final trial

[arsholes]

[After a harrowing couple of hours, some illuminating discoveries, a couple of new allies, and a couple of new injuries, eventually Garfield's warning comes to mind. Shit's popping off. And now that you've got all of the ritual components (minus the hammer which, well, you have its owner), it might be time to return to the trial room and see if you can do something about it.

Reconvene in the Great Hall and make your way upstairs.]

Comments

[thealchemist]

[Well you killed two of his night creatures, and even though he's mostly healed he's still not in much of a shape to fight.

But he does have one thing he can do.]

You guys go on ahead. Give me the knife and I'll meet you up there in a minute.

[sunshade]

[ Well, she has it, right now. ]

You used this knife to make those monsters, didn't you?

[ She's not handing it over quite yet. ]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

Eh? Is the knife special for that?

[replacementshield]

[ He looks pissy but hey that's his default expression.

His hand is on the hilt of his blade, glancing at him and the others. Waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even if it hasn't yet. ]

We need that hammer of yours. Where is it?

[thealchemist]

You want it? Give me the knife and I'll tell you.

[ninehundredlives]

[Also, uh, here's some random lady none of you know trailing behind the other group! She's just absolutely soaked entirely in fresh blood! And sort of looking at the back of Heisenberg's head like she'd like to murder him!]

[replacementshield]

...Who are you?

[reresurrected]

Might I ask what you plan to do with said knife?

[Let's just get this in writing here, shall we?]

Save point, Reset

[arsholes]

[...Well that was messy! Anyway, you have been left to your own devices, the 8 survivors (including Susan).

At that moment, thunder bellows outside, hard enough to reverberate through the stone of the tower.

You've got a ritual to do.]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[Mei produces a pill bottle of sand and shivers.]

I don't know if this will help, or do you already have the sand? It looked like you had everything else.

2/2

[unfinishedwork]

[Ice blue eyes open and look upon the survivors in the circle. The man walks toward them, gingerly stepping over the remains of one of the podiums to do so, and straightens his jacket.]

Ah, that's so much better. It's an honor to finally be able to meet you all in the flesh.

[spitessier]

So...did we just bring you back to life by doing this?

[replacementshield]

Who the hell are you?

[rikonstructed]

You. The one from the seance?

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[Mei bows politely.]

So we did it right... It can't be that easy, can it?

The Fight Begins

[arsholes]

[This is it. After seven and a half weeks of torment, you've finally come face to face with the true mastermind: a vampiric spirit known as Death. But you have your friends beside you. You have a plan. You can do this.

The Merchant's Guild has given you boons to help, and Katsuya has been given a direct line to Garfield himself.

You can leave the ritual circle at your will - the wards around the artifacts only keep you from destroying them, not from leaving the circle at all. For those who want to take the fight to Death, there are floating platforms in the rubble carried on the storms around him, large enough to stand on or jump from. For those who play support or fight from range, the tower itself doesn't seem to be crumbling any further. It's going to be dangerous, but if you fall there are hands that can help you.

Be safe, be smart, rely on each other.

Good luck.]

[ghostsguysgyuudon]

[The glow fades and Mei's back to herself, shouting at air.]

I'll take my body back from here! Please deal with the wards!

[She pulls out her sword and points it at Death, albeit keeping an eye on the first ward, Blood.]

...is he singing?

[replacementshield]

[ Well, it's now or never. ]

Our time is now! Let's get this over with!

[ Felix doesn't have any inspirational speeches, but he doesn't hesitate in moving forward. Once people leave the circle, he shifts his protective shields to Baldr and Nuadha at some point.

When Patchouli and whomever else is directing her/their efforts into shattering the blood artifact and provided that's successful, Felix will waste no time in ascending the platforms, and already taking a swipe at Death boldly with his greatsword once the vulnerability period is open. Definitely aiming at the neck more or less.

Look he just wants to get a hit in. ]

[spitessier]

[When dealing with Death itself it really is a good thing to have a tattoo that will absorb a lot of necrotic damage. Katsuya still can't believe he has that on, but right now that looks like a huge boon to him.

There are many artifacts to destroy, and a specific order. However nothing can be destroyed if there's a giant skeleton smacking you, so he decides to focus on that, to help give others a chance to destroy the artifacts]

Leave Death to us who can fight it directly! Destroy the artifacts while we keep it busy! Persona!

[Thank goodness for being kind of a range attacker! Katsuya uses fire, blasting as much of the skeleton with it as he can, but focusing first and foremost on the shoulder sockets. Making this thing's arms fall off seems like a good idea!]

[twibeast]

[ He keeps focusing on his chant only distracted for a bit when Azul speaks but by the time the fight starts properly— ]

Stand tall and strong above
My Radiant Aegis of Love!!

[ Like a flower in bloom the shield spreads out, the golden light in the centre unfurling into a sun shaped emblem. It spreads out in front of the circle and the group trying to destroy the wards as their defenders go down.

He doesn’t know if it’ll be able to stay up long with his still recovering mana, but at the very least it should hopefully let those destroying the wards continue to do so without being attacked should Death get past the rest of defence squad. ]

[unfinishedwork]

[After clowning on Felix and Patchy (while also taking some pretty serious damage), the crackle of death magic fires back up, crackling between his joints as he flexes his damaged hand, then picks up his scythe again.]

Enough fucking around!

[At that moment, the wards around Heisenberg's hammer practically explode, in a bright flash of light and a shockwave that rocks the entire tower. The wards are destroyed. The third artifact is vulnerable.]

[arsholes]

[Death doesn't even have time to regenerate his defenses before the fourth ward explodes, leaving the bowl of water vulnerable.]

[unfinishedwork]

[As Death recoils from the holy water and fights off an invisible combatant, he senses that the second to last of his wards are about to be destroyed and turns back to the field of battle.]

You are all nothing but cattle, to me!

[And as he rears back to swing his scythe down toward the wards themselves and the combatants around them, the fifth ward breaks, with an icy wind and a crack of thunder. The air flask is vulnerable, and breaking it might throw him off his deadly swing.]

The Final Artifact

[unfinishedwork]

[With Death reeling from Orthrus and Felix combined, the survivors have one last chance to regroup before, in a brilliant burst of light, the last of the wards collapses in on itself.

The dead have done their part. Now, the living have to finish it.

Death takes his scythe up in his hands, already cracked and bruised. There is no death magic crackling between his bones anymore. Despite all of his yelling and bluster, he is - as Azul said, through Mei's body - now completely mortal.

It's time to cast your votes for the last time. By magic or blade, it's time to end this.]

EXECUTION: The End.

[unfinishedwork]

[Death squares up with his scythe, as the living stand before him, unbroken and unbowed.

His sockets narrow and he leans his head down to look closer as Baldr pulls out the glitter cannon and starts to load it. Big mistake.]

What are you going to do with that? Throw me a fucking party-?

[BWOOM!! Hubert's final parting gift hits Death square in the center of the forehead, and a massive explosion of blinding prismatic energy shakes the very world itself to the foundations.]

NO! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED AGAIN!

[Death howls in agony, and swings his scythe blindly. At that moment, Mei, Katsuya, Garfield, and Susan begin spraying Death down with holy water. It still isn't enough to kill him outright, but it still causes him to smoke and burn and howl in pain nonetheless. Mei's ring of fire does some damage before Death swats it away again, and then lashes out at Katsuya's persona to throw off its aim.

Nuadha, Felix, and Baldr give each other a nod, as Baldr loads up the second and final charge. He fires it, no less impressive than the first, a solid hit to the chest that leaves a burning dent. Felix and Nuadha then run forward, springing through the debris to get close enough to strike. Every time Felix's crest flares, it leaves a streak of white light as his sword takes piece after piece out of Death. And Nuadha drives his sword in, swift and true, in a mirror to how he killed "Saint Germain" at the beginning of this.

Garfield throws a last piece of debris at Death, and then looks to the others.]

See you on the other side~!

[Patchouli and Orthrus remain. Orthrus' barrier shifts into something different, something that shines like the sun and crackles like lightning, an elemental ballista loaded and ready to spring. The pages of Patchouli's grimoire flutter in the tempestuous winds as she invokes her most powerful spell. Both fire at the same moment, and both strike true, causing a loud enough explosion that Death's final cry can barely be heard over it. The entire world is filled with blinding light, shadows painted in sharp relief to their overstrained eyes, as time seems to dilate in that second as the Philosopher's Stone and the lance of pure lightning punch through and utterly annihilate Death's form. The form of Death is utterly erased by the blinding light of the final strike, and for a moment, so are all of the survivors.

In this floating world, where the debris has stark shadows but the ground itself seems to disappear, for a brief moment the seven survivors see the unmistakable shapes of their friends. All thirteen of them (plus two that they haven't met yet - except for Susan), turning from the exploding body of Death to look at them, to see them.

They've been here the whole time. They've been helping the whole time.

And for a minute, in this weightless nothing that seems like standing on the precipice of a huge vacuum, the survivors wonder if defeating Death might have come at a cost. If they're going to join their lost friends now.

And then the blinding white light fragments, like a prism. Blinding hues of teal and pink and purple dilate out of the center, where death stood, overwhelm the arena of combat, and completely overtake the eight survivors. For a brief moment, it feels like they're falling forever through an infinite corridor of colors that only shrimp should be able to see.

And then... It's over.]