World Tree MUSH

Trouble is always happening in this world... that's why it is a Thorn. Trouble that can be accessed easily though? That's something else. The explosion of mana(not a literal explosion) was something that happened reasonably often here... but this area had gotten little attention since it happened. So when a Vine drops in and stabilizes near it some weeks after the initial incident, it's very, very easy to imagine people checking it out.

Anyone that Kiyohime could grab was of course arriving with her. The kimono-clad woman had no weapons out, but was moving cautiously toward... the corpses of two giant, building-sized spiders. Yes, corpses. From the distance, it appears that several small ramshackle buildings had sprung up, and one of the abdomens of the spiders had a gaping hole which also provided shelter. People were LIVING here, apparently, in the remains of a battle with one of the offworld threats. "Hmn. Now that is surprising."

    "Did you pack me a lunch? Hey... hey.... hey Kiyo-chan, did you pack me a lunch? I'm hungry. Do you have any food?" 

    Shin Tokuyama is pretty much directly alongside Kiyohime as they arrive, tugging on the sleeve of her kimono as she leads the way in. As usual, whenever he is around her, he is trying to take advantage of her EX Waifu Status and bum food off the dragon girl. She may or may not be annoyed by this, it's up to her. 

    Either way, he seems less concerned with the giant dead spiders, "That's resourceful. Of course, it'll probably come back to life later and create a chaotic scenario when their home is literally rampaging across the country-side with their little town inside of it. I saw an anime about that once. The spider was called Destroyer." He rubs his chin.

    SOMEWHERE ELSE

    Olivia's mouth hangs open as she looks on with disbelief. "No... why-- why...?"

    The succubus' chuckle is rich and deep as she shakes her head. She leans forward, laying a tapered, sharp finger on the angel's bloodied cheek. The blade had driven deep into her abdomen, and there's a laugh as she twists it and prompts a louder scream.

    "Oh, Olivia. You just can't help yourself, can you? Farewell. See you on the other side..."

    The angel descends, consciousness starting to fade...

    HERE

    The fallen angel couldn't really figure out how long she'd been falling. It felt like she was going to lapse into unconsciousness, but something kept her clinging onto wakefulness, again and again -- as if to succumb into the darkness was a final fate that she didn't quite want to embrace yet.

    A dusk-winged figure is easily seen careening form high within the skies, and crashes near the carapace of one of the felled, gigantic spiders. That's certainly also surprising.

    MOMENTS AGO:
    "Sister, you're NEEDED at the castle, please stop wandering off. The masses are growing restless, and..."
    "Huh-uh, huh-uh," Vania answers, poking at a strange, large flower with a stick. "Hey look, it's moving, it's moving!"
    "SISTER, please listen to me!"
    The plant bursts out of the ground, forming a shimmering portal. Vania oohs, while the boy who looks a staggeringly lot like her with short hair seems entirely unamused.
    "Look look it's one of those things again!"
    Vania hops off the ground, hovering over it, edging closer to the portal. Her brother frowns.
    "Don't you dare step through that."
    Vania edges closer.
    "Don't. You. Dare."
    Vania edges closer.
    "/SISTER/."
    Vania squees. A bat crashes into the boy's face, making him trip backwards and onto his ass. Vania disappears into the Vine.

    NOW:
    A vampire princess appears behind Shin and Kiyohime, eyes sparkling in a way only the promise of treats can create. "Did you say food?! And what's with the giant spiders? What happened here anyway?"

    She's floating in midair and not standing still, but that's nothing new. Maybe unsurprising is that she flutters even more excitedly when something plummets down from the skies. "Look, maybe it's the food! What a clumsy delivery person!" Let's go find out!

    "What is an anime?" Yahiko is following along because he has little better to do but hunt trouble... even if this obviously isn't the world he's looking for. For a brief moment he is crestfallen, then the boy starts staring at the giant insects. Oh god why. That's just awful.

    But the falling Olivia gets his attention as well! "What was that...?" Crashing into stuff, falling from on high... that's definitely bad news! Like Vania, Yahiko is swiftly moving, darting toward the two spiders and the little town within. Also hoping Shin is not right.

Trouble has a habit of drawing trouble. 

While the others might have come at the bidding of Kiyohime, there is another, a more... magely looking type that approaches the source of the disturbance. Such a magically... /dangerous/ area reeks of opportunity. Something the magus is interested in taking advantage of, as he has precious little of it lately. 

Lezard Valeth, Sorceror of Midgard, is standing on top of a building overlooking the situation. He adjusts his glasses, frowning at the sight of the massive corpses. He reaches into space, pulling out a thick tome from a strange warp, and opens it, the pages flipping rapidly as he looks through it, glancing up at the things again... 

And his frown deepens more, snapping the book shut with a low "Bah." 

The falling black-winged angel gets a... /reaction/ from Lezard as he sees the being careen downwards in what is absolutely not a graceful, Valkyrie-like glide. "What in the /blazes/ is wrong with this place?" He mutters, and leaps from the building, climbing down on some nearby rubble as he lands near the trio. "Greetings." He says to the four. "I happened to be passing by. Is this kind of instance /normal/ for this land?" He asks. "And did the falling winged being happen to belong to any of you?" He adds, adjusting his glasses once more, watching for signs of Heroism and/or Protagonism amongst the group.

    Shin has a few things to respond to, first is Vania, "Yeah. She's a designate-Yandere. So she probably has a tasty lunch all set and ready for me." He tells the vampire girl, rubbing his hands together, "Hopefully a bento with some nice pork cutlet." His stomach rumbles a bit. 

    And then Yahiko asks him what an anime is. Shin pulls his phone out of his jacket and holds it up to the young Samurai, "Here. This explains it." 

    For Yahiko: https://i.imgur.com/fy5B7sG.jpg 

    And then Shin whips around, "Did a girl just fall from the sky?!" Shin is IMMEDIATELY sprinting in the direction of where Olivia impacted, "Dibs! DIBS!"

Kiyohime is learning. Without even looking aside, she has a bento ready for Shin. She's learned by now that any trouble likely to draw people from other worlds is likely to include a hungry martial artist who spouts strange things. She looks tolerant of this behavior... at first.

Then Shin calls dibs on the woman falling from the sky and takes off after them. Lezard is ignored for a precious few moments as Kiyohime narrows her eyes, her fists clenching... and then she smooths her clothes and regards the mage. "Normal is no longer a term we can use. This land has several strange things about it. Most likely you are one of them. I suppose we should see what has happened." She isn't in a hurry to rescue an obvious otherworldly being when everyone else is on it.

Meanwhile Olivia's crash has several young people in white robes surrounding the crash site, whispering with worry. They actually look more concerned than anything, and this group, at least, is not in a hurry to stand in front of anyone incoming. Only one of them speaks up, asking, "Travellers?"

    Olivia is... in rather a bad state, even for a primal beast -- the weapon that's been driven straight through her abdomen has a faintly enchanted tinge to it, and it's with a great deal of effort that she struggles and peers through her slightly clouded vision towards the white-robed fellows that have gathered around her. "Who...?"

    The angel's wings are large, with a colouration approaching deep purple gradienting to orange -- the colour of the sky at twilight; her garments are black and white, indicating a world of perhaps fantastic nature. Horns protrude from either side of her head, perhaps indicating an unusual manner of creature compared to a regular angel.

    She hasn't quite cottoned on to Shin shouting 'dibs' at her.

    Shin never promised you exclusivity! But he is at least aware of Kiyohime's tendencies as he shouts over his shoulder, "Thank you, Kiyohime! You make the best bentos!" While he dashes off, carrying it with him like it was a precious treasure. 

    He doesn't even stop to talk to the robed people as he shoves past immediately towards Olivia, "GREETINGS!" He shouts at her as she stands up. 

    He strikes a dramatic pose, "Hello fellow Isekai protagonist! My name is Shin Tokuyama, greatest sage of martial arts throughout the tree! Your descent from heaven marks a destined meeting and your movement to another world! And my being here trips the first flag in many that will create a long and lasting bond between us!" 

    He shifts his stance, giving Olivia a thumbs-up, "Please state your character class and backstory! Are you a temporary party member or are you recruitable later?"

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Shin should never greet strange new people in a foreign land.

    "Nuh-uh! If I owed a winged lady like that I bet I'd remember!" Vania answers the mere mage, stopping just long enough to actually do that and acknowledge Kiyohime does in fact have a bento. Shin is good! Too bad it looks like it isn't time for food right this moment. "But yeah! Normal's boring! I live in a normal castle and it's really dull, that's why I'm never home! When you go through weird portals at random you always end up in cool places with things going on!"

    Like winged ladies falling from the sky.
    And spider-buildings.

    "Come on, come on, let's not keep her waiting! What if the locals are actually baby spiders and want to eat her? We should take preventive measures!!"

    Preventive measures means summoning a lot of bats. There's a dozen adorable furry winged cats all around Vania now, and surely that won't cause any problems when approaching the Dark Angel and the locals.

    Well, less than Shin speaking that weird and confusing language again. Vania is very confused.

Oh look, someone running off and yelling like an idiot. The subject is promptly designated a hero-type and placed into the 'meatshield' category until they inevitably do something ill-advised.

He meddles in the affairs of 'heroes' all the time, there are certain patterns they follow. Maybe he can make this one useful somehow. 

After all, if he can end up out here, maybe Lenneth would if enough heroes were around in suitable condition...

Still, Kiyohime is kind enough to answer him, though her immediate temperment gets a faint squint from the magus. "Oh, there is nothing exceptionally strange about me. Surely, a land such as this would have many magicians, yes?" 

Shin's continued carrying on causes Lezard to openly stare at the absurd things spilling from the boy's mouth. The book is opened again, and he flips through it once more, frowning again before shaking his head in mild frustration. 

Yes, this is absolutely Asgard-fodder.

Lezard moves on, letting the others take the lead as he watches the situation. He does, however, answer the white-robed person who asks, "Yes. We are travellers, some of us from far-distant lands. What manner of occurance happened here regarding the beasts?" He gestures up at the spider-corpses. "I would not expect people to take up residence in such a place." A pause, as Lezard realizes he's making an assumption. 

They might not be /people/ at all, after all.

    Yahiko isn't as fast as the others, but yes, he's rushing to aid! He is, unfortunately, very much the type to be a hero-type. He isn't drawing his sword or anything though... just wushing to see if anyone is injured. Which... puts him looking at Olivia oddly. Okay, wings. And robed people.

    "Do you have a doctor around or something?" He tries to get an idea on if he's in the East or West... or even the technology of this world.

    Also, he is flushed. Not because of the run over here, but because of Shin showing him something that made the boy startled and embarrassed.

Since she's going at a more sedate pace, Kiyohime explains to Lezard, "Magicians are not common in this world, so you must be from another. Oh, we have them, but they do not advertise," she says mildly. This much information is easy to get, so she sees no harm in giving it out. She definitely has her eye on the new girl though, even if she doesn't move in close. "Hmmm..." A little leap... little for her, at least... carries Kiyohime up atop one of the small shacks to take a better look at the monstrous spiders. Oh, definitely dead then.

Meanwhile the people in robes look about, and one hurries over to fetch someone else, a smaller group heading this way. The more talkative one from before will answer the questions, "We have a doctor to look at her." Then to Lezard, "Oh, the Divine Beasts came to cleanse this land, but were struck down temporarily. We await their rebirth, so we may take part in the newly born land that will arise."

That's not creepy at all.

But other than that they seem harmless, with several clustering around and murmuring, "Oh, she shouldn't move... a wound like that..." Yes, they seem concerned, though a little disturbed by Vania's bats.

Actually the two in the lead of the group coming upon Olivia and the others really seem to glare at the bats. "Are those necessary? Here? An insult to our Divine Protectors."

    'Overwhelmed' may be too mild a word for what Olivia's reaction is to the martial artist showing her in enhusiastic exclamation. She has absolutely no idea what half the words he's shouting is. "... descent from... heaven? I wasn't... Another--"

    Her head lowers, ruby-red eyes lighting up a little at the mention of 'another world'. Her brow creases as she winces to say, "Is this... the New World...?" she shifts, and gasps timidly as the blade continues to shift inside of her. A final parting gift from Sylvia.

    ...Character Class...?? Backstory?? Recruitable??

    "I'm afraid I know nothing of what you are querying me," Olivia answers forthrightly. She glances towards the young vampire princess shrouded by bats, however. She looks familiar... but she can't quite place her finger on it.

    There's another boy asking for a doctor. "Divine Protectors?" her eyes narrow for a moment. "Am I still in the realm of the Creator...?"

    Shin watches Olivia for a few moments. He seems to be assessing her personality and determining how best to respond to all her inquiries. He doesn't KNOW the answer to most of her questions, but he also doesn't want to admit that. He also wants to keep this social link going, but he's trying to assess the best way to respond. His eyes flash as he seems to decide. 

    "Hmph! I was just welcoming you because it was my job!" Shin declares, pointing at her and letting out a huff, "Don't assume I'm just going to answer all your questions! You baka! You owe me for this greeting, so you better pay up later and not die!" He stomps his foot and then turns away from her to walk away huffily. 

    Dark Angel Olivia has been assigned: Shin-variant - Tsundere Shin. 

    He stomps his way past the Divine Protectors, past the other people heading over to Olivia. His introduction is done and he's pretty mildly returning to Kiyohime's side. It takes him a bit more effort to get up there than it took her, requiring multiple jumps and some precarious scrambling up ledges before he can plop down on the ground next to her and open up his bento. 

    "Ah! Thanks for the meal!" He claps his hands together and then digs into Kiyohime's cooking with chopsticks, "Phew. Delicious as ever, Kiyo!"

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Shin determines an attitude of interaction for Olivia. Heads back to Kiyohime so he can eat.

>> SUMMARY[Dark Angel Olivia] >> Olivia is so confused.

    "What!" Vania answers the cultist who questions her choice of company. "Your Divine Protector sucks if he doesn't like bats! My bloodkin are the ultimate companions! They never complain or say no! And look at how cute they are!"

    Vania whistles. The bats adopt a formation.
    They form a vertical heart around the princess, as she makes a point to hover in its center. "See, see! You can't find better bloodkin anywhere!"

    What kind of awful place thinks bats are an insult to their whatever or whoever! Gosh now she's kind of mad.

    Although, seeing Olivia up close seems to clear that up. The vampire taps her chin. "Huh, I feel like I've seen her before. No, maybe not seen, maybe more... read... about?" The disadvantage of being sheltered for who knows how long.

    "Maybe some kind of story or legend. Sorry though! We're not in the Sky anymore! It turns out there's tons of other worlds out there! You know, at first I thought it was just more islands, but these places are BIIIIG, way bigger than even Skydoms!"

    Vania pauses, as Shin storms off, just long enough to look down at the weapon in Olivia's chest. "I'm not a doctor princess but I think we should take that out of you or something." Hopefully those locals have good doctors. Doctors who don't hate bats.

    Yahiko doesn't have much to help with here. "Pulling out that sword could make her bleed out all over..." He frowns, making some room for the doctor now. Lezard looks kind of doctory too. Maybe he's trustworthy.

    But a young samurai doesn't have much to do here. Also, the way they are talking is... pretty creepy. Like, really creepy. It gives him the willies, and he's glad he never ran into anything mystical and weirdly fanatical back home like a feng shui arc or something awful like that.

    "Let the doctor take a look. Miss, relax, he always talks like that I think. He's actually kind of um... clearer today than other times." At least he isn't glowing this time. "I'm Yahiko Myojin, do you have a name?" He's trying to keep her focused on him so she won't pass out or something.

"Hmm... I see. Have they been persecuted, then?" Lezard asks, not directly confirming or denying whether he is from another world even though it's fairly obvious. 

He observes Kiyohime looking over the spiders, but turns his attention back to the robed people. "Divine Beasts." Lezard states in an expression best described as 'dangerously neutral'. "Can you tell me more about these. 'Divine Beasts'? In what manner are they divine? What legends do you hold about them? How did they come to be killed in the first place, if they were truly divine?" 

After asking those questions, Lezard begins approaching one of the fallen spiders himself, looking over the state of the corpses closely.

He's been diverted from messing in with Olivia for the moment. He might have an Example to Make.

>> SUMMARY[Lezard Valeth] >> #triggered

>> SUMMARY[Yahiko Myojin] >> Trying to keep Olivia in the conversation and distracted from the sword in her gut.

Kiyohime places her hand on Shin's head. For some reason. But she's still looking at the creatures. When Lezard joins her in examining them, she says, "Definitely not of this world. Not even a modification of this world. Probably magical of some kind. Strange though... most of the calamities are in large cities, and this is in the middle of nowhere. Was it just a coincidence?" Then to Lezard, "This is my world. These are not native, nor are you. They are part of a system to bring humanity to the brink of extinction. Do you know anything that could do this?"

She's also listening to the replies. "The armies of the world could not stand up even to the newborn and confused beasts. They were struck down but not defeated... we are sure they will arise again and cleanse the world of belief in the false gods." Boy, these guys just don't let up. But they do have some reasons to believe that.

As the small group comes over to Olivia, one of the leaders murmurs, "Stand aside." In... what sounds like a half dozen or more different voices. She moves to Olivia's side, and states, "Be still." Then unless Olivia or one of the others stops her, she's going to draw the sword out... while spreading a warm, sticky substance upon the wound, which will keep the bleeding out.

The other leader, a male, also speaks in that multitude of voices. "The time of renewal is near. We will save this outsider so they may see the new world." That's not going to lead to any misunderstandings, is it? But it's the leaders who are really shying away from the bats more, even if it seems a subtle disgust more than anything else.

    Shin makes a vague noise when a hand is placed on his head, but he doesn't move away or complain. Instead, he considers the situation, "Maybe the spider things were dying and hopped over to this area to try to get away, but wound up dying due to their wounds. And then they let out a thing that corrupted the world around them and now there's creepy cultists. Like that one video game with the dragons and the sub-par plot and the rhythm game that kind of made no sense and had barely connected sequels." 

    He's eating the bento as he muses this and then looks up at Kiyohime after a few moments, "So whose ass you gotta kick to fix this situation right now?" He asks her bluntly, "Also if they're really spider people, that explains why they hate bats. Bats eat bugs. She's their natural predator."

    There's an utterly hopelessly lost look on Olivia's face, even past the blood and the stab-wound, as Shin tsuns out with the best of them and huffily stomps off! Alas, Olivia is unfamiliar with the court rules of the Rising Tsun, and cannot respond accordingly. Or, perhaps, by being baffled, she already has?

    Her eyes follow him where he's returned to Kiyohime, but back towards Vania as she-- speaks, "The Skydom... so you know of it? Have I truly fallen beyond even the Skydom of Phantagarde?" It seemed clear to her that the young vampire was, at the very least, more on her level than anyone else here... she should inquire, when she's--

    Yahiko comes up and encourages her to keep speaking, and to not dwell on her wound. "Oh. My apologies. I am... Olivia," she speaks plainly. "I came from a realm of war, between the gods and demons... well met, Yahiko."

    But a small group comes towards her, and her head spins a little as she listens to the voice. She likely wouldn't have the strength to resist them anyhow, wincing as she concentrates on what little of her own strength-- how /little/ strength is left, she just notices --to prevent herself from passing out as Sylvia's blade is drawn out.

    "Agh-- uhh--"

    The substance is applied upon her, and it seems to gel well as she draws her head back. "My gratitude..." A pause. 

    Her eyes widen gently as she whispers, "The New World..." with a kind of emphasis that you kinda just know she's speaking of it like a proper noun. She looks towards the Convictor's blade with a measure of scorn for a moment, thinking just how poorly she fared against her mortal foe.

    Wince! Yahiko steps back when Olivia is doctored, and now he can pay more attention to other things. Well, as soon as he finishes being polite. He's not the most well-mannered boy, but he knows the basics. "Well met. It looks like they have you... in... hand..."

    Oh, the voices. That's really weird and creepy. Yahiko is going to shuffle over thataway for now, and finally put his hand on his sword hilt. Shin and Vania are the ones he knows, so they get to have the young swordsman hanging around. "Is... is that normal? The voices thing?"

The fallen winged being is not within Lezard's wheelhouse anymore at the moment. He shrugs to Kiyohime's question. "These beasts are not native to my own world, I can assure you. Though why it was drawn here... I would say that some form of trigger or draw would need to be present. Or perhaps this is the edge of an occurence that might target a larger area." He sees no issue with providing Kiyohime with his own thoughts on the matter. It won't be relevant in a moment. "My land possesses legends of a great battle that will destroy mankind, but these creatures are not part of it." 

Lezard straightens up and turns away from the beast he was examining, observing the /irritatingly/ ritualistic behavior, the devotion to these corpses. A thin, malevolent smile works its way across Lezard's face as he presses a finger to his glasses, the lenses Glinting Ominously in a sign that probably warns Shin that some crap is about to go down. "If they do not belong here..." He says to Kiyohime. "Then I trust you will not mind if I /clean up/ the mess for you?" 

Then his voice rises, as he snaps his book open once more. "If you call these beings divine, then I wonder what one would think if they could bring forth the resurrection you so crave?" 

His smile deepens. "Though perhaps not as you expect..." 

His hands reach out, and a surge of Power rises around him as a magical circle draws itself beneath him. Mana flows about him, a beacon as he engages a ritual of his own. His voice rings out, rolling through the air, echoing with the power of magic behind it. "I am he who hath entrusted his soul to the eternal vortex of time. Ye know me! And if ye do not, ye shall be made to know me. It shall be engraved on thy very soul... LEZARD VALETH!"

As he calls out his name, purple flame erupts within one of the beasts, though it does not consume the thing... Lezard continues to intone as he calls out, "If ye shall accept the brand of Hel upon thee, thy sanctions shall in turn be lowered. I shall grant thee the deliverance of thy soul, and ye shall come now before me!"

The purple flames infuse the hulking spider thing, shot through with the beginnings of putresence... And there is a rumble as the thing begins to shudder, shaking off rubble and debris as it begins to move.

>> SUMMARY[Lezard Valeth] >> It's a dead man's party, leave your body and soul at the door.

>> SUMMARY[Lezard Valeth] >> Also: hello, this is necromancer, mind if I borrow the dead monster you're worshipping? Awesome, thanks.

    On one hand, skilled doctors.
    On the other, these guys are still clearly wary of her bloodkin, and Vania is nothing if not loyal to her kin. Even if it could be debated that vampires aren't quite related to bats, and they're neither blood nor kin.
    But look, she has little bat wings sticking out of her head, so it's still pretty legit.

    She'll forgive their transgressions, because talking to Olivia is more fun than trying to convince spider-lovers of the virtues of bats. It's on her docket though.

    "Yeah! I'm from Medvecia, but I know about that Skydom!" You know, she can't quite recall which one her island is in. Geography isn't her strong suit.

    Err, well. Skygraphy? Aerography? Sky worlds are weird, shut up.

    "There's like... hundreds of worlds! Thousands! And they're all really weird and different from each other, except the ones that aren't!" Which is a fair few of them, probably. "Olivia, Olivia... I feel like I should know that name!" Vania huffs, and puffs, and pouts. "They should make more books that aren't boring, and then I'd know stuff!" Not enough images in most. She can't stand reading.

    Yahiko, then, gets a: "I dunno but the multivoice stuff is pretty creepy. But cool! If I could teach my bats to talk I'd make them echo me like that, it'd be great!" And annoying.

    Suddenly, necromancy.
    Vania doesn't... seem to mind? Actually she's watching on with the glee and excitement of a child, because it doesn't register this could be bad for her. It's cool to look at! She might change her mind if the spider tries to eat her. That'd be a thing.

This is where Kiyohime's own priorities start to show oddly. Necromancy can be very bad, but when the spider lurches to life, Kiyohime does nothing more than summon her naginata, holding it at the ready while... observing. She eyes Lezard's incantation and his 'offer' there, and then tsks, "Using such things in this world will not make you friends. But if you are truly going to clean them up... then I don't care."

In fact, this might be where she crosses a line with her other companions. "These people obviously worship the offworld dangers. I wonder if they would return to their senses if the leaders were killed?" It's something she's totally willing to do, though given she's nowhere near them right now, someone else can easily try something less fatal if they wish.

As for the cultists? Surprisingly, many turn and fall to their knees, gasping before raising their arms to the sky! It looks like they're about to worship it? But then the leaders are there, speaking in those strange voices, "No! This is an aberration! The body of the Divine is being moved by heresy, not the will of the beasts!" Which is... true enough, but it's causing the cultists to look confused, stumbling about, and then beginning to gather around the leaders. The hubbub of questions surrounds, probably wanting to know more details.

    "Well, Kiyo. I guess this is going to be our relationship's first disagreement." Shin says as he finishes up the bento he was eating. The martial artist hands the box back to her in case she wants to re-use it and then reaches up to take off the sunglasses he's almost always wearing. 

    "Hold these for me. And pick me up if I get my ass kicked." 

    Shin pushes himself to his feet and calmly unbuttons his suit jacket and dress shirt, throwing them to the side and leaving himself stripped from the waist up as he rolls his joints, managing to pop the joints in his back, shoulders, and knuckles all in one smooth motion. He seems markedly more serious than usual. 

    "Oi. Mage guy." Shin points at Lezard, "If you wanna take this thing, I won't stop you and I can't stop you. But, no matter how creepy these people are, I can't let you just kill em to prove a point. That's an SR-tier, or even maybe an SSR-tier, girl they just patched up. Do you know how rare those are from the gacha? If they can rate-up someone like that, serve as a catalyst for it." 

    Shin clenches his hand into a fist, "Then they must be protected, no matter how freaky weird they are!" 

    "So now I'm standing in your way!"

    "Medvecia...?" Olivia whispers, as if she's not certain. The names of various places flash through her mind for a moment, as she realises that all isn't exactly there. She holds her hand and winces for a moment. Mysteria... whatever happened to those that she was travelling with?

    She scarce gets a chance to ponder that.

    Perhaps, ironically, the fallen winged being will be in the necromancer's wheelhouse further as she raises a hand and rises gently to her feet.

    "Such fell magic..." there's a deep scowl in Olivia's face. Even if she were a fallen angel... her eyes widen as the purple flames start to coalesce around the spider and drawing its putrescence forth, raising it from death in a manner and robbing repose from it in a way-- a way she finds repugnant.

    In many ways, Olivia is a felled angel not due to transgression, but due to curiosity. She looks towards the cult's leaders and bites her lip. "I know not of your customs, or the conflict in this realm... but I owe you for healing me."

    She looks up towards the necromancer.

    "You defile the soul of this creature, sir... I cannot overlook that."

    She closes her eyes, and her hand juts to one side as she focuses -- inwardsly grimacing, as she realises just how little power there is. Still, she's got to make do with whatever power she can summon...

    "To my side, my loyal blades! Battle awaits us!"

    A faint glimmer and a spark, and the hilts of twin blades coalesce out of nowhere, cascading outwards to the form of black weapons that are matched in form, function and elegance.

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Looking serious...ish.

>> SUMMARY[Dark Angel Olivia] >> Olivia is pretending to be a valkyrie. ... I mean, she kind of is one, if you squint hard enough.

    Okay. That is. Definitely not normal. Yahiko isn't sure exactly what Lezard's deal is because he hasn't been paying attention to anything but the GAPING STAB WOUND, but he's pretty sure animating a giant spider doesn't have anything good going for it. Also, Kiyohime just said she wanted to kill everyone.

    "I think we should maybe negotiate about this a little!" Yahiko has come a long way in the last few years. Gained confidence. Skills. All that jazz. But he's also still a young boy and he's starting to realize he's constantly ending up out of his element. So he falls back to the only thing he knows.

    The reverse-blade sword leaps from its sheath, and he steps up next to Shin. "You think she'll do it?"

    And Lezard? "I..." Stop. "What are you doing with that spider?" There's no way he can say this that doesn't sound more ridiculous than angry and demanding!

"I have no desure to harm this world. You have scum to remove. I will assist. How it happens are minor details, isn't it?" Lezard says as the magic dies away, the book floating beside him attentively over one hand. "Once I am done here, I will remove the cultists and corpses from the world, and you will likely never see them again." It seems that he's twigged to Kiyohime's motivation in all this. Not that she's disguised it much at all. Makes reaching a common ground /so/ much easier.

With a sudden dash, Lezard leaps onto one of the legs of the arachnoid abomination, swinging up onto the thing's back behind the head, riding it in classic style. He looks down upon Shin with an amused smile. "Do you truly believe that these people mean anything?" He asks. "Deluded fools who cower before monsters and call them /gods/. YOU KNOW NOTHING OF DIVINITY!" He clenches a fist, then points down at the cultists. "YOU WHO CALLED UPON THE FORCES OF DESTRUCTION! YOU WHO WORSHIP THE END OF MAN! WITNESS THE FRUITS OF YOUR BELOVED FAITH, AND PERISH IN DESPAIR!" 

With a flourish of his cape, he points forward. "The lives of these cultists are forfeit. Do not be more of a fool than you appear to be. It is too early for the Chooser to take you... But do not think that I will hold back my hand if you demand it." 

Olivia's cry gets a /twitch/ from the Necromancer, as he turns to look at the dark angel. "Why would one such as /you/ care about the integrity of the soul of a monster?" He asks. "But suit yourself. OPEN THE GATES OF NIFLHEIM! MORE SOULS AWAIT!" As he makes his declaration, the horror lurches forward, leaking rot and bile from the wounds that felled it moments before it simply... Lunges forard in an attempt to crush the cultists underneath. And anyone else who doesn't seem willing to get out of the way.

>> SUMMARY[Lezard Valeth] >> Lezard gives a /lot/ of villain speeching. Also laughs at cultists before ordering the spider to kill said cultists. And anyone who gets in the way of that. The giant spider-monster simply tries to crush them with rotting bulk.

    What's Olivia doing? "Huh? Wait, are you going to fight that thing? But it's a big dumb spider worshipped by people who hate bats! It probably has like, no redeeming qualities!" None whatsoever. "Besides, this place is awful, they could find a better place to live and follow their big zombie god somewhere else!"

    It'd work out great, Vania feels. Evidently no one else seems to agree except Kiyohime.

    This was the idea, at least, until the spider lurched forward and just CRASHED straight down. Vania hovers away - it's less flight and more an aerial dash to the side - because she was uncomfortably close to the cultists. And she likes not being a pancake, for that matter.

    "Hey! What gives!" She puts her best angry little girl face on. "You're kind of rude! C'mon bloodkin, let's teach him a lesson!"

    Vania doesn't have bats anymore, she has lasers. The dozen critters that were floating alongside her turns into bright pink and blue beams of magic, aimed at the legs of the zombie spider god. It's not nearly as threatening as it looks.

Kiyohime pouts, then lowers her naginata, "I don't enjoy doing this." That's to Shin. "But it must be done. This is my purpose." She stares at him, and then looks at Yahiko as well. That looks like it's going to be unpleasant. With everyone lining up to take care of things in their own way, Kiyohime steps off the top of the shack with a sigh, her naginata whipping into a ready position when she lands. "If I need to battle you both, I will," she says with a strain at Shin and Yahiko. The others, she's not sure about, but Lezard seems to have Olivia in hand for now... and she's not sure she can handle Vania on top of the other two. Not without doing something she'd rather not. At least the light jab is with the butt end of her polearm. She only needs to keep these two busy, not hurt them. "I am saving this world."

True, not killing the cultists would be better, but she is not Emiya. She doesn't really have a dedication to saving everyone. The cultists though... they want saved! The woman leader screams, "NO! I won't let you!"

And the man shouts, "No, it's too early!"

Just before the woman bursts into a spray of smaller spiderlike THINGS that skitter about, a few being crushed underfoot, and others scrambling toward the cultists. One manages to land a bite... and burrow within, causing the skin to turn purple and the cultist to stiffen, before leaping at the leg of the spider with an incoherent shriek and far more strength than it seems possible.

The remaining cultists are in disarray. Some are running from the spider Lezard has animated, others are dropping to their knees to welcome the baby ones, and still others are trying to get away from BOTH, doubtless having some second thoughts about this cleansing's methods.

    Lezard directly accuses Olivia of her concern of the soul of a monster.

    It does make her dwell for a moment -- the unusual circumstance of her creation, the vague and unknowable designs of her Creator and why she has been cast into darkness, to fight darkness--

    "From the loftiest celestial peaks, to the deepest of infernal reaches... souls all have their destinies, sir," Olivia speaks formally, even addressing one that is an enemy at present.

    "Far it for me to lead them astray... fallen or not, my role in the great cosmology forbids me from approving such an act!" 

    Vania questions why she's fighting it -- and really, given her nature, she can't blame Vania for not wanting to join in the battle. But with one swoop, she's drawn forward and held her arm out--

    --the cross of both her blades floating in the air as she wills them to hold against that gigantic spider's arm. Even at her full strength, she's uncertain whether or not she would have the power to hold it at bay... and weakened as she is now...

    Her eyes shoot wider as she sees the female cultist burst into a swarm of smaller spiders. Some of them burrow and-- devour the other cultists. This just got even more desperate. She turns her head towards Yahiko, Shin and the cultists. "Get whoever you can out of here, before they can be bitten! Go, while I've this arm sustained!" her voice is strained, and she knows this is a battle she's going to lose, but... she doesn't have to win it.

>> SUMMARY[Dark Angel Olivia] >> Olivia is attempting to hold the claw in place to buy people time!

    Kiyohime faces off with Yahiko and Shin, and Yahiko hears what she's saying... and what Olivia is suggesting. It clicks then. "Shin... she's letting you save those people. One of us needs to stay and fight but it doesn't have to be both." That's Yahiko's reading on it anyway. He raises his blade, getting into a stance...

    The dull-bladed sword will do a few quick strikes forward, short slashes and then some fancy footwork meant to keep Kiyohime off-balance. He'll keep up the assault if Shin goes to save the cultists. If not... well. He'll be the one to disengage.

    "I dunno. I kinda hope she doesn't. Out of everyone here, Kiyohime is the one I want to fight the least." Shin admits to Yahiko as he calmly clenches and unclenches his hand, assessing the situation around him and taking stock. Narratively, he may be an idiot. In a fight, his ability to analyze a situation is borderline genius. 

    As the creature lurches up, Shin squints his eyes and fixes his heterochromatic eyes on it. He shouts, "Oi! You two girls. Aim for the wounds already on it. You'll make them worse. It's already been killed once, you ain't gotta work hard to make new mortal wounds, just make the existing ones worse so it'll fall apart." 

    To Lezard, Shin tilts his head a bit, "You don't want to kill me here." Shin says vaguely. Part of his taking stock of the situation is acknowledging all present parties, "It'd make this go sideways even worse. You'd be smarter to take the Spider and go without killing anyone else, or at least trying not to kill me." 

    And then Kiyohime is squaring off with him and Yahiko. Shin puts his hands up defensively, but then... Yahiko is stepping forward to engage the Counter Guardian. Shin lets out a 'tch' noise, "Fine. Call if you need help, guy." 

    And then Shin is darting away. He moves pretty fast. Not Zwee-Fighting speed, but a good clip. He's grabbing cultists by the cuffs of their shirts and not being all that gentle as he hammer-throws them using clothing grip and circular rotations to rapidly begin tossing people out of the way, "Move, ya chucklefucks." Shin says flatly, clearly unhappy with the circumstances that have brought him to fight against Kiyohime. 

    Where he can, he's also stomping out any of the smaller spiders that are trying to bite the people he's tossing out of the way. And those people are really soaring, too. Going tens of yards with each toss to try to get them clear of danger.

>> SUMMARY[Shin Tokuyama] >> Dispensing some fight advice to Vania and Olivia. Talking to Lezard. Re: Kiyohime is vaguely grumpy at how stuff turned out today. Trying to save who he can.

Lezard, if anything, just laughs /more/ as the woman explodes into horrible skittering spiders. "Oh, the layers never /end/!" He cries, even as the reanimated horror begins to be forestalled by the combined efforts of Olivia and Vania. 

Vania's blazing lasers seem to be shredding into the beast, slowly tearing at its flesh while Olivia's dedicated defenses clash with the massive arm of the spider horror. The force pushes back and forth, the multiple blades struggling with the recently reanimated flesh... and it's hard to tell if one might overcome the other immediately. 

While Lezard might content himself with toying with the angel for the moment, he has the combined problems of Vania's lasers and the poisonous, berserking cultist that is slamming at the thing it professed to worship. The combined impacts cause a leg to snap, the beast staggering as a fresh wave of hellish putrescence splatters along the ground in a spray if rotten ichor.

Lezard's grimace is evident as Olivia speaks of her dedication. "Weak-willed woman, willing to while yourself away in service to a consmology that has forsaken you. The role one has in any structure is one that they choose to acquire for thsmselves. If that is the limit of your will... so be it." 

He also looks to Vania, who seems to be intent on lasering the beast with bat-beams. "If you are seeking a lesson, then I suppose that I will have to provide it." 

While Lezard could let the beast rampage some more, Shin is (perhaps regrettably and against all odds) correct. While he doesn't directly answer the Aggressively Protagonistic character, Lezard DOES do something else. Leaving the beast to struggle and be blasted, his tome opens once again. 

There is another surge of mana as Lezard channels another spell. This one, however, is not nearly so extended. "FIRE STORM!" He calls out, thrusting his hand out over the area. 

A crimson circle flares up, before erupting under the cultist attacking the spider, blasting upwards in a gout of intense flame. Others begin to erupt too, aimed at nearby cultists in an area around Lezard. The cultists being hurled by Shin seem to not be targeted, perhaps it's too far away. However, the skittering spiders are not spared the blaze, and at least one of them /pointedly/ erupts under the male leader, seeking to consume him and his likely arachnid cargo in a wave of annihilating fire. 

Vania and Olivia are also not spared the firestorm, having only a moment to predict the incoming attack before it explodes up beneath them.

>> SUMMARY[Lezard Valeth] >> Lezard yells back at people and takes a direct hand. He casts Firestorm, creating flame geysers over nearby area, targeting specifically nearby cultists (not the ones Shin has pitched), the other leader, little spiders, and Vania/Olivia.

    Lezard's words do seem to bite into Olivia, because they largely are the same words of those that have fought against her before.

    That blade twists deeper into Olivia's side as the succubus shakes her head. "Think of what you /could/ have been. You have already been forsaken by your Creator. Why not rebel against him, Olivia?"

    Olivia attempts to twist against the monstrous spider's horrific claw, in an attempt to find purchase and deflect it aside now that Shin's taken the job of throwing some of the cultists away from the poisonous spiders. That snapping leg gives her an opportunity--

    But then flame ensconces her, erupting underneath her feet as she's sent flying with a gasped cry of pain and tumbling to one side, onto the carcass of one of the other dead spiders that weren't resurrected.

    "... you must be a truly lonesome soul," grunts the angel as she reels from the depth of the magical blow. It was just as strong, if not stronger, as the powers of any master sorcerer she'd fought in the past. "You play upon the souls of others as if they were strings of a marionette, with never a relenting thought for another..."

    She hears Shin's advice as she prepares herself for an attack. She gazes upon the wounds already present on the spider. "I understand," she calls back.

    She looks to Lezard as she gathers the darkness to well upon that blade of hers. "If you would call me weak of will... then that is your prerogative. But know such -- that my role..."

    The adage, then, is to fight fire with fire. To embrace such vileness, ironically, that it affords one insight into the very things one was meant to crush. And when Olivia next sets forth--

    Her blade swelters with a thin veneer of darkness, the sensation such that Lezard can tell is meant to devour those same purple flames onto itself. She can only hope that it can sever the necromantic connection between the creature's body and the magic that the necromancer has used to reanimate it.

    "My role is to bring dusk... to drape a curtain of repose to the soul!"

>> SUMMARY[Dark Angel Olivia] >> Using Dark against Dark is... a questionable plan, really?? Creator, you really troll Olivia.

>> GAME >> Kiyohime spends an Edge for: Rapid shift to snake form.

Shin dashes away and... Kiyohime doesn't stop him. She is only meant to stop threats to the world, and she has deemed him to not be one, if he isn't resisting her. The cultists are in disarray, and also normal humans, making it easy to grasp them and hurl them away. With ki-enhanced strenght, the martial artist can quickly move through the ranks. That leaves... Yahiko and the cultists.

Ironically, to Kiyohime Lezard is the Hero here. That firestorm explodes, making the spiderlings squeal, and the man scream as he burns FAR too swiftly to be natural. Perhaps some of the other cultists are caught in the blast as well, but they don't seem to burn nearly as badly as the ones 'possessed' by spiders. If Shin and the others are fast they could easily save some more with medical attention.

This takes care of things for Kiyohime, but she's unfortunately mid-battle. Her naginata rises, swiftly parrying Yahiko's strikes... but she startles as she finds herself pushed back. Before all this, the idea that a mere mortal human could stand up to a Servant, let alone a Counter Guardian, would have been laughable... but Yahiko is excellent, and comes from an era when swordplay was still seen as a powerful, if dying force. She can't fight him without hurting him... unless she does something unexpected.

So she does.

While the spiders burn, Kiyohime leaps forward and puts everything she can into her shapeshifting, and it's not a polearm that slashes at Yahiko... but a striking serpent. A quick, darting strike of a literal serpent, as glittering scales replace robes, and the snake she has turned into whips around to attempt to wrap about the young swordsman. "It's over," the snake hisses, hoping that will be enough. This is a surprise move, and if it fails...

    Yahiko was ready for a supernatural pole-wielder... and more. He was vaguely aware of the legend, so perhaps fire breathing or something? But what he gets is enough of a startlement that even the quick-thinking Yahiko is taken by surprise. The swiftness of the move makes him unable to bring his blade to bear. "Wha-?!"

    Stumbling over, Yahiko thuds to the ground and grunts. He starts to twist, to use some of his natural dexterity... but then he hears what the snake says and realizes that whether or not he can beat her or even hold her doesn't matter. The 'threat' is over, in her mind. With casualties, but at least Shin could save some. "It didn't have to..." But he goes limp, letting her know he won't fight her now. "Let me save who I can."

The firestorm buys Lezard some breathing room. Getting bitten by one of those spiders would be... inconvenient. Still, the leaders of the cult are dead (or skittered), and the Sorceror has little else to attend to at the moment. 

the problem is that Olivia has had time to set herself up for something a little more complicated. Her response to him gets Lezard to scowl. "Why should I have any concern for the damned?" Lezard snarks back. 

Her follow-up, however, is more potent. With that lunging strike, the massive thing shudders, beginning to slump as the terrible grudge animating the thing begins to be subdued...

"Gggh..." Lezard looks down, nnger suffusing his features. A burning flame ignites in his hand as his tome opens once more, pitting his own power against that of the fallen angel. "You have clever tricks, girl." He says. "But whatever your role, this soul belongs to /ME/." 

Suddenly, the beast surges, lurching once more as it hurls itself clumsily /away/ from the strikes, slamming into a nearby building and crushing into it. 

Lezard flips his cape behind him as the massive thing shudders, and begins skittering away. "And /you/ are no Valkyrie. Do not darken my sight again." He says to the Dark Angel.

Despite the brave face, the situation is clear. He's going to take what he's got and get the hell out of here. There's more opposition present than he can conveniently deal with at the moment.

>> SUMMARY[Lezard Valeth] >> Lezard clashes with the Angel and decides to pull out before losing more of his zombie spider than he's willing to pay at the moment.

    Olivia finds herself at the interpose between her blackened strike and Lezard's own necromantic prowess; the struggle is brief, and the necromancer chooses to leave while the going is good. And she doesn't find using that power to be free of drawback either -- there's a backlash as she winces and is thrown away once more, stumbling against the ground and looking up towards the caped sorcerer.

    "Souls are the property of noone, sir," she whispers. "If I darken your sight again... it will be surely due to the clash between our purviews."

    It's strangely respectful, perhaps from someone who has a lot to learn about the suddenly rather massive view of the worlds in front of her. She's still wounded and-- fractured, and she has no idea where the Convictors went...

    But at the same time...

    "I am here, in the New World..." Olivia speaks her beliefs. "But... what shall await me here?"

    Such questions do not have immediate answers. Only time will tell...