Fantasy Into the Dread Labyrinth

[EmperorsChosen]

Sebastian Gerallt​

The butcher's eyes turned to the giantess as she spoke, explaining that the labyrinth didn't make any damned sense and so there was no use in trying to rationalize occurrences such as these. It could very well fuck over those who sacrifice to it just to do so and reward someone for scoffing at it. Sebastian wasn't sure how likely that was, but regardless, his reason for abstaining wasn't to obtain some reward or keep some boon. It was quite simply a 'fuck you' to the damn place.

His gaze then narrowed slightly as she took back her sacrifice, his pupils honing in on the wedding band that hung from it. It made him think of his own fiancé, back when. He didn't have a band, nor did he recoup her ring after she died. In all honesty, he'd have preferred she kept it. He didn't have much of an eye for gems, jewelry or other baubles, however from her reaction and how she looked at it time to time, he mused that he must have chosen well in at least that.

However, just as soon as he reminisced, he shook himself free. That was a life he had left behind. He wasn't that Sebastian anymore. He hardly believed that she'd recognize him as he was now, and that was for the better. He was a man no longer, or at least, that was what he told himself. He was man enough that Samara's words and wedding band thrust him into self-thought for most of the preparations, enough that he didn't even really critique the lackluster menu.

It wasn't until the teams were dispatched and approached the hag. As they encroached, Sebastian removed his glasses and stowed them into his inventory before grasping the handle of his cleaver. He braced as the creature cast a spell and felt fatigue and weakness seep through his body. He paused, glancing at himself for any physical harm before looking to the status window of his DS and noting the problem.

"Fuck me," He grumbled, though his tone still cool and collected, as if he hadn't just been severely nerfed. "Check your statistics... Mine just went six feet under from that," He communicated to the others as he loosened the collar of his shirt slightly. "I'll make do," He assured simply however then his eyes turned to Fran—Was that Fran?

Surprisingly, a strained smirk appeared briefly, paired with a scoff. "Meat Man. Fuck me, I think I actually prefer Seby," He murmured as the girl shot off. He wondered if she was always able to do that, though the shift in personality wasn't lost on him. A topic to analyze at another time. What kind of gentleman would let the ladies charge off alone?

Taking a couple steps back, he began to sprint across the raft before leaping himself, following the same route as Samara by cleaving a nearby tree down and using it as debris to run along, or at the least, cleaving into the tree and leaping from it to other debris and trunks. Even with his statistics far lower than normal, he knew that they were still leagues above that of a normal human, and he wasn't going to sit back on the raft doing nothing. Simon was going to kill the crone whether it healed him or not. She'd make a pot of stew nonetheless.

TreasureSniper Thalia_Neko RedArmyShogun Tau Skyswimsky AnonyMouse

 

[Tau]

Seraphina had mostly been moping about after the loss of her sweets. It was going to be a miserable journey without the satiating wonder of ingesting buttery sugar in favor of gross, dry, meaty rations.

The whole tactical conversation also disinterested her entirely. What point was there in paying attention when she could barely even hold a sword? In general, Sera had only one, basic role: if something looked gross, deadly, and/or flashy, avoid it.

Instead, she went about people watching. Some very interesting newcomers, for sure, though she never did find a good time to actually introduce herself. A butcher (ugh, meat…), a sniper (yay, killing gross things from far away), and… uhh… well, that last one gave her a weird feeling. Most people, Sera found pretty easy to figure out. She took one look, and knew how virtuous they were… or rather, how virtuous the Labyrinth thought they were. Fran, though? She was all over the place. As if she couldn’t figure out whether she was good or evil.

So, naturally, when the two were assigned to the same group, Sera’s curiosity was only peaked further.

"Buddy…?" Sera repeated Seymour’s line, a bit upset at so casual a term being used to address his beautiful future wife. Though she didn’t know it, she could be thankful that his focus was mostly on the battle ahead. With Sera and Fran together in the back, she figured this might be an opportune time to introduce herself and thank the healer for her help.

"Uhm… Fran? I just wanted to say thanks f— eh!?" Sera blinked a few times, before being forced to grasp the raft tight as the crazy lady sprang off. "Eeehhhh!!?" she exclaimed again as the healer started running around with a whip, casting scary blood magic. "Th-that’s not healing!" Sera protested.


TreasureSniper
AnonyMouse

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Of course." Seymour replied sarcastically to Daeva's notification. He should have expected that the labyrinth wouldn't accept such straight forward attempts. With his preyseeker vision warning him of an incoming enemy, he had think of plan of action fast. "We have Wega Renegade incoming from that side. Level 5." Seymour pointed the direction where the enemy was emerging from. Although the others would likely not able to see it just yet due to the trees, its outline would indicate that it was an armored fella. "Fran, see if you can light the brazier, Daeva send whatever minions you afford can towards the Renegade." Seymour turn around to look at the Sebastian and Sera, both of which were affected by their own respective curses. Sera was basically deadweight while Sebastian was fighting at half strength, neither was favorable.

AnonyMouse Thalia_Neko

"We need to light to those braziers. I'll deal with the Renegade, buy you all some time." He was no Samara, but he had to make due with what he had. Fran seemed like capable enough healer, while her "other" side, seemed like a capable combatant. Turning to Sera and Sebastian, he was contemplating on what to say, perhaps he needed to say inspiring, some reassurance that he was doing whatever he can about situation. "Hold on to your guts while I rip out theirs." Everyone one has their roles to play, and a "monster" needs to do what they do best. Internally, Seymour was amuse that he was caring so much about that relatively insignificant comment. Was he always so vain? No matter. At least for now, he had a simple enough goal.

Tau EmperorsChosen

---

The gaze sphere would be the first thing on the scene, floating at safe distance from the wega, hiding behind just enough cover to not be spotted. Seymour himself was already perched on a tree top, ready to ambush the armored opponent. He had taken some supplies with him, incase he needed to improvise.

Seeing a rotting tree nearby, Seymour saw this as an opportunity to improvise a trap of some sorts. By the time the Wega arrived, he was all ready for the confrontation. Seymour would whistle to distract the wega, gaining its attention before immediately hurling a ball made from the rockshell guts that Samara had so enthusiastically ripped out towards the renegade's face.

While the beast was occupied with removing the visual impairment, Seymour would kick the already fragile tree great force, enough to tip over causing it to fall on top of renegade. Immediately after that, the young man would jump on top of the same tree, staying on top of it, getting ready to chop off any fingers should it attempt catch or lift the tree trunk up. A simple plan to cripple the creature. If the was no clear response, Seymour simply jump onto another tree top, away from the harmful waters, waiting for another opportune moment to strike.

 

[AnonyMouse]

Samara Morghan​

Ah, I guess you didn’t like that, Samara thought with a sadistic grin as the second tree began to topple and the Shaman hissed in frustration. With every fallen tree, she was getting closer.

But, as the trunk fell away from view and she leapt up onto it to continue her advance, a tendril shot out of the bog and gripped her ankle, fastening her in place. “Shit!” Samara exclaimed as she slashed at it with her shields. It was tougher than it looked.

In the corners of her vision, she spied another orb of magic coming her way and raised her right shield to block it. Unfortunately, the energy seemed to… phase through her shield or be absorbed by it. Ultimately, it got through to her and she saw her stats take a hit. It can’t be blocked!? Her mind raced. As an S-Rank Defender, she had only encountered an unblockable attack once, and that was from the Dread, a monster far more advanced than anything ever seen before.

And even that possibly could have been blocked if she had had a better shield. This boss’s magic phased through her shield like it wasn’t even there. No amount of gear or armor could block that.

With a grunt of frustration, the shieldmaiden finally cut herself free of the tendril and charged forward, just as the Shaman was winding up another magical attack. She knew her role, her calling, her destiny. She was a Defender! And she wasn’t going to be outdone by some swamp hag’s ‘unblockable’ bullshit! Nothing is unblockable! She refused to accept that.

The Shaman began spooling up a second swirling orb of magic, a different color from the first. Samara had to act fast. If gear can’t block it… perhaps magic can.

“War Drum!” Samara barked the incantation for her new spell, applying a pale bluish-white ward to the surface of her right shield as she charged forward. The Shaman’s attack struck the shield and began to sink in, just like the last attack had. No, this time, it was being absorbed by the ward, rather than phasing through. Its energy was fed straight into the ward, releasing a thumping pulse of energy. She felt rejuvenated, as if she had taken a hearty swig of a stam pot. The shield’s rarity didn’t matter; she was an S-Rank Defender, casting a ward, backed by two powerful Talents. Samara smirked with glee. There was murderous intent in her eyes as she glared at the Shaman, as if daring the hag to sling another spell her way.

To defeat the Labyrinth, I will play by the Labyrinth’s stupid rules… right up until the end, when I drive blade into its heart, Samara thought as she continued to charge forward, slowly returning to her natural speed with every step, as she shook off the water’s effects. She hurled her left shield at the nearest tree, taking a hefty chunk out of its bark as she leapt and landed at its base. The iron disk embedded itself deep in the bark.

“You don’t want me getting any closer, huh? Fine, have it your way! Anchor Pullllll!!” the shieldmaiden roared, but her outstretched hand was not aimed at the Shaman. The body of the fallen Wega Exile was drawn toward her instead. Its spindly corpse was surprisingly light and… throwable.

Samara took the Wega’s crude spear and chucked it at the Shaman like a bolt of lightning, then hefted up the body itself and hurled that at the boss as well, with incredible speed. Hopefully that would keep the hag busy for a few seconds, at least. “Take your trash and die! Samara said as she snatched her shield from the tree and began angrily pummeling it with both shields, so she could bring it down and continue her advance.

Faust​

The butcher remained strong, despite the Shaman’s alleged ‘power’ sapping his stats. Faust grinned, pleased to see him savagely assault the trees. Yes! Yessss! She longed to see him rend flesh and spill blood! Of course he remained strong. These feeble bosses could not stand against the might of the Chosen. Their destiny lay deeper, far beyond these trifling roadblocks.

And I will be the one to get them there, she thought, pleased to be of service.

However, these roadblocks were still roadblocks nonetheless…

Uselesssss toads, Faust scoffed, from her position high atop the trees. She dangled by her red claws, like a bored cat, as she watched the witch’s thralls fail to set fire to kindling. Such a simple task, yet they could not do it. She pounced to another tree for a closer look, like a feral predator lurking in the canopy.

Faust inverted herself, her labcoat and doctor’s bag dangling precariously as she gazed down at the pathetic display playing out beneath her. When Seymour called her ‘Fran,’ her attention suddenly snapped to him, with a crimson glint in her eyes. What offended her more: sharing a name with that useless girl or having this man steal what should be her kill? He claimed the Renegade for himself and ordered her to light the brazier. A menial task. Tch!

But Faust nodded. She would play along. She and that ‘useless girl’ had an arrangement. If lighting a fire was all it took to earn the trust of these adventurers, so be it.

She coiled and pounced once more, this time latching onto the tree directly above the brazier where the necromancer’s minions still loitered and began to descend, her claws raking the wood like hot knives through butter. If fire could not light it, what then? She could come down and take up the torch, but only a fool tries again what has been tried before. She stopped here, still many feet from the ground and the lingering mist.

Her instincts tingled. An unscratchable itch behind her third eye. A faint light in the unfathomable abyss of her mind. Was this the call of the Labyrinth, guiding her steps… or something more? Whatever the source, she knew what she must do. She knew what the brazier yearned for.

“The necromancer is ignorant. From one mage to another, I expected better of you, girl,” Faust said as she slowly dragged a claw across her palm. For a moment, the wound did nothing. But, after focusing for a few seconds, she drew out a thin tendril of blood, which hovered in the air before her eyes, forming a small red sphere, no larger than a golf ball.

“Only the fire of the soul can satisfy the Labyrinth. It requires maaanaaaa,” she said as she infused mana into the ball, which hovered before her. She hoped this would be enough. Actually, she just hoped it would work, lest she look like a fool. Using her blood telekinesis, she commanded it down with a flick of her wrist and it sailed right into the brazier, with a satisfying plop.
Interactions: TreasureSniper | RedArmyShogun | Thalia_Neko | EmperorsChosen | Tau | Skyswimsky

 

[Thalia_Neko]

Daeva Everdark

​

Daeva leaned forward, peering up at Seymour, her pigtails falling to the sides of her head, swaying gently. "Hehh? Are you trying to be motivating? ~It doesn't really suit you." With her teasing words, she smiled up at him.

As he left to go fight the Renegade, she instructed her frogs to follow him. They placed the torch by the brazier, and rushed after the man, swimming through the water at a decent speed, enough to kick up water as they swam along.

However, it seemed their assistance was unnecessary. Seymour had already a plan in motion to deal with the renegade. Once it was struck in the face, the wega began frantically clawing at its own face to get whatever was stuck there off. Then, distracted, it was smashed beneath the fallen tree, planting it down into the muddy water. And when its hand came up to try to pull whatever was on top of it off, it screamed under water as its fingers were chopped off, spurting bluish blood everywhere. It inhaled a great deal of water as it screamed, and went limp.

As her ability absorbed the spell, it absorbed the impact, and a lot of its effects, but not all of its effects. Like before, just being touched by the spell would cause its negative energy to impact you. Though, since her own spell mostly absorbed it, the effects of the Shaman's spell were much lesser, and weaker.

Immediately, while Samara was attacking, her Strength stat would turn red. Like a poison, it would tick down to 84. Then to 83, then 82.. so on and so forth.

The spindly wega woman looked up, eyes gleaming beneath her hood. Gritting yellowed, wizened, worn teeth, she sliced her scythe, deflecting the thrown spear. However, the thrown body of her comrade collided with her, and with a yelp, she was thrown back into the swamp's waters, splashing about.

The orb of blood splattered on the center coals of the brazier. After a satisfying hiss, the brazier ignited, lightning up with orange flame. Suddenly the totem above it turned into flames, burning away quickly.

And what followed was equally as impressive. A wave of 'fire' -of magical flame- seared across the top of the water, spreading out from the brazier. It burned away the mist, so vision returned to normal, and even affected the water, clearing it up somewhat (it was still swamp water though). The brazier acted like a beacon of light, its flame burning proudly. The miasmatic forces removed from its area. (But only its area.) No where else was affected.


Immediately, back at the boss, she sat up in the swamp, going rigid. She screamed out, some strange language -Wega language?



Just then, a caterwaul of voices could be heard, echoing about the swamp. Wegas began running fiercely at their newfound opponents. Their splashes through the swamp water was like that of a stampede. A horde of Wega appeared, running through the trees, their limber limbs swinging, sharpened claws ready to gouge and cut. They were thin, and frail, and weak-looking, but it wasn't their strength that was scary, it was their overwhelming number.

The Shaman got up, a satisfied smirk on her thin, wrinkled lips, as she leaned against her scythe-staff that was stuck in the mud.

She once again spoke in that strange language, hand outstretched towards Samara, fiercely cutting at her tree. A fire ignited on the tree she was cutting, the fire quickly blooming around her.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Sharon Ironblood​

Watching Samara's interactions, or rather being assaulted by the tendril of the Wega Shaman, Sharon snarled a bit at her own plan being countermanded, but there was little else she could do. While Sharon did use to be a bandit, she had never left anyone behind that she owed some form of comradery. It had not changed from her days in the now defunct British Army, it did not change in the sands of what was once Southern Europe, it did not change with that Mage and it would change now. She may have been scum as some would see it, but she did have her honor. "Bloody hells, keep your movements, well just like they are you plodding behemoth Knight!" She called out in response, before getting back up on the raft, she paid no mind to the other girl with them as she used a makeshift paddle to a nearby tree, activating her inventory grabbing the rope for her tend, lashing the raft to it with a single knot, she was behind a bit of underbrush, branches, moss, the boss in effect, given the terrain was now in cover.

"Chew on this you Swampy Bitch!" She called out, activating her level two skill, Ya Missed a Spot! The cover here was not thick enough to stop her .303 dungeon gifted round, it should deliver bonus damage. The question was just how much of those HP bars would go away, then there was the trash, she would hope the Melee team and the Knight would keep them busy, she simply didn't have the firepower to deal with them all as her shot rang out, aiming center mass of the vile monster, her smile showing in the scope. 18 rounds remained as she slammed the bolt back and locked a new round into battery as she slapped the bolt forward and down.

Interactions: AnonyMouse Thalia_Neko

 

[Thalia_Neko]

The heavy sniper shot rang out through the swamp. It tore through brittle branches and blew a hole through a white tree. It struck the Shaman with enough force to stagger it heavily, the body of the Wega basically folding over from the recoil.

When struck, the HP bar took a massive hit, stopping at the first break in the bar. That entire chunk of red, gone.

As her HP bar hit the first break, she released another shrill shriek, raising her staff up into the air. Then another wave of energy-magic blasted out from her, spreading through the entirety of the marsh. Everyone would feel its effects. Or they would at least feel it pass through them. Another skull mark from their own hp bars would break and disappear.

For Sebastian, he would feel its effects in full force. His Vitality would take 20 points of damage instantly, dropping his Vit stat to 35; his Speed stat would take 10 damage, dropping to 10; and his Int stat would take 20, dropping to 15.

Just after that spell, the Shaman disappeared, poofing into a portal that seemed to fold in on itself. She would reappear some place else in the swamp -at one of the various totems placed around the swamp. So for now, no one had eyes on her.

At the same time, more Wega showed themselves. Wega Renegades, Wega Exile, and Misshapen Wega rose up out of the swamp, looking more like zombies, with wrinkled bodies, mishappened by the swamp they soaked in.

 

[TreasureSniper]

With the Wega renegade neutralized, Seymour stuck his hand into the water and quickly retrieved the only valuable thing he saw on the wega, its axe. And now with axe in hand, Seymour took a short moment the shake off the water noticing the debuff on him as soon as he touched it. "What a terrible place to fight." He took this short moment of reprieve to wipe away the swampy water on his arm and the weapon with a cleaning cloth.

Having sufficiently cleaned himself and the weapon, Seymour returned onto the raft with dramatic landing and an axe on his back. "The Wega Renegade is dead. Daeva, get your minions to retrieve it's corpse. Considering its a level 5 monsters, it should provide you with decent mileage." They will need to use every resource they have to overcome this challenge. As Seymour surveyed the area, he could see that the brazier had already been lit, and totem properly destroyed. "Looks like we are done here. Let's keep going." He didn't if that other team had safely fulfilled the objectives on their side, but regardless, they will have to keep moving forward anyways.

Thalia_Neko
Hearing a gunshot ring out from a distance, he could only assume they had either found the Shaman or at least met other hostile entities. "Seems like our comrades might have found something out there as well." Out in the distance, he can vaguely make out the silhouettes of humanoids coming out from the ground. Based on his gaze sphere he could clearly see that they were in fact a wide assortment of Wega. "Well...more meat to the grinder I guess." But he knew he couldn't just do as he pleased. This was a marathon, not a race. They needed to conserve as much energy as they can for the final confrontation. "Fran, Sebastian. Lets cut a path towards the third location. They are weak and decrepit. We shouldn't waste too much energy on them. Not when our main event is still out of reach."

AnonyMouse EmperorsChosen

"Hey. How are you holding up Sera?" Seymour took a moment to kneel down and talked to the virtually vegetative teammate. "Honestly the more I think about it, the more I realize how insane this curse is." He was curious and absolutely perplexed by her motivations. Does she really trust her teammates that much? What would push someone like her this far.

 

[AnonyMouse]

Faust​

When Faust's mana struck the brazier, it erupted into flame. A wave of spectral fire emenated from it, burning away the mist and spreading across the surface of the water. Faust cackled with delight as she descended the tree. She had done a thing -- a good thing! The others should be proud. They should praise her. She was one of them now.

She slid down the sickly white trunk, leaving claw marks in it dry bark, before landing in the water with a splash. The slowing effect was gone… as expected. Her senses told her so before she entered it, but she was still relieved to see her hunch had been correct. Another small puzzle solved. Fran would probably like that. Despite pretending to be apathetic, that girl enjoyed her Magelore talent more than any other. She wanted to delve deeper into this world’s magic and its inner workings. And Faust knew it was probably the only reason she wase undertaking this journey. Keeping Fran's curiosity and thirst for knowledge satiated was key to keeping her in check.

However, the Shaman responded almost immediately. Her distant howl summoned droves of Wega, who rose from every corner of the swamp to defend their mistress. But why? Wasn’t this vile sorceress the one barring them from returning to the kingdom? Doesn't she defend the gates to their homeland?

It matters not, Faust thought as she retrieved her staff from her inventory. She does not serve the Labyrinth, I do. We are called to much greater depths than this. I will cut down all who stand in our way.

The horde was not yet upon them, but she could hear their footsteps approaching and see their spindly shapes closing in amongst the trees and brambles. The eye guy summoned them to the raft, saying they shouldn’t waste energy on these weaklings. Faust scoffed as she waded over to him and hopped aboard. She could travel faster alone, amongst the trees. And probably would do so, once they reached the next pocket of mist. But keeping up the illusion of teamwork was important to Fran. And, for now, Faust would try to play along.

“Stupidity, not insanity,” she said, catching the tail end of what Seymour was saying to Sera. “They are each, in their own way, paying the price for their arrogance,” she said, glaring at Sebastian and Sera before turning to Seymour: “You heard the maid’s gunshots, yes? Let the Witch take these casualties to the others. If nothing else, the fat lady will protect them.” Wega began to pour from the surrounding trees. The time for discussion was at a end. Faust switched Serpentera to its chain form and looped it around her waist, for safekeeping. The raft didn't allow her much space to use it without striking someone in the face anyway... tempting as that may be.

“Come, Slayer. This contraption is slowing us down," she said to Seymour as she stepped off of the raft. The water was safe here. "With your vision and my power, we can level the playing field and end this. I can taste the Shaman's feeeeear,” Faust hissed as she raised her hand and fired a quick volley of red needles at the nearest Wega, striking it in the chest. The projectiles dissolved into its frail body. The damage was low, so the enemy continued to run toward them. It barely staggered the Wega. But, in Faust's DS, a status bar appeared above the enemy's head, marked 'Hemophage.' Although there were many enemies closing in, she focused her fire on this one, causing the bar to rapidly rise.
Interactions: TreasureSniper | Thalia_Neko | EmperorsChosen | Tau

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Sharon Ironblood​

Watching the results of her strike, Sharon was a bit pleased, for the first few seconds, if she could keep the Witch with something akin to cover between her and it, three or four more shots ought to do it. The problem was, as the bitch vanished, the whole Swamp seemed to disgorge a horde of, corrupted Wega? Still, what was the story with the skulls? It seemed they really needed to find a way to deal with that before she shot it again. That being said, Sharon did not have the ammunition to battle the whole hoard, eighteen rounds remained. She needed four for sure to kill the boss, short of help on that front, and likely eight more for after this, unless she got some more ammo while traveling. That left her with up to six rounds she could expend here.

"Samara! Watch your head! But get to me, I'll need you to keep the riffraff off of me, we need to hunt that Shaman down! Time to ditch the raft too!" With those words said, Sharon aimed and fired right past the general direction of Samara, causing the head of one Wega zombie to explode as it entered one or two more in the swarm behind it. She honestly had stopped counting and it would buy the knight time to get back into action, 17 rounds remained.

Interactions: AnonyMouse Thalia_Neko

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Sebastian Gerallt​

Sebastian clung from tree to tree, though with his nerfed stats, he was severely stalled and, by the time he grew close to the Wega it released another screech which dampened him even further. He lurched, feeling quite ill and opening his DS to check his stats. Seeing numerous numbers in the red, his eyes narrowed slightly.

He was concerned that his skills would have much effect on the boss and, to his distaste, he was probably better suited to moving with Seymour along the side objectives, whatever effect they may have.

He returned to the raft with Seymour, in time to hear the blood witch's remarks. She was certainly different that before, much less timid. A split personality or was that an effect of whatever talents she had? A thought for another time.

"Spite more than anything else," Sebastian corrected, stepping off the raft as the horde of shambling Wega. Rolling his shoulders a bit as he trudged through, holding the cleaver out. "Guess this is some use for me, then. Your energy is more useful given your statistics are normal, right? Even feeling as shite as I do, I should be able to cleave through these scrawny things. If I can't, then just bloody kill me and give me to the corpse princess," He remarked with a scoff, slamming the cleaver down at a Wega that drew closest to him, forcing the blade down with all his strength. He made a sawing motion anytime he felt resistance, intent on tearing completely through the flesh of the creature before moving onto the next.

AnonyMouse RedArmyShogun Thalia_Neko Tau TreasureSniper

 

[Tau]

Seraphina forced a smile. It was a lovely day on this lovely raft, sailing across the great blue ocean under a clear sky. Lovely blood!?— ahem, ocean mist was gently tickling her cheeks. What a lovely day, she thought to herself. A lovely day indeed.

Sera tensed up briefly as the shrill screeching of a…… whale struck her ears. Maybe it wanted to enjoy her beach vacation too. She couldn’t blame it: after all, this was such a wonderful, peaceful, cozy place to be and—

"Eeeek!!" Sera shrieked as her vacation was capsized into reality by a certain man landing nearby. "W-w-what’s that!? And what are those!? And— KYAAAH, ZOMBIES!!"

Seraphina was doing wonderfully.

She coughed several times as she curled up into a ball, hugging her knees and trying to transport herself back to vacation-land. Unfortunately, she couldn’t stop herself from peeking every few seconds, if only to make sure those creepy zombies stayed far FAR away.

She felt a bit better once Sebastian joined. Two swordy-boys were better than one swordy-boy, and the more meat in-between her and the zombies, the better. "Rip them apart! Rip them— cough —rip them up and burn them and scatter the ashes!!" she cheered as her crusader went off to carve apart the unholy monstrosities.


TreasureSniper
EmperorsChosen

 

[Thalia_Neko]

As stragglers were killed the Wega horde descended upon the party, stampeding through the swamp, even the afflicted swamp water, completely unaffected. They were discussing abandoning the raft -which seemed like a prudent idea at the moment.

"Ohhh, crap!!" Jiànlong shouted, as he sliced through a Wega's thin neck. The frail creature falling back into the water. He stabbed at another's head, killing it instantly, just like a zombie, which led credence to the way Sera was shouting 'zombies' over and over like some sort of manic pixie girl. The wega had all gathered around the raft, and their commotion was shaking it dangerously back and forth, the water splashing everywhere. Jiànlong found himself stumbling a bit with how violent the shaking was getting. Some more daring wega were reaching over to try to grab his ankles or claw his shins. He dispatched them quickly with swift sword swings.

However, another wega just took its place, stamping its fallen sister into the mud beneath the waves.

"This is endless!!" Jiànlong shouted to the others. Frankly speaking, he felt as if they were the only ones who really mattered in this fight. "I'll act as a distraction! I'll deal with the riffraff!" He explained to the others. Though, as he surveyed the area, he began to have doubts about that idea. The entire swamp seemed to be flooded with wega. Could he really hold them all back while the others attacked the boss? It was impressive that the sniper lady could kill multiple with one shot, but if it didn't really diminish their numbers... Was it worth it? "Perhaps you should save your ammo," he mused, cutting yet another wega down, with a screech of pain from it as it died.

On the other side of the swamp, the wega had surrounded Seymour's team, too, though they had the advantage of fighting in the now purified water.

Daeva was doing her best, with her whip in one hand and a dagger in the other. She'd snap her whip, yanking a wega to her, throwing off its balance, and then stabbed it through the eye, or its neck, or up through its jaw. She wasn't as strong as the others, but the wega were rather frail and weak, so even her low strength, she could kill them. With the Death-Giving Dagger being the weapon of choice for finishing blows, she was able to drain and absorb mana into her. Admittedly, it was a small amount each time, but with this many enemies, she effectively had "infinite" mana.. Sorta.

It allowed her to fire off a couple of Dark Ushers, that marginally helped when they struck enemies. Though she wasnt focused on that, since Dark Usher was relatively weak here, and she was mostly focused on using her mana for replenishing her undead. She glanced Seymour's way. "Hm, if I can find the chance," she said to him, giving him a nod at his suggestion. It was a decent one!

Her frogs had also been able to hold back some of the horde, but had eventually succumb, being slashed to pieces. As she absorbed enough mana, she raised a wega here or there, though, to "fill out" the numbers. She could effectively maintain somewhat even numbers that way. But it was basically a standstill, with just Daeva's ability, they weren't making any headway.

And even though the Shaman had left their sight, that didn't mean it wasn't going to continue attacking.

From wherever it was, hidden in the swamp, it raised its staff. Two spells came at the respective groups. One animated the tree roots near Samara's group. The tree roots pulled up out of the swamp, wriggling like spiderlegs, or starfish legs. They reached out trying to grasp or swipe at Samara's people.

The spell sent towards Seymour's group was a vile plumage of black-purple smog. This smog had such a density that it crashed through the forest, breaking apart dried branches. It had weight, and would not just smash into them, but attempt to smother them and choke them to death.

 

[AnonyMouse]

Samara Morghan​

Samara felt a wave of relief when Sharon’s sniper round knocked off a chunk of the Shaman’s health bar. They could end this swiftly through brute force. Even if the skulls in their DS wouldn’t survive the onslaught, it would be worth it to bring this boss down quickly. She was about to call out for the sniper to keep it up.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple. It was never that simple. Immediately after the shot landed, the Shaman screeched loudly, summoning waves of wega from the swamp, and vanished into a portal. Samara grit her teeth as the horde began to close in upon them, but a bright wave of fire in the east showed that Seymour’s team had done… something? Did they light a brazier? If they had, it didn’t seem to affect the debuffs in this region.

Fine. We just need to find our own, Samara thought as she stowed one shield in her inventory, but kept the one with the ward equipped. She glanced over her shoulder at Sharon as the maid called for her to return to the raft. No, she needed to move forward, deeper into the swamp, and find the lantern of this region, while they still had stats left. It must be close, right? Why else would the Shaman appear here?

“I can’t get to you! Toss me the rope! I’ll tow you along. We’ll get out of this together!” Samara called out, pointing at the rope Sharon had used to lash the raft to a tree. She hoped it would be long enough to reach her. But, before she could see if the maid agreed, the wave of wega swallowed her up. A sea of spindly bodies pressed in all around the giant woman.

There wasn’t much these scrawny creatures could do to her, due to her armor and high Defense stat. Nevertheless, they clawed impotently at her steel cladding. Occasionally, some would reach for her eyes or try to rip off her helmet, only to have their arms ruthlessly wrenched off --sometimes literally. Her Strength stat was slowly ticking down, but she was still plenty strong enough to deal with these lightweights and continue her march forward.

When the pile grew too thick, Samara looped her arms around the ones clinging to her front and squeezed them in a bear hug, until she heard the sickening pop of their spines. She let go and their broken bodies fell to the ground. When they piled onto her back, she merely turned and slammed her back against the nearest tree, crushing them with her sheer weight. All the while, they pounded against her shield, causing War Drum’s ward to pulse with energy, refilling her stamina bar with each hit.

But, after a short while, even that reached its limit and faded away. She didn’t have the mana to cast it a second time, nor could she afford to spend stamina on other skills. From here on, she would have to rely on physicality alone and pray she lit the brazier before her strength and stamina became too low to carry on. This was not a battle anymore, but a sheer test of endurance and willpower.

When the roots came to life, probably due to more Shaman-related shenanigans, she found it best to avoid the trees, which is where the roots were thickest. When she got too close, their sturdy roots would lash out, going for her feet, and sometimes striking the wega, too. Samara threw off as many wega as she could, to give herself space to retrieve her zweihander. She held it in her right hand, while the shield remained on her left arm. A swift stroke of the sword’s long blade not only cleared space, but put a swift end to any hostile vegetation.

I marched across the globe before I was Chosen, when I was just an ordinary woman, she thought as the rope splashed down beside her. Finally! A foolish wega reached for it, but Samara backhanded her so hard with her shield, the poor creature was turned to a bloody mist. Blue viscera painted a nearby tree. She took up the rope, looped it around her left fist, and heaved the raft forward, acting as a lowly beast of burden, even as the wega continued to assault her.

If I could do it then, I can do it now, she thought as she gritted her teeth. Every step became increasingly difficult, but she refused to slow down. This fucking Labyrinth… how dare you underestimate us! I was here before you. I will endure beyond you.

Faust​

“The corpse princess shall have no tribute this day. Slaughter to your heart’s content,” Faust declared with a wicked grin, in response to Sebastian’s words. “Should you fall, I will reap the harvest of your blood. You are mine, Butcher, and will live on in my kingdom!”

Strange words indeed. Stranger still was the flirty glance over her shoulder which accompanied it. Fran would have some explaining to do when she returned. In so little time, Faust had grown rather possessive of these adventurers. The Labyrinth had charged her with the monumental task of guiding them deeper and she would use whatever tools at her disposal to get them there.

And, most importantly, she would enjoy every moment of it.

The blood mage raced forward, (at least, as best one can in muck and sludge,) her steps splashing in the murky water. She continued to fire barrages of red needles into her chosen target, but ceased as she neared the wega she was focusing down. The status bar indicating Hemophage’s toxicity level was nearly full. She closed the distance and leapt forward, like a predator pouncing on its prey. Her crimson claws glinted in the dim light, her messy mane of red hair billowing behind her.

As she sank her claws into the frail creature’s flesh, the status bar instantly accelerated to 100%. The wega thrashed wildly, but the madwoman’s claws had sank deep into its vital organs. She was locked on and wouldn’t let go. “Miiiiine! It was never yours,” Faust hissed and the wega grew still, as if stricken by a sudden bout of rigormortis, though its trembling eyes showed it was still very much alive… and suffering. Many more wega closed in around them. She would be swarmed soon…

“Blood… Barrage,” Faust whispered in her victim’s ear, like a sweet lullaby. Blue needles exploded from the Wega’s body, firing in nearly all directions. She cackled madly as she used the wega’s frail body as a mobile turret to mow down the encroaching mob. Unlike when she used her own blood to power the spell, she didn’t have to hold back; she could suck this one dry. Hemophage status bars popped up everywhere in her DS as the flurry of needles struck the other wega. Her captured thrall’s body grew pale and dessicated as she converted every drop of its blood into crystal needles.

At last, there was nothing left, and Faust allowed the wega’s dried, shriveled corpse to fall to the ground. She launched herself at the next nearest wega, viciously stabbing repeatedly with her claws until its status bar reached 100% as well. Each strike gave her a small burst of stamina. As the bodies dropped, blood flowed from savage wounds, hovering and swirling all around Faust as she moved on to the next target and the next and the next, spreading her curse, so she could harvest more blood. MORE BLOOD!

“Transfusion Arrow! Blood Barrage! Transfusion Arrow!” she shouted the incantations in rapid succession, weaponizing the swirling tendrils of blue wega blood around her. The horde of wega continued to converge upon her, feeding her bloodlust. Most were cut down by a barrage of needles. Some merely fell to the ground, their veins stiffened and constricted as the Hemophage curse took hold. For some, she commanded their bloodflow to cease. Others were used for nefarious purposes. The rare few who got through and managed to land strikes upon her found there was little their teeth and nails could do against one who does not bleed unless she chooses to. She could easily heal such trifling wounds, but did not bother to. Mana is for killing, not healing.

A mana arrow she had fired out a short while ago came flying back to her. Faust caught it and stabbed it into her neck, like a junkie getting their fix. These pitiful creatures offered little sustenance, but the warm satisfaction of taking their piddling mana made her purr with euphoric delight nonetheless. By now, she had taken so much blood from the wegas that it was swirling all around her, a thick trail of blue globules trapped in orbit around a laughing red sun. Maintaining it all was wasting more mana than she should, but it just felt SO DAMN GOOD! Hahahahaha!!!

”Come, Slayer! Do not be afraaaaaid,” the wild-eyed Faust crooned, licking her lips and panting with exertion as she beckoned Seymour to join her in the revelry. The raft and its occupants had become distant. She could see miasma ahead of her. She was making progress in the direction she believed the next lantern to be... But, to be quite honest, she could travel faster if she was not so obsessed with wanton slaughter. She had become lost in the thrill of it.

A massive plume of purplish-black dark energy crashed through the swamp, coming right toward her. “Yes! Yessss! I’ve found you!” Faust screeched as she heard the trees splitting and cracking. Once again, the Shaman had acknowledged her. She was practically this boss’s archnemesis by now! Her position placed her between the impending attack and her allies on the raft. She could move out of the way, but the desire to face the threat directly burned within her.

With a sweeping motion of her hands, Faust commanded the tendrils of blood forward. The blue mass of wega blood congealed in front of her, forming a spherical blob. She toyed with the shape for a few seconds. The amorphous blob shifted erratically, as the blood mage raced to decide what strategy would work best: a wall to block it, a sphere to crash through it, or perhaps something else entirely? Faust strained with the effort of controlling so much blood. Channeling the spell chewed though her mana supply.

“Slayer! S-Seymour… help,” Faust(?) said, urging the man to protect her back from the attacking wega, so she could focus entirely on stopping the Shaman’s massive attack. There was dissonance in her voice, as if another speaker was fighting for control. She drew blood from the Hemophage-infected wega around her and formed it into a wide basin, like a shallow bowl to divert the smog comet around them both and --she hoped-- disperse it enough that it would not affect the others either. Blood made a poor shield, but this was a liquid versus a gas. Her intent was to push through the attack and scatter it enough that it would harmlessly dissipate.
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[EmperorsChosen]

Sebastian Gerallt
​

"Going to be a slight pain cremating them in a swamp," Sebastian called back to the coughing damsel as he hacked through the dainty bone and dilapidated muscle of another Wega. As the flesh split from each other cleanly along the cleaver's edge, blood coated the face of its blade and splattered against him.

He let out huff, the drain on his stats straining him as he tore through the Wega, but they were, as Jianlong said, limitless in number. As he waded through the swamp, he sliced again before gripping the handle with two hands now, winding a swing back before bisecting one, its lanky lower limbs collapsing into the water as its torso was tossed asunder. Another took advantage, clawing at his bicep and tearing at the cloth and muscle underneath. The butcher made a pained, thin smile as he gripped the wrist of the creature's arm before raising the cleaver high, then bringing it down to cut the Wega's shoulder, cleaving the arm from the torso. As it yelped in pain, he cocked the blade back again before swiping it against its neck, popping the skull off and splashing into the water.

The mages were helping with their magic, though in the necromancer's case he needed to be careful not to cut her raised Wega down. Then there was Fran, or whoever the hell was speaking now.

He gazed back at her, catching the glance she tossed his way, though the look was less concerning than the words. "Quite the assertive type, aren't you?" He pondered aloud. Though, even the words were less concerning than her actions. The woman leapt at the creatures like a predator, using the Wega's blood as a turret. Help was help, and her magic tore through the horde, making his job easier. "...Very assertive," He added, thankful the very aggressive healer was their ally.

However, then came the cloud of miasma, pushing its way through the swamp. The viscous blob breached through anything in its path until it reached Fast's shield. He watched as she seemed to struggle against it, likely having burned through her mana between holding the miasma and everything before.

Sebastian trudged through the swamp, trying to cut through the remaining Wega with doubled efforts. He didn't want to find out what happened if the shield failed and the miasma hit them.

Thalia_Neko AnonyMouse Tau TreasureSniper

 

[TreasureSniper]

No more time for hesitation. Seeing that even the debilitated Sera was eager to rip and tear until it was done. A small grin formed around Seymour's face as he stepped down into the water, happy to see he could traverse through this terrain unimpeded. He couldn't help but find somewhat of a kindred spirit with this faust lady, a person whose thirst for violence that rivaled his own. Though he wasn't even sure if still had it after dumping all his apathy.

"Well...only one way to find out. Sebastian, Daeva, keep moving forward and keep Sera close. Me and Fran will clear a path." Even while speaking, his concentration never wavered, side-stepping numerous Wega with the smallest movement while retaliating with efficiently lethal slashes as they got close. Using his speed to his advantage, he charged forward with zweihander in hand, making short work of anything that came too close to him, leaving a pile of dismembered limbs and bodies behind him. After slicing the head of above above-average-sized wega, he grabbed the decapitated monster by the leg and used it as a bludgeoning weapon, swiping away waves of wega until the makeshift weapon completely fell apart.

"27...31...36...42.." The horde just kept coming and coming. As amusing as these monsters were, they were not nearly as rewarding as killing the more challenging monsters. And then came the wave of miasma, the size of which made it nearly impossible to completely dodge. Thankfully, the blood magic lady had other plans in mind, bravely putting herself in between the team the threat. Hearing he call for assistance, Seymour grabbed one of the wega by the neck-snapping and used its body as a battering ram, cutting a path to the redhead. As the body fell apart, equip Renegade's axe, throwing it forward, allowing it to slice through a group of wega before landing about a meter away from Fran. Seeing her blood based on powers in action did make him envious of her talents. It seemed everywhere he turned, people always seemed to have much more interesting abilities compared to his own.

Seeing that, Fran was preoccupied with stopping the miasma, he knew he needed to act fast to intercept one of the wega that was getting too close for comfort. While the creature itself wasn't a threat to Fran, he didn't want to let her think that he was sloppy. Sliding into the scene with a trail of Wega body parts, Seymour leaps forward, performing, a down-chopping motion with his hand, nearly cleaving a Wega in half with nothing but his hand. It had been a while since he could use such a move without the Red Razor Rush. Collecting his axe, placing it on his back, now swapping back to his trust gladius. "I have your back Red, hope you've got mine." Seymour gave the redhead a wink before continuing his onslaught of death, slicing and dicing Wega, while occasionally throwing in a few lethal punches. "Fran, we need to make a break towards the final brazier. Dispel this mist, and rip the Shaman's head clean off."

Just as he finished his sentence, Seymour had a worrying realization. To think despite his natural aptitude as a fighter he was capable of such a blunder. "What?....This cannot be...I've lost count of my kills..."

AnonyMouse EmperorsChosen Tau Thalia_Neko

 

[Thalia_Neko]

The Shaman appeared behind the group, not far from where they started. Even for the shaman, it took a brief moment to recollect its bearings and locate its adversaries after teleportation. But it quickly oriented itself -much quicker than the S rankers, who were all preoccupied with the horde, and with the idea of "moving forward". It likely wouldn't even occur to them to glance backwards.

As she seemingly 'rose' up out of the swamp, at one of her totems that had been easily overlooked by the group in the dense underbrush of the marsh. A group of 6 Weak Wega Guards summoned around her in a diamond formation. They were as weak as their counterparts in the swamp, but their summoning was more of a courtesy for when she lost health, and to make her reappearance imposing. Not that there was anyone around to see it.

Anyway, she stepped forward, cautiously walking through only ankle-deep water. She fired off a few more of her "stat lowering" spells, like those she had hit Samara with earlier, but since those traveled in a straight line, and there really wasn't line of sight, they would dissipate harmlessly on the trees they struck. She did fire off a few more "harassing spells", but the S rankers wouldn't find those much of a problem.

Finally, she spotted Samara's group. She raised her staff, mumbled some spell in Wega language, with dark shamanistic undertones, and released: Plume of Swamp Fire.

A gurgling of the water appeared underneath Samara. Steam and bubbles, then a glow of orange. It was a strong spell, but not a quick one. She would have time to move out of the way.. Or she should have enough time, but who knows, perhaps she was too distracted or something.

"Hey, there!" Jiànlong shouted, pointing behind them. He had been the first to spot the black cloak of the boss. The boss health bar flickering between branches. "Behind us!" The 'endless' wega storm, wasn't so endless it seemed. After slaughtering and slaughtering, the S rankers had cleared out a significant portion of them, and only a few stragglers remained.

Back at Seymour's group, the plumage of smog struck Faust's spell. It clashed with it for a moment, dispersing some of the smog. Enough to weaken the spell, but not to stop it. It smashed through her blood barrier, and would collide with the people right there. Though after dispersing some of its mass, it wouldn't cause as much damage as it could've, and felt probably more like some strong blow had struck them.

Daeva glanced over at Sera. She stepped over, after slashing another wega's throat. She reached over. "Here, take this dagger. If you get a kill with it, it'll replenish your mana." Something endlessly useful to one such as her, suffering from a mana-draining curse. The only reason Daeva hadn't given it to her before is because there were not many instances to use it. That is to say, there were no targets for Sera to potentially kill to activate its effect. But with this horde of easy-to-kill wega, then it would definitely be useful. Though, as she was noticing, even this horde was thinning. Still, killing a few would be better than killing none, for Sera, wouldn't it? Daeva handed over the twin Death-Giving Dagger.


AnonyMouse Tau

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Sharon Ironblood​

Still having 17 rounds, she twitched her jaw as she looked at the swordsman. "Have a strop! Don't come crying to me later yah blimey bastard. Absolutely mental." Taking up a kneeling position on the platform raft, she looked at Samara and furrowed her brows. "Are you taking the piss?" It seemed she was serious in dragging her, so be it. Untying the rope and kicking the raft away from the tree, it wasn't long till said tree tried to grab her and the raft, as Sharon took he arming sword and slashed away at the roots and low hanging limbs for good measure as she tossed the rope, allowing the knight to drag her across.

Keeping her eyes peeled, Sharon took in their surroundings and noticed one of the braziers, fairly close to where they were, it was off to the left at about 9 o'clock. Pointing it out and saying as much, she continued. "Oi, Samara! Through the mist, 9 o'clock, found one of those braziers, lets get rid of this damn fog.... or so I hope." Keeping her eyes open for any other objects that didn't belong, those skulls had to have some kind of source. However, with current events, Sharon jumped from the raft and ran towards the brazier. Given she was behind Samara and would be pulled through the spell, well, it was time to get the hell away from it. If the raft didn't burn up, she would get back on it. "Watch out!"

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[AnonyMouse]

Samara Morghan​

Samara glanced down as the ground at her feet began to bubble. Yet again, it felt as if the Shaman was targeting her. Good. See me as the threat I am, she thought, gritting her teeth in determination as the spell began to power up.

Behind her, Sharon abandoned the raft and began to move toward the Shaman, who Jianlong had pointed out. Samara had spotted her form amongst the trees, but merely thought it was another wega. They were surrounded on all sides by the damned things, after all, so it was impossible to remain focused in one direction. (Nor was it ever a good idea to be so narrow-minded in battle. She always kept her head on a swivel.)

Her Defender instincts didn’t tell her to dodge, so she knew what she must do. As the Swamp Fire began to charge up, Samara quickly released the rope tethering her to the raft and stowed the zweihander on her back. In its place, she equipped her second shield. Armed with one on each hand, she pressed them to the water's bubbling surface and crouched atop them, refusing to move, even as the wega horde, and even her own allies, began to pull back.

“Did I not make myself clear?” Samara said as she stared at the Shaman through the trees. There was no one around to hear her, but she didn’t care. At such distance, she could scarcely make out the pale witch, yet she felt as if their eyes met. With a single glance, the shieldmaiden put the fear of God in that creature’s soul. At least, that is how she imagined it.

“You can run. You can hide. You can throw all manner of enemies and spells at me,” Samara declared as the bubbling swamp began to glow beneath her shields. “But if there are others to be defended, I will stand in your way! Strong Block!”

She activated the skill, just as a blast of fire erupted beneath her dual shields. Surely the Strong Block skill, plus her s-rank Talent, plus doubled shields, plus her high Defense stat, would be enough to endure these flames. The spell's force and fury lifted her massive bulk. The crouching giantess rode the column of fire and pushed off at its peak. Her dual iron shields glowed red hot as she was launched skyward, arcing toward her target.

She came crashing down atop one of the Shaman’s six guards, grinding his brittle bones into the muck beneath her steel boots. Samara was now closer to the boss than even before, closer than any of the adventurers had gotten. She could end this! Swamp water splashed at the point of impact, creating a shroud of steam as it hit her blazing shields. A second guard moved to intercept, only to be cleaved in two by a thrown shield, which ricocheted off a tree and sliced a second guard’s leg clean off. Although it wasn't a killing blow, the crippled wega toppled over as the shield skipped away along the water’s surface. Not a problem; she still had another. Samara drew her zweihander once more and aimed its tip at the Shaman, as if challenging her to a duel.

”Anchor Pull!” she said. Her stamina was waning, but it didn’t matter. This needed to be an all-out assault. If she had to spend it all to seize victory, so be it.

Franceska Feiss​

Waves of confusion rippled through Faust’s mind as Fran’s thoughts battered her. Such awful timing! The blood barrier fluctuated and bowed under the stress as the Shaman’s attack collided it.

W-what’s going on? Fran thought, her thoughts racing as she tried to comprehend where she was and what was happening. The last thing she remembered was-

I don’t need you! Disappear and die! Faust screeched at her, from within their mental arena. She squared her stance and raised her hands, commanding the barrier to hold as the dark smog broke against it. But her control of her own limbs was slipping away as Fran took over.

I… I don’t think w-we can…

Don’t think! Just do, Faust snapped back. Stupid girl, your hesitancy will be the death of us all!

All…? Fran thought. She timidly glanced over her shoulder, where Seymour was cutting down the wega around them, when he could easily get out of the way and leave them to their fate. The British butcher was also racing to help, charging into danger. What had Faust done to bring this about?

Bodies squelched underfoot. Corpses were mashed into the muddy waters at her feet, their faces staring up, wide-eyed. Fran felt bile rise in her thought. But the sickening sensation was washed away by the overwhelming thrill of the Shaman’s magic colliding with her own. Such power and complexity. Such primal fury. She felt as if she was gripping an umbrella as a hurricane batters its surface.

Faust was right. Now was not the time for thinking or analyzing. Now was the time to match power with power.

With a turn of her wrists and a fluttering of her slender fingertips, the barrier’s shape changed. Where Faust’s conjurations where animalistic and aggressive, Fran’s were cautious and precise, like conducting an orchestra. The barrier took the form of a wedge to divide the blast. And then she pushed, projecting that barrier forward. It cleaved through the cloud of dark magic, until the blood barrier reached the edge of her power’s range, where its potency sharply fell off. Fortunately, she timed it perfectly. Her own control failed just as it reached the tail end of the Shaman’s blast, causing both spells to cease at nearly the same time.

The remnants of the Shaman’s attack washed over them as a strong gust, causing Fran to lose her footing and fall on her bum in the filthy water. But, rather than be disgusted, she was smiling and giggling. She had done it! She had faced not just any enemy, but a boss!

It was one spell, you fool, and I could have done so myself had you not intervened, Faust scolded. On your feet, we are still at war.

But Fran ignored her. She wasn’t going to let the demon take this moment away from her, even as Wega began to close in. Nearby, Seymour was speaking. Something about going after the final brazier… and beheading a wega… and losing count of his kills.

Kills?

Only now did Fran become truly aware of the bluish tint of the water, stained by so much Wega blood. She was sitting atop bodies. Severed heads and limbs and bits of gore and viscera comingled in the muck, like a carpet of gore. It didn’t take a genius to see that most of this wasn’t Faust’s handiwork.

“O-oh god… not again,” Fran muttered as she scrambled to her feet and retched. She immediately brought her hands up to cover her mouth… but those hands were covered in wega blood as well. And that was the final straw.

Pathetic, Faust whispered as the young redhead doubled over and vomited at Seymour’s feet. A stream of half-digested meals splashed into the water, joining the mutilated corpses there. It felt as if it would never stop. By the time it did, Fran was gasping for air and hoarse from the dry-heaving.

“Y-you’re all fucking insane,” Fran said at last, as she wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve and turned away in shame, embarrassment, and disgust. “I-I’m supposed to be the healer!? Why am I even here!?” she cried out, her voice a shrill squeak.

A damn fine questionnnnn, Faust said in a sultry tone. Begone, that I may finish my masterpiece…
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[Thalia_Neko]

Three of her guards were incapacitated. Two killed instantly by the mad strongwoman. The third, fell face first into the water, unable to maintain upright as its leg was chopped off. The clumsy Wega was not dead, but was thrashing about in the water, trying to make its way to Samara -to guard the shaman! But obviously, making no headway. However, the other remaining two, charged forward, quickly placing themselves between Samara and the Shaman. One clashed with Samara, bringing up its heavy axe to cut down upon the woman.

However, the shaman wasted no time. She brought up her staff, and fired a bolt of darkness that looked similar to Daeva's, but was much thicker, more sturdy, robust magic. The darkness struck the first guard in the back, and then 'burned' a vile hole straight through her, the wega's body splashing into the water in pieces, as the bolt continued forward. It struck the second guard, and began to glow, as it began to tear through it as well, aimed straight for Samara, that the guard was pressuring. The wega axe's weight was bearing down upon Samara, but the Wega began to scream in pain as the shaman's magic bore through her.

For Fran, she would notice a straight smog. No, not the magic one the Shaman had fired earlier, but a straight smog raising up out of the swamp water. That's when she would realize! The bodies of the countless wega were beginning to rot, the Labyrinth's miasma coming off the bodies, rising above the swamp water. Normally speaking, it would take awhile for the labyrinth's miasma to be noticeable. But when there was so much death, it compounded the effect. The groups could not stay atop their current battlefields, otherwise they would succumb to the labyrinth's poison. Fran would already feel a bit of its effects, sitting down so close, as the dark gas began to rise around her.

 

[RedArmyShogun]

Sharon Ironblood​

With a click of her tongue as Samara took off and other actions unfolded around her, Sharon took notice of the new icon around the swamp with, a totem. These likely were akin to spawn points, or her life bar, it was hard to be sure. This shit was too much like a bad video game. And whereas in games you had multiple retries and lives to lose, here you had one and only one life, till proven otherwise at the least. And she wouldn't be first to test it. That being said, this bitch vanished the last time she shot her, so Sharon wanted to test something first.

The battle maid pressed her stock to her shoulder, holding to a chicken wing stance as it was called, she took aim, not at the shaman, but the skull perched atop the totem, putting a bullet into that she quickly activated her skill, Missed a spot! and took aim at the witch, using Samara as the cover to shoot just past, the bullet sung out in its sonic boom, reaching the Shaman in quick order. There was also the brazier, had the bitch not spawned so close, Sharon would have gone for it first, to get rid of this damn fog. And hopefully some of these status affects.

Interactions: AnonyMouse Thalia_Neko

 

[TreasureSniper]

Seeing that Fran's barrier was not fully capable of blocking the incoming wave of smog, Seymour raised his axe and spun it rapidly in front of him, trying to block whatever residual force made it through. With some difficulty, Seymour managed to stand his ground just as the wave struck him, pushing him back a bit before giving him a brief moment of respite. Using this moment to catch his breath, he turned to Fran, who seemed busy having an internal debate with herself. Few seconds later, Seymour would take a few steps back, narrowly avoid the stream of vomit that poured out from the redhead.

"I apologize in advance." Seymour walked up to the redhead and grabbed her by her collar giving her a solid slap across her face."Steady yourself Fran. Now is not the time to choke." Seymour released his grip, giving a the girl a chance to regain her composure, while also preparing to dodge any attempt of retaliation. Perhaps her dominant personality was losing its grip. "Because you have a purpose to fulfil. Whether that be a healer or a killer, you won't reach the finish line if you stop here." Seymour spoke understanding that there was some form of duality within her. "So let's keep going. We don't have much time. I once again apologize for any discomfort."

AnonyMouse

Without further warning, the young man picked the redhead up, one arm under her legs and the other supporting her back. "Red Razor Rush." With his signature technique, and bolstered stats, Seymour propelled forward at great speeds, easily toppling any unfortunate tree used as his stepping stone. His main objective was simple, get to the final brazier as fast as he can before the debuffs become intolerable.

 

[AnonyMouse]

Franceska Feiss​

“I... I'm fine,” Fran said, calming donw a little when Seymour 'apologized in advance.' What for? "I just needed a sec to-" her words were cut short by the man slapping the taste out of her mouth. She stared indignantly at him as the sting began to set in and her cheek slowly began to turn red. "You... you fucking hit me!? What the fuck is your problem!?" she shrieked in his face as he apologized for any discomfort.

Discomfort? Discomfort!? I'll show you discomfort! she thought as her fists balled and she took one indignant step toward him. Her mind flooded with images of playing soccer with his nutsack. Yes! Yesssssh! We shall make him suffer dearly!

Faust's delight made Fran pause. What frightened her most wasn't the demon's pleasure at causing harm, but the fact that --at least for a brief moment-- Fran wanted to join her in it. Her body tensed when the man suddenly scooped her up and began to run, crashing through the the trees as the miasma began to rise from the carpet of corpses at their feet.

"No, wait!" Fran wimpered, as panic began to set in. "Where are you- To battle, of course! We are guests. A feast awaits!” Their inner conflict spilled out into spoken words. Fran's inventory opened, summoning the mana arrow she had crafted hours ago to help Sera. "No, stop! That's for- Us. Our mana is ours! The girl can wait," Faust said as she plunged it into her neck and began to soak up its sweet, sweet power.

By now, they were out of the safe zone created by lighting their brazier and had entered a cursed section of the swamp, where the fog hung thick. Even with his boosted stats, Seymour began to slow. Ahead, Fran saw the other group's raft, with Lumi and Jian still aboard. Miasma began to rise here, too, due to the wega this group had slain. Nearby, the maid's rifle cracked off two shots, echoing like thundeclaps in the misty swamp. The skull atop the Shaman's totem exploded as a bullet ripped through it. As for the Shaman herself, the shieldmaiden was attempting to engage her, but was being bombarded by spells and wega guards.

Fran spotted the brazier nearby and immediately knew what to do. Her mind was subconsciously filled with the knowledge of how Faust had lit the previous one. Does she want me to help? Fran thought, confused by Faust's willingnes to share such information with her. Maybe it was a deception, a lie, a misdirect?

"I won't put you to sleeeeep this time, little girl," Faust said as her muscles tensed and she retrieved Serpentera from around ehr waist. She sprang out of Seymour's arms and latched onto a tree, before springing from that one to another. "Darkness is a mercy you shan't have. Now, witness me!" Faust's erratic, feral movelements, and the sense of vertigo they induced was nearly enough to make Fran nauseous all over again. She felt as if she was on board a wacky amusement park ride as her 'other self' took control, pouncing from branch to branch, desperately trying to get closer to the brazier while dodging spells, and struggling agianst ehr own diminished capabilities. With Fran conscious, Faust didn't have the benefit of her full stats and the Shaman's debuffs weren't helping either.

Concentrate, you fool! We have two minds, may as well use them. I will get us closer. You launch the mana.

Samara Morghan​

Yet again, she had gained the boss's attention. With two of its six guards slain, and a third left crawling in the water with only one leg, she had halved the boss's entourage almost instantly. Unfortunately, when she cast Anchor Pull... nothing happened. Samara grimaced, unsurprised by this, but still disappointed. "Why give us this power if you fear its use! Coward!" she shouted at the heavens as a fourth guard, armed with a giant axe, approached her.

The Shaman cast another smoky ball of dark magic, striking one of her own guards in the back. She was so desperate to kill the shieldmaiden that she was willing to slay her own allies to get to her. Good, Samara thought. Her shield, armor, skills, stats, Talents, and experience had proven insufficient against this enemy. The Labyrinth had shown its cowardice already -- she could not defend against some of these spells, despite that being her Chosen role, but she could at least draw fire away from her comrades. This, too, was a form of defending, no? As long as the Shaman's eyes were upon her, she was doing her job.

The spell burned right through one wega and began to burrow into the back of the axe-wielder. So, another unblockable one. Great. Samara scowled down at the puny wega attempting to strike up at her with its oversized weapon. She pitied this beast, which was now howling in pain as the dark magic began to ravage its body. The weapon's dull chipped blade pressed against the surface of her shield. But, even with her strength ticking away, Samara barely felt the weight of the attack. “Move,” she said calmly. A powerful one-handed stroke of her zweihander swatted the creature aside, launching the wega to the left while Samara sidestepped to the right, out of the path of the Shaman's magic. She used the flat of her blade to send the doomed wega one direction while she maneuvered in the other.

"Are you going to run again, hmm? More portals? More spells? More weaklings to sacrifice? I will show you what sacrifice looks like!!" Samara said, her eyes blazing as she marched slowly, menacingly, toward the Shaman, with her shield raised and the bloody zweihander outstretched. The swamp's slowing effect only made her approach more terrifying, like somehting out of a horror movie. The killer never runs and never stops until the job is done.

A gunshot rang out from Sharon's rifle, shattering the nearby skull totem. Samara's Battle Meditation Talent gave her a sensation of her allies' approximate locations. The shieldmaiden knew the maid was in an ideal firing position, so she made sure to stay out of Sharon's line of fire. And she also sensed others arriving on the scene. Splashing footsteps approached from the east, and there was also movement in the trees accompanied by the metallic sounds of a chain weapon. Seymour's group, perhaps?

She grinned as she locked eyes with the boss, only for a second shot to ring out, this one aimed at the Wega Shaman.
Interactions: TreasureSniper | RedArmyShogun | Thalia_Neko | EmperorsChosen | Tau | Skyswimsky

 

[Thalia_Neko]

The shaman stared at the approaching woman. In response to what Samara said, the wry lips of the shaman parted and she said something incomprehensible -in Wega language. Then the first gunshot shattered the skull of the totem beside her, drawing the shaman's gaze briefly, watching the osseous material shatter. Then the second shot struck her dead center of her chest again. The gunshot was powerful, and heavy, shaking the boss, and causing it to flinch. The wega shaman screeched out in pain when hit. But once again, the health bar stopped at the break in it. She was now at half health.

With her pained shriek, Samara would watch as the shaman once again teleported away in a puff of darkness. She would reappear much much closer to the East brazier -practically right beside it. Appearing on yet another skull totem hidden in the brush of the swamp, that by now was her evident teleport points.

"GYYRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The Wega Shaman screeched out after appearing.

A wave of dark energy surged through the swamp, striking all involved. But for the S rankers who had the skull icons in their DS, another would shatter, leaving just one left.

For Sebastian he would feel the wave of energy. His final stats would take hits. Stamina would take a 5 point hit, adding on top of the other debuffs. Defense a 20 point hit, down to 20. And Awareness a 20 point hit down to 20. Now Sebastian's entire parameter list was in the red. It wasn't looking good, and would cause him some concern.

The Shaman began chanting in wega language and waved her staff. Three green orbs appeared around her at a distance of about 10 feet. These orbs began pulling twigs, twine, animal body parts and bones to them, constructing strange totems about waist height. Her spell was channeled, so they were still in the process of creation.

Daeva practically felt the spell's magic, drawing her attention. She spotted the green light, and the dark shadowed form between trees. "She's there! The boss!" Daeva called to the others, pointing just beyond their brazier. It wasn't yet clear what this spell did, since there was no prior knowledge of it, but that green light was eerie. There were many left now, but shambling Wega stragglers began to gather protectively around the shaman casting her spell.

 

[EmperorsChosen]

Sebastian Gerallt
​

Sebastian raised his arm to brace against the blast that was the remnant of the Shaman's spell, though it didn't do much aside from push him a bit, likely thanks to Fran cancelling it out with her own. He breathed a small sigh of relief. However, shortly thereafter the girl collapsed and vomited, causing Sebastian to deadpan as he watched her. Though rather than the disgusting vomit, he seemed to be more focused on her comments. Firstly, he presumed it wasn't her preference for the Wega to mob and tear her apart. Secondly, they were insane?

Though perhaps she had a point, as Seymour then proceeded to slap her across the face before abducting her and speeding off. The butcher watched as he sped through the swamp with Fran shouting.

"...Maybe she's bloody right," He mused, rotating his shoulder a bit.

Two less people to fight the Wega horde, but as time went on the necromancer woman gained a larger army. Even with his reduced stats, it was much easier being part of a battalion. This was the best option. The others face the boss and light the braziers while he takes care of the masses to keep them from being distracted. However, this only grew more difficult.

Sebastian heard the gunfire and screeching from afar, and then another black wave swept through the swamp, striking him and sapping more of his stats. He felt even weaker and more ill as he lurched slightly. He trudged through the water, opening his Dread System to observe his current stats. All red, the gash in his bicep was leaking blood, and that old hag was queueing up another spell.

Concerning, but not utterly debilitating. No, instead, he let out a huff. This was no different. He had gotten these powers on the brink of starvation and weakness. He still pushed through with nothing but spite, and he hadn't paid the bastard maze back. His trudges turned to stubborn stomps, pushing through despite his weakening stats. He cleaved at Wega that stood against him, taking cuts here and there, but the man didn't seem to care, using the openings for a kill blow, a malicious smile on his face paired with a spiteful grin.