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Post by Natasha on Oct 14, 2015 9:57:02 GMT
While still resigned to her position as ‘pretty useless’, Natasha was somewhat distracted by the force that went flying over her head – err, was someone trying to shoot her? Judging by the crash, probably not; though the further howling and crashing just made her worry all over again. Um, well, it sounded like they were fighting each other a bit less now, anyway; which was a bit nice. Suddenly being met with another thing landing beside her really didn’t help the Master’s mood, though; jolting to her defence – although, thankfully, it turned out to just be Brynhildr being not particularly conscious of her blindness. Oh well. Die another day and all that, it seemed.
And so, with the Lancer’s honestly somewhat bizarre reassurance, Natasha was sent flying through the air again… for a person with sight, this sort of thing was a rather unpleasant experience – however, when you couldn’t see, it was made far, far worse. Once placed down again, the lady would just stagger about a bit; probably not a reaction that would make her furry stowaway very pleased but probably better than her falling over like an idiot again. And then everyone started saying things to her from all sides, and there’s loud noisse, and her head was spinning, and… oooh… stress and dizziness were a very, very, very bad combination. Could everyone please be quiet for a bit? She and her stomach needed to have a quick heart-to-heart. ”One… one moment, please…”
The following was a rather unladylike display, and probably incomprehensible to beings as superhuman as Servants; but was unfortunately unavoidable.
The matter of her organs’ sudden ventilation was thankfully quickly settled, though it was very unlikely her stomach was going to be considered ‘settled’ for a very long time. ”O-Okay, now… I’ll listen…” groaned Natasha, holding her head in a weak attempt at holding back her nausea; with mixed success. If you have any Command Seals, now would be a good time to use them. Please use a Command Seal to order him to ‘stand down’. It’d be better to use the command seal to let him, vent his frustrations, don’t you think? Yes, Command Seals, Command Seals… she could do that! Raising her hand just like in the provisional Master notes, Natasha opened her mouth -
Then closed it. Apparently she was the only one who had read the notes on all this Master business – she had no Command Seals, because she was a provisional Master, not a proper one. Thanks, Servants. No; thanks, Chaldea! Send the newbie out with the Berserker and no back-up! Aaaagh! They hadn’t even gotten the second sample started yet! This was going as awfully as expected! She was about to throw up again now… couldn’t they at least get killed in a fight or something rather than just having a tournament of ‘who could make Natasha feel the most like a liability’?!
”How about we just… leave Berserker to himself? The sooner we get the samples out of the way, the faster we can get away from all this mess… he’ll at least be a good distraction, and you all certainly seem confident that the nasties here won’t actually be able to scratch him, so…” suggested Natasha awkwardly, trying to come up with something on the spot; although internally she mostly just wanted to lie down and feel like garbage instead of trying to play leader. ”He at least doesn’t seem particularly intent on murdering any of us for now, so maybe we should just hurry a bit instead of trying to find a more complicated way around this…”
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Post by Mordred on Oct 15, 2015 4:52:08 GMT
Mordred dodges backwards using her own prana, leaving a decent-sized crater in the ground herself. She grunts, and her helmet comes down, revealing blond hair, green eyes, and a furious snarl. She sprints towards the target of the charge: her Master. Like hell was he going to harm her so easily...now that he made that his intention, there wasn’t going to be a trace of him left in existence. Disgustingly dense red prana began to spill out from the increasingly unholy blade.
At least it did, until Berserker all but disappeared, while Brynhild took her Master from the incompetent magician’s hands. The red energy dissipated, and Clarent’s holy shine returned to it. As Mordred approached to investigate, she saw the flailing beast knee-deep in the cursed water, and the ghouls gathering around. “Hmph. Let him stew in there. Perhaps he’ll wear himself out.” If the curse had a similar effect on him as it did on Natasha, Berserker would need to use a fair amount of his power to break free...a premonition that soon came to pass.
Turning to Merlin, she glares at him, but does not question his actions. Now wasn’t the time. They needed to come up with a sort of plan. “Make it difficult for him to get back up out of the sewer, if you can. I’ll handle the ghouls that rise up despite the culling effect his ragings should have.” The plan was straightforward, but hopefully solid enough. Between the distractions she and Berserker should provide, Natasha might actually be able to get the mission finished.
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Post by Frankenmoe on Oct 15, 2015 14:34:27 GMT
Even with his damaged legs Berserker was able to operate, he was numbed to the pain and any insult his injuries causes were directed at the Ghouls that began to climb up to his foothold. Each swing charged with prana and Ukonvasara's lightning didn't simply slash at the feral creatures it blew them away, leaving only smoldering ashes to fall down back into the mud.
Kullervo was far to out of control to pay attention to the conversations around him, Ukonvasara was semi aware of it but the divine sword was also focusing on fulfilling its purpose. So his master being moved, the talk of restraining him or the idea of using a command spell on him was something simply never registered. His only focus was the fact that enemies were in front of him, around him and that they kept coming.
Each swing was merciless, there was no technique all semblance of it was lost to the Mad Enhancement but to compensate for that there was raw power. Even if his prana supply was cut short, Kullervo was someone that could maintain a constant output by the sheer magical reserves he had. That was what made him dangerous, that he could express constant overwhelming surges of prana by himself that for the lack of a better description were suited only for destruction. But even Berseker was becoming vexed by the reality that Ghouls kept rising from the muddy waters below him. Though he could not count, he was sure that each swing at the very least took more than two out with enough damage that even if they could regenerate it would take longer to recuperate from his blows.
"You know what to do my wielder, my Kullervo~"
Instantly Kullervo stopped attacking the climbing ghouls, he thrust into the water his divine blade. A Ghoul made it to his foothold and jumped on his back, clawing and biting. Still Berserker ignored the foe on his back.
▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅
His warcry was followed by a silent rumbling and then for a second the water being illuminated. Even those above would have felt it and if any had been looking at the river they would have seen as if tendrils of light... no lightning surged across the black water for a flash of time. Then with one motion, Berserker grabbed the ghoul with his barehand and disposed of it by destroying the head. Deep down he wanted to make it suffer, to slowly make it squirm in his hold but such complexities were beyond him.
Still one emotion lingered in him. An extreme sense of pleasure and satisfaction followed by a great sense of loss and despondency. Then once again everything became a haze...
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Post by Brynhild on Oct 22, 2015 23:59:19 GMT
It appeared their 'master' was not particularly... prepared for all of this. Of course, she had informed them of her inexperience, yet that was of little consequence now. Has she cut off Berserker's prana supply by now? Brynhild had no way of telling right off the bat, especially considering that she had to pay at least some attention to the ghouls in the area. She did not make a face at Natasha's frontal relocation of her last meal, yet presented her with a worried gaze... what could have possibly caused her to vomit like this? Mysterious... these people... After killing two more ghouls that came into Natasha's and her direction, by smashing them into buildings, using the flat of her spear-blade as a bat, she then addressed Natasha directly stating: "We should really see to filling all these flasks, indeed... otherwise we will have to stay here for quite a while longer. Do not worry yourself, I shall make sure you are not harmed in the process and you also have Merlin near you... so it should be a cakewalk." She'd touch Natasha lightly by the shoulder, tracing her hand down to her upper arm before elaborating: "If you wish for me to guide you to the waters I shall do so... the other servants can take care of the larger fighting for now." With this she'd remain still, waiting for Natasha's confirmation to move her to the river, before proceeding to do so. Her gaze would switch hazily between Mordred and Kullervo, watching especially the latter as he carved his way through the waters and discharged astronomical amounts of prana. He surely was not short of magical energy... it had definitely been the right move to suggest cutting his supply off to exhaust him, otherwise he would have been able to keep going forever. This way he would hopefully be a little worn down by the time he had dispatched all the ghouls... and the cursed waters for that matter. As she'd lead Natasha to the river Brynhild would only let go of her shortly, to make sudden steps forward so as to dispatch of wandering ghouls that had left the bulk of the force, cutting or smashing them out of the way, so their corpses could not get near Natasha. There was no reason to worry the young woman over half-dead ghoul remains clinging to her skirt, if not absolutely necessary. Alas, Brynhild could think of absolutely no scenario where such a necessity would be a given... well unless somebody meant to startle her for no valid reason. Lifting up a ghoul impaled on her spear, wiggling it around like a magick-stick, Brynhild finally would pull Natasha closer to her, kneeling down with her as she'd watch the ghoul slowly slip down the massive blade of her spear, before it finally got stuck at the thickest point. With an almost unaudible: "Hm..." Brynhild then performed a cut-off swiping motion, to throw the corpse off her weapon, having it crash into a couple of its specimen somewhere ahead, in the bulk of the fighting servants and dismembered ghoul corpses. "We are here Natasha, if you would be so kind as to use your... sense or whatever you used to recognize us earlier, to see the cursed waters, that would be quite helpful. I think it would be better for me not to get in contact with it as well, however if you dearly wish me to aid you in filling the flasks, I shall of course not abstain from offering my services to you." saying so, once again, with her silken voice, Brynhild sat on the rubble, the warm stone easily sensable through the bottom of her skirt. There were no ghouls nearby anymore, as she had dispatched of any strawlers, even so she remained semi-alert, softly humming the Byssan Lull, occasionally even singing silently.
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Post by Merlin on Oct 24, 2015 3:44:04 GMT
"Testy, Testy, Mordred~"
Merlin did not miss Mordred's near-use of Clarent. A decidedly foolish action in Merlin's mind, as not only would it have possibly cost them Berserker but left Mordred rather drained as well. He all but brushed off Mordred's attempts to order, or suggest a course of action to him. He had no desire to hamper Berserker; Wild though he may be, Berserker was a valuable asset as a Servant. In terms of destructive power he was probably easily the most capable of those here; Even should he kill Mordred and Brynhild, so long as Natasha was safe the mission would be a success.
Ofcourse, that was an absolute worst case scenario. No need to lose any servants unless absolutely necessary.
Ignoring Natasha's exhumation of her previously eaten food, Merlin retained his position in his bunny-like familiar form, hovering beside Natasha as he went to work on a series of spells. First priority was Master safety, and even with Brynhild standing watch over the young girl, it was best not to take chances. A simple glamour spell wrapped Merlin and Natasha in an illusion, hiding them from the sight of prying eyes; Or rather, causing those that see them to "not notice" them. This would hopefully keep the mindless ghouls and spirits away from them, as they lacked the higher brain function to pierce the glamour spell. She would hopefully be able to take the remaining samples relatively unnoticed now. Merlin made special note to allow his servant companions the ability to see through the glamour; Mordred and Brynhild he wasn't terribly worried about, but no need to cause Berserker to have another fit because he thought Natasha vanished into thin air.
"Hm, I suppose this is your area then, Master~"
While he hovered forward as if to examine the task Natasha was about to perform, his mind was elsewhere. Or rather, everywhere. Peering through the endless lens of his Clairvoyance, Merlin's vision of the world traveled in every direction, covering and piercing all around them. It was a troubling site to say the least. Mostly because of how little he saw. He'd noticed it when they first arrived, but this corruption, whatever it was, inhibited his ability to peer at all things. The world that should have been a shifting canvas to him was nothing more than a foggy abyss, like peering into a deep mist through a telescope.
And for Merlin, nothing was more frustrating than the unknown.
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Post by Natasha on Oct 26, 2015 10:36:39 GMT
Relieved that the calamity from before was calming down a bit, Natasha was quick to put her priorities back in order as she had said – best to just get this mission done before anything else could go wrong, rather than just try and act as damage control. ”Although I’m a bit dizzy from all that jumping and warping and… whatever else, I can still hear the water… just watch my back, please!” answered the magus to Lancer with a nod in her general direction; doing her best to hurry back down the slope to the river’s edge again while keeping pace with her surroundings with her cane. It probably seemed silly; but not ending up with a broken bone from a slip or something was preferable to hurrying into an awkward injury. Admittedly, it was harder than it looked… mostly thanks to all the groaning and crunching from around her thank to a certain Servant’s spear’s victims.
She didn’t really understand why everyone was getting so huffy about Merlin, he seemed the most reasonable of the Servants so far – perhaps not the most vocally helpful, but he certainly seemed to be pulling his weight. Glad for his continued presences, the blonde hurried along the water’s edge to the next sampling point – and this time didn’t dip her hand in along with the vial. Hopefully Chaldea wouldn’t have a problem with a surface sample… that experience wasn’t one she wished to repeat. With substantially less screeching, Natasha soon had a second sample bottled and ready. Horay! She was helping!
And so she was left on the move again… but not without recognising the ripples her movement had left in the mud. Ripples? She couldn’t hear them, but… she could feel them? A shiver went down her spine; something unpleasant boiling inside her – this wasn’t normal. But, she was on a mission… it was probably just some magic garbage again. But, she could feel eyes… no, not eyes, just intents; all lined up on her. Like a mouse in a lion’s den… was it the presence of the Servants? Or was it something far worse? And, something in that mud… reaching out for her. Dragging her back…
Throwing her insecurities aside, the Russian marched on – while her allies would soon recognise further threats. Other groups of ghouls emerged from further downstream; seeming drawn by the river’s movements despite not lying within it. Meanwhile, Kullvero would be met with the proverbial eye of the storm – it seemed he’d cleared most of the ghouls in their initial section of the river with his violent alternative to conventional fishing methods. Even the gloom in the unpleasant waters that gently ate away at his being would seem to taper off for the moment…
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Post by Mordred on Oct 26, 2015 15:25:55 GMT
Mordred inwardly seethed at being outright ignored, but she didn’t allow it to reach her face aside from a dirty look shot the magician’s way. Here she was, trying to cooperate and coordinate, making sure an obvious threat to their Master was less to deal with, and that apparently wasn’t enough to prompt direct action from the magician. Instead, he simply hid himself away. In the end, Mordred just shrugs it off and focuses on the assignment, if he wanted to get to her, she’d try her damndest not to give him the satisfaction.
Berserker was doing an appropriate job with the ghouls, however, so she felt little need to remain at the junction and moved appropriately to serve her goal of protecting her Master from leftover enemies. It seemed Berserker’s prana outbursts were attracting nearly all of them, so she simply moved back, closer to her Master, assisting Brynhild in dispatching the ghouls far enough away to not be distracted by Berserker’s presence.
It was clear her Master had become more used to the conditions of the mission, having collected a second sample without experiencing whatever flash of a curse that prompted her immediate assistance and led to the whole mess with Berserker in the first place. So long as no more serious interruptions came, they should be out of this accursed place soon enough.
As more ghouls made themselves known, Mordred threw herself at them in a fury, trying to work out the impatience and frustration that had only grown with this mission. Whirling like a madwoman, she bisects one ghoul, only to push herself forward with prana while maintaining momentum to land a crushing fist on another, while her sword comes back around, slicing a debilitating gash on a third ghoul. Finishing it off with a kick, she slashes at the air, sending an overwhelming gush of prana out and incinerating two more.
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Post by Frankenmoe on Oct 26, 2015 19:13:04 GMT
With no more enemies on sight, Kullervo finally jumped out of the miserable hole he had buried himself in. In his wake only more destruction and corpses were left behind. Still there was something to which Berserker had not accounted for, in his frenzy he had ignored the damage on his legs and he only became "aware" of it when he landed on the ground above. Just as he landed, his legs gave out and Berserker collapsed. He had to use Ukonvasara as a support to raise up again.
Kullervo was now aware that even if he had drowned the cursed mud from his system with his own prana. The damage it had done was not a light one. Still after a couple of unsteady steps Berserker regained his balance and began to walk normally, it was painful but if there was any true advantage to his madness was that this level of pain was barely recognized. So he began to make his way back to his Life.Link his Master.
But Berserker's attention was then drawn to more bands of Ghouls as they converged into his area. He couldn't comprehend why, he didn't care why. Though Ukonvasara and any intelligent being would have known it was because his reckless surges of magical energy was acting as a beacon for the wretched inhabitants of this ruined city.
Kullervo braced for combat again, this time he didn't power up his charge. Even in his maddened state he knew that his legs would not take well the stress of such an impact. That, however, didn't stop him from powering his blows. He swatted and electrified his foes to a crisp as he made his way forward.
Each swing didn't only bring a final death to the Ghouls but brought even more destruction to the already ruined surroundings. He didn't rush toward Natasha because, Ukonvasara informed him that Lancer was near her, so was Caster. There was also that swordsman he viewed with hostility but they seemed to be preoccupied with the Ghouls for now. It gave Berserker time to deal with the minor annoyances before taking on the larger risk to his Life.Link.
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Post by Brynhild on Oct 27, 2015 10:40:49 GMT
Brynhild was now finally faced with a slightly larger force of these ghouls. It was not a number completely out of the ordinary, yet enough to count as 'slightly bothersome'... while Sir Mordred had already begun to hack away at them, Brynhild noticed from the corner of her eye that their master was as good as done with her work. That certainly made things considerably easier. Dispatch the immediate threat, take the master, retreat from the area. There was no point in fighting these creatures down to the last creeping body. Yet for now, it was time to push forward.
Without wasting another breath, Brynhild spontaniously shot forward moving a few steps ahead of Mordred, in order to start clearing out the ghouls in a so created pincer attack, her spear describing several arcs, as it carved and crushed through their squishy bodies. This kind of 'fighting' was much more reminiscent of mechanical slaughter, so Brynhild quickly let out a disappointed gasp, before catapulting herself into the air, without a moment's notice, using a ghoul's head as a stepping stone, wherein it exploded, before coming down on one ghoul in the middle of the stream, both legs landing on his shoulders, while her spear pushed its head in between its shoulders. Before the creature could fall, Brynhild was already airborn again, repeating the process for a number of more ghouls, before she at last returned to the shore, with a movement that appeared as light as a feather... after having dispatched every single ghoul within the immediate confines of the river.
Finally charging into the direction she came from, Brynhild described a two-handed semi-circle with her spear, that carved through seven ghouls, starting from the first on the far right, though the shoulder, down to the rib-cage, further down to the abdomen, the thigh, the knee-cap, the shins and finally the ankles. Brynhild then executed those with non-lethan injuries in an exceedingly off-hand manner, just stabbing them through the heads or hearts, without even bothering to look at them. By the time she executed the last of them... it appeared the clash was, at least mostly, taken care of. Although a larger group was still, considerably further ahead of them.
One could say whatever one wanted to say... but with a group their size, even an entire army of these ghouls would have barely even posted a threat. Brynhild now merely shouldered her spear, moving closer to Natasha once more, as they moved up the river at her pace. One vial left, but given the relative absence... well they should be able to take care of those further ahead before Natasha would have to bother with them. That was, if they sent one of them ahead... "Should one of us go up ahead, to dispatch of the ghouls squirming around there before Natasha closes in on their location...?" Asking her fellow servants moreso than Natasha, who could of course not really estimate the distance of number of ghouls too well, Brynhild merely pointed her spear in the creature's general direction.
"If so desired, I could go on ahead... considering I could move in and out the quickest out of all of us, that may not be a horrible decision." Brynhild was rather intent on killing the, if just to relieve the monotony of this stale, cursed river, however if one of the other servants pleaded 'intent to kill those ghouls' she would not deny them their prey. That would have just been rude... "In any case, let us hurry on up ahead... I would rather we left this place sooner than later." almost singing these words, a faint smile brushed her features for a split second, before it returned to it's usual expression of pure resignation.
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Post by Merlin on Oct 31, 2015 2:43:31 GMT
"Hmm, go for it, Lancer~"
Continuing his habitual deflections and downright dismissal of his fellow servants, Merlin spoke to neither the benefits or the possible consequences to her dashing off away from Natasha to clear the path ahead of them. His attention was elsewhere, peering through the battered landscape as best he could while almost completely ignoring his immediate surroundings. He could still acutely see the ghouls rising out of the water ahead of Natasha's path, and the ones converging towards Berserker like a massive tide stirred from the depths. He could even see the glint of things far more magnificent along the river's bottom, but it didn't matter. It was inconsequential to the mage, so wrapped in his own mind.
In truth, Merlin had an ulterior motive for coming along the mission. Like everything else he did.
The mission after all, was an escort mission. Why would a Caster, one whom had a remarkable distate for combat come along? Especially given that he had existed within Chaldea for quite some time as Fou, and had never seen fit to materialize himself before now. Given the fact he was completely uninspired to aid his companions in their endeavors, nor was particularly concerned about any of their well-beings besides maybe Natasha. One could assume he had come along just to bother Mordred; And it was a convenient excuse to deflect too. But no, Merlin only masqueraded as this whimsical.
No, Merlin came along because he truly, insufferably could not contain his curiosity any longer. To someone used to seeing the entire world, this pale reflection of a canvas that now greeted his Clairvoyance was completely intolerable. He had to see. He had to know. So while his companions moved about, scurrying about their task, Merlin made sure only to keep himself attached to Natasha's position, floating dimly next to her and putting forth enough effort to keep the glamour spell manifested and allow them to remain unnoticed.
But his attention was elsewhere. The small furry familiar's eyes seemed almost glazed forward as, for the first time in his life, he actually concentrated upon stretching the limits of his eyes, straining his capabilities against the misty truths of this collapsed world that eluded him. The mission was important yes, but to Merlin his own task was far more so. And so for the first time in the mission, the magus remained utterly silent, so intent on his task that what happened around him seemed to fade into his peripherals, becoming less in focus than the far away lands of this time that he now peered over endlessly, searching for some desperate clues or gaps. After all, he only had so much time left before the mission was complete and they returned to the "real" world.
And he'd only just started really looking.
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