Post
by Zan » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:13 am
Watched in silent, gazing frustration as the next form of the Marionette Devil revealed itself; a revelation that cost seven players their lives. Zan, not surprised to find himself amongst them, could only wait until someone gave his ghost flesh once more. It wasn't a shock to find that this someone was Rayo. Proving how eternally useful he was as a member of the Freedom Fighters, the Wavemaster proceeded to flood them with Ap Corvs, one such spell finding itself burning through Zan like a red-hot flush of superpowered adrenaline. The preternatural strength available to him in his human form amplified, tendons pulling taut and eager to display this addition. The Beast inside of him howled in triumph, in the promise of the kill. It was overconfidence inspired by the spell, no doubt, and it took a deep breath and a shake of his head to clear the cobwebs. Though the lava of strength in his veins still flowed searing and sturdy, it now had a proper brain to direct it beyond the mindless barbarism people so ignorantly thought him to so constantly give. Phoenix, proving himself useful as well, found the boss's strategy not too far into the battle, giving them all a leg up before the real madness would begin. Hood naturally drawn, his scarred face unconsciously obscured in the process, Zan lofted his Siberian Husky blue eyes to what the Devil had become and snarled. It's time was up.
Sekai was the first to hit this nail on the head.
The activation of the odd Fae item bombarded the Marionette Devil with arrows of what looked like every element, forcing from it a bellow of pain and what could have been rage that shook through the air. A quick glance to its status proved that, oddly, the item hadn't affected its tolerance. Good to know. Temporarily lost in thought on this new revelation, it was Nulus' own scream - this one ripping through Zan's very mind - that brought his attention back to the Devil that was now, unfortunately, facing him with revenge in its eyes. Had it thought Zan was the one who attacked it? Was it the fact that the lycanthrope was simply the closest target? A glance around and the Heavy Blade was fairly certain it was the latter option, Zan having instinctively wandered towards the new threat during his resurrection. It happened much like before, like the first time it had chosen to hit him with a very specific, very specially crafted attack. The boss posed in the same crucified fashion as before - as well a mime as a creature with six functional limbs could be, anyway. Something, some tentacle rose behind it, glowing with power as all six of the arms/legs/whateverthehellthewere found themselves wrapped in the wicked barb that otherwise occupied the space just near the head. All at once they launched themselves at Zan, the tentacle spitting power into them as they went, forcing them to glow red hot in the process.
What came next was reflex, memory echoing in a time that hadn't long since passed. Fumbling the object in his pocket, one given to him by the very being who created this Guardians, the M-emblazoned coin shot large and wide in front of him, absorbing all of the attack with a bit of a suppressed shudder. For a second Zan was afraid that it wouldn't work, that the attack was too powerful, but then the familiar sensation of forced rising was upon him. Unlike the Merged before him, the lycanthrope seemed rather uncomfortable as he was hoisted into the air by an invisible force, body hung loosely upon a cross that no eye could see. From his sides, like some sort of spider, burst two extra sets of arms, composed of a roaring, raging green flame. This same flame seemed to make up the mimicked tentacle that arched behind him as his limbs coiled with wicked, barbed metal. There was no pain, no anything as he craned his head up to stair at the Devil before him, at a look he was fairly certain translated to curiosity. While the tentacle...thing...behind him began to glow with its own promise of pain, the rest of him gained and aura of black, inky wisps and forest-green mist, this shroud practically obscuring his visage on whole. The sudden launch of the metal around his limbs, however, couldn't be mistaken for anything else, the wave of emerald-power that collided with them half-way igniting them in balefire. A heartbeat later and the attack was finished, leaving Zan dropped haphazardly back to the ground.
It was only the prowess of his inner Wolf that kept him from falling anything but gracefully, Zan landing unhindered upon his feet. Now, he knew, it was time to let out the Wolf that paced impatiently within his chest, a metaphysical forest of the Heavy Blade's will having kept it from manifesting up until this point. The last transformation had been bloody and violent, gory and traumatizing for the experienced werewolf. This time, with the Plures Vultus Mortis properly expelled, things would theoretically go a lot more smoothly. It started with a jerk of Zan's trenchcoat from his body, the clothing tossed back as the first of the changes began to take place. As his body began to bulk and grow, it was like the proverbial fire of Rayo's Ap Corv became real - tangible. Every inch of him was alive with the pain of rearranging flesh, of breaking and reconfiguring bones. Despite this, despite the agony that singed every inch of his nervous system, Zan gave no sign of it; only the flare of his nostrils and the gritting of his teeth acting as any signs that he was under duress at all. The anger that his hack naturally instilled, naturally amplified within him became a powerful Rage, a bestial savagery that was kept at bay only by the humanity he retained within his own mind. It acted as the catalyst that sprouted him from six feet even to nine and a half feet tall, that made him a creature of thick muscle and power. The fur that his close melted away to be came through in waves, like they breathed into life, each strand a rough texture of rich brown.
The last changes to be had were the blaze of his eyes from blue to the amber of the Wolf, muzzle carving its way out from his face to fill with lethal teeth, fingers and toes stabbing forth with massive and razor-sharp claws. Nulus came upon him then, floating up to eclipse him from behind, the Shade's own claws (these much longer, though much thinner, looking each like eight-inch knives) splayed out at the ready just as the freshly transformed werewolf lifted his head up and roared out; roared with Rage, with power, with the need to end the Marionette Devil. With the boss prepped for a physical attack and a shout of encouragement from Zhao, Zan wasted no more time. Though some might look upon his massive form and think his muscles a hindrance, it wasn't so. The werewolf was suddenly a blur of soil-brown and steel, an odd-looking High Forger and a guttural shout of, "JUK DRIVE!" Only when Zan had stopped moving, when the blows from the green-mist covered weapon had ceased would anybody else begin to realize why the weapon looked different. The lycanthrope, using a side-effect of his hack hardly ever brought into light, had Assimilated his weapon for his size. Having grown to a length of eight feet and an extra half-foot of width, the High Forger was made that much more deadly as it struck.
Not a breath later and a Rue Kruz from Zhao struck it, flipping its tolerances and turning the lycanthrope on to the plan at hand. Not wasting anymore time, a snarled, "VAK SMASH!" left his open maw, followed quickly by an ignited trail of flames that sought to dig into the boss, to fill it with the agony Zan had experienced during his transformation. A second Rue Kruz and it was his turn once more, a repeat of his previous Juk Drive bringing the massive, down with a flash of movement and elementally-empowered metal. Deciding to keep the rest of his Skill Points up for later use, the next blow that came after a third Rue Kruz and was normal. All of his attacks, though not much stronger than the Merged's even in this form, were still more than the Devil had had to endure from him before. Zhao's fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh uses of the same Ice Spell were all interspersed with this same flurried attack, keeping the rotation of Tolerances up as they went along. Though the Shade had realized it shouldn't attack, that it couldn't offer up the physical might Zan could, it continued to fly around the Devil, hoping to distract it as effectively as possible as the werewolf crashed down around it from switching angles, never wanting to be in the same place for long. The Twin Blade wasn't able to keep up his magical support forever, of course, and Sekai stepped up to the plate.
With the Archer offering up what would add to four Juk Roms, Zan continued his onslaught of physical assaults, the Ap Corv, the weapon's amplification, and his own supernatural strength imbuing each with a physical force enough to turn stone to dust. When no further magical assistance came his way and a look back to Sekai revealed a preparation for a Physical Skill, Zan acted quick on his feet. Launching his own spell, the infamous MeRue Rom that he had been so quickly allotted to, the level two skill that struck right after was given its proper window. Another MeRue Rom, one that drained him of the last of his Skill Points, and a second level two Archer skill and the coordinated attacks between Zhao, Sekai and himself were completed. Naturally, Zan took this time to back up, his massive, furred chest heaving with exertion, the High Forger drug heavily upon the ground, carving a line into the earth as he moved. The hot breath that lofted from his snout, from between his large fangs, seemed to burn with the energy he had used to bring down as much hell as he could upon what was hopefully the last form of the Marionette Devil. Perhaps it spotted this weakness in him, this fatigue, and that was what brought upon what happened next. The source of it didn't matter, oh no. What mattered to Zan was that one moment the Devil was still, and the next it was spewing a beam of half-laser, half-fire that was pitch black and speckled with a scalding red. Hoping against hope that his coin still had a charge left, the lycanthrope wasn't disappointed.
Tapping it from his inventory, where it had gone to during his transformation, Zan watched as the last of its power was channeled into a final appearance of the great M-carved coin. The coin caught every last ounce of the attack, absorbing it until the Marionette Devil had nothing left to give. With the coin's disappearance in the air, and a feeling of emptiness in the Key Item the real coin had become, the werewolf marveled at the swelling feeling in his gut, a feeling that expressed itself as black tendrils of breath upon his snarled lips. Like the Devil before him, he seemed to pause one second, lost in time, before a great howl flooded the air around the Freedom Fighters and a beam of black fire (riddled with splashes of emerald) spewed from his opened maw, growing larger as it flew through the air until it was the size of the Devil's own by the time it landed. Zan rode every second of the attack, giving as much as it would allow him until the power of the coin left him and he found himself leaning against the High Forger for support, the whole series of events having laid a blatant weight of tired muscles and over-spent sinew upon him.
If it didn't kill him, hopefully the attacks that Hacorie dished out next would make it so they could - and soon.
Lv. 50 Heavy Blade
Wishlist
Special: Levels, GR Sendai, PL Sakai, Darklore.
W: Tonosama Sword, Mineuchi, Jundachi.
A: Samurai Helm, Able Hands, Rare Greaves.
I: Holy Sap, Treebane, Cooked Bile, Nightbane.
EX: Elemental Summon (Lv. 2), Overdrive (Lv.1), Elemental Attacks (Lv. 2), Enhance Dark, Elemental Breath (Lv. 2).