The Valiant

~Nelveska~

R"...Thanks."

*The remaining archers are fully healed. Roatha throws something else at Beelzebub.*

R"In case you haven't realized yet, he's an Arithmetician."

*Sure enough, he starts charging another spell as Lilith makes her way over. The archer who was charging fires a shot that hits a now-abandoned target. The other archer takes aim at Roatha, but misses.*
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~Siedge Weald~

*The figure reaches towards his waist, removing two Blood Swords. At the same time he does that, an identical figure appears on either side of him. However, one is using a strip of black cloth & the other is unarmed.*

Zac nodded, "Well, that makes this harder..." With that he tries for an Arm Shot on Beelzebub.

--

Noct furrows her brow, and scowls even deeper, "I do not like this."

Mortal gives her aggressors a once over, "They're armed just like us... how odd."

"I don't use cloth, but, yea, I see your point," Noct said. With that, she began to dance a Slow Dance.

Mortal drew her Ice Brands to match the other knight, and waited for shit to get real.

"True enough I suppose. What's our next move?"

~Nelveska~

*It misses. Beelzebub raises his allies. Roatha, who has no healing options, throws another Yagyu before going into the temple. Lilith raises a katana, butterflies of rainbow light swarming Beelzebub. Soon after being raised, one of the summoners is struck down by a bolt of lightning.*

L"What took you so long?"

S"I'm old! I fell 300 feet back & only managed to stand up 12 minutes ago!"

~3~
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~Siedge Weald~

*Instead, the unarmed one runs towards her while the enswordened one teleports behind Euryale & slices her back with 2 quit slashes. The one with the cloth twirls a few times & any moves they've made to defend themselves in that time have reverted. Consequently, the one with the sword slashes Euryale two more times & the unarmed one reaches Mortal & aims a punch at her face.*
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~Eagrose~

*Dycedarg whispers with Larg.*

Larg<I concur. You should march to Fovoham. A small company of Southern Sky Knights will be arriving this time tomorrow. With your skills, they should be easy to route.>

"Anything else?"

Zac shoots a barrage at the other summoner.

--

Mortal counters the punch with two sword swings, then attacks again with another two.

~Eagrose~

Larg<That will be all.>
=========================
~Nelveska~

*With the other summoner down, Beelzebub attacks Lilith, critically wounding her. She does not let this stop her from using Osafune again, then moves closer to the temple. The archers all shoot Seraph. He ignores them, walking towards the temple. By the time he gets to Zac's location, he's hobbling slightly. He raises a hand & begins gathering red energy into it.*

~3, 2~
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~Siedge Weald~

*The unarmed clone jumps back & flexes, bathing itself in a blue-green aura. Euryale does much the same thing. Once again, the cloth-armed clone twirls, & the trio feels stiff. The unarmed clone punches Mortal with an invisible aura, the one with the sword runs up to Euryale & slashes at her, missing once.*

Sorrel stands and leaves taking his fancy helm with him under his arm.

I think I'm starting to understand my late father's paranoia better.

Zac gives Seraph a potion.

--

Noct is starting to get annoyed at the other dancer's shit Slow Dance working faster than hers. Mortal uses Rend Power on the unarmed figure, attacking with both weapons.

~Siedge Weald~

*The unarmed figure rapid punches Mortal seemingly both in front & behind her. The one with the swords continues chasing after Euryale, slashing with its swords. When Euryale hits it with secret fist, it jumps back, calling down a strange column of blue energy on her.*

~3~
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~Nelveska~

*After being given the potion, Seraph blasts him with fire. Lilith moves closer.*

L"I'd hate to risk this, but...."

*She heals them with Murasame. One of the archers begins moving towards the mountain path. Beelzebub points its tail at them. Roatha moves out of his hole to throw a Yagyu at the Lucavi.*

~Seraph & Zac have been afflicted with Death Sentence!~
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~Eagrose~

*Waiting for him is a team of 5 knights, the head of which is a has unusual gold-trimmed armor.*

Zac shoots the retreating archer with a leg shot.

--

Noct keeps doin' her thing, and Mortal Counters, then goes in for two swings of her own.

~Nelveska~

*Having been stopped in his tracks, the archer shoots him. The others shoot Seraph, who is charging another spell. When the Lucavi moves closer, Roatha runs up & double-cuts him. Beelzebub counters with a tail whip, critically wounding him. Lilith fires another ray of red energy through him.*

~Seraph: 2~

~1, 0~
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~Siedge Weald~

*The clone seems to dissolve into the air. Noticing this, the one with the swords stops fighting. The cloth disappears from the remaining clone's hands.*

<You are not a normal human. I will see to it that we meet again.>

*With that, he turns & begins walking away.*

"That was...did he just roar at us?"

Mortal shook her head, "No... he said that I wasn't a normal human. That we would meet again." She put away her weapons, "I think someone has it out for us..."

"Like who?"

"One of the guys at the church said Bredmondt would want to get rid of me."

"And you only now thought to tell us this?"

--

Zac shoots him with a Barrage, making his way over to the summoner who is about to turn into a crystal.

~Nelveska~

*He critically wounds the archer. The summoner is about 20 feet in the air, with no way to get up there. Seraph blasts the Lucavi with fire. The archers both shoot Zac. By this time, the Kiyomori wears off, but the Lucavi lets out a scream.*

<Avenge...me...I will...return.>

*The Lucavi explodes, leaving behind a mangled body & a Zodiac Stone, which falls to the ground & shimmers innocuously.*
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~Siedge Weald~

E"Even so, I don't think that man was with the church. He used spells I've never even heard before. What Job Class can make independent copies of themselves?"

"Nice armor" Sorrel says upon observing the knight's gold trimmed armor.

"I wouldn't rule out Bredmondt too fast," Mortal said, "Odd spells no one has ever heard of before seems to be a bit of a specialty when it comes to him."

--

"God, I wish I could fucking fly..." Zac mumbled to himself before shooting the critical archer with another barrage.

~Nelveska~

L"You don't have to fire 4 shots every single time, you know! I'm willing to bet that takes longer than to fire one."

*While he's showing off--poorly--the two remaining archers shoot his ass.*
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~Siedge Weald~

E"Alright, that's a fair point, but that's just ONE spell. This is an entire arsenal. It's like you said soon after we met--if you weren't a dragon, there would be no other explanation for all of your skills. So that means that he must have been...something...not...normal...."

*She scratches her head.*

E"Ah, no offense."
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~Eagrose~

<It signifies my superior rank. I'm no ordinary knight, you see. In fact, you might say that I'm your polar opposite.>

"No, time is relative, but as far as productivity goes it takes the same amount of 'time' to shoot one shot as four, and shooting four makes my attack stronger. It'd be like asking why Roatha swings two swords, or why you swing with two hands." After that Zac splits the damage, and shoots a Barrage at another archer, assuming he killed the previous one. If he did not he shoots the previous one.

--

Mortal took offense, but smiled anyway, "It is alright, I know what you meant. I agree that they are not human though, they seemed far too different."

~Nelveska~

R"I'm not an Arithmetician, but I'm fairly certain that made no sense at all. Of course it takes me longer to swing two swords, it takes twice as long, because I have twice as much swinging to do. Of course, there are certain moves I can do to mitigate this, but if we're just talking about repeating an attack...."

*Zac is bleeding very heavily. Not willing to risk her last Murasame, she gives him a potion.*

L"Also, I swing faster than the average knight, partly because I use two hands. It's a leverage thing."
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~Siedge Weald~

*As they're walking along, the tracks eventually just end. The figure had a distinctive set of tracks...distinctive in that they're completely smooth, with no apparent sites for traction.*

"Hmm...Elder Simon is sometimes called 'the most well read man in the world.' Maybe he'll know something about...whatever that was."

"The point I'm making is that, yes, in universe that makes sense, but I'm allowed one action per post, barring move actions, and free actions such as talking (it is all very standard DnD stuff), and I want to maximize my damage, so I opt to shoot a Barrage, rather than a single shot," Zac explained, "Also, thank you for the potion." He shot another barrage at the archer, "Now, are we done talking about this?"

--

"Perhaps we should pay him a visit," Noct said.

~Nelveska~

R"So long as we're doing this, it stands to reason that if we're explaining this, it's probably significant. And even if it's not, it's still dumb."

L"Moving right along...the way I figure, they were probably guarding a group of miners. Probably inside the temple."

The battle is won!:

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~Dorter~

*They pass into the trade city without incident.*

E"I'd love to. Hopefully, he's not like the priests at Mullonde."

"Agreed."

--

"Should we go inside the temple then?" Zac asked, holstering his weapon.

~Nelveska~

L"Let's."

*Inside, they travel the tunnels for a short distance. They can hear a woman yelling frantically that they're digging as fast as they can, and pleading not to hurt them.*

R"That...sounded odd."

*As their eyes adjust, they can see some people in peasant rags grouped together in a chain gang, trying to break the rocks with dillapidated mining tools.*

R"That hypocrite! After all that noise he spouted during the revolution, he resorted to kidnapping & slave labor!"

S"...That's what they call 'entrepreneurship.'"
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~Orbonne~

*Euryale walks up to the oak door & knocks on it. A bald old man opens the door. He looks like he hasn't been sleeping well.*

<Perishoners? I don't usually get many, all the way down here. Lady Alma and Lady Ovelia are probably my first in a good 30, 40 years...but I'm sure you don't want to hear me reminisce about my younger days. Please, come in, my children.>

*He laughs slightly & steps aside to let them in the monastary. Apparently just in time, as the clouds begin gathering ominously, & it begins to sprinkle.*

"We can't leave these people like this," Zac said, "We should find some way to free them."

--

They walk inside.

"A divine knight? That's a rarity. It was what my initial intent was but... you know you have to go with the talents you have and I have a knack for putting my body on the line" he extended his hand out.