~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ Crystice ~ and ~ Emmra ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
._ The Ice Sorceress ~ ~ ~ The Sorceress Sisters ~ ~ ~ The Sweet Sorceress
Suria the Blue Spawn of Rage
---}[ ~ ~ ~ =|0|= ~ ~ ~ ]{---
Zelniana
"Zelni"
Dark Angel
Crystice and Emmra were left with no choice but to watch as their fate unfolded before them while remaining almost entirely helpless to change it. They were stuck to the ground, caught in Wita's sticky web with only a small fraction of it cut by Zelniana. They had very limited movement, which Crystice managed to use a bit earlier to cast Hailstorm on Wita when she tried to pounce on Zelni. She had merely been lucky with the positioning of everything to be capable of timing that attack, as she was otherwise very unreliable support while tied up. Emmra, on the other hand, wasn't entirely bound by the web as her magic didn't require the same type of accuracy to be used on a target. She was the only one who could actually do anything, but it appeared that it would only be by her sister's command as she not only persisted to struggle and panic, but also had her head turned away from the main fight.
Suria, meanwhile, stood unsteadily in front of the several dozen sisters, almost prepared to fight off the horde of Spiders with her ally Dark Angels. Unknown to all but her multi-million opponents, she was still intoxicated by Wita's Poison and was seeing her two enemies multiply by the hundreds, and then dividing by the thousands, or something. Suria wasn't sure what she was seeing, and before she knew it, she felt something ram itself into her and was on the ground. Everything was swirling in her vision and she wasn't able to see what was going on, but she was starting to acknowledge a thousand spider eyes before her as she felt something biting her. Upon acknowledging a foe, Suria's claws went crazy as she tried to bite it but only caught empty air and at one point, herself. Her Protect Spell was on its last legs, but was still doing her a bit of service.
With Suria combating Drith, that left Wita to Zelniana. The Dark Angel wasn't very sure of herself, as she usually was. She wasn't a melee fighter, as Magic was her expertise. To make matters worse, she lacked an appropriate feel for magic on this plane, otherwise this Spider would most likely get destroyed. As things stood, however, the Spider was a far better fighter and Zelni was worried about her situation. It was not a question of how Zelni would win, but more so how long she would survive until the situation changed, if it did.
Zelniana remained in a brief standoff with Wita before the Spider suddenly leaped at her. Zelni reacted immediately with a raise of her blade, but was quickly pinned to the ground beneath the Spider's weight. She heard a painful hiss from Wita and realized she must have wounded the Spider by accident, but it still didn't do her much good as in Wita still got the best of her in the end. Zelniana didn't know what to do. Her body simply stiffened, refusing to obey her command. Her mind went numb, before the simplest instinct came over her and the Dark Angel tried to push Wita off her. The Spider proved far too heavy for Zelni. Wita suddenly lunged in an attempt to sink her fangs into Zelni's neck. Zelniana's body jolted as she did everything in her power to keep the Spider off her. She didn't think it was enough. Her body didn't seem to be functioning properly at all.
Crystice was becoming more and more terrified as the battle unfolded. Nothing was going as she expected it to. It was the first time things had gone so wrong, and she was quickly realizing that the error had to happen only once before it was too late. There was no opportunity to do better next time as she was doubting there would even be a next time. She tried to shake the fears out of her mind but it was proving to be too difficult a task for her. The battle unfolding before her very eyes remained a constant reminder. Suria, perhaps their greatest assest in battle, wasn't even fighting well. This had to be some kind of nightmare, or maybe, reality was finally kicking in as they found themselves outmatched.
Suddenly something clicked in Crystice's mind as realization hit her. Watching Suria's movements, she knew it wasn't normal. She saw Suria fight previously and it was nothing like this, to say nothing of the fact that she was attacking empty air half the time. Their opponents happened to be Spiders, which likely meant that they possessed some dirty tricks. Primary examples were things like webs, or more to the point, poison. Crystice turned her head towards her sister and spoke in whispers, "Emmra, I need you to cast Purify on Suria. Quickly!" Emmra's own worry openly expressed itself in her response, "H-Huh? Why? Wha-" When Crystice took another glance at Zelniana's doomed situation, she simply yelled, "Now!!"
Fearing to further anger her sister and completely frightened as to what was going on around her, Emmra quickly focused her magic on the blue Demon Spawn, Suria. The web hindered her a bit, but she didn't need full movement anyways to cast Healing Magic. Her main problem was that she was a bit untrained at casting Purify and generally had difficulty with casting spells at range rather than by touch. It wouldn't stop her from trying though. Everything around her felt so grim and it scared her to think about it. She tried to think about what made her most happy, and there were only two simple things she loved more than anything. She liked to see people smile, but most importantly, she adored being with her dearest sister, the only other person in her life that remained close. With a deep breath, Emmra unleashed a spell that reverted all evil intended magic attached to Suria.
With the Poison out of her system, Suria's vision suddenly cleared. The illusion was gone, and she saw this horde for what it really was. Just two dumb Spiders that were about to get their faces torn off. Drith, on top of her, tried to take another bite out of Suria, but she wasn't having any of it. With her mind clear, Suria did something she should have done a minute or so ago. She threw all of her energy into her legs and kicked Drith harder than a female Hell Hound that just doesn't want to mate. The Spider flew off Suria and hit a wall, stunned by the shock of the unexpected change of events.
Suria threw her body sideways and was back on her feet. She turned towards Drith and prepared to pounce on him back and eat him for every bite he successfully landed on her, which totaled to about three. Before she had a chance, she heard Crystice's panicked voice giving her yet another order, "Suria, the other one!" Suria turned her head and saw that Wita was on top of her Dark Angel ally. Changing targets, Suria pounced on Wita and successfully knocked her off of Zelniana. The two of them almost crashed into the wall of the previous hall, but ended up stopping just before that. Suria then proceeded to enact vengeance upon Wita for being a general annoyance.
Drith recovered from the knockback as quickly as he could, but felt a bit disoriented for a brief moment. He reassessed the situation to search for a target. The two Witches were still caught in his wife's web, and the Dark Angel appeared to be dead already. That left the Demon Spawn, who appeared to be attacking his wife. He couldn't let that. The Spider moved as fast as his legs would allow him before he jumped on top of the Demon Spawn and bit into her flesh. Attacking her back wasn't nearly as effective but she lost her Protect Spell, so she might as well be just as vulnerable.
Suria cringed as she felt Drith on top of her, and at that moment, Wita seemed to redouble her fighting efforts and suddenly pushed Suria off of her. Suria rolled across the ground for a moment but quickly recovered. Drith was knocked off her that moment as well. Suria noticed that the Spiders didn't seem nearly as strong as she was. That was good. Even if there were two of them, she would win. She wasn't about to let these cuts or bruises or burns or bite marks ruin her. They were all going to die. Whatever was making her stomach turn was gone, and her appetite replaced it. She wanted to know what Spider tasted like, and she was going to find out.
"Zelniana?" Crystice called out towards the unmoving body. There was no response. Becoming more and more worried, Crystice suggested to Emmra, "Cast Heal on her, hurry Emmra!" "I'm trying... I want this to be done right..." Emmra replied, her voice revealing just how focused she was on her task. She could see Zelniana through the corner of her eye and knew of her plight. She shared her sister's fear of the worst and dearly hoped her magic would be enough. With a well-placed spell, Emmra healed Zelniana's wounds significantly, but not entirely by any means. Her wounds appeared fatal, or very close to it, and Emmra's power wasn't nearly strong enough to fully bring her back from that.
"Zelniana?" Crystice called out again, unable to hide her woe. There was no response. Emmra spoke out, sounding to be on the verge of tears, "Zelniana? Please get up... Please move, just please... You tried to protect me and my sister... Please get up... Please... don't... don't be..." There was a sudden twitch of her arm, and suddenly Zelniana's body began to move once more. She turned herself over, trying to get her bearings straight. Emmra's voice completely perked up, "Zelniana!" Zelniana didn't respond and instead she looked around, assessing the situation. She attempted to stand but quickly stumbled over, appearing to lack appropriate balance. She reached for her sword, then crawled towards the sisters as she dragged it along.
Zelniana immediately resumed the task of cutting the web. Watching her, Crystice felt completely lost for words. Her sister, on the other hand, appeared to have too many as she broke down into tears, "I'm so happy you're alive! I was so worried, I thought you were dead... I... I was scared... I'm scared of seeing people die... I don't like being here, I want to go back to Tesonu's dungeon! I feel so safe there. Why can't everyone just get along? All we do is just fight battles, and then people die, and I hate it! I hate it so much! I just met you before we started off, and then you were fighting to protect me, and I thought you died for it! I don't want to put anyone or see anyone in that situation ever again!"
Zelniana didn't seem to have any response to it. She remained intent on cutting the web, as if that was her only purpose. Crystice was becoming increasingly worried about both her and Emmra. She knew Emmra disliked battle but... she seemed to tolerate it to a degree... But could she have been actually holding it all in? Crystice wanted to know what else Emmra was remaining quiet about, and the same went for Zelniana. She was worried about both of them, but unsure as to which one worried her more so.
Zelniana finally finished cutting the web, freeing the sisters at last. Crystice stood up immediately, satisfied in her freedom. She quickly helped her sister up as well, then looked towards the battle between Suria and the Spiders. It was not going well, as Suria was injured and outnumbered. Wita fought with viciousness equal to that of Suria, while Drith made for good support. It seemed to come down to who could anticipate the others' pounce and then successfully counter, and Suria was easily at a disadvantage in that contest. Crystice could certainly change that, however.
Crystice spoke, her voice retaining a limited form of authority, "Emmra, I need you to try and Heal Suria if you can. Zelniana, let me initiate with Freeze," Emmra was the only one to respond, "Ok." As Emmra prepared her spell, Crystice took aim as she focused her own magic. She wanted to hit Drith, as Wita seemed too fast and would likely dodge. Crystice didn't want to lose her element of surprise. When the spell was ready and she was sure it wouldn't be a miss, Crystice let it fly towards her foe. Wita, at that moment, pounced on Suria, but the Demon Spawn managed to dodge with a sidestep. Drith was prepared to followup, but failed to when he felt an incredible chill throughout his whole body. Wita took a step back when she saw him, then realized the sisters were free.
Wita's moment of shock, as brief as it was, gave Suria the solid opportunity she needed to launch a successful pounce on her foe. The duel between the two of them allowed for not even a half-second break as that was all the time needed for their opponent to get the better of them. Suria allowed every sharp part of her to sink into Wita, dealing as much damage as possible despite her weakened state. Emmra had healed her and Zelniana, however, with her newfound Healing technique known as Heal Group.
Crystice was, meanwhile, attempting to get proper aim as to not accidentally hit Suria. It didn't seem likely that she would get a hit in at all so long as Suria remained on top of the Spider. That quickly changed as Wita managed to push Suria off again before regaining her footing. The two of them engaged in another standoff, waiting for the other to move so that the former could counter. It was then that Crystice saw Zelniana charging straight for Wita, her eyes burning with rage. The Dark Angel had to be crazy. Crystice called out for her immediately, "Zelniana!"
Ignoring her, Zelniana continued her charge and took a reckless slash at Wita, a strike which she dodged easily with a jump to the side. The movement caught Suria's attention, which actually worried the Spider. Suria was prepared to make a jump, forcing Wita in a defensive stance, when Zelniana suddenly took another slash at the Spider and cut off a leg. Wita let out a hiss before being tackled into the ground by Suria. The two of them struggled violently as the Dark Angel drew nearer and thrust her blade into the Spider's abdomen.
"Zelniana!" Crystice cried out. "What!?" came the Dark Angel's furious response. Crystice shouted, "Get back! ...Watch out!!" Zelniana was suddenly tackled into the wall of the second hallway by Drith. The Dark Angel was having none of it, and she thrust her blade beneath the Spider before he had a chance to strike. With a painful hiss, Drith jumped back. He had essentially made the same mistake his wife had made when she attacked the Dark Angel. "You won't ever be able to stop me from coming back home!" Zelniana shouted before charging into direct combat with the Spider, her eyes continuing to burn brighter. Crystice made a puzzled expression as she asked herself, "What does she think she's doing?"
Without further delay, Crystice rushed forward to get better aim and began unleashing countless amounts of projectiles into the male Spider. She cast an almost equal combination of Missiles and Ice Shards, leaning more towards the former. That high level of constant harassment hindered Drith significantly, giving Zelniana an actually good chance of winning despite all other odds stacked against her. Wita was far too busy with Suria to be of any good use. Though Suria was injured, she was clearly more powerful.
With Suria's wounds, the two looked like they might be equally matched. However, Suria was simply overpowering the Spider with attacks while she was on top. Suria unleashed everything, sinking her teeth into the Spider's flesh while simultaneously clawing up her legs. She even let loose her fiery breath to salt the Spider's wounds. Wita struggled enough to push the heavier Demon Spawn off her and eventually reached a point of injury where she simply couldn't draw the strength to do it at all. Once that point was reached, little time passed before her body fell prey to the vicious series of attacks and simply went limb.
Suria struggled a bit to step down from Wita's body. Her body suddenly felt heavy and sore all over. The heat of the moment was gone and her wounds were catching up to her. It was difficult to remember just how many wounds she received over the course of the battle, but all she really knew was that she was in pain. A lot of pain. But despite all of this unpleasant hurt, she craved for more Spider blood. There was still one more, and it was battling the Dark Angel. She was swinging her sword at it crazily in a way that excited Suria. Was she fellow competition? Nah. She didn't seem to have it in her.
Suria dragged herself forward, forcing her body to move despite its blatant refusal. She ignored its demands and continued to push forward. She tried to initiate a charge. It was a bit unsteady, but it seemed to work. Drith was busy trying to bite the Dark Angel but couldn't quite do it, as every time he attacked, Crystice struck him with a pointy ice shard. Then the Dark Angel cut him. Things were about to go very badly for him, as Suria completed her run and leaped towards the Spider. She stuck her claws out and pierced the Spider's flesh upon impact. The two of them crashed into a wall, both heavily injured. Suria felt incredibly dizzy and backed away from the Spider. The tackle was everything she had left, but it seemed the Spider was done as well. He tried to recover from the attack, but he was equally disoriented. Both he and Suria collapsed, unconscious.
Crystice let out a loud and extended sigh as she was relieved that the threat was finally dealt with. Looking at Suria's injuries, she turned to Emmra immediately after, "Emmra, I need you to tend to Suria's wounds, quickly." Emmra nodded before she set out to the task. Flustered, Crystice turned towards Zelniana with a glare, "Zelniana, what has got-" Crystice was interrupted when she heard a shriek from Emmra. She turned back to her sister, only to find four Heroes pouring out from Hannibal's smaller Trap Room. Fear and horror gripped her. For them to be coming out of the room alive meant that the separate invasion force was likely dead... and it was all her fault for separating them.
The group chased after Emmra, who ran towards the entrance of the hall. The Heroes split up at the interception where Suria's body lied with the Knight, Aeric, and the Guard, Hamal, going after Crystice and Emmra. The other two Guards chased after Emmra. "Emmra!" Crystice called out, "Run back to Tesonu! Don't stop for anything!" Crystice stepped back, towards Nalina and the others, as Aeric and Hamal cautiously moved in. Zelniana did not fall back. Crystice could see that same fire in her eyes as the Dark Angel shouted furiously, "You better not have killed my sister you bastards!"
Before anyone could see it coming, Zelniana threw her hands forward, causing the whole hall to shake for a moment. The ground beneath the Heroes suddenly rose up in a massive spike of a landslide, throwing them so completely off balance that they fell back with incredible force. Closing her mind to fear, Crystice sought to press on with Zelniana's initiative. She began preparations for a very powerful Ice Disruption spell, aimed for the first Hero to pop up in front of her. Then, she suddenly saw the Guard's spear flying over the landslide. She fired her spell at that moment and prepared to jump away but then noticed the spear wasn't heading for her. Looking to her left, Crystice saw Zelniana stumbling back with the Guard's weapon firmly planted in her, right above her waist.
As Zelniana began to collapse backwards, Crystice grabbed ahold of her. She got a good look of her eyes and saw the mixed emotions she probably was feeling. There was resentment and hurt, from the Guard most likely, but also, a grave sadness. Zelniana's voice rang in Crystice's mind, and then she understood. She completely understood how the Dark Angel felt. Reminding herself where she was, Crystice set Zelniana on the ground as gently and quickly as she could. She turned back towards the Heroes and had only a brief moment to acknowledge the Guard charging towards her before she was forced onto the ground.
Hamal threw a quick but solid punch and stunned Crystice momentarily, giving him an opportunity to restrain her hands to prevent her from easily casting magic. Crystice struggled heavily, but she was in no position to regain control. Hamal was simply physically stronger than her. She did everything she could to fight it, but he had a firm grip on her. He repositioned himself to establish complete control over her, moving his body up so he sat on her chest and used his knees to pin her by her wrists. Crystice looked at him with both fear and disgust. Everything was happening too fast. Hamal grabbed hold of her neck and proceeded to squeeze the life out of her.
Crystice felt a burst of energy in response to the threat to her valuable life and she fought with everything she had to protect it. She struggled and squealed, but suddenly realized how powerless she was without her magic. She was making a mistake, trying to wrestle control from him through brute, physical force. She needed magic, that was her talent. She began to summon whatever magic she could within her current state, but with the hurtful pressure on her wrists applied by the Guard's armor, she found it especially difficult. Crystice's chest heaved as she tried to grasp air desperately, her heart pounding harder than ever before as tears rolled down her eyes.
It was at that moment that she felt the magic in her hand build up to a strong enough force to cast a spell that would aid her. She threw her hands in the direction of the Guard as best as she could with the highly restricted movement and unleashed a blast of Hail. It wasn't properly aimed, but the spell still managed to hit Hamal indirectly. The sudden attack surprised him and knocked him off balance, causing him to lose his grip on Crystice. She gasped for breath, inhaling a large sum of air before her face went numb as she felt the back of the Guard's gauntlet.
Crystice had momentarily regained free reign to move her hands, but Hamal took that away from her just as quickly as she regained it. She expected another struggle for breath, when she saw a large Knight step beside her. He struggled a bit to move in that heavy suit, as Crystice realized it to be a result of injury. Judging by the bits of ice on his breastplate, she figured he had been hit by her Ice Disruption spell. "I got this," he told Hamal as he showed off his sword. Crystice felt her heart skip a beat. Her eyes grew timid as the Knight raised his sword, with the Guard doing a fine job of restraining her. She summoned what magic she could, but her body felt numb. Her mind was numb. She couldn't think of a spell to help her escape this. Was this how she was going to die? Decapitated by a Hero Knight after a disaster invasion on an enemy Keeper, with the entire failure being her fault? A gruesome image of her headless body appeared in her mind. Nothing went as she expected it to. She hoped that at the very least, Emmra could make it out safely.
~ ~ ~ Crystice ~ and ~ Emmra's ~ ~ ~
Summary
Crystice/Emmra
Health: -, 100%
Level: 7, 6
Experience: 64/110, 19/80 [+14 for Support] [+6/3/8 for Purify/Heal Other/Group]
Gold in Hand: 0, 0
Gold in Lair: 1892, 1700
Equipment: None/Wizard Staff
Location: Hannibal's Trap Hall, Support Lines, On the Ground Under Hamal/Hannibal's Trap Room
Status: -/Frightened, Running for Help
Efficiency: -/100%
Suria
Health: 17% [-6/7% by Drith, -21/12% by Wita, +18% by Heal, From 45%]
Level: 7
Experience: 96/110 [+31 for Intense/Extended Combat]
Gold in Hand: 0
Gold in Lair: 5910
Equipment: None
Location: Hannibal's Trap Hall, Second Hall/Support Lines
Status: Unconscious
Efficiency: 0%
Zelniana
Health: 13% [-67% by Wita, +25/18% by Heal, -19% by Drith, -42% by Hamal, From 100%]
Level: 3
Experience: 2/35 [+17 for Intense/Extended Combat]
Gold in Hand: 0
Gold in Lair: 0
Equipment: Katana, Broken Staff
Location: Hannibal's Trap Hall, Support Line
Status: Unconscious, Dying
Efficiency: 0%
Summary: Drith tackled Suria, who was unable to defend herself properly because of Poison. Wita attacked Zelni, but she didn't have the means to properly defend herself. Realizing Suria's state, Crystice had Emmra cast Purify. Suria then kicked Drith off her and attacked Wita, saving Zelni who was gravely injured. Emmra cast a Perfect Heal on her, allowing her to get up and finish cutting the web. They then prepared to support Suria, who battled both Spiders. Crystice froze Drith and Zelni charged after Wita, cutting off a leg before Suria charged her. Zelni was attacked by Drith, but fought back with Crystice's support as Suria battled Wita, killing her eventually. Suria then tackled Drith but by that point in time, they were both seriously injured and fell unconscious due to their wounds.
Emmra went to heal Suria, but was then attacked and chased after by Dourd and Tiera. Emmra ran away, towards Tesonu's dungeon, while Hamal and Aeric went after Crystice and Zelni. Zelni knocked them back with Stalagmite and Crystice cast Ice Disruption afterwards, hitting Aeric, but then Hamal threw his spear at Zelni and severely wounded her. Crystice prevented her from falling and set her down before getting rushed by Hamal. The two struggled with Crystice barely staying alive, but was then approached by Aeric. He raised his blade to execute her while Hamal restrained her.
Main Invasion Battle Status
Code:
LV4 F GOBLIN "Gribli": 40% - [Unchanged] {SpeedS Charging}
Massively Bleeding Face, Staying Away from Fight
LV4 M BEETLE "Ruk": 74% - [Unchanged] {Rebound Charging}
In the Middle of Tesonu's Forces, Fighting Ortega
LV3 F GOBLIN "Elina": 74% - [Unchanged] {Sight, Seal Charging}
Beside Litelman at Front Lines, Battling Nalina
LV2 M ORC "Litelman": 95% - [Unchanged] <PROTECT> {ProtectS Charging}
Beside Elina at Front Lines, Battling Ortega
LV3 M SALAMAND "Gorsh": 84% - [Unchanged] {Fire Spit/Fireball}
Behind Litelman and Elina, Acting as Support
LV4 M GUARD "Hamal": 91% - [-5% by Zelniana, From 96%] <PROTECT> {ProtectS Cast}
Trap Hall, On Top of Crystice and Restraining Her
LV6 M KNIGHT "Aeric": 18% - [-8% by Zelniana, -15% by Crystice, From 41%]
Trap Hall, Beside Crystice
LV3 M GUARD "Dourd": 89% - [Changed]
Corridor South Of Mini Trap Room, Chasing After Emmra
LV5 F GUARD "Tiera": 50% - [Changed] {HealO Cast}
Corridor South Of Mini Trap Room, Chasing After Emmra
LV4 M SPIDER "Drith": 33% - Unconscious [-11/9/6% by Suria, -16% by Zelni, -25% by Crystice, From 100%]
LV5 F SPIDER "Wita": 0% - Dead [-6/9% by Zelni, -26/47% by Suria, From 88%]
LV3 M B KNIGHT "Tauro": 0% - Dead
LV4 M SALAMAND "Phiery": 0% - Dead
LV7 F ELF ARCH "Runi": 0% - Dead