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daybreakacademy2021-02-28 07:02 am
thewatchers) wrote in daybreakacademy2021-02-28 07:02 am
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[Fourth Wall Finale] Night: Fall
[Fourth Wall Finale] Night: Fall
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As the sun goes down on the day of February 28th, the darkness begins to swarm in earnest around the place where the final Herald will emerge - the shores of a dark and polluted sea in the Outlands. Clouds of choking, magical ash roll over the sky to replace the clouds, casting the battlefield into an eerie crimson twilight. Dark smoke boils over the landscape, and the jeering, howling cries of those who would bring on Nightfall can be heard as they amass for their final battle.
Yet, still, the cacophony of the opposition is nothing compared to their silence as a vast shape rises from the water and flares its wings, blotting out the sunlight with its mere presence.
The last Herald of Night, the great primordial dragon Suneater, has arrived. Its only aim is to devour the sun - and crush anything that tries to get in its way.
A comparatively small shape, bubbled in a shining rainbow barrier and casting rays of light down on allied fighters, floats expectantly on the field. The former Herald Iriceli calls out to those who would do battle with Suneater directly:
“Come on! I’ll protect you!”
The battle with Suneater will be conducted in a single long thread, which will have its own toplevel. Abilities directly relevant to those engaging the boss in close combat will be put there.
A. Daybreak’s Moving Castle
While the Academy has many tricks up its sleeves to be deployed in time of need, this one may be the most powerful - and most secret - of all. After everyone is assembled or evacuated as necessary, the staff and students who specialize in artificer work come together in the courtyard, in front of the clear, cold waters of the massive pond known as the Cross of Life.
Headmistress Duchene looks over to the lead among the artificers. She meets her eyes, nods silently, and holds out her hands. The artificer quickly, carefully nicks both of the Headmisstress’ palms with a ritual knife, and steps back as Mila Duchene turns around and steps onto the ice. The frozen pond melts where her blood touches it, and she steps smoothly from ice into cold water, walking forward until she reaches the fountain in the center and grasps it with both hands.
And then the night lights up.
Someone watching from above might see the lines of light moving from water to stone, the very architecture of the Academy itself beginning to rise up and rearrange, and realize: the entire campus is a ritual circle.
Some schools were built for experimentation, for pushing the limits of the accepted. Some schools were built for preservation, passing on hallowed traditions. But Daybreak Academy was built for this night, and ever since the first stones were laid on the campus grounds, it has been storing sunlight, storing power, keeping it for this:
The main buildings of Daybreak itself have been temporarily transmuted from their normal forms into a giant, winged robot.
It radiates stored sunlight in a wide area around itself as it moves through the chaotic battlefield, providing something of a reprieve from the smoke that Suneater constantly spews.
From here, combatants and non-combatants alike can deploy and regroup as needed. The main medical facility and the Academy’s extensive defense systems and armory are all fully operational.
Tasks involving the base of operations include, but are not limited to:
- Aiding medical staff (retrieving incapacitated combatants, fetching supplies, healing or conventional first aid)
- Manning defensive weaponry such as gargoyle cannons and long-range turrets to shoot down attackers aiming to destroy or disable parts of the Academy
- Monitoring and communicating with others on the battlefield itself
- Defending the Academy from enemy intrusions
B. Battlefield
As expected, the fight itself is chaos. Suneater itself may have little to do with its far smaller followers, but everything from Outlands human cults to daemons and fae have shown up on the side of Nightfall, and they give - and expect - no mercy or quarter. While some are merely taking advantage of the assembly to try and snatch those on Daybreak’s side who they’ve taken an interest in for one reason or another, others are far more vicious and terrifying.
We encourage players to create their own specialised foes as needed, but as a rule of thumb, the caliber of these enemies can range from anywhere to mobs of low-level minions to solitary figures with exceptional combat ability. Not all enemies are focused on combat; many are focused on sabotage, distraction, and creating other troublesome effects like traps and illusions.
To make things worse, Suneater’s other gift is rolling out in force. Wherever the miasma it breathes and exudes from its very pores touches, combatants - friend and foe alike - are struck with hallucinatory visions, a sense of profound exhaustion and a bone-chilling cold. Regenerative abilities, shields, healing magic, and natural or supernatural protective gear can aid in combating these effects, but as long as the smoke exists, there will be difficulty in the fight ahead.
Those afflicted by the hallucinatory properties of Suneater’s miasma may see both enemies and friends as figures from their pasts, their present, their nightmares, or even manifestations of their fears, or any other number of things. We leave it up to player discretion as to the strength and nature of these visions, should you choose to use them in your threads.
Tasks involving the battlefield include, but are not limited to:
- Fighting (anything from simple clashes to sneak attacks behind enemy ranks)
- Rescuing or aiding injured or ailing combatants; supplying them with masks, first aid or protective gear as required
- Maintaining and protecting set miasma-free zones with magical lamps and other items
C. Wildcard
Battle is fierce, and enemies are, now more than ever before, inclined to show no quarter. And even in the relative safety of the Academy, the sounds of heated combat can be heard clearly.
This prompt is for anything still finale-related that doesn’t fit into the above categories. Please feel free to use this log to play out your own confrontations!
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"Keep the juice coming, GV! Let 'em have the missiles, Eve, I'm on manual targeting! Everyone, hang on!"
Gaia Sophia pivoted direction, the main cannon pointing into an incoming wave of winged gargoyle-like creatures that were heading their way. The main gun erupted into powerful blasts of energy, enhanced by the power of the planet and the radiant energy provided by Gunvolt. Doors flew open on the sides of the vehicle, and a spam of tiny homing missiles launched from small tubes, all rocketing toward those same monsters.
"There's even more of them coming from another direction! Get ready for contact!"
Another wave closed in, the screeching growing closer, threats of gnashing teeth and vorpal claws growing more real. But the roar of a very different engine soon eclipsed it.
"SkyKnight One, Fox Three, Fox Three. Closing on gun range."
A fresh barrage of missiles from another source flew into the cloud of enemies, exploding into shrapnel and rending the beasts asunder before they could get closer. Any survivors were then met with photon cannon blasts from a passing Rune Wing fighter, delivering precision shots as it sped by.
"SkyKnight One to all friendlies heading up to the giant lizard. Give 'em hell up there. I'll be keepin' the skies clean of any daemons looking to get in your way. Oh, and Iriclei, you be careful. Celia wants to hang out with you after all this is done."
As the Rune Wing flew past, it circled around, ready to defend the ascending members of Daybreak Academy. Gunvolt, for his part, intensified his Flashfield output to allow Gaia Sophia to keep up with the fresh speed buff provided to Iriceli by Therion below.
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Though it might be difficult to tell, following after the Rune Wing is a small green-and-gray speck of a thing, Celia using her ability to control the wind in order to follow the craft. Any hostiles that come too close find themselves quickly disoriented by extremely harsh, erratic gusts, making several of them into some rather easy marks for anyone with any sort of ranged weapons or abilities to take down.
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The rocks stopped, but only briefly, giving Iriceli more time to break through them and keep everyone else safe. As the time stop around the debris failed so too did the time stop on the wing burst into gold Radiant light. She would have to start over to grab hold of it again.
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Puella's power detonates like a bomb, and the projectiles strike true - lightning and axes and canes needling the ancient beast. Its wings ripple as it slows, Radiance crackling across one wing, manifesting as white hot scars.
It's enough of a pause for Lia's shot to strike true, grazing the dragon's left eye. In response, Suneater finally turns its head, bathing its enemies in the cold and unforgiving pressure of its gaze.
Its jaws creak open, and from it issues a concentrated cloud of pure miasma, blown towards them by a powerful flap of the dragon's wings. The shapes of nightmarish beasts roil and frolic in the dark steam; they break free as misshapen creations given a brief and violent half-life by exposure to the surrounding atmosphere, tumbling towards the planes and fighters held aloft by Iriceli's power. Their cries are unpleasant, grating things; more unsettlingly, it's possible to hear the shrieks of those dear to you in their voices, eerie imitations ringing across the dark.
Iri pushes back with a barrier of pure force in response, expanding their shield and forcing it to spike outwards to protect their teammates. Creatures hurl themselves on it and shatter unpleasantly to pieces, their kaleidoscopic blood falling like rain, as even with the speed boost progress slows once again.
However, with Suneater focused on attacking, it, too, has stopped its ascent for the moment, and is holding its position. Only time and further effort will tell if this approach will hold.
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And then, rather suddenly, the light from the moon cast a shadow; a dark eclipse that may have heralded glimmers of fading hope for those that fought tooth and nail for the light. In the moon's pale light, the silhouette of a winged, daemonic dragon suddenly appeared, its wings beating lazily to keep altitude. It would be a familiar silhouette to some of the people raising the battle against the much, much larger dragon in the room, though.
Intense magic, born of the cosmic void of the universe, a swirling, thrumming thing, concentrated around the silhouette as it brought its massive arms forth, fists balling and muscles tightening in anticipation. The gathered energy swelled, its hue visceral purple, absorbing into the creature before it dove down toward the eater of suns... and at point blank, or as close as "point blank" would be relative to a creature the size of a continent, it unleashed a piercing, sky-splitting roar.
From both its arms and mouth erupted raw cosmic power, ancient, primordial, in a blast that could rip a country asunder. A power belonging to a Daemon Emperor that could split soil, rock, steel, bone, and anything in its path into atoms. Though the Tyrant's transformed state was still dwarfed by this truly ancient beast, the true unleashing of his legendary might, further bolstered by the magical essence he had absorbed from his foes, would still prove to be quite something.
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But then. Then the miasma comes. Held in Iricel's bubble, she's relatively safe- for now. But what's outside of course is not so much the same. One of the sprites from within chitters- the moon reflects the sun! She's protected her from blight before, in the past, for a reason!
"Moon!" It's only a little bit- and mostly for the birds, ultimately. They're already under an umbrella of influence from the sprites. It's just easier. But it does mean that they can help a little more with fighting the creatures alongside the Suneater, or with protecting others in the field.
Jonathan meanwhile darts forward as fast and bullheadedly as possible. He can hear people he loves screaming- he can hear people who hated him cursing. He can hear all sorts of things, but he forces himself forward. He faced similar matters while facing the collective herald that had risen up from humanity itself, he reminds himself. The bat, so small, so puny, streaks to its target as a miniscule bolt of light-
Until finally he strikes something of the Suneater, releasing all the radiance he's gathered on the flight there.
Without a doubt, he idly and tiredly thinks, he's going to have to do this again.
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Some part of her hurts at the idea that she has to act against a dragon, of all things, but she knows that it can't be helped; this particular dragon is a very clear threat to her, to the academy, to everyone.
Soon enough, her incantation is finally finished, and she unleashes the spell: several large balls of lightning form in the air around her before they rocket off to swarm the Suneater and strike at it relentlessly. She unleashes wave after wave of these balls, her use of the power that was given to her by the Astral Dragon Atruum eliminating any need to incant the spell again.
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It doesn't seem like an older set, either. And for those who have been to her manor before, either to help stop Annabelle or in their free time would not have seen this before. Judging by its gleam, as well as the detailing, this set of armor is entirely new. A commission from Jailbreak for a very special occasion. Of particular note is the helmet. It looks almost dragonlike, with a snaggly grin not unlike Urtz's own. Four slits on the sides, placed where her eyes would be, complete the look of making it clear that whoever is in that armor, they aren't exactly human.
Though anyone familiar with the Cromwell crest wouldn't have a hard time figuring out this person's identity as they get closer and closer to the Suneater. Normally Urtz prefers to fight with a rapier, but a saber and shield are more flexible and effective against this daemonic beast. Focusing a great deal of her magic into her sword, she lunges for one of the Suneater's wings, her shield radiating a barrier to help her plow through the miasma, and with one strike, slashes at the extremity before darting away. She doesn't expect that strike will stop it from flying or even gravely wound it, but it is her goal to create a weak point that her allies can use to knock it out of the sky.
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He looked to Desidera. "Not yet," he said, warning her not yet to spring the trap he'd set up awhile ago. His railgun revealed most of the darts were still in place. More than enough. "You'll know when."
The AI Core rested in the receptacle of his armored backpack, lights on it slowly flickering blue. For now, it remains silent, but the diligent will notice that perhaps the AI within is beginning to stir. For what delay it might be, one can only guess.
"Jason, keep pushing on. My Flashfield will roast anything that gets close. I've got a little more setup to do before showtime." Gunvolt loaded his railgun again with another specialized shell. For now, Gaia Sophia pushed closer to their objective, the spewed out creatures of darkness that grew closer cut down by either the photon cannons of a circling Rune Wing, the Crusher Cannon from the tank, or the Flashfield itself acting like an oversized bugzapper.
Gunvolt took a knee, steadying his aim despite the movement and jostling, the air whipping around them, the chaos. He takes a deep breath in, before firing at the creature's further wing. Exhaling quickly, he ejected the shell casing, and loaded a new one in, before taking aim and firing a second canister at the closer wing, ideally at the spot Urtz just so kindly attacked. Hundreds of more darts flew through the air at hypersonic speed, propelled by enough energy to reach the target almost instantly.
Still, though, he waited. The darts were in place. With a little luck, a little coordination... it might be enough to really put a dent in it.
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Instead, she's once again taking aim at an eye. Her last shot only grazed, but maybe if she can keep landing these hits...!
V zips on ahead, his new empowered form meaning he doesn't have to rely on Griffon's help--which is just as well, with the two of them continuing to attack from the air. He fires a violet beam at Suneater, Griffon following up with more pillars of lightning.
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Suneater is struck again and again with lightning, the torrent of sustained magic chipping away at a hide made tough by centuries of debris. At first, as it begins to rise again, it seems that the barrage is doing little than to annoy it - but those sustained attacks distract and befuddle normally sharp senses, allowing the more specialized attackers to strike at vital points.
Jonathan's attack pierces the sole weak point on its chest; another erupting explosion of Radiance spreads out across the scales, leaving a bright scar and a hole in the darkness, a perfect target for others to aim at. Urtz's strike into its other wing combines well with Valvatorez's sudden and dangerous release of magic; Suneater spreads its wings to keep aloft at the exact moment it notices the daemon charging up, bracing for its attack. It lets out another enraged bellow that ripples the air around it and throws flight into chaos as Urtz plunges the saber into its as-of-yet undamaged wing and Valvatorez releases his attack; while its effect isn't as visually dramatic as Puella's burst of Radiance, blood spurts from the injury, sizzling and vivid and an ever-shifting iridescent hue that's chaotically beautiful, but dangerous to the touch. A brief shower of toxic blood spatters across the battlefield; where it contacts Suneater's existing miasma, creatures begin to take form.
(This creature, too, is a progenitor of sorts. But what it could have been, before being consumed by the ritual of the Herald, is forever lost.)
Its head jerks up and its throat pulses with threatening, creaking sounds as it works up some other effort. It's a perfect opening for Lia's shot to pierce its already injured eye, creating another spray of vivid blood. Iriceli vaporizes most of the splash, but some of it still escapes to fall to the battle below.
In response to being harmed so thoroughly, its tail lashes and cracks like a whip at the biggest concentration of attackers, terrifyingly fast for such a large creature. The sheer speed and force of the blow means that even though avoiding the physical strike is certainly possible, the way it warps the air around it mean that the blow is wider and larger than the actual tail itself.
In addition, Valvatorez's point blank position puts him in the most danger, even for a daemon on his power level. Suneater's jaws open as it swings its neck around and darts its head forward with startling speed, aiming to snap him in half with crushing force.
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"Oh no you don't!!" she cries. Between the distance and amount of strength needed, it was unlikely she would reach in time to stop the dragon from lashing at Valvatorez, but she could make it a little more difficult doing so a second time. It would be impossible to keep jaws as those as those closed however, rather than letting the magic reserves deplete even faster she doesn't take long to let the Radiance detonate again.
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"Face your punishment!"
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"Viola!"
The other girl startles, just briefly, at the urgent call, before quickly realizing that the Shadowling needs another light source; Desi's capabilities are no secret to her classmates, and especially not to those she tutors. Viola casts another explosion into some empty space above, the sound of which may be enough to make the Suneater think for a moment that there is even more coming its way, but instead, the particular shadows created by this blast are used to reach after Valvatorez and pull him back a bit to relative safety.
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His faith was rewarded thanks to both Puella and Desidera, Puella buying him more time to escape, and Desidera's apt shadow manipulation aiding his evasion. He relented to the shadows yanking him away from danger, and dropping his massive draconic form to become harder for the beast to track. Once pulled out of immediate danger, albeit barely, the daemon pops loose of Desidera's shadows and flies up to land on the creature's snout. To a beast so grand, the heavy footsteps of Valvatorez bearing down on it, practically taunting it might barely register. But he marches with purpose, alacrity, and unholy speed up its snout toward its head.
"Commander Vaeris. I trust you have the orichalcum-tipped bunker busters I procured loaded?"
"SkyKnight One. Yes sir, two subs waiting to be delivered, hot and fresh."
"Between its eyes. Behind its massive first horn. I am heading there. Drop the payload and soften his skull so that I might perform an unlicensed lobotomy."
"Professor, I am under professional obligation to warn you that the weapons might not penetrate the creature successfully. Concrete, steel, and adamantine are one thing, but... this thing is something else."
"I am well aware, Commander. Start your attack run."
"SkyKnight One, copy that. I'm already coming around." The Rune Wing performed a daring acrobatic maneuver, pushing through the vicious winds and forces the creature put out there. It flew closer to the creature, to where Valvatorez indicated. "SkyKnight One, Magnum, Magnum."
A pair of heavy missiles launched out from the wings of the craft, streaking toward the skull of the dragon, and with any luck, hitting home and punching through its heavy scales and skin... or whatever passed for them.
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[Of an engine revving.]
[Several miles up in the air.]
[Said noise is also rapidly becoming much louder to anyone particularly near Suneater, as a distant speck begins to resolve into an extremely high-speed blur vaguely recognizable as Jailbreak's car, using the enchantment that allows it to drive on any surface to charge forward on the road made by Suneater's own miasma.]
[She's driven on smoke before, after all.]
[Jailbreak's sitting in the driver's seat, pressing the gas pedal into the floor so hard she's leaving dents, and still pulling more and more alarmingly dramatic levers to add further speed. By this point the car is travelling so fast that, even with the safety enchantments, she's honestly having a little trouble not blacking out.]
[But she grits her teeth, opens a panel under the steering wheel, and yanks one last handle.]
[And the car moves too fast to be seen. ...But not, just barely, too fast to stop Jail from frantically slamming her free hand down on the red button she'd had it hovering over when she pulled the last lever.]
[It's labeled emergency eject.]
[Which is good, because at the time she manages to press it, the car is positioned to plow directly into Suneater's uninjured eye, and still accelerating.]
[Quite some distance away, Jailbreak herself appears inside the command room of the Mechacademy, sitting in the abruptly-teleported front seat of the car. She's still clutching a disembodied gearshift in one hand so hard her knuckles are white.]
[A passing technical aide gives her a look.]
Sorry I'm late, traffic was murder.
[...well, at least she thinks she's funny.]
[Whatever the results of her last ditch effort are, she's hoping they'll make a dent, at least. If not from the car itself, then from the very, very large amount of C4 in the trunk.]
[Really, this is Daybreak's fault for giving her a budget.]
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The sudden rocking of the shockwave flying past, roaring like an earthquake, slamming Gaia Sophia like a herd of angry bulls. Gunvolt grabbed for both Desidera and Viola, his shoes electromagnetically holding to the surface of Gaia Sophia. With only two hands, he could only hope the rest of the people on board would grab onto him, keep hold of the tank somehow, or that Desi could catch them with all the light he was putting off.
Sophia itself spun around on its axis several times from the force of the blow, sparks and smoke erupting from parts of the vehicle. Yet in spite of things, it remained airborne, a stubborn piece of technology that matched its creator. Once the tank stabilized, Gunvolt resisted the urge to throw up from motion sickness, and then called in over comes.
"Damage report? Can we keep going?"
"Yeah, GV. We're still okay. Looks like we lost some of our weapons systems on that, but the Crusher Cannon, Hexa Missiles, Burning Spark and the FA-Burst are still online."
"Sophia's tough. We've been through worse than that together... but we can't get hit like that again. Eve, power up the FA-Burst. We're gonna let him have it with all that power GV's been giving us."
"FA-Burst coming online now. Everyone, get ready, it's gonna get bright."
Gunvolt looked over his shoulder to his backpack as a sphere of light began to focus above the Sophia tank. It glowed an odd mixture of green and blue... crackling with raw power and energy... and at a glance, it looked like a fearsome weapon was about to be unleashed, and the sphere only grew larger and larger, glowing like a sun.
"Morpho... get ready to make your debut. We'll need you very soon." His blue eyes darted over to Desidera, still held close. "...Get ready. It'll be time to do this together. ...Send your shadows everywhere you can on that thing... and get me as close as you can to it with them, okay?"
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With that, she takes hold of literally every shadow she can find. Most of these are quickly combined into a single large mass that is sent out to cover the Suneater like she was just told to do. What remains with her there then stretches out and takes the form of a large, mechanical-looking arm attached to the Gaia-Sophia, with a human-sized birdcage with an opening on side side at the end of it, lowering itself down and waiting for Gunvolt to get inside—and when he does, she follows. Once they are inside, it raises itself up and starts moving to get into position.
With the sheer amount of light that brought these particular shadows into existence, they should be particularly sturdy; it's not completely safe but should hopefully still keep them mostly protected.
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The shockwave sends Lia flying as well, though as soon as she can, she manages to teleport onto another platform.
Well. As effective as her shots have been already, Lia's figuring now's as good a time as any to bring out the Big Guns. She closes her eyes and takes a breath as most of the petals still lingering around her are drawn towards her. They cling. The Radiance emitted by each brightens and brightens and brightens--
Until they disperse all at once with a burst of bright white light. And Lia is left standing in a white and gold version of her previous outfit... with the addition of a white longcoat billowing in the wind. Gone is the rifle she'd been using before, replaced with something bigger.
Much bigger. This is more of a cannon than a gun, really.
She kneels on the glowing platform, now larger to accommodate the extra size and weight, and takes careful aim. This is going to take her a bit to get ready.
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As she cleaves through the ranks brought forth by the Suneater, doing her best to ensure she doesn't put herself too heavily in harm's way, she spots the massive primordial dragon moving again. Or, more specifically, she spots one of its massive extremities reading for a strike.
"Oh bloody hell..."
Urtz brings her shield up to block the attack, which projects a massive barrier of magic to help avoid the brunt of the strike. Of course the barrier promtly shatters after absorbing a hit that strong. Furthermore, the barrier didn't change the fact that she got hit with the tail of something about the size of Europe, so it's only reasonable to assume she got sent flying. But there's usually a silver lining to every situation. She uses the momentum of the beast sending her flying to open 2 portals; one that she'll fall into and one that she can appear from. Shredding through the skies at blinding speeds, thanks it large part to the dragon's own strength, she raises her sword and slams it down, impaling it upon one of the beast's wings. More specifically, the one she hadn't attacked yet.
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Suneater's jaws don't exactly snap wide, but Kokoro and Puella's efforts in attacking its mouth don't go unnoticed. Another lightning-strike scar of Radiance splinters across its face, and it lets out another angry bellow, its previous target forgotten.
Its head snaps to the side, just in time to avoid one missile to the skull but taking the full brunt of the other; it's not enough to pierce the skull, but another spray of blood indicates it's at least broken the protective layer of the scales with its explosion. Jailbreak's car slams into its eye, and it's the final straw for the massive dragon's eye beginning to discolour with its own blood. Its head darts out again, jaws snapping in a wild effort to punish its attackers.
All this and Urtz's high-speed strike injuring its uninjured wing make it scream out once more, its voice causing another shockwave. Rather than try to attack again, it ceases any other movement and instead closes its wings and begins to spin, creating a veritable tornado of displaced air; attempting to draw its enemies close so it can slam them into its body and crush them that way. It's building momentum, and shedding more debris in the process, causing the air to become even more dangerous.
Iriceli takes a more proactive tactic than shielding, diverting more of their energy into destroying debris and battling back the howling wind with an aura of their own that makes the air move as it normally would. They're starting to get larger, the shadowy mass that makes them up sealing over their clothes as they take on another form.
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"Commander, status report."
"SkyKnight One here. Could be worse, Professor. My daughter's got my back and kept us from being sucked in, but some of my control surfaces are damaged. Gonna have to back off until auto-repair gets them back online, but I can still be your eyes from afar."
"You've done your part. When you can, provide cover for the ground forces below. They need you more than I do. Leave the rest of this to us."
"Roger that, sir. Good luck."
The daemon watched as the battle played on. There were plenty of new life forms in his way, thanks to the spray of blood from the missiles going off. That would be child's play. What worried him more was what he saw in the distance. More attacks being charged up... largely Radiant ones. ...And then the shadow encroaching all over the massive dragon. The work of Desidera, no doubt. And he knew well enough to know, if she was doing that, it would mean that what was coming was going to be absolutely devastating, and that he better get away from it. Allied as he was to the cause against Nightfall, he was still a daemon, and he was probably standing in the absolute worst place to be for a daemon. ...But he knew how some of these attacks worked. And he too, had a plan.
His grip tightened around the legendary blade, Yoshitsuna.
Carrying every ounce of his unholy speed and power, Valvatorez lunged forward through the crowds and crowds of freshly-birthed mindless hell creatures, cutting down hundreds of them in the blink of an eye, pushing toward the impact site of the missile. Though he moved so fast it was hard to track, Valvatorez felt like every footfall was an eternity, practically feeling each tick of the clock counting down.
Once he reached his goal, he grabbed a fractured piece of scale, and used it like a snowboard to reach the bottom of the crater where the creature's flesh was exposed. Though this too would likely be miles thick, it was bound to be much more vulnerable than the scales were. Once in the center of the impact zone, he took both hands upon Yoshitsuna, and thrust it downward with all of his might, twisting it and lodging it in place.
With not a moment to spare, Valvatorez cast two spells. One brought a shadow of his own, long and thin, one end tying around the hilt of Yoshitsuna, and the other flying up to merge with the creeping shadows that Desidera was summoning.
The second caused a red series of circles to appear beneath the vampire's feet, through which he fell and vanished...
...Until he fell through the portal's exit, well below the Suneater. A quick feather-fall spell later, he watched from below to see what his beloved students would do with this opportunity.
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In order to be able to control the shadows in the way she does, she needs a certain level of awareness of those shadows, of things like where they are, what they're doing, and yes, also of what's being done to them. In other words, in a way, she feels it when Valvatorez's shadow makes contact with hers.
She urges the entire thing to spread faster, knowing that Gunvolt will be making his move very soon, and when he does, she's going to need to be ready—likely in more ways than one.
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And then the blasted thing starts to spin.
This isn't good, he starts to think, even while he holds his pattern. If he doesn't hit the right spot, he's mush- he'll be crushed, swatted, blown aside-
But something occurs to him as he's steadily pulled into the missing spaces between the air currents, taking his breaths as he can from what's around.
It's still a current. It's still a current of air, of something, not merely the shadows and darkness created by the Suneater.
His breathing continues to hold steady- Jonathan holds his wings aloft, tilting them only occasionally as he aims his face forward. Very well then-
He'll ride that tornado like a silver-gold bullet, until the Suneater is forced to take the blow of pure radiance once again.
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But it was then, during the ascent closer to the Suneater that televisions, radios, and more around the world, had a magical cut in. Any footage supported by Daybreak or its allies would cut in partially, with a message from a certain someone. A celebrity long thought gone from the public eye, only now re-emerging, another light in humanity's darkest hour.
"You all are seeing this, so many brave people fighting to save us all. They need you... all of you, now more than ever! Let those who bear the light hear you! Join me, let my song carry your prayers, hopes, and dreams to them! We shall be their wings, and the wind beneath them!"
And with that, Morpho's hologram manifested beside both Gunvolt and Desidera, loudly and strongly singing her heart out, a new take on an older hit. Candles everywhere would doubtlessly feel their energy surge, their focus sharpen, and their endurance deepen. Gunvolt himself lit up in a bright cyan flame, lightning surging through his veins and the very air around him.
"Whoa, Jason... do you feel that?"
"...Isn't that Monarch? I hear the new song, but...?"
"...Never mind. The Full Accel Boost is ready! You can fire when ready, Jason!"
"...Energy readings are off the charts. Man, whatever Gunvolt gave us, it's really going wild now. Let's let 'em have it!
The sphere floating above Gaia Sophia abruptly bulged in size, but as soon as it released from its holding position? It erupted into a massive ball of raw energy, backed and reinforced with Gunvolt's Radiant power. The sphere rocketed through the sky toward the Suneater, its intense power enough to shred through typical high-end daemons as though they were paper.
"Desi, GV... we can do this together. Give it everything you have!"
"Yeah. We're sharing the burden on this one. I just hope this works. ...Desi, you know what to do."
The air itself practically destabilized, ionic energy building rapidly amidst the turmoil caused by the Suneater's windstorm. Barometric pressure in the area steadily dropped... and dark clouds quickly began to form as they closed in on their target. Rumbles of thunder could be heard above the din of combat, though with so much going on, it might seem of little consequence. But when flashes of white lightning within started appearing... it wouldn't take much to figure out exactly what was happening. Gunvolt's voice was somewhat distant, not talking to anyone in particular, using it as a way to focus deeply.
"Funny thing about lightning. It's hard to control. The hardest of all the elements to truly master. But its power is unrivaled when properly harnessed. And properly directed. And the best part about it? You can summon it... if you know the right conditions." The clouds darkened, and the flashes above intensified as the cage drew closer and closer to the Suneater. "You can't break lightning to control it. No. The best way to unleash its true power is to be in harmony with it. Thunder is the music, lightning is the orchestra... and I am the conductor!"
Gunvolt's eyes flashed a brilliant, solid azure, bolts of electricity dancing all over his body as he raised his arms above his head.
"Oversurge, Azure Striker... Let hope be unleashed, let blades of lightning cleave the sky, to herald in a new day!"
Thunder clapped loudly, a chorus for Morpho's song. A titanic blade of lightning, winged in gold, standing tall as a mountain, split the sky, thousands of lightning bolts called from the heavens raining down everywhere...
"Grand Strizer!!"
And as Morpho's first song came to an end, he swung the blade downward against the beast, a construct of pure radiance, and in Gunvolt's heart, the hope of billions. On the way down, thousands of shocking bolts leapt from the blade, arcing toward the hundreds of darts Gunvolt had launched all over the surface of the creature... and into the shadows Desidera had done her best to wrap it in.
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