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Post by Ashwatthama on Mar 16, 2016 3:42:32 GMT
Well, that was certainly an unwelcome and incredibly dread inducing surprise. Ashwatthama had faced down many things in his life without fear. A dragon however was not on that list, namely because the closest thing in his land to dragons were Naga, and there were subtle differences. Mostly that of all the ones he encountered, none were so divine, so full of godly wrath as the being he now gazed upon were. It felt as if he was staring at the image of Anata himself, and part of him briefly wondered if the great steed of Vishnu had actually descended upon the world to lay judgment upon them.
This of course, was a foolish thought.
But that didn't change just how unfavorable their situation had become. It took hardly any skill at all to tell just how much the beast that glared at them outweighed them individually; Just the orbs it grasped had more mystery swirling inside of them than any heroic spirit currently standing on the bridge. Giving up however, was not an option, and neither was dread that naturally crept inside him. The Indian Archer could not help the surge of reverence and awe that surged through him, even knowing what he had to do. All his life, Ashwatthama had been devoted to the gods, bowed himself as humble before them, and not to dare raise a hand against them without giving himself some pause. But then, that hadn't humbled feeling sweeping through him had never stopped him before.
"Acknowledged."
Ashwatthama moved away from his companions, as the Japanese woman began to bark orders and opened a volley of fire against the divine creature. Finding himself a humble perch upon the bridge, steady enough even through the aftershocks that still swept the bridge from the torrential eruption of the Dragon, he took a breath to calm himself. And then another. And another. And the fourth he took, specifically to lose his calm. A constant battle he'd been fighting since ascending, he willfully gave himself over to that tiny spark of flame that burned in his gut. The pale, almost sickly skin of the Archer darkened, not too it's original shade but in a manner that seemed wholly unnatural. His eyes seemed to glow a fiery red, as his Mad Enhancement took over, and he felt that tiny spark of Shiva that filled him slowly seep across his mind, inflaming his every thought with the essence of the Divine Spirit. It was nothing on the level of the use of that Noble Phantasm, but he could hardly refuse even the tiniest boost right now. Should the situation turn dire enough, even this might be only a pale shadow of what was necessary.
Grunting in a manner far more feral than was usual for Ashwatthama, he drew his bow and fired. Four shots, each aimed at one of the coalescing orbs in the dragons hands. He did not expect much damage to come from them, but it would be worth seeing just what happened when the impacts landed. If the dragon defended them, they were clearly worth targeting. If the attacks were absorbed, it might be unwise to further assault them. If the orbs reacted, perhaps striking them harder.
He probably should have mentioned to his team that communication might become difficult; While still capable of mostly rational thought with his Mad Enhancement activated, he was still far from his normal courteous self. And by that I mean, they were more likely to get grunts and one-word responses of acknowledgement than actual input. Live and learn.
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Post by King Atlas on Mar 16, 2016 21:08:37 GMT
Oh, it was only a dragon. That wasn't so bad. Oh sure, Asian dragons were a might touchier than the Western variation, but a dragon is a dragon, and Atlas only gave the thing a dull look before blinking once. Shaking his head, he sighed. "... An Asian Dragon. Don't see too many of those."But then came the orders from the demon woman. Normally he might take issue, or grudgingly concede, or even throw a rock like when he'd been confused for a waiter. However, as much as he disliked having to admit being outclassed... he was outclassed. There was really no getting around that one. He was a magic knight, and magic would be goddamn useless. The most he could really do was play defense and well... right, there was that function of Gemma Crystallum. Well, not so much a separate function, but something that could be used within the confines of Gemma Crystallum. Shifting out of his bartender getup and into his ARMOR, Atlas pulled out Gemma Crystallum. He could summon parts of the wall as necessary to defend against the dragon fire, that would take no time at all, but barriers might help enhance it a bit. Holding the crystal, horizontal walls began to appear in front of the Servants, giving them some cover to duck as necessary. Generating another enormous slab of the Atlantean wall, he had the thing hurled at the dragon's face. Maybe blunt force might do something. In the meantime, he began chanting in the divine tongue, taking advantage of the brief pause so that, when the time came, he could use them for stronger barriers. Really, he felt kind of useless. tags: Oda Nobunaga , Ashwatthama , Francis Drake , Hoshoku-sha Rokushiki , emiya notes: GIANT. ROCKS.
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Post by Francis Drake on Mar 17, 2016 8:22:03 GMT
The rumbling from the river was soon followed by a sight like no other, a huge dragon of towering length...a divine beast of unfathomable might! It's very presence could be felt by everyone there, it was a terrifying thing, most people in their sound mind would probably run away from the great dragon in terror and no one would fault them for it. Hell there were even some heroes who would feel at the sight of that thing, and were any of these collection of heroes sane then yeah...they would to. It felt as if they were perhaps in over their head ? That was what made this such a grand adventure though.
The sight of the dragon caused a wide grin upon the pirates face, a true sight of happiness that could be seen on the faces of the happiest kids! At least now she couldn't complain that she hadn't brought the rum, there was no need to drink boredom away! The orders that were barked at her was like a memory of old times, and the actions of the vibrant haired man in the bartender get up which soon switched to armor helped them in the protective capability that it brought them. Drake's frame slide in like that of a bar brawler who had just slipped behind the counter to avoid the guardsmen coming to break up the fight and take those responsible to jail.
Her flintlocks formed in from golden dust, " Grateful for the cover, o'sunken king." The pirate spoke out as she would look over at him for a second, the widest of grins on her face, before she'd perch up and turn for the dragon, a thunder and rumbling in the air could be heard from above Drake as from...well nothing but the very essence of storms formed the rather large canons! The lowest form of her Noble phantasm, a sliver of a manifestation of her ship that she could make. " Aim for it's eyes you Rascals!" She spoke loudly as she attempted to fire a volley of canon fire from her three canons followed by two shots from each of her flintlocks! " Ah! Remember, a fair split of whatever earnings! Captains orders! Haha!".
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Post by emiya on Mar 17, 2016 16:13:24 GMT
The appearance of the dragon shook me to the core. So that old story that circled around the river existed? There really had been a dragon? Or was this just some manifestation of a corrupted grail? Either way...this was clearly an enemy beyond our level. If we were to succeed...well, we'd need to be extraordinarily lucky. That was all one could truly hope for against a dragon of this level.
The orders barked out by their de-facto commander were fairly sound. I had a few tricks that could help turn the tide once a weakness was established, but they would be incredibly taxing on my reserves, and those of our Master. Joining the other Archer and Rider, I fire numerous weak, but explosively charged shots along the body of the dragon, trying to locate the point where I could begin to start shooting the things that would make it hurt. That was about my one advantage in this situation...I was grossly inefficient, but if there was anything that existed that could harm this monster, I figured it would be in my world of swords.
I continue my volley, moving in and out of the barrier that Atlas formed, and take on another job. I can't let Atlas' formation take too much of the fire, as our chief cover will break. I also can't allow our Master to become the focus of fire, as she's the most vital member of our team that must live. Therefore, I manifest something slightly more powerful, and attempt to become a distraction. "Caladbolg!" Firing my most powerful shot that doesn't unduly tax my reserves, I leap away from our central position, continuing to pepper the dragon as I keep moving.
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Post by Hoshoku-sha Rokushiki on Mar 21, 2016 16:38:31 GMT
So it was something like this... a new thing, it was beautiful... the breathing flawless, such a pretty snake. She kind of wanted to eat it. Pretty... so white, but corrupted... maybe poisonous? Ah, well... purification was her specialty, breathing would fix it, spirals would fix it. But for now... looking at the pretty snake in the sky. Hoshoku-sha was completely composed, her breathing regular and relaxed, rippling through her body softly as she beheld the divine dragon. Yeah... a neat sight to behold. But alas, she could not reach it from here, so she'd just sit down and wait.
Without wasting a word on her servants, Hoshoku-sha sat down in the shadow of the walls the Caster, Saber... something hybrid had erected and dozed a little, occasionally opening an eye-lid when an especially loud sound caught her attention. The servants unleashed hell upon the dragon in the meantime, causing Hoshoku-sha to simply intensify her breathing, so as to supply them even more of the juice of miracles... ripples everywhere, right? Turning herself into a conduit, she breathed softly and infused the acts of the servants some foreign energy, made her own... there was at least one tiny thing the servant and her had in common. They both knew how to breathe.
She did wonder what a rascal was, or who Caladbolg was supposed to be... but that was probably unimportant. Her duty was to wait until she could be more effective, while supplying the people doing the shooting with energy to keep up. Although something told her that the dragon's breath might have been a little distracting there. He really did breathe very well... maybe even better than she did. Ripples... yeah, maybe interrupting the pattern would help. Waves and waves... it really was nice... such pretty ripples. She should probably try to make those ripples too sometime... that would be nice. A really pretty one... much like her, he just looked a bit taller. But that was ok...
Dozing a little more, Hoshoku-sha kept her attention on the Dragon, listening to his breath and adapting her own breathing to his... really strong, really soothing... a little off-key, but he'd surely fix that when he was in better condition again. Yes pretty snake, sing... sing... snoooore.... shuuu, shuuu.... Hoshi swayed her upper body softly in the pattern, ripples streaming comfortably through her body as she listened to the rythms... felt the rythms... it was so comfortable. If only he wasn't so... well... so sick. Maybe somebody could help him... it would be nice.
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Post by Magatsu-Miongawa on Mar 25, 2016 20:28:20 GMT
The flurry of shots sent from below was a noisy spectacle to behold. Before any of them hit, however, the white serpent quickly coiled itself placing its scaly back against the merciless discharge coming its way. The pure glow it emanated was temporarily hidden by the smoke and debris from the explosions, courtesy of the pirate and the commander's greeting. The black cloud that had formed concealed whatever effect that attack might have had; though in real battles, one rarely has the luxury of waiting to examine if your opponent was injured by your attempts. True to this and before the smoke had even begun to settle, a giant section of wall flew into the dragon, crashed against its scales. Although the weapon was unconventional in nature, its sheer weight surely made it a deadly projectile.
The finishing touch in that array of destruction was no doubt the magic sword the Archer had just fired into it, twisting the very space as it closed in. A remarkable weapon, no doubt, that almost instantly reached its target and detonated with the dense magical energy it had been charged with. A miasma of light and destruction that modern weapons could hardly ever hope to imitate marked the end of that barrage. It was the force generated by it that erased the mist instantly, and the sky was brightened by a blinding flash of light and energy as the coiled figure of the dragon reappeared.
No effect at all.
On close inspection, nothing had even so much as nicked the pristine body of the beast. No wear or tear, or even contact. In fact, before any of the projectiles even touched its scales they were destroyed as if rejected by an invisible force around the skin of the creature. Having been hit or not was the exact same for that unfair monster, that mocked the heroes below and their legends. Not even that magnificent ancient sword had reached its heights.
How silly of them, wasn't it?
To even think they could damage him.
Miongawa was done watching passively, and his body unfurled in a burst to show. The bulk of its tail flourished, swiping the bridge from the side and snapping the iron beams sustaining it as it went. Cars, railings, the very asphalt itself was shot above as the limb would grind against the ground, quickly making their way towards the agents. Despite the weight of the swing, it moved as fast as a bullet would, a bright whip that would surely destroy anyone in its path.
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Post by Hoshoku-sha Rokushiki on Mar 28, 2016 14:55:45 GMT
Something... moved, and it was pretty large... massive even. Not the dragon, no... something larger, deeper... but the dragon was somehow tied to it, no? It was a pretty snake after all. But the pretty snake appeared to be poisoning itself, willingly... with whatever it drew from. Like lines... like straws it sucked on, to feed itself. Nurturing itself? Maybe... she didn't know that. But she could imagine it. After all, it was still alive, still -alive- in the sense of the word. It was there, before her. It was real. But that likely didn't matter in the long run, anything that was there could be made real, it was there after all and part of the everything.
The pulse came right after the other... Hoshoku-sha reacted instinctively and retreated towards their left flank as the dragon surged forward with incredible speed. Something told her that the defenses would not hold, so she'd better stay out of the way altogether. There was no sound as she left her original location in a heartbeat, as it was only her voice that finally resounded. "Atlas... I think that's what you were... come with me. There's some strange lines there, they feed the balls in the snake's hands. It's a pretty snake, no?" Speaking with a sleepy, yet loud enough voice, Hoshoku-sha brought this message to the Caster, Saber, something hybrid, before turning to her other servants.
"..." she hesitated, frowning slightly at the other servants, before stating with a plain, nonchalant tone:"Make it so the snake keeps being angry at you. Don't die, just attack it please." With that she made a vague gesture at Atlas, that had little in common with anything a human would do to signal somebody to follow, yet he hopefully understood. Then she once again kicked the earth, then the sky, sprials flowing through her, losing themselves in the world after they surged through her body, as Hoshoku-sha's body soared through the sky freely.
She could sense the veins... there ought to be a pool at their end no? That might be... funny. She wondered... could servants bathe in a pool similarly to the dragon? Could they draw from what he drew from? Could they use the same wealth of power that the snake claimed for itself and so jealously guarded... or had guard itself? They would probably find out. The servant should know better, he was smart if he bothered thinking. He just didn't seem to like doing that, but maybe when faced wtih a pool he'd brighten up a little. Bathing was fun... felt good too. Maybe he should take a bath.
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Post by Oda Nobunaga on Mar 29, 2016 4:26:37 GMT
Nothing. Nothing came of their assault. The dragon coiled up like a snake and their attacks seemed to strike at nothing but the air around it. An aura that rejected the world, separating the normal from the divine. Though they did not fire their most powerful attacks, the warlord knew her own were likely at least equal in rank to the literal castle wall thrown at the dragon. The fact that neither of those still struck home meant that it was likely not a matter of overpowering the barrier, on top of the sword fired by the other archer, meant that power wasn't the answer. This was a dragon, the greatest of legends and strongest of mysteries. Even as a Servant, it was not easy to slay one. Many earned their fame from accomplishing just that alone; none of those heroes happened to be here unfortunately. That did mean it wasn't impossible though, just a matter of finding the right trick.
And the dragon's posture gave the answer. The head was the most vital part of the body; its destruction assured death even more than a shot to the heart. Yet despite this instinctual fact, the dragon made no effort to conceal its head. Why would it assume a defensive posture, but not protect its head? If its aura was infallible then there would be no reason to try to defend itself. Then, in the moment before the attack, she saw it: the spheres. In each of its claws were spheres of black, and all four were wrapped in the center of the coil. That place of absolute defense, which would normally house the head, instead held the four claws and four spheres. That gave Nobunaga all she needed to know to begin her attack in earnest.
Of course, she would have if they weren't under attack themselves. The tail tore the surface of the bridge apart, and the rifles around Nobunaga turned mid-air to fire on some of the wreckage flying near her. Then, she leaped straight up to avoid the attack of the tail, continuing to tear apart the wreckage with her armaments. It was a powerful attack that exceeded the speed of a bullet, but so did Servants. It was hardly impossible to dodge the attack, except perhaps for their Master, but she seemed to keep herself alive for now. Muttering some nonsense about "keeping the dragon angry", but alive. She had no intent to just "keep it angry". She intended to actually do something about this enemy. She intended to lead them into battle against it, and now she had a plan.
"Atlas! Indian Archer! Take the master and take cover!" she barked as she landed, red eyes fixated on the white serpent, "Heaven and earth under a single rule, even you aren't exempt from that."
The small caped general ran to the edge of the bridge, the outlines of many more rifles beginning to form in the air. They hadn't fully materialized yet, but they were about to. The number easily reached a thousand, all aimed at the dragon. Tenka Fubu, the policy and belief held by Nobunaga, empowered her as a Servant. The greater their mystery, the stronger she became to take them down. This empowered her rifles as well, making each shot that would normally be E-rank shots easily A-rank against this particular foe. A normal gun could do nothing to a Servant, but one that is infused with magical energy and manifested by a Servant could slay spirits with ease. Though if they were Oda Nobunaga's only tool, she would not have been as great as she was.
"I am Oda Nobunaga, the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven!" as the declaration was made, a flash of white expanded outward, enveloping the party and their foe. For a moment the world was nothing but white, but when it cleared it was nothing but red. Flames burned around them but they were no longer in Fuyuki. The area around them was vaguely in the form of a mountain landscape, but the sky was dyed as red as the flames that consumed any signs of life. Bodies of water were dried up and black smoke replaced the clouds in the sky. A temple stood in the distance, a beacon of burning light on the horizon and the source of a thousand echoing screams. In the sky was the dragon as before, but across from it and before the others floated the very warlord that conjured this landscape of hell. Her body enveloped in a twisting black and red aura, the thousand rifles from before now appeared at the ready.
It was a grandiose display of power on her part, but it had a reason. It was possible the dragon drew power from Fuyuki's corrupted state; the mutterings of their Master hinted as such. Within the reality marble, they were isolated in a different dimension than that of the real world. Whatever power the dragon may have been siphoning from there would ideally be cut off. Secondly, even if it didn't do that, the land of the Demon King suppressed those of high divinity and high mystery and weakened them in accordance with their rank. A holy eastern dragon, the greatest of divine mysteries incarnate, was the ideal target to trap in this world. She would use the time within this world to inflict as much damage as possible to weaken it and ideally find the way around that aura. A devilish grin grew on her face as she took aim at her target; the spheres in the dragon's claws. The thousand rifles took aim, dividing evenly among the four marks.
"Three Thousand Worlds, unleash hell!" and so the second barrage came, hundreds of times greater than before and intent on destroying whatever it was this dragon had to hide beneath its scaly hide.
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Post by King Atlas on Mar 29, 2016 12:11:43 GMT
As the tail came near the lot of them, Atlas jumped high in the air, easily avoiding the tail. The speed of a bullet was really nothing for a Servant with Atlas's agility. It was what came after that Atlas had to be ready for. In the blindingly brief moment of that dodge, a steel beam came heading for Atlas. He held out a hand, grabbed the beam and vaulted himself over, incidentally going right over another steel beam that would've slammed into him otherwise, landing on top of a sailing car, and hopping back down, just a couple feet away from where he'd first jumped. "Whoo! I love this job!" He cried, throwing his arms up. The kicker was that it was a small time feat for a Servant. And then his Master started talking, calling the dragon a snake. She said it was pretty, which, well, she had a point, gods above it was a beautiful sight. In fact, Atlas actually felt insulted for the dragon. You don't call a miracle beyond miracles just a snake. You called Orochi a snake, but this wasn't a snake. "... That's a Shenlong..." Atlas began with a withering stare, but trailed off as the tiny warlord ran up to the dragon and disappeared with it in a flash of light. Atlas blinked for a moment. "... Huh. A reality marble." He added on, as if it was the most casual thing in the world. Turning back to their Master, apparently she had something planned. She seemed a bit odd, and maybe a bit slow, but Atlas had learned long ago that the ones you dismissed usually had some kind of hidden ace that other people couldn't have possibly come up with. Still, those strange lines, did she mean the leylines? "Fine, I guess you have a plan, lead the way, Master. We should probably make use of the time our Delightful Oriental Woman bought for us." And with that, he followed their Master to whatever their destination had been, landing by her side. "Well then, Master, what was it you wanted me to do with the leylines?" Really, he was just guessing that part, but worth a shot. tags: Oda Nobunaga, Ashwatthama, Francis Drake, Hoshoku-sha Rokushiki, emiyanotes: strange minds think alike
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Post by Ashwatthama on Mar 30, 2016 4:22:04 GMT
Well that was disappointing and utterly disheartening. Their attacks had no effect at all on the creature. Were Ashwatthama in his proper mental state, he might even have been a bit worried. However, the being that was now Ashwatthama had no concept of losing, or of the possibility of defeat. It simply moved toward the next step in the path toward victory. He would not, or more accurately could not rest until he won, or he died. At the moment the odds of both seemed about equal, so it was in the hands of the Gods now.
Speaking of.
Ashwatthama somersaulted through the air as the tail crashed through the bridge, barely moving above it, so close that he could see it pass mere inches beneath his face. The massive rush of wind and kinetic energy that sailed with it only shot him further into the air, and admittedly sent him tumbling back towards the way he came. Contorting his body in the air, he kicked off one of the now displaced and disconnected pillars of the bridge, using it to propel himself high in the air and away from the shattering form of the bridge. The structure collapsed and withered on itself from the force of the dragons attack; It wouldn't be long before the bridge itself was just rubble in the river, at this rate.
Just as he contemplated his next move, the japanese barked orders, commanding he and the Greek retreat.
Ashwatthama complied.
In a flash, the Archer vanished, taking with her their massive opponent. It wasn't hard to deduce she'd used a Reality Marble of some sort; Whether just to contain the Dragon, or if she had some other plan, he couldn't know from here. Having no concept of her mental landscape, there was no way for him to tell what was happening within. In which case, following her last orders seemed the most prudent course of action. Ashwatthama bounded away after their master, who had departed toward some destination with a clear purpose. What that was, he had no way of knowing, but it seemed better than just sitting there twiddling his thumbs. He did not move to catch his master or the ascended Saber, instead choosing to trail them by a decent distance, so that he might keep track of both them and the area from which Archer had disappeared at once using his Clairvoyance.
As he moved, he glanced at the surrounding area. Apparently there were not the only battle raging currently; A battle formed at one end of the now nearly ruined bridge, and on the far side of the city he could spy a moving mass of small creatures far larger than anything they had seen previously. He had half a mind to go help, but they could not take the risk. The Dragon could return at any moment, and who knows what awaited their Master at her destination?
Settling on his pace behind Atlas and Hoshoku-sha, Ashwatthama carried onward.
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