The pit slaves were strong, persistent brutes, but at least they were easy to fool. Akio was quickly growing annoyed with the spirit priests who were not so easy to fool, stayed out of his range, and were constantly redirecting their minions past his distractions. His agility and speed were his best advantage, allowing him to constantly slide and twist between and around them. He had already tried positioning a decoy Illusion at the edge of one of the pits, but the cyclops did not seem inclined or stupid enough to fall in. Well he hadn't really been counting on it to work anyway.
More of the things seemed to lumber in from the far corners of this forsaken underground, putting the number he had to deal with somewhere around fifty, at a quick estimate. It would have been easier if he could have just held one point of bridge, dealing with seven or eight at a time, tops. Instead, the priests knew he was not the only threat, and kept the brutes going back to Axel.
Keeping them away was Akio's job, and he had to think on the fly to do it. When they got close to Halo, he would throw up a Halo decoy nearby, causing them to miss the mark. He was there to intercept them, fighting as if it was the real thing. It only lasted until the priests became wise to it, of course, or enough of the slaves would find nothing under the point of their hooks and drift off to find the second intruder.
Axel had felt out the borders, and though the number and type of beings within the influence seemed to be almost constantly changing, he was reasonably sure he had the right ones selected. He had taken precious time with this step, as a mistake here could lead to difficult consequences that others would have to deal with. Now, he could begin the process.
Light began to emit from him, brightening the cavern with a radiance completely at odds with its nefarious design. Akio had to pour more energy into his cloak to disguise the light from enemy eyes, but it acted like a homing beacon to the spirits, agitating them beyond what they had been already. The slaves even began to ignore him, heading towards Axel at the priests' commands.
Akio did a quick review of his options, and didn't come up with many. There was a power he had not yet used. He had an idea what it was, and he knew it could be difficult to control. An accident in here would be disastrous to the people they were trying to rescue. And yet he couldn't fight them all away from his ally without some help. It was a decision quickly made.
At his summoning, the air turned rosy. Thick, dark clouds gathered above them, plunging the air into stifling darkness. A sizzling light threaded across the sky, waiting to be called to strike. With a firm hold on his kamas, Akio darted into the gathered assembly of slaves.
He leaped at one's back, driving in the sickles and bringing him down, calling lightning to strike at three that were getting too close to Axel. The blinding flashes of light were instantly validated by roaring booms of thunder, nearly deafening at this distance. The slaves became disoriented, blinded, unused to the light as they were. It was easy for Akio to run through them, taking them down as his glorious summer storm raged around him, plunging constantly to instantly destroy anything it touched.
Even the priests. He happened to see one as it went for Axel personally, coming between the storm and a slave at the same moment a bolt struck. The spirit evaporated, and the slave fell over, charred. Akio knew he couldn't keep the storm up forever, but now he had a way to strike at them, too.
It was hard not to open his eyes and see what was going on out there, but Axel didn't dare split his concentration. So far, nothing had touched him, and whatever this thunder and lightning was about, it seemed to be Akio's doing. The gate must be open, as his first tentative efforts at establishing connection with the world below was met with far less resistance than he had encountered in trying to bring the team up here. He was still growing tired, and had a lot to do, keeping everyone of his several thousand targets in sight. He wasn't sure he could do it, but he still had to try. He barely felt it when he dropped to his knees, his focus was so entwined with the task at hand.
The figure next to him stirred, the incredible power being used waking him from his unconscious state. Yes, he recognized what was being done. Halo had called to him before, as it's bearer had made this attempt, and now it was being tried again. This time, he could tell he was intended to be part of the process. Opening his eyes did nothing, and he could only guess they were somewhere underground as the thunder boomed, crashing against the walls and reverberating deafeningly within its confines. It hurt his ears, and left him feeling even more disoriented, but Anubis couldn't let either of those things stop him from interceding.
Wait, there was some sort of picture. Not of sight, exactly, but he realized he could sense, things. He was left without a solid definition, but he was getting an idea of where everyone was. Next to him, something bright burned. A similar mark was moving in a hazy swirl around a swarm of darker signatures. Twisting his stiff neck around, he could detect something more ominous moving without restriction about them.
It was confusing, but he was sure the brighter marks were two of the Ronin Warriors. They had made it to the Dynasty's domain, and now they were trying to rescue something. No, his ears picked out other sounds as the thunder became less constant. Screams, wails. There was a great deal of pain and suffering here. Marks, he became aware. Souls, thousands of them, all around him, suffocating, twisting. Changing. That's what they were trying to prevent. Halo and Illusion, he was sure of it.
Anubis pushed himself off the ground, to his knees. The Staff of the Ancient's was gone, he remembered, but he could feel a wellspring of power within himself. He could help. "Halo," he shouted to be heard above the noise.
It was a new voice that tugged at Axel's attention. Friend? Foe? It was nearby.
"Do not send me with them," Anubis commanded, becoming familiar with the situation. The gate was open, he marveled. Together, this may be possible. His starved, tormented mind was putting things together more slowly than he wanted, but it was coming. An endpoint had been established, and the travelers selected. Halo was already weakening, though, its bearer both unaccustomed to its power, and putting out too much. He would kill himself if not aided.
"Anubis?" Axel asked with disbelief. He opened his eyes, finding the man in the tattered, dirty robes kneeling in front of him. His eyelids were abnormally sunken, and he was obviously suffering from malnutrition, but there was a sense of indomitable will that the man exuded.
"Yes," Anubis answered, beginning to twine his powers with Halo's. "You must allow me to help you, or you will be lost."
"I know," Axel hesitated, feeling the same power as had helped him before begin to grow, springing from the man's hands. "I wasn't expecting otherwise. The others are planning on going after Talpa, but if we fail, Earth needs to have someone capable to defend her."
Anubis reached out for the thing he sensed, finding Halo's shoulders and placing his hands on them firmly. "Failure cannot be allowed. I know things, have been shown the truth, and without it, your efforts may be doomed. We can send these people home together, but I must leave here with you."
He didn't know the man, aside from stories written nearly a hundred years ago, but Axel found himself believing him. "Okay, so what do I do?"
"What you are doing," Anubis murmured, summoning the strength the lend the required assistance. The light changed in color, growing bolder.
Akio let the storm die out. Sustaining it further would have been too costly. Besides, the slaves, and most of the spirits were gone. Axel's path was clear now. He stopped before them, heaving heavy breaths of exertion. He found with surprise that Anubis was awake, and that he seemed to be using his power to help them. But where was the famous staff?
"I see my assumptions were not wrong."
A new voice coming from behind him drew Akio's attention. Black, crystalline armor sat handsomely on the Captain, and he held a staff bladed at both ends. From his naturally relaxed posture, he was good, familiar with the weapon and combat, unperturbed by the field of battle. Aiden had said he was challenging. It looked like Akio was going to find out for himself.
"Kill them!" Aiden shouted, putting more effort into his own offense.
At his command, they tried to step up their efforts. They were running out of time, and all the Captains were still standing. If they were to make any headway in this fight, that had to change. Following his own orders, Aiden went in close to the bora, hoping to finish it off quickly. Take it out, and there would be one less large body on the field.
Masanori had dropped his hold on his naganita, both hands having gone to the gorax's rack, pushing against it to keep the horns from puncturing him. He had been pushed into the gatehouse, but he was pushing back against the beast that was nearly a foot taller than he. Without the speed behind the beast, Masanori gained ground. Digging his feet deep into the embers, he walked it backwards, drawing even with Venom.
"Liam," he said evenly, suggesting he could use help.
Little busy, Liam thought, but a chance to strike the rhino was hard to pass up. Kicking away one of the sjin, he turned to find a chink in its armor. Before he could, he was hit and staggered by a pain felt before. Badum seemed to be keeping a close eye on things. The gorax had had enough of being forced into anything. Rin was, too, and he broke off from the girls to barrel into Hardrock, freeing his beast. Masanori rolled with the impact, ending in a crouch. Rin didn't wait for him to get back up, and sprang at him.
At Rin's command, the sjin broke off from Liam, slinking over to aid him in his efforts to take out Hardrock. Gritting his teeth, Venom, reach out and grabbed one, pulling it back towards him, trying to wrap his legs around it to hold it still long enough get his katana where it needed to be to finish it off. The thing gave a screaming hiss, drawing its mate back. The thing was incredibly agile and strong, making Liam lose his grip several times. Finally, he had a hold on both it and his sword, and brought the two together.
The thing screamed again, releasing him, trying to get away. It's snakelike body roiled and writhed, even as it tried to run away on its paws. It didn't make it far, dropping and rolling over with one last wail. A hateful snarl sounded gutterally from the remaining mate, and he disregarded his orders to kill the shorter one. This one had killed his mate. He withheld no fury.
Tsaris waited just long enough for Peregrine's retaliating arrow to fly past, again missing as Badum cartwheeled out of its path. Then she flew up, launching herself into the air and corkscrewing down instantly to finally drive one of her katars into Zariel.
Cruelty tried to move, but wasn't fast enough, the katar punching right through her protection, sliding into her side, making her growl with pain. Tsaris was bringing the other one down, but Else intervened, kicking the Captain away.
"Are you alright?" she asked, helping Zariel back up to her feet.
"Worry about the battle, not me," was the tart answer.
Fine. Else left her side, moving in to attack Tsaris. She was sure she could beat the woman.
Zariel shrugged off the pain, sure her great-grandfather had suffered worse, and found herself engaging the trio of two foot tall mammals that tore at her with sharp claws and vicious teeth.
Who should he help? Peregrine tried for another shot at Badum, but the guy was incredibly slippery, keeping the Youja or his allies between them when he wasn't taking his own shots. He wanted to help Liam, but the panthersnake was entwined around him, making a shot risky. The same with Masanori, he and the animal Captain fighting so closely Peregrine wasn't sure he could trust himself to risk it.
He shifted his focus to the girls, since Aiden and Mikhail seemed okay for the moment, but the pounding of feet warned him his interference had not gone unnoticed. Turning swiftly, he saw the demon rhino charging at him, and threw himself inside the door as the wide racks chased him. The doorway was too narrow for it to come through, and the beast bellowed, tearing its head back and forth, trying to get in.
Peregrine tried to shoot around it, but the thing was too big. He couldn't get the shot at its eyes like he had with the dogs, and it was well armored, making him unsure he could bring it down. He shot at it anyway, trying to get through. "You're. In. My. Way," he said, his arrows sticking, but with seemingly no effect, earning only bellows of annoyance. "Oh come on and move! You're a terrible window!"
The gorax just roared at him.
Aiden threw a flurry of fire blasts at the bora, staying close. It put its hands up, shielding its face, but it seemed Rin had him under enough control to keep the thing from running away. The ape's eyes rolled white, fear flickering, but only momentarily. Fury was stronger, and as Aiden began to summon another blast, it swatted him with a giant hand, sending him tumbling aside.
"Aiden!" Mikhail shouted, but couldn't abandon their side of the defensive formation completely. He was torn between what to do, rolling aside as the bora tried to squash him. He was getting tired of this beast, and he was getting an idea of how to deal with it.
He waited for the giant hand to come down again, barely getting out of the way. As the hand retracted, Mikhail grabbed a fistful of the thing's coarse hair, getting taken up with it. From there, he started climbing up, trying to get to its head.
The bora didn't appreciate that, and tried to crush him. Mikhail's breath left him in a gasp when the ape's fist crashed against him, but he made himself hold on. Angrily, the beast grabbed him, yanking him off its shoulder, ripping hair with the action. The bora started throwing its hand down, to smash him into the ground.
Getting his breath back, Mikhail drew out his dagger, shoving it into the thing's hand, causing it to change motion. Roaring with pain, the fist opened, trying to toss him away. Mikhail grit his teeth, causing water to burst through, like he had done to kill Shar. The hand was forced apart, dropping him, the ape screaming in such pain it nearly made him deaf.
Sticking out the jumonji yari to catch in the beast, Mikhail resumed climbing, going faster. The bora was crashing around, reaching out against everything and nothing in its pain, making it hard for him to hold on. Mikhail managed, getting up to the beast's shoulder. Its one good eye glared out at him with intense fury, and it opened its mouth to scream its rage at him.
That was what he needed. Jamming the yari into its mouth, he called on his ultimate attack. At his cry of "Super Wave Smasher!" the incredibly powerful vortex of water went straight down its throat. The result was gross. The bora's stomach ruptured, exploding outwards, already dead. It began to fall, with little left to suggest what it had once been.
Mikhail didn't wait for it to fall, leaping off its shoulder and landing to roll back into his position. Aiden was busy fighting Yuri, both sprayed by water and entrails.
"Peregrin's pinned by the rhino," he informed his leader, taking some of the heat off of him. He caught a flash of purple, seeing with irritation Badum was still on the loose.
Aiden took the moments he could to assess the situation. The girls were busy, so were the other guys. It didn't look like the rhino was getting through, but it meant their archer couldn't get out, either. What should he do?
"Go help Peregrine," he came to his decision. "I'll hold our side of the line."
Mikhail nodded. It would have helped if he had noticed another Captain stepping through the throng of Youja, but Rothar came nearer unnoticed.
On his way, Mikhail was hit by Nigi's darts, freezing up his body and making him fall over. Camouflaged, Nigi jumped on him, greedy hands searching for exposed flesh to tear away and consume. Zariel saw and tried to shake her attackers long enough to get to his side and help him. The tegas, resembling wolverines, harried her doggedly, without any thought or intention of desisting.
Liam was finding it hard to fight the mindless fury of the panthersnake. It spat venom into his eyes, blinding him. He dropped his swords as the thing coiled around him, simply trying to keep it from finding a real vulnerability and killing him. The world was black and painful, all he knew was that they were rolling on the ground. He used his armors powers, trying to clear the venom out of his eyes.
He hit something solid, metallic. He didn't have time to wonder what it was as he could feel the strange beast's body coiling. It wrapped its tail around his arm, leaving it harder for him to block the coming strike. Time froze, then rushed as his instincts made Liam move his head aside the moment the sjin struck. There was a bellow, and the wall he was resting against moved.
Eyes clearing, Liam looked up as he rolled away. The panthersnake was pulling its fangs out of the demon rhino, twisting to come at him. He could sense the amount of venom it had injected into the rhino. A dose of that size would definitely weaken the beast, possibly even kill it.
The sjin was leaping again, and Liam's hands closed around two more of his swords, pulling them clear of the sheaths in time to cut the panthersnake cleanly. Its body landed on him with a few last twitches. Unable to hide a shiver of revulsion, Liam shoved it off of him. He still didn't want this.
His recovering eyes caught on his swords. He had to recover them. It seemed everything had gone quiet, but now the sounds came back to his ears, reminding him this was only a small part of what was going on around him.
Grabbing hold of the katanas, he pushed himself back to his feet. His partner was dealing with Rin, and Miunn was moving in closer, focused on finding an opening. A warning could be felt, somewhere inside, and his attention was drawn to the girls. Not quite the girls, but Mikhail. He had been poisoned. Nigi.
Masanori was his partner, and his orders had been to stay with him. But Aiden's side of things was threatening to overflow without another person to help him, and the girls seemed to have their hands full as well. Besides, hadn't Masanori left him to handle Tsaris by himself?
"I'll be back!" He shouted, alerting Masanori to his absence. Not waiting for an acknowledgment, he slipped off, knowing that he needed to do this quickly.
Where was Liam going? Masanori wondered briefly, raising his arms to throw off a blow from the animal controlling Captain. Miunn hadn't forgotten the beating he had taken at Hardrock's hands, and without Venom there to stop him, he decided this was a good time to take him down. It didn't matter at the moment whether or not Rin was caught in the field, so he tossed the shuriken.
Else got another hit in on the flying Captain, and avoided another series of purple beams that sought to punch her with energy. Confidence surged through her, keeping her focused. Take down the worst of the Captains, and the rest would be easy to fell. Tsaris, however, had other ideas.
Disengaging, she flew into the sky, gaining height, but always keeping Darkness in her sights. "Screaming Diveblast!" she shouted, instantly turning her flight into a rocketing dive. She gained speed incredibly quickly, her wings breaking the way before her. In short seconds, she was hurtling beyond terminal speeds, nearly to the ground. Suddenly, mere feet from impact, she swept her wings, changing her trajectory and causing a shockwave to spread from the point of alteration. It knocked everyone down, allowing her to finish her flight with a smooth landing at the stunned Else's side.
AN: Hooray for victories! Progress made, but can it be sustained?
