15[20:12] The battle for Nexus rages beneath a dream-torn sky, as the hateful light of Balor' 15[20:13] s star fights for supremacy with the emerald witch-light of Cethleann's magic in the twilight as the sun itself seems to hide. [20:16] 14I still...believe...that we will win. [20:38] It's that moment when Jai erupts from the shadows, roaring a wordless kiai, his anima flaring, brightening, then becoming limned in the hues of sunset. His eyes burn like sparks as he sets on the Fair Folk warriors, dancing among them with broad sweeps and pinpoint spearthrusts. Maybe this will give the others the breathing room they need. [20:39] Jai's anima continues to spread, evoking a storm-tossed sea and grasping limbs reaching as if they could drag the raksha down below those waves. [20:51] 14Stranger dances back to short range, bleeding in four places, and hums a tune -- then snaps his wrist and bounces the bound parasol off a dozen or more cataphractoi before whipping it back into his hand, and then doing it again, and again... [20:57] 13Meanwhile, Xia Lan is still engaged with the bear riding another, larger bear, and damn him but he's tough to actually strike. A slash aimed for the smaller one, and the big one dodges; aim for the bigger one, and the small one nearly grabs her sword by the hook with its claw. She finally retreats back to Keldar's side with a feint, frustrated despite the Sun's light shining upon her. [21:02] 5Xu Sim brushes the hem of his robes clear of the black obsidian dust of ten thousand maddened stone butterflies, as one might wipe away a bit of spilled soup at a banquet. Then, he casually walks into the fracas, before taking the stance of the Crane. He gestures in false amiability to his enemies, to come and try to do as they please. [21:19] 10They just keep coming. It's great to be able to really cut loose, but… this is a little more desperate than he'd imagined it would be. Jai slams another cataphract to the ground with the butt of his spear, twirls it round to block two other attacks, and then delivers what would be a mercy stroke to a mortal. But against these? The iron point burns all the way through. [21:22] 13There's so many of these things, and space is tight to dodge in -- Xia Lan ends up getting clipped by some of them, trying desperately to keep them away from anything vital. [21:23] 5Xu Sim steps towards the Cataphractoi. The last time he - and Xia Lan - faced these brutes in battle, they slaughtered one of his erymanthoi bodyguards and nearly killed him. It's how the Mask of Winters ended up in Nexus. As they surge forward to strike again, Xu Sim steps between one and Keldar; he casually turns its blade aside and then, with a turn of his body, drives his fist [21:23] 5into the creature's center of gravity. [21:25] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar, tensing for even deeper pain, is extremely nonplussed to find himself hiding behind a wizard for once. But, hell, that gives him time for an even bigger windup. [21:36] <@Ferrinus> 12Unfortunately, he can't repay the favor - lash out though he may against the cataphractoi, Keldar's only able to hold his ground, and it does little good to Xu Sim when Matis Yadh comes crashing down. [21:39] 5Xu Sim had a plan. Everyone has a plan, until they get hit in the face. Xu Sim emerges, swaying and bloodied, from the flurry of Mata-Yadh's blows. [21:51] <@Ferrinus> 12The Dawn Sergeant's putting a pretty poor showing against the marauding Lunar, too, pretty much being unceremoniously swatted aside as the creature hurtles towards Xia Lan. This isn't looking good! [21:51] 14I still believe that we will win. [21:52] 13Getting harder to believe that every second, boss man. [21:55] 10Jai's still pretty fresh, but there's a dozen or more raksha coming at him from all directions. Pure hot-bloodedness can only carry you so far. [22:11] <@Ferrinus> 12As his quarry's driven back, the great silver-burning bear stands supreme over the battlefield, scattering foes before him and finally turning to round on his true counterpart. Moon's anointed warlord bears down on sun's anointed warlord, gigantic claws blazing bright as they smash through Keldar's parries, predict Keldar's dodge, and finally land square in the Dawn Sergeant's gut, [22:11] <@Ferrinus> 12seeming to part the orichalcum and distend the moonsilver as they bite deep into flesh. Keldar's pushed back, yanked briefly off the ground, and when he slides free to go staggering back Krawczyk's paw is... clean? No, almost clean, because the very tip of each claw sparkles a brilliant red, and Keldar spits a mouthful of matching hue onto the cobblestones beside him. [22:11] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar: "...ow." [22:34] 13They're all around her now. The enormous skull tries to chomp her and Xia Lan is grabbed - wait, no, she isn't, and never was. The cataphracts are thankfully blocked entirely by Keldar. Maybe they WILL win. Xia Lan is, of course, still bravely huddling behind Keldar for safety. [22:36] 10And just when Jai's thinking things are looking pretty bleak, beset on all sides and fighting with everything he has, his perspective shifts. He's able to step outside the moment, catch his breath, and draw strength from his desperation. He finds his flow, just like Oyabun said he would, and without any dumb breathing exercises or sitting under waterfalls. His anima continues to billow and unfurl, casting a smoky flame over the [22:36] 10 battlefield, and everything beneath it is suddenly his prey. Essence suffuses his weapon, bolstering it against stresses far greater than it was ever designed for, and he fights his way free of the encroaching circle. Then, with some room to move, he REALLY gets started.  [22:37] 10Black Wind? Maybe. But he's also Golden Lightning, a spark darting to and fro in the chaos. [22:38] 14The melee intensifies, and Stranger Visits Heaven dances to his own tune. Xia Lan bends but does not break. Keldar is a rock. Xu Sim's maniacal contortions defend them both. And the new man, Jai, he drives straight through the gentry cavalry with nothing but a wood-and-iron spear, and scatters the lot. Upon reflection, Stranger is -- would be -- proud to die with these four, here [22:38] 14today. [22:38] 14But before he does that, he draws the parasol back and spools the rope around his hand again. "One thousand judgments from the Kingdom of the Sun." [22:38] 14Whipping back and forth on the rope, the parasol judges the cataphractoi one thousand times. [22:38] 14The melee intensifies, and Stranger Visits Heaven dances to his own tune. Xia Lan bends but does not break. Keldar is a rock. Xu Sim's maniacal contortions defend them both. And the new man, Jai, he drives straight through the gentry cavalry with nothing but a wood-and-iron spear, and [22:38] 14scatters the lot. Upon reflection, Stranger is -- would be -- proud to die with these four, here today. [22:38] 14But before he does that, he draws the parasol back and spools the rope around his hand again. "One thousand judgments from the Kingdom of the Sun." [22:38] 14Whipping back and forth on the rope, the parasol judges the cataphractoi one thousand times. [22:40] 10Jai throws back his head and laughs. Oh HELL yes. All of the pretension and hesitancy he showed earlier is gone. There's a job to do, and until it gets done, there's no time to doubt himself. [22:41] <@Ferrinus> 12Keldar's next word is more of an inarticulate yell. Alight with both essence and fury, the Dawn Caste charges the Full Moon Caste without a hint of magic but a surfeit of sheer spite, knocking the bear-mount's jaws aside with a backhand before springing up before the saddle and just getting completely in Krawczyk's face. There's not much room to swing a grand daiklave around at such [22:41] <@Ferrinus> 12close quarters, but the massive blade provides enough weight and leverage to allow for a series of jaws, shoulder checks, and pommel strikes that leave Keldar standing in one bear's saddle while another's sort of scrambling to get back into his seat from the ground. [22:48] 14Behind Stranger Visits Heaven stands the large, looming, white-eyed shadow of...whatever it is he used to be. [22:48] 14'Stands' isn't the right word. It balloons up over him and leans down. 15[22:54] The blazing solar souls flood the city streets, matching mote for mote the other strange and terrible energies racking heaven and earth. For a moment even the minor behemoth is dim in comparison. But as the flare ebbs ever so slightly, the light does not diminish, as a towering figure clad in blazing white armor charges forward, implacable through the carnage. The earth trembles beneath 15[22:54] his charging boots as the ground is scored apart by the great sledge he drags behind him and the silver spear still sticking through his chest. 15[22:57] Eyes burn inhuman beneath the great helm of Nessun Dorma as he points across the field directly at Xu Sim and brings his sledge into the earth, shattering the street and splintering the buildings around. [22:57] 14Sometimes dead is better. 15[22:57] NEXT TIME: Vengeance deferred