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.

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.]

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.

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.]

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.]