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[Takosher]

Brynn

The black-clad girl carries a grey staff with red, circuit-like patterns running up and down it's length and a black ring around some sort of handle in the center. A hood and scarf conceal most of her face, with only her piercing yellow eyes clearly visible.

She whirls the staff and a bubble of reddish energy forms around you. You hear a masculine voice from the device say, "Silencer Echo." And then anything capable of nullifying magic within the field starts to nullify itself as well.

"You're a fool if you think my power could be stopped by a mere eraser spell. Though the field-type implementation is certainly... Interesting." Dorothy says with a smirk.

[Twinwolf]

Aiko and Shizu

"Yes, we won." Aiko snaps - the way she says it almost sounds like a curse. "Because that means so much with her."

"That we ended the threat does not erase what she did."

"She was... she was gone. She couldn't hurt anyone again." Aiko was breathing hard, clenching and unclenching a fist. "And she's trying to... to come back..."

Shadow's voice called, and Aiko blinked a few times. She still looked like she wanted to go do something stupid - but instead started pacing back and forth angrily. And then the explosion in the distance happened - in her agitated state Aiko nearly jumped out of her skin whirling to look. "Wait, what's that mean? We can't just do nothing right? Someone might be in trouble."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Brynn
"Finally, worthy prey!"

Lost in a sudden rush as they realized what was happening, neither of them registered their perfect unison in the moment. Where as the instinctive excitement and fascination lingered in Arisen, however, Brynn was just as quick to internally cringe and shun it to the furthest corners of her mind. This witch was demonstrably more dangerous now, yes, but not the first to have developed some form of countermeasure against them.

Enough, where's the closest territory?
I'd strongly reconsider-
Arissen! Brynn quite literally hissed through what would've been clenched teeth, had she any at the moment. The blade sighed inaudibly.
Due south.

She didn't know if the bubble was an actual barrier or just marked the area of the spell(?). She wasn't going to waste time guessing either. The two of them rematerialized from the mist already swinging at a place on the bubble's wall. Brynn unleashed a withering blast of her breath at the same spot just before Arisen's impact, hoping that even with plummeting potency the two forces in concert would be enough to free them.

[Devastator]

"Hmm."  Tayir says, looking in the distance.

"There's something you should know, Charlotte."

"I don't fight by stabbing things or punching things or casting magic at things."

"What I do, is I make things happen."

Tayir then applies Shadow Escort to whoever that is fighting Dorothy.

[Takosher]

Brynn

The blade passes harmlessly through the intangible bubble.

The breath, however, turned out to be a huge mistake. Not only does it rapidly turn in on itself, but the increased volume of anti-magic accelerates the degenerative process that has turned your own power in on you.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Brynn
This mage grew more fascinating by the moment. Not a single contender before her had managed to invert their roles so effectively, let alone within less than a minute. Brynn understood now why the others were so apparently weary of her. She knew what it was like to have her own power eat at her, of course. Back when the mist was still an acidic variant of her normal flames, it broke down her coil regularly when deployed, kept at bay by its inability to outpace her regeneration. This sensation, inside the bubble, however, was a wholly different one. Her soul itself felt as though it was going rabid, the periphery portions fraying and devouring the rest much like her flames should've devoured the mana or whatever analogue energy powered this nonsense.

But even as she mentally praised the amount of skill and forethought required, Brynn recognized all too well the basic school of strategy on display, and that it wasn't nearly as clever as its wielder likely thought herself to be. This was little more than the effective use of spacing to enclose her own area of control without intersecting it, likely with a pinch of causality alteration applied to the portion of reality contained within the sphere. In essence, her Conviction could not defeat it because it was being made to collapse before it ever reached the spell.

Defense Against the Devouring Arts 101. 

It was much like using magic to accelerate a piece of ammunition to light-speed and not caring if whatever was on the receiving end was an antinode or not - for the thing that killed it wouldn't be the magic itself. A plebian solution. But one most mages weren't grounded enough to envision the merits of, hence rendering her use commendable nonetheless.

All things being equal, Brynn likely would've changed her mind as easily as Arisen nearly had, and eagerly rushed to see what else the girl could do. But the field was far from equal so long as they were bound by the influence of this place.

Which sadly left Brynn little choice but to grit her teeth, tuck her wings in, and dive through her own cannibal fog and flame. A few maniacal laughs echoed in the back of her mind as a few of the lesser souls in the gestalt burned away, woken from their trance by the phenomenon and fully cognizant of their fates even as they occurred. To otherwise eternal prisoners, perhaps even non-existence was preferable to confinement. She paid them no more mind than fleeting voices on the rushing wind. For that was all they were now, as she exited the boundary of the intangible bubble, unfurled her wings, and caught an updraft to preserve a good portion of her built up speed.

The existential rebellion was quashed as quickly as it'd started. As she set a swift course south towards Charlotte's domain, Brynn chose to rely on her own constitution and regeneration to survive any parting shots, rather than risk such an inversion again. A shame they couldn't stay and glean just a bit more about the mages from the girl's world, but... priorities were priorities.

[Takosher]

Brynn

"Lightspeed." the masculine voice of Dorothy's intelligent device announces at the same time that she seems to teleport directly in front of you. She unleashes a swift chain of attacks with her device, moving fast enough to make it readily apparent that she is readily defying the laws of physics. The final hit of the combo sends you rocketing backwards, where Dorothy is already waiting.

"Shadow Arc Lancer!" Dorothy shouts. Her weapon cloaks itself in red energy and she jabs forward with it, smashing into you with enough force to pierce through a tank's armor.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Brynn
Every blow of the onslaught was another insult to her pride. They all stung and bit more deeply than she knew they rightfully should've, an unavoidable side-effect of their current locale. Fortunately, as rapid and volumous as they were, none of them were grouped tightly enough to truly hammer any one point into oblivion, leaving Brynn battered and a bit bloodied, but far from dead.


The final one-two was simply adding actual injury to the insult, with the lancer managing to pierce her armored scales and punch deep into the back of her shoulder, but not as deep as her assailant likely banked on. The red glow empowering the weapon was immediately dispelled as Brynn's blood flowed down its haft, and the true secret to her resistance became apparent; it wasn't just her breath or her fog that was anathema to magic.

Every one of her bodily fluids disrupted and arrested the flow of magic wherever they were present, and now the witch's device was thoroughly coated in one. Brynn resisted the urge to reach out with her soul and bend the lingering essence of herself to her will. As satisfying as strangling the girl with the very blood she'd drawn would've been, it was far more advantageous to leave it precisely where it was.

Arisen, what is your measure of her?
Phenomenal speed. Unquestionably the greatest degree of motion enhancement we've encountered thus far. And the final strike almost certainly would've shattered any mage's personal shield. I suspect the earlier blast of lightning would've pressed an entire squadron onto the backfoot.
Where would you place her threat level?
A Registered Mage, nothing less. Easily an Ace of Aces depending on her power efficiency.
Yes, well, let's not forget a good deal of that is as much down to paradigm choice and casting quirks as it is to skill.
Fair, child.
We have no chance of realistically outrunning her, do we?
Arisen gave a simple, haughty chuckle across their spiritual link. Not a snowball's chance in hell. Alas, we tried your way.

Yes. Brynn licked her own blood from her lips. The wounds from the initial barrage had already mostly healed. The one in her back was taking longer for... quite obvious reasons. The gem in the center of her chest shined like a miniature sun, flush with countless amounts of latent rage just waiting to be tapped. How very unfortunate we cannot escape. For her.

The little dragon exploded into a ball of glowing fury, creating a light in the sky akin to a nuclear flash. The implement shoved through her shoulder was forced out by flesh that regrew at a vastly accelerated rate. The breaks in her armor reformed into pristine state as her hide underwent a vast reinforcement, and even the bits of her that previously seemed like human skin were covered in a faint, translucent orange sheath of draconic scales. Pale, ghostly flames replaced her eyes, and Arisen was entirely engulfed by a matching aura. The gem in her chest ironically became the dimmest part of her entire being.

She turned in the air, hovering more than flying at this point, and looked the witch dead in the eye with sardonic pity. The moment their gazes met, the colors of everything around them briefly inverted as Brynn focused her aura of terror to a razor fine point and drove it into the deepest recesses of the witch's mind. What accompanied the supernatural, physically sickening influx of pure fear was a seemingly unending psychic barrage of predatory fantasy. Tiny, insidious snapshots of all the ways the Greater Dragon dreamt of slaughtering the girl and razing everyone and everything she had ever held dear. All the ways she would take anything and everything she wanted with impunity, and leave nothing but smoldering ruins and broken dreams in her wake. It was like being thrown alive and whole of body, with all senses intact, through every imaginable version of hell at once.

And then as quickly as the visions came, they ceased. But the fear? The fear refused to leave so easily.

"I'm sorry you had the misfortune of meeting me. Perhaps in a happier tale, penned by more merciful hands, you would've already murdered the rest of the inmates and won your oh so coveted freedom. But this is not a happy tale. And I have no mercy for the likes of you."

[Takosher]

Brynn

She turned invisible while you were showing off. You have no idea where she went but she didn't see like a solid 90% of that.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Brynn

...
...

"I feel genuinely insulted by this turn of events." Arisen finally broke the silence as they floated there, glancing around.
"As do I." Brynn muttered through grit teeth. That skittish little bitch. Having the nerve to appear out of nowhere, call her attacks like a first year combat mage fresh out of some academy and untempered by the horrors of war... and then once she decides to acknowledge her as a genuine threat and neutralize her as such, the little fool fucks off as quickly as she came! How dare she?!

"...I will mark down courage as not being among her virtues. Rather disappointing, but I don't know why I would expect such discipline from someone who announces every spell by name. Should she interfere again before we find the rest, I will skip the pomp and circumstance and kill her where she stands. Out of principle, if for nothing else."

"YES!" Arisen's eye shot up in sublime maternal satisfaction. "Finally, you are carrying yourself as befits your station! Let no slight go unpunished!"

Brynn simply rolled her eyes. With nothing else to further delay them, she turned south again and resumed flying towards Charlotte's domain. The glow showed no sign of fading anytime soon, not with as much energy as she'd pumped into powering up.

[Takosher]

Brynn

Your legs are no longer part of your body.

"Sealing Mode." Dorothy's weapon belatedly announces from behind you as she flourishes it. A puff of exhaust emerges from its paired vents and an object not unlike a bullet casing pops out of a revolving cylinder near the central ring.

The staff has reformatted such that it now appears to be a double-bladed longsword. It's edge still glows with pristine red energy, having cut through you so swiftly and cleanly that not even a single drop of blood splattered on it.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Brynn
What should've been a roar of outrage ended up as more a girlish yelp as Brynn instinctively tucked and dove to increase the following distance between herself and the not-so-new threat. It wasn't until a little after that she registered the full extent of the damage. And Arisen's haughtiness rapidly giving way to fear. Not for Brynn herself of course, but for what defeat may spell for her own rotten hide.

That...no, no that should not be possible under the esoteric laws known to us. For a blade other than myself to slice through dragonhide, flesh, and bone all without resistance-

I learned how to condense my fog into monomolecular edges about a week after we parted-

YOU HWAT?! Arisen's psychic screech forced Brynn to cringe. She felt the blade seething even as it coped. Ahem... Run. Something is deeply unright here, none of the energy flowing feels as it should. This latest attack makes me all the more confident than whatever system she uses is not reliant on magic alone, but-

Also soul-based, integrated with high-technology, or a mixture of all three. Brynn bore her fangs in equal parts distaste and fascination.

Their observations thus far suggested more of option two than anything else, from the bizarre function and form changes to the uniquely mechanic and... scientific bent to her attack transitions. Less like the heart and personality that goes into casting a spell, and more like an automaton carrying out pre-programed functions. And not just some facsimile of technology acquired through sufficient understanding of mana either, like Keeper and the Protectorate had both achieved. No, this looked more like the hard and grounded stuff, the speculative physics so prevalent in any one of her beloved space epics. Which if true very much explained quite a bit about how the wicked witch was performing so well. And meant that contrary to her initial assumption, she was very much fighting something outside of her usual wheelhouse.

There had to be a maximum effective range and size for that 'Silencer Echo' of hers, right? And while she may lose a few freeloaders, it's like not she actually needs most of the sorry bastards. If she just kept moving, maybe.... just maybe. Still legless but with rapidly regrowing stumps, Brynn released her hold on her physical form and phased back into mist, maintaining her previous speed only through force of will. Attempting to close the rest of the distance south any other way could easily end in being cut down at a moment's notice.

And while losing physical parts was more painful and annoying than life-altering for her kind, she knew quite well that she lacked any of that... exotic Lernaean ancestry.

[Takosher]

Brynn

"Induction Mode." the device's voice echoes. Its form rapidly begins to shift again. Initially it seems to transform back into a staff, although it's a bit larger and needs to be held with two hands. Then front end of the staff splits open, red energy crackling down the split as it opens up.

"Lightning Cross Breaker." the mechanical voice says flatly.

Energy begins to gather along the two halves of the split staff, rapidly clarifying the nature of the weapon. As it grows larger, you suddenly realize why she didn't wait for you to finish powering up before vanishing. Of course it's too late for you to change course to try to go back and interrupt her now.

"Lightning..." Dorothy says slowly with determination.

"Cross..!" Though she's speaking loudly, the whine of energy makes her almost inaudible anyways.

"BREAKER!!!"

The shout is accompanied by what feels like time standing still. Even though you know a magical attack like this won't hurt you, the sheer amount of energy built up is enough to make you doubt your very existence for just a brief moment. And in the next moment, everything around you is red.

The beam lasts for what seems like ages, but despite the roar of a powerful energy blast incinerating the air itself, you remain completely untouched.

"Tch." Dorothy makes a sound of annoyance to herself as the light fades and she recognizes your lack of being-obliterated.

It seems this is finally enough to convince her to halt her pursuit, and she turns to fly away, vanishing in a cloak of shadows as she does so.

And not a moment to soon, as you suddenly revert back to corporeal form. The final drops of your mana consumed, you are left largely powerless, though at least you can still fly. Regenerating, however, is going to take a bit until you drop your transformation and your mana stores have a chance to recover. The air around you still crackles with red electricity as you make your way towards the nearby city.

Aiko, Shizu, and Tayir

"Before I had a chance to formulate a response, a huge red beam crashed through the clouds and nearly blew my humble realm to smithereens. 'Course my power could handle that no problem, but it meant dropping my grip on the two nearby dames. A simple choice, rea..."

Charlotte's monologue trails off as the energy beam suddenly changes course and fires into Tayir's lake, rather than destroying Charlotte's home. The noir magical girl breathes a sigh of relief as he manages to scrape by on the skin of his teeth once again.

[Devastator]

Tayir

"My lake!"

There's been a lot of action, a lot of activity, and a lot of people.  And hands and strange powers.  But the lake.  The lake is Tayir's.  It's the first thing that has ever actually belonged to Tayir.  So when the giant red beam hits it, all was forgotten for a moment, out of concern for the first real thing Tayir has ever owned.

Tayir transforms and takes to the air.  Hopefully, the giant red beam of death just went into the water harmlessly.. or the reflected stars.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

Brynn
"I... recant my previous grievances." Brynn said quietly as she struggled to hide the edge of fear and exhilaration that filled her. That was like a goddamn orbital space laser. Had she been literally anyone else, she would've died to the equivalent of a goddamn. Orbital. Space laser.

Magnificent. Simply magnificent. It was everything she had imagined growing up and then some. This was phenomenon the likes of which she had previously only been told about, the type that if scaled up would easily torch entire continents, if not worlds, in the span of an instant. Not days, like her father had taken, but an instant. This was what is was like to feel objectively, infinitesimally small against the backdrop of the universe around you, intoxicated by the majesty of creation and appreciative that you are a part of it, if only for a fleeting moment. Brynn desperately tried to hold the feeling as it faded with the lingering electric crackle in the air. Because for the first time in her life, she knew what it was like to not matter. To be insignificant, free of the 'gift' of power and the accompanying burden of constantly being expected to use it. To simply have the privilege of existing, without being someone's prescribed savior or their designated villain.

And no matter how hard she tried, she doubted she'd ever perfectly recreate this feeling again.

But before she knew it, it was gone. Back to duty as usual, as arbitrary and self-imposed as it was at this point. She flew through the cityscape, searching either for any trace of her lost comrades, or a good alleyway to hide in and power down until her legs could grow back. Whichever she found first.