15[20:02] The way into the fissure is wrought in ramps and rope ladders, as each rough-hewn ledge of this great basalt quarry is too steep and tall for mortal descent. The Four Fangs could probably manage unaided, were they alone... but with a mortal engineer, a man of indiscernible competence, and Garnet's jar... slow and steady seems to be the order of the day. 15[20:04] The wide, uneven rift at the bottom of the quarry throbs with weird, virid light that plays harshly on the skin. It's warm here, and they're getting warmer. 15[20:05] "How are we doing?" asks the engineer. [20:06] 14Piu, from the rear: "We should be ready to head in. So really, that's my question to you: where's forward from here, and how are we heading to it?" [20:07] 10Daizo blinks a drop of sweat out of his eye. "Right. Were the previous expeditions able to create any sort of reliable map?" 15[20:11] Sho seems able to talk and spelunk at more or less the same time. "Enough to get this far, Master Daizo. Getting significantly deeper has been a challenge... as much a morale problem as an engineering problem. Nobody *wants* to go deeper. Forward, Lady Piu, is down." [20:11] 10It might occur to Daizo that this is a question he should have asked long before boarding the raft. If it does, he will never, ever admit it. 15[20:12] Takoye: "What do you mean, nobody *wants* to? This is their job. Why wasn't this mutiny in the reports?" 15[20:13] Sho: "Apologies, my lord. It slipped my mind until just now." 15[20:13] Takoye: "Impossible to find decent help nowadays." [20:17] 10Daizo: "How much were you paying them?" 15[20:17] Takoye makes a nomcommital noise. "A fair rate, I'm sure. Suris handles the details." [20:17] 6Zhangyu: "Evidently not enough." [20:18] 14Piu: "Not really the time, boys." 14Difficult to lead from the rear, so someone up front should take charge assessing the descent. [20:18] 07Dryas: "Interesting. Let's see here." 07She peers over the edge. [20:18] 14See? Sister Dryas is on top of things. [20:19] 07Dryas draws an arrow from her quiver. Little green vines flick and play about her fingers as she nocks it to the bowstring as she peers down, looking for a place to seek purchase. 15[20:20] Sho: "We've worked out two options for descent, neither of which anyone liked. One is that we try to rappel directly down the main fissure, to reach the bottom as quickly as possible. Tremendously dangerous, even if we assume whatever's at the bottom is safe. But then... well you see it, Lady Dryas." She does — a shorter rappel gets you to the furthest evidence of the workers' arrival, 15[20:20] a little abandoned base camp on a narrow ledge that seems to melt into a crevasse in the chasm wall. 15[20:20] "Hard to see where that goes, and we've lost people trying to make it safer." [20:23] 14Piu: "Seems like taking the base camp and then reassessing is the right play. If we want to, we can still rappel down." 15[20:23] Sho: "Makes sense." [20:23] 10Enough space for, say, a guy with wings to theoretically glide to the bottom? 15[20:24] Daizo could absolutely glide down. [20:24] 6Zhangyu: "Still concerned about the camp and how it got to be there. But, not going to object to it." 15[20:25] Sho: "Couple of nasty falls getting it set up, but no fatalities." 15[20:26] Garnet, who has gone mask-off thanks to that little hiccup with the jar, says: "This is like no war-manse I've ever seen. You're certain this was part of the Grid?" [20:26] 10Daizo peers down into the chasm. "If we want to take the direct route, I can go ahead. Have to shuck off this cuirass, so we'd need someone to lower it down afterwards." 15[20:26] Sho stammers a bit getting out "N-not certain, Your Imperial Majesty. It's just our strongest hypothesis." [20:27] 13Piu's pretty sure you can just drop armor that resilient the distance to the base camp and it'll be fine, but if it was her armor she'd probably be worried about chipping too. [20:27] 14Piu's pretty sure you can just drop armor that resilient the distance to the base camp and it'll be fine, but if it was her armor she'd probably be worried about chipping too. 15[20:28] Chipping isn't even the primary concern so much as, like, not being able to control where it lands. [20:29] 10Yeah, who wants it to bounce into a crevice? Much less whatever effect this place might have on even jade plate. [20:40] 6Zhangyu's the first one to climb down, what with the whole side-bar. He also politely left handholds for other people to use. [20:42] 14Our strong brother is very polite. In extremely narrow circumstances. [20:47] 07Dryas waves the others ahead, standing a peculiar overwatch. She's not actually too worried about ambush, as exciting as the prospect might be. She's watching the climbers make their way down. [20:48] 14That'll make two of them, then. The boys can handle any animals that might be poking around camp down below. [20:49] 14If there are any animals this far in. [20:50] 10Daizo manages to climb one-handed, the jar cradled in the crook of his other arm, staying close enough to Garnet to keep her corporeal. It's tougher than it sounds! 15[20:55] Garnet keeps pace with Daizo, and Sho keeps pace with Garnet... Takoye laps them all, however, practically skidding down the cliff face. "The grip strength on my Adventure Boots is phenomenal! When we get back to camp I'll get your measurements so you can be on the waitlist for commercial orders." [20:56] 14Unlikely. [20:57] 07Dryas sees Sadako slip. In an instant, an arrow is loose - but it's no arrow, it's a twisting, grasping, vine - one end of which loops about Sadako's wrist and tightens as the rest of it trails behind the shot, finding purchase in the basalt cliff-face. Tiny white flowers, smaller than the ones in Dryas's hair, bloom from its surface. [20:59] 6Maybe shut the hell up, Takoye. You freaking geek. 15[20:59] Sadako almost lands badly, but Dryas's vine snares her a few fulms before impact. She looks up, briefly furious, before she realizes what's happened. "Haha, nice." 15[20:59] Caxi just conjures a cloud and floats down. 15[21:00] Garnet's glaring at her when their eyes are level. 15[21:00] Caxi: "What? I couldn't fit everyone." [21:00] 14Piu will head down, then. It almost looks like she's falling, she moves so nimbly between Zhangyu's handholds. But it's clear she's in complete control the entire time, ending with a kickflip off the wall into a brief crouch and pop up. 15[21:00] Sho: "Is that sorcery?!" 15[21:01] Caxi, proudly: "Daizo taught me." 15[21:01] Garnet: "Unbelievable." [21:01] 6Zhangyu is immediately checking Sadako for any injuries. 15[21:01] Sadako's fine. Her wrist's a little red, but that's to be expected. [21:01] 14Adorable. [21:02] 14it's actually an interesting question, philosophically, what would happen to Sadako in here if she did 'die,' given that coming back to life probably takes essence. One best left to the sages, however. 15[21:02] Sadako: "You can bring the normal guy down to the bottom at least, if we go that way." 15[21:02] Sadako looks to Dryas. "Are we?" [21:03] 6That's... she's not hurt, right? And not, not-hurt? [21:03] 14Worst case scenario, probably, is they have to drag her back to the entrance. 15[21:03] It's just a little rope burn. She's fine. 15[21:03] Well, vine burn. Same idea. [21:04] 14We've all been there. [21:04] 10Daizo's momentarily taken aback—but he gets the feeling that playing along is the smart move here. "A fine demonstration. I couldn't have done better." 10Actually, he can't do that at 10all10—but. [21:05] 07Dryas: "Good question. I don't think there's much to gain here... unless..." 07Any sign the camp's been interfered with? [21:05] 10Garnet probably gets a little of the mental backwash of that.  [21:06] 10Yeah, what's in this camp? 15[21:06] Garnet's pretty pissed Caxi could just do that and didn't mention it. It's a weird cocktail they're experiencing together. 15[21:14] Zhangyu, Piu, and Dryas search the camp. It's small and spare - no one was sleeping here, it's more of a waystation. But there are cushions (immaculate), the makings of a fire (which looks like it was lit several times but never really got going) and a small box of rations (which have somehow rotted through to disgusting mush). But that's not the weird thing. [21:15] 14Piu frowns. Fire from an elemental aura seems dampened here, yes, but surely not the concept of fire entirely? 15[21:18] The weird thing is the subtle pitch in their sense of proprioception. Dryas doesn't observe it as acutely as the other Fangs, but there's a little lurch in their inner ear, the kind you might associate with standing up very quickly, or the sensation of falling that sometimes accompanies falling asleep. It's hard to put your finger on, but something is different even this far down, in 15[21:18] a very deep-seated, physical way. [21:22] 14Well, that's annoying. And difficult to plan for. [21:23] 10Hrm. This might complicate the flight plan. 15[21:24] The crack in the wall opens into the dark beyond, if they want to take the long way down. [21:24] 07Dryas wobbles a bit. It's a bit like being tipsy. 15[21:24] Sho: "Whew! So far so good. What do you think, my lords? My ladies?" [21:25] 14To Sho: "How's your inner ear, Sho?" [21:25] 10Daizo: "Something's definitely off here. Your morale problems might not have been fixable with higher wages after all." 15[21:30] Sho: "I feel a bit off, yeah. Like, seasick, almost?" 15[21:31] Sadako: "Kinda dizzy." 15[21:31] Garnet: "Yeah." 15[21:31] Caxi: "...yeah, totally." 15[21:31] Takoye: "I feel great!" [21:31] 10The gods love an idiot. [21:32] 14They really do. It's kind of insulting. [21:32] 6Wait, do they? 15[21:32] Caxi: "Papa, maybe you should stay here, to secure our return." 15[21:32] Sho: "What? But we've come so far..." 15[21:33] Caxi makes a noncommital noise. "It might not be safe for mortals down below. And it would be very difficult to extricate you once we're down there." [21:34] 10Daizo: "Right. If other ill effects begin to show themselves, you'd likely be the first to succumb." 15[21:34] Sho: "I'd like to see it through, if it's all the same to you." [21:34] 07Dryas, skeptically: "Splitting up?" 15[21:35] Caxi looks at Daizo, and then back to Sho. She didn't look queasy before, but she does now, a bit. [21:35] 14Piu: "Safer to take him and send or carry him back than split the group. We all knew going in that this might not be a one-and-done, and with our leverage over Suris we don't have to work on her timetable." 15[21:36] Caxi: "...fine. In that case I insist you accompany me on the skiff. In case we need to ascend quickly." 15[21:37] Sadako: "You should hold hands to be extra safe." 15[21:37] Caxi glares. 15[21:37] Sadako: :P 15[21:38] Sho: "...right! I'll defer to the experts." 15[21:38] Garnet: "Straight down?" 15[21:38] She looking at Daizo. He can feel her eagerness and her fear. [21:38] 6Zhangyu: "Holding eachother?" [21:39] 07Dryas lays at the edge until her head is hanging over the gap. They say you're not supposed to look down, but one does not become a princess of earth by listening to such voices. [21:40] 14Ahahaha. Sadako knows the deathless cannot die! Which means they can effortlessly mock their aunts. [21:41] 10Daizo: "For all we know, that cave might be a dead end. The direct descent is risky, but at least we know where it ends up." 15[21:42] Takoye: "Agreed. We started up there, and soon we'll be at the bottom." [21:43] 07Dryas: "Who's first?" 07is the bottom even visible? [21:44] 14Piu: "Guy with wings and lady with magic cloud are our logical advance team." 15[21:44] Hard to say. The green light is very bright. 15[21:44] How closely, and for how long, does Dryas stare? [21:45] 07She'll watch until her eyes start hurting or until otherwise disturbed. Actually. [21:47] 10Daizo looks over to Garnet. "Want to risk a piggyback? I think I can carry both you and the jar if I'm just descending." 15[21:47] Garnet: "Pigs really do fly." She's up for it. 15[21:48] ...and, you know, down for it, Daizo realizes. [21:48] "Oink oink." [21:48] 6Wh- this is-- Well. Okay. [21:49] 07Dryas grips the edge of the cliff-face until her knuckles are white. Her hair hangs past her face, in a ruddier imitation of Sadako. 15[21:49] Dryas stares and stares until her eyes burn. She sees something huge and worked-metal at the bottom of the shaft, that green light bleeding through cracks or seams in what must be some kind of seal. She starts tearing up involuntarily, only to realize by the scent on the air that that's blood coming out of her eyes. [21:50] 10Daizo: "Right, then. Someone give me a hand with these clasps and laces." [21:51] 14Darlings, please don't do bedroom play in public. 15[21:52] The amulet starts to vibrate almost against Dryas's will, but she's able to focus... 15[21:52] Ligier, the Green Sun, Fetich Soul of the Demon City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NKncBZo9N4 - Morning will come for you at last, no matter how far into night you have strayed. Say his name. [21:53] 07Dryas rolls onto her back away from the edge, breathing heavily. 15[21:54] Caxi: "Dryas what the fuck did you do?" 15[21:54] "Did you stare??" [21:55] 14Piu: "What? What's going on?" [21:55] 07Dryas blinks through at her cousin. [21:56] 07She runs her fingers across the mahogany case she keeps Hakkai's Rebuttals in. "Yeah." [21:57] 10Daizo leaves off from shucking the cuirass to look over— "Mela's breath!" 15[21:57] Sadako kneels down beside Dryas. "What happened to her?" 15[21:57] Takoye leans over the side. "What? What is it? I want to see." 15[21:58] Garnet grabs him by the hair on the back of his head and drags him away from the edge. "Ow ow ow ow" [21:59] 07Dryas: "A green sun, burning brightly. Brighter than anything. It stings, terribly. I can still see." [21:59] 10Daizo: "Shit." [22:00] 14Piu: "That's Hell, right?" [22:00] 07Dryas: "We're being watched. Maybe He's looking back." 15[22:01] Caxi: "Fuck fuck FUCK!" [22:02] 07Dryas: "He doesn't like noise." 15[22:02] Caxi: "You're going to like silence even less." 15[22:03] "Do any of you have musical instruments?" 15[22:03] Takoye: "No, what? Why would we bring musical instruments?" 15[22:03] Caxi: "You stupid piece of lizard shit." [22:04] 14Piu: "No, but I'm an excellent singer." [22:04] 07Dryas: "Sure, I always keep these around," 07it's a set of Northern shepherd's pipes, small as the palm of your hand. [22:04] 07The same ones from back in Pangu! [22:07] 14Ah. Right. "...We're going to forfeit any stealth here, but we should keep a lively conversation, panpiping, humming, singing, so on." [22:08] 07Dryas: "Why? And what the hell is Ligier? It wants nothing but destruction." [22:08] 14Piu: "Ligier is the most powerful demon in Hell." [22:08] "Well. I'm sure that's subject to academic dispute." 15[22:09] Caxi: "Not in Hell, it isn't." 15[22:09] "Ligier once sat in the sky above Creation, side by side with Sol Invictus, as brothers." [22:09] 07Dryas: "What's he doing down there?" 15[22:09] "Equals." 15[22:10] Caxi: "That's where he lives." [22:10] 14Piu: "You're not saying Ligier himself is beyond the vault door?" [22:11] 10Daizo: "I think what's being said here is that this is actually a gateway to Hell." 15[22:11] "I'm saying that Hell itself is beyond the vault door." 15[22:11] Sadako: "Badass." [22:11] 10Daizo: "And the door is falling apart." 15[22:12] Caxi: "Yes." [22:12] 07Dryas starts laughing, and then yelps in pain, and then barks another laugh, before yelping again. [22:12] 10Daizo: "Fuck. What do we do, other than 'get out of here as quickly as possible'?" 15[22:13] Garnet: "We have to close it." 15[22:14] Takoye: "Are you insane?" 15[22:14] Garnet: "Are you?" 15[22:14] Sadako: "How do you close it?" [22:14] 10Daizo: "Can we close it? Between just Caxi and myself?" [22:14] 14Piu: "If we're planning to be in this Direction for any longer period of time than a couple months, closing it would be wise." [22:14] 14Piu: "This makes some other things make more sense." [22:15] 14Rounding on Takoye: "You, for example." [22:15] 07Dryas: "What a maroon." [22:15] "The master you serve now makes perfect sense." 15[22:15] Takoye: "I-i-i-i-i don't know what you're talking about." 15[22:16] Garnet: "He's an infernalist?" 15[22:16] Sword's out. [22:16] 14Kicking his knee out and grabbing his throat: "I need you to believe with all the sincerity your weak heart is capable of mustering that if you interfere with our work now I will gut you myself and you will die, eventually, but I will take my time." 15[22:17] Takoye croaks, "14I didn't know! I didn't know anything!" [22:17] 14To Garnet: "He's an accessory to one, but really what he's mostly guilty of is overvaluing finally getting laid." [22:18] 10Daizo: "Takoye? He's dumb as a brick. Suris is the one in charge here. She was counting on us being as dumb as he is and opening the gate ourselves." [22:18] "I am inclined to mercy, so long as he shuts his mouth and appreciates the solid we've done for him by letting him lie, later on, about the wonders he saw on his marvelous trip." 15[22:21] Garnet: "I'm going to see to her when we get topside. People who whore themselves out to demons - who sell their sisters out to demons - don't get to grow old." 15[22:21] Caxi: "..." [22:21] 07Dryas: "So, how do we close it?" [22:21] 14Piu: "Let's at least permit Ratel to get into position before we declare war on the camp." [22:22] 14Piu: "But we can talk about that later." 15[22:22] Sho, who has been checking and double-checking the fasteners on his goggles: "Did you see the door? Is it open? Is it damaged?" [22:24] 07Dryas: "Cracked, I think. It was huge, worked metal, I think." 15[22:26] Sho: "Then we'll either need to patch it or bury it." 15[22:26] Sadako: "Are we going or what?" [22:27] 07Dryas: "Let's do it." [22:28] 14Piu: "What's our plan?" [22:28] "I'd rather not bring the entire place down around us, but we don't have the tooling or staffing for a repair job." [22:29] 10Are we in anything resembling a natural cavern or is it something that's been manufactured and then cracked and rotted out?  [22:30] 07Dryas takes a fine silk ribbon from her pack - she uses it to tie her hair, sometimes - and wraps it around her head, covering her eyes, in search of relief. [22:31] 07Tiny drops of blood soak through where the corners of her eyes would be. It doesn't relieve the pain, exactly, but it might do for now. 15[22:35] Sho: "We just need some kind of sealant. If we could melt the stone, or one of you could conjure something..." 15[22:36] "It doesn't need to last indefinitely. It just needs to be watertight. Because then we can flood the shaft. That must be one of the functions of the locks." [22:36] 07Dryas: "What did Suris want with it? There's no part of the Realm Defense Grid down here?" 15[22:37] Takoye: "...there used to be." 15[22:37] "It was destroyed. Suris thinks from within." 15[22:38] "A lot of war-manses have protocols like that. But you'd need to be able to command the Sword to activate those protocols." 15[22:38] Garnet: "..." [22:39] 10Daizo: "What a fucking mess. All right, Garnet, you want to take that closer look after all?" 15[22:39] Garnet, immediately: "Yes." 15[22:39] Daizo is awash in anger and shame. [22:40] "On it." 10He finishes doffing the cuirass in record time and flexes his wings. [22:42] 14Piu: "We'll be here. Backing you up." 15[22:44] Caxi: "Do you want us?" [22:46] 07Dryas: "We should all go." 15[22:47] Sadako: "Yeah, I don't want to get this close to a gate to Hell and then just sit." [22:47] 10Daizo: "OK. Wait for Garnet or I to shout an all-clear and then come down." [22:48] 14Piu will at least walk to the edge. If something materializes to attack them on the way down, she can pounce. [22:48] 07Dryas starts playing a tune. Just whatever comes to mind. 15[22:48] Once Daizo squares up, Garnet starts singing along to the tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azRglONPRVM 15[22:50] Daizo spreads his wings, jar in his arms, Empress on his back, and glides gracefully down to— oop, there goes gravity. 15[22:51] Luckily Daizo is nimble enough in midair to reorient before crashing and is able to settle onto the ground as his sense of place jerks at a hard right angle and he alights onto the floor of a tunnel. 15[22:51] The others see him standing straight up on the side of a sheer, vertical wall about ten yalms down. [22:52] 10No idea what the song means, but a nice tune. 15[22:52] Piu could tell you it's a rousing drinking song about how dick is abundant and of low value. [22:52] 14Well, that makes getting down easy enough -- slide on the wall until gravity changes. Getting back up is a different proposition. [22:52] 10Daizo: "Huh. This was unexpected." 15[22:53] Sadako: "Leannan means sweetheart. I think it's a love song?" 15[22:53] "Can we just jump then? It looks fine." [22:54] 07Dryas peeks out the corner of her blindfold, then kicks the box of mushy rotten rations down the tunnel. 15[22:55] It bounces off the wall of the shaft, dropping down the middle until gravity bends on it too and it falls to the floor of the tunnel, splitting open and leaving a sloppy mess everywhere. [22:56] 10Daizo: "Go for it, just be ready for the switch—wouldn't want to scrape your butt off." 15[22:56] Sadako: "I'd just reattach it." 15[22:56] Takoye: "What?" 15[22:56] Caxi: "Who told you you could talk?" [22:57] "Who wants to show up in Hell with a rug burn on your butt?" [22:57] 10The joviality is a little forced, but it helps Daizo keep his head together. [22:58] "Oh, and someone bring the cuirass!" 15[22:58] Garnet dismounts from Daizo's back once it's clear he's stable. 15[22:58] Sadako grabs the big chunk of jade and hops down. 15[23:01] Caxi and Sho are able to make it down, just gripping the cloud as it needs to rotate. Takoye, once again, blithely avoids even the pretense of harm. [23:02] 07Dryas has no commentary, she just keeps playing as she skids down. [23:02] 14Piu slides down the wall until the gravity changes, then simply stands up. 15[23:05] Well, at this point the advance is easier. They're just walking through a tunnel. 15[23:05] Or floating. [23:06] 07Dryas: "Up won't change again, will it?" 15[23:06] Caxi: "On the way out it will." 15[23:08] It's bright and hot at the far end. The seal or door has a couple of big fissures in it that light streams through... and something wedged in the center, something that wasn't visible until they got close because it's made of the same pitted, green-gold metal as the doorway. It's a twisting shaft. A lever? The haft of a spear? [23:08] 14Piu: "Explains the inner ear thing, at least." [23:08] 14Piu: "Guessing that there's our problem." 15[23:09] Caxi: "Don't touch that." 15[23:09] Takoye: "Is that it? Is that him?" [23:11] 07Dryas: "It's Him." 07There are things she knows about Him now that she isn't even sure how to express. 15[23:11] Caxi: "A piece. A messenger." 15[23:12] Garnet: "Can it seal the gate?" [23:13] 07Dryas: "I wonder if one of these could extinguish Him," 07she wonders out loud. 15[23:14] Takoye wanders forward, towards the gate. [23:15] 10Daizo: "If it were that easy, poor old Ted might've cleared Hell out a while back." [23:15] 07Dryas: "Good point. What's a 'Fetich'?" [23:16] "What, like Nn Tloc's feet thing?" 15[23:16] Caxi's head whips around. "Where did you hear that word?" [23:18] 07Dryas: "Ligier, the Green Sun, Fetich Soul of the Demon City." 15[23:20] Caxi: "Every demon that exists on earth or Hell is a small part of a greater being. One soul of many. The lesser demons are the spawn of the greater demons, who are each one of the seven souls of the true demons, each of whom is one of the innumerable souls of the Yozis, the kings and queens of Hell." [23:21] 10Daizo: "Ah. Your amulet told you all that?" [23:21] 14Piu: "...Are you sure we're not like, wasting that amulet's incredible cosmic power?' 15[23:22] "The greatest of the demons are the fetich souls, the emperors and empresses of the deliberative of souls that is each Yozi." 15[23:22] "First among the Yozis is Malfeas, who is the body and mind of Hell. First among his souls is Ligier, Hell's own sun." 15[23:23] "To destroy a fetich soul is to force the wider being to change fundamentally. Adorjan, they say, used to be a river and not a wind before his fetich was slain during the Great Betrayal." 15[23:24] Sadako: "Who killed it?" 15[23:24] Caxi: "We did. Our ancestors did." 15[23:24] "A long long time ago." 15[23:25] "A sin for which this blighted and doomed world is our punishment." [23:25] 14Piu gives Caxi a look. Maybe dial it back a bit around Garnet. 15[23:26] Takoye: "Hello? Are you there?" 15[23:26] He's shouting at the door. [23:26] 14Piu will backhand him. 15[23:27] Piu backhands him the same instant the tunnel trembles. 15[23:27] "9I know that voice." [23:27] 07Is that voice speaking in High Realm? 15[23:28] It's speaking whatever language you think in. [23:28] 07It's speaking in High Realm! 15[23:28] Takoye whines. "She hit me! My lord!" 15[23:28] The tunnel shakes again. 15[23:30] The pole twists and twists and pulls itself free from the heart of the vault door, allowing rivulets of molten metal to run from the gap like a fresh wound. It rights itself to float vertically in the air before the Dynasts. [23:30] 10Surprisingly, Caxi's telling of the story is in fact a valid, if unfashionable, interpretation of the Immaculate Philosophy. There's a school of thought which holds that the gods had a duty to reform the demons, not slay them, and that calling upon the Elemental Dragons to birth their perfected Dragon-Blooded warriors at the wrong time injured Creation. Uh but enough about that— 15[23:30] "9This was not the arrangement." 15[23:31] It's a spear. They can all see that now, wrought of twisted metal and coming to two wicked parallel points. 15[23:32] Gervesin, the Grieving Lord, Messenger Soul of Ligier: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBO0gf27sl8 - How they adored it, till it cried in its boredom, "Please don't believe in me... please disagree with me..." [23:32] 14If you come to a fork in the road... [23:32] 10Daizo: "What was the arrangement?" 15[23:35] Hot green light sweeps over the Dynasts, prickling their skin. "9Cursed. Claimed. Ill-begotten. Unsuitable." 15[23:36] "9I was promised a soul in search of answers. I was promised a heart in search of power." [23:36] 14Incredulously: "These two?" [23:36] "You got ripped off." 15[23:36] The spear rotates on its axis until it's pointed straight at the assembled. 15[23:36] Takoye gurgles. 15[23:37] He flails his arms as best he's able. 15[23:38] "9So be it." 15[23:38] The lance flies toward the artificer like an arrow! 15[23:44] Piu, who's got him by the throat, yanks him away... but the spear adjusts its course in midair to plunge directly into his chest! 15[23:44] It doesn't come out the other side. 15[23:44] It vanishes within him. [23:45] 14Piu: "Oh fuck you!" [23:45] 14How dead is he?" [23:45] 14To Caxi: "How dead is he?" 15[23:45] Caxi: "Not dead enough." [23:45] "Well, I'd like that state of affairs to continue; he's leverage." 15[23:46] Takoye starts burning from the inside. His skin blackens, chars, hardens. He's screaming, but Piu's not giving him any air, so all that comes out of his mouth and eyes is more green light as he thrashes around. [23:46] "Corpses can't testify." 14Never had to say that from this side of the legal line. Usually an assassin is taking the spear's side. 15[23:46] Then he starts to grow. [23:46] 14He'll have all the air he needs as she skips backwards. [23:47] 07Dryas takes a step backwards. "Did you stick around in the Order long enough to make it to exorcisms class?" 15[23:47] Takoye falls to the ground, his screams reverberating with inhuman force as he swells and scabs, flesh boiling from weeping sores to harden like lava from a volcano. 15[23:48] Bony spikes push from his bulging back. His limbs lengthen. His eyes shrink. His teeth grow. [23:48] 10Daizo: "At the end of the day, a spirit is a spirit." 15[23:48] The light pouring from his mouth gets very, very hot. [23:49] "We can make him kneel if we stand together!" [23:49] 07Dryas: "Sho, get behind me, get behind me!" [23:50] 14Piu: "Well if I'd known he was going to do this, I would have either dodged a lot better or not at all." 15[23:51] As he pulls himself screaming to his freshly clawed feet, a meaty tail protrudes to give him balance. The thing that towers above them now is no longer recognizable as the man they brought down. But when he speaks, you can hear who he used to be, giddy, exultant, inhumanly confident. 15[23:51] "And to think I hesitated." 15[23:51] 「SHIN TAKOYE」 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOO8Um_jmLI - History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man. 15[23:52] NEXT TIME: Lizard on wizard