Woodhouse fiddled with the device, his skeletal fingers turning knobs as he peered into the viewfinder. The recording device was old, but worked just as well as the day it was made – in an overly complicated way.
"Are we framed and rolling? Good."
Razel cleared his throat, the khaki outfit strapped close to him beneath the pith helmet. He glanced over his shoulder, looking across the gorge to the host of feathers gathered in a circle. The mass of angels was blissfully unaware of him, going about their business and doing whatever it was angels did when not serving. A smile and a nod told him to begin.
"Today, on the Monster Stalker, we're going to get up-close and personal with a true beauty of the magical world – the Angel."
Taking Woodhouse's wrist, Razel warped them closer, but still safely out of sight. A few checked dials and a thumbs-up.
"Angels are one of the few great hybrids around, often created rather than bred. This particular host is on a pilgrimage, holding some kind of ritual. Crikey…look at those wingspans."
Panning to look over the host, Woodhouse framed their goings-on and zoomed for effect, scanning as Razel voiced over the shot.
"Now, this is where I warn you not to try what I'm about to do at home. Angels are a fierce thing, and more often than not, they'll either beat you right bloody or call some friends. Remember, I'm a trained professional."
A tap on Woodhouse's back shunted the two of them to the top of a stone spire, closer but higher.. Woodhouse focused on Razel's face, inching closer.
"With that being said, I'm going to attempt something many folks tell me is not worth it – the hundred-halo challenge. I won't bother explaining, you'll figure it out."
Leaning to the side and verifying his cameraman's readiness, Razel smiled and placed a hand on the House Guard.
"It's show time."
With a thunderous glacial crack, the two of them appeared in the center of the heavenly host. Silence consumed the Angels as they all spun to face the interlopers, a brief moment of confusion pausing the lot. Striding towards the closet one, Razel flexed his fingers and the creature started to speak.
"Who-"
His hand shot out from his inhuman leap, taking the thing by the halo and wrenching it free, calling a scream out of the neutered celestial and a sudden flurry of action. Swords ignited from the air, wings beat, and voices cried out as they all rushed the interloper in the middle. A swipe above his head brought the next close enough to de-halo, the next slash at his side telling him to turn and grab, pulling loose his third. Those who lost their divine antennas shrieked and wailed like blind men exposed to nuclear fire, clutching their heads and writhing on the ground. A handful of loops slid up his arms like bracelets.
Some began to flee, seeking assistance elsewhere. Woodhouse stayed back, catching the whole scene as it unfolded. Two angels dove from above, twirling around each other and pointing with menace. Razel extended his hand at the two, rending their limbs from their bodies and snatching their halos as they crashed beside him. A lucky stroke cut into his back, drawing an impulsive spin and point, the offending individual instantaneously turning a brilliant gold, freezing in place even as the mage leapt over it and took the ring with him.
One dove for Woodhouse, blade flashing in front of the lens as the skeleton backpedaled to get a better view of its assailant. Snarling and screaming it shot for him, cut short by Razel's hand catching the back of the Halo and wrenching it to the floor. The urge to sink them all within a singularity of flesh was growing, but the challenge was nothing without voluntary compliance.
Taking advantage of a brief lapse in attackers, the mage slid his rings onto his legs, freeing his arms for the second half. Looking ridiculous but minding none at all, Razel focused himself and stared down the avengers swooping down on him.
Ducking, bending, rolling and sliding away from the steel sweeping through the places he had just been, he toyed with them, catching one blade and grasping the thing by its wrist, spinning and slamming it into the rest of them with repeated vigor. Knocking a few more out of the air before discarding the broken body and collecting the halos, he took a quick tally as well as an arrow to the shoulder. The shaft slipped easily through him, more annoying and alerting him than anything else. Thunder once more rung out as he stepped between spaces and popped up behind the archer, grasping both sides of their headpiece and twisting it around completely before removing the ring.
Within minutes the commandeered jewelry was weighing him down noticeably, another host closing in. The metal served well as an impromptu shield, stopping its share of blades. Following a particularly rhythmic bout with an older, silver-feathered archangel, he counted one last time and smiled at the swarm drawing near.
Warping into the middle of their flight, the cloud scrambled to gain his bearings, failing before he could snag the hundredth halo and throw its prior owner to the ground. A step between spaces slipped him to the ground once more, below the host.
His hand rose, two fingers emitting a ray of shadow which struck the air in the center of their flock. A sphere of darkness emerged, growing and drawing them closer, spinning them around and around until they blurred into a single individual, then slamming them to a sudden and abrupt stop before sucking their conglomerate meat into the confined space, seeping streams of gore as they grew closer to each other.
Turning to the camera, Razel looked over the halos and smiled, giving the recording a thumbs-up.
"Remember – Every hundred rings gives you another life!"