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[F04; PP] Foreshadowing | <<The Night's Shadow>>


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So, he hadn't been screaming in pain or distress. Nari felt her cheeks flush ever so slightly in response. She'd come over looking like a fool, assuming that it was far worse than it had been. Instead, she'd found him helping the NPCs who were trying to escape the bloodbath that was occurring just outside their homes. 

"Yeah...I'll try. You stay safe too - although it looks like you've been doing alright. Maybe I'll leave the bigger boys just to you!" She jested at the ginger, throwing him a smile as she placed herself at his side fully. They'd already cut down a lot of the soldiers, and she could almost feel the end of the conflict approaching. Holy crap...we're going to survive an entire armed invasion...just the two of us.

She felt herself awed at the thought - even if this was just a game, that was an occurrence to consider. She considered making the comment to Jomei, before remembering they were in still in the fight. Her scythe moved into motion, a whirlwind of metal and death before the faces of those it targeted.


 

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This battle was truly taking a toll on them, almost as much as any boss raid he had been a part of. This was a quest on the fourth floor? How did they expect any players with a lower level than them to survive this?! It truly was a death game, after all, wasn't it. Jomei couldn't help but breath in dust and smog with each heavy breath, fighting off the urge to cough due to the burning sensation in his throat and chest. Though their numbers were dwindling, the onslaught felt never ending. His eyes turned over to Nari, who was managing to hold her own.. but her health levels were raising concern. He had never forfeited a quest before, or any sort of battle.. but if it came down to virtual experience or the life of his friend.. the choice was obvious. 

The two horseback captains that remained ignited two torches and held them high, the sickly blue flame contrasting against the red fire. With the pounding of hooves against the snow, they began to circle what was left of the settlement, slinging blue flames that - rather than burn - encased whatever it touched in ice immediately. 

With their attention off of the two players, Jomei took that opportunity to cease any attacks on Nari, giving her a bit of respite so she can regain some health for whatever was left to come. Rushing towards her and sliding to a stop just in front of her, Jomei's blade ignited in a golden, holy light before swiftly striking into the few soldiers that remained. Three of them crumpled into broken shards of ice almost immediately, but as the light faded, the strike on his last target seemed to leave them with just a quarter of their health remaining. Though frozen, they managed to force a grin at Jomei.. their teeth black and decaying as they laughed in his face. "Try to heal up." Jomei said back to Nari, "They still seem confident, despite their lack of numbers." 

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They'd already managed to push back so many of the forces corralling against the town. Nari couldn't help but be amazed. As Jomei continued cutting down the ones nearby, Nari felt a change in the flow of battle - now there were only a few standing before them, the captains having turned their attention on the town itself. She could almost feel a chance of victory ahead of them.

"Hey, you good for a second? I need to recover a bit...burned through my energy faster than I had expected..." She closed her eyes, focusing on the meditation skill she had picked up a while ago. It wouldn't give her a ton of a boost, but right now...anything was better than nothing. I just need enough to keep fighting...that's all that matters right now...just to keep going...

Her eyes flashed open at the sound of something dragging across the ground. For a moment, she worried that Jomei had been knocked down, or something worse had occurred. What she saw instead, was the general approaching - apparently having left his comfortable loft now that his forces were clearly faltering. "Uh...hey Jomei? That...that big guy...he looks dangerous. Uh...if you need to recover anything now might be a good time to do it..."



 

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The sight of the imposing general sent a chill down Jomei's spine. Their slow movements and weapon dragging through the snow.. they had been watching and waiting for this moment for some time. "Really..? After all of this fighting.. We have to fight that?" His gaze turned to Nari again, shoulders still rising and falling with each heavy breath in and out. Neither of them had much energy to spare.. so they would need to make every hit count. Nari suggested catching their breath, using their Meditation skills to regain some extra energy. "Lets hope it'll be worth it.." Jomei said under his breath as he closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. 

With his eyes closed he focused in on the sounds on the enemies still on the battlefield.. the two horses clomping around the town, leaving destruction in their wake.. the single soldier that held their ground, now trading blades with Nari.. and the general's slow approach. "Lets finish this." Jomei said as he opened his eyes, "Try to conserve energy, make every shot count." 

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Nari's energy had recharged ever so slightly. Enough so that she felt herself shake off the worry that had been growing mere moments ago, when the general had first started moving. They were still in a very dangerous place - if they didn't end this quickly, they and the town likely wouldn't survive. But as the general moved forward, Nari felt her confidence returning. Just enough to get her moving, rushing forwards as the two captains and the lone soldier moved to intercept her.

It didn't matter, though. Nari's scythe flashed through the air, catching all four in a sweep that went wide and low. She felt as the blade slashed against the group, causing the soldier to explode in a collection of shards that froze instantly before shattering from sight. A growl escaped her throat as one of the captains carried on past her, the stun effect doing nothing to him as he rode free and away. 

"Jomei! Switch! Push now - focus on the general! We need to take him down and maybe end this immediately!" She called out to the ginger behind her, hoping that he'd managed to recover enough. They didn't have any more time to wait, didn't have any more time to sit back and relax. Now, they needed to focus on taking down the big one.



 

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One soldier down. Two and the General remaining. Not to mention that stun that Nari was able to place a stun on the General and one of their captains. It wouldn't last for long.. but long enough for them to get in a few hits before facing their wrath. The second of the captains, however, managed to escape with hardly any of its life remaining to continue wreaking havoc on the town. Another toss of a lantern, and blue flames traveled up the walls before forming into ice. Moments later, the added weight caused the household to crack and crumple to the ground. 

"Right!" Jomei shouted before before charging forward at the stunned General. He didn't have the energy left in him to continue hitting multiple targets. If they wanted to take down the general, he needed to do exactly what Nari said and focus on them. Pulling his sword arm back, he let the blade shoot forward, crashing into the General's chest. As he made contact, the ice that served as an extra layer of armor seemed to crack. "We've got this!" He shouted back to Nari

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Jomei pressed his own attack against the Ice General, the rapier flowing into motion almost faster than Nari's eyes could keep track with. For a moment, she considered leaving the general to him - focusing on crushing the remaining captains, and making sure the town was safe. But that thought lasted only for a moment. She couldn't leave him alone, not against such a large opponent. Not when it had such an upper hand at the current time.

"The captain's will have to wait for the moment...let's deal with this thing a bit - then we can focus on them. The town...will have to hold tight until we're done here." Her scythe flashed, the flames erupting around it and causing shadows to dance around. Was it Nari's imagination, or did the general seem to...pull back from the fire? Could it have...fear? Well, if it didn't before, I'm going to give it some fear. 

A quick twirl and she'd embedded the scythe's blade into the general's side, the flames burning away the frozen corpse as she pulled it back out. She watched as the blood seemed to leak out, leaving the general staggering away for a moment. Behind her, she could hear the sound of hooves, the captain's still ravaging the town. "Do...do you want me to go deal with them?"



 

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Right, he had nearly forgotten about the two captains, given that their focus was entirely on the General. Focusing on the sound of the two horses, wreaking havoc throughout the town, he waited and listened for their hoof falls as they drew closer and closer. Once they were each passing by the battle, Jomei rushed towards the General with his blade drawn and at the ready. Rather than simply striking into the boss alone, however, he would swing wide, catching both of the captains and the general in a single strike. One of the horses screamed out in pain as it, along with its rider, fell over and crashed into the snow, their bodies shattering like glass. The other still held on, yet barely. "That should even the playing field a bit.. I think that little present you left the captain should take care of of them for us. So focus on the General with everything you've got."

Speaking of the General, as Jomei finished his strike and spoke to Nari, their icy, blue eyes behind the darkness of a helmet burned like the fire within the captains' lanterns. Tossing its great axe to the side, the general gripped a longsword that sat on their hip and pulled it out. The blade matched the ancient, decaying status of the armor of its wielder, but it seemed to collect frost as it hit the air, foggy clouds emitting from its surface as it mixed with the hot air of the fires around them. It was now their turn to strike, as they brought their blade back and mimicked Jomei's move, attempting to cut through both Nari and Jomei. 

The woman took the brunt of it, bypassing her defenses and leaving a hefty mark. Jomei, on the other hand, was able to bring his rapier up in time to catch the blow, knocking him back in the snow.. but avoiding any damage. "Lets try not to be on the receiving end of that again.. You doing alright? I won't blame you if you wanted to play it safe and bow out.. I can handle what's left of the General."

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Jomei struck out, taking down one of the captains. Nari watched as the second one faltered, then exploded into shards as the bleed effect took over and finished it off. Jomei was right, all that was left was the general itself. If they could end it, then the town would be safe. The fight would be over. Just a little bit more...we got this!

She pushed herself into motion, fighting against the fatigue that was plaguing her muscles. The fight had already gone on longer than she liked - far longer than most basic skirmishes that they took part in, in this game. She felt her legs burning, her arms weakening. Her scythe felt heavy, and moving it took far more effort than she liked. Which was why, when she found her blade slamming into their opponents chest, the tip exploding out the back, and the Ice General giving out a howl of anger and pain, Nari found herself surprised. A surprise that only increased to shock, when the general exploded into ice shards, falling through the air.

"It's...it's over? Jomei...I think it's...I think we survived? You're good, right?" She stared at the spot the general had been mere seconds before, her mind trying to understand the fact that they were still alive. They'd just taken on an army, and survived. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, and as her scythe fell back into its natural ready position behind her, she turned to look at the ginger, eyes wide and mouth open. "Did we just take out an army? That...was pretty fucking ninja..."


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Soon silence fell over the battlefield. The general had release one final bellow from deep inside their icy cavern of a chest, the blade of Nari's scythe piercing that very spot. A shaky, armored hand of the armored individual rose, with the intent to grab hold of the weapon to free themselves.. but one by one, fingers fell like icicles off of their hand, followed by the rest of their arm. The entire suit of armor collapsed to the ground in pieces of broken ice and metal. It took a few moments for the thought to process, that they had survived, the town had -for the most part- remained standing, and the Night King's army quelled by the two of them.

A slow nod through heavy, heavy breaths. "Yeah.. yeah its over." His eyes finally peered upwards at the health bar in the corner of his peripheral. Energy was waning, but his health maxed out.. as if he hadn't taken a scratch. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine, are you? I'm sorry you seemed to take a lot of the flak from those soldiers.." The fires the army had started were slowly starting to die down, now that most of their targets were nothing by smoldering ash and rubble. Six homes had been destroyed, about a quarter of the settlement, due to fire, pillaging, or ice. The ginger stared at the damage, hoping that it was only the buildings that had been lost, rather than any lives within. They may have only been NPCs.. not even living people, but he still could not help but feel responsible for the destruction. 

"We should let them know that its safe to come out..." he said towards the town, before turning to look towards Nari, and further outwards towards the direction the army had advanced from, "And then I say we go knock on this King's door.. see how he'd like a taste of his own medicine."

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Jomei seemed almost...calm, after the entire encounter. Calmer than Nari felt, calmer than she expected she appeared. She was glad to hear that he was fine, however, but blushed ever so slightly when he apologised for her having to take the brunt of the battle. She gave the man a thumbs up and a wide grin. "Don't worry about it, I was a tank not too long ago. I'm used to being pounded on, and this was nothing."

A few breadths passed in silence before Nari's mind clicked with what she had said aloud. Turning back towards the hill that the soldiers have come from, Nari tried to hide her embarrassment. She liked the idea of hunting down this king, and taking revenge. Squinting ever so slightly, Nari nodded. "Yeah, let's take the fight to him. I mean, his general was easy enough, how much more difficult could it be?"

She didn't doubt that it would be difficult, but after everything they had survived here...well, Nari felt confident in their ability. She glanced once more at the town around them, before turning away from it. For now, they'd need to focus on moving forwards, and taking the fight to the enemy. "Ready?"


Thread Summary
Word Count: 8,668 words

Nari-Lanreth
EXP: 8,668 / 10 x 8 x 70% = 4,849 + 2,000 = 6,849 EXP
Col: 200 (Thread) + 5,000 (Above 50%) = 5,200 col

Jomei
EXP: 8,668 / 10 x 10 x 70% = 6,067 + 2,000 = 8,067 EXP
Col: 200 (Thread) + 5,000 (Above 50%) = 5,200 col

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