It's time

[Anastasia]

Onward.

At last the temple is entered. Within is one grand room, smooth and cave like. Here in the center a great metal sphere floats. The moment it is seen, the metal begins to retract, beams of intense light radiating out.

"This is it," Lyris says, darts in hand, already moving to the side.

"For everyone," Marianne breathes, "For once I can do what I should've done a lifetime ago."

Oberuth merely watches ahead, "You're the reason for everything," he murmurs, "You'd damn well better be worth it."

[Corwin]

What's worth it is your effort. Remember that, and remember what it is all about.

[Anastasia]

The sphere retracts into itself, revealing light. So much light. The light of a star unbound, the light of a world unbound. The three cry out and avert their eyes until from it a voice declares, rough and deep, "At last..."

Oberuth shields his eyes with his arms and peers ahead as best he can. "God-King."

Lyris looks as the light begins to fade, Marianne as well.

Slowly you can see him - a figure clad in armor head to toe, features completely hidden save for a beard. He is short as you'd expect, armor made of fine gold and jewels. Impractical, showy armor - yet it bears the marks of battle, scarred and scuffed, yet not broken.

"Serve me," The God-King declares, "I will reward you beyond anything you can imagine. The treasures of nations shall be yours, the legions of the earth and sky shall serve you. I am here to correct what has gone wrong with this Creation, to impose my will onto it. To impose a new order, a better order." He floats there, no weapon in hand, arms at his sides. He slowly raises a hand, reaching out to them. "To sweep away the arrogant and entitled."

"...I've seen what you think of other races besides the gnomes," Oberuth's voice is cold, "You may have a point, but I've seen this too many times now. I'll not parley with a genocidal monster, no matter how honeyed his promises."

"Oh....Oh dearie..." Marianne smiles cold and sharp, like the winds of a blizzard. "You don't really think filthy humans will have any interest in you?"

Lyris merely shakes her head. "Not again. Not this time."

The answer is power - a pulse of it enough to be felt even as you watch, seeming to shake all heaven and earth. "Then my first stop will be Balmuria," he declares, "A graveyard is not my desired throne, but it will suffice."

[Corwin]

Oh, thank me Daavid is an idiot! Seira breathes a bit easier at that clumsy negotiations technique worthy of a balor.

"I believe the Duke of Destiny presented a similar argument to Aurora's leadership," she muses. "To save Creation from Shar, join Hell and sacrifice entire worlds."

She takes the God-King's appearance in, noting his lack of weapons. The Resorts were supposed to be important for this battle, but would Oberuth and the others rely on them? And wasn't there the Final Resort she never got to see before, come to think of it?

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d100
<Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d100 --> [ 1d100=13 ]{13}

And from there, chaos. A pulse of power shatters the temple instantly, debris exploding outward.

Oberuth ignores them, pierced a dozen times yet the stone falls out of his body, wounds gone before a single drop of blood is spilled.

Marianne surrounds herself in a shell of ice, curling up as she defends herself, untouched by the assault.

Lyris simply dodges, a shard of stone ripping into her side, blood falling as she hurls darts. They bounce off his armor harmlessly amid the storm of stone and shrapnel. She stays moving, leaping from chunk to chunk of stone as it collapses.

In a blink Oberuth is before him, sword coming - only for a spectral copy of the Second Resort to appear in the God-King's hand, a loud CLANG of a perfect parry.

Amid this Marianne escapes her shell and glides back, already chanting arcane words.

The debris begin to fall away and clear, only remnants of the temple intact, shards and ledges hanging in place in the aftermath.

[Corwin]

Don't be so prideful, try the Resorts yourselves! Oberuth, you've talked of dual-wielding the Resort and your new sword, haven't you? Give it a go! Lyris, that underwhelming Resort dagger would be beyond deadly in your hands! And that bow was pretty good as well. And Marianne, if none of them suit you, a floating shield provides a very nice defense that gives you more time to focus on putting the God-King down!

She's not going to distract them with useless advice mid-battle, of course. If she cannot trust in the good judgement of her champions, they may as well give up now.

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d100
<Penuche2> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 75 > [d100=75]

For a moment the God-King and Oberuth are locked, blade to blade. As they struggle, "Your sword's better than your words," Oberuth growls out.

"I'll not play in this rigged game, human," The God-King retorts, before with a push the two separate. A split second later Marianne intones in creeping, chilling words of power, "Glacier, collapse!"

From above a great glacier appears. Marianne grunts as it overshadows the God-King, slamming down - only for a single word to be uttered. In that instant the glacier shatters into a thousand needles of sharp ice, flying towards Oberuth. They clang against his shield, bounce off his armor, assail his body hopelessly. The few that wound him heal swiftly, cuts and gashes gone in a blink of the eye.

Amid all this Lyris becomes one with the shadows, leaping ahead and behind, past the battle and behind them all.

At this Marianne begins to chant again, words of rumbling power. At the same time Oberuth flips his shield onto his back, one fluid motion that undoes straps and supports, slotting it in place. His free hand draws another blade - the Second Resort.

[Corwin]

Yes! Just like that! Maim and Spellruin were made for this! And hopefully Lyris is readying the Disjoining Shot with the First Resort, and should Daavid prove impervious to arrows of pure force as well, the Third Resort would definitely get through! It is its very nature to stab anyone, after all.

Don't wait too long before deploying the Fifth, either! What are you waiting for, a formal invitation? No, wait, is Oberuth using it? It's been a while... Seira looks for the ring as well, while she's at it.

[Anastasia]

"The Second Resort," The God-King pauses as everyone watches, his voice harsh.

Oberuth raises the blade in a salute to the armored gnome, vanishing and appearing, closing in once more.

> roll 1d100
<Penuche> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 84 > [d100=84]

Marianne grows mightier, the ghostly image of a tarrasque momentarily imposed over her. She is taller now, standing straight and ready. As this happens and Oberuth closes in? The God-King sails back, a leap as he turns and darts to back - right at Lyris, her eyes widening as his armored glove touches her arm. A scream from Lyris as that arm becomes a writhing green snake, writing and sinking its fangs into Lyris's neck, her own arm in open rebellion against her.

"Lyris!" Marianne calls, flying forward rapidly, but Oberuth is faster. He's there, blades swinging - and this time the God-King dodges fast, the moment the Second Resort is seen. Bands of glittering gemstone appear with nary a word or gesture, flying towards Oberuth. Yet with a swing of both blades, most of the bands are shattered, and only one survives to latch onto his upper leg. It bands on tight, cutting and barely drawing blood, pushed out as the wound heals.

[Corwin]

"What the hell?!" Seira exclaims. "That's nastier than the spell that boils your blood within you. They need to hit him with dispels and curses right back, and the Resorts are perfectly made for that!"

[Anastasia]

"It's a good one," Yandrazt agrees, "Spreading Snake Sign. If that hadn't been undone, her other arm and then her legs would've transformed."

Meanwhile...

> roll 1d100
<Penuche> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 63 > [d100=63]

Amid the ruins of the temple Oberuth appears again, pursuing the God-King. He pushes him back, Second Resort slashing at him, dodged again and again. Meanwhile Marianne reaches Lyris and gestures quickly, a twisting wrench as her arm returns to normal. Lyris slumps to her knees, being noisily sick before rising, shaking, but rising.

"You have the others?" The God King sneers at that, while Oberuth just smiles grimly.

"I don't need your tools to end you, monster," Oberuth says, "But I'll let you see them one more time, when it's buried in your gut."

With a clash the two meet again. Phantasm on reality, magic against solid. Two Second Resorts meet, a loud whine of stressing metal as the two collide. The God-King again parries, hand going up and shining with magic - only to stop, spellfire fading from his hand. His hand goes up to catch a thrown dart, Lyirs glaring defiance at him.

[Corwin]

"Stalemated," Seira determines with a frown. She doesn't really get why Oberuth and the others chose to face the God-King with this strategy, but it's their choice so that's that. In the end, the three of them working together will wear him down.

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d100
<Penuche> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 77 > [d100=77]

Intensification.

There's no words this time, but the God-King blinks back and away. Dozens of bursts of gemstone bright light erupt amid the heroes, the soft, crystalline TING of gemstones being struck also heard.

Oberuth charges, taking his srikes. Parts of him are turned to shattering crystal, only to regrow as he goes, hale and hearty flesh returning. As he charges in, the rest of the bursts clear. A gemstone colored shield of ice crumbles away, revealing Lyris and Marianne behind it, untouched. In that moment Marianne utters a roar of magic, suddenly moving blurringly fast. She's like a dart at the God-King, her rapier alight with arcane fire. She lunges, so fast that her strike makes contact with his armor, thrusting in. It's a grazing shoulder wound, a sudden and furious charge of tremendous speed. A moment later there's a tremendous crackle of collapsing magic, a dispel ripping through the God-King.

As in the background Lyris leaps from debris to debris, closing in and staying away from the others? Oberuth darts in and raises the Second Resort in a sublimely fast slash, coming down. This time the God-King doesn't try and dodge. He bulls forward, the weapon only grazing his side. He reaches out and touches Marianne's chest.

"Wha-" Marianne manages, a soft cry. The sound of breaking crystal.

Chunks of crystal slowly fall from Marianne's chest, her chest and heart now nothing but crumbling crystal. Marianne's eyes go wide at this, a few gasped words, the beginning of a counter.

It's then that steel spikes follow up from within the wound. She is impaled a dozen times from the inside out, spike tips jutting out from her body all over. All Marianne can do is softly exhale one last time before she slumps and falls, plummeting away, her rapier still trailing spellfire.

[Corwin]

You had a hero's death, Seira thinks, even as the memory of devils striking Donald down flashes in her mind. She wants to close her eyes, but forces herself to watch to the very end even as another part of her prepares to receive Marianne....

[Anastasia]

Yandrazt murmurs something in gnomish, quiet and to himself.

Amaryl's averts her eyes but then looks back, "I'll remember you for that, Marianne."

Meanwhile...

> roll 1d100
<Penuche> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 71 > [d100=71]

A flash. Another dart? Lyris's gaze is deadly calm now as the God-King reaches up to snatch it - and the Third Resort stabs hard into his hand, through the palm and sticking out the other side. A grunt of pain from the God-King as Oberuth takes that moment, Second Resort coming for the God-King's arm.

Yet the gnome is too fast, dodging even in pain - and right into Oberuth's fist, denting his helmet's faceguard from fist and the hilt of Tears, his free hand going up to strike a blow. The bones in Oberuth's hand loudly break, but visibly begin to resume the proper position, healing away. This impact knocks the God-King back a step, head snapping back.

For that moment, for that one moment, Oberuth has the advantage. His foot comes up and he kicks the God-King back, boot connecting with armored stomach. The gnome is pushed back even further from that - until with a bright flash of light, Oberuth is momentarily blinded, a grunt of pain. The God-King dives back as Lyris shields her eyes - and passes by her. His hand lashes out, a sharp, large gemstone shoved into her ear, seemingly produced from nowhere.

A split second later a burst of pure sonic fury erupts around Lyris's head. A horrible curtain of blood, obscuring all...until it clears. Most of Lyris's left face is gone, blood pouring - but she's up, surviving eye glaring malevolently at the God-King.