• 110 HP
  

  MAX 134 HP

• 72 EN
  

  MAX 206 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: H2 - Zone IX

No, no, no. They'd been struggling on for so long, they couldn't fall now. And yet, Rat was run through by the thousand copies of Arbiter, and Aalam's body pierced by the ominous spikes extending from the ground.

Gwyn left through the portal with both bodies, and Ashiore grit her teeth as she stared down Titania. There was nothing left to reason with, so she wouldn't bother trying. Kyupin and Comet returned before long, and Saya as well to take back her blade. They could push through this.

But, not with her here. At least, not at this moment. Kyupin and Comet were both attacking Titania, sending arrow and bolt tearing into the misshapen form. She'd be more of a liability on the field now, and would be able to do more back at the other plane. If she could revive someone... bring them back, make sure that death was not permanent...

Yes, she was better suited to that. Grimly, she called out to the others on the field, "Be careful, everyone!" and began making the journey back.

Swapping Out with @Gwyn ap Herne
Tracker / No Roll

 

• 64 HP
  

  MAX 134 HP

• 117 EN
  

  MAX 142 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: G1 - Zone IX

Moving from Soul Path to G1
-10 EN from Attack

"Saya!" she said, momentarily delighted by the presence of the strong maiden. That delight lasted for as long as the other woman was actually with them on the battlefield. Kyupin could only watch as they power-fighter took off to the skies, fighting with the replica of her own sword. Hopefully, Saya would not lose to her weapon. "Alright. We'll keep things going until you're back." She tried to stay witty and smart, like the others who had graced this battlefield, as she lined her sights with Titania's gruesome form.

Despite the brave face she put on, the earlier deaths had still left their mark on her soul. She needed to make sure they were okay, and the only way to be certain of that was to end the evil plaguing them. Knowing that, it was vital to have a steady aim. A calm mind, a calmer heart. Two very important things that would lead to her success. She just had to keep calm.

But the blood and gore weighed heavy on her shoulders, wearing her out before she could manage the next shot. The arrow flew wide of the target, not even skimming the deformed mutation before them.

Kyupin took a shuddering breath and swallowed down her frustrated sob. She hooked her fingers around another arrow, pulled taut her bowstring, and took aim.

Even if she had to shoot a thousand times, until her fingers were raw and bloodied, even if she had to die to do it, she would put an end to this. She squinted through the blur of her tears and gritted her teeth, willing them away. She couldn't see like this!

Attack on Nanami
26 + 35 + 20 = 81 (MISS)
Tracker / Roll
Nanami: 3200 / 9999 HP

 

• 148 HP
  

  MAX 187 HP

• 57 EN
  

  MAX 156 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: H2 - Zone IX

Resting Interrupted
-15 EN from Critical Attack

There dropped bodies. Now there were only pools of old blood left. There went her cover. Now here she was a breath later. There came the NPC. Now off she left immediately.

Gwyn was getting sick of this peculiar, particular fight. The sights were sickening. The boss creature grew more boring and despondent by the second. It didn't act like a person. It didn't act like an animal. It didn't act like anything. Just floated. Spoke listlessly to them, but as if to itself. She grasped at her fury to find hatred for it. Instead, she just found an exhausted hollow where all the Dissonance had been dug out of her.

She was getting tired and the usual passion for the fight was sputtering. It felt like a job. Not even that. She wondered how many more corpses she would have to carry, or if she'd be the one tossed over a shoulder like luggage. Her vision blurred just a second as the drain of the song and dance of this fight dragged ever on. It was enough to miss an eye, her arrow slipping through the shadows and vanishing behind Titania somewhere.

At least she matched Kyupin.

Critical Attack on Titania
41 + 20 = 61 (MISS)
Tracker / Roll
Titania: 3200 / 9999 HP

 

• 72 HP
  

  MAX 175 HP

• 60 EN
  

  MAX 150 EN

• 0 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: E7 - Zone II

Moving from G3 to E7
+10 EN Training Signet
-20 EN Reckless
-5 EN Supplement
-4 EN +3 Additional Movement and Action

The first bell tolls.
Aalam's body, penetrated by a thousand dark thorns.

When had she started being afraid? Afraid to die again? What if I do this, that happens? Am I leaving myself too wide open? is it really okay to attack now? Should I hold back? What will happen next?

Useless.

When had she started being afraid? Was it after that encounter? The one after that? Or after her talk with him?

This was no different from before. This was no different from the before of that before. It had never been any different. Yet, here she was, kept down by her own fears.

There was nothing to be afraid of anymore. There had probably never been.

Fear was an illusion.

The second bell tolls.
Rat's body, mutilated beyond recognition.

Seigi had hope. Hope for things to turn out better. Hope for Nanami, Nani, Titanius. Hope, like a kid hoping for its mother return after being pawned off and told they would get her on her next birthday.

??? Days had passed, her birthday still hadn't come.

The pitiful kind of hope...
But now she was done hoping.

This... thing in front of her was long past saving. Long past salvation. A beast in human clothing.

Seigi was prepared to kill.

She wouldn't let the bell sound a third time...
Slow steps forward.

"..." They were past words. Past communication. One didn't talk with a beast. One didn't sympathize with their prey.

Squish

For a moment, Seigi stopped as she had stepped on the remains of either Rat or Aalam. The sweet fragrance of blood and flesh entering her nostrils. "..." Wallowing in regret and self-pity was another chapter, for another time. She had her own, absurd, oath. No regrets. No apologies. The past was the past.

Even so close to Titania, she didn't seem to bother.

Alright.

How did it go again? Seigi didn't have the speed yet, but strength?

Removing the last bits of bandages from her arms, Seigi had no problems to wrap some pieces around Titania before landing a single punch, making her fly away a few feet just to be pulled in by the wrapped bandage.

Just how that other girl did it.

A second punch followed. Repeat.
A third one. Repeat.
Fourth. Repeat.
Fifth, Sixth...

In the end, Seigi ended it with her leg raised high, like a sledgehammer, coming down on Titania's head.

Reckless+Supplement on Titania
117 + 71 = 188
Tracker / Roll
Target: 3012 / 9999 HP

 

• 64 HP
  

  MAX 134 HP

• 102 EN
  

  MAX 142 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: G1 - Zone IX

-10 EN from Stable Attack
-5 EN, +15 DMG from Damage Supplementation

There was darkness, and then there were @Seigi's arms, smashed repeatedly against Titania's warping figure. Those were pitch black. Unsightly things that drew Kyupin's attention and forced her to watch with a sick mix of bewilderment and awe. If there was any blood to exchange from each strong punch, the red would've never showed – easily sucked up by the abyss. She followed those fists like a cat followed a laser dot. In the absence of light, darkness would be her guide.

She kept her aim trained on Titania, waiting for the barrage of punches to finish.

While she waited, she focused. Each deep breath felt natural, cycling through her veins and then back out, a process of cleansing and calm. Something that did not exist in this unnatural world.

Breathe in.

A grounding force to keep her from floating away, up into the sky, where Saya still fought relentlessly, sword against sword. Where @Gwyn ap Herne's arrow flew helplessly away, far from the target. Where, perhaps, there may be a hidden camera, because god knows how those in the soul path could watch this battle of attrition.

Breathe out.

The axe kick slammed down on Titania, and, as if a trigger were pulled, Kyupin let loose. The arrow struck true, barely missing Seigi's collarbone to bury itself into Titania's form. She'd hit!

Kyupin smiled and then sagged back on her haunches, watching with weary eyes and an even wearier mind.

Stable Attack w/ Supplementation on Nanami
24 + 16 + 35 + 20 + 15 = 110
Tracker / Roll
Nanami: 2902 / 9999 HP

 

• 108 HP
  

  MAX 157 HP

• 46 EN
  

  MAX 138 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: E6 - Zone V

Moving from E5 to E6
-25 EN for Reckless Attack + Damage Supplementation

Saya's return enlightened Comet's dark soul full of an endless amount of spreading dread. The inner pain halted. Hope clawed itself through to her heart that began to beat rapidly. Every moment counted now. They were close to defeating the world boss, and she planned to stay alive for when the show ended. When this type of darkness ceased to exist any longer. It worried her to think of what may go wrong.

Instead, Comet forced a bit of positivity to fill her lithe body. Not much helped get rid of worries or anxieties or true fear due to past events; but the young woman continued to fight to the best of her ability. Even while she faced imminent dangers from both her own attitude and the monstrous entity practically begging for death brought upon by such puny players in comparison. Whatever Twilight may be, she could care less, since all that mattered happened to be dealing as much damage as possible.

Her limbs continued to shake with a nervousness incomparable to any other felt before. Terrasphere brought out the worse in her, and projected it. All would be able see the vulnerable Comet. Once so confident. So brave. Now feeling so wrong in her own skin more pink than the usual milky color. Tired muscles cried out for a break. Just one, little break for a few minutes. A few seconds. Her unrest lay much deeper than creating a surface tired to face head-on. It wouldn't give up until the job was done. Until she was satisfied with her pathetic-feeling self.

At least Seigi and Kyu and Gwyn were able to bring her from this sort of feeling into one of power: the thrill of success. Of fighting, conquering, defeating. The pink-haired woman's arrows hit hard, in vital places. She cheered on the inside due to being much too tired to show even the slightest emotion - other than a hint of a smile hiding on her face - to onlookers.

Reckless Attack against Titania
53 + 85 + 25 + 15 + 15 = 193
Tracker / Roll
Target: 2709 / 9999 HP

 

• 52 HP
  

  MAX 175 HP

• 35 EN
  

  MAX 150 EN

• 0 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: E7 - Zone II

-20 HP Reckless 2nd
-20 EN Reckless
-5 EN Supplement

"..." This wasn't over yet. She wouldn't die today. Well, she wouldn't die anyway because she was still a player and just respawn. Even with the UI... "Tzch..." Seigi bend her knees a bit. She still had a second date with Cain to attend. Still a Happy End with Wendy. Still lots of more ice-cream.

Following up with a somersault, Seigi kicked Titania into the air - for someone floating anyway kinda weird - before pressing her legs strongly against the ground.

She would definitely do this. "Heart of a Hero!"
She wouldn't lose. "The burning of youth!"
She would rise higher. "THE FLAMES OF A MAIDEN!"

Jumping after Titania, Seigi grabbed her mid-air, keeping her in a lock. "SUPER ULTRA JUSTICE SUPLEX OVERDRIVE!" Ah. As silly as it was, this never got old. With these words, the girl closed the few meters to the imaginary ground as Titania went head-first into it. Of course, without actual environmental damage, this should hurt more... less?

Reckless+Supplement on Titania
133 + 71 = 204
Tracker / Roll
Target: 2505 / 9999 HP

 

• 88 HP
  

  MAX 157 HP

• 21 EN
  

  MAX 138 EN

• 0 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: E6 - Zone V

-25 EN for Reckless Attack + Damage Supplementation
-20 HP from 2 Reckless Attacks

Her hands and body and focus shifted into action without much thought put into such practiced movement: a second nature. Though she knew that being so reckless wouldn't end well. Death could hit her at any moment. Steal her away from the game. Whatever fate presented next the young woman felt proud of strong, devastating attacks from her end despite a lack of true dedication to combat in the moment. She had a lot to think about. A lot to take in, to continue absorbing, to deal with in the aftermath.

An image of Mags lit up the atmosphere around her. Then ones of Alric and Alkaid and even the teammates by her side inside the core followed. Despite being quite the selfish person Comet had more reasoning to push through the rest of the fight. She had friends. Maybe not in the real world, not yet, but those who cared about her life existed where time became special. Were out there waiting, and would've wished her the best of luck or enough strength to carry out tasks to rid their fantasy lands of Dissonance once and for all. When things were said and done Comet vowed to appreciate the people in-game more often. Those who plucked fear from where it harmed her, and who were true to her no matter the situation.

Reckless Attack against Titania
97 + 88 + 25 + 15 + 15 = 240
Tracker / Roll
Target: 2265 / 9999 HP

 

• 134 HP
  

  MAX 134 HP

• 140 EN
  

  MAX 142 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: E3 - Zone VIIi

Full Reset HP and EN
-2 EN from 2 panel movement
Moving from G1 to F2 to E3

Would she die here? Not just a gamer's death, where she would hurt and come back stronger than ever, but true death? She should've been frightened by the nausea and weakness that settled far deeper than any virtual ailment. But in reality? The idea of living and dying as Kyupin Felnya was... Intoxicating.

She wanted it, more than she had ever expected to. And that, more than the idea of actual death, of pain and never waking up again, scared her. To know she was fine with throwing away her other life like this...

Even as magic rejuvenated her and brought pep back into hsrvstep, Kyupin found herself having to take a step back.

She froze in the soul patb as she considered the best person to send in while she mulled over her own thoughts, suddenly not as... Worried. They had backup .This didnf was no longer life or death - it was just glory .And she knew somebody that was perfectly suited for pretty fights and bloody glory.

She smiled thinly at @Cain Darlite, stepping aside to offer him the stage .

Swapping with @Cain Darlite

 

• 122 HP
  

  MAX 122 HP

• 168 EN
  

  MAX 180 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: E5 - Zone V

Moving from E3 to E5
-10 EN for Attacking
-2 EN for Movement

He returned her smile, stepping through the path Kyupin had opened up and dissolving from the spiritual realm, into the heart of the demon. Ashen droplets clung to his form, but Cain cared little. No longer did the phantasmal noose strangle him. No longer was he a collared beast, bearing the grudges of shadows and sin. So airy. So light. So beautiful.

For the first time, he saw the apocalyptic carnage as something worth taking a photograph of. For the first time, he saw the harbinger of dissonance as something worth remembering. For the first time, the Flagbearer felt his muscles loosen, relaxing. He wished he could share this with the others, this tranquility in the face of destruction.

Seigi still lived. Weiss had come. Saya could finish.

Everything was going to be alright.

His body thrummed, an instrument in and of itself. The pulse of his blood, the beats of his heart, the swish of his hair, the click of his heels, the pops of his knuckles, the gong of his lungs, the rumble of his stomach. Around him, the orchestra danced more vibrantly than ever while arcane script swirled around his hand. He was never that powerful of a mage, but with all this, he didn’t have to be. A bard’s value was not in knowledge, not in might, not in magic. It was in festivity, in reminiscence, in joviality.

The berserk rage that surged like an undercurrent disappeared, and Cain laughed, reaching past the ego and the grudge to grasp the quicksilver within his heart, the sundering lance that formed in the palm of his hand.

Piercing sound, space, and flesh, the arcane spear pierced through Titania’s form, flying off and blasting a hole through the burning clouds above.

But even that was mere a prelude.

Flagbearer of Miracles, Double Blessed of Idna and Iedi, Conductor of the Phantasmal Orchestra.

Even with all those titles, Cain was known for but one thing.

Enabling the heroic might of others.

Around him, the phantoms rippled, more and more power flowing in as his imaginary veins overcharged with limitless mana.

Soon.

Attacking Titania
48 + 60 = 108 x 2 = 216
Tracker / Roll
Titania: 2783/9999

 

• 187 HP
  

  MAX 187 HP

• 154 EN
  

  MAX 156 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: F5 - Zone V

HP Reset
EN Reset
H2 to H3
H3 to G4
G4 to F5
-2 EN from Extra Movement

She was tired and confused and barely following the flow of the fight. If it could honestly even be called as much. The huntress saw this as a pattern, like knitting. Someone out there enjoyed it, surely. She was not the sort. She wanted teeth and blood and nails and violence and the struggle between man and monster and nature. This didn't sing of a victory. It didn't have a dirge for a triumph's anthem. It was a storybook close to closing, because the NPC she'd barely paid attention to the name of had appeared with wings of stardust and more had said exactly that. Good was supposed to win and there was nothing but a formless, nearly nameless darkness here that needed slaying.

Others could do that. She wasn't needed. She had claimed a few of its eyes and little more. Let those with speeches inked on their tongues and shouts echoing in the hollows of their molars take their shots. Gwyn turned on it and faded through the embrace of the portal for what felt like the hundredth time.

It was wrong. She didn't leave fights like this. Didn't run. Didn't accept obstacles as immutable. But here she was and there she went.

Swapping with @Aalam Abungu

 

• 122 HP
  

  MAX 122 HP

• 136 EN
  

  MAX 180 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: D7 - Zone II

Moving from E5 to D7
-30 EN for Activating Hylia's Score
-2 EN for Movement

One last step, and he was standing there on the final battlefield. Above, the sky was suffused with smoke. Around, crumbling buildings seeped with the blood of the long dead. Below, the pavement was stubbornly cracked, withered weeds dead beneath his feet.

What a dreary world. What an oppressive world. What a hopeless world.

His hand grasped the flagpole that wasn’t there.

He was going to change all of this.

A hot wind blew against the feathers pinned into his hair.

No matter how despairing, how ugly, how distorted, the world was never bereft of beauty.

And after a whole day spent within darkness, within flesh, within corruption and steel and modernity and reality and suffering, the Flagbearer of Miracles was just about done with it all. Everyone deserved a breath of fresh air. Everyone deserved a more elaborate stage for the final battle. Even Titania did, after four thousand years of this miserable existence, constantly being eradicated by the Guardian Angel of Tertoria.

“Give me light, give me love, give me life.”

The phantasmal orchestra reached its peak and disassembled, azure light flooding the entire zone. No more exhaustion, no more desperation, no more hatred. It was time for the party to begin! The Harmonic Symphony filled the world to the brim, a massive three dimensional magical circle encasing, no, replacing the ruin and wreckage of the last day with something more, something beautiful.

A blue sky, framed with white, painterly clouds.

A spring wind, musical and floral in and of itself.

A marble amphitheatre, wreathed with gold and scarlet silk.

A blizzard of violet petals, dancing endlessly, infinitely.

An audience of phantoms and shadows, watching the climatic showdown with a bated breath.

It was cheating. It was greedy. It was a bit disgusting, to manufacture such a memory.

But Cain searched within the crowd of phantoms, found that lioness whose hair shone like sunlight, and smiled.

An elegy, a swan song, a requiem, for all those lost, for all those found.

And with that, the last song began, a story of the braves that fought in the face of absolute destruction, who crumbled into dust in exchange for one last miracle, who became immortalized in song.

“Stand up
Stand up
This yearning body will fall apart
But the soul is absolute!
Rend the heavens for the sake of victory
Let's take pride and shine brighter than the rising sun!”​

Hylia's Score
Zonal AOE: +50 to Damage, +25 HP Regen, Immunity to Dissonance
Tracker / Roll

 

• 157 HP
  

  MAX 157 HP

• 138 EN
  

  MAX 138 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: F6 - Zone V

Moving from E6 to F6
Full Reset HP and EN

Comet had a feeling - despite regaining hope and courage and hitting hard against the enemy - that she would soon face death. It'd be her first time experiencing what the game brought to the table. Surely, relief from the all too real pain that would seem to last even when she logged out wouldn't be torture. Yet with all the hard work put into fighting. The long journeys on top of physical and mental weariness... She wasn't quite prepared to have to die, and wait to be revived or to spawn elsewhere. It'd be disappointing more than anything. Her heart and lungs shriveled up, breathing rough. The young woman's gut twisted out of near unbearable anxiousness.

Until Des Weiss appeared, Comet attempted to prepare herself for the experience she'd have a hard time forgetting. As if it were something close to real, and not a game for fun or escape. The sensation of adrenaline pouring through her veins following the entrance of a familiar face washed away this widespread stiffness that threatened to harm Comet by enhancing innate insecurity, and all other negative traits that were relentless against her weak soul. Long legs carried her away from the battle, however, and back towards the Soul Path for a much needed - albeit temporary- rest.

"Best to leave things to the professionals." the Archer commented light-heartedly before swapping out with her purple-haired teammate.

Swapping with @Nalla

 

• 125 HP
  

  MAX 125 HP

• 153 EN
  

  MAX 173 EN

• 00 STK
  

  Dissonance

Location: F7 - Zone II

Moving from F6 to F7
-20 EN for action

Nalla pursed her lips, standing and turning away from the resuscitated Rat. In an unstopping stride, she headed for the portal that would lead her back to combat. The door was not yet ajar, still smothered in the ambiguity of the soul path. She existed in that place, her unkempt introspection unreadable, as telepathy was not a mastery. Her final look back towards the dead, and those who still towed the line, was transient.

Gwyn had gone and returned. The same occurred with Kyupin. She nodded to herself, responding to an unheard notion that bellowed inside her brain case. Two fingers from her left hand rose, kneading at a pain that radiated from her forehead. She inhaled a final breath, before stepping forward, and replacing Comet, a countenance remembered from memories of unknown origin.

There was a moment in the mist, between the transition and the arrival. She stood in this passage alone. A cat sat in front of her. The pyromancer collapsed upon her knees and screamed to the sky, hands grasping out, first at her ears, then at her throat. The air that had filled her lungs, for a moment, refused to obey. The sound escaped her, but the pain in her head remained. Then, before the moment was stale, lingering eyes descending to the ground, she returned to her feet, and walked towards duty. Things were quiet.

She stepped into sound. The kind of noise that played melodies and told heroic tales. The kind of clamor that recounted the narratives of legends. It was magnificent. @Cain Darlite's work. Turning to this ally, the woman with purple hair smiled, nodding with approval. Her arms swelled with a layer of heat.

There was a hell inside of her. It burned in her gut, and tore through her lungs. It stung in her heart, and it bubbled and singed her knuckles. Here, in a place where she saw cause, finally, she could share that hell. It rose around her, obeying her command. The space below the monstrosity before her glowed, flame reaching up, before erupting in a geyser. She didn't expect to return to the soul path. So be it.

Reckless Attack on Titania
(2 + 74 + 55 + 50)*2= 362
Tracker / Roll
Titania: 2421 / 9999 HP