Twilight (Gear, Pulse, Say, Tyr)

[Tyr]

"Showcasing your magic is all the respect I desire, Crimson Roselia, and will more than suffice. Bitter though it may be, the joy of witnessing varying takes on aether and how to manipulate it is the sole joy I've left, and I shall continue to crystallize them into memory until my journey comes to its only inevitable end." Azem's wings were beating lazily, doing just enough work to keep her aloft in place.

And then the darkness fell, and Azem's radiant form, even the halo itself, was consumed by it. Only then did Azem start to act. "So you would use darkness against me? The shepherd to the stars in the night?" A soft voice spoke out of the darkness. "Then let us test, O' Crimson Roselia, whether the light of your crimson moon can pierce through the stagnancy of the umbral light!"

And lo! As the declaration of challenge rung around the Gral the brilliance of the Wanderer's halo pierced the shroud of darkness that had befell the arena of the two witches, revealing the alabaster figure of Azem below it. Her hands were slowly raising towards the sky as vast quantities of aether coalesced around them into orbs of brilliant light. "Oh Umbral Light, nurturing and protective light, grant us succor in this hour of need!" Higher and higher the arms and the spheres covering them rose, until Azem's arms were stretched towards the roof and the non-existent skies above it as far as they could. "Calm the unending beasts of the end that hunt us! Still the ravenous assault that batters and besieges us!"

The spheres were thrown fiercely towards the ground, only to be intercepted by a single furious beat of Azem's wings. On contact the spheres shattered into countless shards that scattered all around the arena, each fragment a tiny mote of light that twinkled in and out. Their scattering did not last long, and all the motes of light soon stilled in their flight, forming a sphere of a brilliant, glittering sea of stars around Azem.

It was that sphere of light that Roselia's crimson rays assailed, and while at first they went through the initial motes of light like hot knife through butter with each mote of light that the rays collided with they grew slower and slower, until their advance still completely. And there they remained, rays of crimson light, still and stagnant in the air. With a single gesture of her hand, the remaining motes of light all charged towards the giant laser from the planetoid, akin to a heavy downpour of shooting stars. With a minute frown, Azem saw that while the ray was slowing down, the remaining motes would not be enough to stop its path towards her completely. But that did not mean that it would be allowed to reach her. The hand that had gestured the motes of light to move forward stretched towards the ray with an open palm, and a steady stream of bright light fed more of the stagnating and stilling aether into the crimson ray until it too stopped, right in front of Azem.

Though Azem was surrounded by the crimson beams, the attack had been stopped. Azem clasped her hands together in front of her face. "...And may Astral Dark guide them to the origin of us all." A solemn, low whisper that nonetheless reached Roselia's ears.

Clouds of dark aether fell on all of the still rays, and though they dissipated as rapidly as they had come their effect was not secret for long. Slowly at first, but with rapidly increasing pace each of the stilled crimson beams once more began to advance, but all of them twisted and curved away from Azem, changing trajectory back towards Crimson Roselia, quickly reaching the speed with which they had at first shot towards Azem, and then increasing even further.

And the large beam was no exception. It was turned towards the roof, before finishing its trajectory and descending towards Roselia from above, as the crimson witch's own attack was completely turned against her.

---

"Oh how right you are..." Robert muttered as they ran past the Azure Knight. The nature of Erebonia had long since changed from its origin of banding together and fighting for survival to militarist expansionism. But perhaps that was just the natural outcome to something borne out of the hellscape that was Earth after the Yellowstone's eruption and before centuries made it well and truly habitable again, there was little room for things like mercy and compassion then.

"It was good to see Ordine again." El-Prado said as the pair ran further into the depths of the Gral, rousing Robert out of his thoughts.

Robert snorted. "Yeah. The boy that's his awakener seemed to hold promise as well, though he is still untempered."

"We all start from somewhere. What better place than here?"

Robert guffawed, but the pair's back and forth came to a halt as they reached the second balcony, and the cryptid guarding the path forward. Much like the back and forth, the Auric Knight also came to a halt as the veteran pair observed the plant cryptid. And Robert grinned as he saw the venom it regurgitated.

"One of these days its not going to work and it'll be the death of us. It might be today." El-Prado deadpanned, full well knowing what exactly Robert would do. The veteran knight paid it no mind, and simply coated his sword with golden ki, or energy. and began to advance towards the cryptid, bringing the blade along the stone. After a few steps, he slashed, the slash releasing a wave of energy towards the cryptid. The Divine Knight's pace hurried after the energy slash, entering a run that soon turned into a full sprint of a charge towards the plant cryptid.

As the golden knight reached the edge of the venom, instead of wading into the expanding pool of venom the divine knight instead jumped over it, diving towards the cryptid. "RRRAAAAAAAARRRHHHH!"

As the divine knight soared in the sky accompanied by Robert's war cry, sword thrust forward like a lance and the other hand coated in golden energy, ready to pummel the plant to the ground, El-Prado sighed in resignation.

 

[PULSEFIRE]

The Codarl's body heaved as it slid to a halt, no longer holding the decapitated skull of its slaughtered prey. Still expecting animated metal in its grasp, the machine's fist clenched. Somehow, the motion was violent enough that it scarred the dark brass of its palm.

"Ehehehahaheheha."

Luan's voice was euphoric, leaking onto the comms like the gibbering words of a helpless addict. Twisting erratically, his crimson AS whirled to face its remaining opponents, spreading its stance wider for stability. The large contraption on its shoulders and back seemed to expand, a single mechanical arm extending past and under the machine's left armpit.

Swiftly, the barrel of an automatic cannon settled into place. Just above and behind the muzzle, a handle unfolded from the upper surface of the weapon's short frame, and the Codarl seized it.

"FUCKING SCRAPS - !"

"YOU'LL BE - !"

Luan depressed the trigger, laughing madly and pushing his machine forwards. A roaring hail of shells erupted from the cannon's barrel, miniaturized drumfire shrouding the maimed Direwolf's position in malignant brass. Even as he leisurely advanced with fingers tight, bombarding the Magic Knight's battered frame, the second half of the mechanism slid out from under the Codarl's right arm and found its target.

Ordine soon found itself under fire as well, a constant rain of explosive ammunition transforming the space into a cacophony of inelegant destruction. The possibility that Argreion and its allied Awakener might find themselves in the crossfire didn't seem to cross the crazed pilot's mind.

 

[Nemesis]

The beast yet lived, as it tore itself free from the Knight’s marauding grasp, scrambling back to unleash its murderous swan song. A crescendo of spite that spat in the face of the defender of man, promising it would not go quietly into that dark night. As if surprised by the monster’s strength, the Knight pivoted back on its heel rather than press its assault — and that moment of hesitation cost it dearly.

One of the orbs surged forward, and was met with the Mortar Headd’s left arm, blade catcher brought to the fore as the ball of dark force exploded violently. Shards of glittering gold cascaded in all directions, a gilded rain of suffering as the knight emerged from the smoke, electricity crackling up its now shattered arm, riddled with blistering crags that poured black smoke into the air.

“It got us. Left arm, servos are shot. We’ll be lucky to get twenty… No, fifteen percent strength from it now.” Said Nia, anxiously as she fought to pull all available resources to the damaged limb, which now hung limply before the golden champion.

A dark sphere blossomed into being about them, swallowing them whole, and yet still the Knight did not move.

“We’re locked in.” Added the Fatima, “Looks like it wants to finish the job. Your orders, Master?”

There was a short silence, before Raines finally spoke. The entire time, his eyes hadn’t left the creature before them, even as it had landed its haymaker on his steed.

”It’s time we finish this.”

The Headliner nodded, as if acknowledging some unseen signal. All he’d needed was for the wretched thing to stop squirming about, and it had been more than happy to oblige.

”Follow my lead, Nia. Give me all the power you can in the right arm, full drive.”’

”Aye aye!”

As the myriad eyes of nightmare opened, the Knight of Gold drew the glimmering sword across its body to its hip, lowering its body into a slight crouch. It’s mangled arm loosely held the weapon in place, while the right closed about the handle. As the rays of destruction erupted from the monster, so too were they met in kind.

Light, radiant beyond compare, erupted from the Destiny Mirage as its Ezlaser engine was ratcheted up to maximum output. So intense that it could be seen from orbit itself, it filled the sphere of darkness, pushing back the infinite night with the certainty of a dawn that was always fated to come.

​

”Knight of Gold! BRING ME VICTORY!”​

Like a crack of lightning, a bolt of judgment from the heavens, the right hand tore the blade free - and with it, the signature finishing blow of the Headliner, the Sonic Blade. Yet, none even on Joker would ever have witnessed one of such immense force and speed, as though a splinter of the sun itself had sliced straight out ahead of the Knight, tearing all before it into little more than shreds. To the beast, it would have seemed as though its own terrible finishing blow had been turned back on it with such intensity, that its very being was being shorn apart before the glittering Mortar Headd before it.

 

[yastubb]

"Now...!"

Aleksandr leaned forwards in his seat, eager to finish off the helpless foe before him-

But the fast-approaching azure silhouette in the corner of his eye left no time to do so.

The other gunsword was still unoccupied, and so the silver machine hastily raised the knife-like edge into the path of the piercing thrust. The feeble parry only held for a moment before the force behind the stab overcame it, pushing the lighter weapon aside and allowing Ordine's attack to continue unabated. But a moment was enough; an almighty push from the Argent Knight's legs sent a coiling burst of motion up through its waist and torso, an explosive surge of force that allowed it to pull the other gunsword free while simultaneously twisting its head out of the strike's trajectory.

As another second passed, it was retreating again, though not really by choice - Luan's "support fire" denied both Knights the opportunity to continue their melee brawl, autocannon rounds filling the space the Argent Knight had formerly occupied as it bounded away.

"That feral dog is a danger to friend and foe alike." Argreion spoke for the first time since the battle's start as the Divine Knight leapt, giving voice to her now-frustrated Awakener's unspoken thoughts.

"With what's at stake-"

The howl of the twin gunswords joined the din of ceaseless gunfire, mana bolts and explosive shells forming a dreadful curtain of lethal firepower.

"I'll make an exception!"

 

[MKR]

As Azem spoke her spell, conjuring a night sky before her Roselia tilted her head. Her eyes falling upon the display before her in contemplation. Especially as everything ground to a halt in her mind options raced those were particular magics she hadn't seen before. That made them a tad more tedious to deal with but the caster was kind enough to have their spell laden with clues as to the system underneath. That however was for a different day. With a gentle wave of her staff the reflected spells struck what seemed to be an illusive castle wall. Light cascading through like a prism before bouncing away once more, this time upwards as they made struck the red beam, each swallowed by but shrinking their larger adversary before it, now mitigated struck the castle of 'glass'.

Its bricks came falling apart, shattering and bouncing upwards to reflect the world around them. Roselia in the meanwhile tapped her staff on the ground causing an outwards blast, the shards that remained being send to the sides as they evaporated into nothing. "Umbral and Astral hmmm." As she mused the arena the two had fashioned for themselves began to feel sweltering, flame amassing below Roselia and circling in intricate motion. She aimed her staff at the angelic Ascian hurling a simple fire ball at the opponent before it began to lash out like a solar flare, whips of flame striking at the ancient being all the while the arena around her began to grow less and less hospitable.

Roselia it seemed was taking a moment to assess the magics before her, but that was not quite all. Should the orb be dealt with then the heat of the arena would continue where it would inevitably be impeded as it was simply waiting to amass into flame themselves and assail the opponent from all directions.
Light behind her however, distracted Roselia as she peered over the edge of the platform to see below,

---

Inside Ordine the Awakener frowned as his blow was dodged, it was expected yes but still. Not the preferred result of an, or any, attack. One however dealt with the hand they were dealt. The poor, undeserving Magic Knight Direwolf found itself in a worse situation than moments before and would not last long under the duress, the assault making it fall over and vanish like its peer moments before. Which left only the Knights for the Codarl to fire upon.

... Make that knight as the Argent knight also left it to suffer the assault by its own.

"Ordine now's the time!"

Luminous light erupted all over the Azure Knight, flaring to life as it grew ever so slightly. While its frame was rattled by the countless projectiles.
"Activating! Boost Mode!" Ordine declared for the other two to hear. Immediately it dashed, not eager to be in the cross fire of both the knight and its goonie friend. While it was not one of the strongest knights this would bring it up to par with the likes of Argreion and El-Prado even if for a limited time. This was why he had saved it but setting up a favorable duel was not an option. Instead he needed to recover, disable at least one of them.

The dash turned into a glide as the sentient machine grew in speed, an arm reaching out in response and aiming for the Codarl's neck, seeking to ground it by force before flipping around and turning the glide into a plunge with the blade through the chest with the weight and momentum converted into power against the berserk foe. Should it avoid being grounded then instead of the plunge a loop into decapitation with the blade would be the strategy instead.

Now it was merely hoping it would succeed before both could adjust their aim.

---

With the combat continuing above and behind it El-Prado was left with the Cryptid, known to ancient scholars as Fornelias the leap saw it preserved from the bile exuded from the monstrous plant. The blade embedding it halfway up the overgrown creature who thrashed and lashed out in response, massive otherworldly vines lashed out and sought to grasp El-Prado and toss it into the seeping wastes below in response as it seemed to scream in pain. Snapping jaws of plants shaped like eggs in appearance gnashed at the approximate golden combatant in ire as the blade struck again and again.

Perhaps, the creature was having a worse time than the Golden Divine Knight.

---

A clash of light and darkness, the lightning within the sphere obscuring all from view until a light appeared on the far end of the arena, the witches surrounding the clash of titans looked anxiously at the situation before them. Until suddenly, light. The dark thunder was cleaved in twain and a path of light was seen from above. The light spread through the gloomy hellscape that was the Gral of Erebos. Perhaps even it could be seen outside the pocket dimension brought into reality.

A monstrous roar followed from below, followed by the sound of the shattering of a million mirrors. The clash of the two below had broken their arena, both light and dark now reflected off the fragments of luminous dome. The witches around the fight scrambled for cover as the last of the dark lightning bolts struck around them. There was a dull thud below the creature. A slab of cursed meat reaching the ground and pooling vile blood around it as the Knight of Gold's piercing blow seemed to have went straight through the monster before it.

And in response it screamed, though blessed with invulnerability against anything but the blade in the hands of the golden knight its capability to feel pain seemed fully and absolutely intact, and the fact it was feeling such tremendous pain was not something it kept hidden. For all within the Gral could hear the tormented bellow of the Nameless one. It rushed forward in raw fury, the edge of the platform in its sight and the Knight of Gold in its sights. With its shoulder first it would slam forward before rushing with the primal might of a creature far beyond humanity aiming to push the Destiny Mirage off the edge leading only to red light.

As it yelped in pain with each motion that moved its lower half leaving the meat behind where it was, the desperation of the beast was clear. It saw no other route to victory, no. Survival than dealing with the weakened Knight of Gold right here and now. Roselia looked down at the unfolding scene, squinting her eyes through the light.
She shot a quick glance back before gazing down once more.

 

[Tyr]

The Fourteenth Seat smiled. "'Tis naught but a brief drop of the sea that is the wonders of the arcane, but as guides to and on the path of learning, should you choose to undertake that journey, they are more than adequate."

As the heat in their arena intensified, beads of sweat appeared all over Azem's alabaster skin, but the ancient mage did little to counteract it as she listened to the Nameless One's cry of pain. "'Twould seem the curtains will soon fall on this stage, so let us make our finish a spectacular one."

The ball of fire was sent towards her, and in reply on an open palm of hers, a blinding, brilliant light, like she had reached for a star in the sky and taken it to her palm, appeared. Azem furrowed her brows at the fireball approaching her, and crushed the light in her palm as it was closed into a fist.

A light extinguished for a greater one to be born, as the intensifying spherical inferno was suddenly surrounded by light aspected aether that brought its advance to a halt, emanating from a magic circle now on the ground under it.

Light had always come the easiest for her. A sign of her nurturing, protective nature Azem's mentor had claimed, before she betrayed their people to stay true to her principles.

But while the fire had been dealt with, the heat remained, and scarring and blisters were starting to appear on Azem's limbs as the heat kept intensifying. Azem spread her hands wide, dark aether covering them before the arms closed in like pincers, or like they were doing a bear hug. As she did so, dark winds began to buffet the arena, forming a vortex leading towards the area of light where the inferno was stagnant in, taking the blistering heat with it. Most of the heat was contained by the light as well, but small amounts of the heat was able to avoid the prison of light, as when the umbral and astral aethers had their brief clashes, it allowed scant traces of the heat escape containment.

Finally, channeling her aether in yet another way, Azem clapped her hands together in front of her face, like the fire and heat had been slapped shut by the hands. And two halves of a large prism materialized into existence on both sides of the inferno. The two halves then closed in together, containing both the fire and heat within the now whole prism, with numerous chains coiling themselves around it to strengthen the prison.

Roselia's magnificent attack had been completely contained, and all it took was a significantly higher amount of aether than what it was necessary for Azem to counteract it, but she allowed herself to indulge. Just this once.

For a brief moment, silence descended between the two. But only for a fleeting moment, before Azem politely cleared her throat, to get Roselia's attention back to her. "Pray forgive me for once again so callously stealing away your magic and repurposing it for my own use. Offensive magic does not easily come to this form, it seems." She explained with a friendly smile.

All the while feeding a steady stream of scarlet aether into the prison, with it seeping into its insides.

And, should Roselia look at the prison containing her magic, she would notice the wall on her side beginning to glow, as if metal heating up. And rapidly after, it began to melt as the fire aspected aether Azem kept feeding into it made Roselia's magic intensify and grow manifold.

The inevitable happened. Roselia's side of the prison prism failed completely, and all that fire and heat contained within exploded outwards towards her with full force, accompanied by a massive boom.

---

The scream of pain from the beast that ruled its court within the Gral echoed within its vast halls, bouncing from the walls as it ascended upwards until it reached everyone within, carrying with it the announcement of the beast's looming defeat. But though it could not shake the foundations of the Gral, it definitely shook both Robert and El-Prado to their very cores. When the sound reached them, the Divine Knight was still brawling with Fornelias, the sword dancing in the air as it created a web of cold steel to keep both the cryptid's jaws and vines at bay, the other hand being used to keep a hold of the cryptid.

The distraction came close to costing the pair, as a vine managed to get past the sword's guard and almost grasp the Divine Knight, only stopped at the last second by the other hand taking ahold of it first.

Grimacing within the cockpit, Robert slashed at the vine before disengaging by jumping away, back the way he came from. The lack of a running start and the less than ideal surface he leapt from meant that he landed on the venom and while it had little time to inflict damage on the Divine Knight before it leapt again away to safety, the connection between El-Prado and Robert meant that his soles now felt like they had been set on fire.

Robert gritted his teeth. His feet being on fire was unpleasant enough, but the situation they were in was much more so. He could force his way through the cryptid easily enough, but that wouldn't make it any better. They were running out of time much faster than expected.

Who the hell was down there, to so quickly wound it so grievously?

Without Robert's input, El-Prado's upper body turned towards the chasm opening behind them, after centuries of fighting together the sentient marvel of a robot hardly needed to be piloted to know to do it.

They were running out of time.

And there was a quick way down. No matter how perilous the witch claimed it to be, it could be conquered. And so conquer it they would, and with ease.

"This time you are aware of the pit you are about to jump into."

Robert snorted his agreement, and sprinted towards the pit, sheathing his sword on the way there before leaping into a dive towards the bottom. Diving in with the hands in front, a golden glow emanated from them, which coalesced into half of a shell in front of them, enough to cover the front of the Divine Knight on a freefall. The fabled golden aegis of the Auric Knight, the strongest defense any of the Divine Knights had access to, that had remained unconquered for the two centuries El-Prado and Robert had worked together was here to test its mettle against the defenses that the witches had mustered.

If the two were able to reach the shouting distance of the bottom layer, and the one fighting against the Nameless One, they would shout a message at them.

Don't kill it.​

 

[PULSEFIRE]

Luan's laugh died to a hoarse trickle. He watched as the Codarl's fire tore its first target into flickering ash, then pivoted to its second.

Only to find that it was no longer there.

For a moment, even the Codarl's humanlike motion seemed too slow. Ordine was little more than a blip on its sensors - a motion-blur bolt. The AS pulled on its weapons - on instinct? - and managed to bring them halfway on target. Errant fire clipped the Azure Knight's expanded plating. Then, the two machines collided. Ordine's hand grasped the Codarl's collared neck.

"Grhk! Son of a - !"

Momentum won against reaction speed. The Codarl was on the ground before it could muster its strength against the oncoming force. As it went, the cockpit-rattling journey tore the cannon assembly from its back. Scraps and unspent shells scattered wide in a trail of shrapnel.

"-BITCH!" Luan roared, spittle flying. He pushed at the controls, injecting fury into his mount's black-box heart. The Lambda Driver flared in response, fabricating an expanding wall of distortion. Ordine's descending blade caught on the skin of light and heat - then, less than a second later, it slid through. Overheat warnings filled the Codarl's cockpit.

Even the magic of Black Technology had limits to its abuse.

Alarm flooded Luan's veins alongside adrenaline. He gritted his teeth and pushed, fighting for every inch. Ordine's weapon entered below the collar, plunging without resistance through metal and polymer. It was off-target by a scant few milliseconds. The vital reactor and the cockpit remained unharmed. Yet, an AS was a fragile machine. New warnings flashed across the internal readout.

Damage to motor control. Master-slave system ineffective on right arm. Feedback limited. Body balance rebooting.

"Kill this bastard already!" Luan spat into his comms. The Codarl lashed out with its working arm, following his desperate movements. A shrieking monomolecular blade flashed in its hand. It was a desperate attempt to buy space, and the Codarl's strength translated desperation into fury.

 

[Nemesis]

The blade flashed in its hand, the Knight of Gold gleaming triumphantly at the bottom of the arena. Even as its foe mounted one final, desperate charge, it stood proud and unbending, glaring directly back at the creature in its death throes. Not a single bead of sweat was on Raines' forehead as he raised the weapon once more, an ethereal wind whipping across its surface as it prepared to deliver the final blow.

And yet, as its arm began to move, there came a shout from above.

Don't kill it.
​

In that moment, a thousand possibilities could have run through the young Headliner's mind. Maybe it was the sight of an eerily similar machine descending from the heavens that distracted him, but far more likely was the sudden, horrendous noise that erupted from the Mortar Headd's joints as it swung.

A heavy, grating GA-CHUNK.

"...Eh?"

And all of a sudden, it froze.

Black smoke spewed from the Knight of Gold's chest, as the champion of all things good closed its eyes in seeming resignation. Within the cockpit, Raines barely had time to blink, to process what was going on before the beast barreled into him with the entire weight of its body. Wounded or not, the desperate assault would do exactly what its bloodied taskmaster demanded of it -

And the Knight of Gold was sent tumbling off the edge, into the pit of oblivion below. The light of a thousand suns that pulsed through its body faded from view as it vanished, leaving behind only pieces of shattered armor and a cloud of acrid smoke in its wake.

The precious sword spun through the air... and landed in the center of the arena, blade down, perfectly straight.

 

[yastubb]

Aleksandr's eyes widened as pieces of armor abruptly snapped open across Ordine's body, light welling up from the underlying frame before the unit simply vanished from his crosshairs. He landed, pivoting on the spot, and traced the now-shining silhouette's path with the still-firing gunswords as it closed in on the Codarl like a homing missile - but his target's newfound swiftness enabled it to remain one step ahead long enough to reach the wildly-firing Arm Slave.

"I don't need-"

Argreion plunged after its Azure brother, each crashing footfall coming faster than the last even as each step covered more ground than the one before. Luan's AS could still move, wounded as it was - but with the Lambda Driver overheated, it was just another conventional machine. Even the might of what Black Technology remained within its exoskeleton couldn't hold its own against the likes of a Knight for long.

"Your reminder!"

When the Argent Knight's next salvo came, it was in the form of a quick staccato burst aimed for the joints of Ordine's sword arm. Then, with a final surging leap, Aleksandr sent his steed flying into melee range, as if chasing after his own gunfire. Tightening Argreion's grip to an iron vise, he drove the twin gunswords forwards, focusing every ounce of inertia into their pointed tips and aiming to bury them in the Azure Knight's shoulders. If the attack succeeded, a brutal final touch would be added - a point-blank barrage, pouring a burst of shots into Ordine's more vulnerable innards.

 

[MKR]

As the fight below continued the witch gave few cares about the remarks made by the Fourteenth, she knew the woman was up to some tricks behind her that much was clear but with the spectacle below so close to concluding an attack against her was far from the most important thing to happen here. Dark winds picked up around her before the attack came, her clothing waving in the wind as she beheld the sight of an unmoving fate marching along with time beneath. Even as she was struck in the back by the empowered version of her own flame she quickly scrambled upward again to behold the sight she had been wanting to see for an age and a day.

The beast once proud charged their Golden hero in what was clearly a desperate bid. The fight was as good as done, even the descending El Prado would not reach the area in time to do anything but shout helplessly and shout it did but that mattered little as just one lethal graze of the blade would-

"What-"

It stopped? Why did it stop, her eyes went wide scouring their representative for any hint why it faltered. Only for it to get flung into the abyss, the Sword of the End careening through the air to land behind the Nameless one, this seeming final chance for the Knight of Gold to deliver its fated strike had come and gone like a second on a clock. The gears of fate begun to grind to a halt, eternity continued.

"NOOOOOO!"

A cry of rage, of despair, at the opportunity squandered. Roselia gazing down at the floor for a moment, this was salvageable she knew but it was not joyous. And for her to contribute to a positive resolution Azem's barrier needed to go. So she began to rise to her feet.

---

The strategy had worked, Ordine was now atop the Codarl but its occupant had survived this moment all the same, meaning the number advantage was still theirs. As the flailing began Ordine pulled out its blade and jumped back, giving the Amalgam machine its desired space however not because the blade was a threat that needed running from. But simply because remaining so grounded against Argreion was not worth pinning its damaged peer.

Glowing red the Azure Knight turned to face Argreion, this had not been a favorable bout for it in past incarnations nor was it was one at this very moment but it was no impossible foe. The burst of fire came for his arm, a far from pleasant feeling but Gottfried maintained the grip on his weapon as pain transferred from the machine to his own being, but with Argreion approaching Ordine instead ducked forwards raising its arms close to its body before swinging them open and apart.

Moving the downwards thrusts to the side, the one striking at the sword hand still digging into the Zemurian armor but the one with free grip remained unscratched as in response Ordine rose up, the horn atop its face rising to match across the upper chest and face of its silver adversary. Followed by the free hand punching upwards where its horn had just passed. A concussion worked as a method to equalize a fight after all.

---

El-Prado was left with the beast below, standing at the edge of the arena as the surrounding witches watched in horror as their champion quite literally fell, the monster without name was tired, wounded and the weapon to slay it lay there for the taking. Were the Golden Knight to have any intent to finish the job himself all the tools were present. Its own wounds after all were much less severe than those of the black beast, the wards it had plunged through had inflicted damage yes but none that couldn't be handled.

But those were theoreticals, the way Robert and El-Prado were they likely were simply intent on barring any path to its death. Even if Ordine won its fight, an unlikely prospect in and of itself the golden knight remained. The Nameless One gazed at it, roared like an animal protecting its territory and then lay flat on the ground in dire need of recovering its strength and mending its wounds.

But to say it was just them two down there would be deceit, as El Prado landed heavy footsteps in a sprint entered the chamber, another Divine Knight, Black armor covered its limbs decorated with lighter shades of grey. Jewels like eyes rested on its shoulders as a singular red core faced forwards from its chest. In the hundreds of years since the Divine Knights were first seen, this was the first time the existence of this seventh member was witnessed.

Ishmelga, the Ebon Knight.

And in fury it assailed El-Prado from behind, driving its fist into the back of the golden machine in a clear attempt to ground it.

"EL-PRADO." It spoke in booming voice and accusatory tone "WOULD YOU SEE US DENIED OUR PURPOSE?" The black machine gazed at the grounded blade, much too large to wield with ease but flailing it around for one blow against a pitiful beast long overdue its death? That was more than manageable.
"THE GOLDEN HERO THAT SMITES DOWN THE BEAST NEED NOT BE FROM ANOTHER STAR." the Divine Knight seemed to muse to itself, satisfied for its conclusion. It could not deal the final blow, that would have simplified the process so so much, but its lesser, golden, sibling qualified still.

Ishmelga stepped forth, grasping towards El Prado with clear intent to grab its arms and move it manually. The descent of the Knight of Gold had made the process needlessly complicated but it would amend this, for the once in a hundred years chance was dawning on them.

The Rivalries.

All of its kindred were awake, a time like the one which had forged them was nigh. It could envision the end of its wait, the duels that would follow and taste its victory at their end. It would not be denied this chance, today the beast would die and the shackles that weighed down the Ebon would be broken.

 

[Tyr]

Azem shook her head with a sigh, openly showing her disappointment in Roselia as she let herself be so engrossed by what was going at the bottom as to leave her back wide open. A fatal mistake, had Azem been after her head. Perhaps an understandable mistake, this close to her goal being met, but as she stared down at the leader of the witches from her elevated position as Roselia was knocked off her feet and desperately clambered back up her thoughts sang in unison - it was no less disappointing for it.

And then the instant the witch had risen to stand on her feet, she fell back on her knees with a cry of despair. Azem felt her face twist bitterly. Far from what she was supposed to be, the closest thing to their equal this world had, right now Roselia only gave the sad impression of a child that had not gotten what they wanted. Yet more disappointing still was her failure. In the end Roselia's chosen pawn had not been as fitting as initially thought, and she would now suffer for it.

Her respite was over, sooner than she'd have liked. But she would do her duty, as she always did.

With a last look, disappointed and scornful in equal measures, thrown at Roselia, Azem disappeared into a cloud of darkness.

---

Relief washed over Robert as the other golden knight, against even his own expectations, listened and came to a halt. But that relief was washed away immediately afterwards, as the machine down below seemed to just... break apart, followed by a brief pang of worry, as the Nameless One threw it over the edge. But now was not the time for luxuries such as worrying over others.

Mid-air, El-Prado turned itself upwards from the nose dive it was doing, using the thrusters to slow his descent down. With a sound not unlike a crashing plane, the Divine Knight landed at the bottom of the Gral, knees bending heavily to absorb some of the impact of the landing.

An eerie silence reigned over the floor of the Gral. The sounds of the fighting above them were distant at best. The Sword of the End was on the ground, next to him - beckoning him to pick it up and use it for what it was meant to do. But that was not even in the question for the pair so... what now?
The answer came immediately, in the form of rapidly approaching footsteps. Footsteps that were immediately recognizable to the old pair, and all the more shocking for it. The unmistakable sound of Divine Knight's footsteps.

The Auric Knight whirled to turn around, just in time to see the black fist about to punch its head. Snapping to action, Robert was just barely able to block the punch with both arms, the impact numbing his arm that had caught the fist, as well as buckling the knees and almost throwing the knight to one knee.

"Ishmelga." Both the strongest and the worst of them. Within El-Prado's cockpit, Robert's eyes narrowed while his companion spoke, and took away one of the hands holding Ishmelga's fist back, one hand enough to hold it there without issue. "The only thing your purpose is good for is worm food. Opposing it, opposing you, is the right thing to do."

El-Prado's now unoccupied hand gripped the Ebon Knight's, locking the two Divine Knight's in a straightforward struggle for dominance. A battle for dominance that El-Prado was sure to lose. That it should lose, if not for one thing.

Robert scoffed, Ishmelga's arrogance deeply offending him and El-Prado both. "Did you think you could take me on like that? Me!?" The Auric Knight's knees began to straighten, slowly but surely. "That your strength could take us on even when you're hollow!?" The Auric Knight was now standing straight. Tightly keeping its hold on the Ebon Knight it took a single step forward, intent on pushing the Ebon Knight all the way to the other side of the arena, and off into the depths.

Behind them, both the Nameless One and the Sword of the End were hidden from sight, covered by a violet veil. But though Robert noticed it, there was little he could do. Despite his bravado, despite Ishmelga not having its Awakener he was still just barely able to get the upper hand.

---

Under the veil, Azem stared down at the Nameless One. Collapsed, wounded and heaving there was still a certain grandeur to it. Thoroughly twisted, but still there. Moments before, she had been enjoying herself, for once allowed to do something she wasn't opposed to to uphold the duty she had been bequeathed with. But that had passed, and once again she was going to do something antithetical to who she had used to be.

But there was no inner struggle. No resistance. Who she had been had long since lost. Only Azem remained. And the Nameless One's long vigil would be brought to an end by her hands.

Under the veil, under the dark cover that hid them away, there was a sword and two beings. Both had once been noble and valiant. Paragons, in every meaning of the word. And both had been turned into twisted mockeries of who they had once been by decisions of their own making. And yet, even now, the wounded beast on its last legs before her, who had long since lost the last vestiges of its sanity, was infinitely her greater.

Over the hilt of the Sword of the End, umbral aether coalesced, shaping into a hand that firmly grasped that hilt. Azem's feelings, however minute, were immaterial. Her desires were immaterial, her draining aether levels were immaterial. None of it mattered, not when compared to her responsibilities.

And so the sword rose. Raised by the last Azem, the last holder of the Fourteenth Seat, the one who had turned the seat that was friend to all to enemy of most. The Sword of the End was moved by the umbral hand over the collapsed body of the Nameless One, the last vestiges of the divine beast that acted as a monument to its selfless self-sacrifice.

To give one being, who willingly took upon the mantle of endless torment, the rest it deserved. To bring an end to its suffering in a grand act of selfish sacrifice. To save one life... and to damn countless others.

The sword fell.​

 

[MKR]

The beast, wounded from its battle watched the clash of two divine knights, not interfering for the benefit of either of them. Its torn flesh bleeding a vile liquid onto the stone floor in sight for all to see. Just across it, not that far away was the tool with which to kill it, the beast unable to damn it to the same pits as it had the Knight of Gold or perhaps simply not acknowledging its threat.

What followed however, was darkness. The Nameless One rising to its limbs as it not saw but felt the presence nearby, perhaps some instinct like that of beasts. Maybe a deeper sight embedded in its body through the many eyes that peered out of its hide whichever it was it certainly was in no position to explain, but the one there with it could feel the lingering gazes of a dozen eyes upon her body, her essence.

Wounded? Yes. In need of recovery? Certainly. Within an inch of its life? Without a shadow of a doubt. Yet the beast would not lay down to die, could not lay down to die. The urge to live, primal and beyond reason coursed through its wounded flesh. No mere primal instinct was this for even beasts in packs knew when it was their hour to pass and would move on. Raging against the coming of that eternal dark, this undiluted will to defy death- Revealed the former sense the beast must have had.

As the blade rose once more, there was a roar. A cry of defiance that was cut short. The thump of wet meat striking the ground beneath as at long last its life ended.

And with it, its duty.

Darkness, tangible darkness emanated from the violet veil. All within the confines of the Gral could feel it as this almost mist like essence poured from the Nameless one, this however was not the same substance its blood had been. No- this was feeling. Malice, hatred. All contained within one being, but not belonging to it A̵̷̬̺̟͇r͉̮͉͇͡ͅg̱̙͎̭̞̪̬̀̕r͓̼̬̬̩̥̤͢͝è҉̸̞̜̗̱̹̯̰̺ͅs͔͔̦͙ the name that erased itself from spoken tongue and written word, what manner of entity had it been to endure such hate?

---

Outside, the reverberation echoed throughout the realm. Like a pulse of darkness coursing through the sky. Those within reach of the Gral could feel its direct presence though what or how remained unknown, those on the outskirts of Erebonia in contrast may only feel like a gust of wind struck them, unknowing of its origin.

Now however, this cursed land spread striking each border but going no further. The consequences unseen for those inside the Gral but most assuredly real.

---

As their contest continued, the Ebon Knight paused for a mere moment.
"HAH- AHAHAHAHA. SO SUCH IS THE FORM OF THE GOLDEN HERO." The Divine Knight laughed as the veil's purpose became clear then turning its attention back towards its sibling "THE PURPOSE IS MORE THAN MINE, DENY IT IF YOU WISH BUT THIS- THIS FIGHT." Ishmelga shifted gear, focusing on keeping El-Prado occupied now instead. "WE EXIST FOR IT AND IT EXISTS FOR US."

"SO LET IT RETURN, THOSE FATEFUL DAYS WHEN ZENTRAEDI CAME, WHEN CORPORATIONS LEFT AND THE MULIANS ROSE TO SLAY ALL." It spoke, thoroughly enjoying itself as darkness spread throughout the Gral. "OUR BIRTH THEN, OUR DESTINY NOW-" Already power flowed into Ishmelga, being this close to the release of the Curse it could feel the strength it gave even lacking its awakener a spike such as this would prove trouble.

"IT BEGINS! THE GREAT TWILIGHT!"