Alida looks at Mina for a moment, and happiness shines on her eyes, followed by just a touch of wetness in relief as she stands up, out of her friend's arms.
"You came back. Thank you, thank you."
"Now lets kill this thing." Alida then assesses her wounds a little further. "In a moment."
Try to assess how wounded the monster is, as well as if this is finally, truly, the witch, and how best to kill it. Charge in if the barrage of explosive manabolts from Toroo ceases, but just hold back if the string of them continues. An attack can wait until Alida is no longer the creature's primary concern.
"Can we call this an apology for earlier?" Mina half-jokes, before hefting her halberd again and turning to the spider-monster-thing.
Coordinate attack with Alida - don't want to be getting in each other's ways, after all. Aim for the legs, to try to either slow it down or reduce it's options for attack.
Alida and Mina collect themselves, readying their weapons and watching the mechanical spider as it struggles with its last two stuck legs. They don't have to wait long, as it pulls both legs free in moments, charging directly for them as soon as it's free. It moves frighteningly fast despite having lost half of the legs on its left side, and by the time they react it's already covered half the distance between it and the two girls.
Mina's bravery cracks for a moment, and she takes a worried step backward as Alida crouches down, preparing to meet the monster's charge with one of her own. Before she can move, however, a small scarlet projectile arcs down from somewhere high above, and hits the creature in the center of its back. There's a moment of confusion as nothing seems to happen, and then the projectile detonates with a bone-rattling blast. The force slams the clockwork monstrosity down into the ground, embedding its massive chassis into the stone ground and instantly halting its momentum.
The two girls jump backward with the shockwave, stunned and surprised by the unexpected attack. They watch the spider for several tense seconds, but it seems to have completely stopped moving altogether, its seven glowing eyes frozen in place and no longer tracking their movements. The actual wound is hidden from sight due to the monster's sheer
bulk, but Alida still lets out a long sigh, slouching and letting her guard down slightly.
[Creativity] &
[Creativity]The blonde girl lets out a small laugh, releasing her pent up stress. "Hahaa, it's dead, I.. I think we're done!" She starts walking towards the corpse, though her club is still held up defensively, just in case.
Mina doesn't share her confidence, and darts forward to grab Alida's shoulder and drag her back under the lower hanging wires. To her magical senses, the creature doesn't look very dead. Miasmatic hatred and despair pours off of it, filling the air with an unseen darkness. Alida looks back at the green girl, and frowns when she sees Mina's hard expression, tension returning to her body. Mina releases her a moment later, and the two ready themselves for the monster's next move.
[Joy]
Fast as lightning, one of the spider's two left legs bends backward and reaches for the upper spool of cable on its back, the tip of the limb splitting apart like pliers. The leg then shoots forward, launching a thick cable at the pair. The blonde shoves Mina away and then jumps to the side, but the cable curves around in midair to follow her, the individual strands of metal unwinding from it and fanning out like a net. It hits her legs midair, a numbness immediately permeating them as soon as the wires touches them. Alida can barely feel as the wires tighten harshly around her legs, before the cable snaps taut and yanks her toward the monster,
hard.
[Bravery]
Alida hits the ground but doesn't struggle as she's dragged rapidly across the rough stone floor, momentarily too stunned by the collision to fight. Mina, however, acts quickly, charging forward with her halberd raised above her head. She catches up to Alida in moments, and brings the weapon down on the cable just below Alida's feet. The magical weapon just glances off, though; the cable is easily as thick as one of the girl's arms, and it's moving too fast to get a solid hit in.
Both girls then hear the revving of two small engines, and look up to see the clockwork spider in motion again. It's still lying in a small crater, its legs motionless, but the two heavy chainsaw-tipped limbs on its front have unfolded again. They're reaching for Alida, fully outstretched and flailing chaotically, sparks flying whenever one of the chainsaws skips along the ground. Behind those two limbs, previously hidden, is the monster's mouth; it's a simple rectangular hole in its brass chassis, but an array of thick gears whir angrily, primed to catch on something and drag it inside to be pulverized.
You only have a couple moments before Alida is within reach of the monster's armsDeep breaths. That was supposed to calm you down, right? She needed to help, she couldn't just run away screaming. She signed up for this, and she had to fight now. This thing was responsible for all of the awful things that had happened today alongside who knew what else, and she wasn't going to let it get away from her or hurt her friends! She clambered over, getting more directly above it, and summoning a set of three more talismans as she went. Four was death, and death was what she was going to give this thing.
Start throwing talismans with as much power as I can manage at it, whenever I think I can get a good shot. Go for a hit now, aiming center-of-mass, and then wait for it to be distracted before continuing my assault.
as much power as I can manage
You take a moment to calm yourself, and then start climbing forward and up. In seconds, you're mostly out of the wire net, crouched at the corner formed by the 'roof' of wires at the top of the large chamber, and the 'wall' of wires choking the street below and behind you. From here, you have an unobstructed view of the giant spider below. It's still trapped, so you have a moment to aim and prepare.
You crush the single talisman in your hand,
squeezing it as hard as you can as you dump magical power into it. You've done this enough now to understand how to charge the talisman with mana, but you've never pushed this much in before--your body suddenly feels exhausted like you haven't been for years, like you just ran a marathon while sick. The talisman is clearly reacting; even crushed into a ball inside your fist, radiant light shines between your fingers.You start to choke, your vision swimming, and you cut off the flow, suddenly scared by your own powers. You have to pause a moment to regain your senses, panting heavily while staring blindly downward. Movement catches your eye before you can really make out individual shapes, and you realize that the monster is on the move. It's heading straight for the wire-covered street, where you won't be able to see it or attack--you need to attack now, or you won't get another shot!
[Joy]
You're still somewhat delerious from your massive expenditure of energy, but your thrown projectile still manages to fly true, hitting the monster's back. For a brief moment, it sits there and shines without doing anything more, causing your heart to leap into your throat. Then it flashes, and detonates with a roar that rattles your bones even from this distance. You scramble to grab nearby wires and stop yourself from falling, losing sight of the giant spider for a moment.
When you stabilize yourself, you see that it's now lying exactly where it was when your talisman exploded, though it's stopped moving. There's an enormous dent in its right side, a circular indentation that's half as wide as the creature is long. Cracks large enough to be seen even from this height fill the center of the brass crater, though the rest of the monster's body and legs seem intact. Despite the clearly severe wound, you don't feel confident that it's
dead... but you're also worried to throw another talisman. You're not sure you have enough power to drain for another attack like that.
Your thoughts are interrupted when the monster recovers, though it doesn't stand back up. Instead, one of its left legs snaps to the upper cable spool it's carrying at its rear, grabbing the tip of the cable that's wrapped there, and then throwing it forward, into the street. A second later, the blonde girl is drug out into view by her legs, followed quickly by Mina, who futilely attempts to sever the thick cable. You groan, closing your eyes and
focusing on summoning another trio of talismans into your hands, the sensation of even that slight spell making you feel a little more sick.[Creativity]
You're about to charge and throw another talisman, when you feel the wires twisting around and behind you. You spin around, and see the thick tangle of wires unknotting itself from around another facsimile of the blonde girl.
This copy is much worse than the previous one--though she looks just as human, she's standing at an impossible angle, as if gravity were rotated seventy degrees. Her eyes wander and dart around independently, a manic smile painted across her face. She steps forward weightlessly, extending both arms towards you and speaking unsteadily.
"Please, h-help I,
stay with they, they c-can't win,
don't leave... Asha?"
Soul Gem: Glowing with a warm light.
Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: She has deep slashes along her forearms, a throbbing headache, and a lingering feeling of nausea.
Inventory: A club.
Shoe status: Worn, in every sense of the word.
Totem: A fishing club.
Stats:
Bravery: Talented~
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Skilled!
Creativity: Cursed ;-;
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility Lvl2
Close Combat Lvl2+1
Totem Manipulation Lvl1
Berzerker Lvl2 - Active; Bloodied!
Painless Lvl2
Effigy Lvl1
Soul Gem: Glowing with a
dull light.
Age: 13
Hair color:
Ashen Health: A bit banged up, and pretty dang scared.
Inventory: Nothing of use.
Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.
Stats:
Bravery: Skilled! Joy: Cursed ;-;
Innocence: Cursed ;-;
Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Talented~ Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled!Abilities:
Mobility: Level 2
Close Combat: Level 2
Totem Manipulation: Level 0 (+1)
Heal and Steel: Level 2 (Active: Mercy++)
Soothe: Level 2
Flagellation: Level 2 Soul Gem: Glowing with a vibrant light.
Age: 14.
Hair Color: Bright green.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: Her halberd, held on her shoulder with one hand.
Totem: A halberd.
Stats:
Bravery: Amateur...
Joy: Skilled!
Innocence: Amateur...
Purity: Skilled!
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Talented~
Love: Cursed ;-;
Abilities:
Mobility: Level 1
Close-Combat: Level 1 (+1)
Regeneration: Level 2
Sixth Sense: Level 2
Semblance: Level 2
Projection: Level 2
Soul Gem: Glowing with a
dull light.
Age: 13
Hair Color: Bright scarlet.
Health: Fine, if rattled!
Inventory:
Three talismans!
Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.
Stats:
Bravery: Cursed ;-;
Joy: Talented~ Innocence: Skilled! Purity: Amateur...
Mercy: Cursed ;-;
Creativity: Amateur...
Love: Skilled! Abilities:
Mobility II
Mana Bolt II (+I)
Regeneration I
Gourmand I
Outburst II
Duet with Reality II