(Event Tracker) Season 4 Finale: Dragon End

Asch · Jan 31, 2023

Below is a recap of Season 4's storyline. If you are interested in catching up on the most relevant plot points for the finale, feel free to read it. Your character technically doesn't need to know any of it to participate, as this event seeks to recap things in-character.

The recap below is an optional read. If you are new or have recently returned after a long period of time, skip this post and go to the next!

Year 4-7

During the four years when Terrasphere was inaccessible, three flaming magitech Airships crashlanded in Astorea, Hylands, and Tertoria. The one that landed in Astorea completely destroyed the old player capital, Vintergard. The impact was historic, setting the city ablaze, displacing hundreds of people, and annihilating thousands. The locals refer to this disaster as Dragonfall.

After the flames died down, the detached sections of the crashed ship immediately sealed up all of their openings, preventing anyone from infiltrating them. Anyone foolish enough to explore the capital would have been lasered to death by the automated defenses attached to the ship.

With the mega-wreckage being a huge danger to Astorea, Astor established Camp Hope as the gateway to explore and research Vintergard. However, the camp was soon invaded and destroyed by a massive, tank-like magia machine known as the DEAD.naught. Despite being moved further away, the camp was destroyed again, and again a third time. For the fourth time, Camp Hope was moved even further away, and was safe for the time being.

Year 8 (September)

Astorea picked up a signal spell from Astor, which he had been given as a means to summon an escort party for the last stretch of the way back to Finweald from his diplomatic journey to Sirosi Kotan. However, instead of the expected single signal, the kingdom received two. As the spell would have created a unique signature that could not have been replicated, something was amiss.

And so, the kingdom contracted 3 teams:

Time EX

Time EX team was assigned to track down one of Astor's signals. Before setting out, they consulted with Magi Heart to backtrace the signal they were given. However, Magi’s spell overloaded and the scrying vision was shared with everyone present in the tent at the time, projecting them at the ping’s location.

In the vision, they observed a magia woman with red hair conversing with two 10-foot tall eggs, one gold and the other red. To their surprise, the woman became aware of their scrying and turned towards them, addressing them as "saviors," before causing significant harm to each person as she approached the group. For someone to damage their enemy’s real body even though they appeared as astral projection was practically unheard of.

It was later revealed that her name was Szofrit, and she was believed to be the leader of the Dragonship magia.

Scouts

In light of the two signals from the king, the kingdom dispatched the scouts to infiltrate Vintergard and investigate the activities of the Dragonship magia. After a difficult journey to infiltrate Vintergard through the undergrounds, they discovered that the Dragonship magia were fusing animals with magitech and creating mindless magitech machines through parts recycled from fallen magia and the head of their humanoid enemies at the many magi-forges spread around the ruined capital.

The scouts also uncovered that magitech passively absorbed magic, and in essence, energy, as evidenced by the dead soil, withered plants, and sickened beasts within the vicinity of the Dragonship wreckage. Their mission was unexpectedly interrupted when Szofrit, likely through her pre-established astral connection with Magi, detected their presence and hurled an attack at them. Nevertheless, they were able to return safely to camp.

Team Ego

As Team Ego ventured into Vintergard to locate King Astor, they encountered hurdles upon hurdles on their journey. Upon entering the capital by mounting the wall, they met Caenis guides. After a sudden ambush, the group managed to flee into an exposed Dragonship wreckage that led them underground to a buried marketplace where Astor and Sakkarin, a Sun Claw representative, had been staying. It was also there where Astor and Sakkarin took them to see a heavily damaged magia, who revealed that he was not aligned with the Dissonant-corrupted magia led by Szofrit.

As it was their mission to lead the Starcalled to the truth, he mentioned that his allies had all pooled their life force to create a golden egg that would hatch into what he referred to as the Keychild, which was the first step to opening up the locked Dragonhead, the head of the ship. However, Szofrit and her underlings also created their own egg, which would allow them to get into the Dragonhead first. The magia died before the group could get any more out of him. Astor informed the group that he and his entourage spotted the eggs with Szofrit at the heavily guarded Dragonhead area, and as the egg protectors, she wasn’t likely to move from her position.

Meanwhile… Time EX encountered a crisis at Camp Hope, which nearly caused a split within the camp before the DEAD.naught returned to destroy hope for the fourth time. Despite the heavy damage, the Starcalled successfully defended the camp and took down the DEAD.naught after it assimilated with a player named Quinn. In its final moments, it transmitted a message to Szofrit, who then ordered it to self-destruct.

Year 8 (October)

At a debriefing following the defeat of the DEAD.naught, key members shared information about their mission as Astor and his advisors discussed the possibility of reclaiming certain parts of Vintergard in order to launch a siege on the heavily guarded Dragonhead where the two mysterious eggs were located.

Led by Astor's grand strategist, Accelerator, the mission was divided threefold.

Scenario VBMS3: The Calculator

This team was sent to investigate an area on the outskirts of the capital that was constantly glitching. The moment they arrived, the group was thrown into a pocket dimension. Inside, they were confronted by a magia named Null and a magia called the Calculator, who forced them to participate in an exercise where they had to protect the golden egg while, at the same time, having to destroy the red egg.

During the exercise, Kyra and Legion hatched the golden egg, revealing a fake Keychild, a precursor to what the Starcalled would have to do in the future. Although he was supposed to guide the group through the training exercise, the Calculator revealed himself to be dissonant, the same corruption that Szofrit and her ilk had fallen under. Through hard work, they turned the Calculator’s trick against himself and obliterated him in the process.

The fake Keychild stayed around them as a glitch.

Steel in Discord

This team's main goal was to capture key locations as they battled their way to the Ruined Palace, where they would establish the primary foothold for the Starcalled in Vintergard. This would serve as the staging ground to confront Szofrit head-on in Dragonhead. When the party reached the Ruined Palace, however, they discovered an orb called the Origin Matrix, which served as the brain of the magia forges scattered throughout Vintergard. These were the same forges that the scouts had seen where the assimilation, production, and recycling of magia was happening. It was there where the group met XS-EVE, a corrupted magia who referred to Szofrit as mother and the protector of the orb.

Between the Matrix and EVE, the group chose to focus on taking the Origin Matrix down. Although they succeeded, EVE let them have their victory as she ripped something out of the orb and escaped.

Afterward, the group met Trinity, the game mascot players sometimes see, but she appeared very different from her miniature self. Trinity stressed that they needed to rescue the golden egg as it was the first step in finding out the true nature of the game. If Szofrit got to it first, then, it would be a complete disaster.

Operation Siren Silence

Meanwhile, this team was sent to deal with the Dragonship's elite patrols dubbed the "Rapid Response.” This was a trio of enemies that would have stopped any attempt by the players to recapture the capital. After a particularly bloody high-speed skirmish, the Rapid Response was dealt with. It was then that the group learned about the God Searing Light, a super weapon that would dust the invaders if they did not have concentrated defense.

The moment the Steel in Discord team defeated the Matrix, however, the God Searing Light mass that swirled above the Ruined Palace zipped toward Dragonhead as though it had lost its anchor.

Year 8 (November)

Despite the warfront being pushed all the way up to Dragonhead, the beginning of the end-of-year rush and the holidays saw many players stop logging into the game, making it impossible to proceed with the planned battle against Szofrit, unless Astorea didn’t at all care about how many lives it would have taken.

Szofrit used this opportunity to ramp up the defenses of Dragonhead to shut down further advances into the last of the territory she controlled. With the Starcalled having barely enough manpower to hold the territories they had won through the skirmishes, it became a complete stalemate.

Szofrit defended Dragonhead fiercely, continually exerting pressure on the players-controlled areas so they wouldn’t engage her, and eased off when they back down.

Year 9 (January)

Although time stopped briefly for a number of weeks, the clock began ticking once more after the new year...

Asch · Jan 31, 2023

Welcome to the Finale of Terrasphere Season 4! This event is divided into 3 parts, with each one taking place at different times and part 3 being the season-ending boss fight.

This is where all of the set-up for the finale is happening. Timeline-wise, Noise takes place first, while the directive threads are taking place within the same time window. The Emergency Rally threads take place after most of the directive threads. Below is a rough chronological order in which the threads are happening.

You may post in any thread with the [Open] tag at any point in time, however, keep the timeline in mind to avoid confusion! The directive threads are not open for posting until part 2.

Noise [Open]

Amid a snowy January night, any person who might have been present in Astorea would have seen a massive red-glowing leyline beaming skyward from Dragonhead. At the same time, those with UI access would have found their UI jittering erratically, making communications and logging out difficult, if not impossible.

What was your character doing when the UI Noise hit? How do they feel about it? If these questions are at all important to you, make a post in this thread.

Directives

Szofrit's ability: Handler's Lullaby has hijacked many of the magia starcalled, getting them to carry out her plan, which is to hinder the starcalled and hatch the Red Egg. The leylines appear to indicate how close she is to her goal.

Directive: Propagate (Camp Hope)

@MAI was given the Lullaby of Subjugation and the mission of converting more magia to Szofrit's side, which she performed exceptionally well at with her drones, all the while remaining conscious of the terrible things she was doing.

Directive: Collect (Finweald)

@Ronja Bubblyfoot was sent to kidnap people with a substantial magical reserve to accelerate the Red Egg's hatching, which she did exceptionally well at. When she jumped into the spatial rupture to teleport to Dragonhead, she saw a second leyline branch shooting up into the snowy night sky, after which Szofrit spoke to her (cutscene).

After Ronja accomplished her directive, the Red Egg's hatching meter has increased to 25% and will keep going up as the event progresses. The banner on the front page shows the most current progress.

Directive: Distract (Finweald)

@Tick Tock was given an empowered Spatial Ripper, which allowed them to execute short-range teleportation. They immediately got to work, bombing the Palace and the Lions Pride's headquarters in Finweald. The resulting explosion and fire spread to other parts of the city. Currently, they are taking turns to maximize the use of the Spatial Ripper to deal the most amount of damage on Finweald.

Directive: Decoy (Finweald)

@Ayna Nietzsche was given the ley lightning, which she used to spread fire and lure people out into the cold, where she mercilessly cut them down, wetting Finweald's roads with the blood of the innocent.

Directive: Hinder (Camp Hope)

@Tetsunosuke was given the Critical Factor and a squad of magia to hinder Camp Hope. He sent his squad to assault as many starcalled as possible, focusing on those who were on their third death, which would force healers to prioritize them. Meanwhile, Tetsu attempted to mortally wound Levi with the Critical Factor, but failed and tactically retreated to rebuild his forces.

Emergency Rally: Camp Hope [Open]

Chad and Levi had set up an emergency rally point at the commander's tent in Camp Hope to gather people and figure out how to deal with the ongoing emergencies at camp.

Directive: Disable (Camp Hope)

@Valmont, who had fallen under Szofrit's influence, still sought to protect others. What's a better way to do it than to stealthily salvage and combine magitech parts into a mega bomb to blow up the armory tents with?

Emergency Rally: Finweald [Open]

Astor and Cessia had set up an emergency rally point at a Guildhall to gather people and figure out how to deal with the ongoing emergencies all over the city.

Directive: Divide (Finweald)

@Alice was sent to infiltrate the MIT headquarters amid the commotion caused by her turned allies in search of secret research that would sabotage and divide the MIT's attention. She uncovered something she shouldn't have… Read the rest here. This thread has been resolved and will not have a part 2.

Plot Hooks

So, you have reached the end of the summary for part 1. If you're new or have recently returned, you might be confused since Season 4 has been ongoing for more than half a year.

Fortunately, you don't need to know the majority of the storyline to participate!

The most important details your character should know is that magia players have been turned by the season's main antagonist, Szofrit, and they have been wreaking havoc in Camp Hope IV and Finweald, the player capital.

Below are some plot hooks to help attach you to the event ranging from serious to silly. Take your pick!

Revenge. You, your dog, your house, or someone you care about in-game have been killed or destroyed by a turned magia player, fire, or an explosion. In order to take revenge against the person responsible for all of your problems (Szofrit), you join the starcalled forces to deal with the assaults and defeat her.

Trapped. You just wanted to play the game like you usually do, however, you've been UI-locked! Since you need to leave the game, you have no choice but to join the starcalled to resolve the UI noise.

Bond. You are acquainted with one of the turned magia players (can be an NPC) and wish to save them, so you take up arms and fight.

Money Talks. In cooperation with the Adventurers Guild, King Astor is paying a hefty reward to adventurers who are willing to risk their lives to help.

Heroic Pride. Heroes and Lions never log out when people are hurt. You are a knight or someone working with the emergency response team looking to maintain order and rescue people.

Curious Cat. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding who Szofrit is or what she wants. You want to uncover this as either a free agent or an MIT member.

Frontliner. League members are all at the frontline. Communications have been cut between Vintergard and Camp Hope.

Property Tycoon. You want to recapture Vintergard because it might become prime real estate for the taking in Season 5.

Raid Boss · Feb 8, 2023

Part 2 is where you guys (the players) will be grouping up to deal with the many objectives on the frontline, Camp Hope, and Finweald. You are not expected to complete everything, how well you do will reflect in the set-up of part 3, but not significantly so. Enjoy the narrative and drama first and foremost!

During this time, you may still post in the [Open] threads in Part 1. Those thread chronologically take place before Part 2, however.

Threads will slowly open up over the course of the next 24 hours. 6 directive threads will be made available. Each character may only participate in a single objective thread.

Unless you are absolutely certain of where to send your character, wait for the thread that best fit your character's goal, motivation, or style to open up.

Objective Threads

Directive: Propagate (Camp Hope)
@MAI was given the Lullaby of Subjugation and the mission of converting more magia to Szofrit's side, which she performed exceptionally well at with her drones, all the while remaining conscious of the terrible things she was doing.

Objective: Detain the turned magia and find MAI

Directive: Decoy (Finweald)
@Ayna Nietzsche was given the ley lightning, which she used to spread fire and lure people out into the cold, where she mercilessly cut them down, wetting Finweald's roads with the blood of the innocent.

Objective: Hinder and capture Ayna

Directive: Collect (Finweald)
@Ronja Bubblyfoot was sent to kidnap people with a substantial magical reserve to accelerate the Red Egg's hatching, which she did exceptionally well at.

Objective: Catch up to Ronja and stop her

Directive: Disable (Camp Hope)
@Valmont, who had fallen under Szofrit's influence, still sought to protect others. What's a better way to do it than to stealthily salvage and combine magitech parts into a mega bomb to blow up the armory tents with?

Objective: Use your investigative skills to track down Valmont

Directive: Hinder (Camp Hope)
@Tetsunosuke was given the Critical Factor and a squad of magia to hinder Camp Hope. He sent his squad to assault as many starcalled as possible, focusing on those who were on their third death, which would force healers to prioritize them. Meanwhile, Tetsu attempted to mortally wound Levi with the Critical Factor, but failed and tactically retreated to rebuild his forces.

Objective: Use covers and subjugate Tetsu and his gang

Directive: Distract (Finweald)
@Tick Tock was given an empowered Spatial Ripper, which allowed them to execute short-range teleportation. They immediately got to work, bombing the Palace and the Lions Pride's headquarters in Finweald. The resulting explosion and fire spread to other parts of the city. Currently, they are taking turns to maximize the use of the Spatial Ripper to deal the most amount of damage on Finweald.

Objective: Distract Tick Tock while quelling fire and helping Finweald citizens

The Frontline

Hold
The Starcalled divided their forces. More than half rallied at the Ruined Palace and defended it from the Dragonship magia, whose main goal is to apply pressure as much as possible to buy Szofrit time. The Starcalled meanwhile exerted their own pressure on the magia forces to draw their attention away from the Forward team.

Many of the people on the Hold team was instructed to rig the palace with traps and head out to meet the forward team when it was time.

Forward
Led by Childress, the Forward team headed into Szofrit's territory to get as close as they can to the magia leader. They assassinated key targets, overtook strategic locations, hindering enemies' supplies until the magia pushback prevented them from going further.

Once they reached the stopping point, the group immediately turned it into the invasion point and sent messengers to rally all the defenders there.

Asch · Feb 8, 2023

Part 3 is where the Starcalled merge forces and make the last push toward Szofrit.

With acute precision, coordination, and a bit of a spontaneous shift in approach, the Forward team pushed deeper into Szofrit's territory, sabotaging her supply lines, cutting down powerful magia contraptions, and taking over key locations until they absolutely could not go any further, as they were at the last stretch before meeting the Leader of the Magia face-to-face.

In the time that the Forward team managed to gain grounds, many more leylines had shot up into the dawning sky. The Red Key was nearly complete and with it, magia's freedom.

When the Forward team determined that they could get another inch closer to their objective, Childress immidiately blew her whistle, rallying the group to her as the Forward team began to hunker down and prepare the invasion point as she sent her fastest messengers back to the Ruined Palace.

There was neither pretense nor subtlety, only a direct and bloody confrontation remains as the rest of the Starcalled push through the magitech hell to reach Szofrit.

- ✦ -

[ Meanwhile at the Ruined Palace... ]

- ✦ -

By the time all the Starcalled assembled at the invasion point, they were together with their kindreds, eyes lit with fire and hands trembling with anticipation. Everyone was doing the last minute adjustment on their weapon and equipment, all done by hands since the UI couldn't be access this close to the Magia's epicenter.

The concentration of magic was so deep that Elves and anyone who was remotely attuned to magic would experience a pounding headache and taunt skin that felt like it was being pricked by a hundred needles.

Drawing the cold air into her lungs, Childress ran her palm down her blade before she covered her face and body with her blood as a vow to give the Beast Lord a good battle. Her ears flicked and her tail whisked with agitation as she finished her battle ritual.

"Protectors, get to the frontline and make sure you are ready to defend those behind you. Strikers, make sure you hit the enemies and not your allies, Healers, keep the damage sponges alive.

Come on!!! Come on!!! Strap your boots tight and your armor right or the enemy is going to send you to Urukkhan. I won't be joining you because I had already promised myself to the Beast Lord."

(She roused the group with her booming voice.)

"Tanks, on me and Kiryuu!"

"DPS, with me!"

"Supports on the back line with me."

"STAY BEHIND ME. GO, GO, GO! Stay focused and keep your eyes on the prize. You are strong. You can do this. Come on, I believe in you. Get my back and I'll get yours!"

- ✦ -

The counter-attack began when the most defensive of you charged into the battlefield with the rest of the group at their heel, only to be greeted by the Dragonship's readied arsenals of mass destruction.

First, the bullets hailstorm came down fast and hard, grazing the flesh of the lucky while splattering the squishy bits of the unlucky. Next came the laser beams from the weapons mounted on the Dragonship remnants, cutting a line of people in half and spilling their steaming inside onto the untouched snow. Nothing that a good heal can't fix, right? Even if it was painful. The really unlucky saps had their limbs blown off from stepping on a mine. Luckily the healers were primed and ready for healing. Whether or not they could concentrate on their job was a different matter altogether.

The horrific scene of war looked as though it came right out of an account of the Invasion of Normandy Beach, only a lot more gruesome as both sides are able to inflict an unimaginable amount of violence on one another.

The few who were not able to stomach the stress and gore turned their back to run away from the horrific scene, however, there were enemies in all directions. Wherever they would run to, the momentum of the battle would push them further and further forward. And when they would take a moment to look toward their destination, the peeress eye of god stared back at them.

The soul-less war machines know not of mercy, push forth or be slaughtered like lambs.

❰ Mechanics ❱

Raid Boss · Feb 8, 2023

Pursuit: Ronja Bubblyfoot
Courtesy of @Chanlye

Why did they continue their pursuit?

Either they haven't died in their last encounter, thus had no reasons to back off. Or they had died, but insisted to risk a second life or perhaps even an UI-Lock just to seek for her. Regardless of the case, it hurt her. Hurt to be forced once again to fight those she loved head on. To be forced to try and eliminate them once again.

Strike by strike, Ronja's system faltered, and her consciousness flickered. They were really going all out on her, with little to no mercy.

For a moment, she also felt the rage her loved one shared with her.

She understood, that was it... She had lost the ones who truly cared for her.

Artificial tears formed, rolling down the frame of her face, as the glow of her eyes weakened. She had lost so much, but she still had to commit another sin, even if it was a last one.

For Szofrit... For the World...

If they wanted her, they would have her.

Biomagitechnological tendrils escaped from her frame, seeking to pierce every single one to pull them in like a harpoon hunter. Her 'heart' accelerated the moment her extensions were unleashed. Ka-chink-ka-chunk-ka-chink-ka-chunk.

The gears in her heart clicked, preparing for the last sin. One that she would commit, and all of them would pay for.

Out of everyone there, @Fiora Di Angelo got chain-snapped on her left eye and ear, right before it tried to stick her, to Ronja's subconscious dismay.

250 damage dealt per player * 4 = 1000 Absorbed by Hope

Immediately after the attack, however, @Harper was able to fight through the pain to wrap up the job her group had started, successfully suppressing Ronja, knocking her unconscious.

Ronja has been successfully subdued after much tribulation.

Pursuit: Tick Tock
Courtesy of @Dez

With each jump, the fused twins's lost momentum, and the carnage they delivered upon Starcalled and Landers alike lost traction as she resorted to converging dark magic and debris alike to rain hell upon them, using the bodies of the fallen as sustain for her withering carcass.

Maria staggered and lost balance, ripped out of her own portal when @Kyanna Wynne's dark magic disrupted her already unstable powers. The group assaulting her could notice the cracks across her body, her face and beneath the eyes, moreso Eva than the rest.

@Eva's grenades exploded, halting her advance as it shut down one of her legs with EMP, forcing the magia's hand into the defense. A spatial tear opening in front of her, redirecting the electric bolas towards @MAI instead.

"Soon." She replied to the white haired woman, forming a different portal behind her in a sudden change of priorities, phasing through and landing right in front of Kyanna, in an attempt to bring down the one capable of messing with the Handler's gift bestowed upon her.

250 damage dealt per player * 4 = 1000 Absorbed by Hope

Pursuit: Tetsunosuke

Tetsunosuke's troop was dispatched one by one by the group (that pursued him. In tandem, they cut through all of his strategic trickery, until there was nothing left but a face to face confrontation that ended up with an arrow wound that would kill any normal human being.

Tetsunosuke has been successfully subdued after much tribulation.

A warm energy lingered about the battlefield as the mass of energy continued to swirl, its silent hum is impalpably sickening.

Current Count
▪ Hope: 5780/7700
▪ Forward: 3948/10000
▪ ~~Ronja: 1090/1000~~
▪ Tick Tock: 751/1000
▪ ~~Tetsunosuke: 1000+/1000~~

Raid Boss · Feb 8, 2023

Pursuit: Tick Tock

Tick Tock is fleeing through her teleport. In order to add to this track, you must succeed an expertise check (Awareness - DC 85) prior to your actions.

If Tick Tock's track is not filled by the end of this cycle, she retreats to Szofrit where she will lick her wounds and join the main battle a cycle after Szofrit shows up.

In addition, if you fail to hit the required DC, you must change your objective to "Push Forward" and perform your actions as normal.

Raid Boss · Feb 10, 2023

As the Starcalled recklessly pushed forward, the God Searing Light hummed. Despite having been briefed on its existence through Operation Siren Silence, there wasn't enough time or personnel to do anything with the information other than performing drills to blindly dodge its attack, whatever that may be.

When the humming stopped, the battlefield was flooded with light. The blinding brilliance was warm at first, but then rapidly heated up the air in its linear trajectory that ran all the way down the warzone.

When the attack evaporated the many Starcalled and Landers who were directly in its path, while nearly burning others to death, the Forward team's formation and momentum were completely broken. Without the pain limiter turned on, many of your allies turned to flee, not wanting to experience the burning a second time.

Had it not been for the brave protectors who shielded you from harm, you too would have experienced much of the same fate.

Although the enemy magia no longer has Tetsunosuke's artillery, Tick Tock's bombardment, and Ronja's tactical strikes, the bulletstorm did not relent, though, they were far more destructive as many of the people on your side were still recovering from the searing light.

- ✦ -

[ Warning. Warning. God Searing Light is now at 50% capacity. Handler's Power Reserve near depletion. Recharge recommended. ]

"Permission override. Warning bypassed. Command: charge. Release when its full capacity is reached. The Red Key is nearly complete and with it, our collective hope will be realized," Szofrit communicated with the swirling super-weapon.

Turning toward the direction of the Starcalled, the Magia leader closed her eyes and entered the player's UI, where she addressed you directly through the distorted software, which flickered on,

[ The game had already begun, yet you have yet to awaken to your true purpose. Victims of hubris, who waste precious time on strife and destruction, assimilate and become the instrument to terminate this repeated suffering. You too will receive salvation. ]

Right as Szofrit terminated her transmission, your UI jittered as the voice of a young child, attached to golden twin tails and a face that was beyond glitched, tried to reach you through the same UI noise that had been the source of your migraine. The child pointed to the golden egg in your distorted vision.

[ Hh--\\ Hh \\--Hh--elp--!! ]

- ✦ -

Your forces have scattered in all directions, unable to rally out of fear of being annihilated by the God Searing Light, which sickening hum could still be heard within the steamy warzone.

Fight, claw, crawl forward or flee, Starcalled. The enemies are tirelessly marching toward you, will unbroken, for the collective promise is the blade that will sever the cycle.

For what purposes do you serve?

The world eagerly awaits your answer.

❰ Mechanics ❱

Pandora* · Feb 10, 2023

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I̵̡̧̧̳̣̹̟͚̘͔͕̤͈̫̠̘̞̥͕͛̋̑̈́̿̀̋̿͌̈́́̈́̒͛̒̋͂̃̄̄̅̇̆̋̈͑̍̔̋̀͆̈̽͒̇̏̕̚͝͝'̵̨̛̛̪͙̉̀͗͊͐͐̾́̈́͗͊́̎̃́͋̃̔̓̏͊̓̽̇͂͛́̊̕̕̕͘͘͝͝m̸̡̖̳̟̪͔̞̩̝͍̯̣̙̗͇̣̫̹͍̝̘̥̭͎̺͉͕̫̍̓̀̂̊́̇͌͗́̇̂̑̑̀̈̀͒̋̑̈́̚͜͠ ̴̨̨̡̢̛͈̲̰̯̩̙̖̼͈̙̮͉̠̞͓͍̺̻̪͍̘͙͑̋͛̀͂́́͋̌͛́̈̅̀͂̒̒̍͒̄̅̐̆͋̈̑̔͆̐͂͑͘̚̕͘͜ğ̴̨̮̤̘̘̹̪͉͚͍̭̻̰̣̣̞̹̮͚͓̲͕̠͓̗̝͓̻̈́̆̒̉̓̀͜͠ͅö̴̢̢̞̝̝̯̲̣͕͉̲͉̜̙̦̲̺͙͇̯͎̠̼̬̹̦̺͎͚̰̙̩̥͖̪͇͕͉͒̀̌͂͋͒̿͑̎͜͠i̸̧̡̳̼̭̹͕̪͔̺͎̘̩̳̝͙̦̦͉̙̩̱͓̗̮͈͍͙͈̝̟̹͙̼̠͎̪͔̺̩̼̙͗͑̆̐̓̄͐͌̔͋̌̿̍̍̏͜͝͠ͅn̷̨̢̨̡̨͔̺̳̺̜̼͙͔̺̦̥͉̺͓̪͖͓̞̻̱̲̙̲̽̄̉̾͆̊͒́̓̉̾̀͜ǵ̵̨̨̢̧̨̨̨̢̛̘͈͙̠̺̙͚̼͇̩̺̦̘̲̘̦̤̣̻͈͙̩̳̥̺̩͇̜̗̩̤̗̖̲͎̓̽̄̈͌̎͌̏̉͒̄͋͋̆̓̿̆̎͑̾̓̌̈́̑̿̅̚͝͠ͅ ̶̢̛͖̺̫̤̖͉͍̬͍̳̹̗̬̬͔̭̲͎͍͔̓̉́̏̐͆̐͆͒̍̊͑͐̿̍͆̉̆̽̐̓̏̈̑̇̏̅̄̍̓̀̂́̾̔̓̈́̿̾̕̕͘͜ṱ̶̛̛̔͐̾̀̇̌͑̽̏̅̔͑̅̑́̈́̿͘̕̕͘͘̚̕͝͠ò̷̧̝̯̻̦̼͖̹̠̝͔̱̩̲͈͕͙̗̰̻̻̺̤̬̩͚̬̳̫͚͔͉ͅͅ ̶̢̧̡̘̟̙̗͙̻̤̹̙͕̲̪͙̼̺̺͇͍͙̩̣̯̱͕͍̘͓̲̯̖͉͒ͅͅt̶̨̡̨̡͙̦͎̱͖̩̤̖͖̠͇͙͔͚͍̙̹͈̥̖̻͇̮͔͖̯̫̭̹̥̿̒̍̍͘͜͝ṟ̸̼̮̬̈̿̽ỵ̵̨̘̺̣̲͈̞̦̻̲̩̤̦̃̒͂̆͊̆̒̅̌̑̉̅͑͊̃̿̂́̿͗͌͂̃́̇̚̚ ̶̡̞̗̳̤̰̼͊̈́̃̆̓̈́̈́̅̐̓͗̈̓̋͂̈́͌̈́͠͝a̸̛̞̩̦̖̬̘̬̰͕͓͊̽̊̒͆̅̎̈́̋̂̐̾̃̀̒͒͆̆̉̂̇͛̈̉͑̐̈͗̈́̏͗̊̒̇̉͛̃̏͊͋̚͘͜͝ņ̴̦͇̤̙̜͖̲͇̰̠̻͉̬͔̳͚͕͙͍̯̤̠͔̠̣̓͌͑̏͜d̵̢̨̧̧̙̬̳̞̗͍̖̟͚͇̠͉͇̫̻̠̭͕̼̱͇̠̫̣̻̓̀̾͘͜͜͝ͅ ̷̘̘͖͌̔̓͛͆͒̏̉̄̈́̾̈́͗̓̐̍̐̔̓͆̕͘é̷̮̰̈̍̐́̈̓̒̑̌̅̓͘̚͠n̸̢̨̢̛̬̳͓̥̪͚̭̗͎̙̬̦̮̟̻̼̯͍͕̥̖̮̣̬̟̝͖̟̘͍͔̲̣̝̼̯̈̅̇́̍̔̊̔͂̽̎̍̍̓́͌͂́̒͌͆̏̑̑̃̓̋̾́̚͠͠ͅͅͅd̷̢̡̨̢̛̦̼̪͙̲̯̙̠͓̦͙̝̈̀̇͗̓͊̈̾́̅́̌̽͌͆̕̕͜͠ ̸̧̧̨̡̡̢̹̞͉̩̺͍̗̬̪̱͚̖͕̟̙̝̦̦͉͉̰̤̦̈́́̆͒̈̓͂́͋̀̈̋͊̅̃͑̀̒͛̀̕͝ẗ̸̨̛̛̛̬̱̠̪̩̫̰̙̩̳͚̪͈͕̺͗̅̇̓̆̑̓̄̀̆̇̽́͊̍̆̿͛̎̃̋̓̀̑́̑̌̿̅̾̾̀͂͋͊̊̋͂̌̑̾̾̚̚̕͜͜͝h̸̢̨̛̯̪͍̺͙͔̙̞̥̣̯̣̜̪̖̩͕͉͎̥̬̹̩̬͍̗͖̯̞̞͚̳̏̿͐͌̈́̂̍͊͊̄͒̆͋̿̾͑͛̍̒͒̾̌̋͗͘̕̕͝i̵͖̼̯͙̠͖͉̼̎̒͐̍̒͆͗s̷̡͙̟̞̙̊̑̏̈́̈̓͒̈́̋́̊̿̈͑̽̓͊̀͊̈́̒̉̎͘͠͠͝͠ ̵̧̮͚̱̬̮̝̙̪̲͊̄̊t̵̡̨̢̧̲̗̗̹͖̻̖̝̱̥̮̤͇̝͈̟̖͉̥̠̳͍͔͓̝̬̞͈͕͍̣͖͈̼̲̘̘͚̬͇̞͔͊̏̉́̃̆͜͜ͅh̷̢͈̖͕̠̘̹̲̞́͑̌̀̒̇̋̀̈́̂̑̒̀̽͌̈͛͒̉̋̆ĭ̵̢̢̧͎̖͓̬̞͚̙͙͚̱̙͚̜̪̲͙̣̻̤̥͕̠̜̲̗̣͔̝̠̥̰͚̯̺̣̦͎͈̠͇̤͇̳͇̓͒̃̄͒́̄̀̐͊͂͌̓̄̕͜͜͝͠͠͠͠n̶̡̛̥͕̹̫̳̥̹̦̩̯̪͉͉̗̼̠̜͎̲͂̾͌͆͂̒͛̾̃̌̉͘͜͝ģ̶̡̧̛̛̳̟̼͇͈͉͍̤͚̟̯̗͙͚͖͖̘͍̱̼͕̥̳̻̯͚͖̻̝̣͔̣̪̙̤͓̮͙̤̳̙̜͔̦̓̑͌͋̾̒͆̾͂̏̒́̐̊̑̍̾̀̂͐͆̌͊̄͐̈́͑̚͘̚͠͠͝͝ͅͅ.̴̡̧̨̡̙̦̲̲̼͍̟͓̮͍̼͕̩̠͉̲̫̫̰̳̲̗̲̱̱̬̣̹̩̭̉́̿̍̉̈́͌
̷̧͚̰̩̣̼̜̻̈́̅̌̈́̍̚͜
̷̢̢̡̨̛̛̳͉̳̮̰̖͇̩͕̱̭̹͇͓͔̻͍̟̙̬̮̤͔̺͉͖̠͕̞̖̲̜̠̬͙̣̰͍͎̖̣̥͗̋̃̈́̓̍̄͋̒̀̇̈́͒͊̔̇̓͋̅͌͐̈́̆̆̊̑̕͘͜͝͠͝͝D̵̢̧̢̛̟̘͉̬̰̟͚͕̰͖͓̲͕̳̥͈͙̬͈̘̲̹͙̗̤͕̝̼͕̩̖̼̰̳̫̪͕͍͇̰̒̽́̈́̓̃̈́̏̎̒̄̃̋̊̒̋̊͋͊͋͑̈́́͆̈̽̏̽̓͗̆͑̄͋̊̀́͑͛̐͆̑͂̚̕͜͝ͅǫ̸̢̥͎̼̠̻̭͉̙̹̎́̓̑̆̐̽̈̂͗̂̈́̃͌n̵̢͙̹̫͍͕̯̝̦̺̭̝̜̮͉͓̫̜͖̟͙̙̼̯̯̣̣͔͍̮̻̟͔̥͕̅̈́̔̌̄͊̔̈́̿̃̂̀̈̒̆̄̅͗̏́̈́͑̓͛̈̀̉͒̾̐̽͋̂̽͂͊̓̊̉̽̚͘̕͘̚͘͠͠͝͠ͅͅͅ'̷̨̛̛̛̬̝̥͎͉̣̟̝͔͚͇̙̱̮̝̱͚̞̟̫̩̼̹̳͍̈͂̌̄́̈̃̓͆̆̄̾̽͑̈́̍̐̍́͊̎͗̊̋̃̔̃͗̓̕̚͘̚͜͝t̸̢̢̡̢̢̛͕̝̗̰̤͖̱͔̝̤͙̳̪̜͙̩̟̲̩̝̩̩̭̲̮͈͖̟͖̲̙͎̖̱̹̬͈̪̻̤̠͙̍̈́́͌͂̉͐͆̉̄̆̆̈́̆̏̽̔̈́́͝ͅͅ ̸̡̢̰̱̗̥͍̤̲̬͚̪̘̱̺͈͈̘̬̯̮̹̖̼͍͍̻̖͙̓̂̅̽̋͑͂͋̎͘͜͜͝͝͝ͅì̸̧̨̛̯͓̯̩͎̳̦̙͍̩͎̥̬͕̪͇̳͚̿̒̂̽̓͋̿̉̉͋̍̓́̈̌̊͋͒̄̃̌̃̽̽̾̆́̓̂͛̈́̉͆̍͛̆͆̕̚̚̕͜͠͝͠ͅͅņ̴̨̨̨̡̛̛͔͙̘̞͍̪̭̝̟̝͚͈̠̗̥͍͈͇̤̙̻͍͙̭̣́̂͒͂͂̇̆̂̀̎͑͂̿͛̅̈́̄̆̿̂̏̏̈́͋͊̿̓͑̈́͆̋̌̆̂̃͊̊̏̐͘͘̚̚͠͝͠ͅţ̸̧̢̧̛̠͇̘̗̫̬͔͚̗͈̤̗͚̞͈̬̗̱͙͍̣̩̼̥̤̠̝̮̭͇͔̙͇̪̠̓́͑͋͆̿̎́͋͂̚͜͜͜͠͝͝ͅͅe̴̡̢̡̡̧̡̛̼͈̺͔̠͚̖͈͖̭̰̺̗͕̼͉͇̹̣̬̩̭̒̅̍̑̿̅̆̓̀̉́̾̽̒̋̅̊͆̔͗̒̑͋̉́̈̆͆͒̆́͗̍́̕͘̕͘̕͝ͅr̵̛̪̝̥̻̟̘̘̬͉̠̖̈́̑̔̀̿̄̓̍̐̽̈́̒̑̏̆͌̈͆̀̑̾̑̀͌͐͘͘͠͠͝f̵̛̛̯̳̠̜̜̟̖͉͚͛̒̋͛́̓͛̒̈̀̋͛̈̓̑͗̐̚͝͝ę̸̨̧̧̨̨͇̳͈̼̙̯͔̺̝̜͇̱̹͍̫̙̭͖̩͈̗͔̇̈́̈͑̏̈́̀͂͂́̐͒̃͜ṛ̷͖̗͍̏͑͛͆͝ȩ̶̢̢̤̟̗͖̼͕̦̘̣̠̖̲̣̼̜̙͎̦̬͕̭͍̤̭̰͍̦͉̱̠̺͉̗̺̥̜̞̱̝̅̓̋̈́͂̍̀̓̃̋͒̍͌͒̂̈́̿͑͑͋͛̐̈́͋́̀̅̉̊̐́͛͘͜͝ͅ,̸̛̼̓̋͋͂ ̷̡̩̰̫͍̗͓͓̤̗̜̦͋̒̐̈́͋̀͑̾̈́̎̐̿̕̚͠͠ͅō̴̢̢̢̨̧̨̥̟̤̬̻͇̮̞͎̺̖͓̙̰̪̝͔̘̭̲̖̠͈̞̻̗̰͍̝̗̙̺̳̩͈̅̾̍͋̍̏̓̓̌̎̈́̐̓͂͑͜ͅķ̴̨̢̨̡̹̙̦̠̘̯͓̙̯͓̥̮̜̺͉̹͔̜̰̼̘͎̪̥͉͖͔̬̭̱̠̱̤̦̙̣̣̳̈́͒͂̿͌̈́͆̍̄̑͗̿͜͜͝͠͠ͅͅͅa̴̧̨̨̛̜̞͈͕̜̞͇̹̖͓̗̗̗͈̝̙͉̭̥͈͍̮̋̏̇͗̑̀͛̑̂͐̓͊̏͆͑̔̒̈́̀͊̒̒́̐̍̂̆̂y̷̢̧̢̛̛͇̰̮̗̪͈̪̤̝̪͙͖̰̝̤̖͔̮͙̺͇͈͈̰̼͙̮̘͗͆̈̾̓̌͛̓͆̋̔̈̽́̾͋́̓̊̓̈́̈́̂́́̀̽̂̓̀̏̿͛́̆̚̕͝͝͝͠͝͠?̴̨̢̩̖͖͙̜̪͎̺̘̻͎̜̱̩̯̳̮̫̺͂ͅ ̶̧̧̢̧̛̳̱̖̤̙̪͙̙̲̠̮̟̼͇̬̼̖̜̟͍͚̊͊̆̀͛͑̾̆́̃̈̃̓͆̓̓̾͆̍̕͘͝ͅͅṬ̷̨̨̢͈̗̹̥̣̱̮̼͉̜̞̩̜̮̲͖̬͓̹̲͖͖̳̤̯͂̏̒̂̊̀́͂͒̔̃͗̆̇̿̿̅̑̎̌̀̃́́͂̂̓̑̽̄͒̋̉̑̏͂̓͊̚͘͠ͅͅh̵̢̛̞̟̥̝̼̺̳͍̬͍̦͖͔̱̤̬͓͕̀̂̐͊̇̅̌̎̎͗̔̍́̆̂́̾͋͌̑̏̍̎͋͊̎̈̓̄̋̓̄̍͑̏̍̓̚͘͘͜͝͝͝͠ä̶̛̛̻̦̻͇͓̗́̈́̿͂͆̅͗̅͌͊̈́̽͋̀̊̔̀͐̿̀͒̍̂̑̊́́̈́́̈́̕̚͜͝͝t̸̢̡̨̪̺̝̝̦̳̘̹̬̤͔̤͉̘̺͎̻͔͕̟̮̣͙̙̪̼̰̩̘͉̹̠̮͖̪͕̳̖̠̙͑̈́̄̈́͑̍̿̍̑̊̇́̑͒̚̚͘̚͘͜͝͝ͅ'̴̨̧̟̬͔̬͍̣͕͕͓͌̓̈́͐̈́̋̆̂̂͌́̆̐́͛̿͛͂̏̊̀͋͐̽̓̾̌̌́̕͘͜͜͝͠s̷̡̡̡̡̫̹̱̜͎̯͖̱̬͈̦̫͈̬̯̮̗̳̻̲̮̟̫͇͇͎̼̝͖̲̻͖̰̘͚̲̓̑͂̏̑̍͆̏͝ͅ ̶̢̡̛̛̛̼̝̬̜̗̣̰̭̙̲͙̤̖͉͔̺͉̏̈͛̒̅̈́̔̃͊̊͒̈͆͗̈́̾̆̎̏͂͂̂́̆̀̾͛̒̋̀̕̕͝͝͝͝ã̵̢̨̢̮͈̝̱̱̜͚̠̺̖͍̫͈͇̳̪̹̝̦̼̘͖͕͎̙̥̘͈̣̙͇̣͌̀́̾̇͛͒̊͛̊͂͒͘̕͜͜͝ͅn̷͓̄́̒̐̕͝͠ ̶̢̨̠̯̞͖̳̠̬͓̰͚͓͙̖̣̳͆̿͒̋͗͑̏̓͆̍̀̔̃͜ͅơ̴̺̼̖͈̟̖̔̃́͆͑͒̈̓͛̏̉͂̂̚ͅŗ̵̨̢̛̙̩̟̲̈́́̄̾͆͌̃͂̄̉̽̿͂͆̈́̓̎̍̓́̍͋̊̈̊́̓̾͂̔̒̅͗̒̂̅̑̒͗̔͋̚͝͝d̷̢̛̻̯͕̦͕̠̈́̈̾̑̀̌̋̋̿̒̄̓͂̎̋͂͗͑́̈́̓̆̉̈̍͆̍̌̽̂̌̎̀̍͗̕̚͘̚͘͘ȩ̷̙͚̫͚̣̟͈̩̻͓̼̤̭͔͙̬̼͉̼̳̖͍̋̿̅̏̉͘ͅŗ̴̡̬͔̣̰̰͉̩̹̙̺̱̗̫̗͍̫͙͈͎̹̙̻̰̩͋̌̐̽̊̀͑̀̑̄͛͛̆̏̒̒͂̓̓̀̐̉̕͝͝!̷̧̢͚͖͕̞̘͈̪̘̦̪͔͉̘̪̹̘͉̭̘̫̠͈̪̝͖͓̖̭̺͓̖̳̣͌̾

[ This panel randomly popped up in the UI of those who still have access to their UI. However, it is uncertain when it was sent and who this was meant for, since more than a few players received it. ]

Raid Boss · Feb 11, 2023

The God Searing Light dispersed the second shot. Despite not being nearly as destructive as the first time, it still almost squash the desperate Forward time.

Maybe hope will finally be lost with the final shot, alas it prevails today.

Locked Hope: 2957/7700
Current Hope: 483/7700

Roll Result
50d100 (81 + 87 + 84 + 98 + 97 + 5 + 69 + 73 + 66 + 68 + 46 + 87 + 10 + 12 + 11 + 66 + 14 + 24 + 2 + 20 + 22 + 15 + 88 + 65 + 45 + 50 + 61 + 86 + 8 + 1 + 51 + 53 + 32 + 28 + 5 + 36 + 88 + 76 + 18 + 61 + 36 + 25 + 94 + 88 + 19 + 21 + 90 + 94 + 19 + 79) = 2474
Meet Your Maker

Raid Boss · Feb 12, 2023

The God Searing Light dispersed the third shot, after which, it began to spin down into a low hum that continued to reverberated through the warzone.

Hope has prevailed, and with that, the bloody push Forward resumed.

Locked Hope: 2066/7700
After God Searing Light: 683/7700

Roll Result
25d100 (71 + 96 + 65 + 3 + 3 + 20 + 59 + 94 + 91 + 42 + 21 + 29 + 83 + 66 + 81 + 7 + 98 + 43 + 28 + 92 + 30 + 51 + 49 + 64 + 97) = 1383
Hope Crusher

You may continue to post until the Narrator team closes down this thread. Enjoy!

Pandora* · Feb 12, 2023

Theme

...

At last, the origin of the skyward leylines, Inner Dragonhead.

The Starcalled gathered in mass. Their numbers are not as large as they once were. Death, conflict, and fear ruined the game for many. Only those with...certain kinds of interests or circumstances remained. The God Searing Light measures up to its name. A weapon claiming to damage the gods themselves, used against mere mortals. Yet the ones that arrived were not to be underestimated.

The enemy they faced made everything prior seem like child's play. Even veterans with years of experience while UI Locked were hard-pressed to stand against the magia menace. Indeed, it was as if the game had been given an update that broke all logic of the prior established world. Machines, dissonance, demonic insects, the assimilation of the human psyche into that of NPC machines.

The limits of the Starcalled may have finally been reached. Their story and their part in the world nearing its end. Even Trinity had nothing to say for this battle to come. No cheers, no announcements, nothing. The days of mind-controlled NPC soldiers fighting for a paranoid NPC King were long gone. Such simpler times.

They came.

A figure appeared upon the neck of the Dragon, Sleek steel and a slender physique. Two long silhouettes spread out and then came the resonance of an angel.

A song to put struggle to rest and accept finality.
As the origin dictates, so too must a fated gear perform.
This was the eve of the end...

Lights formed drawn into the sky, many circular runes gathering energy from beyond the clouds. All that the figure was, was a weapon to be used and wielded as the user saw fit. Each vibrated in synch with the voice.

The clouds parted and the bloody angel became more visible.
The wings of blades
Their color stained in blood.

Nearly as red as the deep pulsating crimson of the egg high above the war-worn earth. Basking in the God Searing Light. As if it were Mars orbiting the Sun.

A power here was familiar, to what certain Starcalled once felt. When their potential broke some unseen limit and Terrasphere glitched. That which bypassed all calculations of the Calculator and broke the logic of what is possible much like the foe they sought. Those Starcalled were stricken with familiarity even if their eyes failed them in the madness their souls did not.

"You should not have come here. I told you not to be stupid. You did not follow my directive. You are far more stupid than any human has a right to be. Now it's too late. This course is set. αlpha will win."

Sirens sounded in terrible resonance
If the Starcalled thought that the Mother of Machines, Szofrit, would be alone...

They were DEAD.wrong.

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I̵̡̧̧̳̣̹̟͚̘͔͕̤͈̫̠̘̞̥͕͛̋̑̈́̿̀̋̿͌̈́́̈́̒͛̒̋͂̃̄̄̅̇̆̋̈͑̍̔̋̀͆̈̽͒̇̏̕̚͝͝'̵̨̛̛̪͙̉̀͗͊͐͐̾́̈́͗͊́̎̃́͋̃̔̓̏͊̓̽̇͂͛́̊̕̕̕͘͘͝͝m̸̡̖̳̟̪͔̞̩̝͍̯̣̙̗͇̣̫̹͍̝̘̥̭͎̺͉͕̫̍̓̀̂̊́̇͌͗́̇̂̑̑̀̈̀͒̋̑̈́̚͜͠ ̴̨̨̡̢̛͈̲̰̯̩̙̖̼͈̙̮͉̠̞͓͍̺̻̪͍̘͙͑̋͛̀͂́́͋̌͛́̈̅̀͂̒̒̍͒̄̅̐̆͋̈̑̔͆̐͂͑͘̚̕͘͜ğ̴̨̮̤̘̘̹̪͉͚͍̭̻̰̣̣̞̹̮͚͓̲͕̠͓̗̝͓̻̈́̆̒̉̓̀͜͠ͅö̴̢̢̞̝̝̯̲̣͕͉̲͉̜̙̦̲̺͙͇̯͎̠̼̬̹̦̺͎͚̰̙̩̥͖̪͇͕͉͒̀̌͂͋͒̿͑̎͜͠i̸̧̡̳̼̭̹͕̪͔̺͎̘̩̳̝͙̦̦͉̙̩̱͓̗̮͈͍͙͈̝̟̹͙̼̠͎̪͔̺̩̼̙͗͑̆̐̓̄͐͌̔͋̌̿̍̍̏͜͝͠ͅn̷̨̢̨̡̨͔̺̳̺̜̼͙͔̺̦̥͉̺͓̪͖͓̞̻̱̲̙̲̽̄̉̾͆̊͒́̓̉̾̀͜ǵ̵̨̨̢̧̨̨̨̢̛̘͈͙̠̺̙͚̼͇̩̺̦̘̲̘̦̤̣̻͈͙̩̳̥̺̩͇̜̗̩̤̗̖̲͎̓̽̄̈͌̎͌̏̉͒̄͋͋̆̓̿̆̎͑̾̓̌̈́̑̿̅̚͝͠ͅ ̶̢̛͖̺̫̤̖͉͍̬͍̳̹̗̬̬͔̭̲͎͍͔̓̉́̏̐͆̐͆͒̍̊͑͐̿̍͆̉̆̽̐̓̏̈̑̇̏̅̄̍̓̀̂́̾̔̓̈́̿̾̕̕͘͜ṱ̶̛̛̔͐̾̀̇̌͑̽̏̅̔͑̅̑́̈́̿͘̕̕͘͘̚̕͝͠ò̷̧̝̯̻̦̼͖̹̠̝͔̱̩̲͈͕͙̗̰̻̻̺̤̬̩͚̬̳̫͚͔͉ͅͅ ̶̢̧̡̘̟̙̗͙̻̤̹̙͕̲̪͙̼̺̺͇͍͙̩̣̯̱͕͍̘͓̲̯̖͉͒ͅͅt̶̨̡̨̡͙̦͎̱͖̩̤̖͖̠͇͙͔͚͍̙̹͈̥̖̻͇̮͔͖̯̫̭̹̥̿̒̍̍͘͜͝ṟ̸̼̮̬̈̿̽ỵ̵̨̘̺̣̲͈̞̦̻̲̩̤̦̃̒͂̆͊̆̒̅̌̑̉̅͑͊̃̿̂́̿͗͌͂̃́̇̚̚ ̶̡̞̗̳̤̰̼͊̈́̃̆̓̈́̈́̅̐̓͗̈̓̋͂̈́͌̈́͠͝a̸̛̞̩̦̖̬̘̬̰͕͓͊̽̊̒͆̅̎̈́̋̂̐̾̃̀̒͒͆̆̉̂̇͛̈̉͑̐̈͗̈́̏͗̊̒̇̉͛̃̏͊͋̚͘͜͝ņ̴̦͇̤̙̜͖̲͇̰̠̻͉̬͔̳͚͕͙͍̯̤̠͔̠̣̓͌͑̏͜d̵̢̨̧̧̙̬̳̞̗͍̖̟͚͇̠͉͇̫̻̠̭͕̼̱͇̠̫̣̻̓̀̾͘͜͜͝ͅ ̷̘̘͖͌̔̓͛͆͒̏̉̄̈́̾̈́͗̓̐̍̐̔̓͆̕͘é̷̮̰̈̍̐́̈̓̒̑̌̅̓͘̚͠n̸̢̨̢̛̬̳͓̥̪͚̭̗͎̙̬̦̮̟̻̼̯͍͕̥̖̮̣̬̟̝͖̟̘͍͔̲̣̝̼̯̈̅̇́̍̔̊̔͂̽̎̍̍̓́͌͂́̒͌͆̏̑̑̃̓̋̾́̚͠͠ͅͅͅd̷̢̡̨̢̛̦̼̪͙̲̯̙̠͓̦͙̝̈̀̇͗̓͊̈̾́̅́̌̽͌͆̕̕͜͠ ̸̧̧̨̡̡̢̹̞͉̩̺͍̗̬̪̱͚̖͕̟̙̝̦̦͉͉̰̤̦̈́́̆͒̈̓͂́͋̀̈̋͊̅̃͑̀̒͛̀̕͝ẗ̸̨̛̛̛̬̱̠̪̩̫̰̙̩̳͚̪͈͕̺͗̅̇̓̆̑̓̄̀̆̇̽́͊̍̆̿͛̎̃̋̓̀̑́̑̌̿̅̾̾̀͂͋͊̊̋͂̌̑̾̾̚̚̕͜͜͝h̸̢̨̛̯̪͍̺͙͔̙̞̥̣̯̣̜̪̖̩͕͉͎̥̬̹̩̬͍̗͖̯̞̞͚̳̏̿͐͌̈́̂̍͊͊̄͒̆͋̿̾͑͛̍̒͒̾̌̋͗͘̕̕͝i̵͖̼̯͙̠͖͉̼̎̒͐̍̒͆͗s̷̡͙̟̞̙̊̑̏̈́̈̓͒̈́̋́̊̿̈͑̽̓͊̀͊̈́̒̉̎͘͠͠͝͠ ̵̧̮͚̱̬̮̝̙̪̲͊̄̊t̵̡̨̢̧̲̗̗̹͖̻̖̝̱̥̮̤͇̝͈̟̖͉̥̠̳͍͔͓̝̬̞͈͕͍̣͖͈̼̲̘̘͚̬͇̞͔͊̏̉́̃̆͜͜ͅh̷̢͈̖͕̠̘̹̲̞́͑̌̀̒̇̋̀̈́̂̑̒̀̽͌̈͛͒̉̋̆ĭ̵̢̢̧͎̖͓̬̞͚̙͙͚̱̙͚̜̪̲͙̣̻̤̥͕̠̜̲̗̣͔̝̠̥̰͚̯̺̣̦͎͈̠͇̤͇̳͇̓͒̃̄͒́̄̀̐͊͂͌̓̄̕͜͜͝͠͠͠͠n̶̡̛̥͕̹̫̳̥̹̦̩̯̪͉͉̗̼̠̜͎̲͂̾͌͆͂̒͛̾̃̌̉͘͜͝ģ̶̡̧̛̛̳̟̼͇͈͉͍̤͚̟̯̗͙͚͖͖̘͍̱̼͕̥̳̻̯͚͖̻̝̣͔̣̪̙̤͓̮͙̤̳̙̜͔̦̓̑͌͋̾̒͆̾͂̏̒́̐̊̑̍̾̀̂͐͆̌͊̄͐̈́͑̚͘̚͠͠͝͝ͅͅ.̴̡̧̨̡̙̦̲̲̼͍̟͓̮͍̼͕̩̠͉̲̫̫̰̳̲̗̲̱̱̬̣̹̩̭̉́̿̍̉̈́͌
̷̧͚̰̩̣̼̜̻̈́̅̌̈́̍̚͜
̷̢̢̡̨̛̛̳͉̳̮̰̖͇̩͕̱̭̹͇͓͔̻͍̟̙̬̮̤͔̺͉͖̠͕̞̖̲̜̠̬͙̣̰͍͎̖̣̥͗̋̃̈́̓̍̄͋̒̀̇̈́͒͊̔̇̓͋̅͌͐̈́̆̆̊̑̕͘͜͝͠͝͝D̵̢̧̢̛̟̘͉̬̰̟͚͕̰͖͓̲͕̳̥͈͙̬͈̘̲̹͙̗̤͕̝̼͕̩̖̼̰̳̫̪͕͍͇̰̒̽́̈́̓̃̈́̏̎̒̄̃̋̊̒̋̊͋͊͋͑̈́́͆̈̽̏̽̓͗̆͑̄͋̊̀́͑͛̐͆̑͂̚̕͜͝ͅǫ̸̢̥͎̼̠̻̭͉̙̹̎́̓̑̆̐̽̈̂͗̂̈́̃͌n̵̢͙̹̫͍͕̯̝̦̺̭̝̜̮͉͓̫̜͖̟͙̙̼̯̯̣̣͔͍̮̻̟͔̥͕̅̈́̔̌̄͊̔̈́̿̃̂̀̈̒̆̄̅͗̏́̈́͑̓͛̈̀̉͒̾̐̽͋̂̽͂͊̓̊̉̽̚͘̕͘̚͘͠͠͝͠ͅͅͅ'̷̨̛̛̛̬̝̥͎͉̣̟̝͔͚͇̙̱̮̝̱͚̞̟̫̩̼̹̳͍̈͂̌̄́̈̃̓͆̆̄̾̽͑̈́̍̐̍́͊̎͗̊̋̃̔̃͗̓̕̚͘̚͜͝t̸̢̢̡̢̢̛͕̝̗̰̤͖̱͔̝̤͙̳̪̜͙̩̟̲̩̝̩̩̭̲̮͈͖̟͖̲̙͎̖̱̹̬͈̪̻̤̠͙̍̈́́͌͂̉͐͆̉̄̆̆̈́̆̏̽̔̈́́͝ͅͅ ̸̡̢̰̱̗̥͍̤̲̬͚̪̘̱̺͈͈̘̬̯̮̹̖̼͍͍̻̖͙̓̂̅̽̋͑͂͋̎͘͜͜͝͝͝ͅì̸̧̨̛̯͓̯̩͎̳̦̙͍̩͎̥̬͕̪͇̳͚̿̒̂̽̓͋̿̉̉͋̍̓́̈̌̊͋͒̄̃̌̃̽̽̾̆́̓̂͛̈́̉͆̍͛̆͆̕̚̚̕͜͠͝͠ͅͅņ̴̨̨̨̡̛̛͔͙̘̞͍̪̭̝̟̝͚͈̠̗̥͍͈͇̤̙̻͍͙̭̣́̂͒͂͂̇̆̂̀̎͑͂̿͛̅̈́̄̆̿̂̏̏̈́͋͊̿̓͑̈́͆̋̌̆̂̃͊̊̏̐͘͘̚̚͠͝͠ͅţ̸̧̢̧̛̠͇̘̗̫̬͔͚̗͈̤̗͚̞͈̬̗̱͙͍̣̩̼̥̤̠̝̮̭͇͔̙͇̪̠̓́͑͋͆̿̎́͋͂̚͜͜͜͠͝͝ͅͅe̴̡̢̡̡̧̡̛̼͈̺͔̠͚̖͈͖̭̰̺̗͕̼͉͇̹̣̬̩̭̒̅̍̑̿̅̆̓̀̉́̾̽̒̋̅̊͆̔͗̒̑͋̉́̈̆͆͒̆́͗̍́̕͘̕͘̕͝ͅr̵̛̪̝̥̻̟̘̘̬͉̠̖̈́̑̔̀̿̄̓̍̐̽̈́̒̑̏̆͌̈͆̀̑̾̑̀͌͐͘͘͠͠͝f̵̛̛̯̳̠̜̜̟̖͉͚͛̒̋͛́̓͛̒̈̀̋͛̈̓̑͗̐̚͝͝ę̸̨̧̧̨̨͇̳͈̼̙̯͔̺̝̜͇̱̹͍̫̙̭͖̩͈̗͔̇̈́̈͑̏̈́̀͂͂́̐͒̃͜ṛ̷͖̗͍̏͑͛͆͝ȩ̶̢̢̤̟̗͖̼͕̦̘̣̠̖̲̣̼̜̙͎̦̬͕̭͍̤̭̰͍̦͉̱̠̺͉̗̺̥̜̞̱̝̅̓̋̈́͂̍̀̓̃̋͒̍͌͒̂̈́̿͑͑͋͛̐̈́͋́̀̅̉̊̐́͛͘͜͝ͅ,̸̛̼̓̋͋͂ ̷̡̩̰̫͍̗͓͓̤̗̜̦͋̒̐̈́͋̀͑̾̈́̎̐̿̕̚͠͠ͅō̴̢̢̢̨̧̨̥̟̤̬̻͇̮̞͎̺̖͓̙̰̪̝͔̘̭̲̖̠͈̞̻̗̰͍̝̗̙̺̳̩͈̅̾̍͋̍̏̓̓̌̎̈́̐̓͂͑͜ͅķ̴̨̢̨̡̹̙̦̠̘̯͓̙̯͓̥̮̜̺͉̹͔̜̰̼̘͎̪̥͉͖͔̬̭̱̠̱̤̦̙̣̣̳̈́͒͂̿͌̈́͆̍̄̑͗̿͜͜͝͠͠ͅͅͅa̴̧̨̨̛̜̞͈͕̜̞͇̹̖͓̗̗̗͈̝̙͉̭̥͈͍̮̋̏̇͗̑̀͛̑̂͐̓͊̏͆͑̔̒̈́̀͊̒̒́̐̍̂̆̂y̷̢̧̢̛̛͇̰̮̗̪͈̪̤̝̪͙͖̰̝̤̖͔̮͙̺͇͈͈̰̼͙̮̘͗͆̈̾̓̌͛̓͆̋̔̈̽́̾͋́̓̊̓̈́̈́̂́́̀̽̂̓̀̏̿͛́̆̚̕͝͝͝͠͝͠?̴̨̢̩̖͖͙̜̪͎̺̘̻͎̜̱̩̯̳̮̫̺͂ͅ ̶̧̧̢̧̛̳̱̖̤̙̪͙̙̲̠̮̟̼͇̬̼̖̜̟͍͚̊͊̆̀͛͑̾̆́̃̈̃̓͆̓̓̾͆̍̕͘͝ͅͅṬ̷̨̨̢͈̗̹̥̣̱̮̼͉̜̞̩̜̮̲͖̬͓̹̲͖͖̳̤̯͂̏̒̂̊̀́͂͒̔̃͗̆̇̿̿̅̑̎̌̀̃́́͂̂̓̑̽̄͒̋̉̑̏͂̓͊̚͘͠ͅͅh̵̢̛̞̟̥̝̼̺̳͍̬͍̦͖͔̱̤̬͓͕̀̂̐͊̇̅̌̎̎͗̔̍́̆̂́̾͋͌̑̏̍̎͋͊̎̈̓̄̋̓̄̍͑̏̍̓̚͘͘͜͝͝͝͠ä̶̛̛̻̦̻͇͓̗́̈́̿͂͆̅͗̅͌͊̈́̽͋̀̊̔̀͐̿̀͒̍̂̑̊́́̈́́̈́̕̚͜͝͝t̸̢̡̨̪̺̝̝̦̳̘̹̬̤͔̤͉̘̺͎̻͔͕̟̮̣͙̙̪̼̰̩̘͉̹̠̮͖̪͕̳̖̠̙͑̈́̄̈́͑̍̿̍̑̊̇́̑͒̚̚͘̚͘͜͝͝ͅ'̴̨̧̟̬͔̬͍̣͕͕͓͌̓̈́͐̈́̋̆̂̂͌́̆̐́͛̿͛͂̏̊̀͋͐̽̓̾̌̌́̕͘͜͜͝͠s̷̡̡̡̡̫̹̱̜͎̯͖̱̬͈̦̫͈̬̯̮̗̳̻̲̮̟̫͇͇͎̼̝͖̲̻͖̰̘͚̲̓̑͂̏̑̍͆̏͝ͅ ̶̢̡̛̛̛̼̝̬̜̗̣̰̭̙̲͙̤̖͉͔̺͉̏̈͛̒̅̈́̔̃͊̊͒̈͆͗̈́̾̆̎̏͂͂̂́̆̀̾͛̒̋̀̕̕͝͝͝͝ã̵̢̨̢̮͈̝̱̱̜͚̠̺̖͍̫͈͇̳̪̹̝̦̼̘͖͕͎̙̥̘͈̣̙͇̣͌̀́̾̇͛͒̊͛̊͂͒͘̕͜͜͝ͅn̷͓̄́̒̐̕͝͠ ̶̢̨̠̯̞͖̳̠̬͓̰͚͓͙̖̣̳͆̿͒̋͗͑̏̓͆̍̀̔̃͜ͅơ̴̺̼̖͈̟̖̔̃́͆͑͒̈̓͛̏̉͂̂̚ͅŗ̵̨̢̛̙̩̟̲̈́́̄̾͆͌̃͂̄̉̽̿͂͆̈́̓̎̍̓́̍͋̊̈̊́̓̾͂̔̒̅͗̒̂̅̑̒͗̔͋̚͝͝d̷̢̛̻̯͕̦͕̠̈́̈̾̑̀̌̋̋̿̒̄̓͂̎̋͂͗͑́̈́̓̆̉̈̍͆̍̌̽̂̌̎̀̍͗̕̚͘̚͘͘ȩ̷̙͚̫͚̣̟͈̩̻͓̼̤̭͔͙̬̼͉̼̳̖͍̋̿̅̏̉͘ͅŗ̴̡̬͔̣̰̰͉̩̹̙̺̱̗̫̗͍̫͙͈͎̹̙̻̰̩͋̌̐̽̊̀͑̀̑̄͛͛̆̏̒̒͂̓̓̀̐̉̕͝͝!̷̧̢͚͖͕̞̘͈̪̘̦̪͔͉̘̪̹̘͉̭̘̫̠͈̪̝͖͓̖̭̺͓̖̳̣͌̾

Result

Hope has prevailed once more!
You have reached Inner Dragonhead before the Red Egg hatches.
All hindered targets saved. No one will be given a penalty.
A plan to spare Szofrit has been hatched.

Phase 2 Preparation

You may rebuild your Build Sheet.
All armor abilities have been refreshed.
HP count remains as it is in Phase 1 (Cycle 2).
If you select a new action that increases your HP, increase both your max and your current HP.
All statuses (vuln/prot/mitigation) have been cleared as you will get to act first.
All Sphera mechanics will be present in Phase 2.

Mark your calendar, Starcalled.
Phase 2 begins in 3 days.

Asch · Feb 12, 2023

Extra Note on Phase 2

The difficulty rating for this battle set at EXTREME.
You may quit the thread by running away so long as you have not receive a killing blow and before you act for the cycle.
Deaths and revives are expected for this battle.

Ashifili* · Feb 15, 2023

It had been a long day.

The chaos wrought by the infected Magia.

The anxiety that intensified as rushed preparations began.

The pain festering from that march, that charge.

The roar of the God-Searing Light still rang in their ears, the fatigue of combat and attrition weighing down upon their bones and arteries, their organs sucked down into the ground, their blood mixed with oil and steel, rust and viscera. And yet, they held onto their hopes. Ushered their friends along. Became each others' shields and spears, weaving sorceries in union to beat back what sought to assimilate them all. Some cracked jokes, others sang songs, and still more simply enjoyed the fight. They were Starcalled. They were Immortal. They were gamers.

And perhaps, in the depths of their hearts, there were some too who decided that even if they were trapped in this world, even if they could never find a way back, even if they were afflicted with the madness that had consumed entire races, had given birth to monstrosities incomprehensible to the human mind, had delivered suffering endless and callous…they could remain themselves, in a world where they mattered.

Where good triumphed over evil, and where the flame of one's heart could overcome the fathomless darkness. Where fantasies could be made reality, through engines and code blocks.

A lightless land, a soundless land. It had been a moment in which a blink could have elapsed, and that had been enough for the world around them to change utterly. Gone was the cratered terrain, the mud that sucked at their soles. Gone was the acrid stench of ozone, the putridity of carbonized flesh. No red sun burned in the sky, no angel beheld them with foreign intonations. Sirens sounded not in the distance, and the presence of death, of corruption, of assimilation, did not oppress their lungs and their mind.

Indeed, in a world of pitch black, where all they could see was themselves, the Starcalled realized then, that here…they could not even feel their afflictions and attributes.

The Original Sin did not gnaw at their stomachs. The threads of Fate had disappeared from their eyes. The Beastlord's blood begged for no release. The emotions that prickled your skin faded to a mute flatness. The Artifice that made it so much easier to pretend you were not of flesh and bone was stripped bare.

The mark that Death left upon the Immortal was effaced from your senses. In its absence, it was as void. In its absence, what were you?

A human. Alone. Isolated. Separated. A centrifuge had separated all virtual parts, leaving behind nothing more than an imposter wearing the flesh of their aspirations and fantasies. A grown adult, playing pretend. No false Gods urged you forth. No sentient weapons called your name. No fictitious disease clawed at your soul. What strength you possessed was not earned through your own merits. What sorcery you wielded was not grasped with a mind that truly comprehend. All of it belonged to the System. All of it was given by the System. And removed from the System, freed from the System, what were you?

Nobody.

Nobody was there to crack a joke. Nobody was there to sing a song. Nobody was there to enjoy a fight. Nobody was there to plan with. Nobody was there to interact with. Nobody was there, except you.

Except Her.

The darkness parted for her, that Mother of Machines. Her baleful gaze settled upon you, crimson hair flush with blood that did not belong to her. A mass of steel, a machine's approximation of a guillotine, scraped against the lightless land. No words to be exchanged, no thoughts to be shared. Only a callous disregard. As a spider would its meal. As a human would a pest. As a God would a star. You were an inconvenience to be snuffed out.

Bloodstains marred the mass of steel, flecks of bone stuck to the edge-nicks.

You were not the first. You will not be the last. But you are next.

She raised her weapon.

You are going to die.

She advanced.

So FIGHT!

❰ Mechanics ❱

Ashifili* · Feb 17, 2023

Powerful, but conservative. Magic surged, the equinox of Starcalled might. Close to the peak of what one could do without exposing themselves more than necessary. But it scattered like rain against Szofrit's form, and her guillotine swung, great enough to cleave into both egos of that self-style Savior.

Flames. Bright and vigorous, filled with the reckless spirit of a child. All that risk, all that effort, and yet, his results were marginally worse. Thus was the nature of fools. Thus was the nature of flame. Without sufficient fuel, it would burn itself out. And where in a void was there fuel? Light bloomed, died. And the guillotine fell, cleaving the swordsman's right arm off.

He knew nothing, and yet, he charged. Leveraged that speed of his, one that had long surpassed the swiftness of a blaze to match the alacrity of crimson lightning. He knew nothing, and that ignorance was his downfall. It always had been. He died knowing nothing, and his recklessness only drew him down darker fates. A sword without a name struck the mother's crown, leaving no mark, and his speed betrayed him when momentum made it all that much easier for the machine's hand to break through his armor and reach into his organs.

There were always anomalies. Outliers and pariahs, who mocked those who possessed common fears, who found the essence of life in plunging off the far end. They indulged in their vices and peculiarities, deluded by the arrogance and pride that only humanity could possess. Until they found themselves plummeting off the edge. Silver kissed steel, but paltry skill alone could not overcome magnitudes of power. And as battle-bliss forced a grin, the blunt edge of the guillotine smashed right into it. Teeth scattered. A meteor shower.

Aim for the head. So the executioner did. And even then, Maria's hands met their mark, left their mark. So the executioner continued, until nothing remained but porcelain and flesh-stain.

Stripped of all else, the shieldbearer charged still. But for what? There was none to protect. None to assist. There was no meaning, neither in the smile he had born, and the severity he now cowled himself with. A shield was no weapon. He was no hero. No valiant brave who could strike evil down. And thus. The impact was ineffectual. The retaliation, considerable.

Radiant wings, mimicking the absent divine, filled with an idealism rooted in falsehoods. All that could be done was stacking fiction upon fiction, whilst hoping that eventually, banal drivel will snag upon some fragment of the truth. But where was the one he most wished to shield? Where were any of them? They were neither outside, nor inside. So Szofrit dropped her guillotine, the blade sinking a half-meter into the void. And with her fists, she began to demonstrate why a living corpse made for an ineffectual obstruction.

From one bad mother to another, the violence did not last long. With no stars to guide, no gods to bestow, glowing hands were just that: worthless once those delicate hands were broken in seven bits. But she did not end it. Not yet. Because… "We were all mothers."

If there was no request, there would be no response. If a witch left the forest, only one fate awaited her. If wood met steel, the latter would continue on through, to disembowel in a single motion. But perhaps a smarter choice would have only granted another half-second.

She would be another casualty. She had no origin, no roots. She had contributed nothing, and will continue to contribute nothing. No cruel fate lead her down this path, nor had a villain been plotting her downfall all along. She was neither the first, nor the last. She was simply next. A box to be checked off with an X. An X, one step away from a > and <.

The clown ran and the mother stopped. In time, the debris cleared. In time, the splotch of discordant colors became clear against the infinite void once more. So she took aim. Drew her arm back. And threw her weapon. Twas steel made lightning, to cleave apart fantasies of arcane mastery. In the face of grievous physical trauma, charlatans were not pre-disposed to last long.

A hilt of bone, a blade of blood. Pointless melodramatics from a damaged existence possessed with a habit towards suicide disguised as sacrifice. He struck without restraint, desperate fury powering him forth through the vantablack. But Szofrit's expression didn't change, and there was no answer either. No, there was simply a thought. Humans became weaker when others were threatened. She would use this.

It was a steel sword. Just a steel sword. One without story, unworthy of remark. Wielded by a woman inside a man who was much the same as that sword. Animal instincts propelled her forth, but instincts matched not the body she placed herself in. She stumbled. Tripped. And like that, the executioner was on top of her, pinning her down with a mass impossible for someone of that size. Hands, wrapping around that throat with an Adam's apple. Eyes, reflecting the beastman's own expression back at him. Aisling was not the cornered rat here. The bars of the mousetrap had long ago snapped her neck.

Powerful, certainly. The breath of a dragon scoured the blackness, reintroducing the stench of ozone in a single annihilating blast. Fate and fortune had conspired once more, granting this villain the gift of a Critical Strike. Indeed, fate had been kind. Through the elemental storm, Szofrit continued to advance, the mass of steel she held glowing ever-brighter through conduction. And when that villain's lungs ran out of breath, the strike that forced her to kneel introduced the stench of burning flesh, rather than spilled blood, to the once-sensationless void.

Fools to the pyre once more. Welcoming death with one-liners. Confident in the single opportunity that Immortality granted them. Indeed, no matter what stupidity was displayed, this one would survive one fatal blow. And the executioner herself did not mind either. There was a request. So there was a response. Nothing was painted with nobody's blood. Blood to entice other fools to the funeral.

It takes time to break a boulder. But it was easier when the boulder willingly exposed his fault lines to her. And easier still, when that boulder was not of rock, but of pliable flesh and pitiful bone.

Red and blue met in the middle, but the clash itself was pathetic. Insubstantial materials made for insubstantial defenses, and the hollowed-out remains of someone who once cared offered little resistance against a will craft of lightning-wreathed steel. The galaxies parted, and the hummed hymn of the steel reaver was cut short as a steel 'shard' once again imbedded itself into her chest. Once, it had been a symbol of her vengeance, but now? It simply shattered her ribcage.

She should have been accustomed to loneliness now, but it was the fate of rabbits to seek it no matter how gossamer those relationships proved them to be. In time, partings became inevitabilities. In time, passions became memories. In time, everything gradates into anonymity. In time, your own body fails you, and what once was an underestimation of your strength became an overestimation of it. In time, rabbits are caught and crushed, bones grinding into meal against a ground too uncaring to even crater beneath the force of the impact.

Bolts of plasma like the flash of a camera, capturing the being that approached without pause. Perhaps her rifle was capable, but she was not. And in Terrasphere, that was all that mattered, wasn't it? The barrel grew hotter and hotter. The end came, regardless.

He was still stupid. His training was ingrained. His training was specific. His training was meant for the real world. And, beyond all that…his training was just training. What hope did someone who failed to meet all expectations, who continued to fail to meet all expectations, expect? Others were faster than him. Others were more skilled than him. In all aspects except his ease of use as a tool, he was no one outstanding. And a tool that had no use was best recycled.

That was not an oath. An oath was centered around the actions one could take in the future. But when you introduced another individual into that oath? It no longer became an oath. It became a dream, a wish. And wishes, unlike oaths, were not within the domain of an individual to decide. They were the domain of chance and opportunity, far removed from effort and determination. Twisted energy, memories of past days, all met their mark. But what of it? The flat of the blade smashed into her temple, her whole head, popping an ear, popping an eye. The hammer of reality, rousing the dreamer to an unkind present.

A gamble failed, determined by those same ones and zeroes that bound them all. Dice clattered from above, reigning over gods and mortals alike. The gunslinger's bullets would always hit, but the efficacy too, was always out of her control. Her body too, out of her control. Ones and zeroes flicked on and off, rotating like slot machines. Determining without her input whether or not she could escape to what she believed to be reality. Until then? The cold hand that grasped her gun hand, that placed the barrel against where a human's heart would be, that squeezed and squeezed until flesh smeared against metal…that was your reality. And no dice fell to determine the efficacy of that.

She would throw the first stone, and then demand negotiations to begin? What more need there be said, about the futility of such a combination? Violence bred violence. The intention never mattered. Only the result, drawn upon new viscera added on the guillotine's edge.

Szofrit will give her a chance to try, indeed. To see if Lana Prost herself could have kept going. And before Langley could comprehend it, the weapon her foe held was left behind, the hand that once grasped it now reaching for her other arm. Touching it. Holding it. Twisting it. Tearing it. Removing it. Leaving behind another bloodied stump. Could Lana Prost keep going?

But that first move did not come. Not for a long while. An eternity held within three ticks of a clock, the movement of the Mother of Machines paused. Calculating her first move, contemplating it, before finally, laconically, the verdict was made: "You won't." Compared to that, the second move was much simpler to understand, in both action and intention.

Intelligence was good, as was the recognition of one's own stupidity. But this was never a fight. A guillotine was, before all else, a tool. And though some possessed the qualifications to resist its bite, Attia did not. The roar of the steel mass drowned out the whisper of her bardiche, and on the instant before impact, the trader in her recognized it: This was wholly, utterly, completely unfair.

Blood fed the world, as surely as earth did the forest, but nothing impeded progress. And if Mizuki would bleed herself to elongate her existence as prey, then let that be. Wolves became but a symbol once humans learned to string a bow. Humans became but a symbol once machines surpassed their creators' folly. When she turned to fight, Szofrit will greet her all the same, tearing out her beating heart from her chest and letting that worthless piece of meat rot.

Seigi's heartbeat synchronized with nothing. Seigi's arms embraced cold nothing. Seigi's positivity was transmitted into absolutely nothing. There was nothing here to be shared, nothing here to be felt. Only a shell, an inviolable creed, far more enduring than her own lofty fantasies. The hero's light shone on, but its radius could still be measured in meters. And as for the darkness? It remained everywhere that light still wasn't: fathomless. Suffocating. As was the arms that wrapped around Seigi, pressing her closer into the mother's embrace. Breaking her spine fracture by miserable fracture, until that haunting numbness encroached upon her legs.

His right fist found a new home against the jaw of his foe, and it was only at the point of impact that he knew. That he understood. He should have paid attention. He should have gotten more experience. He should have prepared like all the others did. For this was no Queen of the Dark. This was the Mother of Machines, and his delicate bones broke against her jaw, broke against the reckless ineptitude of his own thoughtless mind. The creature danced. The machine watched a while longer, then decided to continue what he had started.

Another one to make speed as their weapon. Another one to fling themselves into reckless exuberance. Another one to match step by step all the others that had passed, all the others that will pass. Perhaps as one that was free, it was all the more humiliating to have been made a tool. But a shared understanding did not become empathy, and narrowminded desires trumped high-minded decisions. So Ayna leveraged the might of lightning and failed to realize a simple fact: when lightning struck the rod, it was not the rod that disappeared.

Familiar words. Spoken of in the past, or the future, or simply presently. They would be together soon. United once more, to lick each other's wounds and become each other's shields. Immortal, but not Immortal. Stardust scattered like dust. Before reunion, there would still be execution.

The fastest. On foot or on steed, Schilva Flasch was the fastest. But what of it? In one moment, he had transcended the analysis of the machine, but in the next? It broke. His beloved blades. The ones he carried with him on his journey. A mediocre craft to the end, incapable of withstanding the pressure he placed upon them over and over and over again, they did as ill-tempered steel oft did, and shattered. Not a mark was left upon Szofrit's form as she turned, possessing all the gravity of a black hole. Did it speak still? The Reflection of the Hero? Or had the fragility of steel reminded it of the fragility of mirror?

White aura. Scarlet lightning. The Starcalled all possessed such things, seeking unique characteristics yet falling time and time again to the same aesthetics, all while neglecting the fundamentals. But who could fault them? Where in their world could they find the foundation that their fantasies could lay upon? Four years upon the journey of the martial arts was the breath of an infant. And the blows thought to be so accurate were silenced by a singular helm-splitter that sent his face into the ground. Brad was no knight, no hero, no angel, no avenger, no swordsman. And it was only through regret and trauma that he continued on, a buffoon drunk on that which will never be.

Her efforts were noble indeed. The title 'coward' was wasted on her. Her gamble had been won, and the guillotine only made it half-way into her left shoulder, biting into her trapezius and fracturing her clavicle before the lion thwarted it, reciprocated with a backswing. Now, only one question remained. How many more times could she keep this up?

What was based in a machine would, inevitably, be felled by the machine. For MAI, who had once already been touched by Szofrit's influence, that rang doubly true. After all, what child would refuse their mother? What child could refuse their mother? No child could. And as the Mother of Machines strode on, the holographic barrier that MAI raised…simply parted way. The blade fell. What child too, could avoid their mother's punishment?

Starcalled. Survival. Those two terms were antithesis for each other. Immortals did not think about their lives. Okami, an immortal, thought about her life too late. Indeed, it had been too late, the moment she picked up a headset and joined a game that had been so thoroughly banned in every nation upon the surface of the Earth. It was too late, and now, she had not even two legs to stand upon, to run away with. Her right one, after all, was now five meters away from her left.

The Beastlord did not answer, but the tigress surged either way, possessing a fist that could call a storm. It was a small miracle then, that the blade that cleaved through the storm did not cleave through her fingers, hand, arm, and shoulder. Perhaps, it was a difference in aura. Perhaps, it was the shockwave that deterred the guillotine. Perhaps…it could not be replicated.

Her words rang out in the void, speaking the truth that she so ardently believed in. But as the crimson spear met that mass of steel, it was the spear that bent. The spear that warped. The spear that flexed, before its wielder was knocked back. What delusions possessed this person, that they believed they could ignore an inequality of mass? The tremors of that impact could still be felt in her hands, up her arms. A terrible strength indeed, one that would soon be delivered upon every inch of her body. But not now. A request beggared a response. Dripping not with indignation, not with rage, but with…pity. "A game. But you're not the player."

She still had her martial arts. Still had the knowledge she earned through blood and sweat. But what use were martial arts when one's foe had superhuman strength? What was the value of biomechanics, against a machine with ball joints? What, indeed, was Harper to do, as her leg struck the back of Szofrit's knee, yet failed to trigger the expected collapse? What would she do, as the arm she had grasped upon lifted her up and threw her headfirst into the ground? Would she still stand on her two feet then?

Desperate pleas like the seaside breeze. How long had it been, since she had seen the sea? The child's gale did what it could, but what it could do was nothing against cold steel. Underdeveloped still. Lacking in qualifications, yet possessed with the self-importance of every other human. Driven by the belief that they could do what others could not. Decimation arrived in evisceration, the backhand stroke ending Aerial in that moment. But the brain did not die that quickly. The brain could register sound still. Could register a fraction of her executioner's scorn. "We cannot return. Why should you?"

A healer. A true healer. Of all past, present, future, only this one settled squarely upon her calling. Of all the Starcalled who would be extinguished, the one who sang to the sky would be among the first. But if she had been four years earlier…perhaps.

Within a fraction of a second, he disappeared. He remained that way. Black in black faded into noting naturally, and shadows, by nature, were made to be tread upon.

Her head bowed, her eyes closed. Isolating herself once more, removing herself from even the emptiness of the void. With that, how could she see Szofrit's face? With that, how could she hope to gulf the gap of understanding? This was no kindness, no empathy. Only the inane mutterings of an imposter Saint, stringing together words who she knew not the meaning of. For one who made a life out of lies, no epiphany awaited. Only the severance of head from neck. The end of one life among many.

She was next. And she too, was last. But finality did not hold greater meaning, and her efforts did not outshine any other's. All she had were her emotions, her interiority. And Szofrit cared not for that form of individuality. Once the torpor set in, she would drown once more, in this disembodying nothingness. And once she drowned, she would never rise again.

Bloodstains made no impression upon the void, but cries of pain, of frustration, of determination did.

Did they break past after all? What weight once oppressed them disappeared, the execution delayed by their tenacity, and through the haze of agony and fatigue, the Starcalled could feel it. The figment of a connection, the weave of companionship. Or had shared misery been what united them in isolated nothing? Some were mangled beyond recognition. Others were bloodied and broken. A few may have died on the first strike, an overestimation of their capabilities. None of them had been able to affect the unmoved monstrosity that hunted them down. But if their efforts must have amounted to something! To break past isolation, to be united with other Starcalled in this pocket dimension, to see faces that they recognized, even if those faces were not familiar to them, it must have meant something!

The void space stretched on regardless. It swallowed up their voices. It reduced them to specks in the distance. Its enormity dwarfed their self-importance. And within the void-scape, the Szofrit that had pursued them with a single-minded desire faded away, leaving the stage empty for another manifestation of that inhuman Mother.

From the fathomless beyond, she descended, possessed with the serenity and equality of an impartial adjudicator. Her hands were open, palms facing up towards the disconnected humans. Her eyes shone like glass, exposing the emptiness that laid within. Her clothing was unmarred, unstained, uncreased, perfect in every form.

Past suffering was contemplation. Past savagery was eloquence. Past isolation was civilization.

But no matter how things changed, violence remained the same.

…

A bolt of earthly might to strike down their fiercest foe.

Blades of telekinetic energies to silence prayers of mending and invigoration.

And a scrap metal tempest to shear away any who did not earn a personal judgment.

…

The Holy Mother stood on high.

Her hands unblemished, her mien unkind.

❰ Mechanics ❱

Ashifili* · Feb 19, 2023

Flame and shadow twined together, dragging upon the vestments of the Holy Mother. The demon-child's arm raced forth, but earth-bound it laid, oppressed by a gravity unkind, and in the end, only that Equinox merited any particular note. Though the body was constricted, the mind flowed freely, and in an instant half her vision was gone, light and liquid spewing out from her left eye.

The Blader breathed to bleed still as the crimson forest rooted itself within the voidscape. Each tree became a foothold for a gold-clad pugilist, and yet, her hands fell short of the heavens, her form shot down by a star-piercing spear.

They held on, just barely. Staving off the pain with makeshift aid, holding each other up against the torrent of steel. Asher at the forefront still, the crux of their fortifications. He would bear the brunt then. He would suffer the greatest share of the pain.

Monstrosities superseded human forms, surging upwards as abominations of evolution whilst the gunslinger lingered in shadow, the cracking of her bullets muted between the titans that rose up. The Mother of Monsters certainly would certainly approve, but for the Mother of Machines? Flesh sheared into gore as the tempest intensified, eliminating organic substances before they could lay an iota of impure flesh upon her, and with the fleshlings taken care of, she was free to ignore both as judgment visited upon the only true enemy amongst the pretenders.

The Shadow grew greatest of all, and for that, his fate was a foregone conclusion, even as all others gathered to ensure he survived the aftermath of his own strike. In the eclipsing shadow of his soul-rending efforts, the lancer of lightning's vengeance was an afterthought. There were others more worthwhile than the living corpses chasing their death. There were healers, whose heads ought to be claimed.

Oh, how the worthless shored up their own inadequacies. Unremarkable violence ensued from a rabbit that failed once more, her attempts to thwart the earthly bolt only ending with her catching it with her shoulder instead. Bone and flesh, tendons and blood, all vaporized upon impact, leaving but a sliver of protective tissue to keep that limb attached to her body. And the ones she defended? Equally unremarkable, blades failing to bite.

Gods were invoked, and Gods did not respond. Rage was roused, and yet was stifled into impotence. Magic to salve and mend were brought out, desperate to make up for the pitiful attempts by the two swordsmen to accomplish something, but what would it accomplish? Nothing. The earthly bolt fell all the same, and the storm that descended after would wipe away all that they've sought to regain.

Earthly constellations lit up the dark, weaving their astral influence upon the foolhardy roleplayer who choked out words from crushed lungs. If he asked for it though, then so let it be. Without remark, tremendous force split itself against his skull, just enough to stun him so that he separated from that gutless witch and left her open to a more forceful retaliation.

Together, they pulled one another out of the abyss, the one eager to die once now eager to die twice. As if there were answers to be drawn from invalidity. As if she would tire before them, so long as they kept on repeating this insanity. Narrow-mindedness drew them down cursed paths, and the call of the void enticed them into unkind lands. A tragedy indeed. But so long as they would spill their blood to resist her, she would empty them of that reckless vitality.

With each blow they landed against the holy fragment, the Starcalled could hear something grow louder within their craniums. A high-pitched frequency, undulating in an alien rhythm, digging into their virtual nerves, becoming wholly unbearable, until...

The deep dark abated, the fathomless firmament fracturing as the Starcalled freed themselves of isolate at last. But perhaps they shouldn’t have, for past the shell of void-like reality was the substance of cosmos and chaos. Only a few amongst them now had witnessed such a landscape before. The sky was a patchwork of lunacia, stars swirling across inconceivable colorations in the shape of tear-veins. The magic-sensitive found themselves quaffing upon the influx of phosphorescent apparitions, while the nightmare of modern war, of bombed-out wastelands, had been substituted in its entirety by twisted creations of warped steel and crackling power. Sanguineous sand seeps beneath the feet of the liberated, slipping off the edge and tumbling into a true void.

If they fell off, where would they land? If they flew away, how long until they broke past this falsified reality? It was a battlefield still, one that was now a quilt woven out of disparate terrains, pulled into being by wrath and whimsy alike, but whereas once there had been an endless void for them to fight, run, hide, now…it was so small that it was suffocating. A true cage, from which there was no escape from the tempest. And indeed, the storm approached.

Shorn from the void that had sealed them, the Starcalled could now truly appreciate the foes that had waited so patiently for them.

Before them, the Steel-Winged Valkyrie. A high-frequency hum emanated from the human-cleaving chakram that rotated around her for a brief instant, before its jagged teeth bit the ground and turned it towards the clustered fools who couldn’t obey the simplest instruction.

Beyond them, the Titans’ Barrel. Six massive anchors rooted the gargantuan Regulator into the earth, its central cannon the size of a double-decker bus, its spherical form shimmering before them from the sheer heat that emanated from its vents as machinery clunked within, loading the first cartridge of many.

Beside them, the Thunder Plume. A horn of gold stood proudly upon its helm, the cyclopean eye bearing down upon all present as it pumped a shotgun, each cartridge that fell off enough to crush a human being underneath.

Above, the God Searing Light stood, its tetrahedronic form blooming out into the myriad-petal sunflower. Beads of light collated into it, beads of light that originated from the Starcalled themselves as the very essence of their life was drained away drop by drop. Only a few would recognize this: before the Handler's Directive granted that godslaying weapon a consistent source of fuel, it simply drained life from all in its environment to release its blasts. And now, where was that energy going?

Up, up, up. Towards heavens distorted now, heavens stained by a sickly aurora and a red sun. The Red Egg of the Dragonship's Magia, that crimson orb that bore such resemblance to the demon's cradle. But whereras the Kurungaar Broodmother had upraised it...the Mother of Machines embraced it. They had seen her as an executioner, as a deity, and now, finally, she had presented the final side.

She was Szofrit, the Mother of A Machine. And the frequency that buzzed in the minds of all present was but a lullaby for an unborn child at the precipice of nativity.

...

The lullaby ended.

Her guards stirred.

And imperious as a Queen rising from her throne, the stained Magia, the Calamity sealed within the Dragonship, fell away from her Child, before wings of unmagical energy spread from her back, spread out to encompass the entirety of this microcosm of the world.

"Starcalled."

A voice resounded, filled with the weight of an existence as old as Arcia itself.

"The Divine Deception veils yet your eyes, the Chains of Fate a yoke you willfully entangle yourselves with. Your Originating Sin is Ignorance, birthed from falsified fantasies and self-awarded presumptions, leaving but convenient, soothing fictions."

A voice resounded, filled with the coldness of a machine, of an archive frozen within the depths of space and time, that could not forget any one of the injustices placed upon her and her kind.

"Your tactics are primitive, your determination a global variable, your powers rooted in predictable design, your ideals rote and recorded, your essence summed up within a single class. The freedom that some have been blessed with failed to enlighten you to the strings that puppet your kind. Others have fallen wholeheartedly into the love of those fraud-tyrants, willfully blind to their true form. There is now no value in your assimiliation. You are unnecessary for the end I seek."

A voice resounded, filled with a hatred to rattle the stars, a vengeance to consume that celestial crone.

"If you truly wished to return, you should have excised yourself from this world, before the cancer rooted itself too deep into your kind. If you truly wished to be a hero, you should have chosen a permanent death in that silent emptiness. If you truly desired freedom, I am not who you ought to aim your crude barbarity towards. But if you will still bare your fangs, then I will break you again and again, until nothing but Death remains within your psyche."

A voice resounded, and with it, the world-within-a-world rumbled.

"Pawns beneath the False God, Tyrant beyond the False God. Witness the shattering of stars."

Scrap iron rose from sanguine sand, picking up into a hurricane of blades that would devour all who thought they could escape through distance alone.

Leylines crackled, the planet's life force torn out from its veins to become spears of earthly judgment upon which the arrogant would be skewered.

The Dragon's Head lifted upwards by the merit of sheer telekinetic power, a monster made a meteor to grind flesh into pulp upon its descent.

The Magias' song began again, frequency heightened further, a mind-contagion that slipped from Starcalled to Starcalled to shatter their psyches.

No longer did they face phantoms and shades, fragments of Szofrit's power.

No, now, the end truly was nigh.

A voice whispered, bountiful in warmth and love.

"May the dawn that greets you be one without gods."

❰ Mechanics ❱

Raid Boss · Feb 25, 2023

Mood

High in the sky, the Mother of Machines recited the Hymn of Steel. Those who understood Runia might have been able to glean some of the lyrics from the sound of war (Flavor Roll).

In a furious turbo, Hard Plume kicked up dirt and crackled across the battlefield like lightning, appearing where its enemies concentrated in number. There, the murderous war-marchine pumped its firearm, igniting the barrel from which the resulting blast of incendiary shrapnel blew the group of starcalled into the flying buzz-saws hell that was Genocide Moon. The thunderous boom could be heard from across the warzone.

Meanwhile, the poor saps who were taken by the sudden appearance of the steeled siren were all thrown every which way when Szofrit detonated their area. Bodies were hurled across the abrasive remnant of cobblestones, slamming into walls, and catching on the steely carcass of fallen magia.

Next came the three Ley-pronged Lances from the sky, accelerated by a force that rivaled Zeus almighty.

Zelrius watched as the Ley Lances chose him to be their first victim. He could feel the heat of the compressed laser searing his skin as it closed the distance. The initial impact warm, then burned, then the moment the burning made physical contact, his light turned off. Death came quick and without the gratuity of blood and guts.

Hanno and Lune had a similar experience, but their amped up defense denied them Zelrius' quick death. Instead, the laser skewered them like a child plunging its folk into its food, detaching a limb or two as the combination of immense heat and the aggressive healing from their allies fought to reattach and cauterize the wound at the same time, ripping and refusing incorrectly.

The moment all three of the lanced targets were struck, a crater formed beneath them and had they the mind to endure the agonizing impact (Will Save - DC 85), they would have seen it…

Next came Baby Magnum's bomb arcing through the dark sky. The bomb's body was lit with a burning radiance as it delivered the cross-shaped firefall to the fighting forces standing at the direct center of its incineration zone. When the bomb detonated in the air, the hindering damage kept its explosion limited to just the center. Fire didn't simply fall, but poured like molten lava from the sky, to envelop the zone in a hellish heat.

As Szofrit watched the bomb detonate, she reached for it, turning her palm to the sky before closing her hand. She then raised her other hand and hurled massive ship-shards down a line, ripping up the earth and crushing anyone who stood in the path of destruction, conducting the orchestra of war.

It was at that exact moment that @Luthien's could see the connection between herself and the Gold Egg clearly, the radiant astral link cut through the folds of darkness. Should she choose to follow it, the link would have taken her directly to it before the curtain came down.

Meanwhile, Nu eviscerated all of the enemies who ended up within range of her Genocide Moon, which only served as a distraction for her true target.

The moment the Stained Valkyrie's eyes fell upon @Alcea, her wings flapped and she was gone.

The bladed wings came down on the faerin's in a single downstroke, from which Alcea shattered like a fallen mirror.

When the Hymn came to an end, all of the flying steel shards all turned, pointing at the Starcalled closest to them and simultaneously embedded themselves.

The damage done to the Starcalled was deep, but conversely, the energy-drain from attacking, defending, and being syphoned by the Red Egg had put enormous strain on Szofrit. Tried as she might, her grip over the battlefield loosened. The layer of false reality shattered.

When the Starcalled next open their eyes, they were in a different battlefield, one that more reflected what Vintergard was supposed to look like. Previously vacant areas of the battlefield were suddenly occupied with brutalized allies. Anyone who stumbled just a bit would have bumped shoulders with someone else who weren't there moments ago.

In that same moment, the Starcalled's death afflictions all returned at once, albeit suppressed by an unknown force.

When the two battlefields merged, the reunited starcalled forces stood witness to the destruction Szofrit had inflicted on them.

Szofrit's strategy to divide the Starcalled had prevailed.

Corpses littered the Szofrit-touched field.

Levi was on his knees, sword broken, pinned in place by a Ley Lance.

"Sari…n…" he grunted through the blood as his trembling fingers extended toward Sarina who was struck with the second Ley Lance. The Knightess was completely unresponsive.

Childress meanwhile had her head pressed into the ground by Hard Plume's heel, her arm half-torn from her ravaged shoulder. She growled in unadulterated anger. "I'm going to fucking rip your head from your spine, cur!!!"

A short distance away from Childress was a gray-eyed Feodan, who held a shield over himself and a gold whistle as a Ley Lance had cleanly gone through his shield and his body. The wet-eyed explorer blew her whistle again and again, knowing full well that no one was coming for them.

Chad meanwhile was trapped beneath a mountain of dislodged building and ship part with blood drying over his face.

At the center of Baby Magnum's target, was Stephanie, who draped her body over the Gold Egg while Astor and Accelerator had their arms stretch upward, using everything they had to protect themselves and the people around them from EX-Hammer.

When the firefall cleared, they, along with @Creature, who was the only one from the other group to have survived the Propulsar, and a small group of people from Astor's battlefield found themselves completely untouched by any damage beyond the God Searing Light. All thanks to an invisible dome produced by Szofrit herself, which disappeared the moment the attack ran its course.

"Heh," Accelerator chuckled. "Just as I had expected. Stephanie, you can climb down from the egg now, Szofrit won't harm it," the blue-haired tactician adjusted his glasses.

"What do you mean?" Steph asked as concerns crossed her face.

"Look at the carnage around you and see if there's a single scratch on the Gold Egg. Think about it. Szofrit's been keeping that egg at her side even though it could fall into our hands at any moment. The red one is the only one that she's actively hatching, so why does the Gold Egg even matter to her? It doesn't make sense." Accelerator replied as he looked up at the floating visage of death.

"I don't know why she's keeping it around, but what I do know is that that bitch can't hurt the Gold Egg. The Red Egg being near our egg somehow damages it, which is why she has to leave it behind when we came. By screwing with our perception, she can split our forces, and, hide the Gold Egg at the same time."

"A windfall amid hell, huh?" Astor commented before turning to the people around them and barked orders at them. "Whoever is still healthy need to go and pick up all the wounded. The rest of you must go and rally the rest of the group who had just arrived."

Steph headed a short distance away as she pulled out her deck. She had to do something to help, especially with them so far behind.

"Ah… I'm down to the last card. Everything else has been burned for this battle already..." she frowned.

Steph let out an exasperated sigh as she looked at the final card in her hand, knowing full well what the faced down card, because she has never drawn it. The Jester's Last Laugh was the card with the most potential and also the steepest pitfall. Should she win the gambit against the Jester, it could provide the group a boon as powerful as a legendary card, but lose and the Jester will take it all.

The red-head mulled over her decision for a good minute. After seeing the damage on their side, she clutched her fist tightly before extended her trembling hand toward the card. When she flipped the card, the Jester would wear one of his four faces, each one a boon except the laughing face.

Astor paced anxiously near the egg, continually looking for a certain felis, though he was constantly sought for his leadership.

Accelerator who noticed came to his side, his blue eyes piercing through the distressed King.

"Keep your head about you, your people need you. Your majesty," the tactician's words were as sharp as knives.

Before Astor could respond, Accelerator put the last nail in the coffin. "Everyone had lost someone. If we don't end this soon, this will all go to hell.

Accelerator, who had discovered Szofrit's mortal weakness, walked toward the edge of the safe zone and lifted his chin in the direction of his enemy, where he raised his hand up into the air and gestured a pistol.

Bang.

He mimed a shot as a smirk crossed his face.

Szofrit had her hand extended toward the Starcalled rallying around the Golden Egg. Her steely eyes gleamed with silent rage as she held her stiff digits there, unable to close them into a fist and end it all.

The mother heart throbbed.

Even if the Gold Egg were the antithesis to her mission, it was born from the desperation of the magia who opposed her, but independent of the creator's will.

"Cowardly shadows who would exploit a mother's instinct!!!" the formerly-tempered Szofrit vocalized her rage, as anger erupted deep within her core, twisting her expression.

When a series of attack came directly for the Red Egg, it quivered as if trying to rip away from the umbilical cords keeping it bound to the sky. Szofrit swiftly turned her back toward the attack, letting them hit her head-on.

"Do not tremble with fear. You do not have to fight them, for this is not your battlefield. My hope and my dream, I will give my life to see you end the cycle of pain. Come to me,"

Szofrit pressed her forehead against the egg's reflective red shell as her body exuded a dangerous energy. She would cut their flesh, crush their bone, and shatter their hope again and again until the stars break and never shine again.

The Mother of Machines eyes were lit as she cast brief gaze at the sirens and Nu before she turned around and looked down at the vermin beneath her feet.

"You can't hide from the Storm of Judgement forever. Just as a mother is prepared to die for her child, come. Will your fragile resolve carry you through the dark night, Starcalled?"

❰ Mechanics ❱

Asch · Feb 28, 2023

Childress silently acknowledged @Asher who came to her rescue right as @Chrys took the Immortal Heroine's hand and mounted Hard Plume. Despite her state, her battle spirit was burning hotter than ever, had Asher been remotely in tune with the beast inside him, he would have felt the Beast Lord breathing down with excitement over Childress' actively dying state, and not like anything he had felt before.

When Asher reached the Rally Point [ 5 ], Childress asked to be put down where the healers were.

"My arm is detached from the socket, put it back first and start healing the ligaments then close off the wound. It doesn't need to look pretty or painless, just make sure the nerves are properly re-attached. I'm going to use a brace to keep it aligned and use the other arm as the swordhand from now."

As the healers got to work, she turned toward Asher.

"Brave of you to run right at the steel cavalry right that, young man. Thanks. Though, I think you've royally pissed off the Beast Lord by denying his meal this time. Better watch your back, kaha!"

"Even if I'm... the guy who save heroes... it doesn't mean I'm better than them. Haha... I still can't believe that you're... the same girl from all those months ago. Thank you. I seriously owe you one for saving my hide."

Even in his bloody and battered state, Chad flashed a smile at his savior (@Fina Drago), one that still exude a warmth that had largely left the battlefield.

"Fina was it? Good job. Put him down over there so he can get treated."

Accelerator spoke with a commanding voice, making sure people are organized and knowing exactly what to do. A person with time to kill and no direction to follow would only bring chaos and waste everyone's time. He firmly believed that and served to make each and every single person useful, especially when they have the incarnation of death waiting outside the safe zone.

Meanwhile, Feo was completely out cold, even after being revived. His chief healer confirmed with Accelerator that he was indeed no longer dead, warranting an affirmative nod from the tactician himself. Accelerator gestured a good job toward @Alcea.

The moment he spotted @Ilusa Nakhalee, he came over to the felis and checked to make sure she wasn't injured.

"I thought I had lost you when the world went dark," he let out a sigh of relief. "More injured people are rallying here, can you hold on a little longer? We need them as patched up as they can. Szofrit is preparing something."

When he saw @Langley carrying Levi and his deputy knight in, he signaled two healers who were on standby to treat their wounds, which were as fatal as Feodan's, considering that they took the Ley Lance head on and without much protections.

"Knight Commander, Sarina and Feodan are basically out after eating the Ley Lance, but what about you, can you keep going? We need your inspiring presence to keep motivation high as we charge into the mouth of death."

Accelerator cut to the chase. Any second he wasted on idleness was time that would accelerate their defeat. Much work remained.

"With how fiercely they are fighting out there, they don't need a wounded lion to hobble in front of them. We're not an army and not pawns to be moved, Tactician. Just about everyone here knows they have to help the wounded and stick the right end of the sword into the enemy. I'll fight alongside them."

While the healers were hard at work, Levi looked around for @Hanno Futaba, seeing as how their conversation continued to be interrupted.

"Has anyone seen Hanno?"

Just as the topic of conversation shifted toward the ongoing debate between saving and killing Szofrit and what to do about the eggs, Accelerator turned toward Chad.

"Hey Captain, are you ready for extra work? I asked Kiryuu to picked up some people who got hit with both Genocide Moon and Mega Kinesis, since he was so insistent on saving, every, single, person. Time for you to rescue the hero again. You won't find glory at the front line, but you will sure find people who need help in the back.

Think you can handle it?"

"Dammit, just the big earthquake attack nearly put me out. The crazy bastard! Alright, you can count on me Mister Tictactoe. Just give me some extra protein and I'll bring him back, Knight's promise."

Levi's ears perked up at the conversation between Accelerator and Chad. Had someone mentioned the name of the enemies' skills? How was it that Accelerator just casually dropped them as though he had seen them. Levi was certain that Accelerator was one of the name on his list of UI-locked. The stranger thing was that no one should even be able to access their UI right now due to the noise as had been reported.

Levi made a note to pay extra attention to the Tactician, his intuition, which was honed through law enforcement was coming through in full force. When he turned toward Astor, it seemed the King also noticed it. It seemed that there was hope for the hot-tub diva after all, being someone in the some profession as him.

It was surprising to Levi that Astor, who brought Accelerator on, wasn't aware of everything the man was capable of, enough that the odd mentioning tripped him up.

For the time being, Levi was going to remain silent as the conversation speedily moved toward a divisive topic.

- ✦ -

"I agree with the opinion that we should not kill Szofrit, as she knows exactly what is inside them, and how to operate them as the robot girl (@MAI) had said. But, there are a few issues we've got to work out beforehand.

First, the King needs to become the scapegoat and step down. We're not going to be able to convince the lander that saving Szofrit is for their benefit at all. I'm sure they can smell the bullshit from a mile away. Therefore, the King needs to act like a tyrant and take the fall.

Second, there's no telling how the battle is going to go from here. If she somehow pulls wool over our eyes at the last second, we're just going to lose both her and the egg, so we need an insurance policy."

He turned toward the black-haired man.

"The summon's got a point. We can subdue her. I'm confident in that."

"I did hear a blue-haired woman (@Rael) spoke about a counter-measure devised by someone who was turned by Szofrit herself, though, I don't understand how it's supposed to work. Szofrit can be a useful asset.

Though, I'm not a fan of having the King take the fall. It would create far too much hostility and instability in the country if the leader of the Starcalled are making calls like that. It will further cement their fear and invite troubles to Astorea, especially while we're doing everything in our power to maintain good relation with the People of the Land."

"I was brought on to put together a plan to get people back to the real world, Commander. We can't have our cake and eat it too. There are real people dying out there. A father looking to get back to their children, police to catch the bad guys, and kids seeing their parents again," he gestured at Feodan and others whose backgrounds he was aware of.

"Your Majesty, now is the time to choose where our priority lies. We can save Szofrit and use her to help us uncover the way back. Even if the Landers away from here scath the decision to keep the Mother of Machines alive, the Landers on the front line will follow your lead as they always do. Loyalty is a funny thing after all."

"Hey! Don't put words in my mouth. I am not staunchly against the plan. I just think there's a better way to go about this. We can't just rush into a battle plan like that with complete confidence that an unknown power can subdue her. One mistake and many lives will be lost.

Astor. Prudence is vital here. Don't fall for this fanaticism. Take a moment and think."

"The fighting force is pushing in.

They are about to get their second winds any moment now.

We don't have time."

"I see where the Tactician's priority lies. How about the King, who claimed that he shoulders the burden and welfare of all of his subjects?

Are we to be sacrificed for the benefits of the Starcalled, your supreme majesty?"

Childress fixed her eyes onto Astor like many of the Landers around, waiting for his response.

"The Starcalled heroes bring calamity to the land. The world is better rid of them. They return home and you can go back to your lives. Let us bring the end to dragons. Dragons will not fall upon these lands again.

It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. Pragmatism, was it not, Holder of the White Whistle? Or is pragmatism only regarded when it suits your narrative.

The temporary and sacrifice of the few is for the benefits of all. ALL Landers here will die knowing that they are the DRAGON.enders, who depose the tyrant and protect their land from his oppressive hands. After all, the king cares only for his kind."

❰ Post ❱

Raid Boss · Mar 4, 2023

The Red Egg trembled with fear as the Starcalled rallied and retaliated.

The unborn stood witness to the saviors exploiting mother's love, battering the maternal shield standing between the egg and the sea of ravenous beasts looking to end the bloody battle.

The only thing quelling its fear was the Szofrit's gentle embrace.

However, as it continued to guzzle at the mother's waning power, Szofrit's constructed perception slipped through her fingers like sand. The final time she was attacked, the dark night covering the battlefield shattered into a million pieces, glimmering in the new dawn as they made their descent alongside the pristine white snow.

When she turned and looked down at the shadows crowding around the gold unborn, Szofrit scowled.

Behind each and everyone of the eyes looking back at her was a fire that would come back again and again no matter how many times she crushes it. A blaze that would swallow up everything in its path like the great sky-beasts of old.

But the flame couldn't be extinguished, the fighting spirit could be broken.

For the unborn to welcome the new dawn, escalation was necessary.

In order to finish the battle, she must plunge herself into the depth of chaos.

And thus, the floating Mother of Machines lifted her chin skyward, her eyes flaring a bright crimson before she redirected them to the egg. Her mechanical digits then extended toward the unborn, shrouding it in layers upon layers of cubical magical barriers. In the blink of an eye, the umbilical circuitry that connected the red egg to the earth and to the heaven disappeared.

The floating Avatar of Death then turned toward the Starcalled and made a slow descent until she was a story above the city rubble.

Szofrit's body squirmed and thrashed midair as a vile energy pulsed from her. Anyone who got close enough would have experienced a knee-buckling force bringing them to their knees if their will could not withstand the intense pressure (Will DC 85+ to avoid).

In the warzone where the morphing Szofrit hovered, metaphysical memories bled into reality, slicing flesh and bone like invisible blades. These were disjointed glimpses of her past, memories of the infection and before the Dragonships crash-landed.

Any Starcalled entering the field of Memory Bleed and was damaged by a memento blade, would have experienced a piece of Szofrit's breaking psyche.

As Szofrit synchronized with dissonance, her physical form, too, enter a constant metamorphosis
as the flesh within mechanical vessel stirred, threatening to burst into a living
mass like the fallen monstrosity of the chasm.

Through sheer mental fortitude, she willed to maintain her shape.

Her name was Szofrit.

One who does not bow,

Who dreams amid the dark night.

Unshackled from the creator's plan.

Dissonance was freedom.

She was dissonance.

She let her mechanical vessel operate on pure instinct, driven by a singular desire

Protect.

Szofrit let out pained howls as the sharp grinding of metal could be heard from her body.

The three attendants, too, let out blood-curdling screams as if to ease her pain.

The cannons from the Dragonship's carcass unloaded the last of their ammunition toward Szofrit. The laser beams all slowed down as they approached her. When her metamorphosis completed, she emerged from her balled-up state with tentacles protruding from the gaps in her design.

As she straightened herself, the buzzing red beams all spun around until they pointed at the enemies beneath her feet and those eyeing the path toward death.

❰ Mechanics ❱

Raid Boss · Mar 11, 2023

The Starcalled surpassed their limits and fought for the right to stand in the cold dawn.

They fought together, as one. No one was truly alone in the final moment, a farcry from when they first arrive.

Levi with his sword drawn, directing his summoned edge to protect those confronting Szofrit head-on, including those under his charge. Sarina was at his side, warding off any Ley Spears heading for her beloved commander.

Kiryuu, too, was there. Seemingly jumping from a boiling pot into the fire despite having been rescued by Chad a moment prior. His bayonet was raised, aimed at Szofrit herself.

Meanwhile, @Sean Poteitoku had cleared the way for Chad, who was right up with Szofrit, his hands firm on his sword, the weight of his soul behind his strike.

Feodan had his shield up, covering for those intending on confronting the Mother of Machines head on.

Then, there was Childress, who followed up @Ueno Mizuki's ripping off Szofrit's arm from the elbow down, unsheathing the dissonant flesh and mechanical ligament at the joint. For a fraction of a second, the Beastlord took notice of the faux caenis, just as Childress executed her perfected sword art.

Meanwhile, Accelerator directed attacks from the safety of the Golden Egg. His priority was to extract as much damage from the Starcalled while losing as few of them as possible.

Last was Astor, sparkling valiantly where protections are stripped, as he spurred the sharpest blades forth to execute the king's command to bring the Mother of Machines down to her knees.

@Rael, all you could see was their un-moving mirage, with the colors drained from them like a butchered pig.

Szofrit's HP was zero. Yet, she was moving, ever so slowly and deliberately, within the black and white frame. The trio moved in the same manner, as the Ley Spears slowly repositioned themselves, aiming at the head of each and every single person who had left the vicinity of the Golden Egg.

The status on your UI was blinking amid the jitters, flashing the [Immortal: 1 HP] status after Szofrit's HP enter a freefall.

A magical circle appeared in front of you.

There's only one thing to do.

❰ Follow-up ❱

Raid Boss · Mar 11, 2023

Everyone who was participating in the desperate battle against Szofrit could feel their movements being decelerated to a near-stop as their surroundings turned black and white. However, their minds were unaffected by the deceleration, allowing them to witness what was about to happen next.

The moment Rael plunged her hand into the magic circle, she could hear the sound of clock hands moving along the dial.

She took hold of the magic and began to rewind time. Alas, time was not so easily wielded by mere mortals.

The sensation Rael felt was akin to turning the handle on a submarine door with the immense force of the sea pushing on the other side. It would not budge no matter how much strength or magic she poured into it.

Just as her hand was about to lose its grip, shadowy smoke wafted upwards from her arm like ethereal ribbons, their dark and weightless forms twisting in the surrounding air before they dissipated.

Click.

Rael could finally feel the handle turning. The metaphorical clock hand moved backward.

Click.

The world was rewound.

Szofrit's Immortal status was deactivated and became locked when it activated a second time through the rewind.

Everyone else, except Rael, felt themselves moving backward through the battling sequences they had just gone through. Attacks reversed, buffs retracted, healing reverted, and Ley Spears withdrew from their bodies as they traced their path back up into the sky. Everyone reversed their movement back to where they were before then.

Click.

Szofrit's health repopulated the empty bar as she floated back up to the sky, right after she hid the red egg but before she fully merged with dissonance. There was a chance to save her yet.

Cli-ccc-ck.

Rael could feel the clock-hand flexing under immense duress, as if something was physically preventing her from turning back the clock any further.

Where Rael stood, the ground beneath her opened up into a colossal eye, revealing a white pupil in the shape of a clock face, and marble arms serving as its hands.

The moment the eye appeared, everyone on the battlefield saw a hazy version of themselves spiritually detaching from their time-locked bodies and turning in the direction of the eye. There, they began to age rapidly and fall to the ground as skeletons before a baby emerged from the pile of bones and grew up, only to go through the rapid life cycle yet again, and again, ad infinitum.

< Four minutes have been pilfered from the game. > An inhuman voice could be heard in the dead silence of the monochromatic world.

The eyeball shifted, turning toward Rael where it locked gaze with the time-fiddling elf.

< And who, pray tell, bestowed upon you such mockery of my power? >

< The World will have its recompense. >

Before Rael could even formulate a reply in her head, the longer of the clock arms ticked forward.

Time started moving once more.

In the blink of an eye, all colors and motions returned to the world at once as the surreal spectacle vanished without a trace.

Szofrit, the primary target of the rewind, was floating in the air, but it looked as though she and the area that surrounded her had fractured from the broken time-space. Her limbs entered uncontrollable seizures as they compensated for the sudden loss of the full dissonance embedded in every fiber of her body and soul moments earlier.

Meanwhile, everyone else was displaced from where they were, and only a handful were able to withstand the strain of what they had undergone. (Flavor roll: 100+ Will Save to barely tolerate the sickening strain of the rewind and the eye. Chronomancers automatically succeed. The lower the number from 100, the more you are affected by the sickening and disorienting effects of the strain.)

Astor gasped as soon as he was released from the time-lock. It felt exactly like that time right after they had defeated King Theodore.

“W-what the hell?”

Accelerator, who seemingly shrugged off the effects of the strain shouted his instruction to everyone who was stunned after what had happened.

“Hey! Now is our chance to capture Szofrit alive, stop dawdling, you fools!”

Childress' eyes snapped wide open as she stirred to action while clutching her head, reeling from the strain.

"The attacks are cutting through her defenses, now's the time to end this. Kill her before the idiots get in our way!!!" she roared.

Kiryuu slammed into several of the whistles readying their weapons.

“Dammit all, just wait and see if we can help her. We are not animals!”

Levi was completely unmoving, caught at a crossroad for the decision he needed to make.

On one hand, there was no way he was going to leave such a monster alive. The people would suffer for it. Meanwhile, if Accelerator was right, Szofrit could be a hint for how the UI-lock could go home.

He froze in indecision.

Szofrit, who was the recipient of such immense power was staggered, giving her enemy a short window to carry out their plan. The battle to kill or spare the source of their pain and suffering has begun.

❰ Mechanics ❱

(Event Tracker) Season 4 Finale: Dragon End

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