of a country she had gotten familiar with, much like Adlehyde and others?

    Lifting her ARM up and beginning to track the man with her palm held open towards him, Gwen breathes. He will save Krosse, and he will save Adlehyde. And his enemies will all be crushed underfoot.

    The man could very will go from paranoid king to a proper tyrant.
    
    ... Maybe it'd be the best thing if a man this far gone is put out of their misery, before the country realizes the extent of their king's corruption. How did hesitation help when she was facing Janus?

    Gwen winces at the thought. Is that really how things should go...?

    "... I'm sorry, your majesty. My message didn't get to you in time." Spotting an opening, Gwen fires her first shot into a possible weak spot- possibly the orb itself, if she can manage it. "Hiro, what's your plan? I'll try to back you up!"

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked King Krono with Crackshot!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! King Krono takes a glancing hit from Gwen Whitlock's Crackshot for 51 hit points!
GS: Cripple and Jam! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Gwen Whitlock!
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia stands forth. Even as all this evil bubbles around her, as the Malevolence blares in her eyes like a horrible beacon, she makes herself shine against it. "Krono," she says, kindly. "I understand. None of us were ready. Even I...even the one the Guardians burdened with it all, was barely a whisper next to what came. I understand what it feels like to hold your weapon in hand and find it powerless. So please..."

She holds forth her hand. "Please."

No such luck. The King erupts in dark seething power, blasting back in an annihilating wave. Fei speaks to her but that's...not really Fei, is it? Her eyes slide to him. Fei wouldn't call her that. "...yes," she says, and whirls her staff around, tracing lights that begin to form the framework for her crests about her, drawing down the Ley into its Shaman's hands. "Krono...Did my Father tell you? Did you know what I would have to become? The women of House Adlehyde, bound by fate and blood to the power that sustains the world?"

Her spell case flips up of its own accord. Her eyes flit to Xantia. She doesn't know the other woman very well but someone who can punch is good cover. "I'll be counting on you," she asides. If she notices Leo worrying about her, she gives him little more than a glance, but Ragnell earns a quiet, "In some ways, a harder fight than Mother."

Then, to the King again, she stamps her staff, the motes of light marshalling. "I understand why you longed for power, Your Majesty. But this power is wrong. This power cannot save your subjects, only bring them agony! This is a poison that eats at light and joy! Would you be so satisfied, with a kingdom of sorrows?! What makes this Krosse so different from ruined Slayheim? Let me show you a different power. A power I believe in! Come forth! Material!"

A Medium explodes into the air above her, a hovering shard with an icon of tearing Earth. It splinters apart, light bursting out of the stone to form the image of Grudiev, the earthly dragon. He roars defiance, crystalline shoulders pulsing with power. "Magnetron Bomb!!" Cecilia completes, her form unseen.

A blast of light rips down toward the cursed, corrupted, shining King, before Grudiev flickers and fades, ripping up stone as it goes.

GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has attacked King Krono with Material - Magnetron Bomb!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! King Krono takes a glancing hit from Cecilia Adlehyde's Material - Magnetron Bomb for 87 hit points!
GS: Cover and Shield! Statuses applied to Cecilia Adlehyde!
<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    Josephine falls, caught only by the intercession of the most loyal skeleton. She does not move, lying still where she has fallen.
    Virginia and Lily at least will be able to confirm that while the woman is insensate, she yet lives: her chest rises and falls in a slow, steady breath.

    Her father, archmage of Marze, pays her no heed -- pays no heed to those who shout at him for striking his only daughter down.

    "Now, my liege!"

    The king at last siezes upon the orb, drawing it to him.
    Unlocking at last the power that rests within.

    All the while his wizard watches, intent. As if conveying the transformation he now witnesses to memory in place of his notes. Fascination tranfixes him as the king rises, stands. Glorious perfection. A monument of his love for his country.
    ...A void at his heart.

    Lovelace's wrinkled brow creases further in consternation. "...his control is not complete..." he murmurs, only to shake his head. "No. It cannot be wrong. Not after all my research. My king! Show them your power! Together let us save Krosse! Let us transform our country to what it ought to be!"

    "Let us defeat fear and death--"

    Fei interposes himself into the last declaration, charging at the wizard in a flurry of fists. Timotheus barely moves his lips; his staff lifts but inches from the floor. A panel of light flares into being moments after Fei closes, absorbing the brunt of the young man's attack before shredding into nothing altogether. "You think to lay hands on me, fool?" He lifts his staff, pooling power from hands and stave alike. "Behold the fateful light of Aquarius! Receive thy punishment!" he intones, the space in the corrupted court darkening about him as he draws upon a light from a distant star. "Stellar Cross!" As one, seven stars flare in the darkness, shedding their terrible light upon Fei.

    But Fei is far from the only one to declare such violent intent upon the wizard. "Yes. My own child. And thus, mine to discipline as I please," Timotheus informs Leon. "But I suppose one such as you would hardly understand the rigors of Symbology. So be it. Face me now, and meet your end--"

    Leon fires the shot. Again with a mutter and a too-solid thud of that staff wrought of an ancient tree, the wizard's barrier absorbs the brunt of that attack--
    Though it shreds into but nothing at all this time, rent into mere shreds of magical energy. The archmagus frowns, and with a flourish, directs that staff for Leon. "O, thou lightning, heed thy master's call!" Lightning courses down his arm, coils in a spiral around his staff. He slams it to the ground, discharging there its gathered power. "Bolt Wave!" The current chases the ground, racing for Leon.

    For Chime, as she seeks to provide aid from her spot further afield.

    And for Elly, even as she works that alteration of her ice magic, honing its edge as it lances through the air. Even for someone such as the archmage, the barrier he lifts mere heartbeats after he sheds that electrical wave outwards to guard against it provides little defense: it slices through it with ease, and even as he narrowly ducks out of the way of the undefeated knife of ice, it cleaves a small piece of his staff off to bounce across the floor. Once again, the wizard frowns, as if it were a mild annoyance. "Hmm. That is no Symbology, now is it, young lady..."

<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    Lily, again, addresses him. He lifts his head, regarding her in the heart of the chaos as if this is a claim he has heard time and time again. Ice, it seems, draws to ice: what Elly has done, Lily repeats. The form is similar, even, to a practiced wizard such as Timotheus. "Neither is your spell. Interesting," he states, drawing up a barrier again to shield -- and test -- the impact of that spell.
    And of course to build upon what he has already observed from Elly's own. "But if this is you, if this is your power," he informs her, as the barrier vaporizes under the impact of her magic, "then show me. Show me more, child!" As if to demonstrate, he then weaves his own spell. "I call upon thee, the blazing crown of Iosis!" In response to ice, comes fire, engulfing the damaged stave like a diadem. "Burn Spark!" he intones, casting forth the plasmic flame in a single terrible torrent for Lily.

    "Spoken like a young fool," Timotheus informs Shalune, as she makes a more direct accusation towards him. "There are more important things than one's child. This research I have invested myself in may well bring immortality itself into our grasp! What is one's scion -- one's wayward, gallivanting child -- worth when compared to eternity?" He lifts both arms, as if to entreat the heavens themselves. "I am certain she will see it my way, once I explain to her properly."

    So it is that Ethius' compliment -- as coupled as it is by the muttered syllables of a spell -- draws the wizard's attention. "Indeed. Should you wish to join me as an assistant, I do believe I have a vacancy--"

    Attempts to counter that spell -- his free hand snaps up, tracing the counterpart Symbology for such a working -- do not work as entirely as planned; the wizard winces, staggering and leaning for the moment upon his staff. "Ha... careless. Careless..." he utters, before straightening. Already, he lifts his staff, beginning what may be the working of another incantation.

    It's the last accusation from Elvis that draws the wizard's attention over to him, his gaze heavy-lidded. "Blind, am I? Heh."

    May thine eyes traitors be!" the wizard intones, summoning the brilliant pearl of light at the end of his broken staff. "Light Flare!" He jams the staff into it, rupturing it in an instant, flooding the chamber with terrible blinding light, the brunt of it directed towards Elvis and those others unfortunate enough to stand too close to the Veruni man.

GS: Timotheus Lovelace has spent 5 Combo on Gatling, including 4 on Gatling!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Stellar Cross!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Leon Albus with Bolt Wave!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Bolt Wave!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Chime Isa with Bolt Wave!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Lily Keil with Burn Spark!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Elvis with Light Flare !
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Shalune Amira with Light Flare !
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Light Flare !
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Stellar Cross for 61 hit points!
GS: Mute! Statuses applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Chime Isa takes a glancing hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Bolt Wave for 73 hit points!
GS: Shalune Amira guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Light Flare  for 0 hit points!
GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Shalune Amira!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Bolt Wave for 135 hit points!
GS: Elvis guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Light Flare  for 0 hit points!
GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Elvis!
GS: CRITICAL! Leon Albus takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Bolt Wave for 232 hit points!
GS: Mute! Statuses applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Lily Keil takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Burn Spark for 178 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Light Flare  for 0 hit points!
GS: Mute and Slow! Statuses applied to Ethius Hesiod!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The wave of lightning slams into Leon. Sparks explode out from him in a shockwave as it catches him, throwing him backward where electricity leaps from the floor to Leon's feet. He slams back into the wall, but he doesn't crumple. He stands up straight, and looks at Timotheus. "You think you have some right to inflict whatever you want upon your children? Well, I'll hand it to you: you're much more despicable than I'd anticipated."

He scowls, then, and snaps Argent Divider back up, this time clutched in both hands. He glances to Fei, for a moment; then to Lily, before he bolts towards Timotheus. He jumps over a scorched patch of stone, where lightning had burnt into it.

Leon draws a bead -- and then fires. This time, a beam of aquamarine light slashes across the air, leaving a trail of vapor in its wake.

GS: Leon Albus has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Code.17 ZULFIQAR!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

These spells are familiar, for Lily, yes--she recognizes some of their nature, has felt it before... But this is far beyond those. he speaks of Symbology, of his own child--

And of her magic. "It isn't," Lily agrees with him. "I've studied your Symbols, but they aren't what I use."

Her voice is hardened, though--and when Timotheus demands his demonstration, Lily feels the fire begin--it erupts forth from the staff, and the so9rceress looks upon it, narrows her eyes--and disappears within the flames.

It is an awful, awful thing for an instant, the scent of fabric and flesh both under fire--but in an instant, the flames die out, leaving a worse-for-wear but otherwise intact Lieutenant Keil, red sparkling about her hands and in circuit patterns up her arms where they can be seen.

"As you wish," Lily tells him, her tone grim. She ducks down, steps forward again, moving closer to melee--and then extends her hand. Violet light crackles about her limbs, as she looks to Leon--watches him charge.

In that instant, Lily clenches her fist, and the shadows close around Timotheus. An archmage can easily feel the tides of darkness that come, probably guess what is to come--because if Lily's spell is not blocked, the cold grip of the void will not merely touch him, but will, as she draws back her hand sharply, violently shift the blood within his veins.

"I'm coming!" Lily says after that, and starts forward, moving to the other side from where Leon ends up.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Claret Tide!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.

    As Chime moves, she doesn't miss the racing current of magic charging her. She jumps up onto the wall and attempts to flip sideways off it over the strike, but is only partially successful. The resulting electricity arcs between the wall and the short ARMs Meister singing her. "Ooowwww, shocking!~" she yelps.

    Shaking her head, she calls out "Really? Come on. Something more maybe?" at Timotheus. "Don't hold back, keep at him~ The more he spreads his magic around the more effort it'll take him to dish out~ So stand up and fight on~" her voice cheerfully hopefully as she does, smiling brightly.

GS: Chime Isa has attacked Shalune Amira with It's Okay!!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Elvis with It's Okay!!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Leon Albus with It's Okay!!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Ethius Hesiod with It's Okay!!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Fei Fong Wong with It's Okay!!
GS: Chime Isa has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Chime Isa has completed her action.
GS: Leon Albus takes a solid hit from Chime Isa's It's Okay! for 0 hit points!
GS: Leon Albus gains Restore, shortening negative statuses by 3 turns each!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    The odd Symbologist keeps an ear on the exchanges between Timotheus and those who bear righteous indignation. That Ethius - noted for his seeming ability to just go straight to violence without so much a rise in emotion or even his very pulse - does not seem to be joining that chrous in earnest is strange. Somewhere around the time his words are responded to with a job offering, he's poised to respond about these prospects as the Archmage turns their focus on the nearby Elvis.
     Generally, Ethius finds, it is excellent practice to find cover. Somewhere in the mounting battle damages from the descent of a dozen and a half Drifters against one of the best Symbologists of their time and place and a newly minted Hellion of no small amount of Malevolence, there is the remains of a pillar that they dodge into just as the wizard finishes the chant for the Light Flare. The cover would be more than adequate for straightforward force.
     What Ethius fails to account for as he takes this cover, is how the blinding light refracts and bends through the spiritual corruption, and pings off a reflective surface just ahead. A reflective surface within his line of sight. The results are exactly as one would expect.
     It gets so bright that Ethius takes off his bandanna to try and cover his eyes against the blinding light. His quarterstaff tips over and knocks over something noisy, giving away his position. His left hand slams down on the shaft of it to secure it, but the right has to keep the yellow cloth against his face for what good it does (read: none).
     He exhales. Even in a bad tactical position - blinded and having given a sound cue to where he is - calm comes to him even in an environment suffused with fear. There is something he must do. He keeps his back against the damaged pillar, as he at least has knowledge that particular angle is secure.
     "I have found there would be very little material for me to work with for reference, as your prospective assistant." That Ethius can speak so calmly even as his eyes water and feed color of a light he cannot unsee...! "In your pursuit of an immortal kingdom, you would leave naught a passage as regards your masterwork?"
     Incapable of mounting a new offensive at present, Ethius... keeps talking? To what end?

GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace critically Guards a hit from Leon Albus's Code.17 ZULFIQAR for 25 hit points!
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield! Statuses applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Claret Tide for 84 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace suffers Infect, extending negative statuses by 1 turn each!
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei nearly throws himself out of the way of the canister on instinct but he smells the potion mist and it reminds him of Jay's own potions. She's thrown them at him enough to recognize the difference between those and MURDER JUICE. After taking a moment to confirm that it was from Shalune, he takes in the mist and breathes easily.

"Thanks Shalune."

Timotheus summons a barrier before Fei can really clobber into him which isn't too much of a problem for Fei. He has friends here who can punch through that barrier far more easily than he could. If he is taking the brunt of the punishment, well, that means his friends aren't.

Magic is unleashed upon him. The first star blasting onto him catches him in the chest but Fei bashes away the rest with the back of his hand, smacking them away as if they were flashlights rather than stars.

Then he winces and grabs at his hand due to the burns there.

That's symbology, dude. Not ether.

Fei stumbles before shaking his hand and he says, "Well better than getting zapped."

You could try dodging.

"Fuck dodging." Fei says because he's in agony. "Josie's hurtin' more!"

He tells Shalune there are more important things than your child.

"Words words words. It's called child abuse!"

Timotheus seems to like fire so Fei unleashes wave of ice erupting out of his hands towards the symbologist, flinging it at him like a very angry iceberg.

"You want to talk about eternity? You're too shortsighted for that!"

He seems to have come to an understanding, in this moment, with Ethius. how long it may last is a mystery but he's relying on Cecilia, Xantia and the others to handle the bigger problem. He's spoken the words he can to the King.

GS: Fei Fong Wong takes a solid hit from Chime Isa's It's Okay! for 0 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong gains Restore, shortening negative statuses by 3 turns each!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Suikei!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

"You could not save my people, White Knight. Not you. Not your Goddess. So I will."

Resplendent and harrowing all in one is the echoing voice that spills from the Wounded King's lips, each syllable echoing with the contradictory taint of years of accumulated Malevolence. He stands tall and unbending, lance piercing the stone beneath him as he slams it into the ground.

An ostentatious pose that is only briefly compromised as he lurches forward slightly, a gilded hand pressing to his temples, unnaturally regal features twisting like someone struggling to stay in control of something.

The Malevolent veins running from the Anomalous Orb's setting through his entire body pulse with greater intensity.

"hhhh... I will... I will..."

And that brief struggle is one that provides an ideal opportunity for both Talise and Layna to capitalize on with physical force. Both sword and fist carve and hammer into the Malevolence-dense flesh of the freshly-born Hellion -- and in that moment, both can feel just how truly -immense- that Orb-forged armor of fear and hate truly is. The Rastaban carves into the King's golden midsection, carving into it like carving through stone; black light pours from the cuts in sickly streams that send the King of Krosse staggering -- right into that jabbing blow Layna wordlessly hammers into his stomach. An exhale of breath rushes out in a stream of vile air.

"... I will END THIS."

And both have mere seconds to react before that backwards stagger ends with the large, Hellionized king -planting- his back foot into the stony ground and -charging- forward and potentially -through- them.

Lance-first.

It is a rush of momentum-borne winds that leads towards the titanic Hellion King -landing- with such force the ground craters beneath him, his impact alone sending a shuddering surge of Malevolence -bursting- outward from his body like a leaky dam. For as forceful as it is, though, it seems almost nebulously wavering -- as if his body were unable to fully harness the full, harrowing depths of the Anomalous Orb's potential.

Yet.

It is a 'yet' they may well have to race against, now, and one Leo and Ashton attempt to press upon in their own way. A rush of wind whips wildly from the spellsword's spinning blades; they surge violently through him, unseating his footing -just- enough for Leo to close in to his defenses; that blow, just as the White Knight surmises, are more an opening salvo than a finishing strike: it carves a wound straight through the gilded Hellion King's front that oozes black light -- and quickly begins to seal itself up. And it is just as Ashton begins to try to rush in, to take advantage of his opening --

"Your 'living Goddess.' What has she done for any of us, suffering in fear?!"

-- King Krono -stabs- the earth with his lance. The Orb pulses.

And stone cracks apart into ugly scars that race from Leo to the approaching Ashton, EXPLODING with spontaneously-formed stalagmites seething with Malevolence that seek to impale the knight and the spellsword upon their jagged ends.

"You failed us all."

The lance rips from the flooring, taking chunks of stone with it. The Orb within SEETHES just slightly brighter, ebbing once through the veins decorating the King's golden frame. "nnh" heaves Krono, a breathless exhale -- and the air expelled instantly ionizes as lightning courtesy of Ragnell -jolts- through the lord of Krosse's entire frame. Malevolent-enforced musculature spasms --

-- an opening seized upon by Gwen with that single, crippling shot. It JOLTS through the elbow joint of the hand holding that lance. Threatens nearly to -force- it open --

"hhrrrrAGH!"

But before it can, the King's other arm SWEEPS outward. Malevolent glyphs fill the air as if on instinct.

And from them spews a torrent of Malevolence-laced air, a cage of violet and golden glyphs surrounding it encompassing Gwen, Ragnell --

-- and threatening to catch Virginia in its wrathful wake too, to try to crush them in a cage of steadily mounting pressure.

"I have no need of anything you could offer me! This is the sacrifice I make for my people! I will master this tool, and within its domain ALL will be safe!"

<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

His grip strengths through spasms around that lance-mounted Orb. Despite his words, though, the pressure of that crystalline relic wavers as he rears back. Violet bleeds into his eyes in a brief pulse before pure white takes over once more. He lifts his weapon up high --

If it's force you want, I've got plenty of that!

"As do I!"

-- and SLAMS it downward in a surging trail of Malevolent energies, intent to -tear- the tip of it through Xantia -just- as her charged palm pummels into his mended midsection, seeking to clip her just before she can leap fully backwards.

He seems as if he might pursue -- but then, he feels the change of pressure in the air. Instantly, he is -impaling- his lance into the ground. A second later, just as shockwaves -carve- into gilded armor, tearing away pieces of it at a time --

-- a pillar of pure, dense, Malevolence-laden earth EXPLODES out of the ground in the exact same shape as that resplendent lance, aiming to dive Cyre straight through.

"You," he breathes out, a second later. "I remember you from the Catacombs. The boy from the shamans. Are you here for revenge, too? Another enemy of Krosse--"

It is Hiro, then, that interrupts what may well have been a paranoid tirade of a man gripped by the power of the Anomalous Orb. His blade slices into the side of the King of Krosse, eliciting a snarl of pained annoyance from the Hellion. "I have nothing to fear! Timotheus has said -- a strong will can -- hrrnn... a strong will--"

His words trail. His pure white eyes, flickering shades of violet with every wavering pulse of that Orb, lift to train upon Cecilia. Did her father tell him?

"... Yes," he manages, after a moment of silence.

"And yet Adlehyde was brought low despite everything. And yet every day Kislev and Aveh dredge more horrifying weaponry of the past from the earth to kill each other with. And where are the Guardians? Where is the White Knight's Goddess? Why do they all turn a blind eye?! Where--"

And that is when Grudiev makes his appearance, summoned by Cecilia's power. White eyes widen. Light drowns him out in a flickering explosion of the Guardian's earthen might. The spiritual power resonates through the King's Anomalous form --

"I -- know -- what I have done -- but I -- I -- CANNOT LET ALL THIS BE IN VAIN!"

The lance twists in the ground, through the torrent of light. Ill sigils form on the ground beneath Cecilia and Hiro. And, as if in a direct attempt to defy the Guardians' might --

-- it is Malevolent, draconian serpents of pure, discordant energy that EXPLODE from the ground beneath the both of them seconds later, as the King stumbles forth from the blistering, fading light. Smoking.

Seething.

"I... I cannot...!"

GS: King Krono has attacked Talise Gianfair with Massacre Arc!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Layna Manydays with Massacre Arc!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: King Krono has attacked White Knight Leo with Ground Dasher!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Air Pressure!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Xantia with Massacre Arc!
GS: King Krono has spent 5 Combo on Gatling, including 4 on Gatling!
GS: King Krono has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Terra Pike!
GS: King Krono has gained 2 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Hiro with Grave Worm!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Air Pressure!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Cecilia Adlehyde with Grave Worm!
GS: King Krono has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: King Krono has attacked Ashton Anchors with Ground Dasher!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has attacked Virginia Maxwell with Air Pressure!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has completed his action.
GS: Virginia Maxwell guards a hit from King Krono's Air Pressure for 66 hit points!
GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from King Krono's Massacre Arc for 109 hit points!
GS: Layna Manydays takes a solid hit from King Krono's Massacre Arc for 182 hit points!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
DC: MISS! Seraph Ragnell completely evades Air Pressure from King Krono!
GS: Xantia takes a glancing hit from King Krono's Massacre Arc for 92 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo guards a hit from King Krono's Ground Dasher for 66 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to White Knight Leo!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Elvis takes a solid hit from Chime Isa's It's Okay! for 0 hit points!
GS: Elvis gains Restore, shortening negative statuses by 3 turns each!
GS: CRITICAL! Gwen Whitlock guards a hit from King Krono's Air Pressure for 76 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Gwen Whitlock!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde critically Guards a hit from King Krono's Grave Worm for 28 hit points!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Hiro critically Guards a hit from King Krono's Grave Worm for 31 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Hiro!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Ashton Anchors critically Guards a hit from King Krono's Ground Dasher for 27 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Ashton Anchors!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Ashton Anchors has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Suikei for 158 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"Why do you care!" Elly suddenly answers Timotheus. What?

"Don't pretend to hide behind some kind of scholarly curiosity!" Elly continues forwards, her voice heated. "This has gone well beyond anything scientific - you've struck down your own daughter, and you've spread wicked arts throughout this entire town. To say nothing whatever of what you've done to that King...! I don't know what's happened here, not everything... but I can tell that there is something other than curiosity working at you..."

The lightning arcs towards Elly and silences her, distracts her, at least, from her excoriation. All of this is spinning wildly, she thinks, and -

The electricity arcs into her, behind the back, at the left hip. She hisses at the sudden spasm in the muscles there, swaying, nearly pitching over as she smells clothing scorch, as she feels the spastic scream of muscles trying to contract under a comically overwrought command that comes, not from her will, but from an outside force.

Yet it is no darkling command, just electricity. She tells herself that as the pain passes.

She draws herself upwards. She sways. Ethius says something about an immortal kingdom.

Immortal kingdom? Elly thinks, but doesn't say.

What she does do is raise her hands and clap them together once. How cheerful. It is a small sound in the chaos of this battle, but it is a connection to a sequence in her mind, a technique, an art. As her hands clap together, the air around Timotheus ripples for a moment. Not visibly - it is no deflection barrier - but pressure suddenly changes above him. Just outside, perhaps, of his habitual space of resistance and control. The air distorts -

And then relaxes. The relaxation is the part that makes the sudden screaming twister, centered around his body!!

GS: Shalune Amira guards a hit from Chime Isa's It's Okay! for 0 hit points!
GS: Shalune Amira gains Restore, shortening negative statuses by 3 turns each!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Anemo Cyclone!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Cyre H. Lorentz takes a solid hit from King Krono's Terra Pike for 206 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Even with a bone to pick with this mad monarch, Talise can't muster any emotions more powerful than a profound pity, swimming just beneath the crust of the familiar calculus and heartbeat of battle.

The magnitude of fear and loathing encasing the King is overpowering enough - even saying nothing of the speed at which Krono reacts. Talise hisses as the King bears down on her and jukes to the side, pivoting on a heel and swatting with the flat of her sword to divert that bold lance charge --

His shoulder hits her instead, and with enough speed that even someone as tall and solid as her can't stay upright. Steel clatters as Talise takes a tumble, landing on her side with a wince and rolling clear. The force of the King's landing pushes her further away as she rolls to one knee.

'Your living goddess. What has she done for any of us, suffering in fear?'

Talise curls her lips. It's a feeling she's shared more than a few times. "Don't blame Althena," she rumbles as she drops back a few metres and sheathes her sword. "You have to find your own courage."

Just like she's going to. Talise does not turn to her sword. Instead she ducks behind a column, pulls out a piece of chalk and a scrap of paper, and begins marking something up. It is, perhaps, the stupidest thing she has ever tried to do in her life.

When Talise emerges from behind the column, she whips Rastaban into a one-handed grip, notepad nowhere in sight. She's keeping her right shoulder forward as she waits for the King to make his move.

And then he does. He calls forth those serpents - and when the King stumbles from that blistering light, Talise is suddenly on him. She swings Rastaban out, but it's not the kind of aggressive blow she'd normally swing. It's a covering strike, seemingly intended more to try and force him to cross his lance with her blade.

And then she reaches out with her empty left hand.

Talise's gauntlet - thrumming with the subtle strength enchantment woven into them - has been marked with an entirely different enchantment. Several symbological runes have been written on it with surprising precision. The swordswoman clenches her teeth and focuses, having no idea how to do this save for what she read in the books and what she learned from Lynnai.

"Stop what you're doing," she commands. The symbols on her gauntlet pulse a little. "Stop what you're doing. Stop what you're doing. Stop what you're doing--"

With Ida gone from the Fox Company, Talise is the brainiac now. She stopped in the lab. She read the stuff about controlling the orb with symbols.

All I can do is try it--

GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked King Krono with High Risk Symbol!
GS: Talise Gianfair has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Chime Isa's It's Okay! for 0 hit points!
GS: Ethius Hesiod gains Restore, shortening negative statuses by 3 turns each!
GS: King Krono guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's High Risk Symbol for 48 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

The sweeping assault of wind gets done what it needed to - it covers the advance. Ashton's not upset that the opening is closed so fast. He expected this to be no quick battle.

The ground cracks and explodes - but the swordsman endures. He simply braces himself, arms crossed before his face to shield from the worst of the fragments. Several stalagmites strike him, shattering apart on the heavy armor under his robe.

"You have much to fear, King!" Now that he's in close, Ashton can do his bloody work. "Your people need not Goddess nor Guardians when they have strong hearts and sword arms to defend them!"

Two blades swing, striking alternating paths. Vertical - horizontal - vertical - horizontal. All while pushing closer, trying to get in under the lance. The Symbological Swordsman knows the tell here - his short swords have a massive reach disadvantage versus the King's lance. He has to get in close and stay there. Keep in his face. Keep up the pressure.

His eyes turn for a moment towards Cyre, the shaman who came in with the wind. "Lorentz! Can you seal the corruption? Or is the soul here lost?" There's a tiny bit of hope still here. But there's not much chance. Ashton knows it. He can feel it at this range - the Malevolence is sickeningly strong. But there's always the chance.

<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

The pillars come crashing down, though not firmly enough. "You think you can hide behind your feeble magics, magus? That your might and magic will prove your righteousness in the end?" Fists clench and ball within those wraps. "How will your patriotic fury help save your country when there is no country left to save?"

A retort in the form of blinding light comes, and Elvis has to look away for a moment. A young voice calls over the crowd, as if the fighting dulled just long enough to let their words land. "You are right... and I don't need eyes to fight you!" he says, as his eyes adjust ot the light.

The Veruni explodes into action, and the remnants of the pillars on the battlefield crumble into sand. Though that sand cloys to the ground, shifts underfoot.

He's there.

Even as his sight clears, Elvis throws impossible volleys of punches, closing the distance in a staggering amount of time, looking to collide with what he expects is a shield of some kind.

Interestingly, he can feel another's presence in close to the brawl. "Boy!" he calls toward Fei. "Let me show you again how to throw a jab!"

"Also, we need to have a serious talk later!"

Yeah, he hasn't forgotten.

GS: Ashton Anchors has attacked King Krono with Cross Slash!
GS: Ashton Anchors has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Ashton Anchors takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Ashton Anchors has completed his action.
GS: Elvis has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Rapid Punch!
GS: Elvis has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elvis has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    The enormous cage of glyphs surround Gwen, Ragnell and herself; Virginia's Hellion-trained instincts are the first to alarm her of danger as she grits her teeth and desperately pushes her way through and out of its demolishing wrath.

    She winds up succeeding in part when she vanishes out of sight, thanks to the timely acquisition of the Galecrest in her hands as she pants and grabs hold of the canister from Shalune. Everyone's buying her time to fix this... "Thanks! Just--"

    She kneels by Josephine and inspects her, grimacing as she says, "C'mon, keep breathing--" she catches a pulse. "Good... she'll be fine, I'll look to it."

    The Drifter bites her lip as she looks towards the King again.

    "If I could take so much of what I did back, I would. But...."

    She breathes harder as she continues to administer the canister to Josephine, those same effervescent healing pulses flowing through her as she murmurs, "You have to believe that these are problems that we can overcome. Together. Together!"

    She lowers her head.

    "It was all in my lonesomeness that I fell! I felt ever the part of a useless greenhorn facing down something that was way too large... that I couldn't ever catch up to everyone else..."

    Virginia redoubles her breath.

    The Rapier Ex and Bantorain 93R (sic) clicks into place as she dual gangsta-styles them.

    "And there's still time. It's why I haven't come to do this alone. Because Filgaia's problems aren't a thing anyone can fix alone."

    She cocks the hammers back.

    "It's all of ours."

    Bang!

GS: Virginia Maxwell has attacked King Krono with Fate Breaker!
GS: Virginia Maxwell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    Ragnell flashes Gwen a wide, wide grin and a wink. "I did, didn't I? Well, I never was one to know what was good for me." When she'll hang back and when she'll engage seems rather arbitrary. Perhaps there's an inner logic that would explain it if one just knew what it was, though. Or maybe she's just a capricious jerk, who knows?
    
    Then Ruby lands on her shoulder. Ragnell tilts her head, proverbially sweatdropping, as she looks around at the tiniest Red Dragon. "Ru, you *do* know what it means to be a long-distance fighter, right? Though I guess you're not wrong..." After all, by definition you have to stand at a safe range to be effective as a distance fighter. But then, Ragnell's scrappy enough to put up a fight even in melee range. She doesn't try to charge the King either way, though, nor does she shrug off the little dragon; instead, she gets a thoughtful look. "Ru, you know how you owe me a favor or two? I got somethin' to call it in for, if you're willin' to take a risk."
    
    Xantia calls over to Ragnell, saying something about an apology over cake. "Uhhhh why, what're ya doin'?" she calls back--though she has a feeling she's about to find out. Then Cecilia admits that this fight is in some ways harder than Mother. Ragnell chuckles quietly. "Matters o' th' heart are like that, aren't they? Not just romance, but friendship, loyalty--" She shoots a glance towards Krono. "A desire to do right by the people you're responsible for... You need strength in these matters, not just in arms an' artes." She smirks grimly. "So let's see how y'all grow after this trial--and the next..."
    
    If she has anything else she's saying after that, it gets interrupted by Krono responding to the attacks upon him with many of his own. Glyphs appear, and Ragnell gives them a sharp glance and leaps backwards, backstepping out of the range of his artes just before Malevolent winds tear through the space where she was a moment ago. A close one, that; if Ragnell's reflexes hadn't been on point just then, that would've been one storm she wouldn't have enjoyed at all. She dashes to one side and opens fire on the King as she does so, electric shots arcing around and aiming towards him as if homing in on their target. "Storm Runner!" she calls, and Ruby might have to hang on for dear life to Ragnell's shoulder if she doesn't want to just fly after her.

GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked King Krono with Storm Runner!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
GS: Timotheus Lovelace guards a hit from Elvis's Rapid Punch for 99 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Elhaym van Houten's Anemo Cyclone for 76 hit points!
GS: King Krono critically Guards a hit from Ashton Anchors's Cross Slash for 24 hit points!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ashton Anchors has lost 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Virginia Maxwell's Fate Breaker for 127 hit points!
GS: King Krono critically Guards a hit from Seraph Ragnell's Storm Runner for 25 hit points!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has lost 1 Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna's strike lands solidly, and it feels like she's made contact with solid steel. She takes a step back to renew her assault, but King Krono recovers before she can react. His newfound speed and power take her by surprise, eliciting a curse as she make to dive out of the way of his charge.

He barrels right on through, knocking her back violently and practically bowling her over. With a hiss Layna forces herself up, flexing her fingers.

"...Damn. That power's no joke..." She mutters to herself. She shakes her head, steeling herself once more.

"What is Krosse to you, Krono Krosse? Your people are scared, and terrified! And not of Metal Demons, nay, or some outside force...but of you, and the people that're supposed to be protecting them!" Layna says. "They don't need to be kept safe from what's outside the walls - they need to be kept safe from you."

With that, she notes Talise darting behind a column. She has an idea what she's attempting...but can she manage it?

"Hold strong, lass..." Layna mutters, then turns her attention back to King Krono. Well, if Talise was making an attempt, then she might as well try to facilitate it. She recites an incantation, whipping up razor sharp cutting winds that she sends rushing toward the King.

GS: Layna Manydays has attacked King Krono with Cutlass Gale!
GS: Layna Manydays has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Shalune grits her teeth, biting back her response; as close as she comes to rising to the bait, it' s more important to duck behind her cover, hunkering down to try to avoid the incoming symbological spell. Which might have worked, were it not so all-pervading a light, its light arcing unnaturally around the pew to dazzle her regardless.

    The man's answer was clearly not what she was looking for, given the way she hisses sharply under her breath and feels her hand close itself into a fist. There isn't a great deal that can truly upset Shalune; even the worst of times with Lunata and Jay have historically made her fret endlessly rather than cause her actual anger. Here, though, her expression does the unthinkable as far as the pink-haired mechanic is concerned - it flattens out into a sober line.

    "Better a young fool than a terrible father," she mutters fiercely. "You prob'ly meant the world to her, somewhen. She probably kept hearing about what you'd done, what you'd discovered, what you'd researched. Got told tales about what important things you were chasing, waited and wondered when she'd get to see you. And you probably trampled over all of that without even a second's thought about what she wanted."

    If she's projecting-- well, she's not about to admit it out loud. Instead, her nod towards Fei is short and curt as she sucks in a breath, then slowly lets it out as one hand strays to her coat, feeling for a tiny little box secreted away in one pocket. "Changed my mind," she decides softly, almost speaking to herself. "Think I'm with Mr. Leon on this after all. Kinda feel like tearing this whole place down might be a great plan."

    Still trying to shake spots out of her eyes, she pushes up from her hiding space, reaching again into her coat for another of those slim canisters. This one is a lot less friendly-looking, a hastily-scribbled lightning bolt in yellow painted on the side; she rams it home regardless after a single false start, the clicking of the ratchet triggering a rising hum as parts of the staff start to fold out and glow in a spidery pattern of lines reminiscent of Veruni technologies.

    The whine grows to a fever pitch as she dives towards a table, kicking sharply out with a foot to knock the furniture over before going into a roll; she comes up on one knee, the staff rapping against the wood as she braces it in place. There's an empty moment where she sights along it - and then a solid lancing line of light in blue-green is taking up the space between her and Lovelace, and then is gone in an instant. But while that instant lasts, it's a searing one.

GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Storm on the Wind!
GS: Shalune Amira has gained 3 Combo!
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: King Krono guards a hit from Layna Manydays's Cutlass Gale for 74 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia's palm impacts with the sound of a thunderclap. In return, a lance is driven her way - in an eerie bit of similarity to when Xantia last faced the Trial Knight, it's driven for her midsection. However, this time...

A metallic -CLANG- signals a powerful impact, one which sends Xantia flying back more forcefully than she'd intended. Rather than on her feet, she ends up landing painfully on her side. She doesn't stay down for long, leaping back to her feet, then pausing to rub her hand across where she was struck. That hurt, but... it didn't pierce through. If it wasn't for her wearing armor this time, that could've been a wound just as serious as before. And here she'd been barely even thinking about that aspect - all this time, her main concern was to obtain a more heroic-looking outfit. Actual practical benefits? Those are a welcome surprise.

In light of this, she takes a moment to resume her attack. Clarifying what's on her mind to Ragnell can wait, right now she focuses on watching what else the king weathers, and what he's capable of.

Xantia is far from what most people would define as wise, but she can certainly be perceptive. And what she's seeing now... is desperation. "...You don't control this force. You don't even really want it, do you?"

Just like that, she's shifted her appraisal of King Krono from Supervillain to Unwitting Victim. The look in her eyes is unmistakably one of pity. "You're not going to make things any better like this. It's time to find another way. There's always another way. All you have to do is keep looking."

Of course, she's not just going to use words to try and stop this. Not when people are counting on her. Cecelia literally said it just now. And what about the lives of all those refugees she helped save? They won't be truly safe until this ends, one way or another. Leaping back towards the king, she has but one simple demand: "Open your eyes!"

Perhaps not the most fitting thing to say when the punch you throw to go with it causes a powerful explosion of blinding light on impact, but oh well.

GS: Xantia has spent 2 Combo on Gatling, including 1 on Gatling!
GS: Xantia has attacked King Krono with Exploding Fist!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    "Still your tongue!" Leo doesn't have the luxury of being shocked by the words coming from his own lips. King or not, Krono has proven himself a danger to himself, and to everyone around him. "She has done more than you can imagine!" Malevolence surges through the earth at his feet, and he feels it as a sickly thrum at the very edge of his hearing. A lance of earth tears free of the ground beneath him; the White Knight braces, sorcerous power suffusing him. The stalagmite rips into the back of his calf, tracing a line of red across the muscle. Pain shoots through Leo's leg. He grits his teeth, and fights through it, forcing himself to step back, and circle Krono. It feels like something seeped into his blood.

    'Lorentz!' Ashton calls out, to Leo's right. Leo's head whips around, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he catches sight of the shaman. Mauri told him what he'd told her, and his blood boils as the memory bubbles up. The look he shoots Cyre is positively venomous. It's gone in an instant. Focus. His people told him what these heathens have the power of Purification, and Leo needs that, for now.

    'I -- CANNOT LET ALL THIS BE IN VAIN!'

    "It already is," Leo says. He lunges, raising his blade and bringing it down at King Krono's right shoulder with severing, chopping force--

    It's a feint. Leo's foot comes down, and the earth rises up beneath King Krono, all jagged spikes. Leo's lip curls, ever-so-slightly.

GS: White Knight Leo has attacked King Krono with Rock Viper!
GS: White Knight Leo takes 10 damage from Poison!
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


"Of course I know! You're... just less likely to go in that close than... Hiro..." There's a nervous titter, however she then cocks her head back, "Yeah sure I remember. Way back from when we bet on that duel..." Suddenly the idea of helping out causes her to perk up, "What do you need me to-" Ruby feels Ragnell lurch - and her claws have to dig in sharply, "-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?"

Gwen asks what his plan is - and Hiro looks taken aback "Wait - I'm the one who's supposed to have the plan? I just followed Leo in here thinking he had one!" Whirling around after his attack on the King anew, he says, "Well if Sorey were here I'd say - let him purify him - since he's not we gotta just manage this the hard way!"

Hiro tries to reason with the King hearing his pained irritation, and trying to capitalize on it, "And I'm telling you - sometimes a strong will isn't enough!" He says in protest, "The more you take in - the more it takes from you!" Perhaps it is simply Ragnell's lesson on Seraphim and Fell Dragons. Perhaps a person cannot lose themselves that far. Remembering the Lord of Calamity though - he wonders.

"Don't do it! Don't abide by the quick - the easy way! What happens if the cost it exacts on you makes your people suffer more than your enemies? What then!"

Sigils appear beneath him though, and he finds himself leaping in the air, pointing his shield down. His blade carves through the malevolent draconian being, but it still bowls him out of the side. The malevolence seeping into his skin like poison, "Guh!"

He has to dig deep to get up, as that malevolent power frustrates him. "Just listen to yourself! Listen! You're one big walking contradiction - and it's consuming you!"

He pulls out his boomerang - it's a simple weapon. Just a curved thin length of metal. And flings it, perhaps hoping to knock some sense in the King. The boomerang makes a snapping noise, as it breaks apart mid-flight into two. Then careens into the King in high low asynchronous whirling strikes.

"There's a right way to be strong for your people - and this isn't it!"

GS: Hiro has attacked King Krono with Cross Boomerang!
GS: Hiro has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Hiro takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

You'd think that, after so long among the Carakin, Cyre would have learned a thing or two about stone pillars from down below. Unfortunately, this time it's all that he can do to twist out of the way to narrowly avoid an utterly fatal blow. The stone spike surges upwards, cleaving a bloody gash through the beastman's flank and sending him whirling, tracing a crimson contrail into the air. But--

He has no time right now.

Bleeding is just a distraction.

There's a flash of prismatic light, a myriad array of high-intensity beams pour into the wound, flash-cauterizing it before it can leak any further.

It hurts.

It hurts real bad.

But somehow, it hurts less than the time Leo's sister set him on fire (three or four times), so he muddles through it.

"You're damn right I'm here for revenge!" Cyre snarls through the pain. Those glowing lights realign, arraying all around him in a halo of mystical symbology. "How could I not, after everything you did!? But I ain't an enemy of Krosse. Maybe I might've been, once-- but I've got a bit of context, you know. I've learned a few things."

"Now, I'm just your enemy."

Ashton asks an important question.

Cyre takes in a long breath of (awful, vile) air.

"I really, REALLY wish I'd say no, but I'm not going to let this guy get away with everything and wind up some kind of martyr. I'll strip the darkness from his soul if it kills me." He gestures, the halo of arcane circles suddenly disgorging a tide of blinding color. "One way or another, Krosse and Wehaca both need justice. We'll see what comes after that!"

Cyre...

Catches Leo's glare.

He just sort of points at his eyes, then points at Leo's eyes, then back at his eyes.

He also mouths 'we need to talk.'

Because uhhhh wow that whole thing about his sister. That's a thing.

GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked King Krono with Valkyrie!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

For all that Ragnell does her level best to sound like a sassy little so-and-so, it's moments like these Cecilia remembers the spirit is a terribly old spirit of nature and can't help but have found some wisdom in her time. "Yes," Cecilia murmurs. "A ruler can't afford weakness, even in this. I think I understand his pain quite well, actually."

Which is the very thing that gives her the werewithal to fire upon a man she knows. The royalties of Krosse and Adlehyde were not so close that she'd call this man particularly dear, but she does know him and she does hate to see him transformed this way - mutated thus. Even if this assumed form is glorious, they are painted glories. A facade of gold upon an ocean of muck.

The light of Grudiev doesn't quite fade at first. "They don't," Cecilia calls. "The Guardians have done everything they can! Every power at their disposal, every desperate gamble employed!"

Those Malevolent serpents erupt beneath her, but her own inner light flashes back, the Princess sweeping her staff as a barrier repels the beasts. The Princess' eyes shine with focus. "But it is not the place of the Guardians to save us. Theirs is only to ensure the world works so that we can save ourselves! One foot before the next, one hand joined to another, we can only rescue one another from darkness!"

She pulls out another Guardian plate, flinging it into the air. It catches on invisible hooks, spinning about wildly before flashing its face to the King. Lightning. Noua Shax. "I will bring light to this sorrow," Cecilia declares. "Your people are hurting, Your Majesty! Even if you brought their suffering, it is only by your hand that it can end, too! Material!"

The Guardian bursts to life around her, a wagon-sized titan like a lion, its fur crackling with power. It opens its maw to scream, but there is LIGHT within, and...

"Rage Hammer!"

It gushes forth, a leonin roar that sounds like a thousand thunderstorms, a ray of lightning bursting across the distance to drill into the King's Anomalous form.

GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has spent 4 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has attacked King Krono with Material - Rage Hammer!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has completed her action.
GS: King Krono guards a hit from White Knight Leo's Rock Viper for 67 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Shalune Amira's Storm on the Wind for 162 hit points!
GS: Cripple, Jam, and Mute! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield! Statuses applied to Shalune Amira!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Where is the Living Goddess? Why could she not save Kross's people? "... That is..." Gwen hesitates, a sudden temptation to look back at Ragnell. Because the one that's there just may be a fake. But is that better than none at all? A woman, baring a false mantle in order to stop a war a world away from here? And the Guardians.

    "They're all doing what they can, your majesty. Just as we all are."

    Ragnell sees the symbols forming in open air in a tight cage at the same time as Gwen and Virginia, but where Ragnell was able to get out of range, Gwen isn't fast enough. Wind draws droplets of blood from Gwen's cheek and cuts her at her clothing, but she powers through it, moving at a slow clip towards the king. Hiro's plan may be simple, but following a knight seems to be as good as any.

    Leo has many faults, but his wish to do what's right isn't one of them, even if what's 'right' sometimes is.

    But. There can be another way. That hesitation in Kross's voice in talking to Cecilia could mean that he's still trying to hold fast to some degree of his old self.

    Gwen's eyes light up with inspiration as she turns to- oh, Hiro's climbing out of the ground. Ow. "Hiro, I think I got one. Maybe if we can get the blade away from him? I'm gonna go in!" With that, Gwen does just that, drawing her dagger from her boot and rushing forward, intent on swiping that blade against the king's hand in one quick strike as she attempts to run past him.

    She won't sit idle this time. She won't let herself fail again!

GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked King Krono with Comet Clip!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Xantia's Exploding Fist for 150 hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Valkyrie for 121 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    "I do," the elder Lovelace replies to Leon coolly. "It is ever the place of the younger to heed the older." Leon comes in fast, making his ire of that statement known. But Timotheus has decades of perfecting his arte. Light erupts in a swathe around him, catching that brilliant bolt of light even as it leaves trailing vapor in its wake. It shatters after, a shimmer of power burning the discharge of force behind that blow into the tiled floor itself. At that display -- the damage to the floor -- the wizard again brooks a frown. "A pity, this flooring was installed by a master centuries ago," he remarks, before treading across that damaged section.

    'I've studied your Symbols', says Lily. "Have you now. And yet, you are no Symbologist. Crest sorcery? Hm. No," he states, tugging at his beard in spite of the combat he is now encircled within. "No, you use a magic with no need for crests or Symbols. I have heard of such before but never have I had the chance to witness it for myself. Now--"

    She shows him. He does not dredge up a barrier against the magic this time and instead steps into the swirling tide of shadow as they circle him, engulf him. He grunts but once when caught in the vortex, his grip tightening about the staff and his free arm convulsing. "Heh... ha ha... so that is your power. I see," he tells her, exhaling a breath once the shadow subsides. "And yet, here I still stand!"

    Ethius, meanwhile, engages the deranged archmagus from an alternate direction: in the form of academic interest, as fielded here in the midst of combat.

    "There is none but what rests within my own mind," he informs the man, as if expecting he may yet sway Ethius to his side. "Those fools I was given to assist me were useless -- too many succumbed to the orb's power! I could not leave my work behind for such bumbling hands! What you need to know I will teach you, and I alone."

    The orb, in the king's grasp, pulses in this moment, as if to underscore what may yet be granted...

    ...Is that 'eternity'?

    "My king," Timotheus calls out, as if sensing the emotions affecting the king. "Hold yet fast! Your nation depends now on your strength to persevere!"

    'Why do you care!'

    "Have I not already answered, child?" Timotheus answers Elly, regarding her with a gaze that could cut glass. "This, and this alone -- this is our means to seize eternity! Life is short. So hideously, laughably short. Whether this becomes our chance at 'immortality' or immortality, then the means quaver before the ends we might realize!"

    It's more than curiosity. It's--

    She herself reaps not the whirlwind; instead it is Timotheus himself who is the recipient. Caught in the storm formed of a magic he cannot completely read or understand, he takes again the apparent moment to learn by touch the feel of this sort of spell...
    And, with a burst of light, free himself from the heart of that storm and alight with a flutter of robes upon the floor of the court once again. He breathes hard, scrapes visible upon what skin he has exposed.

    Somewhere further away, Chime exhorts him to do more. "Is that so? Then you shall have your wish," he informs her, as she works trickery of her own upon the party engaging him.

    Elvis starts in on the fact that Krosse is crumbling away -- dying, in the way that the king had earlier noted. "Silence," the wizard declares on this front. "You know not of which you speak. Krosse yet lives. Once we attain control of the orb, you will see this for yourself!" Elvis comes in swinging, as if to underline his statement about 'not needing his eyes' with the darkest blackest ink. A barrier of light intercedes, but this too shatters after a few moments, if allowing Timotheus the chance to move.

<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    And Shalune, too, says what she thinks of this man -- this man who has unleashed horrors upon Krosse and beyond. Who has struck down his own daughter unflinchingly. Who even now obssessive clings to his theory.

    "And what does any of that matter to me?" he says to Shalune, his voice gone quiet.

    "I will have my legacy. I will have my answer. Nothing else matters."

    She underscores, then, her feelings in a display of technological mastery. Blink, and you miss the eruption of the beam of light. Blink again, and miss the light as it lances across the room.

    Blink however you like. But there is no room to be missed by the beam, even with the barrier he attempts to summon. It slams into his left shoulder, evokes a strangled hiss from the wizard. Something stains his robes there, but he yet stands...

    "Ever the fools to the wise," remarks the archmage at Fei's accusation. But this time there is no barrier when the young man lashes out -- there is no space remaining to summon one forth, even for one such as the archmage. The ice collides with him heavily, sending the elderly wizard sprawling across the tilework floor, his staff clattering alongside him. But he still rises. Heaving out a breath and using his staff, Timotheus hauls himself up to his feet once again. From his belt he draws a single flask and, uncapping it, downs its contents in a single shot.

    "Very good," he informs Fei as he straightens. "Very good, indeed."

    Silence intrudes for a second. Then he brings the staff down upon the tiling.

    "But not good enough!" Light discolors the air in the chamber, discharging from the wizard and his staff as he begins to work the weave of his spell. "The genesis of the inferno--a punishment for all fools!" he intones, the barest vestiges of heat beginning to intrude into reality. "Novastorm!" When the spell breaks, it does so in a catastrophic explosion of light and heat, burning and scalding all unfortunate enough to be caught so within -- which in this case happens to be the combination of Elvis, Chime, and of course, Fei.

    The wizard does not stop there. Drawing off a portion of the flame he has summoned, he redirects that for Ethius, in the form of a spell he has used upon Lily just minutes before. With a jerk of his staff, he lobs again a salvo of plasma at his 'fellow' Symbologist. Stand against him any longer, perhaps the sentiment might speak, and he will continue to unleash his magics. "Burn Spark!"

    And he's still not finished. The room again undergoes that tell-tale darkening, the winding up as he again drops into that place of void and stars. He, that is, and Shalune. "Stellar Cross!" he calls out, dragging down the light of the stars to attempt to strike her down.

    He had started with fire. He ends with something else. "O, thou waters of the heavens and earth!!" he intones, a slick of water encircling the floor in places.
    "My will be done-- bring ruin!"
    The water roils.
    "Torrent Globe!"
    And erupts in spherical upwells of boiling water and steam, right beneath the feet of Lily, Leon, and Elly.

GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Alchemical Arts!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Alchemical Arts for 0 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace gains Restore, shortening negative statuses by 3 turns each!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Novastorm!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Chime Isa with Novastorm!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Elvis with Novastorm!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 2 Combo!
GS: King Krono guards a hit from Gwen Whitlock's Comet Clip for 29 hit points!
GS: Shieldbreak! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has spent 5 Combo on Gatling, including 4 on Gatling!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Shalune Amira with Stellar Cross!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Hiro's Cross Boomerang for 142 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Burn Spark!
GS: You have spent 2 Boss Actions to give yourself 25 Force.
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has activated a Boss Action!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Cecilia Adlehyde's Material - Rage Hammer for 140 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has activated a Boss Action!
GS: You have activated the Boss Action Extend!
GS: Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Novastorm for 40 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong suffers Infect, extending negative statuses by 1 turn each!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Lily Keil with Torrent Globe!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Leon Albus with Torrent Globe!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Torrent Globe!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has completed his action.
GS: Elhaym van Houten guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Torrent Globe for 101 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Elvis guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Novastorm for 207 hit points!
GS: Mute! Statuses applied to Elvis!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Shalune Amira takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Stellar Cross for 188 hit points!
GS: Shalune Amira enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Chime Isa takes a glancing hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Novastorm for 111 hit points!
GS: Leon Albus critically Guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Torrent Globe for 33 hit points!
GS: Leon Albus enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Lily Keil guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Torrent Globe for 100 hit points!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
DC: MISS! Ethius Hesiod completely evades Burn Spark from Timotheus Lovelace!
<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"The old have a way of leaving unfinished business. Messes, really, that the young have to clean up." Leon scowls, watching the light that blasts apart the beam he loosed on Timotheus. He lowers Argent Divider, a few thin lines of smoke rising from the larger, rectangular barrel atop the the shotgun.

Eternity, Leon thinks. And immortality. His eyes narrow, for a moment, and he glances sideways at Lily -- and at Fei. He wonders about that; if immortality is really what one of them would want. His hand reaches down to his belt, and he gives a button there a press.

Click.

Three triangle-shaped pieces fall off, then float up around him. They spin around -- and a barrier of the same aquamarine light appears, just in time for the shimmering energy barrier between the Raid Funnels to catch the wall of water that comes crashing down onto him. It flash-boils into steam in an instant, the Raid Funnels holding the torrent at bay. Finally, the waters break around Leon, and he stands there, hardly worse for the wear.

"Let me put it to you plainly. Some of these people are the heroic sort. The sort to say this is wrong--that investing all your hopes in some damn orb of darkness if turning to disastrous powers," Leon says. "They're right, but I'm not one to talk about rash decisions. For me, it's simple."

He snaps Argent Divider hard to one side. The two barrels snap open; the blade shoots outward. Then, with a crackle of silver light, a long, broadsword-shaped energy blade appears around it. He slams the sword downward, then.

A trio of silver energy blades explode out from Leon's sword, rocketing across the ground like kiai strikes to intersect on Timotheus.

"...She's a Black Wolf, Magus. You say you own her. No one owns the Wolves."

GS: Leon Albus enters a Counter stance!
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Code.29 JOYEUSE!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.

    "Fancy~" chimes Chime chimingly as Timotheus begins anew his casting. "But what's the point of a story if you leave no means for it to pass? A legacy of nothing is still nothing." her cheerful voice starting to get lost in the conflagration of explosive burning magic. That the spell takes even seconds to fully form is Chime's only saving grace as the nimble elf tucks and rolls out of the center of it taking less damage for the distance from the center of the spell. Still enough flame and heat to cause wisps of smoke to rise from her clothing as it threatens to explode into frames under her vest and metal bits heat up uncomfortable in her many pockets.

    "Mmmm, getting better~ But what about... More?" she calls out cheerfully again, almost tauntingly. "I mean, are you holding back because you want us to avenge your daughter? Would it not simply be better to release and help her instead of forcing this fight further then?" as she pulls a pair of crest seals from a pocket and lifts one of them above her head with a look of focus.

    Blue swirls of magic sweep around Chime, and then out around the fighting turning into swirls around specific people as the curative magic works it's charm on Leon, Lily, Elvis, Shalune, and Elhaym along with Chime herself.

<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.

    "Fancy~" chimes Chime chimingly as Timotheus begins anew his casting. "But what's the point of a story if you leave no means for it to pass? A legacy of nothing is still nothing." her cheerful voice starting to get lost in the conflagration of explosive burning magic. That the spell takes even seconds to fully form is Chime's only saving grace as the nimble elf tucks and rolls out of the center of it taking less damage for the distance from the center of the spell. Still enough flame and heat to cause wisps of smoke to rise from her clothing as it threatens to explode into frames under her vest and metal bits heat up uncomfortable in her many pockets.

    "Mmmm, getting better~ But what about... More?" she calls out cheerfully again, almost tauntingly. "I mean, are you holding back because you want us to avenge your daughter? Would it not simply be better to release and help her instead of forcing this fight further then?" as she pulls a pair of crest seals from a pocket and lifts one of them above her head with a look of focus.

    Blue swirls of magic sweep around Chime, and then out around the fighting turning into swirls around specific people as the curative magic works it's charm on Leon, Lily, Elvis, Shalune, and Elhaym along with Chime herself.

GS: Chime Isa has attacked Leon Albus with Group Heal!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Lily Keil with Group Heal!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Elvis with Group Heal!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Shalune Amira with Group Heal!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Group Heal!
GS: Chime Isa has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Chime Isa has completed her action.
GS: Chime Isa heals Leon Albus! He gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: Chime Isa heals Elvis! He gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: Chime Isa heals Elhaym van Houten! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: Chime Isa heals Lily Keil! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Leon Albus's Code.29 JOYEUSE for 194 hit points!
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield! Statuses applied to Leon Albus!
<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

Malevolence laces through the King of Krosse as he marches forward. A pride in his gait that does not match the pain on his face.

"hhf... hfff... hff..."

It deepens.

"... I will not."

Intensifies.

And it is into that intensifying storm that Ashton boldly lunges into first. In close, those swords swing fierce -- and -each- of them are caught in one, massive palm of the Hellion King. His bearded face twisted into a statuesque scowl, he leans down closer towards the dragon-wielding spellsword, steam of Grudiev's light still wisping off his hide. Still suffusing his spirit. His lance arm rears back as the tension mounts.

"Strong hearts do very little against a Metal Dragon's flames," he utters, as his hand clenches tighter. "We need something more. Needed. I'll provide it. I..."

But just as Timotheus was so worried about, that connection with the Orb is not complete. And it shows, in the way he wavers there for a moment. In the way his expression twists in uncertainty.

I... I... can't... ngh... my head... what is--"

And it is Layna's cutting winds that end up disrupting his confused words before he can capitalize on his advantage, one way or the other. The Wounded King snarls, the void of his heart -pulsing- as he yanks back and away from Ashton. Malevolent glyphs spontaneously form like a shield around him, a strange combination of Symbology and Malevolence that dissipates -some- of that wind before it can reach him. The rest? A sharpened gale cuts through shoulder, another through his leg. But it is Layna's words that cut deeper still.

"I... afraid? No. No. I am trying to protect them! What would a pirate know of protecting a kingdom?! I don't want them to fear anything. I don't want it all to slip through my fingers..."

Ragnell dashes by, from the peripheries of the King's vision. The fluctuating veins running through his gilded body intensify for a brief, wrathful moment. Shots home in -- but the King does not even -try- to stop them.

He thrusts that lance forward instead, pointed towards those ionized arcs --

-- and catches each magical bullet in a sudden, whirling -vortex- of Malevolent light, -sucking- it in towards the Anomalous Orb crackling in its inset.

Seveal, electrified shots strike armor, spasm jolts through the King's body. The rest?

Greedily devoured by the Orb, as if it would simply sponge anything if allowed.

"You can't take me by surprise so easily!" he shouts after the Seraph as now Malevolent electricity arcs through his weapon. He directs it the Seraph's way...

Bang!

And the shots of two guns being fired hits lance and king in tandem sending a massive BURST of electrical magic CARVING through a wall instead of redirected through the Lightning Seraph. The Wounded King snaps his head upward, fixating a glare upon its source.

Virginia.

The one who claimed to have manipulated him -- his country -- in to this situation. For a moment, fury runs through him.

And then...

"..."

Something like sympathy flits through his features.

"... How can we possibly work together when we are all so..."

Different, he wants to say. The words never find him. Before they can, Leo's sorcery is upon him, felt with strange acuteness through senses he did not have before in a way that startles the King. Althena's Blessing feels like a foul tremor through Malevolent senses for him -- and it -instantly- makes him spin upon the White Knight Leo during that feinting maneuver, lance driving down --

-- not for Althena's champion, but for the jagged spikes of earth, driving through and shattering much of them even as the rest impale viciously into his midsection.

"She has done nothing for us!"

The lance -yanks- backwards. His eyes grow wide, pulsing sickly violet.

"And what has she done for you, exactly?!"

Open your eyes!

CRACK

A fist, despite being delivered by a girl considerably smaller than the Hellion King's towering frame, still is delivered with more than ample enough force to -drive- Krono away from Leo with a powerful, sideways fling. His feet leave the ground, the surge of light briefly stripping him of his sight as he hits earth in a screaming drag of booted heels on stone floor. But when he stops, he does not press an immediate offensive against Xantia. He hesitates.

<Pose Tracker> King Krono has posed.

"I can control it! I have to! If I can't, then..."

You don't even really want it, do you?

His mind races. Malevolence fluctuates around him in briefly variable intensities as he tries to grapple with the knowledge that Virginia so certainly delivered to him, and what he feels has to be true.

"... It doesn't... matter what I want. A king doesn't exist for his own needs."

And in that vein, his grip tightens on his Orb-equipped lance. The Malevolence around him starts to generate intensity like a mounting storm.

Searing kaleidoscopes of color barrage the King at that very moment in a torrent of magical might. He -rips- his way through, even as it tears away chunks of armor, melts the gold that seems to simply plate -- contain -- something viscous, and horrifying, beneath. Malevolent tendrils sprout between searing wounds even as that gold attempts to reassert itself over the blackened void beneath as Krono -charges- towards Cyre like a runaway train.

"I know what happened to your village!" he roars. "The Knight spared me no kindnesses in the costs of what they were offering! But I can't apologize! It will not take back what happened -- and if it will end in my kingdom's safety -- I would have paid that price myself--"

One quick strike. That's all it takes. A quick strike, and a boomerang. Gwen's knife carves through the King's hand as he charges, throwing him off-balance. It's enough for the twin boomerangs of Hiro's to COLLIDE with the Wounded King shortly thereafter with enough force to -knock- him aside before impact with Cyre, sending him careening into a nearby wall with a loud BOOM of impact.

There's a right way to be strong.

A right way to be strong.

To be --

... whether it is power your people need.

Conflicted is the King's golden veneer as he -rips- through that hole in the wall. The Orb throbs in wavering intensity in a way that is felt throughout its entire Domain, as if responding to the King in turn. He still holds fast to that weapon, even as he looks up slowly.

Theirs is only to ensure the world works so that we can save ourselves!

"How can I turn back from here...?" he mumbles, half to himself, even as Noua Shax comes to life. "So much has been sacrificed... if it was all useless... or worse still... I..."

Lightning SEARS through the King seconds later, charging powerfully through his Anomalous Orb-powered form from head to toe; the Malevolence of the Orb itself remains strong, protecting him from the worst of it -- but it is not the physical damage that does its worst. It's the spiritual. The way it makes whatever is -inside- all that hellacious, scarcely Malevolence waver. Makes the King inside the monster struggle.

As it fades, he falls free, onto one knee. Even know, he looks hardly grievously damaged -- but it is the damage that cannot be seen that one must truly pay attention to.

"I... I..."

Hold yet fast! Your nation depends now on your strength to persevere!

He pauses in his breathing, head bowed.

His hand tightens around his weapon.

"... You are right, Timotheus. Of course."

And slowly, he rises up onto his feet. The Anomalous Orb begins to shine. He turns --

And sees Talise there. Reaching out with her hand. His head cocks.

"What are you--"

Stop what you're doing.

A crackle.

Stop what you're doing. Stop what you're doing. Stop what you're doing--

The King seizes up. The glyphs surrounding his lance ebb and fluctuate. His eyes widen as his next step comes at a struggling, confused, -stomp-.

"What are you doing--!"

It's influencing the Orb. But not enough. Talise can feel the Malevolence within it. Immense -- horrifyingly immense -- so much of it unused, even in establishing this Domain -- what could ANYONE want with THAT MUCH of that kind of blight --

The lance begins to shine.

"NO!"

BOOM

An explosion RIPS from the Orb, backlash from that incomplete incantation. The King's rage is immense even as the fell light obscures him -- but the Orb wavers profoundly, its connection to the King inconstant, interfered with, vulnerable --

"Timotheus was right."

UP leaps the king, out of that horrid expulsion of Malevolence. And his lance now? Is hardly even a physical thing, SEARING with violet light that empowers and intensifies it as many curving blades jut out of it like branches on a tree.

"MY NATION DEPENDS ON ME! BEGONE!"

And, even weaken, even unfocused, even vulnerable -- the way that lance is HURLED towards the ground is like the scream of an angry meteor. The way it BLOWS through anyone too close to the impact point is nothing short of horrific. The way the ground begins to glow with a spreading, golden light that breaks apart into shimmering shards and putrid, exploding columns of Malevolent light is terrifyingly powerful.

BOOM

And in the aftermath, the way he EXPLODES out of that shimmering field of gold and Malevolence, spiritual lance in hand, to -DRIVE- its glyph-filled, many-branched tip straight for Talise's heart for a spiritual blow that echoes so profoundly the impotence and fear the King himself feels --

He is vulnerable. There is an opening now.

But that is precisely why he is so much more dangerous now.

GS: King Krono has activated a Force Action!
GS: King Krono has activated a Force Action!
GS: King Krono has attacked King Krono with Tyrant's Spear!
GS: King Krono has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from King Krono's Tyrant's Spear for 0 hit points!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Mighty! Statuses applied to King Krono!
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    From where Ethius presently takes cover, Chime's voice lifts above the chaos in a way that may not inherently be described positively as an experience, but Ethius will find that he can track her voice at all kickstarts a bunch of other ingrained instincts and experiences as his mind grasps at the tell-tale, familiar signs of others' movements. The groans of Talise's gauntlets, the specific pitch of the winds Cyre can summon, the startling edge in Fei's voice when he achieves anger, the rythm in which Ashton can swing his swords, the hum of Shalune's staff... to name a few. Chime's cheering helps bring that all back into focus.
     Important cues for positioning, to be able to determine by sound where the hostiles are moving, all while Ethius hears out Timotheus Lovelace's boastful words. 'There is none but what rests within my own mind.'
     "...I see." Ethius remarks. With one hand over his face in an attempt to blot out the aftermath of the blinding lights, one cannot read his expression. His voice gives nothing. He slides the bandanna back around the lower half of his face. No work to leave behind for bumbling hands, that he will be instructed only with what he needs to know - all from him, and him alone.
     "Very well." Ethius remarks, coldly and calmly as the Archmage continues raining sorcerous ruin all around. He can feel the scalding rise of heat by proxy, but he does not move. The way the wizard's voice travels, Ethius only shifts his position a few inches to his right. His back is to a pillar, but that pillar remains between him and Timotheus as the Burn Spark plasma races out.
     The remains of the pillar catch it, rapidly turning it to slag. The searing heat scalds at Ethius' back at a level of 'ambient pain to exposure,' but that's a level of pain he can stomach as the light of the stars rains nearby. He endures in his present waiting position, waiting for the tides of water from the Torrent Globe to slosh and erupt into steam in other places to know, for certain, when it is his opening to move and break free.
     In doing so, he avoids lasting harm beyond the immense discomfort of having a back so close to a melting pillar. He rises, facing the Archmage. From there, there is something unnervingly discordant about the quarterstaff-bearing, luddite (?) Symbologist. He speaks like a scholar - in so much that his words he likes to use are complex.
     But he looks like a common ruffian, unremarkable. Ethius' vision has yet to fully return to him, but he starts taking steps towards Timotheus. Steps that are too measured, too rhythmic, among the chaos of Malevolence. This is a man possessed of some clarity of purpose that makes him seem maybe too detached from the personal dramas unfolding.
     "It would seem indeed, Timotheus Lovelace, that such work should only be contained to your very mind," Ethius remarks as he draws nearer. "Your willingness to clarify the delicate nature of your work, its need to remain within the mind of one, is appreciated. In this, I find agreement." There is no great rise of emotion from his part - he speaks from the mind, it would appear, rather than the heart. Vision starts to return, where he can size up the more experienced, more potent Symbologist. Tap, tap, tap, goes his quarterstaff-made-walking stick.
     As he draws nearer - as near as Timotheus may yet allow - there is suddenly a movement that seems a blur, his evil-seeming weapon plucked from the depths of the yellow crystal trial chambers taken in both hands with the tip seeking to be plunged somewhere in Timotheus' flank.
     ...Or even his back, if given the angle.
     "Your cooperation... is appreciated more so." Ethius remarks coolly.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with This Better Not Be Foreshadowing!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
GS: King Krono enters a Counter stance!
GS: King Krono has attacked Ashton Anchors with Demon's Lance!
GS: King Krono enters a Counter stance!
GS: King Krono has attacked Layna Manydays with Demon's Lance!
GS: King Krono enters a Counter stance!
GS: King Krono has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Demon's Lance!
GS: King Krono enters a Counter stance!
GS: King Krono has attacked White Knight Leo with Demon's Lance!
GS: King Krono enters a Counter stance!
GS: King Krono has attacked Xantia with Demon's Lance!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has spent 5 Combo on Gatling, including 4 on Gatling!
GS: King Krono has attacked Seraph Ragnell with Brilliant Cataclysm!
GS: King Krono has attacked Hiro with Brilliant Cataclysm!
GS: King Krono has attacked Virginia Maxwell with Brilliant Cataclysm!
GS: King Krono has attacked Cecilia Adlehyde with Brilliant Cataclysm!
GS: King Krono has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Brilliant Cataclysm!
GS: King Krono has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has spent 4 Combo on Disease and Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: King Krono has attacked Talise Gianfair with The Dolorous Stroke!
GS: King Krono has gained 2 Combo!
GS: King Krono has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Virginia Maxwell takes a solid hit from King Krono's Brilliant Cataclysm for 255 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Virginia Maxwell!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: CRITICAL! Talise Gianfair guards a hit from King Krono's The Dolorous Stroke for 161 hit points!
GS: Talise Gianfair has been weakened by Disease! They take 0 damage, and burn off all temporary hit points!
GS: Disease and Poison! Statuses applied to Talise Gianfair!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: CRITICAL! Hiro guards a hit from King Krono's Brilliant Cataclysm for 137 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Hiro!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: CRITICAL! Layna Manydays takes a glancing hit from King Krono's Demon's Lance for 131 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Layna Manydays!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: CRITICAL! White Knight Leo guards a hit from King Krono's Demon's Lance for 116 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to White Knight Leo!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: White Knight Leo enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: CRITICAL! Ashton Anchors critically Guards a hit from King Krono's Demon's Lance for 47 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Ashton Anchors!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Ashton Anchors enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Ashton Anchors has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Cyre H. Lorentz takes a solid hit from King Krono's Brilliant Cataclysm for 250 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Cyre H. Lorentz!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde guards a hit from King Krono's Brilliant Cataclysm for 116 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Timotheus speaks to her with frustrating sternness and casual invocation of his Symbology. If Elly thought this was a lesser art, she's backing off on that estimation - though she rarely had. He speaks of immortality andhe speaks of grasping destiny.

High words. Grand words. Elly feels their pressure. And the pressure, too, of steam, erupting in front of her as she raises her arms to shield her face. She can feel a hissing pain from her palms, worst on the metal cover on her wounded finger, as heat transmits itself into her body, but the reflex flashes some of it to ice on her sleeves --

She staggers. Fei, reeling, ends up near her. She staggers towards him and she catches him on her right side, wrapping her arm round her waist just as the soothing magicks from that woman, Chime, rest on her. The burns on her hands fade.

Leon speaks...

And Elly blinks for a moment.

Perhaps the residual effects of the spiritual pressure of the Domain - however subtle, given what she has seen and what she has done and how far she has come - are dispelled momentarily. A man dying of thirst in the desert, who drinks his aftershave and is shocked to clarity by the sting and the taste. Elly's moment is something like that.

She looks to the man in her arms.

"Fei," Elly says quietly, "I don't think we can convince him of anything." She speaks with a burning penetrant intensity despite a casual, gently loving tone of voice and choice of words. "I thought perhaps he's convinced of his path, but I'm starting to think he's just brain-burned. There was a man in my old squad like that - but for him it was the Drive." Elly's purple eyes turn back towards Timotheus, likely while he is in the midst of handling Leon's gunnery.

The smoking intensity of Malevolence pouring off of the King occurs to Elly too. They can't spend their time here. This might be Timotheus's entire plan. Maybe to... she can't even guess. She makes her self STOP guessing.

            "Fei... We should..." (whisper, whisper)

And then a moment later she steps behind Fei. It is neat, efficient, and precise. It is almost a prelude to ballroom dancing. Elly takes his right hand in her left afterwards. She takes a deep breath - and curls her left hand inside of his right.

Then they start running right at the wizard. As they do, lines of force begin to form round their arms - which sizzle into searing plasma. (Claude C. Kenny probably detects a sudden spike in free neutrinos from the fusion reactions happening in thin air thanks to the power of Elly's red-headed brain.) But they stay well away from them. Six paces away Elly raises her arm, the streaks of fiery light coming together and swirling into a sevenfold drill-like shape. "It's yours, Fei!" she cries then, even as she draws back...

GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated a Force Action!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Thermo Dragon!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from King Krono's Demon's Lance for 215 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Seraph Ragnell takes a glancing hit from King Krono's Brilliant Cataclysm for 130 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Seraph Ragnell!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: CRITICAL! Xantia critically Guards a hit from King Krono's Demon's Lance for 45 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Xantia!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Ashton Anchors has posed.

Hiro, Gwen and Leo seem to have a bit of a disagreement about who's got a plan. Even though Ashton has no idea who the not-Gwen people there are, he does understand they need a plan. Gwen's spoken one is a decent enough plan - but getting the weapon away is harder than it sounds. Particularly when the King... well, all of THAT.

Ashton is blown backwards by the force of the lance's impact. Worse yet? He's disarmed. Before the blast, the King caught his blades. And with the explosion... they're over there. Which is quite crippling for the swordsman - even his Symbology uses the weapons as a channel.

But he's not done. Still stout and standing, Ashton raises his voice. "Forego the spear, friends!" He points a hand outwards - towards the abyssal hole in the chest. "Strike the void! Sever the connection between his soul and the Orb!" Bracing himself, Ashton takes a deep breath. "I'll do what I can to hold him in place for your strikes!"

Creepy? Weepy? Now.
Agreed.
Finally! I hate this place!

The two dragons are easily lost in the chaos around - there's so much happening at once, and so much flying around. They're less so now.

Sorcerous power flows, pulling into Ashton's body. And the two dragons at his shoulders grow in size. No longer just cursed extensions, the two return to the form they once were: Gyoro and Ururun, the two-headed dragon that the sellsword fought so long ago now.

Towering high, the two let out a twin war cry - before unleashing torrents of flame and frost at the King.

GS: Ashton Anchors has attacked King Krono with Dragon Breath!
GS: Ashton Anchors has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Ashton Anchors has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"That's just the beginnin'." Fei tells Timotheus. He doesn't advance forward perhaps indeed foolishly. "We're not done yet."

But before he can continue his assault there's an explosion! Of course with the chant required, Fei has enough time to realize the gist of what's about to happen but the word 'inferno', well, Fei slides a foot back and braces himself.

There are days that he wishes he got any other bronze medium besides Moor Galt. This is not one of those days. The eruption of flame splashes around Fei and he is pushed further back. The concussive force slamming into him seems to be doing more harm to him than the flames themselves. That's what elemental affinities do for ya. At least he isn't being drowned again. Or shot. Or shot. Or shot. Honestly usually it's 'being shot'. "Oof." Fei says.

Maybe he is a fool, Fei thinks, but...

"All the wisdom..." Fei says. "All the wisdom.... If this is where it leads... I'll be a fool forever!"

He starts to stand but finds that he has bumped right into Elly, keeping him from stumbling any farther back.

He looks at her. Even now, even in this situation, his heart skips a beat.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1hrtCC-QWw
5r"Elly I... I don't like hurting people... I don't...Not even people like him...Sometimes I enjoy it, but I don't... I don't like it."

He looks up towards Timotheus, eyes squinting like he's trying to hold something back.

"But... I hate seeing people get hurt more than I don't like hurting people." Fei says as Elly takes his hand. He intertwines his fingers with her own. "I think that other me is the same way. Sure, sometimes, he comes out when I'm in pain... But when my friends...When good people suffer... that's when I can't hold him back at all. Timotheus...if you get your eternity..."

He shakes his head. "Are you looking forward to spending it alone?"

And with that he smiles to Elly, nods once, and then runs along with her towards the symbologist. Elly is the initiator here, but Fei can supply ether of his own. The lines of force crackle around their arms and as they sizzle into searing plasma...the power, the heat, the force doubles in potency as Fei's ether supports her own.

He raises his arm, and then--

--then he punches it towards that drill, an explosion of fire detonating around his arm, around his body, around all that he sees as it spirals forwards towards Timotheus with blazing energy and limitless, infinite potential rapidly becoming kinetic.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with The Fire Which Cannot Be Stolen!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

The power of the Guardians, once and again and again. The oppressive swell of Malevolence. The voices of everyone in this battle. They sing across Lily's ears, snippets of emotion flickering through her as she makes her moves, and calculates, again and again. How far to her opponent--the nature of his hand movements, the amount of force she'd have to generate if his spell hits Leon flush on--

"Correct," Lily answers Timotheus, her voice even--the emotion of combat does not seize hold of her, even though a father acting this way could easily be thought a fair reason for anger.

But she grits her teeth--and he shakes... But he stands, still. Lily narrows her eyes. "For now," Lily tells him--glances once to Ethius. Learning. But this...

This. "A legacy," Lily repeats. She looks to Leon, too, just a glance, as if she feels him looking at her at the same time. Immortality, the great Magus has said. She thinks of it; she thinks back, to a terrible battle outside the castle, to a mechanical voice, to a face--

"...An answer," she repeats. But after that, there can be no initial answer--the magic can only be endured. Lily brings her arms forward to shield part of her body, and feels out--it is not the light that comes for her, or the heat. It is not the fire. It is not the light of the stars...

It is the water. Lily hears the chant, and she stands firm, conjuring a barrier of darkness around herself that obliterates some of the effect--but it is simply too powerful to remove it all, a level of magic that has been honed over decades, and the heat burns through even the void as Lily's barrier breaks and she briefly hits a knee, gritting her teeth. "...An answer," she repeats. She feels the swell of curative magic--but then she rises, as Leon stands. He speaks--and she waits. A look of certainty is there, on her face, as Leon answers.

"No one," Lily agrees, and then she breathes in again. The Malevolence makes that difficult, but she will need what power she can gather. Power begins to swirl towards her in an instant, her markings beginning to glow faintly--white, at first, as she gathers Ether.

"You say you want immortality. That anything is worth that cost."

A mechanical hand, punching through a chest that proudly wore a Wolf insignia. A beam, boring through flesh and bone and skin all.

"Maybe. But..." Lily lifts her hands, breathing in, and the heat building around her shimmers, as circuitry at her hands, at her throat, buildings and turns to gold. "I... am Sharon Wyatt."

Her words shift into an ancient tongue, "<And I will see that that cost is high!>"

She throws out both hands, and there is a sudden explosion. It starts before her, then another, then another, before it erupts, a conflagration of sickly golden light, of impossibly hot nuclear fire that melts stone in its passage and is briefly too bright to see.

But when the light fades, Lily's eyes are blazing gold.

GS: Lily Keil has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Catastrophe Flare!
GS: Lily Keil has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace guards a hit from Ethius Hesiod's This Better Not Be Foreshadowing for 71 hit points!
GS: Jam! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Sneak! The true nature of Fei Fong Wong's attack becomes clear!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Fei Fong Wong's Ultra Idstinct for 209 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's Thermo Dragon for 273 hit points!
GS: Cripple! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Hyper and Shield! Statuses applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: COUNTER! King Krono strikes at Ashton Anchors with a counter attack!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Ashton Anchors's Dragon Breath for 140 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Ashton Anchors critically Guards a hit from King Krono's Counter Attack for 52 hit points!
GS: Poison! Statuses applied to Ashton Anchors!
GS: Quick! Statuses applied to King Krono!
GS: Ashton Anchors has gained 1 Combo!
GS: King Krono has lost 1 Combo!
<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

Elvis feels his fists contact something, and the sand he left lets him know that the mage has left the vicinity. His eyes clear to see no one is there but a residual dwoemer indicating it was a magical emplacement he struck. "Clever use of magic," he comments gruffly.

An abhorrent blowback of radiance erupts nearly atop Elvis, sending him spiraling back and clattering to the floor painfully. When the man stands, albeit slowly, he is singed red in quite a few places. He looks like he fell asleep outside i nthe sun for weeks.

And that is what it looks like as a Veruni. A Human might have been vaporised at that proximity. "GAH!" the man cries. Soothing healing helps alleviate the pain, and Elvis will make sure to thank Chime at a better, non-combat filled moment. For now, it was time to launch a real offensive.

A look to the others fighting the King. "He even fights against his bonds! What kind of twisted man are you?" A deep frown.

"Are you even human anymore?"

Not that it mattered.

THe Sentinel takes a moment to focus himself, finding calm. A crouch and jump strong enough to crack stone flooring, and Elvis attempts to come down atop Timotheus, bringing both fists down like a pair of titanic hammers.

There is probably going to be a crater in the floor from the impact. Whether or not a wizard is in it will depend how strong those shields truly are.

"It is people like you that are constantly impeding my goals by cropping up like a bunch of weeds attempting to delve into matters you do not belong!"

GS: Elvis has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Locus Upper!
GS: Elvis has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    Virginia glances in Ragnell's direction for a moment longer. Her affiliation isn't something that's a secret, but she's not certain what the free-spirited Seraph does in times like this; risking one's self into the mire of Malevolence, strengthened or not, isn't exactly what she heard Seraphs like to do, but...

    It's at this moment that's reminded of such times.

    "Hf-- hrrg--"

    Her head pops up a little as she stares to Talise to whisper, "You'd best know what you're doing with that, Tal..." and swallows further to gaze in the King's direction.

    The explosion shatters through from the Orb and propels her back for a moment, breathing as she stares up towards the King further to shake her head.

    "You've got to keep fighting it... no matter how it feels. But maybe..."

    Virginia limps up as she extends a hand to one side, thrusting her arm out as she concentrates what looks like a vestige of purple around her wrist.

    Her other one holds the Galecrest as the space around her charge, Josephine, is shielded by whipping winds as she withers on through the aftermath of the lance exploding through them and nearly knocking her against her own wind-wall;

    "But-- you know--"

    Her teeth grit harder.

    "You don't have to do it alone. I keep saying that. But it's real important."

    She's sucking in breath through her teeth as she hobbles back up to her feet as she murmurs, "Let me help you a little...."

    Virginia hacks a breath out with a cough, closing her eyes. There's enough ambient Malevolence around to remind her of such sensations...

    Maya Schrodinger lightly smiles at her, hands behind her back in her untransformed true state. She taps her on the nose.

    "How this all started in the first place..."

    Virginia still well recalls leaping in front of the Hellion's overwhelming blast of Malevolence in that Hollow near Timney, shoving the blonde Drifter of the Schrodinger family out of the way--

    "And..."

    The White Trial Knight, as they stand in front of her. As they extend their hand outward, as Virginia struggles to not place the Ark Spectre in their hands.

    "Everyone who helped me get through it..."

    The site of her own Malevolent Domain, deep within what was once Layna's very own Fortnight Cove. Despite all that her crew and the pirate herself had done to help her. Within the darkness, past the strewn remnants of toy soldiers and teddy bears and alphabet blocks...

    Her eye opens with a flash, a defiant light within, underneath her fringes.

    "Let this little ex-Hellion..."

    She cries as the last vestiges of the illness crumble away from her, in front of Leitea Salk's Statue of Darkness. As the power of the Guardian shines forth.

    The tips of her hair turn an ashen white as something inky and viscous gels at her very fingertip. What she does next is nothing short of reckless, and she knows it, yet...

    She YANKS--

    "... coax a little bit of it out."

    --and pulls whatever Malevolence pouring about the King she sensses is loose enough to draw towards herself.

    "You never forget the taste... even long after you've gone clean..."

    Fingers trembling as each viscous strand of the spiritual sickness threaten to reach her, turning sharp and nail-like for a moment...

    "... so fight it. For your kingdom. For your trusted ones. For your beloveds. But most of all..."

    --into a dark grasp.

    "For yourself. Okay?"

GS: Virginia Maxwell enters a Counter stance!
GS: Virginia Maxwell has attacked King Krono with Succubus Princess!
GS: Virginia Maxwell has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Virginia Maxwell takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Virginia Maxwell has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

"A kingdom, maybe not...but I've got people that look up to me, rely on me, all the same, aye?" Layna replies, shaking her head. She stands up tall, fixing him with her sternest glare. "Captain or King - a leader lives to serve their people, Krono! I can understand wanting protect 'em, aye, but when you start hurtin' 'em, when you become the thing they fear, you need to take a step back and think. Don't let the power blind you to them!"

He seems to falter a bit...but then he regains his will, hurling the spear - now a terrible violet - into the ground.

Layna is near the impact zone. It erupts with great force, sending her flying backward and crashing violently into a wall and dislodging her hat. She grunts from the sheer force of it as she slides down and seems, for a moment, immobile...

...but even so she manages to force herself back up, fixing the hat back onto her head.

"You're gonna have to try a little harder...you almost got me there." Layna says. The wind picks up around her.

"Everyone! Keep going! If he wants power, give it to 'im! Show him our brand of power, aye!?" She shouts.

GS: Chime Isa heals Shalune Amira! She gains 100 temporary hit points!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Virginia Maxwell's Succubus Princess for 184 hit points!
GS: Shalune Amira has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    For a dizzying moment, Shalune's vision warps; for a moment it is as if she and their adversary are in their own private space, and one filled with the light and heat of an explosive star. By instinct her arms go up in front of her face, trying to shield herself - and also to try to block the illusion from her sight, to protect herself by convincing herself that what she's seeing isn't really there.

    It doesn't work, or at least not fast enough; her skin sears with pain as she makes another hissing noise, refusing to give the man in front of her the satisfaction of any noise greater than that. The pink-haired girl forces herself to heave out a breath, and then draw another in slowly. It's not there, she tells herself. You're in someplace terrible, but at least a star isn't dropping on you. Come back, come back--

    --she's back.

    And before she even knows what she's doing she's sprung forwards out of her cover, her hand reaching for a pocket on the side of her backpack. Before she's really registered what her own plan is, she's airborne and perched on the back of the Little Dipper, banking it in a wide circle around the orb's pedestal.

    "You don't even know what she's done! You don't know what she's accomplished! If you paid a single moment of attention you'd realize how good you've got it - how little you needed something like this!" the mechanic adds as she glances aside, winces against the light of the exploding orb. Still grasping for speed, she's forced to swing wide around the conflagration - and then suddenly dives through the last vestiges of it, Malevolence streaming off the back of the Little Dipper like an airplane's trails.

    The craft is pointed directly, purely towards the Symbologist, its rider's eyes blazing. There is no subtlety - just another ramming strike to add to those already raining down upon the man, and Shalune fearlessly facing it. "She is your legacy, you asshole! Don't underestimate your own damned daughter!"

GS: Shalune Amira has spent 4 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Shalune Amira enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Shalune Amira has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Soaring Clouds!
GS: Shalune Amira has completed her action.
GS: Layna Manydays has spent 1 Combo on Inspire, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Cecilia Adlehyde with Captain's Orders! !
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Cyre H. Lorentz with Captain's Orders! !
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Gwen Whitlock with Captain's Orders! !
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Xantia with Captain's Orders! !
GS: Layna Manydays has attacked Talise Gianfair with Captain's Orders! !
GS: Layna Manydays has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Layna Manydays takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Layna Manydays has completed her action.
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Captain's Orders!  for 0 hit points!
GS: Reload! Cecilia Adlehyde gains 15 extra FP from Layna Manydays!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde gains a Combo from Inspire!
GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Captain's Orders!  for 0 hit points!
GS: Reload! Talise Gianfair gains 15 extra FP from Layna Manydays!
GS: Talise Gianfair gains a Combo from Inspire!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Captain's Orders!  for 0 hit points!
GS: Reload! Cyre H. Lorentz gains 15 extra FP from Layna Manydays!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz gains a Combo from Inspire!
GS: Talise Gianfair has activated a Force Action!
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    The 'can't help but have found' part is unnecessary, Cecilia!! "Then be sure to remember it once you're queen," Ragnell replies all the same. Virginia's gaze, she catches this time, and she gives her a rakish half-smile and ironic salute. Virginia the Hellion never did learn that Ragnell was in Crucible, did she? Meanwhile, Gwen's just gonna have to deal with that magic windstorm on her own. Sorry not sorry, Gwen. You're tough. You can handle.
    
    Ruby asks her what to do. Ragnell skids to a halt and points. "There! Ruby! Swoop in while we got 'im distracted an' snatch the Orb outta his lance for me! I'll give ya some cover fire, help get it a little looser!" Ragnell hisses to her, keeping her voice down so as not to broadcast her plans to the King. Wouldn't that be foolish! Hahahaha! Ha. Ha. "Once you got it, bring it back t' me, a'ight? Now GO!"
    
    She practically hurls Ruby off at this point, and with good reason; the next instant, Krono unleashes his devastating magic upon the Seraph, shooting it from his lance, smashing into her and nearly hurling her across the room. She'd have a quip for him but as it is, she crumples down to one knee, curling over herself. That. Hurt??? OW. But Ragnell, ever indomitable even in the face of such thick Malevolence, then looks up with a sharp glare and raises her guns to aim for the King's Lance.
    
    "Oh, I got a better surprise for ya than *that*, Majesty! RAGE LASER!" The barrels of her pistols glow with growing energy, and suck in power as they charge; then she fires, and a thick beam of light and electricity FIRES across the room, beaming towards the Orb in an attempt to knock it free. If she misses, hopefully it'll still hit the King and distract him from Ruby Missile.

GS: Seraph Ragnell has attacked King Krono with Rage Laser!
GS: Seraph Ragnell takes 7 damage from Poison!
GS: Seraph Ragnell has completed her action.
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Seraph Ragnell's Rage Laser for 106 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

"Talise, what are you doing?!" Benedict Greygust shouts from where he's taken cover behind a table, trying in vain to line up a crossbow shot.

Talise didn't tell anyone she was planning to try this, largely because it's probably the dumbest and most reckless thing she's ever attempted. It has about as much chance of succeeding as she'd have of bench-pressing the Silver Star. Her knowledge of symbology almost doesn't exist.

And the power of that Malevolence...

It threatens to simply consume her. It's utterly overpowering. Just being in contact with it is enough that nightmare images begin to filter through her thoughts. The absolute surety that what is happening here is doomed to fail. That she is doomed to fail. She might as well just give this stupid symbol trick up. She might as well just let the darkness consume her. What good is she anyway? She's just some stupid brute the Fox Company keeps around because they like her muscles and singing--

Explosive backlash rips from the Orb. The force of it buffets Talise, so close is she, nearling hurling her off her feet, cranking her sword arm back - but she keeps her left hand held out. "Stop!" she shouts over the roar of magic. "Stop, stop, stop!"
He doesn't. The lance is hurled.

    BOOM

The concussive force throws Talise back - but she keeps her hand held out. She struggles to bring her sword arm in to defend herself. And it's into that window that King Krono strikes.

Steel crumples. The Malevolent Lance punches through Talise's armour... but it's off-centre, and she's tall enough that it comes in low. She chokes and crumples around the lance as Krono runs her through the midsection. The tip of the lance bursts out through her back in a spray of blood and sparks.

Talise collapses over the weapon. She doesn't move for a few seconds. It's questionable if she's even alive. Her head droops, hair spilling down around her face to conceal her eyes. Blood drips down onto the front of her breastplate, presumably coming from her mouth.

Until, as the King attempts to move on to his next target... a gauntleted hand closes around the shaft of his lance.

"No," Talise says, her voice thin and raw with untold pain and effort, but coming through a fierce, blood-stained grin. "You depend on this."

Talise's Symbol-adorned left gauntlet, pulsing with the bolstering Ogre Power enchantment within it, curls around that shaft. Even with her strength rapidly bleeding out of her, even with Malevolence pouring into her body and threatening to consume her, even knowing that she's probably going to die... even with all of that her grip is like iron chains. The symbols pulse; controlling them while probably dying takes superhuman effort. Her body shouldn't be able to handle it. She doesn't know how to do symbology properly. All she can do is meddlingly interfere with the way the Orb works - she can't control it so much as intrude in its normal functioning, like a little kid pressing random buttons on the remote control.

She lifts her head nevertheless, and lets the symbols pulse in their disruptively amateurish fashion. Her fingers dig in hard enough to put the lance at risk of cracking. "Don't you get it?" she rasps. "All you've done is sacrifice your kingdom to your own fear. That's what a self-fulfilling prophecy does. You're bringing your own nightmares to life before your eyes!"

She brings her right arm up. Rastaban gleams in her hand.

"AND I," Talise roars, her voice rough with agony but afire with something else, "AM GOING TO SAVE YOUR KINGDOM!!!"

Talise brings the flat of Rastaban down against the lance in a clash of steel on Malevolence-tangled metal - and she raises her voice to a shout.

"STOOOOOOOOP!!!

An order to the Orb. Delivered through the paltry attempt at symbology of someone who is not a symbologist or even a wizard. An effort that could only work because it is so utterly incompetent."

And in that heartbeat - that moment of INTERFERENCE, so childlike and clumsy, a tool wielded by an unmagical lump of dumb muscle who has no right to wield it - Talise wrenches herself off the lance. Blood spews from that mortal wound. Her arms feel like lead as she grips Rastaban in both hands and hoists it high. The blade crackles with arcs of furious green-blue lightning.

"RUUUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAHT!!!" she screams, and swings with all her might - a single, crushing blow, aimed to smash the Anomalous Orb and the Lance to pieces.

GS: Gwen Whitlock takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Captain's Orders!  for 0 hit points!
GS: Reload! Gwen Whitlock gains 15 extra FP from Layna Manydays!
GS: Gwen Whitlock gains a Combo from Inspire!
GS: Talise Gianfair has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked King Krono with Cascading Steel Dragon!
GS: Talise Gianfair has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Talise Gianfair takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Hiro has posed.


Gwen presents the idea of disarming him, and Hiro looks up at the massive Hellion. Considers every single blade technique he knows. And finds them inadequate. Every single one. It's not a plan he should agree to - because he's not sure he can contribute. "Let's do it." He grins at the idea of the challenge, "I bet the two of us can manage it."

The King though - it feels like the others are reaching him - and Hiro dares to hope again. Dares. Between that and every impact from the others attacks. Like it might overwhelm him physically - emotionally.

Like he might give in - concede.

All undone when Timotheus demands he stay the course, "You! You're not thinking of what's best for him or your nation at all!"

And then Talise... even Hiro looks stunned. "Tal... what are you..." He literally has no idea - whether it's positive or negative. He can't assess the wisdom of it. All he can do is watch. And - "Whoa!" Hiro finds himself shielding his face. He has no idea what Tal pulled off - but he can only bet it's a good thing. "Holy wow - that really got to him!" Ruby's correct that it did - but profoundly wrong in the way that it did.

Because he responds like a cornered - feral animal.

And it's then that Ragnell tells her to act. "You want me to what now?!?" The little dragoncat goes bug-eyed. Because the whole point of this was never to get into combat. However Ragnell then hurls her - and with a shriek, she gets hurtled over to the other side of the room, catching herself and hovering with a flutter of her wings.

Ruby is small and unobtrusive in the best of circumstances - however she's knows that's because she stays out of trouble. Regarded as harmless by most people.

"I can't do this - I just cuh-can't..."

She blubbers at first, looking at the King in a distinct panic.

However she sees Fei down there - engaging Timotheus. And Leon and Lily - she sees Gwen attacking the King - and Hiro - and Talise - and Shalune. There's so much at stake here.

And whatever prideful instinct she has in her protector's soul takes hold... "Gosh darnit I hate that I'm going to do this!"

Hiro is whirling around his blade like a helicopter overhead, shifting it between hand to hand rapidly, the wind currents building powerfully. "Alright Gwen... here we..."

Ruby sees her opening, and the tiny creature flies just overhead. So that she's straight vertical above the King. Swallowing once - she closes her eyes and declares, "...go!"

Hiro leaps, air currents twisting and shuddering, before he brings down the blade with a massive two-handed strike. There's an explosion of vacuum current at his attempted impact by the haft of the spear - just as Ragnell's Rage Laser slides through in a twin blast of lightning through the dust cloud.

The winds billow outwards, kicking up dust.

And as the cloud clears. King Krono might witness...

... a tiny catlike creature with wings. It's pawsies working to wrench the orb off, her hind paws pressed against the lance as she exerts themselves. Their eyes meet for a moment. Ruby squeaks - sweating enough to drench her fur. "Don't mind me!" She then clamps down her very jaws around it - into her mouth - twisting and pulling frantically - trying to get it to budge out of the King's weapon. "AGGNNELLL - EEROOOO OOOOVUH MEEEEE!"

"Ruby!?" Hiro just now seems to realize where she is - and is immediately panicked, "Get out of there!"

Ruby does not get out of there. She just - keeps - pulling - for all her diminutive strength is worth.

If she dies. She hopes Althena's afterlife has a lot of fish waiting for her.

GS: Hiro has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Hiro has attacked King Krono with Sybillium Sword!
GS: Hiro has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Hiro takes 6 damage from Poison!
GS: Hiro has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! King Krono takes a solid hit from Talise Gianfair's Cascading Steel Dragon for 331 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! King Krono takes a solid hit from Hiro's Sybillium Sword for 257 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia does a lot of unnecessary things. It's sort of a problem.

"You will have to account for that," Cecilia murmurs to the weakening King. "Only you can atone. But...surely it is better to set your people free of sorrow than continue in folly! Your Majesty, Krono, please!"

Her blast rips into his defenses. She hopes the worst of it is hitting that Malevolence, though it's hard to tell if that would do a damn thing, with all this power flying around. What incredible evil force...!

Then Timotheus calls over just to really rub-in what a piece of work he is, and Cecilia glares across the distance, tempted to yell. Fortunately Fei is feeding that guy shots right now so she forces herself to focus. "The Demons are routed, King Krono! This power, you don't need it! This isn't a power that can save people! Set down your blade, and I can end this! I have come that far!"

CAN she? That power is unreal! If she had an entire phalanx of Guardian priests on hand, maybe, but what's she got? Cyre?? Cyre's really more of a cleric. But she stands her ground just the same, light flaring around her in counterpoint to the crashing Malevolence.

Right up until he releases it in a horrifying, exterminating TORRENT, a blasting wave of the stuff washing across Cecilia and sending her toppling. She stumbles back, five, six, seven steps, eight nine ten, then completely leaves the ground for a moment in the washing power. It slams her back into the far side of the room, away from the others, and the Princess barely retains her feet, hands falling to prop her up on her knees as she sturggles to breathe. "Really hope Fei punches that guy's soul out," Cecilia mutters, and then sucks in one more breath and forces herself up. Layna's call rallies her just enough, and she stamps her staff again, forcing power through it, forcing the Ley to gather at her new spot.

Then again, and the Mediums burst out around her - not one or two but FOUR, gathering lights sparking around each in their own colors. Fire, and Earth; and Water, and Wind, they flare.

"Yes! Your nation depends on you! Your people screaming for salvation! Everyone in Krosse is crying out in pain! I'm sorry, but I think I must knock some more sense into you before you will see. I will stop this madness, King Krono! I owe you that much! Material!"

The Mediums erupt in light, blazing forth.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Cecilia screams into the melee, just before the Four Elemental Guardians form around her, Grudiev of Earth, Fengalon of Wind, Moor Gault of Flame and Schturdark of Water looming above. Fengalon dashes first, as he would, skating across the distance at galloping speeds as Moor Gault fills the room's ceiling with heat and Grudiev and Schturdark gather their elements into their respective assault pieces. Fengalon reaches for the king, tearing into that Malevolent armor with a tornado's claws, just before RAYS of fire and heat and water burrow in, ripping into the Anomalous King of Kross.

GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has attacked King Krono with Material - Guardian Beasts of the Four Corners!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Cecilia Adlehyde has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    There's a flash of searing violet, etched like thorns into the brief black that clouds Gwen's vision as she lays on the ground.

     As Gwen staggers to her feet, the Mockingbird visibly shudders and sparks, drawing a cry from Gwen. The silver yellow pulsing of the artful circuitry shift to red, as does the suddenly brighter light that beats in a rhythm through the padding over her chest, like a warning signal.

    But there's an opening now. And Gwen has just about enough time before her ARM begins to malfunction. She'll survive when it does, she's sure of it, but her ability to fight will be too compromised to do much beyond that.

    Meanwhile, Gwen realizes out of the corner of her vision that Virginia is grasping onto that Malevolence and drawing it into her. No, not after all she's gone though, no!

    Talise seems to be fighting with the same level of desperation, or bravery, and Ruby is-

    WAIT WHY IS RUBY THERE

    Layna's magic gives Gwen just the necessary boost to dash towards the cat dragon. Ragnell's faith in Gwen is right- she could certainly tank some wind magic, or just about anything. But Ruby? NO ONE SHOULD FIND OUT.

    Ruby will find her efforts now assisted by a pair of familiar gloves, Gwen bending her body over the little dragon as a shield. Tugging, for all she's worth, while she's still conscious enough to tug at all. Tugging, and protecting.

     Hiro had done the same for her. The least she can do is do the same for the friend who had been by his side since the beginning.

GS: Xantia takes a solid hit from Layna Manydays's Captain's Orders!  for 0 hit points!
GS: Xantia enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Reload! Xantia gains 15 extra FP from Layna Manydays!
GS: Xantia gains a Combo from Inspire!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Cecilia Adlehyde's Material - Guardian Beasts of the Four Corners for 180 hit
points!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has activated a Force Action!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has spent 4 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has attacked King Krono with Special Delivery!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: Gwen Whitlock takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Gwen Whitlock has completed her action.
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Gwen Whitlock's Special Delivery for 127 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    "Her wisdom preserved us!" Leo says, fervor burning in his voice. "Her power sustains us!" Something else is burning in his veins--the Malevolent poison, coursing through his body with every beat of his heart. Xantia punches King Krono away from him before the monarch can attack him with more than words--but Talise does something more worrying by far. Leo's eyes widen as he sees the symbols on her gauntlet, senses the way the Orb's sickening aura shifts in response. "What are you doing?!"

    The Orb erupts. Malevolence washes across Leo's body, cold and corrosive. He grits his teeth, plants his feet, and lets the wave pass over him. He opens his eyes just in time to see King Krono lunging for him, lance driving right at him. Leo raises his blade, and the Crest at his collar gleams bright white. The White Knight's sword connects with the point of Krono's lance, and he shoves with all his strength, forcing it aside before it can pierce his heart. Jagged projections cut through his shoulder as it races past, spraying the wall and floor with droplets of Leo's blood. The White Knight grimaces, sagging forward a moment--but the moment quickly passes.

    "Your fear has consumed you," Leo says. "As has this thing. Listen to the Princess. Listen to those who still speak to you, even after all the crimes you've committed against your people!" Leo sees something pink attach to the Orb, and hears Hiro's voice. He sees Talise setting up for a strike of her own. They'll never get that thing away from him without his help. Cecilia screams for people to get out of the way, but Leo does no such thing; he stays right there, in King Krono's face, as chi surges up around him. "I'll be taking your toy from you," Leo intones. Light gleams along the edge of his blade, the color of molten gold--it leaps towards King Krono in a tremendous burst, like a tiny sun had appeared right there in the throne room. The wave barely has enough time to take its characteristic shape, forming feline jaws, a mane, brilliantly-glowing eyes.

    "LION'S HOWL!" Leo's voice is almost drowned out by the explosion of his own attack, and by the elemental cacophony that follows.

GS: White Knight Leo has spent 2 Combo on Gatling, including 1 on Gatling!
GS: White Knight Leo has attacked King Krono with Lion's Howl!
GS: White Knight Leo has gained 1 Combo!
GS: White Knight Leo has completed his action.
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from White Knight Leo's Lion's Howl for 238 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace guards a hit from Elvis's Locus Upper for 139 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace critically Guards a hit from Shalune Amira's Soaring Clouds for 33 hit points!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Shalune Amira has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Lily Keil's Catastrophe Flare for 99 hit points!
GS: Shieldbreak! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
<Pose Tracker> Xantia has posed.

Xantia has an elaborate response for the king who claims that it doesn't matter what he wants.

"That's stupid."

Okay, maybe it's not that elaborate, at first. But that was just the first part of her response. It would be more like Xantia as most know her for the second part to be pressing the advantage by means of more violence. Not this time. This time she continues with words.

"You're in charge of everything, of everyone - of course it matters what you want! So think about it! Don't just say this is the only way, that's the same thing as giving up!"

It's no use, however. No matter what she says, no matter what the others say, it's clear enough that talking can only go so far. That much is driven home when yet more of that sickeningly oppressive force pulses forth from King Krosse, powerful enough to literally make her feel sick. Yet, Xantia stands her ground, digging in her heels to face the attack that she knows is coming head on.

Violet light meets crimson as Xantia raises her right arm, then swings down, the energy that forms her blade rapidly shifting. As unwise as it may seem to use a weapon against a wave of force, miraculously, the light breaks apart as if cut in twain, passing over Xantia not harmlessly, but greatly reduced in intensity. The weapon deactivates after that effort, which was a significant one, judging from the way she stumbles afterwards. That wasn't just the ARM - there was something more behind it.

Layna's voice rings out, and reaches Xantia. Show their power, is it? That'd be one way to prove their point. The way that she happens to prefer anyway.

Xantia exhales, then her lightning aura - torn asunder in the wake of that experience - flares up once more. "...You can feel it, don't you? All that power does... is consume. Do you really think a power like that can save anybody?" She stands up straight, bringing her fists together, the electric currents running through her rapidly increasing in intensity. "Compare it this - the power we have, when we all work together!"

With a yell, Xantia dashes forward, arms reared back for a hammer blow. As she goes, it becomes clear that this will be a far more literal hammer blow, an enormous hammer-shaped construct made of lightning forming in her hands.

"MEGAVOOOOLT HAMMER!" With that, she swings the electric weapon towards the misguided monarch.

GS: Xantia has activated a Force Action!
GS: Xantia has spent 5 Combo on Headshot and Gatling, including 1 on Gatling!
GS: Xantia has attacked King Krono with Megavolt Hammer!
GS: Xantia has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Xantia has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

For a singular, beautiful moment, it looked as though they'd finally gotten through to him. Maybe, just maybe, there's enough of that brave old king in there to fight through the desperation clouding his vision.

And then, just like that, that vague hope gutters and dies.

Concussive force and scalding heat crash against in him in equal measure. The orb's power is something utterly undeniable; power that once nearly washed the land clean of life, that even now strangles the Kingdom of Krosse, now condensed into a supernova of fear, a singularity of isolation.

The pain is agonizing, crippling. It's an impact that threatens to shatter not only the body, but the soul as well. A few years ago, a few months ago, this much would have been enough to break him entirely.

But.

The Cyre of today is not the Cyre of yesterday or of yesteryear. This is the Cyre of the here and now.

And right now--

Right now he's sustained by all manner of things.

By the embers of vengeance burning in his gut.

By the thoughts of his family waiting back at the roving caravan they all call home.

By the face of the woman he loves, and the ever-so-slightly embarassed smile upon it.

The urgency of the moment. The opportunity that, if missed, spells sure defeat. Layna's words of encouragement--

And perhaps most viscerally, the realization that-- as bad as he's gotten so far, Talise Gianfair just took a Malevolent Spear to the chest.

What kind of wuss would he be if a little shockwave was enough to take him down just like that?

The Voice of the World calls upon the Guardian Beasts, four of the sacred pillars that sustain the very planet's lifeblood. But as three of the four manifest, the last does so a little... differently.

A singular emerald star burns in the aftermath. A whirlwind surges around the pinprick of light as it expands, scattering clouds of dust and debris to the four corners. Cyre stands, battered and bruised, holding aloft a brilliant, silver talisman. "O' shining, Silver Wind," Cyre Lorentz, High Priest of Fengalon intones, "I, who walk alongside thee, so beseech thee, lend me your strength--"

"'Cause this guy's really asking for a whoopin'! And I know you don't want to miss deliverin' it with me! Let's go, Fengalon!" Suddenly, the white tiger, having launched its attack... diverts, leaping back toward that glowing, green beacon. The light flares, doubling, tripling, to the point where all else is indisinguishible--!

It might hide a totally awesome high-five.

Nobody will ever know.

What is known, however, is that what emerges from that glorious light is neither Cyre nor Fengalon, but somewhere in-between. A bipedal, divine tiger, sacred script writ in winding mantras across each limb and scrawled in a vast glowing mandala over its shoulders. Cyre, the Nahual of Fengalon, rears back and issues forth a primal, spine-chilling roar.

"Your nation depends on you, you say!?" Cyre snarls, surging forward in a violent, viridian tide. He roars as he strikes-- each claw swipe, each punch, each and every single blow is punctuated by a cataclysmic eruption of pressure. It builds, higher and higher, savagery and strength accumulating at once. "What kind of kingdom is so weak that it'd collapse for want of a single man!? What kind of nation is so small that it a singular will can guide it!? Your countrymen! Your citizens! Can't they stand on their own!? Don't you realize what you're doing?"

"Turning away from the world, drowning your people in their own fears and insecurities--" Each word is punctuated by another blow, each strike builds the storm ever higher. The vortex within the room turns and churns, building to a deafening crescendo. "--Taking loyalty and patriotism and twisting it into a sick parody of national pride-- You're right, it does depend on you! You've made it that way! Made it something small enough to protect, weak enough to need protecting, and scared enough to want it!

"No more!" He winds up for one final blow. A devastating uppercut, unleashing the accumulated storm in a single, sky-piercing, tornado-powered strike...! "This ends here and now, King Krono of Krosse!"

DC: Cyre H. Lorentz switches forms to Nahual - Fengalon!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has spent 3 Combo on Gatling, including 2 on Gatling!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has attacked King Krono with Wrath of the Wind God!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz takes 8 damage from Poison!
GS: Cyre H. Lorentz has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! King Krono takes a solid hit from Xantia's Megavolt Hammer for 340 hit points!
GS: King Krono has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
GS: King Krono takes a solid hit from Cyre H. Lorentz's Wrath of the Wind God for 192 hit points!
GS: King Krono has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    "I intend," speaks the magus to Leon, "to leave no such 'unfinished business'." His face may as well be a mask, it flickers not no matter the accusations the man levels at the feet of Timotheus Lovelace and those like him. "Plainly? Do go on."

    Leon obliges him. In a flash, his ARM transfigures itself. In a single powerful swing, Argent Divider demonstrates its power.

    There is no barrier to stay the attack -- not this time. One strike grazes the man's cheek. The others slam into him bodily, knocking him down, sending him to skid along the broken tiles. He rises at a delay, again using his staff as a means to hoist himself up. "O, thou spark," he intones, snapping his fingers and sending forth a simple circular jolt to encircle where Leon now stands.

    He takes a step, leaning heavily on his staff now. "'Holding back', am I?" he speaks, at Chime's assertion. "Ha. You speak of what you understand not. Let me now demonstrate to you," he says, straightening against the pain of his injuries.
    "All heav'n in order aligned..."For Chime, the room goes dark. Nothing at all can be seen about and before her, but for the stars that glow bright in the eternity of the cosmos. "Stars be my witness, 'gainst those before me!" They pulse. They erupt into a cataclysm of light. "Celestial Impulse!"

    He continues to work such artes even as Ethius makes his slow approach. Tap tap. Tap tap. For all that the archmage had demonstrated his willingness to strike the other Symbologist down in the same breath that he had made Ethius an offer, he does allow Ethius to get quite close before he turns to stare the man down. "Halt," he commands, bringing his staff up as if it were a shield. "On whose side now are you pledged?" he asks of the younger yet heavily tattooed man.
    His eyes narrow at Ethius response.
    Before there can be anything in the way of a retort -- physical, magical, otherwise -- Ethius lunges in. Perhaps Timotheus had been expecting as such, for he twists out of the way... somewhat. The dagger sinks into his hip rather than back or flank, but the response from the wizard -- to swing that heavy staff he wields in a sweeping motion for the younger Symbologist's head -- is immediate. "You have played me false," he spits, clutching his free hand to his wound. "I will see you burnt alive for this--"

    The transfigured King falters, to the wizard's view. "King Krono! You must persevere! For the sake of your people, your nation -- master the orb! Let it not control you!" he asks of the Hellion King, as if his words alone might ally the Krono with their cause and his desire.

    Back near Virginia, Josie stirs, as if waking from an uncomfortable sleep. A nightmare, perhaps. Her eyelids flutter. Her lips move: 'where', she mouths. 'where is he'

<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    "Then by all means, I shall await it, boy," the wizard tells Fei.
    Before he evoked torrents of flame and heat to caress their bodies.

    He's standing there still as Fei picks himself up from within the inferno he had drawn down, gazes at him with detatched interest alone. And shakes his head. "Then so be it, fool," he declares, as Fei speaks his piece.

    Only watching as Elly and Fei turn hand in hand. Only watching as flame gathers in Elly's hand. Light swims up in a shield about him, to intercept whatever attack they seek to levy upon him now.

    "An eternity apart from fools, you mean?" he says to Fei. "I would welcome it."

    The light unwinds itself. Fei directs a fist into the heart of it. It impacts the barrier.
    The barrier doesn't absorb it. It punches through the barrier. Timotheus' dark eyes widen in shock mere half-seconds before the combined strike--

    Infinite power is discharged into the elderly sorceror. He's thrown backwards, only the last-moment invocation of a bubbling barrier about him saving him from breaking against the wall. Instead, the wall breaks behind him while he staggers forth with a gasp, his free hand touching his chest gingerly.

    "I shall strike you down," he promises Fei. He had been impassive before. Fury lights in his eyes now.

    "Behold! Look to the skies and repent!" invokes the magus, the ambient electrical force gathering through the room with all the premonition of the knell from a midnight belltower. "Holy Thunderbolt!"
    When the jolt comes for Fei and Fei alone, it comes without warning and without mercy.

    The king continues to flag. To falter. "King Krono. Do not fail me in this--" he starts to say.

    Lily shouts something that the wizard -- even with all his learning -- cannot understand. The explosion that follows is grandious, expansive, and illuminating.
    In several senses of the word. "So this is the power..." Timotheus says as he rises from the cratering section of the floor where Lily's spell has left him, and he coughs, shaking as he clings to that staff, perhaps the only thing that keeps him upright. "...of that arte... I see... I see. A Symbol may not suffice..." He lifts his head. "But that might."

    Still. Still, in spite of his wounds. In spite of the state of the king. Still he persists upon this singular point. This obsession.

    That which he speaks to Elvis as the Veruni indicates towards the king and those fighting him. "Evidently, his will was... insufficient," he utters, straightening as he stares up at the large Sentinel.

    The barrier rips into place as Elvis leaps and lunges. There is no running from that attack in his state.
    What it ultimately does is preserve Timotheus Lovelace. Disperse some of that catastrophic attack's force out into the already cratering and cracked floor. But such does not pass without leaving some sign; the wizard is moving slowly, limping, as he ascends to the lip of the fracture in the floor. But his eyes still blaze. Hatred? Or...

    "A poor legacy, that," he whispers, at Shalune's statement. "So much promise. But all of it frittered away on the past. The past... what does the past have to teach us except of our failures?" His fury -- at the king's apparent failings, at his own apparently immenent defeat -- are but a candle to what Shalune presents to him, all wrapped up in a steel casing.

    What he does in the face of that is to cast. To draw again upon his own learnings. "I invoke thee, furnace of the land; transmute this blighted earth with thine awakening!" Heat bouys into the air, licking the Symbologist even as Little Dipper drives inwards. Down. "Magma Wheel!"
    To meet the jets of magma, rock and tongues of flame as the wizard dredges up a taste of what lies streaming far beneath the surface of Filgaia. For Shalune and Little Dipper. For Elvis. And for Lily and Elly.

GS: Timotheus Lovelace has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Lock On!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Fei Fong Wong with Holy Thunderbolt!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: The Force Action Lock On is already active!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Leon Albus with Circular Arc!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Chime Isa with Celestial Impulse!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Ethius Hesiod with Striking Staff!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has activated a Force Action!
GS: You have activated the Force Action Snipe!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has spent 1 Combo on Poison, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Elvis with Magma Wheel!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Shalune Amira with Magma Wheel!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Elhaym van Houten with Magma Wheel!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has attacked Lily Keil with Magma Wheel!
GS: CRITICAL! Shalune Amira takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Magma Wheel for 350 hit points!
GS: Mute and Toxin! Statuses applied to Shalune Amira!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Shalune Amira has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
GS: Chime Isa has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
DC: MISS! Chime Isa completely evades Celestial Impulse from Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Lily Keil guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Magma Wheel for 129 hit points!
GS: Toxin! Statuses applied to Lily Keil!
<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

"It brings me no joy to do this. I don't delight in your suffering. Any of yours. But I... I..."

From where Talise Gianfair is impaled, she may see the way gilded hands tremble around that ungodly weapon that could do so much more harm than it has.

"... I will do what I need to."

But his words and his voice -- his very spirit -- are far from in alignment. He begins to whisper, as he yanks that weapon backward to once more begin his assault,

"i am truly sorry -- ... eh?"

Only to find he cannot drag that weapon free.

Eyes seething with bleeding bruise-colored light look down. And he sees Talise, gripping hard onto that weapon, despite her wounds -- despite the Malevolence that infests her, attempts to poison her -- even despite how much pain she must rightly be feeling. She. Holds. Fast.

Eyes widen as the light fades from them. And the Anomalous King grips that weapon and -pulls- at it with that horrifying, Hellionized strength. Still, between symbols and Ogre Power, that lance does -not- move save to tremble dangerously in Talise's grip, on a tenuous verge of freedom. She might only have seconds at best. It's barely anything.

"How are you -- doing this--?!"

It's enough.

Talise rips herself free. And the Symbological interference -- brief as it may be -- is enough to hold Krono fast for just long enough. Long enough for an obfuscated, stealthy pink figure to sweep down and -grab- upon the crystal Orb set upon that lance. Long enough to startle Krono to make him unaware of that presence until he looks down and sees what is clearly --

"A flying cat--?!"

--And just long enough to hold him in place for when Hiro descends, DRIVING his blade down in perfect, perhaps inadvertant, combination with the radiant surge of chi that rages through Leo's blade in the form of a regal lion. Maw and sword combine, the EXPLOSION of elemental power between them adding to the SURGE of electricity from Ragnell as she fires twin, radiant bolts of lightning that puncture through dust and debris. Through the torrent of magic and might, spiderweb cracks fissure through that opulent lance. They spread, deepen, become splintering scars of weakness. The Orb loosens just slightly in Ruby's grasp as she finds Gwen gripping upon it in turn, holding fast, holding strong. Assisting each other. With the strength of people who know how to truly work together. The Anomalous Orb jostles. Starts to dislodge.

Just in time for the Rastaban to descend -- SHATTERING the Lance that holds that strange, mysterious relic. "NO--"

Hellionized metal splinters and sprays outward as the weapon crumbles. The amount of Malevolence infused within it makes the entire thing -explode- upon impact, sending the King FLYING backwards. The Orb --

-- the Orb is made of material meant to last, for its very purpose. It survives. But it finds its way into Ruby's grasp, falling inert without someone actively influencing it -- ready to be delivered to Ragnell.

The effect is immediate. The moment the Orb is free, the moment it falls into a strange state of almost hibernation -- the Domain starts to bleed away, retracting upon itself swiftly. Malevolence released by the Orb is sucked back in towards it like water down an opened drain as a domain of influence once extending across an entire city and engulfing its way through a whole nation snaps backwards like the world's largest, tautest rubber band.

The immediate effect is like whiplash. Like feeling a heavy weight you did not even know was bearing down upon you, suddenly removed. One might even feel a giddy weightlessness as the Domain slowly but surely shrinks, weakens, and bleeds away.

Perhaps Timotheus was right. Perhaps King Krono simply did not have the will. Perhaps...

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Even so, the fight is not yet over. Even as the Orb's influence wanes and abates, for now, it still leaves a powerful Hellion in its wake thanks to the machinations of Timotheus Lovelace. King Krono, weakened though he is without the Anomalous Orb, is still there. But what was once an unstoppable juggernaut of raw, spiritual wrongness has become something much more vulnerable. Strong, infused with a glut of Malevolence. But Malevolence still fresh, a Hellionization still new.

And as he drags himself upward, he looks so much more confused and conflicted than resolved and unbending. His will is real -- his concern, real. But now --

-- somehow, despite his form, he looks so much like that old, tired man once more. Spiritually exhausted, and deeply conflicted, the guilt shines on his gilded features as he drags himself upward.

"nuh-no... Timotheus... this can't be for nothing. Everything I've done... I could live with that hell, but not if... not if..."

Words come. He looks up wearily, at Virginia Maxwell, cracked gold lips twisting into something uncertain. Fingers tremble, as Malevolence sears through the cracks in them.

"You -- if what you said was true -- if this was all for nothing but a lie, then I... I..."

The words never complete that thought, as the first wisps of loose Malevolence peel off from the Wounded King. Trembling, he reaches out, as if in a desperate bid to stop it --

-- but he is kept from it, by the sudden appearance of a very real, very large, twin-headed dragon. He looks upward, towards it. Towards Ashton.

"What in the world are you--"

And the sentiment echoed earlier by his Guard Captain is drowned out in twin torrents of fire and ice, drowning him in blistering heat and frigid cold that freezes and shatters under its wildly fluctuating temperatures. He lets out a shout of confusion and frustration, struggling against it.

And more tendrils of Malevolence are loosed from him.

What comes next is Xantia, her words as powerful as her blows -- which, considering how titanic those blows -are-, is truly saying something. The swing of a conjured hammer of pure electricity crashes in through the dissipating torrents of dragon's breath; frozen chunks of armor SHATTER against the power of teamwork. He goes flying, unable to respond -- but those words sink deep into his thoughts.

And more tendrils of Malevolence are loosed from him.

And there, as Virginia's efforts bear fruit, he crashes into the ground. Dragging himself up, he stares at the sight of the Guardians he so condemned, channeled forth by a princess whose lands he abandoned. He hears her condemnations -- hears Cyre's -- and his expression is stricken and shattered in a way as existential as it is literal.

"That was... that was not... my intentions."

And as the Guardians take form -- as their power begins to pour out -- as Cyre assumes Fengalon's shape and charges --

More tendrils of Malevolence are loosed from him.

Making him vulnerable. Making him open.

"I -- what have I done?"

Within the multi-elemental light of Cecilia's assault, weakened, loosened Malevolence is burned from the King of Krosse, his and Cyre's forms becoming shadowy silhouettes in a mass of Guardian's spiritual, elemental might. And despite the violence inflicted on him, it feels...

... warm...

...

A body falls to the earth with a meaty thud. Partially golden, partially human, flecks of Malevolence shred off him one by one as he slumps forward. A weak, sad laugh spills from King Krono's bloodied, dry lips as he looks upward, towards the cracks in the ceiling. Towards the ruin he's brought.

If all this was based on a lie -- then...

"what right do i have to wear this crown...?"

His head slumps limply to his side as he stares, vacant and defeated, at the ground. And with a clatter --

-- that crown falls to the earth.

Defeated, but still conscious, the Malevolence bleeds from him. Whatever remains may be purified. The Orb out of Krosse's possession; even now, inert as it is, it shines with the ungodly volume of Malevolence stored within. A years' worth of feasting on a cave. A village of spiritualists. An entire city. A whole kingdom.

Talise could tell. Anyone attuned strongly to the spiritual senses could feel it. There was more Malevolence in there than even the king -- even Timotheus -- were possibly using. Like the tip of an iceberg. And a question lingers.

What in the world could require -that much- power?

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

                                                 Some Time Before
Somewhere in Elru

It is a sanctuary.

But it is one long fallen.

Greenery grows into aging, crumbling stonework in this strange place, where rare vegetation shares and coexists a strange living space with the blasted landscape that Elru has become. The framework of what was once a shrine dot this landscape haphazardly, across bridges powered by the elements of wind, across a loving dedication to nature and the elements, all leading to a grander, ancient sanctuary further within. Its steps are hallowed. Sacred. But long forgotten and utterly nameless.

But not empty.

The sound of metal on stone fills the air as a knight in white armor emerges from the sanctuary's depths. Sunlight gleams upon their polished frame as they pull a recently undone helm, horned and faceless, securely over their head, obscuring their features save for the briefest glimpse of gold eyes and wisps of similarly hued hair.

They stand there for a time, at the entrance to that sanctuary, looking at the ancient scepter they hold in their grasp, taken from a Drifter who had stolen it in a desperate bid to free herself from a burden most malevolent. They turn it within their grasp, studying it with their faceless stare for a silent, pensive moment.

And their gaze turns westward.

Towards Igniz.

"'Tis truly time, then," murmurs the Trial Knight. And in a flash of white light...

... they are gone.

GS: Sneak! The true nature of Timotheus Lovelace's attack becomes clear!
GS: Leon Albus critically Guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Storm Prison for 0 hit points!
GS: Leon Albus enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
GS: CRITICAL! Fei Fong Wong critically Guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Holy Thunderbolt for 87 hit points!
GS: Mute! Statuses applied to Fei Fong Wong!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Fei Fong Wong enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has lost 1 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod takes a solid hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Striking Staff for 109 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    A crackling cage of electrical force erupts from the circular arc around Leon's feet, snaking upwards in an attempt to snare and lock him in place.

GS: CRITICAL! Elhaym van Houten takes a glancing hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Magma Wheel for 180 hit points!
GS: Mute and Toxin! Statuses applied to Elhaym van Houten!
GS: Hyper! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Elvis guards a hit from Timotheus Lovelace's Magma Wheel for 118 hit points!
GS: Toxin! Statuses applied to Elvis!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Before Talise and the others, the King falls. His crown spills from his head. Through the dull, ebbing pain, a swell of brief satisfaction pushes through to reach Talise's heart. "...Everyone gives into their fear sometimes," she manages, her voice weaker and more strained now, but heavy with quiet, profound sympathy. "Just... do better next time. That's all you can do...."

Then she drops to her knees and doubles forward as she spits out a mouthful of blood.

The Malevolence flows back into the Orb; it flows out of Talise. Mostly. Sliding her gauntlet off, she presses her hand to the huge lance wound running through her midsection, entirely aware that she's probably going to die unless someone rushes to her aid, fast.

"Damn it, woman, you're out of your mind," Benedict Greygust growls as he hustles to Talise's side, holding a Healing Nut to her mouth. "Eat this before you die."

Talise does. She's pale, but she manages to take a few bites and swallow them. The worst of the bleeding begins to slow as muscles and flesh begin to knit back together. She can no longer feel air passing through her, at least - but a Healing Nut can only do so much. Even with that simple healing, Talise is not in good shape.

"There was so much Malevolence," she manages after a moment, her voice drawn and tired as she shakes her gauntlet off and lets it fall to the ground. It smoulders, the dark runes she drew on it still holding a subtle reddish glow. "More than... more than any of them used."

Beginning to lift her sword, Talise gives the Orb a grim look, intent on smashing the damn thing - but exhaustion and blood loss catch up with her, and her arm drops limply as she begins to tilt to one side, unable to muster enough strength to actually act. "Easy!" Benedict exclaims as he reaches out to grab the swordswoman's shoulders, propping her up as best he can.

The bearded courier looks up sharply. "I really hope there's a healer present. She could use some help."

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Gh--"

Lightning swirls up around Leon -- and then traps him in place, locking him down for a moment. His eyes narrow, as he turns to look at Timoetheus. His head turns, looking towards the Archmage; watching as he calls down such fire and thunder on all of them. The Black Wolves' captain spits.

"Timotheus!" he shouts. "Your king wasn't suited for that thing! He's fallen! The game's ended. I suggest you see that! I won't hesitate to leave Josie without a father, if I have to!"

He rushes the lightning.

Leon breaks through it by using his Raid Funnels; the barrier pushes a hole through it, before he runs across the ground. A silvery energy still crackles and whips about the thin blade of Argent Divider as he runs closer in, sword gripped in two hands -- and then leaps.

He comes down, slashing down overhead and trying to cut into the Archmage with the ancient ARM.

GS: Leon Albus has activated a Force Action!
GS: Leon Albus has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Leon Albus has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Code.26 CLARENT!
GS: Leon Albus has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Leon Albus has entered a Reflect stance!
GS: Leon Albus has completed his action.
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace guards a hit from Leon Albus's Code.26 CLARENT for 99 hit points!
GS: Hyper, Quick, and Shield! Statuses applied to Leon Albus!
GS: Leon Albus enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Chime Isa has posed.

    Even as the room goes dark for her, Chime smiles a touch sardonically with a shake of her head. By the time the spell finishes she's finished drawing her crossbows admist the lightshow saying "See. Holding back." she comments, her smile turning warm. "It's okay if you refuse to acknowledge what you fear you've become. We'll simply have to but and end to it for you. And hope the tale becomes a warning to others of a path not followed." as the sight of the room returns to her, hope and cheer still undaunted in her eyes even after the blinding explosion of starlight unleashed on the short elf.

    "May your story be remembered." Chime says, as she pulls the triggers of her crossbows, followed with a callout to the others fighting "Rush him, I'll keep him pinned." as a steady stream of bolts fly at the elder Lovelace in a seemingly endless barrage.

GS: Chime Isa has spent 4 Combo on Gatling, including 3 on Gatling!
GS: Chime Isa has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Heavy Barrage!
GS: Chime Isa has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Chime Isa has completed her action.
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a glancing hit from Chime Isa's Heavy Barrage for 71 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied's path towards the Castle had been a haggard one. Despite the increased spiritual resistance afforded to her from Uzda il-Jam, the Domain's expanding effect had been more than she could struggle in her ailed state; ontop of that, more and more refugees needed rescuing from where the Hellions patrolled, the very effects of the paranoia-laden atmosphere had influenced them into a near torpor-like state.

    She's struggling to walk by the time she arrives, one hand pressed against her sheathed sword that she's using as a walking cane as her eyes widen upon that which has occurred.

    "Everyone-- Josie!" she whispers, in an ailed voice. Her eyes widen further as she sees Josephine stricken on the ground; the Black Wolves and others were locked in a sorcerous duel with who she can only assume is Timotheus from context. After all this, after all she'd said...

    And other Drifters too, engaged with a Hellion whom she doesn't know on sight, but... she bites her lip, as she hurries as she hears Benedict Greygust's urgent call for a healer. "Hold on...!"

    The blonde Hyadean stumbles forward, trying to steer clear of the sweltering blaze from Timotheus' Magma Wheel and other such dangerous artifacts; she looks only once towards the Orb as Ruby wrests it, a pang in her heart fearing for how the Malevolence might affect her.

    She kneels by Talise's side, and the Ley begins to channel through her as she whispers, "Odoryuk... guide me."

    An indefatigable and forceful blue light seeps from between the shattered and tortured cobblestones of Castle Krosse's floor; the Ley gathers and knits through her own. Flames erupt and warp abound her own skin as she chokes for a moment--

    "Let... Life gather."

    --and she pushes through, as she shapes that channel into a powerful healing force through the impaled Talise's body.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei gives a big cheeky smile towards Elvis and a thumbsup. "I can't believe I got fired from my housekeeping job! Literally. With a fireball!" Beads of sweat trickle down his face thanks to all the fireballs and explosions going off. Yeah that's it. He isn't just embarrassed. "Yeah to be honest I'm more of a kicker?"

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Ruby going after the orb. "Ruby! You better stay safe there!" That's Fei shouting that, don't worry, but before--

Oh hey Lily.

Oh hey...Sharon Wyatt. It should be impossible but, well, Fei doesn't know what's possible and what isn't anymore. He hasn't for a long time.

Is there something lurking underneath his skin besides the demon? He wonders again how people can die and, apparently, come back into being as someone else. Maybe it ultimately doesn't matter. He's still Fei even if he isn't Fei, even if he isn't these other people.

The bigger cosmic concern here not immediately apparent to Fei. Timotheus is promising something to him. He glances over and sees the fury in Timotheus's eyes.

And he smiles. "Not so above it all, are we?"

Electricity comes crackling down for Fei as he makes his way back towards the wizard. "She was speaking Zeboim." They tell Timotheus. "I understand wanting to break your limits, but devouring any glowing orb you find isn't the way to do it. A sledgehammer for a problem requiring a scalpel."

Electricity comes crackling down for Fei. Fei raises his left hand and the electricity erupts crashes into his body. Smoke billows out of his ears as he grits his teeth struggling step after step to approach Timotheus.

"You don't know what Josephine Lovelace has done."

He curls his fingers into a fist and the electricity crackles further down his arm and around his body before he flexes outward and the electricity disperses, leaving only a crackling sparking yellow rippling around his fist which he throws in a punch for the magus's face.

"The woman you look down on has saved this world with her tenacity."

He throws another strike, this for his gut.

"She has saved Elru." Another strike for the side of his face.

"She has saved us. Not alone, never alone..." His eyes narrow. "But without her, they would not have succeeded. These are the people who ended the war with the Hyadeans. All you managed to do was destroy your own people."

They don't see Josie stirring. They don't seem to recognize that she's awake.

But they don't seem to be inclined to stop punching any time soon. It seems like the particular situation with Josie and her daddy dearest has touched a nerve. A nerve Fei doesn't even realize he had.

GS: Fei Fong Wong has activated a Force Action!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has spent 3 Combo on Headshot, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Tenbu!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Fei Fong Wong has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Through teamwork and quick thinking, the Orb is removed from the spear and rendered inert, but still shining with a tremendous amount of power. It draws the Malevolent Domain back into itself rapidly, the force of it practically causing Layna to stumble forward. She had grown so used to enuring the weight it had placed on her, it was a relief to finally be free of its effects.

...But they weren't done yet.

The King was still standing, but once more teamwork - this time aided by the Guardians - brings him down.

Layna does not address him just yet. She rushes toward Talise at about the same time as Benedict does, but the courier gets there quicker. Layna kneels down, putting a tight grip on her shoulder.

"Hold on, lass. You did good, aye? We couldn'ta done it without ya - no one else coulda pulled that off." She says. And then, a voice. Riesenlied's voice - one she's become a lot more familiar with lately. Layna stands up and steps aside, letting her do her thing - she knows she can trust her to do what's needed.

Instead, Layna shifts her position, placing herself protectively in front of Talise. There's still a fight going on nearby, after all.

"Hey! Krono! Are you still alive? This fight's over, aye? If you don't call your madman off, they're probably going to kill him." Layna warns, glancing toward the king. Not that she cares what happens to him either way.

<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    Virginia struggles as the last vestiges of Malevolence evaporate around her; there's a light, choked breath as she stumbles backwards, then onto one knee. In truth, she's probably only saved by the Orb retracting so much Malevolence back onto itself -- the process is truthfully probably not all that far removed from Venomisation.

    "You can't paralyse yourself in fear on a sunk cost fallacy, King," Virginia weakly remarks, panting. "There's always time to back away."

    She clutches her hand to one side as she murmurs, "Like I did. Thanks to everyone who believed in me," as she glances to Gwen, to Hiro... to so many others who were there, as they are now, even not right this second.

    Then she begins to drop, her body tithering to one side--

    "Accelerator."

    A leather-gloved hand appears in time to hold the ailing Drifter, a shock of white hair revealing itself afterwards as the boy scoffs and shakes his head. "You're a big pain, you know that, leader?" comments Jet Enduro.

    "Jet..." Virginia blinks, then whips her head back to where two other steadfast members of her team have gathered.

    A sniper in red, the ARM Gungnir held as if a defensive barricade; and a muscular shaman from the Baskar Colony, hoisting the Coyote shotgun ARM in turn.

    "What was it you said... one for all, and all for one?" Clive Winslett remarks, gazing back on Virginia from the corner of his eye.

    "Can't imagine you'd wind up being the most reckless one of us all, Ginny," Gallows Carradine cracks a grin as he keeps his eye level on the Orb that has so rapidly retracted the Malevolence back upon itself, a Medium of Schturdark held clutched in his fist.

    "Aheh... maybe I took a page too dearly from Maya?" Virginia tries to crack a faint joke, but she doesn't miss Josephine starting to stir as she asks

    'where'

    Virginia's face sobers up a bit.

    'where is he'

    "Right there... your friends're fending him off. Take it easy," Virginia suggests to the Archaeologist.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    King Krono's lance shatters, and the Anomalous Orb bursts free. Ruby, clutching it in her adorable pink mouth, flies it directly back to Ragnell as the Lightning Seraph had requested. Ragnell smiles to see her return, to see the King collapse; she holsters her guns and lets the others take care of the rest of the battle, and reaches into her poncho to pull out a thick, sturdy leather bag with equally sturdy chain string.
    
    "That's the way! Y' did great, Ruby," Ragnell encourages her, holding the pouch open for her. "Go on an' drop it in here. Shouldn't be such a threat now that it's not being actively used, but I'm not too keen on touchin' it directly myself all the same, you know?" Once it's been delivered, Ragnell ties the entrance shut tight and winds the chain around her right hand; then she offers Ruby a fistbump with her left. "Good work, Ru. You paid me back that favor an' then some." She winks. "Why don't y' get back to Hiro? I'm sure he's worried 'bout ya." She leans in and adds in a whisper. "Maybe worried enough t' give you a kiss for the hero~?"
    
    And, upon making absolute sure that Ruby zips back to Hiro, Ragnell looks over the remaining battle with satisfaction. There's still some winding down that needs to happen, if 'winding down' can accurately describe a mad sage who refuses to go down, but hey, that's not Ragnell's problem. She doesn't try to see to Krono either as the combatants tending to *him* rid him of the last of his Malevolence, returning him to a mere man. In fact, she takes a few steps back to clear herself from the rest of them.
    
    Maybe for the best, that, considering she's got her hands on a Malevolence-sucking artifact and humans are natural generators of the stuff. You never know who might set it off, even by accident.

<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

Twin fists slam down atop another of the wizard's shields, the fury of the Sentinel in both. It lasts little time under his mith, but any time was enough for Timotheous to get himself out of harm's way. "Ghhh...! Fight me like a man, and stop hiding behind parlor tricks of magic! You can't keep this up forever!"

An incantation of ancient power is invoked, and liquid magma rises to meet the attackers. A rising gesture with a hand, and Elvis erects a sectional dome of earth that blocks most, but some still gets on him, a painful sizzle as it meets flesh, upon already had burns. Agrony is seen on the Professor's face, as a quick bit of water magic snuffs the heat enough to be removed. The wounds are blatant however, and continue to screech agains the nerves until properly treated. A distraction for sure.

THe other group presses the advantage, and gets the King to yield through not only might, but emotion as well. A risky gambit pays off as the Orb is handed off by... some kind of adorable creature, and out of control from the two they fight.

"The King no longer fights! Press the advantage against his court mage!" Elvis shouts. "We can't let anyone else use that Orb ever again!"

Through the cracks spidered in the floor from combat, and even through the mortar between tiles, water begins to leak upward. Enough to coat the floor all around. The Veruni looks to his foe and squints, and with both of his hands, clamps them together.

All the water around surges in all directions toward Timotheus, attempting to encapsulate him, and apply leagues of pressure upon him. To feel the pain he has wrought on all those here, and their entire kingdom.

"You will pay for your crimes against your kindom!"

GS: Elvis has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Hydro Pressure!
GS: Elvis has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Elvis takes 13 damage from Toxin!
GS: Elvis has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Given that she was last seen bearing down on Lovelace with her flying scooter by using it as a full-speed ramming device - and simultaneously driving straight towards a whirlpool of sorcerous flame and magma - Shalune does about about the only thing she could be expected to do in this situation.

    Hunkering down over the handlebars of her craft, she tugs down her bobble hat as if it were battle armor, eyes fiercely glinting beneath its hem as she keeps her gaze riveted forwards. "Says the person who can't even see how screwed the present is," she seethes. "Maybe I should call up Diablo and see what he thinks the past can teach you, you--"

    Perhaps it's for the best that she's inaudible past that, wincing as she clenches her teeth together at the first gout of flame and then disappears into the midst of them. There is a brief, muffled yell - the sound of someone still determined above all else to not give the man the satisfaction of a cry of pain - and then a bundle of pink and red is ejected sideways at speed, crumpled over in midair, still clinging to the battered wreck of her craft out of sheer unconscious instinct.



    And then the mechanic is mercifully caught out of mid-air before she has a chance to impact against stone, her rescuer letting out a noise of effort as the strength of the impact takes her by surprise and makes her juke a couple of steps backwards. Carefully, Shalune is lowered to the ground by the figure, placed behind the bulk of a ornamental pillar near to where Josie lies; there is a sudden motion, and then a familiar slab of metal masquerading as a sword has been slammed hard enough into the ground to quiver upright, its sheer size extending the cover to the both of them.

    Rather than a dress, the figure is wearing light, skirted armor; rather than two long tails of hair, her hair is down around her shoulders and to her back. But between the sword, the Wayside insignia at her shoulder, and the way in which Duras Drum's sorcery positively rolls off her in waves to crackle fiercely against the domain in a series of unpleasant green and purple sparks, there is really no doubt as to her identity.

    Straightening up, Noeline glances across to where her partner is channeling the Medium of Life; the ring on her finger pulses as she concentrates on it for a moment, offering a strand of her own support and belief over to bolster Riesenlied's sorcery. When it gives - when that light suffuses Talise and begins to spread - that's when she hums in quiet relief as she steps forwards. "The people of Krosse have been evacuated! As many as we could are safe!" she calls to the King as the Malevolence bleeds away from him, hoping it might bolster the noble further.

    As for the other- the Hyadean sets her feet as she offers Leon a humourless smirk. "And the Wolves' reinforcements have arrived."

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Talise's blood splatters the floor. Leo doesn't notice what's happened to her, not immediately. He steps back into something like a fencer's stance, his sword held with both hands, his jaw tight as King Krono loses both his lance and the Orb mounted within it. The pressure of the Domain is suddenly gone, leaving a sense of deep, profound relief in its place. Leo allows himself a smile, and the faintest laugh.

    And then Ruby, noted acquaintance of the Lord of Calamity, makes off with the Anomalous Orb. Leo sees a flash of pink carrying the sphere away, and whirls around to face it. "What are you doing!?" the White Knight demands. Unfortunately, Timotheus Lovelace is still very much in fighting shape. Leo steps forwards, interposing himself between the archmage, his downed liege, and Talise.

    "STAND DOWN," Leo bellows. His voice thunders off the walls. He can worry about the Orb once the enemy wizard is no longer hostile.

GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Elvis's Hydro Pressure for 261 hit points!
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace guards a hit from Fei Fong Wong's Tenbu for 171 hit points!
GS: Fei Fong Wong enters CONDITION GREEN!!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

In the moment, Lily looks to Leon, watches electricity pass around him--lightning fences him in. She notes it.

Lily feels the change in the air; Talise's shouts and the falling King. She notes it.

...She feels the surge of power that comes of suddenly feeling a weight lifted--and it crackles around her before she can control it. That, she notes too. All happens so quickly--and the sorceress is still moving. Her body is too slow, she finds herself thinking, the world around her so thick, the very air conspiring. But power comes forth, and power erupts. When Lily's spell is complete, her golden eyes--solid, without sclera or pupil or iris seen--settle on the wizard. He speculates, it seems--but still Leon is moving. Still, his obsession...

'What does the past have to teach us except of our failures?'

Magma rushes Lily as she sprints forward--it rushes, and she calls up in motion a flood of light, a terrible barrier that clashes with the spell--but cannot block it all. The scent of burning flesh rises, and Lily pushes through the burning magma that ruins the floor at her feet, that destroys the light armoring she was wearing in an instant, that leaves her smouldering still, ablaze.

Fei explains, for her--explains the language she spoke. Lily, unlike Fei, does hear Josie stirring. That question...

"It's your failures that teach you the path to success," Lily says as she approaches Timotheus. "The past, that lets you move to the future..." She sounds calm--very calm, "Don't forget yourself, Fei." This, in passing, as she slides to the side, reaching out with her hand, which crackles with golden power--

"...And that past sent me to you, here."

In the chaos, in her words, in the light of battle, the fall of the King, it is easy to focus on any number of bright things. It is harder--much harder--to consider Lily's right hand, that is briefly down at her side. It is much harder to notice what she is doing with it, or to realize that it's moving up--up, when she'd knelt before--

There is no spell. The power flares out into so much bright light that signifies nothing. But there is a familiar, wicked knife, that has seen war and death and blood.

That knife reflects the light in a flash, in passing, as it thrusts upward, but its tip will not glow. There is only shadow as the sorceress drags the knife in one powerful stroke back down Timotheus's face.

"Touch your daughter again," the 'doctor' hisses, her voice filled with a deep, abiding hatred.

GS: Lily Keil has spent 2 Combo on Gatling, including 1 on Gatling!
GS: Lily Keil has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Black Wolf's Claw!
GS: Lily Keil has gained 1 Combo!
GS: Lily Keil takes 14 damage from Toxin!
GS: Lily Keil has completed her action.
GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Lily Keil's Black Wolf's Claw for 155 hit points!
GS: Entangle! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

As their rushing attack erupts into fiery force, Elly is separated from Fei. Such a thing was inevitable. Their hearts may be in unison but Fei is in better shape than Elly. As she reels around, she hears Timotheus speak dire words -

But he has cast his spell before she can reel around to face him. A moment later the land itself bursts. This time, for once in her life, Elly can feel the burning on her legs rather than her arms and face. This could be seen as a nice change of pace, but: It isn't.

            And yet.

And yet the tension in the air is breaking. The sudden passage of Malevolence, of the Domain itself - never mind that it is contracting, never mind that it is incomplete - is like a golden wind blowing beneath her wings. Even as she gets second degree burns on her calves, Elly feels courage bloom within her.

It helps that Elvis encourages them.

And yet, there is Fei. He's moving in that way that Elly, now that she knows it might be there, cannot help but see: She moves in turn, her right hand reaching towards her hip as she limps slightly. She draws something out - and lays the head of the Lunar Rod against the back of Fei's neck, with love, with compassion.

As the magic resonates, Elly says quietly, "I'm sorry," to Fei, and she feels a wave of dizziness.

She slides out her left arm and Fei ends up leaning against it. Elly looks past him, towards Timotheus.

"I want to be clear," she says to him.

"This is not coming from a place of cowardice," she tells him. "Do not mistake this for hesitation or for vindication. You will lie to yourself if you survive. Know that they are lies from the coward's heart that would rather die than change." She takes a deep breath.

"The past has many lessons to teach us," she states. "But the past is not fixed. Every second it moves past us. ... My... Friend, is alive; and I won't take her father from her. But I can't speak for everyone." Elly's head tilts forwards slightly.

"Don't fight it," Elly tells him. "Allow things to change."

And then she swings round the Lunar Rod in a single stroke using most of her right side as if she is smiting him with a mighty hammer instead of a slightly goofy-looking collapsible rod weapon bearing a rather powerful enchantment of slumber.

"... maybe this can heal things," Elly says after the blow, "where ... 'he'..." She trails off, the thought unfinished. Perhaps she dares not speak the name where those who still bear the wounds might hear. But she is thinking of Siegfried.

GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated a Force Action!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has activated a Force Action!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Lunar Rod!
GS: Elhaym van Houten takes 11 damage from Toxin!
GS: Elhaym van Houten has completed her action.
<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius stares into those narrowed eyes. Of all those who have piled upon Timotheus, he has not cited his treatment of his daughter at any point in this confrontation. This man's motives for going for this man - this man, in particular - must run specifically upon the nature of his paper thin deception.
     He looks poised to try and stab the tip of his weapon in deeper, using the superiority of his younger age and better physical conditioning -
     This sells Timotheus' drive and skill short, as the staff strikes Ethius on the side of his head to a crack of crimson staining the white of his hair, hurling Ethius across the length of the inner sanctum, battering himself further against debris until the wall catches him by his right side. His head swims, for a bit--
     No. Ethius shakes his head and forces his focus back, as Timotheus pleads his King master the Orb.
     "The Orb does not belong here." The younger Symbologist states definitively, even in the stunning aftermath of yet another concussion. His physical rise is shakier in comparison, his sense of balance temporarily taking leave of him - but mentally, even spiritually, the focus is there.
     A focus made all the clearer as the Domain retracts unto itself. Ethius does not look in the direction of it - there is an implicit trust that those with the means to take the extra steps for clean-up are capable. He has to use his staff for balance, which does not project much strength.
     His stare, however, remains level. He passes by the fallen, grievously wounded Talise. He walks past the nearby Josie Lovelace.
     "Krosse will continue as it has, prior to this." Ethius remarks as he draws nearer. Both hands are still on the staff. "What it does with itself from here on out is not my concern." His left hand parts, putting a hand on his hip. Is he in pain? His voice is unerringly steady. Tap. Tap. Tap. The evil-looking polearm in his grasp steadily touches against the ground.
     Until he staggers off to one side. A side where view of his left hand will be broken by the presence of others moving in on the Archmage, so that he can stealthily move that hand behind his back. The stumbling is, as it turns out, completely staged.
     An explosive jet of magma looks to consume a number of them. Even not being a present recipient of such power, Ethius walks towards the immense burst of heat as if unintimidated by the threat.
     Just in time to watch Shalune start to crash and burn. Though their relationship is strained, he does seem ready to move to tackle her off were it not for the timely intervention of Noeline - and Riesenlied not far behind to see to the wounded. All the better reason to not let his gaze part from the beseiged archmage.
     "To this end, Timotheus Lovelace..." There is an odd pause. Ethius stumbles again, leaning forward. "...You will be erased."
     This is so he can twist his torso to better hide the hand behind his back as his fingers flick and contort in strain-inducing configurations and gestures with a precision remarkable for leaning awkwardly - hiding the gesticulating component as he speaks. "Without fail or distraction, the center will be within grasp." An odd set of words--
     "Surge Bolt." Ethius flicks the arm out - an entire gambit hoping to throw off Timotheus' barrier capabilities by trying to outright hide half of the spellcasting ritual right in front of him until it might be too late. Electricity surges from the outstretched palm, threatening to jump even past a meaningful defense if his ruse is not caught in time. A shock whose accuracy and piercing nature might inspire a fear that pierces even their strong will.
     Even as many move in to secure the Anomalous Orb, even as the spiritual senses might balk at what immense power may yet lie within, his gaze never leaves Timotheus.

GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has activated a Force Action!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has spent 2 Combo on Smite, including 0 on Gatling!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has attacked Timotheus Lovelace with Surge Bolt!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has gained 2 Combo!
GS: Ethius Hesiod has completed his action.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei says, "Could say the same to you, Wyatt." He rears back his fist to strike again but blinks suddenly as the Lunar Rod is pressed against his neck. The strength fades from his body and he ends up slouching into Elly's arm. He leans against it, looking up drowsily towards Elly.

"Hey... " He says. "What are you apologizing for?" He raises an arm lazily to brush some hair out of Elly's eyes. "You're doin' great."

He rests one of his hands on top of Elly's as the wave of slumber passes through him. He doesn't get konked out but it was enough to disrupt his energy flow for a bit, at least.

"What a night." He says.

GS: Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Elhaym van Houten's Lunar Rod for 96 hit points!
GS: Slow! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
GS: Please react using the attack number in +queue.
GS: CRITICAL! Timotheus Lovelace takes a solid hit from Ethius Hesiod's Surge Bolt for 93 hit points!
GS: Jam! Statuses applied to Timotheus Lovelace!
GS: Timotheus Lovelace has Fallen! He is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia watches the King fall with a quiet sadness. The Mediums fall back, clattering into a pile in her arms, and she takes a few moments to tuck them away before striding forward. It looks like the Orb is in pretty good hands, to her, so she steps toward the King, standing over him. Injured, badly. But before anything else...

"Cyre!" Cecilia calls over. "Help me purify him!"

She'll leave the mad wizard to the others. This, she can handle herself. She kicks her staff, setting it spinning to start gathering together the magic she'll need.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

It is done.

...Done.

After all this, as King Krono Krosse collapses, it's all come to a close. Well. Except for the continued existence of the Anomalous Orb, and the enduring struggle of one Father Lovelace.

And, of course, one more thing.

Talise is being tended to. The onslaught upon Timotheus continues unabated. But--

Nobody tends to the king.

The enormous, bipedal tiger takes a step toward the fallen king, winds howling all about him like an angry beast. Cyre Lorentz stares down at the man responsible for nearly bringing ruin upon his people. For this man's weakness, so many have suffered. "You've ruined so many lives," Cyre rumbles, "It'd be so easy now. So easy for me to end this all."

The shaman examines the vicious, feral curve of the talons extending from each fingertip. He watches the glossy anti-light twist across them like oil upon water. "What do you deserve? That crown? Even now, you're only thinking of yourself. What do the people who suffered for your sins deserve--?"

Justice?

Vengeance?

Cyre reaches down, claws twisting around the inky, violet haze. "I know," he says to Cecilia's call. "This one doesn't get to rest until he atones for his mistakes."

And with that, with the time he has left in this avatar-form, Cyre goes about the business of helping Cecilia tear what Malevolence remains from King Krono of Krosse.

<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    The king, Timotheus notices as the fire fades. The king has fallen. Stripped from the orb he could not control properly, he soon collapsed in on himself, a sad shadow of who he had once been.

    His staff strikes the ruined tile. "So even a king's love for his people is not enough. What sort of heart is strong enough...?" the wizard wonders aloud.

    He soon has more to worry about than a failed experiment, of a sort.
    He has, for one, an angry Veruni interposing himself into his personal space. This time, there is but no room for a quick spell -- the tides rise up, fed from the water pooling from between the tiles, only to crash and bear down the elderly magus, back into the crater pounded into the floor prior. Timotheus thrashes against the water's weight, driving his staff against the floor as he uses it to haul himself upright, to find his way to shore.

    Fei is there, and waiting for him.

    "Of course not. She hasn't deigned to send me a message in year--"

    This is where Fei punches him in the face.

    And not to be outdone, continues to do so. One blow after another, sending the learned magus reeling backwards to sprawl against the tiles where he spits a mouthful of blood. "E... nough!" he says after a wet cough. "I am not yet finished! The king may have fallen but I am yet--"

    'I want this to be clear', says Elly.

    "What is it now," the gravely injured Symbologist hisses, hauling himself upright on his staff as if it were the only thing keeping him so. "More platitudes? Speak your piece and be done with it. I must reclaim the orb--"

    For his trouble -- for holding his ground in spite of her admonishments -- he receives a rod to the side of the head. It's enchanted, he realizes, and for a moment he reels as if beginning to fall under the enchantment's sway. But he holds fast: baring his bloody teeth, he snarls, "Enough... with your trickery! Begone from my sight!"

<Pose Tracker> Timotheus Lovelace has posed.

    His gaze shifts to Ethius, the sorceror who -- to his thinking -- played him false. "Do you think..." the wizard says, between ragged breaths, "do you think that you can best me? You are but a child in the ways of Symbology!" he declares, as Ethius continues his slow approach.
    States his intent to 'erase' Timotheus. "Now, understand the power of a master! Celestia--"

    'Surge Bolt'.

    In magic, the faster spell is the winner. So it is now, here.

    It pierces Timotheus through, and in a heartbeat, he gleans what has been done to him even as his body convulses. "You-- you wretch--" he hisses.

    Leon shouts his intent then as the spell ropes around and binds him.
    He breaks through the lightning.

"Im--impossible!" Timotheus utters, bringing up his staff in a guard -- his barrier spell lost to him through the other Symbologist's intervention -- as Leon runs him down. It does him little good; Argent Divider cleaves it in twain and continues on that downward stroke to gash the magus' shoulder, leaving a well of blood in its wake.
    Two halves of a staff carved from an ancient oak clatter to the floor.
    Clutching at his ruined robes and fresh wound, the wizard rasps a breath as he rises--
    To meet a rain of bolts from the direction of the elven healer on the periphery of the fight. Smoke, for a moment, envelopes the man.
    He steps, sidelong, through space itself -- enough to escape the brunt of the storm, but, alas, not all of it. More wounds, injury upon injury. He falls to one knee.


    'Right there...' says Ginny. Josie lies there, breathing heavily still.
    She can hear what they're saying. Later she'll think back and think of how embarrassing this all was. But right now, her focus is singular. She gazes upwards, as if through the ceiling rather than at it.

    "Borrowing... this," Josie rasps suddenly, shaking her bad hand up to slide one of Virginia's ARMs from where it's holstered at her hip. She never asks permission or apologizes.


    Timotheus gazes upwards from where he's fallen at the luminous golden eyes of Lily Keil. "What are you...?" he utters, staring up at her -- ether and Symbology may come from different walks of sorcery, but one attuned to magic such as he cannot hope to miss the power that uncoils from her very presence. "This power..." It's like staring into the heart of an eternal sun, and he cannot bring himself to look away.

    Even when the sun kneels down before him and brandishes a knife, bringing it so swiftly across his face there never was the chance for him to parry or evade the strike.
    The damage her knife wreaks is horrific. He screams, clapping a hand over his right eye. "My eye-- you--" A hissed breath follows.

    And holding that hand to his face still, he begins to utter the words of an incantation.

    "...bear your child to safe haven..." he murmurs.

    "TELEPORTATION!" Already, the man's form begins to fade as the spell takes hold--


    "...kill... him..."

    Bracing herself on her left hand Josephine lurches upright. For the second time tonight nothing less than murderous fury colors her face, as she cracks off a shot with Virginia's gun.

    As Timotheus completes his spell and vanishes from within the court. The single bullet pings off the far wall and falls to clatter on the broken stone below. The ARM falls from her hand. Shock, disbelief, then finally a weary resignation flit across her face.

    "...damn you..."

DC: Josephine Lovelace switches forms to The Dedicated Archaeologist!
<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    The Orb dislodges. Rastaban descends. The lance shatters and explodes. Gwen fumbles as she's blown back, her fingers trying to clutch protectively at the small Ruby. If Ruby was carrying something with her, Gwen didn't have much time or much focus to realize that Ruby was still holding onto that Orb.

    The world goes silent for the second time this night as she falls onto her back, stars of pain blotting out her sight as the world shifts back to normal.

    When Gwen comes back to herself, Ruby is gone. Gwen hears the battle continuing on, shouts and angry words filtering into her hazy mind like raindrops through a screen. She grunts with the effort of lifting herself up, craning her neck to look for a flying pink blob. Which she sees, in front of... a blurry Ragnell? Gwen's squint relaxes. Ah, good, Ragnell's taking care of Ruby. She's safe, with a person who is completely and utterly trustworthy. Just like Virginia, in the care of her companions.

    And the civilians, as Noeline reveals.

    Another sharp jerk of pain lances up Gwen's right arm, causing the courier to coil over and bite her lip from the sharp pain. Yeah, she's going to ignore the rest of the fight right now, because really, her body is failing to find reasons to get right back up right now. She trusts her friends.

    There's just the king in front of her, a sad, sunken man, broken, but still alive.
    
    'what right do i have to wear this crown...?'
    
     Her gaze softens in sympathy momentairely, before her body stiffens as Cyre approaches. "Cyre, please, _don't_!"

    Then Gwen remembers. The tragedy of Wehaca, the suffering Cyre's people had gone through. What right did she have, to tell him to stop? Besides, Cyre didn't need her to tell him. He was probably showing more restraint than she could've, if she was in his very shoes.

    As Cyre moved away, Gwen lets a few moments for Cyre's words to sink in before she adds her own piece.

    ".... Your majesty." Gwen grunts as she rights herself, splaying her arms over her knees. "I can't say any words that'll make things be right, but I'd say you got just 'bout as much right as anyone does. You now know what happens when you grab onto power like that. Or what it's like to be at your lowest." She clears her throat, using the fingers of her left hand to punch and hold a few spots on the side of her ARM, the appendage falling limp under her touch. "You're alive. Even if you decide to take another path from here n' give your position to someone else, it's up to you to decide how to make things right. Or how to help keep things like this from happenin'. Those possibilities are in front of you, and only you, because of the weight you're holdin'. I think... you can wear that crown, at the very least."

<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    A deep wince comes from Virginia as Josephine grabs her ARM when she isn't looking and fires a shot towards her old man. The bullet misses, but she keeps the ailing archaeologist as cradled as she can as the rest of the team keep them surrounded and cared for from harm.

    "... don't really have a good answer for how you feel right now, but..."

    She at least tries to coax the gun out of Josephine's hands and click the safety back on.

    "My dad's ARMs weren't much meant to be a tool for revenge, I'm afraid."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "..."

    Her gaze turns to meet Virginia's own. It seems that as much as Virginia might not have a good answer for Josephine, the older woman doesn't have a good response for Virginia. As if Virginia has reminded her of something, almost.

    In silence, she hands the ARM back over and exhales a heavy breath as she leans against the fledgling Drifter.

    "...sorry, sis," she murmurs, before closing her eyes.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

"Timotheus, this is... that is enough! This fight -- ggh -- this fight is over."

Alive. That is perhaps the best description of Krono in this moment, though he even scarcely looks it. Defeat is in his gaze as the Archmage refuses to listen, to fight on -- defeat that he feels all the more strongly as he begins to put together the elder Lovelace's own interests.

"... Manipulated by all. What kind of king..."

And as Timotheus disappears, King Krono's gaze falls, fixed firmly on the cracked and devastated grounds beneath him, the King of Krosse grapples with everything that has happened, everything that he has done -- everything that he must account for.

Just... do better next time.

That's all you can do.

His fingers tremble. And eventually, King Krono's eyes lid shut; the sigh that follows after feels like expelling some imperceptible weight from the sheer heaviness of the motion.

"... I... suppose so," he utters moments later, voice cracked; but whether he is answering Talise, or Layna's query over his life, is patently unclear. Perhaps both. And there he lingers...

... until a shadow's pall casts over him.

Dark eyes crack open once more. They turn upwards, to stare at the bestial form of Cyre H. Lorentz looming over him with all the weight of an executioner. He watches, quiet and motionless, as the young shaman so clearly weighs his life in his hands.

The king does not beg. Does not move to defend himself, though one wonders if he even could. He does not even try to escape.

He just bows his head, a rueful kind of smile cracking at split, chapped lips.

"... you are right. I am a foolish man full of vainglory." He doesn't shut his eyes, at least. He doesn't look away.

"Do what you have to."

And so Cyre reaches out --

-- and the King of Krosse feels an imperceptible weight slowly peeled from his heart.

He blinks. His gaze turns up. Towards Cyre. Towards --

"Cecilia--?"

And as they prepare, as they work -- as motes of dying Malevolence rise from Krono -- he listens to Gwen's words. The guilt in him is still a palpable thing, but her words inspire thought in him, at the very least.

"... perhaps," he says, after a moment. "But... my crimes cannot go unpunished."

It is all he can manage, for now. For now, he just watches, and listens; when Noeline speaks, relief overrides even his weary fatigue in his face. He looks up at the Hyadean; and despite the fears that have so plagued him, he still does not hesitate to say,

"... thank you. Truly. Thank you."

Before he lapses into that quiet reverie once more, allowing Cyre and Cecilia to work.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Fortunately for Talise, someone better at magic than she is bothered to come.

When Riesenlied kneels by her, Talise widens her eyes, momentarily debating warning the woman away from the battle - but she's too weak, and she can't treat Riesenlied that way in good conscience. All she can manage is a weak "Thank you" as the metal woman draws upon the power of the Guardian of Life.

The blonde Hyadean calls forth that blue light. Life blooms through Talise, flesh rapidly knitting back together, her heart pumping more vigorously. Breathing in, the swordswoman squares her shoulders as vigor floods through her body, her muscles and mind awakening - and the traces of Malevolence coursing through her, left behind by the Orb, begin to melt away.

With her now-ungauntleted hand, Talise reaches up and squeezes Riesenlied's bicep, giving the woman a smile of sheer, unvarnished relief. There's something haunted behind her eyes, though - the ghosts of being in contact with far, far too much Malevolence. The horror that came with looking into an abyss of nightmares.

"Thanks," she manages for Riesenlied and Layna before laughing thinly and shaking her head. "You mean no one else was dumb enough to try it. I'm not even a symbologist."

Then Leo interposes himself between herself and Timotheus. Talise's eyes widen and her mouth opens just a little, and the slightly pallid hue of her face comes to life with a warm blush.

    ...White Knight....

Talise's eyes drop again as Timotheus goes down and King Krono makes his admission of what he was -- a foolish man full of vainglory. Closing her eyes, the swordswoman bows her head. "Cyre," she says quietly, "just take care of him. His fear led him down this road... and he's not the first one to surrender to his own fear. Where he goes from here, we'll decide later."

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Damn!" Leon shouts, as Timotheus invokes the teleportation spells. He snaps Argent Divider; the barrels unfold as the blade retracts, but his shot comes too late. It slams into the stone wall and bounces off, sparks flying. He stands there, teeth gritted, and turns -- glancing towards the fallen king, and then towards Riesenlied and Noeline.

A relief to see them.

He turns, then, and strides over towards Josephine. The Captain kneels down, looking at her; he is a sight, with blood caking his face, and scratches and burns that have left his coat in tatters and his shirt and vest burnt.

"Easy, Josie," he says. "Maybe Miss Maxwell's ARMs aren't meant for vengeance, but all of ours are. We'll find him. We'll put an end to him. It just won't be today. For now, rest."

He looks back to Fei. "We should get ready to leave soon. I think we'll all need some rest."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Timotheus disappears, evading a certain sealing of the fell knowledge gleaned from researching the Anomalous Orb. Ethius steps to where Timotheus once was, stabbing the tip of his weapon into the nearby wall as though testing to make sure it wasn't just a sneaky invisibility spell to allow them freedom of movement to escape.
     The white-haired-plus-blood-streaked younger Symbologist stares blankly at the wall as he stands upright, back turned to the lot of them as the Purification is underway. The emotionally vulnerable is addressed with the patience and heart of those who have gone through similar - maybe even worse - trials that tested their spirit and resolved. A number of the gathered, even, managed to have delved deep within the spiritual venom themselves.
     "This complicates matters." Ethius remarks, matter-of-factly. "I do not have a figure as to where he would intend to retreat to." As long as Timotheus draws breath, and an opportunity yet rises again to handle the Anomalous Orb...
     He dares not intrude on the personal moments of relief and rediscovery shared by so many, running his hand fruitlessly across the ruined walls of the inner sanctum as though running down a mental checklist of probable causes or places in which to pursue where there is absolutely nothing to work with.
     The idea of not having much to work with is - as uncomfortable as it is to admit - nothing new to him as of three years. He just knows he can't let that stop him.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    As Ruby zips her way, Leo roars at her to the effect of 'what are you doing?!', but is too busy with the battle with Timotheus to stop her. Ragnell grins. It's nice when things go your way. Too bad the position she's in won't last much longer, she reflects--but that's fine too. These Drifters are many of them people who took on a world-devouring goddess and came out on top. They won't need her particular brand of guidance any longer--at least not for another generation or two, when the next batch of intrepid humans has grown up and is in need of tempering.
    
    For now, she heads to the other side of the room and leans on the wall with arms folded, pouch hanging from her one hand, and watches over everyone. When Timotheus teleports out and King Krono expresses his regrets as Cecilia and Cyre cleanse him, she nods once. That's that all wrapped up, then. All that's left is...

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    Riesenlied's lips are pressed thin as she lets the excess of the Ley wean through her; she's breathing erratically and haphazardly, wincing faint as she nods when she feels Noeline's encouragement and energy flowing through her. She's in many ways the novice of the two, not having had her Medium for nearly as long -- but the brutal and intuitive nature in which power courses through her is not as much a learned thing as it is second nature forced upon her at this point.

    She bites her lip a little as she listens to Elly and Fei; she's not particularly confident or understands what has transpired, but she trusts her to have her heart in the right place. And Fei sounds supportive; she hears Cecilia calling for Cyre to help with purification, and she wants to lend her aid--

    And falters a little more.

    Purification might well just burn her alive the way she is right now. It's a much more dangerous task, requiring what feels like a copious weave of the Ley, as she discovered when she purified the Captain of the Royal Guard.

    She at least hears the King's words, as Noeline answers the pertinent question that the townsfolk are safe. She nods thankfully towards her, then towards the King as well. "You are welcome. It is what the Outreach strive for, each and every day."

    And to Talise, when she holds her arm and smiles at her with relief. "It's the least I can do," she answers weakly, but earnestly to Talise. She can sense that hauntedness, empath as she is, but she doesn't speak about it through words--

    Rather, she pats that hand of the Drifter's back in turn, as if she knows what it's like to be inured in it.

    She looks a moment to Ethius as he concludes on the uncertainty where Timotheus retreated to, and to Leon when he glances back towards the both of them and suggests the should get ready to leave. She bites her lip, not quite certain about that. She looks to Noeline, as if requesting her support as she comes down from her channeling.

    "... I am uncertain... are they not here anymore? K.K. ... ..."

    She has only a kind of subtle glance towards Ragnell, almost too private for a moment.

    Her heart has weighed heavy about the subject of the Trial Knight since the very start, when she encountered the Amalgam Hellion.

    Are they truly not here...?

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia gives Cyre a sour look. She just spent twenty minutes talking this guy down, CYRE, could you PLEASE NOT.

The irony of the moment is lost on her. As the purification is completed, Cecilia settles down next to Gwen and the King, smiling at work well done. "No," she says, quietly. "They cannot. But it's funny, isn't it? Just saying that tells me you've already learned what you need to."

She turns her eyes down, considering her own fingers. "Is it justice, to punish someone just to appease the need for someone to be punished...?" she murmurs. She shakes her head a little. "Well, no matter. We can begin to move on. That's a good victory for one day," she says, smiling.

She glances up, finally noticing Riesenlied and the dragon-woman's question. "That knight in white?" she mutters, trying to remember if she's right about the name. "I didn't see them."

<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

The use of pressurized water works to great effect, but i nthe end does not stop the Wizard from fending off others even as he limps away and invokes a teleportation spell. A shot rings out, and Elvis looks across the way to see Josephine was the one to squeeze the trigger. "Glad you aren't dead over there!" he yells, twitching slightly from pain. A look back toward there the spellcaster was. "A single man's heart is never enough. It takes the hearts of all in service to the country to be enough to lead a kingdom to propserity." A pause. "Or at least that is how the old tales of old go."

Q look toward Fei, Elly and Lily.

"Were going to have a long talk when this is done! DONT. GO. ANYWHERE." He gives them the 'very stern father' glare.

But for the moment, he begins to treat his wounds with strong Veruni medicines that gleam a gentle green light when applied. "Mmmh!" he grunts. Must be painful in its work. "I swear if I had currency for each Human that caved to power I would be rich enough to build my own spaceship..."

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

AND SO THE DAY IS SAVED.

Well except for the fact that K.K is probably up to some secondary plan here. There's pretty much always a catch with that one. Fei watches Timotheus vanish and Fei straightens up and looks towards Josephine. He looks at her for a moment, sympathetically. He's been there.

But there isn't a lot of time and seconds might mean everything. "I'm okay." He tells Elly. "Thank you."

He looks to Leon. "We can't leave just yet." Fei tells Leon. "Let me have a second to ask the king some questions." He smiles at him. "Nice to see that a high powered symbologist can't keep you down."

He gives Leon a pat on the arm and makes his way towards Cecilia and the King, giving a small nod to Ethius along the way. He doesn't say anything to him, however. Wordless affirmation.

"Krono." Fei says as he approaches. "Did the knight that gave you the orb tell you anything about where they were going to be or what they might be up to?"

He looks to Cecilia for a moment and smiles, though he doesn't interrupt the purification. It's a new skill of hers, relatively speaking, so he doesn't want to distract her. "Thank you," He tells her, though. He doesn't speak any more for Adelhyde than he already has, but he hopes Krosse and Adelhyde can restore their alliance with one another.

"Krosse must have been a means to an end for them." Fei tells the king. "Did they hint anything, give any sort of clue?"

He looks towards Elvis and frowns at him. "You're not my real dad." He tells him.

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna doesn't blame Cyre. Honestly, it was not too long ago that she would've been aiming to take the king's head. But Cyre doesn't - he aids in the purification, so that the king of Krosse could atone for what he's done. For what it's worth, King Krono seems accepting of it. He doesn't fight against it.

Layna's satisfied with that for now, she thinks.

And Timotheus manages to teleport away. This likely won't be the last they hear of him. Layna sighs, massaging her forehead. Even so, though, she manages a weary smile for Talise and claps her on the back - gently, though, so as not to reopen the wound.

"Aye, lass. But it worked, aye? In a manner of speaking, that is. Sometimes it takes a dumb risk!" She remarks.

With that said, though, she turns her attention back to the king.

"Aye, they sure as hell can't." Layna agrees, as he comments that his crimes can't go unpunished. But he drifts off, seeming to lose himself to the sensation of purification, so Layna doesn't press the matter for now. Instead, she looks toward Riesnlied.

"Thanks for showing up when we did. You're a real life-saver, lass." She comments.

And then, questions arise - what happened to the Trial Knight? They were the one responsible for the Orb finding its way into Krosse's hands, after all.

Layna frowns, listening very intently. She was pretty curious about the answer to that question, too.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

'What are you...?'

Timotheus stares, and Lily memorizes his face in that moment. In that moment--and in the next. The scream sshe hears--the scream she will also recall. "Yes," Lily hisses back at him--and then he is gone. She can feel the magic he uses, can feel its shape and heft... But she does not have time to oppose it, if even she could take the values she knows and somehow shape them into a counter.

The knife is still in her hand, as she turns, first towards Fei--noting him on the ground--and then towards the rest of the room, checking for battle, checking Josie--because of course that's where the shot came from--and staying there, focusing there.

Lily's form is also wounded; her eyes still burn, molten gold and clearly inhuman. "I don't either," Lily says to Ethius, "But it's as the Captain says. We will find him. ...But there's someone in line ahead of you to finish matters."

Lily steps forward, looks to Fei--as if to say without speaking that they can talk shortly--and then moves for Josie, even as Elvis gives her that Look and that instruction.

"All right," Lily says to him, casual. "I'll stay for what you have to say."

The King is not her concern, nor his true contrition; the kindness on display here, the purification...

Lily kneels beside Josie. "...I at least made him hurt," she says, quietly. "I saw it in the eye he still has."

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo doesn't so much as raise a hand against Timotheus. He doesn't need to. He cringes, visibly, as Lily deals the archmage a ghastly wound among ghastly wounds. He doesn't recognize the teleportation spell until Timotheus is already vanishing--whereupon his ears flatten against his head. "Damnation," Leo says. He sheathes his blade, his face settling into a scowl.

    'But... my crimes cannot go unpunished.'

    The scowl softens, fades. Leo looks down at King Krono, respect in his eyes. "There is nobility within you yet," he says. "I know many who would rather hide behind their rank and standing than face justice." He trails off, looking at Cyre. The fight seems to have taken the edge off his anger, but there's still an unspoken question hanging in the air: Why the hell did he hurt Mauri?

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Noeline does not move for a long moment after her call to the king and to Leon; she's much too busy carefully sizing up the situation, then bowing her head as the Malevolence-laden royal slowly responds to her words, then frowning as the Evil Vizier escapes. It might have been expected for him to do so - the Hyadean has read enough books in her time, thanks - but it's still an irritation, doubly so given Josie's goals, and she winces slightly as the man gets away.

    At the same time, it's a relief of sorts. Only when all seems to be done with does she straighten up, huffing out a breath towards Leon's rather off the cuff comment. "I think I am contractually obliged to beg to differ on that front. Or at least, I thought the vengeance was supposed to come with an itemised bill."

    She cuts the rest of her joking short, because a sensation at the back of her mind drives her across the intervening space to Riesenlied's side; she kneels slightly, then nudges in close enough to draw an arm around her partner and assist in keeping her upright. All of a sudden, her mouth is drawn into a thin and tight line as she looks across. "... I wonder. It would depend on whether he considered that enough of a trial, I suppose."

    She doesn't look optimistic, to say the least; for all that her voice is light, there's still a tension in her shoulders and a readiness in how she carries herself, and not even Elvis' yelling or the sight of shamans leaning over the King can put a dent in it.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

Cyre, even in giant tiger form, gives Cecilia a look as if to say 'oh my god now is the WORST POSSIBLE TIME to hide even a little bit of emotion considering the horrible bubble of corruption floating a few feet away.' Gwen gets that look too. What is with all these people, seeing a giant predatory elemental monster loom over someone who has massively wronged him personally and immediately thinking the worst?!?!

It's...

It's a very complex expression.

"They won't be," Cyre answers the fallen king. He stands amidst a vortex of gentle wind, stripping away bit by bit at the shadow clinging to King Krosse's soul, "A man with as much vainglory as you won't be able to suffer the guilt for long without doing something to right it. All you need to do now is make sure that you don't cause even more suffering in your haste."

Slowly, as the clinging humanity is drawn away entirely, Cyre's own god-avatar form dissolves in a haze of emerald light. Still, he keeps up the purification-- no matter how utterly, terribly painful every single part of him is right now. "...He better not show up," Cyre mutters amidst the cleansing winds. "I don't think we're exactly equipped to fight him right now."

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo looks down at Cyre as divine power boils off of him. "We will have words," he says. "Don't think I'm ignorant of your treachery. But this... this is neither the time nor the place." He takes a step towards the shaman, while leaving Cecilia more than enough personal space. "King Krono remains under my protection. He will face justice, as will that perfidious archmage." Of course, Fei then brings up a good point. Leo looks down at the young martial artist, and frowns. "A troublesome thought," he says. A moment passes. "The Orb." Shock crosses Leo's face. "Where is Seraph Ragnell? We must see to its purification."

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

So even a king's love for his people is not enough. What sort of heart is strong enough?

An excellent question.

"Move on..." muses King Krono as Cecilia speaks; his gaze grows distant.

"... I don't even know where to begin. My people will need help. To return to the way things were."

But he, at least, looks relieved. Even not knowing what's next is a beginning. A burden freed from.

A good victory for one day.

"... Yes," he manages, after a moment, his fatigue catching up to him as adrenaline bleeds away and the spiritual toll weighs heavy. "You've come a long way, Cecilia. Further... further than I ever did."

But the question remains. What of the one who started all of this? What of the one who put Virginia Maxwell down her path? What of the one who placed the Orb in Krosse's hands? What of the one who brought ruin to Wehaca?

What of the Trial Knight?

Cyre no doubt rightly hopes against their appearance, given the state they're all in. Fei brings that question to the one man who might know better than most here; when the young man of Lahan (and other, various places (across other, various lives)) approaches, the king looks up, his gaze swimming in a sea of murky consciousness. His eyes squeeze shut in a slow blink.

"... a means to an end..." The spike of anger in Krono is one fortunately muted by exhaustion and tempered severely by guilt. His lips press into a weary frown.

"The knight spoke very little about themself," he manages, after a long moment, "and I... I was too caught up in my own troubles to question it. The knight -- they gave us the Orb, showed us how to use it. ... ensured we knew how to fuel it. Off the 'blight of man,' they said. That we were free to use it however we wanted."

His brows furrow inward.

"Until..."

"'Until the day I return for that which I am owed.'"

BGM: The Stone of Immortality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eluA3avoiG8

THOOM

A shockwave of pure force, rippling through the grounds of the castle, bearing imperious force enough to knock any in its way off their feet. A light, full of white, shining splendor, basking the inner sanctum of Krosse Castle with a brief and blinding warmth. The sound of a metal heeled boot, crushing stone underfoot. A voice, commanding despite how it is warped by the metal din of a faceless helm.

A knight, emerging from light before those Drifters, unarmed.

And with nothing short of bald-faced brazenness.

"'Tis that appointed time," intones the Trial Knight. "'Tis ripe enough. 'Tis ready enough. You glut it well for its purpose, your majesty." Their right hand extends outward, clawed fingers extended in a simple gesture.

"I have come for the Orb."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

There's a lot of armour between Talise's back and Riesenlied's hand. But kindness is one of those things that transfers. Talise lowers her head a little and smiles, closing her eyes. "...You're a good woman, Riesenlied. Never change."

Armour creaks as Talise stands, smoothing her surcoat, unable to fix the hole in it but able to at least move a few plates around to avoid a huge hole in her armour opening her up to being stabbed even more easily next time. She smiles ruefully at Layna, cocking her head to one side. "To be honest, I half-expected I'd be walking out of here a Hellion. Althena is there a lot of Malevolence in that Orb...."

Talise trails off, frowning deeply. Come to think of it, that Orb did get here via the Trial Kni--

    THOOM

The shockwave bowls Talise over. A few feet away, Benedict - who had turned to look towards something a second before, lets out a startled shout as he's flung straight back and smashes through a table. "Shit!" Talise growls into the shockwave, planting a knee and gripping her sword as she braces herself, trying to find enough strength to get back to her feet.

That shining light congeals into a figure who is all too familiar - white and full of big language and big intentions. Talise draws in a breath as she stares intently up at the all-too-familiar Trial Knight. An endless cascade of sass hangs at the tip of her tongue - a million awesome hero zingers that she's sure would make her sound really heroic and courageous and absolutely one hundred percent turn the tide of all of this.

Except they wouldn't. They're just words, and words aren't important - the Knight's intentions are. Exhaling through her teeth, she rises slowly.

With a shimmer of steel, Talise sweeps Rastaban into a ready position, sets her heels apart, angles her shoulders, and sends the only message she needs to send.

Not without a fight, K.K.

<Pose Tracker> Cyre H. Lorentz has posed.

"Treachery?" Cyre arches a brow at Leo's accusation. "Buddy, I was about to ask you the same. But you're right. It should wait--" His ears twitch. His eyes narrow to thin slits. "Wait," Cyre breathes, instinct taking over. "Something's comi--"

And then a shockwave blasts straight through their burgeoning conversation. The shaman whispers a mild curse and braces against the tremor, dropping to a sudden crouch. It's the only reason he's not on his ass as the Trial Knight makes his sudden appearance.

And somehow, somehow he can't help but think it's somehow his fault.

Did he jinkx it?

Of course Cyre had to jinx it.

OF COURSE.

If there is an almighty god, then he is a jackass otaku who ruthlessly watches for even the SLIGHTEST HINT of a flag-tripping.

"You," Cyre growls, staggering back upright in spite of the pain shooting through his limbs. "What do you want with that thing, Trial Knight? What was the point of any of this!?"

More importantly--

Where IS the orb!? Does Ragnell still have it??

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

Layna frowns, folding her arms in front of her. The knight gave the King the Orb, and said that they would return for it. But, with the Domain gone...

Realization hits Layna a second too late. She opens her mouth to shout a warning, but suddenly, a shockwave of pure force ripples through the castle. It knocks her back, and ultimately clean off her feet.

"Damn it...! I shoulda known...!" She hisses. With a grunt she forces herself into a standing position, hunkered down into a fighting stance...

...But she's in no condition to fight. Not when the Knight themself has had no such recent battle. They might be currently unarmed...but Layna's no fool. She knew well enough to know that if they bore no weapons, they must have the utmost confidence that they wouldn't need them.

"And why do you want it?" Layna asks, her fists clenched. She takes a step forward, but her condition is clear. "Haven't you caused enough trouble with it? That thing ought to be disposed of."

With that said, she takes up a position next to Talise. Layna might still be injured from the last fight, but she's sure as hell going to give it her best shot with the last of her strength, if it comes down to that.

<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

"I am old enough to be your dad for certain! Now you just stay put!" Elvis intones toward Fei. "We have words to settle in what you did in regards to the mirror and Amaterasu!" A big ol' finger is pointed right at him. A look toward Lily. "See? She till take a firm talking-to with dignity!"

Despite giving others the what-for, he is listening well to King Krono. He speaks of a familiar figure, one seen before. And Pendrago. At the Photosphere.

An explosion of force rips through the royal chambers. Elvis is quick to guard himself, but the sheer magnitude threatens to throw him through a wall. A fist is punched into the stone floor and forms a drag line as Elvis slows his backward momentum. "Oh, as if on queue."

The entire room was a wreck. Everyone here was battered horrendously. "So, thought you could run a 'trial' on this Human kingdom, did you? A kingdom in desperation. If you ask me, your trials are flawed in nature from the start."

"You have weighted them in the favor of your choosing, knight. Such is... unbecoming of anyone who desires to run anything of the sort!"

The man cracks his neck. Painfully, but still does so. He still had some fight left in him, despite his horribly burnt skin. But alone he might have some trouble.

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo's face falls the instant Cyre's does. His ears twitch, swiveling towards the wall--

    Stone caves in beneath tremendous force. The shockwave slams into Leo, rocking him back on his heels. He raises an arm to shield his face, and his other hand darts to the hilt of his sword. His cape flaps and flutters out behind him. As the gleaming figure steps into the room, Leo steps forwards to meet them. Between the lingering injuries and the pain from being poisoned, he's not in pristine shape, but one couldn't tell just by looking at him.

    "Get behind me," he says. "Now!" He looks at Talise when he says it, but it's really meant for everyone. "Yes. Yes, you have. But you're only taking it over our dead bodies, villain."

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Ethius continues his thoughtful(?) examination of the various walls about them. He turns his head as he overhears the King discuss the finer details as to how, exactly, this all started. He star--

     THOOM

     Up close to one of the walls he already is, it's the equivalent of someone taking the back of his head and ramming it into said wall as he falls to his knees. It is not a particularly dignified response to being shockwaved up against a surface you are already up against. A hand goes up to the injury on his head as the glint of white armor enters his vision. He catches the silhouette of the clawed fingers as an impetus to rise up once more from another debilitating injury and a moment of shock. Here for the Orb - the Orb that does not belong here.
     ...And yet, a facet he understands intristically about the situation, if not the words behind the intristic thought, ensures (...along with every other surface reason imaginable) he is not too keen on the Trial Knight taking it back.
     Once more, his polearm sees him steadying back onto his feet. Wordless, Ethius stares into the white armor (and thus, his own reflection) as he parts a hand from the shaft of his weapon to point his palm at them while red continues to stain his hair.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei lowers his head. Perhaps it was a bit too much to hope for that the king would know much more of KK's schemes than he did. When you're enigmatic enough, and the people near you desperate enough...maybe you can keep your lips far more tightly sealed than they'd ever expect.

It's not a very polite way of putting it: A means to an end, but so far everything K.K has done within Fei's vision has been a mean for an end yet obscured. Krosse would hardly be alone in that sentiment.

He thinks the orb as rather secure. Ruby had it last he saw and even if he knew Ragnell had it, well, it's not as if Ragnell would give them an ORB OF MALEVOLENCE right? She's a Seraph! They tend to be 'not fond' of malevolence in his experience.

Is it justice to punish someone just to appease the need for someone to be punished? It's a good question.

Fei will, like, remember that man

The king explains the chain of events that lead to today and Fei nods slowly--having already half given up on this line of inquiry until the king says those fateful eleven words.

"...Until the day they return--" His eyes widen as he spins awround and--

--a shockwave erupts and sends Fei crashing to the floor. "Shit....!"

He wasn't near the epiccenter at least, so he can get back up to his feet. He gives one last look towards Elvis but doesn't comment. It doesn't seem like they'll be able to have that conversation NOW either.

He looks towards the knight.

"You're much like malevolence yourself, hiding your lies with truth." Fei whispers. "We're not going to let you have the Orb!"

R...right? Whomever has it?

"What do you even intend to do with something so dangerous??"

Fei sure talks tough for someone who has been put through the ringer since coming here. He grimaces faintly when Leo mentions their dead bodies.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

"You're very welcome," Elly tells Fei, quietly. Timotheus left. Perhaps that's alright, she thinks. Maybe that was wise. Perhaps...

Elly is momentarily lost in thought, though she does give Elvis a slightly abashed look, yet one that somehow promises that, no, she probably isn't going to stick around and chat with him. Her eyes turn for a moment towards Josie and Lily.

After this the door flies off its hinges. Elly jumps. She turns round, to face that door, and sees the Trial Knight. Her fingers curl into tight little fists, then she forces them to relax.

Well, Elly thinks: I suppose it may come to this.

At least I've learned a couple of new tricks. Hopefully they will be enough...

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    "You are welcome," Riesenlied speaks genteely to Layna as she thanks her in turn, haggardly breathing as she lets Noeline support her further. "It's the least I can do, with how hard you all are trying." Talise's compliment to her elicits a nod.

    But it is with pain that Riesenlied hears and empathises with the King's guilt, with what they share about K.K.. Was this what they were talking about, with what they were attempting to do?

    Yet--

    Riesenlied's eyes widen as a shockwave of force suddenly throws her off her feet, and it's only Noeline's presence that prevents her from being thrown all the way against a wall.

    A light erupts from within that force, and the sound of metal is unmistakable.

    Her pupils shrink firmly, as she bites her lip. All her fears had been founded, then. Everything she had been dreading... but at the same time, everything of the hope she'd been urged to foster as she spoke to Lydia to fight for love, with Josephine and Lily and the others, as well as Avril and Elvis...

    Does she have to feel that pain of loss once more, as she did with Siegfried?

    "K.K...." she whispers, struggling herself up to her feet. She's barely able to stand, the effects of Jacqueline's potions at an end.

    "You warned me, of this. That we would next meet on less peaceable terms..."

    She bites her lip, clutching the sheath in which the crystal blade, Prissa's masterwork is stored within.

    "Is this what you speak of?" she asks haggardly, looking towards Ragnell for a brief moment. She scarce even realises where it'd ended up, and the gravity thereof.

    "I... have long known this day would come, yet I have been... dreading it to the depth of my heart."

    She's more just focusing on standing upright, probably in need of her wheelchair. Talise has gotten herself readied, and so has Cyre. Layna and Fei, and Leo follow suit. The threat of violence is imminent. Her voice grows more emotional as she speaks...

    "You have long been there for me, when my father lost his way.

    If it were not for your guidance, for your patience, I would not have found my path. Without your support when I was at my lowest, at my most lost.

    Equites would not have withheld judgement at the Temple, without the oath I have sworn to create Wayside and prove what peace our kin are capable of.

    And above all, you risked life and limb to save me, at the depths of the Photosphere, when I was so influenced."Flecks of tears are on Riesenlied's eyes as she bites her lip, the emotions brooking past the surface of her face.

    "So why... why?? Why cause so much suffering, in Wehaca, in Lahan and Timney, and here in Krosse? Why do you visit so much pain upon so many? I know the love you are capable of -- I've sensed it!"

    Her tears drip to the ground, rolling past her cheeks.

    "Is truly this all in service of what it means to truly love, as you've spoken to me...? Is the fate of love truly to seek all means, all to justify the end? Because I..."

    There is a long, laborious breath as she her head starts swooning.

    "Because you are a parent to me! Please!"

    She clamps her mouth and murmurs, the strength drowned from her voice...

    "... don't make me feel that pain of loss again like with Siegfried -- like father... please ..."

<Pose Tracker> Josephine Lovelace has posed.

    "Not... dead yet," comes the hoarse response to Elvis' shout. He may have to strain to hear the archaeologist, but she is still here and awake at that.

    "...yeah," Josie murmurs to Leon, once 'the captain' approaches her and says a few words, eyes still closed where she leans against Virginia. She may be conscious, but the effects of being hit by that spell still linger. Coupled with the exertions of getting into -- and through -- Krosse and its castle, even revenge comes second to the exhaustion that clings to her. "Yeah. I'll take you... up on that."
    Particularly not when the target of her fury is gone, to points unknown.

    She cracks open her eyes a touch, gazing up at Lily as the younger woman joins Leon.

    "...good. Knew I liked... you, kiddo," she whispers, exhaling out a sigh before, her breathing now even, she appears to lapse into a state of semi-consciousness.

    It, unfortunately, does not last.

    The Trial Knight's appearance comes with force. Steadying herself against Virginia, Josie lifts her head.

    There is a sort of hate in her eyes as she regards the knight, cousin if not sibling to the hate she had shown towards her sire.

    "You..." she hisses. "I knew... it was going to be you..."

    She lacks the ability to do anything more but vent herself so.

    "You absolute... bastard..."

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    Quick as a flash, the enormous sword lodged into the ground has winked out of existence - back into Noeline's free hand as she raises it high and then slams it down to make a second rent in the floor. This time, it doesn't so much provide protection as an anchoring point, and Noeline uses it to brace herself as she holds Riesenlied to her side and rides out the shockwave that rips across them.

    When she rises from behind it, it's with a solemn frown on her face and an unblinking stare as she gazes up at the Trial Knight's entrance and prepares to hold her ground. It isn't anger that crosses her face, so much as a stone-cold certainty that there's really only one way this situation can even play out.

    Still, she keeps her position in front of Riesenlied, ready to shield her partner and keep her safe - as safe as one can manage in a domain such as this. She's learnt by now that the biggest threat that Malevolence can throw at her is the whispers in the back of her mind, the worries and fears and uncertainties... but she is someone who has faced their biggest fear and pushed through to the other side, someone who lost the most important thing to her and then clawed and clawed until she got it back. Someone whose self-confidence has much stronger roots than it used to.

    Rather than angry retorts or exhortations, she steps carefully forwards instead, pulling her blade up to keep it at the ready. She does not interrupt Riesenlied's pleas - would never dream of doing so. Instead, little by little, her aura crackling against the domain's air, she traces a path of steps forwards for the other Hyadean to follow.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"Just rest," Leon says to Josie. "You don't need to talk. We can--"

THWOOM

"No rest for the wicked, I see," Leon says. He stands up, rolling his shoulder -- as if to banish the ease that Fei's pat put there, and restore some needed tension -- and stand up. He looks down at Josie for a moment. Then, he he turns to face K.K. He hasn't ever faced the Trial Knight down before.

He wonders if he is up to the task, with wounds that already border upon grievous. Leon glances sideways at Riesenlied; he grits his teeth, before he looks back at K.K.

"I think none of us have any intention of handing it over to you," he says. "I suggest you make your way out of here and lick your wounds. If you don't have any, we'll supply some."

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    A smile slowly widens on Gwen's lips as the king begins to recover from his initial malaise, an apologetic nod shared in Cyre's direction for her outburst.

    Then, she is quiet, letting others take over important matters of questioning and beginning the slow process of recovery as she herself begins examining her ARM. There is, after all, the matter of the orb, which is somewhere, but someplace Gwen isn't entirely sure of, and then there's the matter of-

    The Trial Knight, who appears.

    It's a good thing Gwen hadn't stood up, because the force of the knight's entrance would have easily knocked her back down.

    Gwen grunts as she gets up to her feet, the fingers of her left hand shakily going to her right ARM, pressing the same few spots once more, wincing as feeling begins to filter through the damaged ARM once more.

    Where is the orb? Last she saw it, she was trying to help Ruby tug it away. And then Ruby was near Ragnell, safe and sound, and then-

    Could Ragnell have it? Or maybe it's around that area of the room.

    Wordlessly, she works her way over to where she last saw the Lightning Seraph, her eyes scanning around for any instance of the orb. She needs to protect Ragnell, if she has it, and if she doesn't, she needs to see where it went. It couldn't have gone far.

    It didn't matter that her memories are beginning to piece together a possible, terrible connection, and how a sharp dread was beginning to coil in her stomach.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily watches Josie--but she concludes that she'll live, quickly enough. She nods, when Josie answers her. "...Soon."

But the door slams open. Things become... difficult, in short order, and Lily stands up and faces K.K. as well. She rmemembers the Trial Knight--she has faced their trials, before. ...But she's wounded, too--while she feels suffused with power, she is not so certain that her body will keep up with that power. Still...

So be it.

Riesenlied's words pass through Lily's mind, and she is silent for a few more moments. More complex than she realizes. And yet...

"...We'll settle this," Lily says to Josie.

"We can talk later," she says to Elvis. And she watches, but...

Lily looks to the knife still in her hand, and finds that she cannot strike immediately when Riesenlied is asking what she is.

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia nods back to Fei as well, smiling with accomplishment. "A job well done," she declares. Cyre - well, is thinking things about Malevolence that Cecilia never bothers to calculate.

She wonders when Leo started thinking he had any power over the kings of Filgaia, but decides it would be wasteful to call him on that at the moment. The kingdom is saved. All is well.

"I didn't have much choice. The temples are very far from where I started," she murmurs to the King. She doesn't entirely just mean distance. "Rest. We now have a tomorrow to place our worries on."

She starts to angle herself upright to check on other theaters, but as she does, Fei and Krono speak to each other, and she slows to a halt on the same words that arrest Fei's attention.

Her eyes dart to Fei, then she whips her staff up, preparing to force magic through it to shield - but THOOOM!!

Cecilia topples over ass over teakettle, flopping down facedown after an enforced tumble. She slaps her hand to the ground, coughing, and levering herself up enough to glare. "There they are," she mutters. The antipathy for the Trial Knight is personal, to many; she herself hasn't been scarred in quite the same way, so she finds herself more able to focus on other angles. Like: "The Orb! We have to get it out of here!"

Running away from the person with some kind of shockwave teleport is going to go great, she thinks bitterly, but it's the best she's got right now.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    The battle is won; the king, purified; the domain, fallen; everything seems to have been wrapped up tidily. Except... then Riesenlied, casting a faint and subtle glance Ragnell's way, wonders what became of the Trial Knight. Leo then calls for Ragnell, saying that they need to purify the Orb directly. Ragnell smiles back at them, saying nothing--not until that blast of force that precedes K.K.'s arrival, of their outstretched hand and their simple statement that they've come for the Orb. Ragnell, already having been up against a wall, doesn't get blasted anywhere; that force is deeply uncomfortable, like getting all the air shoved out of her, but she doesn't take any harm. Almost like she was expecting it.
    
    Immediately, despite the tough battles everyone has endured against Krono and Timotheus, everyone takes up arms against K.K., refusing them what they are owed, asking why they want it anyway, asking what the point of all this was. And it's all very well that they all stand up, ready to fight even though they're battered and worn, except for one problem: K.K. is between them and the one person who actually *has* said Orb. And Ragnell, well... is Ragnell.
    
    For good or ill.
    
    "Wrong direction, Trial Knight," the Seraph drawls, swaying the tied-up Orb in her possession like a pendulum. "He's already had his Orb removed by yours truly." She swings it around, then grabs the pouch, fingers gripping the covered Orb firmly. "You want it? You'll have t' go through me."
    
    A tense heartbeat passes. Ragnell shoots a glance towards Riesenlied when she breaks into her heartfelt pleas, and for a brief moment, her red gaze is pitying. Gwen's trying to crawl her way over this way, too, no doubt with thoughts of protecting or supporting her. But:
    
    "Haha, jus' kiddin', boss! Catch." With a cavalier grin that belies the gravity of her next action and what it will mean to every Drifter present, Ragnell chucks the Orb underhand to the Trial Knight, then strolls over to their side.
    
    As she does, she shoots Leo an amused half-smile. "You really shouldn't say shit like that, Leo. That's jus' asking for trouble." To Riese, she doesn't stop smiling, but she does show something somewhat more sympathetic. "This day *was* inevitable in the comin', huh?" She shrugs. "Well, it is what it is. We all knew it'd end up--somethin' like this." She pauses, then flashes Leon a wolfish grin. "Oh yeah. You were sayin' somethin' cute?"
    
    To Cecilia, she merely gives a shrug and a somewhat smaller half-smile. The Shaman Princess had called for getting the Orb out of there right away, and now, well--what're you gonna do? Aside, of course, from have Words with Ragnell later, along with probably at least half the folks here.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

"What--"

Leon watches the Anomalous Orb fly. He cannot do anything about it; he is fast, but not that fast. His eyes meet Ragnell's, slowly, and there is a look of outrage and dull surprise. He never knew her well, but he never knew her to be a traitor, either.

The surprise clicks into place, and then something else does:

"I can see you now," he tells Ragnell.

Which is when he swings Argent Divider quickly, pointing the barrel of the shotgun directly at the Seraph's head. He pulls the trigger without another word, and there's a loud crack-boom before the shotgun shell goes flying.

<Pose Tracker> Virginia Maxwell has posed.

    Virginia, who had been utterly silent up until now as she supports Josephine through the blast, looks at Ragnell as she reveals her dastardly true colours and summarily:

    "WHY DIDN'T I FIGURE THIS ALL OUT BEFORE YOU WERE BOTH IN THE SAME ROOM GOSH"

    Then a more disgusted snort.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    "--shit--" Noeline hisses under her breath as her eyes suddenly blaze with something that isn't quite anger, but certainly carries a great deal of aggreived annoyance. She braces for a moment between fight-and-flight, or perhaps fight-and-guard - though at the same time she's perfectly aware that there's simply no reason for either of their new adversaries to stay in this Malevolence-laden throne room any longer.

    For a moment her hand blurs, raising her sword up in an overhand grip that would look ridiculous if Noeline didn't have the raw strength to actually throw something that size; Leon presses the point much faster than she can, and rather than join in the assault she holds in place. It's more important now to watch what they do, what comes next, and whether they can pick out any kind of inkling of what the underlying plan is.

    "This is your answer, then. After everything. Did you ever want to believe in humans?" she wonders to the open air as she raises her head. The words she'd like to say stick in her throat; the fierce glare has nothing to accompany it, not when Riesenlied is at her back and in such pain.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    "There are kingdoms in turmoil within Lunar itself," Ethius remarks somewhere in the craziness that erupts as Ragnell shows her true colors and allegiances. Ethius did work side by side with her to put down a Cardinal who had fallen afoul of his particular tastes of right and wrong, "to say nothing of where the Malevolence phenomena is native. To what signifiance is it that Krosse would be at the center of these machinations?"
     Ethius asks, body language once more giving away nothing other than the statuesque appearance of a man standing vigil.

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia had a great idea with an unfortunate flaw. She was counting on Ragnell, an upstanding person who had protected her at her lowest points, to not be working for a person who poisons the souls of kingdoms.

Ragnell's reward is a look of blank, shaking horror.

Several people here have seen that this traditionally is fairly quickly followed by an explosive attempt at murder. Five....

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei is so stunned by Ragnell's sudden but inevitable betrayal (THERE WERE NO SIGNS) that he doesn't even get a guard up. The DROWSY effect doesn't help. His jaw hangs openly a bit stupidly.

He senses something happening behind him and he looks towards Cecilia.

"..."

He gets out of the way hurriedly.

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo's gaze darts back and forth between Ragnell and K.K., watching what he thinks is a standoff. It's unnerving to watch one of Althena's Seraphim treat a seething knot of Malevolence so cavalierly, but perhaps it's just Ragnell's nature. He stays where he is, tight as a coiled spring, even as Riesenlied talks about an aspect of the Trial Knight he's never, ever seen.

    'Catch.'

    Leo's mouth falls open. He watches as the Orb arcs through the air, eyes wide with disbelief.

    'You really shouldn't say shit like that, Leo. That's jus' asking for trouble.'

    Rage ignites in Leo's eyes. He surges forwards, fresh blood dripping from his wounded leg as he charges the Trial Knight. He draws his blade back, and brings it down at them in a wild, vicious swing.

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise gives Leo a look. It's defiant.

But it passes, because at the end of the day, Talise is a woman who just got impaled through the chest and lost an absurd quantity of blood, and she still hurts like hell. She takes a half-step back and positions herself behind Leo and a little to one side. The White Knight may not be much for words, but he's got a point.

Then Ragnell makes her play and Talise's lower lip falls. Shock and indignation explode across her face. It's as personal as it is theological. Seraphim shouldn't be creatures who side against Althena. Especially not a Seraph who seemed like she generally cared for Lanval at his lowest. Especially not a Seraph who seemed to share her fears about Althena and Malevolence. Especially not a Seraph who seemed to share her interest in preserving history.

"Ragnell, why," she gets out, before someone in front of her lunges.

"White Knight!!" Talise shouts with alarm.

Benedict Greygust, ace courier, meanwhile, cannot get a crossbow shot off because he just got put through a table and is only a mauve shirt.

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil is there to see a Seraph--an angel?--showing her colors, shocking so many of them. 'Boss', she calls them, and Lily does not hold raage for it--she doesn't find that she's feeling much about it at all, for the moment. Instead...

Instead, Leah pulls Argent Divider and fires, and Lily without even considering the matter lifts her hand and delivers a blazing blast of nuclear light straight towards her, a beam of horrific heat.

Then she grits her teeth, and brings up her other hand, the one holding the knife, to wipe at the blood gathering from her nose, the sign that she is going too far.

"Tch. Leon..."

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

'ha ha! just kidding, boss!'

Elly's mouth goes slack and wide open.

It really is a pretty classic look on her face, if someone cares to look, as she stares towards the Seraph, even as Leon has the quicker, more efficient effectuation of how to respond.

Elly looks at Ragnell and she imagines herself back in Adelhyde and she imagines them talking. She remembers that moment, that feeling of peace and reconciliation. That warm sense of letting go of a past ill memory - a feeling that she and this other person had both grown, and forgiven one another for their cruelties. It was reconciliatory. It was wonderful. It felt like a sign of hope that the world can be healed.

Maybe that moment was true, but, of course, Elly is seeing the ball of evil that has devastated a country being returned to its previous bearer and distributor, so that is not where her mind goes.

Inside of her she feels her stomach tighten and her entire interior workings, that subtle sense of one's own inner viscera and body, tighten - SLAM - she tastes bile in her mouth. Externally her face reddens and her eyes threaten to get puffy. She does not look dignified when she cries, and she is about to.

Elly sees red in her field of vision. Red and black. Her view of Ragnell tightens and because she is not, exactly, seeing Ragnell with her retinal cells, she remains very clear even as everything else gets a little strange. Her hands tighten into fists again. She can feel a tiny cramp in her back as the adrenal glands activate. She can feel cold iron pouring liquid into her blood. She shakes, a little.

Elly dry-swallows several times as her lips move in wordless syllables to herself. They don't mean anything, not even in Solaris. They're noises that she isn't giving voice to. Inwardly she tries to cling desperately, to hold on to herself, because a sense of black and utter futility is rising inside of her guts: she wants to vomit, to scream, to - to - it's like there's something else in there that she can barely comprehend but it feels enormous to her - cosmic - like a Gear hiding in the bushes -

There is a weird little blue flicker about a foot above Elly's head. "... I feel sick," she says tonelessly to nobody in particular. Her hands tighten.

She raises them and looks at them. She begins to take deep, quick breaths, curling and uncurling her fingers. no, she tells herself, not now, no, they're all here, just steady out - in - out - in - out -

<Pose Tracker> Layna Manydays has posed.

They all stand against the Trial Knight as they come to collect the Orb.

All of them except for one, that is. And unfortunately, that one is the one who happened to have the Orb in her very hands.

Layna turns toward Ragnell as she chucks the Orb toward the Trial Knight and moves to join them. Layna stares, blinking for a moment in confusion. She didn't know Ragnell that well compared to some, but she had met her a few times - particularly where Lanval was involved.

That expression lingers on her face for a moment...and then she laughs, mirthlessly.

"...So that's how it is, huh. You really got me there." She says. She covers her face with a hand. There's a grin on her face, but it's completely absent of any warmth. It's the grin of someone barely restraining themselves from doing something they know they'd regret.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Ragnell wouldn't. She wouldn't. Sure, some things were beginning to click into place. That the one time the Trial Knight had helped them in the depths underneath the Wayside village. The fact that Ragnell's methods, when going against other humans, were incredibly blunt.

    So when Ragnell calls to KK at first, Gwen's pace quickens. No, don't take him on by yourself, Ragnell. Even a Seraph can't-

    'Boss.'

    The Orb is swung over, drawing Gwen's shocked gaze. Leon then swings about his shotgun, pointing it at Ragnell's head and pulling the trigger. Energy is flung in Ragnell's direction, shocked expressions, deadly glares, the beginning notions of rage.

    Gwen just can't turn on a dime that quickly. It's what happened with Janus, and here, she's proven it to be a terrible habit of hers.

    "NO!" Gwen tries to reach out with her right arm out of habit, but the ARM, still in the process of booting up, responds sluggishly, doing little more than swing in front of Gwen's lunge. It's probably that fact that keeps Gwen from simply taking on the heat of the blasts aimed towards Ragnell.
    
    She's crying.

    "Please, stop! Everybody, stop it!"

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

Devastation wreathes the battlefield. The King of Krosse lies prone, unconscious. In moments like these, it is actions that matter.

Talise Gianfair bradishes the mighty edge of the Rastaban at the Trial Knight, a weapon that had only just previously shattered the lance of King Krono. The intention is clear; no words are exchanged, because no words need be. The horned helm of the Trial Knight tilts. At their side, the fingers of their unextended hand curl inward, as if grasping upon something unseen. Ready to fight.

Understanding.

Tension escalates. Lily arms herself with that knife, ready to fight. Ethius and Noeline wait in similarly wordless readiness, if inspired by very different sources. Unseen though their gaze may be, the weight of it can be felt falling on the enigmatic symbologist and the one who would call herself Crimson Noble in equal turn. The Knight makes a single step forward --

'You.'

But even in fraught situations, words find their place in the growl that looses from Cyre Lorentz's lips, to Layna's demands. To Leo and Leon's determined words in the face of the threat before them. In the pointed question Fei delivers, bolstered by a sharp observation.

You're much like malevolence yourself.

A spasm runs subtly through K.K.'s fingers, all the way to their very tips.

But before they can answer...

I... have long known this day would come, yet I have been... dreading it to the depth of my heart.

"..."

Underlined with the very threat of violence that hangs in the air, Riesenlied's pleas are no less palpable, no less poignant. If anything, they are moreso. A contrast of the Trial Knight that most know, and the one from Riesenlied's memories.

The Trial Knight who introduced Malevolence to Filgaia.

K.K., who helped teach Riesenlied to see that spiritual world.

The Trial Knight who brought ruin to Wehaca and terror to Krosse.

K.K., who spoke to the Guardians on Riesenlied's behalf.

The Trial Knight who nearly assassinated a boy emperor.

K.K., who risked much to save Riesenlied's life from catastrophe.

The Trial Knight who...

"Riesenlied," utters the knight.

"Not one word have I uttered to you in falsehood. Your life is your own, and I would see it flourish. Remember that well."

That hand falls. But the knight stands firm. Unbending. Uncompromising. Always.

"But you work against a force set in motion before your time. 'Tis a burden I have long shouldered gladly -- but this is the cost of it: I have but one thing in this life I strive for, Riesenlied. One thing for which my heart beats. I cannot let any stand in the way of it."

Light pools at their palm.

"Not even you."

Once, Riesenlied opened a connection to K.K.. She saw the light inside them. Warm, radiant. A love unlike anything else.

"You wish to know the truth of me?"

She also saw the glimpse of something so much deeper down.

"Then you shall know the truth of me."

Something... else.

And it is that empathic connection that opens up once more between them. Showing Riesenlied the warmth of that light. The wonder of that love. Still shining. Still wondrous. Still very, painfully real...

...and something else. Immense. Locked away. Broiling. Grasping. A thousand thousand voices crying out a thousand thousand curses of hate and fear and desperation and obsession and the chorus is simply growing louder and more poisonous with every passing second--

It only lasts one.

One single second.

One single glimpse at something no one should ever see, ever feel.

And then it is over.

<Pose Tracker> K.K. has posed.

You are taking that Orb over our dead bodies, says Leo. None of us have any intentions of giving it to you, says Leon. K.K. does not move. They wait, expectant. Their words holding the immovable will of mountains.

"You understand ill," intones the Trial Knight. Ragnell begins to move, Orb in hand.

Wrong direction, Trial Knight.

"'Tis not a thing I am asking of you."

Catch.

And the Anomalous Orb, inert but shining with cataclysmic potential, soars through the air --

Into the waiting grasp of the Trial Knight.

"'Tis a conclusion already foregone."

The Orb shines in the pure white of the Knight's grasp, churning with untold Malevolence stored and stored and stored within it. Ragnell finds her way to K.K.'s side as if that was where she was always meant to be, as carefree and willful to her very last. Free.

"... Thank you, Ragnell. I suppose it is time."

And loyal.

I can see you now.

And within a moment --

crack-BOOM

--the situation rapidly deteriorates.

It takes little more than a second for the knight to interpose themself between nuclear fire, shotgun shell, and the Seraph they fly for. A second for their hand to raise.

"You see naught."

A second for the Malevolence within the Anomalous Orb to churn until sorcery and bullet slow like they are being caught in amber.

"And you. Shall not. Touch her."

A second for those twin offenses to inexplicably combine --

before the velocities of that bullet to suddenly and impossibly reverse --

 -- until it ricochets right back into Leon Albus, fueled by Lily Keil's sorcery.

To shoot down its shooter.


And in charges the White Knight for the Trial Knight. K.K. says nothing. They do not hesitate. They simply -act-. Their armor shines with a brief, surprising light, glowing in a way it never has before.

It's an eyeblink, the journey K.K. takes to pivot past that blade --

*SHUNK*

--and bury the tip of a short sword through the waiting gut of Althena's Knight.

"You ask me why," utters the knight, even through the bloody, meaty sound of that blade -yanking- free from Leo. It breaks apart, even as the Anomalous Orb churns with sick light. "The King of Krosse thought this a shield with which to ward his people. Or mayhap a blade, with which to smite his enemies. 'Tis no such thing. Ever has it only served one purpose. I dragged this through the muck and the mire of the Blue Star's sins, through Krosse, through Wehaca, for a singular goal. 'Tis not a shield. 'Tis not a blade."

Light coalesces in their free hand.

"'Tis a bullet."

And within their hand forms a single, deceptively simple scepter. Some may recognize it. Others might by look and feel alone.

An Ark Scepter. A relic stolen by Virginia Maxwell. Taken by K.K..

A tool used to communicate with, to connect with --

"Meant for the shining soul of a Guardian Lord."

Light pools behind Ragnell and K.K.. Opening. Beginning to envelop them.

"You call this a trial. I will introduce your blight to the beating heart of this world. It will infect and devour all because that is what it is made to do. A dying star will breathe its last. If you think you may stop us, then look to Elru, in the sanctuary of your Guardians long since fallen."

And the light begins to wash over them both.

"If you truly wish to cling to such paltry notions as trials, then know this as one where you stand to lose. Everything."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Ragnell has posed.

    "Y'welcome, K'," Ragnell replies, as glib as ever, to the Trial Knight. "Yeah, I reckoned so, too."
    
    'I can see you now,' Leon says, just before opening fire right at her head. Leo likewise charges in for an attack, albeit directly at K.K. rather than Ragnell, and Lily unleashes a beam of nuclear heat to join in with Leon's gunfire. Ragnell doesn't so much as blink at either; nor does she blink when K.K. rebuffs them both. She does smile, though--and it's a sincere smile, one directed at K.K. as they declare none shall touch her. Warm. Gentle. *Affectionate*, even. If anyone here has seen Ragnell smile like that before, it's been a rare sight indeed.
    
    And that smile is entirely for the Trial Knight.
    
    "Mm, *mm*, so you can. Not that it's doin' you much good," she observes then to Leon, just before K.K. ricochets those attacks back. As they plunge a blade into the White Knight's stomach.
    
    As this foray ensues, to Virginia, she says, "Honestly? It's 'cuz you're kinda dumb." Ethius's question gets him a side-eye; however, she says nothing to him. If anyone is to field that particular question, it's going to be K.K..
    
    At Noeline's question, Ragnell snorts and rolls her eyes. It masks... not exactly hurt, but resigned disappointment. Of everyone she'd met on Filgaia, Noeline had been the one person Ragnell had thought might understand her. It looks like not. Well, that's fine too. Aloud, she replies, "Let me ask you this, Noe: are humans more important to you than Riesenlied? If it came down to one or the other..." Her red eyes narrow. "Would you *really* pick 'believing in humans' over her?" She shrugs broadly, shaking her head in what could easily be interpreted as contempt. "The view must be nice from up there on your high horse."
    
    Layna laughs coldly and says she sure duped her. Ragnell laughs along with her. "Well," she drawls, "you *are* only human."
    
    Cecilia, Fei, Elly, and others react in mute horror, of the kind that is indicative of a rapid boil underneath the surface. Ragnell gives them each a little half-smile as she meets their stares without flinching, particularly at Elly as she verges on tears, and Cecilia as she depicts clean, pure betrayal. Her eyes lid when Gwen begs everyone to stop, though, even going so far as to try to take on the attacks that had come her way on herself. It's good indeed she's too beat up to manage that.
    
    "For reference's sake, just so y'all know," she adds, "I've been workin' for K.K. since, mmm... before most of y'all were born? So, you know." She shrugs one-armed. "Turnin' on them for all o' y'all? *That* would be the real betrayal." Her air of cavalier casualness vanishes as her eyes narrow. "Doubt y'all see it like that, though.
    
    "Anyway."
    
    Talise asks Ragnell why. It's a pithy question, one that nonetheless encompasses so much. Ragnell tilts her head at the bard in thought; then she replies, "Because this is what I believe is right." She gives her a little nod. "Feel free to disagree." And then winks, smiling anew. "Violently, even. But not today."
    
    She steps back into the light with K.K. as it opens up behind and beneath them. The last word, she gives to her companion--the master to whom she freely chose to give her loyalty.
    
    As the light washes over them, as K.K. gives their final words, Ragnell's smile is the last of her anyone sees before both of them are gone.

<Pose Tracker> White Knight Leo has posed.

    Leo's anger is not without cause. He trusted Ragnell, despite her eccentricities, because she is a Seraph, a holy being quickened by the power of Althena. He trusted her, and was betrayed.

    Leo's anger is not without cause, but this does not mean that acting on it in this way is not a deadly mistake.

    K.K.'s sword plunges into Leo's stomach. The tip of the blade punches through his back, red blood blooming against the white of his uniform. He looks into K.K.'s helm, and sees his own face, reflected in it, shock and rage and horror. His sword falls from numb fingers, clatters to the floor. K.K. pulls their blade free, and Leo joins it soon after. His knees give out, and he topples over, his face still twisted with pain.

    "Don't--" Leo chokes out. "Don't think you've--" It's a feeble rejoinder. There's nothing he can say to either of them.

<Pose Tracker> Leon Albus has posed.

The shotgun shell slams into Leon's stomach. The ex-soldier stumbles backward when the round punches into his flesh, a wet red bloom on the already ruined vest and white shirt of his suit. It grows quickly, before he stumbles backward. His hand goes down to his stomach, fingers covering it; blood oozes from between them.

"Grk--"

He stumbles into the wall, and then slumps down it, leaving a smear of blood when he does.

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

    There's a fervently faint gasp coming from Riesenlied as Ragnell does do the deed. For a moment, it's all too much when she declares that she's obtained the Orb herself and seems to have turned against the Trial Knight. Her already overburdened mind is spiking further in one direction as her tear-stained eyes widen--

    This day *was* inevitable in the comin', huh?

    "Don't say that... you've never been about the inevitable, Ragnell..." Riesenlied can't find herself stopping her sobbing.

    "For how much you shocked me out of the inevitable, when Alhazred had me..."

    Even as Noeline curses and thinks of ways to intercept the orb, but failing. As Leon does just that. As Cecilia displays a similar look of shock, and rage similarly builds in Leo's eyes and his actions when his blade surges forward. As Elly constrains herself, and she honestly starts feeling exactly the same way--

    Gwen's begging for them all to stop.

    She's feeling incredibly sick too, because... well...

    The worst part about being an empath in a room where a lot of people just got fresh emotional wounds ripped open from betrayal is that you have front row seats to all their reactions.

    And it hurts. Every single one of them.

    Riesenlied.

    She plainly turns, in that fragile state, eyes wide as she looks to the Trial Knight. As she clutches her hands to her chest, which beats so hard, hurts so much at present.

    And they speak of how they wish to see her life flourish--

    As she hears the tone of that voice, as it so has, prompting a choked sob once more as she hears their reasoning. Of a force set in motion even before her relatively old time. Of a burden they long shouldered...

    The one thing for which their heart beats.

    "K.K. ..."

    She bites her lip.

    "Why must it be a burden of yours alone...? I-- I would wish--"

    She feels that light at their palm. As the Trial Knight uses the very connection she once opened, as she briefly saw the depths of how wondrous that love is, how warm the light.

    A long-sleeping voice begins to stir at this. "...rrgh... ...Id--"

    Riesenlied's eyes widen further as she crosses the precipice--

    And sees it.

    It's not the first time she has been exposed to the unknowable. There was Id, back in Old Petra, when she first used her burgeoning, fledgling power to dare to bridge a connection.

    And she experienced ten thousand deaths and more on that day.

    But this is something more.

    Thousand upon thousand, a myriad partition upon the infinity of whom numbers cannot possibly hope to measure. Something locked away. Bearing the chorus of the innumerable from whom no comprehension can be understand, wielding the very intimacy of fear and desperation and obsesssion--

    The once-sleeping girl exclaims, "Get out of there!"

    It's the warning of her other that saves her from a certain damnation, as she pales in an instant and recoils and starts to spasm in Noeline's arms. In an instant, she has been overwhelmed as she slacks and droops against her partner's hold.

    "... i won't... i won't give up... on you... k.k. ... ragnell..."

    And she is out, the pulse of her Tear dimming as her eyes close.

<Pose Tracker> Ethius Hesiod has posed.

    Exposition is made. Demonstrations are given. Ethius actually swings an arm inward in a defensive gesture as he slurs out the syllables to a quick shielding Symbological spell as a shotgun blast, unfathomable sorcerous power, and powerful techniques are all turned against one another. The trifecta of deadly forces, all overturned. In that moment, K.K. appears utterly unassailable by any conventional means.
     ...
     But it is the words that seems to have Ethius' eyes narrow... followed by the hand braced in that defensive gesture turning into a touch on his forehead, as numerous wounded lay among the nonplussed - but also among the ones who now have a truly urgent mission to head back to Elru.
     "...So it did not matter, in specific, the origins," Ethius remarks aloud. His tone of voice doesn't waver...
     Until now.
     "...Like a bullet." That word. That specific word. It is an evocative descriptor. Not a sword, not a shield--
     "...But not... an arrow? They would describe it as a bullet."
     Why this is interesting to him is unimportant because there are grievously wounded here!!!

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Battle is battle, and warfare, warfare. Lily understands loyalty; Lily has never needed to hate her enemies. Certainly not now, while Riesenlied calls out. And yet...

And yet. Lily's bloodied knife drops to the ground, clattering wetly as she turns in an instant. They see naught--the Orb is a bullet. The words, the trials, the stars--

"LEON!"

Lily rushes the new distance where he'd stumbled, moves to catch him. "Hang on--" Her eyes are still gold, inhuman, strange, and there is still blood above her mouth, but it no longer matters. Words echo in her mind, feelings echo in her mind, and she knows there is danger in many--

She sets a hand over his gut; she moves immediately to check the wound, obliterates the fabric in the way--

She had seemed tired; nevertheless, heat builds, and Fire Ether erupts from her, her body glowing red as she reaches out, places her hand, wills a shell gone, a body restored, a life extended--

It's at her ear, now. Ordinarily, such a casting would be fast, moments over... But ordinarily it would not try to do so much, so quickly.

She will care a great deal about this trial. ...But only after this one thing is done.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

K.K. informs them in no uncertain terms what they intend to do, and it is not really hard for Elly to see that an accurate summation would be 'kill the planet' even if she is missing a few words here and there as she struggles to overcome this horrid feeling of something black and lethal roiling inside of her.

She wants to let it out.

To rip the castle to its foundations. To burn -- to burn what? No, there is no noun to that verb; to burn, to freeze, to scour, to bury.

She wads them up and stuffs them back into their jar.

She looks up at Ragnell again, just as she looks at Elly.

Then Ragnell and the Trial Knight disappear.

With this removes any remaining target that Elly could possibly unleash this strange feeling on. And just like that, the feeling seems to vanish. The space it filled does not.

Elly sags down into a kneeling crouch, her hands relaxing. Her shoulders slump; her head a moment later. She stares at the ground, unseeing. Her vision mists, this time with tears instead of half-sustained fury.

There is a vague clawing sensation on the outer fringes of that massive water-lens in the sea-island of Elly's mind: I should help other people, or do something here. Instead she speaks through numb lips.

            "I suppose I was wrong, huh."
            "Maybe, I could have..."
            "...."

Elly sits quietly after that, which is probably a relief in the short term.

<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.

    For just an instant, Noeline's eyes flick away from the Trial Knight. "I wasn't talking to you. I can understand your viewpoint," she mutters lowly towards Ragnell, her statements curt and clipped out of sheer tension. "Two years ago you would even have been right. Now--"

    There's a pulse in the back of her head, and a sudden lance of pain; it takes her a moment to realign her senses and realize that it's coming from the link she shares with Riesenlied, the latter overwhelmed by the swirl of feelings in the air around them. Squinting against it, she holds fast for a moment, and tries again. "Now--"

    Her world statics out for a moment, and she yelps in breathless and confused surprise as she nearly pitches forward, a hard impact letting her know that she's only standing thanks to her sword lodged against the floor. Furiously she shakes her head - and realizes in the barest nick of time that Riesenlied is convulsing against her, throws an arm around her out of sheer instinct.

    "--Riese-- Riese!" she calls, her voice suddenly rasping and hoarse as she feels one of her legs give out, sliding down to one knee as she braces her partner against her and grits her teeth. Dimly, she's aware that the pair have slipped away, but that concern is truly minor compared to the sight of Riese spasming in her arms.

    A little hypocritical, she'll ruefully think later, given the point she was just trying to make.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

Fei doesn't say anything. He watches Ragnell's reaction to Elly's reaction almost as much as he observes Elly's own. "Then I hope your loyalty is rewarded, Ragnell." Fei says. "To be honest, I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. You seemed...smarter than the average human."

He then turns. "But I guess you can't judge someone from where they aim their vitrol."

He makes his way towards Elly. He doesn't need to form a direct bond to feel it. He doesn't even have to feel it.

"Obsession." Fei mulls to himself as he looks towards the Devil Arm he's been wearing. He lowers his hand shortly thereafter. He does not look towards Riesenlied. He only has eyes for one person right now.

He rests a hand on Elly's shoulder. He will support her. No matter what she does.

Meanwhile... in the land of empathic connections.

Id looks towards Nasrin. He shakes his head slowly as he turns to face the single moment of what.... K.K.... is.

"Riesenlied. Nasrin. This is what you asked for." He says.

"Who am I to push against what was freely offered..? But we are here, so long as you will have us."

Broken puppets start dangling around Id's body, some with the form of humans others looking like beastmen others....uncertain. "It was worse facing this as a child." Id says quietly. "But you never really get used to it, huh Riesenlied?"

Back in reality

Fei feels Elly sagging and he crouches down by her.

And he hugs as tightly as he can. "You're not alone." He promises her. "You're not alone. You're not alone in feeling this way. You're not."

<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.

Talise clicks her teeth together. As Leo goes down, she starts towards Ragnell, her shoulders bunching menacingly beneath her armour. "Girl, pencil some time in for some muscular fuckin' disagreement," she growls.

She can't get muscular now. Before she can, the Trial Knight and the turncoat Seraph are gone, leaving behind only knowledge of their plans - a plan that would surely leave the Blue Star the kind of lifeless husk it's always been reputed to be in the lore she learned as a child.

Talise curls one hand around the hilt of her sword before moving forward, kneeling beside White Knight Leo. The sight of Althena's blade champion in the same state she was in five minutes ago is as much of a gut-punch as the rest of it. Reaching out with her ungauntleted left hand, Talise moves her hand behind Leo's head, her sword resting against her opposite shoulder as she does what Benedict tried with her: She holds out a Healing Nut for the White Dragon Hero. It won't fix everything.

But it might forestall death.

Until the Trial Knight takes Filgaia down and them with it, anyway.

Hot feelings of anger and helplessness churn in the crucible that is Talise's stomach, threatening to bubble up and consume her heart. Even as she offers up the nut for Leo, she squeezes her eyes closed a moment and clenches her teeth, trying to find the answer to the question she's asked herself a thousand times in her life - a million times.

    What would Dragonmaster Chloe do?

Something deep in her chest pulses. In the halls of her memory, a skeletal phantom, armoured, shouts at her in a voice she does not understand. SHOW ME YOUR WILL. She opens her eyes again and straightens her shoulders.

"Stay with me, White Knight," she urges, her voice low and thick with emotion - but the one that presents first and foremost is a simple, steady determination.

"We're gonna need you at your best when we go cave the Trial Knight's shit in," she expresses with a tight, fierce smile.

<Pose Tracker> Elvis has posed.

Even with K.K.'s arrival, the situation was unstable, but still possibly managed. And then one of those Seraph beings pitches the Trial Knight the orb. "Don't rush him! Go for the orb!" he shouts, others opening fire on both Ragnell and K.K.

They get battered, stabbed and rebuffed. The orb ends in their hands. Elvis visibly sighs. The others have their words. THe Sentinel lets his mind work. "Where would they even go when the world is done in? To the next star and repeat the cycle?"

"Hm."

"Well, we have been given a hint. A possible trap at that." He thinks for a time before speaking again. "Such an intriguing being, always so affluent with Malevolence I wonder if they were born from it themselves. Always intent on sending impossible odds and yet aiding us by telling is where to go. A proper person who wishes things to be done would not do so."

"It was as if they were the very manifestation of adversity." A touch to a wound on his arm, still being healed. "Ow! Hrn, perhaps something to ponder at a later time." A look across the room. "We can have our talk at a later time. I needs prepare transport. I intend to investigate this."

<Pose Tracker> Cecilia Adlehyde has posed.

Cecilia has so rarely had the luxury of not hating her enemies. So many of them have been people who killed her people, hurt her family, affronted the natural order. Tried to kidnap her. Things she found hateful and deserving of scorn.

And it's said that love and hate are so very similar. The last time someone she cared about betrayed her, Cecilia nearly blew the top off a mountainside, a screaming, furious tirade on her lips. This time, she...

Doesn't even rise.

Flat on her elbows, head down, shaking.

Ragnell had not been a constant companion, but had been the only one she could rely on during one of the darkest moments in her life, those horrible days in Bledavik - especially the last few, when Lily had been taken.

"I trusted you," she croaks, as the light whisks Ragnell away.

And now that Seraph was assisting - had been assisting, had always been assisting - a plot to kill the world.

"Enemy of Filgaia," she whispers, tears streaking her downturned face.

<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.

Elly leans against Fei quietly. Her cheek rests on his shoulder. Her body is slack but she is at least breathing quietly. As she is held and reassured she speaks to him quietly.

"Was it a silly idea?" she says, in a small voice.

"Maybe we should have done what they wanted us to do, Fei."

"If they're willing to go this far," Elly continues.

"... it's selfish, isn't it? To... to risk things like this. It's easy to speak proudly... but..."

Elly trails off with a few vague noises after that, and curls up a little more.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    She would have still tried to shield Ragnell, perhaps, if she felt it would have done any good. The Trial Knight is there as Ragnell's shield instead.

    The rest comes to Gwen like a a hum, a noisy chatter. The noise of a terrible idea, gaining ground.

    And then stopping at the edges of a comforting fire. A small thought.

    Maybe, they want everyone to hate them. It'd do no good if Ragnell showed even a small iota of doubt, or regret. They were committed to their cause, and the only way to resume it was to burn all those bridges.

    In the dimming sight of Riesenlied's tear, as she falls away, she may see something, as the mute, red-cheeked Gwen finally urges herself back up onto her feet.

    Something uncoiling in Gwen's core. A thin, gold thread of hope.

    "You heard them, right?"

    She'll deliver it where she feels it's needed most. A painful, hot needle, weaving thread through open wounds, weaving them shut. Like how she moves to Leo's side, seeing Leon in Lily's care.

     "They were strong, but they came after we had fought the orb, not before. They needed us to be wounded."

    Her left hand undoes the knot at her neck, freeing her hankerchief from around her neck. The cloth, unfolded several times, is enough to press against Leo's wound with the unsteady grip of her right hand. "Stay with us, White Knight."

    Off goes her coat, to further stablize the wound, Gwen doing her best to support the wounded knight. ".... We have t'go back to Elru. We go see what they meant. And if we can, we fight them, or we die trying. Same as the last time. They gave us their hope, and even helped us sometimes, but it wasn't enough to combat whatever's been building in them. They showed us their anger. We need to show them why this planet desires to live. I'm tellin' you this, as someone who's come close t'dying more than once...

    'Is this something that you speak to yourself, time and time again until you believe? Is it truly something you stand to hear yourself think? That if you let everyone benefit from your strength, that you will have enough left for yourself?'

    "This place, the people on it... _is worth more than their pain._"

    And maybe, if she does this, it will help them begin to heal.

    'And tell me, what happens when nothing works, and you find yourself completely and crushingly alone?'

    Then maybe the coming night will be a blessing, Gwen murmurs, under her breath.

<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.

"It's not a silly idea," Fei reassures Elly. "It's not. It really isn't. Nobody can always hold onto hope. That's why we have each other. It's okay to lose it. We'll help you find it again."

He presses his forehead into Elly's. "And maybe sometimes we don't have a choice. We don't have to be happy about it, we don't have to enjoy it, we can do it and still be who we are."

Fei swallows faintly. "It's not a silly idea... but it isn't an easy one. It's never been easy. But we can either surrender to the cycle or fight it...And as fragile and naive as I am... I wish to fight it. With you. As we always have."

He doesn't smile, but he does tighten that hug as if afraid she might fly away if he doesn't.