[YGG] Ardaxia Arc - Dusk Orcs Territory, Swamplands

Falling through the air at a haphazard speed Kaneda’s eyes snapped wide. Gritting his teeth together in mind numbing pain he used his impeccable muscle control to snap his body into a series of somersaults in the air just before he reached the marshlands, and slammed feet first into the muddy grass below. Before he thought to reason with whatever or however anything had happened he attempted to open his heart’s eye to the forlorn environment around him. When he tried though, nothing came through. Infact, the the proverbial eye itself seemed shut, and within the span of a second Kaneda tried desperately to force it open to no avail. His thin eyebrows folded in frustration and what was anger became disbelief and then shock.

The final straw was his right hand dropping to his side only to notice that the armaments he usually carried were missing. The Kikuichimonji, The Raijinto/Raikazuchi, his assortment of assassination tools, everything he had come prepared with was gone— no, it was worse than that. The ethereal attunement that gave him his renown was gone, his sensory perceptions weakened, and his arm...Kaneda remained staring forward into the marsh, dreading what may have changed about it. A quick glance to his left arm in fear didn’t exactly help the situation, it was still there, the mystical essence within quiet and stilled to some form of alloy that was far more cumbersome than it had been before. Immediately he could feel the weight of both the gauntlet and his spirit.

“...bullshit…” he whispered, glancing back into the sky. Edward appeared to be descending as well as...someone unfamiliar. They each landed in separate parts of the marsh, though not far enough away from one another to track them each within the span of a few minutes. With post-haste he started a light jog through the wilderness, realizing the usual liberties afforded to him were gone. Were they in the same world? It was hard to tell, even with a demonic body he could feel the limitations immediately.

Rather than meeting Edward, he met…

“SON OF A BITCH!”

Edward seemed to have the same idea as he “appeared” from behind Kaneda without a word. Startled for more reasons than one, he didn’t let it show, after-all, there was something even more asinine going on…

“THE FUCK?! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!”

She retorted while Kaneda observed her in comical fashion. This was rich. What even the hell was he looking at? She spoke about doing something to him if he released information on her...peculiar aesthetic. Kaneda would have typed “kek” on his Yggphone if he had it on him.

Then she was a...girl? The fuck was going on here? Kaneda struggled to make sense out of any and everything.

Turning his eyes to Edward he barked, “what and why is she? What the hell is going on? Is she why this is happening? Or is it you…”

Somehow the somber atmosphere and the mud beneath lacquered black sneakers felt considerably more grim. With everything that had happened, the resurgence of memories that his brain still struggled to comprehend, Calibri and her...shenanigans, his missing armaments, and Edward’s interaction with Uzuki. Where was Uzuki anyways and why? In his heart he wanted the resolute knight to be responsible, but he knew better.

“Where the hell are we anyways…”

As ironic as it all was Kaneda struggled to find amusement in being as hopelessly aimless as he'd been only a day or so ago. Serves him right. Fucker had it comin' to 'em. Everywhere he went, no matter what he did, he always seemed to stir shit in the wrong direction— and even when he didn't, the world found a way of serving him his much needed karma. Divine retribution? Who could say for certain, no one knew much about it other than the demon himself. Something about a curse that dated back to the moment he picked up the weapon Massacre, eternal damnation at the hands of causality and all of that. None of it made sense to him in the moment, but as time went on, his ill-luck slowly reared its head as if he wasn't already unfortunate enough. As he fell from the sky many of the memories of that time had flooded back into him, the conversation with a certain Xenogaian monstrosity, the patches of the war that occurred on Vestusio that faded away...well..a lot. Even things about himself that he had made peace with during his time in The Abyss. A lot of what came to mind he wished he'd never remembered, it put a sour taste in his mouth that only his favorite honey tea could wash away, but well...he didn't have that. So he had to settle for the next best thing. 

His left hand rustled into the pocket of his...white coat? Wait when did he change it?! Who the fuck knew, the moment they both looked away his disgruntled black jacket was traded for his more comfortable, trademark white jacket zipped up to the top of his chest, letting the smooth collar pop as it always did. The flair of his blood eyes seemed to illuminate in some dramatic flair for a moment when his left hand revealed a silver cylinder with a hole in the top. Placing it in his mouth he inhaled slowly and then turned to Edward who seemed to undergo some strange metamorphosis. His was far more overt and ostentatious than his own which was just a change of a jacket and some gel to give him the calculating protagonist facade, Edward seemed to become an entirely different person. 

So much so that Kaneda was tempted to kill him when he first emerged from his cocoon of black. Both Calibri and Edward went through all their weird changes and there he was twiddling his thumbs, drawing some good ol' strange liquid substance from his pen superheated and then transformed into a vapor that scorched his lungs in some weird masochistic pleasure. Wheezing in surprise of both of their changes, it seemed the buck didn't stop there. 

A strange coffer descended from the heavens, and Edward gave them both permission to raid it. Kaneda wouldn't hesitate. There was a Dai-katana among his belongings, a radical multi-segmented chain that he'd link around one of the belt loops of his sable slacks, and a strange gunmetal revolver with no shells. A...nice distraction? Or was it as mystical as it felt when he plucked it from beneath most of the other junk in there to his inspective hands? One thing about the vagabond was that his eye knew treasure when it saw it, it also knew how to recognize when something was unique to his own touch, and this was definitely that. 

“Don't mind if I do,” Kaneda barked aloud, flicking the revolver in his right hand and snapping it back into the holster in his left. He looped the holster belt around his waist and shifted the gun to his backside, and hoisted the Dai-katana up thereafter. It was cumbersome, but he felt a strange mystical power from it. When lifted with his left hand it weighed less than paper, almost like it was air itself, but in his right hand it required a lot more concentration and effort. Perhaps it was the strange connection to the dark arts the weapon possessed, which Kaneda was hopefully oblivious to, and Massacre, which was a woefully dangerous tool he didn't plan to release unless absolutely necessary. With the way things were going he had no doubts such a thing could possibly happen, but he was also very opportunistic. His plan for survival was fairly simple. Make Edward do all of the heavy lifting, get himself nearly killed, and then make him suffer for what he had done to Uzuki. It wasn't actually about Uzuki or anything (so he'd desperately plea), it was really about being a man of his word. The same way he'd resolved to kill Crim, Edward now had to die. 

“Yeah yeah you're the boss!” Kaneda sneered, fashioning the dai-katana along his back, held to him by the enchantment of the scabbard itself. It didn't take him long to figure out the intricacies of the weapon, being versed in the ways of the onmyoji and all. 

“Lead the way then, we don't got all day yeah? Or do we? I don't know shit about this place...I'm over it already...let's get the fuck out of here....”

{BGM: “The Darkness of Eternity” }

While Kaneda fumbled through his coffer, and Calibri got herself sorted out, Ed chose to remain silent. He was quite deeply lost in thought, scrutinizing every detail of how they’d come to land here to the best of his ability. He simply couldn’t recall many details due to his brief encounter with the darker power residing within him. It had always been there, but for the sake of himself he nearly lost control of it for the first time in either recent or distant memory.

After Kaneda finally took his pick of the loot and Calibri opted to pass, the coffer’s lid slammed shut of its own accord, sealed permanently until Ed saw fit to unlock it again. Basic, built in safeguards to keep grubby fingers off his stuff!

Just when the trio was ready to set out, it looked like they had been found. Calibri commented on it first, as she tried to ready her magicks. She was audibly frustrated with only having a single spell to choose from, which was an unmistakable result of their situation. Kaneda was drawing off his device again, blowing vapors into the air that most likely made it all the more easier for their assailants to find them.

Even after the group of large, humanoid beast-like beings made their presence known, Ed stood fast, axe at his side and wholly unmoving. Calibri fired out her one spell to choose from, knocking what they’d come to know as Dusk Orcs, on its back. The others of the party were visibly more cautious, with all of them approaching Ed. Without so much as lifting a finger he was doing his job admirably, drawing the ire of their enemies so that the others could attack—obviously a result of his aggressively featured armor and stature.

Seeing that the large knight had yet to move to defend himself or his friends, another orc closed with his position and swung a large spiked club in an upward, diagonal swipe that connected soundly with his chest. The orc was as strong as he looked, knocking Ed up into the air a short distance to land square on his back. When he landed, the orc followed through and sought to pulverize Ed into mush, to which Calibri attempted to intervene with another volley of her ice spell.

Unfortunately, the group had already learned of her capacity for magick and a third orc had cut the spell off, the bolt striking the large curved, one handed blade held in its hand. This allowed the orc standing above Ed to swing down his massive club, over and over with the sound of metal on metal ringing through the swamp, disturbing the various wildlife watching from the shadows. Kaneda, too, seemed to be biding his time, watching Ed take the beating he clearly wanted to give himself. Ed was aware of the young swordsman’s malice toward him, and somewhere in his mind might have entertained the idea that this was Kaneda’s chance, right then and there, likely a bit earlier than expected.

Swarms of thousands of battles raced through Ed’s mind, of all the lives he’d both taken and saved. The blood spilt by the gallon at his own hand with every swing of his coveted weapons. The looks of shock and horror in final moments, the screams… all of it consumed Ed’s mind, really adding to the sensation that he was present in body but nowhere near so in mind. For all of his apparent defenselessness, Ed’s armor was at least up to the task, fending the orc’s mighty blows off without suffering so much as a scratch. After a few moments of this, Ed finally snapped out of it, grabbing the orc’s leg and flipping him end over end as he stood up.

Unlike usual, the moment Ed stood up and readied the Warmonger, the darkness emanating from his person was palpable, filling the area with a sense of dread of what was about to transpire. The orc which had defended the other turned and slashed at Ed’s torso, thinking that maybe his blade would be able to penetrate its thick, angular plating but found no such luck. The blade struck and stopped, with Ed not so much as flinching or budging while he swung his axe up. It sliced in an almost uncanny fashion through the orc’s arm and lodged into its thick torso, blood dumping from the massive wound and missing appendage. Ed stood over the dying orc, glaring through his helm with no sign of remorse or regret. He seemed to resonate with power, albeit still severely dampened due to the world’s effect, but it was there, in response to the blood gushing out of his fallen adversary.

“Death...”, Ed ripped his axe from the orc’s now decaying body, using his nearest foot to shove the unworthy foe aside.

“It doesn’t have to be the end.”

He looked over to the remaining three orcs that had abandoned their approach and/or assault on him, and were engaging Kaneda and Calibri. A brief, hoarse chuckle echoed from his helm as he adjusted his grip on the Warmonger, turning it to face the broad side toward himself before he slammed it against his chest. A noticable shockwave rushed out from his position, pushing everything not standing on two legs a few centimeters away. The sound would surely be distracting, creating an opening for his comrades to capitalize upon. Then he did it again, this time louder and a third time even louder, accompanied finally by an unsettling roar.

The four orcs were doomed to die, whether by Ed’s hand or the others. There was no escape.

Covered in layers of blood Kaneda licked his lips clean. His white coat a white-gloss plastic seems to drip of it like rain, while his hair stood wildly across his head. This was familiar territory. Arbitrary or not there was something poetic about the warfare that turned him sane. While they deliberated the direction, he flicked blood from his coat and turned to Edward— who was stealing from the dead. Their deaths were pitiful enough, but Edward never did seem to know what "respect" meant. Kaneda had no personal vendetta with it though, his interests were never hypocritical and he'd done far worse to those less fortunate. 

Then Edward rose and enlisted Calibri's aid for their guidance.

"This is bullshit..." Kaneda barked, ambling lazily throughout the forest in the direction they would be walking in. 

Then off they were. 

For hours. 

...and hours. 

They halted in an suspiciously surreal clearing with ambient, warm light and and great spacing and Edward fell over like an empty can of space food. Kaneda stepped one booted heel at a time across the thin grass and stopped in the epicenter, folding his arms carefully. The bloodlust that flowed through him had dissolved, but nothing made him feel more alive than in the throes of battle. When the orcs fell beneath him he felt a feral sense of justice appeased, as if following the laws of nature. This made conflicts like The Vestusio War, The Regulus War, and all of their other great engagements a magnet for the white-haired prick. 

So it wasn't surprising to think that he was upset because they hadn't found any other enemies yet. 


“Hey boy, feel like finding us something to eat? Or will you have the lady do it…? Ha ha ha!”


“Why not?” Kaneda responded casually, seemingly dismissive of the idea. 
“We have to conquer these lands, food is a waste of time.”

Lifting himself from the tree he was leaning on he threw his hands out, approaching calmly. Any one sudden movement between the two could mean either's demise, there was the threat of their environment and of themselves to consider. 

“Try not to die out there before I kill you, alright?”

Quick to his feet Kaneda was a silhouette of empty space whereas the man himself had disappeared into the wood beyond to hunt for their food. Whereas much of his power was gone, he retained his phenomenal speed advantage...atleast thus far.

The Swamplands was a strange territory with many strange landscapes patched into one another, all as hot and humid as the others before. In several strides he encountered some plant life and fauna that was vacant from the others. Immaculate navigation of his surroundings came down to instinct, and it didn't take too much time at all for him to locate some primitive victory sausage. A boar about as tall as he and several times wider suddenly broke into a wild sprint towards him, and its head struck only air, tumbling off a few feet away. Kaneda, a master of equilibrium and footing, had already snapped his left hand to his nameless dai-katana and focused on his plan of action. His sealed left hand clutched the wrapped black hilt tightly and in the blink of an eye he passed through the boar with his blade several dozen times. 

Blood spewed from the wide arcs cut through the animal's body, though from where he struck the blood mostly missed him. After his last strike had even registered, his blade was already sheathed, and he approached the decapitated animal to bring them back. 

“...you guys aren't very sneaky, come on out already!” Kaneda bellowed loudly, flashing a wicked grin forward into the forest. From around him , bent around the trees and rising from the swamp beyond massive orcs of impressive size suddenly emerged. Their orc leader, more barren of armor and clothing than the rest, wore a circular golden helmet with strange piercing emerald eyes. They all wielded an assortment of weapons like the orcs before, but their levels of experience and power seemed to be cut of a different era. 

“Aw yeah, this is it...”

“Lat ayh avhe brave ni nalkriuk drepa famipak!” the helmet rang like a divine voice through his head. What the hell? Kaneda being Psi-Null prevented him from being affected by mental or cognitive breakdowns but this was something entirely different. While they surrounded him from every direction, they seemed hesitant to proceed. 

“Huh? Well come on already. You have the upper hand...” Kaneda taunted their leader, flopping his arms in the air. 

Lat liwo ukuffas aav avhe courav...”

“Then I'll strike first!” Kaneda roared just as their forces moved to do the same. Muscles tightening under pressure suddenly exploded and the fight for survival began. Would he die? Be apprehended? Or worse...then there was the matter of Edward starving...

{BGM: “Isa”}

After virtually no protest, Kaneda took off to find the group their dinner, much to the Dark Knight’s delight. Just as Calibri had grown accustomed to sitting in silence with him, so too did he with her presence. The two sat down for a short time, each left to their own thoughts. Arka was determined to play and chased after a small critter, eventually diving off into the wilderness. Calibri hung back for a while but when Arka took off, she thought she’d best go look for him considering they were in yet another strange land. She and the “wolf” had traveled to a good handful of realms with Edward, but none quite like this as the rambunctious duo were soon to discover.

All the while, Edward simply remained seated. He was growing somewhat uncomfortable within his armor however, which was practically unheard of for him. He rarely if ever wore anything that wasn’t in the form of plate armor, and no matter the climate or situation he’d never gotten uncomfortable. The climate here was surely not helping matters, given its hot and humid state. While his mind spiraled down through darkness, campaigns eons past coming back to the surface, his body was sweltering within the black armor. Sweat began to drip down into his eyes beneath the cover of his helm, which was getting more and more difficult to ignore over time. Time….

”How long has it been now? Where’s that boy with my food...and where’s Calibri?”

Scoffing, the knight’s head shook briefly before he returned to his memories...or at least what he thought were memories. Standing directly in front of him was a young man wearing royal garb, gilded armor and polished blade on his hip. Beside him was a knight wearing worn but clean leather and steel platemail. In front of them stood another, this one a woman garbed in green and brown attire. Her hair was auburn and wound into a braid extending down to the small of her back, which was host to a masterfully carved recurve bow.

“It’s been...”

Just then, Edward heard a rustling from the same direction Calibri went off to. Out from the shrubbery came the pup Arka, bloodied and limping, whimpering in obvious pain. She walked up to him and rest her head in his lap, to which he calmly brushed her fur with his right hand. Examining her wounds without causing more pain to the best of his ability, he tried to piece together what might have happened. What’s more, there was no sign of Calibri, and Arka seemed uncharacteristically weak. Knowing what her true form was however, he didn’t think much of the fact that Calibri wasn’t with the pup.

“What is it, Arka? Bite off more than you could chew?”

Where usually there would be boisterous laughter, there was none. Arka appeared to be pretty badly injured, worse than he initially thought in fact. Then, more rustling this time accompanied with loud, heavy foot falls came from the same direction as Arka had come through. Out stepped three orcs, all much larger and well armed than the first group they’d encountered. They still wore very little, but their weapons appeared to be in a whole different league all their own. Beneath his dark helm, Edward’s expression fell from fairly neutral to one of irritation, his teeth grinding as the muscles of his jaw clenched and flexed. He gently moved Arka aside and reached into one of the pouches at his waist, pulling out his Alexandria’s sash, a simple yet elegant lavendar sash. He wrapped the sash around Arka’s neck, tying it in a loose knot. Immediately the young pup was enveloped in a healing aura invisible to unassisted eyes, reversing the damage the poor creature had incurred. Confident that she would recover, Edward stood up, his axe never leaving his grasp. The orcs spat out some jibberish he didn’t understand while they spread out in a half circle, surrounding the dark knight on three sides.

“I suppose you lot are responsible for this cruelty??”

Edward swayed his axe gently back and forth, eying the big ugly bastards down as he waited to see if they understood english. His patience was wearing thin and the thought of meting out justice to these heathens was enticing to say the least. Amongst their jibber jabber he could swear he picked out the word “girl”, which was all Edward needed to make his decision. Slowly the Dark Knight started forward, swinging his axe up in front of him on a diagonal axis. The orc immediately to his front barked out to the other two, to which they responded with charging in toward their assumed prey. Edward roared in response, releasing what seemed to be a noticeably intense heatwave to his entire front.

Through practiced footwork, Edward stepped beyond the arc of the swinging sword incoming from his left, while keeping his axe upright to parry the axe of the other. The three fought for some time, exchanging strikes and parries though Edward’s were purely glancing attempts. He was carrying the fight away from the injured pup and although it took a while to drag the two away, he kept a watchful eye over her. He wouldn’t put it past the apparent leader to attack the creature while he was preoccupied. Ducking below an attempted decapitation and leaping back from an upward heave, Edward saw his fear come to pass. Despite holding his own more than sufficiently, the two Orcs closed in together and locked blades with the Dark Knight, effectively immobilizing him while the third began its slow, steady approach to the pup.

“You dirty, rotten bastards! Leave her alone!”

“Ha ha ha ha!”, the two orcs retorted. Laughter was at least universal. Laughter was the last thing they should have done, as they were about to learn.

{BGM: “Ivar’s Revenge”}

In a display of immense strength, Ed shoved the Warmonger forward and followed up with a front kick to the sword bearing orc, knocking it across the ground in a rolling flurry. In doing this, Edward’s anger boiled over and started to effect the environment, namely in the release of another searing heatwave. The difference this time was that the heatwave remained localized to his immediate area, and it was so intense that the axe-bearing Orc cried out in pain. A closer look revealed that the side of its body facing the Dark Knight was deeply seared, boils forming all over the beasts flesh. Freeing himself, the Dark Knight tore off in a dead sprint. The sword bearing Orc was crawling to its feet but once more knocked aside as he passed, swinging the blunt face of his axe against its skull. Miraculously, the orc still lived thanks to its thick skull and inhuman anatomy.

The third Orc saw the Dark Knight making his hurried approach and in its confidence, fueled by the display of the other two managing to hold him at bay for a time, turned to confront him. Snarling, it wielded a massive club rife with spikes and blood stains. Made of some sturdy wood, wrapped with metallic bands and measuring several feet in length it was easy to see why it was dangerous. Of course, Edward, consumed in his taking of the Dark Mantle once more, was entering into a bloodlust state that threw caution to the wind. Once he was in striking distance of the Orc, he swung the Warmonger wide, missing entirely and opening his front to counter attack. Orcs might not have traditionally been intelligent, but they were exceptionally adept warriors and so the leader capitalized on the Dark Knight’s misjudgment. Swinging the massive war club upward, he barely managed to fend off the strike with a forearm as he was knocked backward and up through the air—right toward the readied arms of the recovered subordinates. As if that weren’t enough, out from the treeline came several more Orcs…

“Arka...get out of here,” Edward managed to say just before he gave himself over to his desires.

The hurtling Dark Knight swung about, narrowly avoiding the attempted skewering thrust of the first Orc. The blade slipped just shy of his abdomen and he swung his great axe around and down. The Orc was taken by surprise, though only for a moment as the dark axe cleaved straight through its neck and chest down to the other side of its body, dying instantly. Edward slammed his outside foot down and stopped his wild movement, tossed the Warmonger over to his left hand which continued outward several inches. After reaching a certain distance, Edward stepped forward with his inside foot and ripped the Warmonger up in a devastating swing that carved the second Orc clean in half. The attempted parry did nothing to stop or even slow the Dark Knight, which was much closer to normal than anything since that was the primary feature of the great axe to begin with.

Covered in thick, dark Orcs blood, Edward grunted and growled. Then from the top of his arm fell a stream of fire that enveloped the Warmonger, causing the weapon to glow radiantly with fiery orange light all the way from blade to pommel. Now there were roughly a dozen orcs surrounding the Dark Knight, and likely more to come. It made sense, since they had specifically been tracking the scouting group beforehand, and as expected they’d headed deeper into enemy territory. The boy had gotten himself in trouble somewhere, the pup and Calibri had been lured into a trap entirely unrelated to the situation (or so they thought), and if Ed didn’t go all out he was going to lose Arka too. The frustration of his situation was drawing more and more power out of the Dark Knight, but he hadn’t lost control. He knew that if he were to go too far, there would undoubtedly have been far worse consequences.

Wielding spears, clubs, axes and swords, the dozen elite Orcs swarmed the Dark Knight. Fear didn’t appear to be in their minds or hearts, in fact all of them were visibly excited to face such a violent warrior. He was learning to gauge his restricted strength more accurately with each new opponent, no longer making foolish assumptions he’d grown accustomed to over so many lifetimes. Where he would have normally been able to barely lift a finger in order to hold an overgrown Orc at bay, he now had to actually put in some work. It was a spear-wielding Orc that charged him when he figured out just what it took to stop one.

Instead of holding out his hand and forcing an opponent to stop, Edward deflected the spear and held his axe horizontally, blocking the Orc’s subsequent shoulder charge. Sliding back several feet, the very moment he stopped Edward retaliated with a vengeance. Despite his diminished strength, Edward was still monstrously strong, swinging the Warmonger horizontally to clip the first-spear’s forearm before instantly doubling back and carving diagonally through its neck just below its shoulder. It wasn’t as shocking as the cleaving in two he performed just prior, but it was more than enough to kill the beast where it stood. Lastly, both the cleaved portion and the small graze were ignited in ethereal flame...drawing a grin from Edward’s concealed face. Of course the Orcs weren’t trying to give the Dark Knight a chance to catch his breath (quite literally), and continued charging in in singles and doubles. Each and every exchange favored the Dark Knight more and more, and after the twelfth Orc was slain he set his sights on the leader once more.

“Now...unless you have...any more…,” Edward’s attention was once more averted to the treeline. At least three times as many orcs came out. Apparently the sight of their brothers’ smoldering remains strewn about the ground didn’t scare them, but excited them.

“Gods be damned...”

The Dark Knight was confident that Arka was hiding safely beyond the trees, and he’d managed to successfully hold the line so far and as such intended to continue doing so as long as it took. He couldn’t help himself and began chuckling, eventually slamming the Warmonger against his chest plate repeatedly. The flames surrounding the axe spread over his entire body, inducing an explosion accompanied by his roar that was becoming routine if not expected.

“Welcome to Death!!”

The Dark Knight flung himself forward, taking hits from all sides in a flurry of flashing steel, wood and fire. More orcs fell, more orcs came. There was no telling how long this battle would carry on, and Edward was loving every second of it.

If there was a turning point this was it. A moment. Blood on the leaves. Eyes dilated in hysteria. The red fangs of a wolf yet unhinged. As the body of a orc dropped onto his own sword and soaked the disgusting swamp, Kaneda finally froze still, simultaneously freezing his enemy in their tracks. Twelve were dead, torn apart by blade and hand alike the Rune of Condemnation cursed him with power. For each that died and soaked their blood in his wrapped left hand, Massacre grew stronger and his bloodlust voracious. At that turning point he looked into the eyes of their leader and saw confusion— the burning wood of fear. Smirking he revealed his bloodstained teeth and stood with his hands at his sides, observing how many were left to kill.

Then an orc lost its nerve and charged into the fray from his right, a single spear lunged directly towards his neck and shoulder from above. Unfortunately every movement each of the orcs made were televised by their wide, barbaric movements; they were primitive beasts with instincts no different than his own with a single major difference. Spinning his left side and pivoting his right foot he waltzed around the iron spear and around the length into the orc's wingspan. In a single blow he slammed Massacre into the center of the orc's chest and carved through, rupturing his heart. Surgical and absurdly fast Kaneda then continued his hunt. One after another he broke the teams apart, using his overwhelming speed, skill, and lethal prowess to navigate their strength and rip them apart.

Flying into a team of five, they each attacked from different sides while using an assortment of heavy armaments meant to kill on contact.

"Mizuchi Kata: Tanryuu Hibaku."

A glint of gunmetal blinded all who admired the dai-katana in a single flash, changing the world around it radically. All five of the orcs closing in on him were reduced to chunks of flesh flying the opposite of their original direction, covering the muddy grass and gnarled trees in blood. Leaping towards the captain he lunged over atleast a dozen corpses, his black jacket soaked, when his dai-katana collided with a long sword. Their stance was formidable, and behind their wooden helmet he could tell they were different. Smaller, faster. A woman? Kaneda didn't have time to deliberate as a dozen slashes came in a sudden flurry from his left and right. Rather than outright blocking them he took to evade or parry them outward.

Sliding back after the vanguard's last strike, he sneered and brought his sword above his head horizontally, holding it with his left hand at the tsuba and his right prepared to guide it. When she rushed in again, her longsword becoming an iron serpent, another ancient technique of his mantra came to life.

"Dokou Kata: Aragami."

Performing a downward slash while rotating the blade gave him the intersection point needed to chip the blade and simultaneously disarm the woman, causing it to snap from her hands. In the next moment he snapped forward and smashed his right palm into her face, breaking her nose and rendering her temporarily immobile. Marching in due arrogance towards the captain the look of satisfaction in his eyes was not unlike what their own people experienced in war. The captain observed something special. While they were still surrounded by a few dozen, their golden-helmeted leader with two bladed prongs protruding from the top halted them.

Only the dead, Kaneda, and the unit's fearless captain stood.

“Lat ayh ukpecial…”

“If that's your way of saying please save me, you'll have to do better.”

The captain had his reasons, but even with the language disparity, it was impossible to tell what the commander meant until it happened. A formidable power unlike anything he had felt suddenly dropped onto his shoulders, slamming him to a single knee instantaneously. From beyond emerged a titanic orc, three times the size of the others. Flesh sable as onyx, with the roughness of diamond, his baleful red eyes collided with Kaneda's own, just as he stepped past the tribal commandant.

“...just like your species to press their luck…”

“The hell..did you say!”

A gravely bass echoed from the swamp around them, or atleast that's what it felt like.

Then an impossible weight slammed into his body, knocking him unconscious. Without even moving the red-eyed orc subdued Kaneda.

“Thrak naj-ri kurrauz avo avhe kaumn. Jiak wanav naj-ri.” (Bring him back to the king, I want him).

“Ul avoravure liwo be greaav...” (The torture will be great").

Son of a bitch...

You fuckers...better....kill me...

{BGM: “Bjarkan”}

The sun began to rise, its vibrant rays penetrating the dense fog and foliage to wash over the swampland’s floor. Creatures of the night shied away from it, while those of the day yearned for its warmth. The swamplands were a cruel place, even to those what called it home…and it had been no kinder to the Yggdrasil Crew pirates upon their arrival. After the fierce battle of their first day inside its territories, the group had been split up. Nearly a week had passed, and the trio plus Arka was now only Edward plus Arka.

After the first night and most of the second day, the knight managed to make a full recovery from his injury. The loss of his arm was certainly a massive shock, the knight unaccustomed to failure—not least of which failure in battle—but he still had his perseverance. If it were to happen anywhere and at any time, this was probably the best of all. Without the Jade Gauntlet, which would have prevented his injury in the first place, he would be allowed to adapt to life without his arm. Thankfully, the state he had been in while incurring the injury resulted in it instantly cauterizing and the sash he had lent to Arka was eventually returned to him, healing the wound and preventing infection. All in all, considering his loss he found himself fortunate in the end.

There was no sign of Calibri or Kaneda, only the occupying Orcs. Both he and Arka had gone out searching, careful to avoid detection from the patrols, but came back empty. His time spent with Calibri before their return to the Crew had gifted the knight with a considerable amount of information about her, and despite Arka not having the ability to speak in her current form, the knight had learned to communicate nonetheless. Her increase in size and strength was exponential compared to their first arrival, and he could only assume that Calibri saw an equivalent increase. In fact, he had been watching Arka just as closely as he had studied the patrols and searched for his companions. In just six days’ time, Arka’s presence was returned to one that he could rely on as he learned to operate without one of his arms. If any orcs drew too close to their position, she would quietly take it out and afford them the opportunity to put distance between them.

What began as a fight for survival had transformed into a series of hit and run strikes, commonly referred to as “Guerilla Tactics”, and it was immensely effective. He might have been out an arm, but his mind was clearer than ever—especially when compared to their arrival. He’d embraced the darker side of his that burst forth unto the surface, and was learning to channel his normally dormant emotions. Over time, he had found various beasts with suitable pelts with which to drape over his body, completely obscuring his identity from the world. In the end, he was more or less forced to rely on his mental acuity, wealth of experience and knowledge, and eventually his physical skill. The area of magic, which he’d roamed for countless millennia were now a treacherous sea. Little more than lighting a campfire at night brought unwelcome bouts of pain and …explosions. He would have to search for a remedy to this new instability, and everything swimming in his mind told him to head to one place.

Arka was sitting on her laurels at the side of the dying campfire as the morning light peered through the canopy. Edward was propped against a gnarled, ashen-barked tree, wrapped in the furs of what resembled a bear-ape hybrid. The head of the creature, or at least its empty skull and maw, managed to drape overtop his helm and add to the Knight’s intimidating appearance. Arka began to stir, opening her eyes lazily to see Edward raise his head.

“Mornin’”, Ed’s voice was grizzled, rough and sharp at the same time. Arka began to pant, a smile showing in her features.

“It’s going to be a hard one today girl.”

Arka tilted her head to one side, confused by Ed’s statement. They’d been doing better with each day, and didn’t see how it’d be any more difficult.

“The others…I know where they took them.”

Ed stood up, using a spear he’d taken from one of the orcs Arka first took down. They were careful not to kill too many, but there had been enough for him to progressively find better equipment. He was lucky to find a high quality spear the first day, and a fairly decent dagger later on, which he now wore upon his waist. Arka too stood, stretching and groaning not unlike a wolf. Standing on all fours, she was easily waist high to him and struck a menacing figure.

“We’re going to the Capitol, and finding our friends.”

Practically jumping with happiness, Arka was clearly excited to get their rescue under way. Ed led the way, heading north to the area they’d been avoiding all week. Despite his new handicap he was moving swiftly, having found his new sense of balance and was making exceptional time. They only stopped to eat once they were but a few hundred meters away from the city walls, some sort of reptilian they’d found that had enough meat on the bone to fill their stomachs. Not only were they ready to find their comrades, but the choice in food was getting older by the minute.

After a couple of hours, the duo came upon the perimeter of the Capitol, Izdezgrukh. Twisted and reaching for the sky, born of iron and massive in every way, it certainly looked like the hub of some orc society. The duo had learned of its position after determining their patrol routes and patterns, tracing it back after only a couple of days. He’d told Arka to avoid it for the time being, but the time for waiting was over. Hiding in the foliage outside the clearing before the walls, Ed spoke at a bare whisper to Arka.

“I’m going to approach from the East…stay here, and hit the guards as hard as you want when the moment arrives.”

Arka nodded, quietly growling as she looked at the full complement of guards standing watch before them. Ed disappeared into the swamp, heading out Eastward where he would make his first move toward saving his friends. Since he could no longer use a bow, he planned to chuck his spear and cause the initial distraction so that Arka could move in with the element of surprise on their main position.

Dagda couldn't be compared to the lackadasical, crackshot that was Kaneda. Their power was different, their dispositions different, their demeanor separate. Dagda was a master of potential, all of the magecraft and ether principles studied since a time long forgotten had made him the God of Knowledge in The Abyss. Without touch he was able to rend foes asunder, separating their bodies and limbs. The demonic energy that radiated from his palm was dense within the nexus of his control, but translucent to work as supernatural vectors carved through everything in his path. Bruchala regained her bearings after the initial shock, and only carefully rose to her feet as the whirlwind of demonic force tore the orc apart. The seawater cloak that covered him now, zipped up to his collar, pulled back in the gyrating winds, his fluffy white hair dancing wildly in the carnage. 

“T’ch...my power is severely limited here. This city would be vaporized by my presence were I at full strength…” Dagda mused quietly, his shimmering left eye turning Bruchala. “It seems you've served your purpose. Since you've done so well, I'll let you leave my sight with your life.”

Dagda suddenly started forward into the empty black where the other competitors fought bitterly for their lives. While Bruchala took the heeded advice and scrambled, Dagda's presence alone sent terrifying waves of degradation across the battlefield, the sable, astral miasma rotting and corroding to touch. The weaker of those within the arena had their brains melted, their bodies rendered catatonic by horrifying, lifelike visions of their own demise. When combined with the flesh-eating demonic energy that Dagda exuded, most of the orc became cocoons by which the demonic energy would feast parasitically. 

“I will bring this city to its knees...but first...” Dagda uttered, approaching the center of the arena. The fresh smell of stirred electrons and ionized radiation was an unmistakeable one, even for having been in The Abyss for so long. The closer he drew to the center of the stadium, the more a sinister power began to brew. A spectral flame suddenly absconded him, lilac flames brewing with complex demonic energy variances with an outline of bloody red, reflecting the color found within both of his eldritch eyes. The pressure of his encroaching aura sent miniature pressurized waves, negligible at best, in symmetrical rings out into the world beyond, stirring the sand and flinging unrefined gravel atop the corpses of the slain and the bloodbath surrounding. 

“Hm...it's you. You are a curious one aren't you...would be a shame if you died...I'm sure it'd break their hearts...” Dagda smiled ominously, his amble becoming more of a march to form— the God of Wisdom was fully prepared to utilize any level of magic necessary to put this pitiful creature out of their misery (atleast that was the perception). While Kaneda remained unconscious and unable to comprehend or feel anything, Dagda gave way to his hereditary tendencies: the total destruction of everything around him and recreation of a new world in his own name. Many worlds had dissolves into The Astral Egg, and he didn't intend for his journey to end simply because he had been defeated by a swordsman by some stroke of luck.
 
To wake Calibri up, Dagda rocked the house. Literally. With the abundance of demonic energy flowing through the conduit of Massacre, he funneled his disruptive power into the ground beneath his feet, infecting the natural energy of Tizon beneath him. He noticed that...something was strange about this world. The extent of his infectious energy and the subsequent region shaking earthquake that followed was meant to be much more. Having absorbed Masakado's Vessel allowed his body to withstand the whiplash of the colliding energies, but what few orc remained in the underground beneath them were lost to the crevices of earth that opened up beneath the city-wide arena. Even the king above could feel the destabilization of arena and the city's infrastructure shift, causing some concern among the spectators who were suddenly able to see the epicenter of the underground labyrinth below. The earthquake was enough to bring the roof down, and injure a few within the city, but when it was all said and done it was Dagda emerging from the rubble that seemed to be the real danger. 

“This damned world is...” Dagda muttered in frustration, his eyes cutting to Zagog who watched from the tower above. His giant yellow teeth were massive and for the world to see: Zagog was infatuated with what he witnessed, so much so that not even his advisors could get his attention. Yes. Power interested Zagog. “So he's the one I need to kill...”

When Calibri emerged (and it is infact when, as nothing so miniscule could kill Calibri), Dagda would be ready, his spectral aura of demonic wisdom overtaking the battlefield once more. The sun of the world above shown down on the mountain of white rubble where Dagda awaited her. 

{BGM:”Edward’s Revenge”}

Edward sat in silence until Arka made her move, causing the distraction which pulled the orcs’ attention onto her. Leaping into a gathering of orcs, biting and tossing one into a group of others, flinging her sludge-like mana-drool all over the place was super effective. With their attention turned away from his direction, the Dark Knight stood and took aim with his spear.

Óveður

In a turbulent burst of powerful mana his own, Edward’s ordinary spear became wreathed in cyclonic winds and scintillating, thick violet tendrils of lightning which rapidly cycled from end to end. It was risky for him to use magic, but now that the time for hiding and caution was over, he decided to turn the instability of his magic to his favor. The pressure released from the sudden gale-force winds and the sheer power of the lightning was the calling card of this particular move, and it momentarily stunned the guards, causing them to search for its source. But it was far too late…

Edward hurled the spear with titanic force, and in a radiant flash of sundered flesh, bone and metal, the entire guard-detail posted outside the gates were no more. The Dark Knight leapt from his position in the outlying brush, before he engaged in a rhythmic jog, Arka moving off to the side and grabbing one of the fallen Orcs’ axes by its haft. She took to watching from the sideline as Ed made his approach, as if knowing what he was building up to.

On the approach, Ed gradually increased his pace until entering into a full on sprint. The instant he began to sprint, Arka swung her head from one side to the other, throwing the axe she’d picked up to him. It was a one-handed axe the color of pitch, dual-bladed with menacing crescent shaped cutting edges, and smothered with engravings in their native tongue. The engravings were further obscured by no shortage of chips and the ever pressing titan that was time, but it had clearly stood to the task it was built for. Now, Ed would use it against this race of brutish heretics, exacting his revenge on each and every one of the bastards he encountered.

Upon catching the axe by its two foot long haft, he twirled it once to get a feel for its balance and weight before taking to the air in a powerful leap. The second detail posted at the gates filed out from hidden passages and formed up in a staggered formation to greet the “puny man”. As to be expected of guards, a number of them—those in the front line—possessed shields, which were promptly raised.

After a brief delay at the apex of his jump, Ed pulled himself into a series of forward rolls and slammed into the ground with a quaking force, both feet planted firmly into the ground as shockwaves radiated forward. Not expecting such a powerful landing, those orcs nearest him lost their balance, with the two nearest shield-bearers and one spear-wielding orc falling forward. The shockwave had radiated outward, but the resultant crater surrounding his feet, and their low forward-crouched position caused them to practically tumble. They each gazed into the cold, unfeeling diamond gaze emanating from beneath the settling pelts smothering the Dark Knight’s entire form, liken to staring death in the face. What felt like an eternity to them would in fact be the last memory of their mortal lives, at least for the first, closest shield-bearer as Ed lashed out with incredible quickness and accuracy. The shield had lowered just enough for him to send the forward blade of his newly acquired axe clean through the beastman’s skull, spilling blood and organic matter over his comrades.

From there, Ed didn’t skip a beat or bide any more time. He’d done enough of that over the previous week. Leaping over the body of his latest victim, the Dark Knight hacked the entire group to pieces. Those which didn’t lose their footing attempted to skewer him with spears and blades, but his reactions were far too quick. Deflecting one spear in a forward-half spin of his torso, settling into a low and squared stance, he caught at least three blades with his pelt-covered armor. As it turned out, those simple furs added considerable padding and just enough resistance to make tanking the blows a child’s game. Once the orcs went to withdraw their arms, they found them removed in a flash of black steel, followed by the trampling Dark Knight lunging forward. In another display of speed and precision, he split the three orcs down their center-line in near unison to one another. That made up the last of the second detail, and immediately following the last one’s death, Ed shot a powerful glare back toward Arka as his blood-fury began to stir.

“Arka! Take the left path and meet me on the other side!”

Then, he was gone, disappearing into the darkness of the right path. After a few seconds, the sound of orcish snarls and what might have been screams echoed from its depths. Really, he had cleared the way for Arka to have an easy go of it, but it was expected of her to listen to his commands.

Edward Indalecio stormed the orcish capitol liken to death itself, casting the entire city-state into a frenzy as the leaders tried to muster a defense force. Normally the guard details were enough to thwart would-be attackers; on top of that, they simply weren’t accustomed to being attacked in their home turf. The Dark Knight had learned of their negligence, and determined that hitting them hard and fast was going to see them to success. To see their friends once more.

Posted by Elyk:

She had made a mistake, one of the highest caliber, in attempting her strongest attack when she wasn't at her full strength. It was in this that suddenly she would find herself with a literal demon of the highest orders and right inside her chest. She could feel it, his dark fingers and his essence pulling at the deepest levels of her very being. She would pull away and start to fall but those lingering trails of darkness she could still feel twirling deep inside. Her usual smile when something like this happens was gone, replaced with worry and doubt as the girl Calibri would fall to the ground.

There was no sound when she fell, her body was already fading away, the sky starting to flash in prismatic auras as if announcing something was happening. In these lands, the only one that would know what was about to transpire would be Edward himself. He knew only too well that this day just got a bit more complicated. His companion Arka was off on her own making her way inside to save their friends, but it was now a mission to save one instead of two.

The fearsome howl of Arka would ring out through the air as if announcing the return of the true owner of the Sky. Her body would start to convulse and contort as her power was fully focused on her. The cute features of the mana wolf fades as her color starts to turn to a white prismatic shimmer for the remainder of the transformation. Her eyes would go red for a moment of rage as Arka knew that this meant one thing, Calibri was dead. After a few more moments of transformation Arka would wind up her long slender body up through the air gracefully and turn towards where this...thing was that destroyed Calibri and focused her attention. Again a roar came out of the Mana Primals mouth announcing to this world the arrival of a new god.

Arkagosa, The Divine Ruler of all Skies


The clouds in the area would soon become a thick soup of mana as massive strikes of Arcane Lighting would start to reign down onto the area where Calibri fell. The strikes though unfocused were trying to seek out and ride onto any magical beings, the nature of the arcane lightning was as such, to latch on to magical signatures and ride them like a current to strike their origin.

The Great Dragon would open its mouth and let out a massive breath of purple energy, ripping through buildings and sending twisting tornadoes through the area. Arkagosa was angry that she was once again in her "ugly" form...that someone dared to kill her perfect "Calibri". Taking off now towards the battlegrounds through the air, Edward would have to contend with not only what the hell was going on with Kaneda, but also a pissed off Dragon.

Posted by Law: