Dragonball M, Chapter 4: Kidnapping! Invasion! A new Threat Strikes First!

[Tami]

"Good. They may be the last allies we have remaining."

If only they could find the way. The corruption seeded throughout the planet seemed to leave them in that stupour, neither living nor dead.



Though currently preoccupied with the gathering of what ki remained independent of Auroc's curse to empower the collective effort, in his silence he remained in his state of heightened awareness of all proceedings on this planet. Railing against his expanded meditation field it was like a great ocean of subliminal noise. Still, the greater powers that roamed on the planet's surface, those who would determine its fate, stood prominently.

"This would be the handiwork of Auroc and the Maven," he said, "I heard it from one of your Knights, they believe that serving their master will allow them to transcend their mortality...I suppose that is true, in a manner of speaking."

The battle on the surface must have been turning to their favour if they'd found the time to come down here. Nevanlinna, and one other.



Still seated in the throes of deep meditation, by the skill of his sublime sense he still felt a crawling sensation at his back. There in her hand, crystallized ichor, with a presence unmistakable.

"...where did you get that?"

"From inside Auroc. Ah saw it there so Ah spear-fished it out. He turned to black rain for a while, then he started to reform, only last Ah saw he's missing half of himself." Dash walked it over, her gloved hand holding it out to show them, "An now ah have no idea what to do with it. Was hopin' you or someone else might know."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Goku shrugs, smiling.

“Vegeta’s the only one who calls me that, but sure.”

He glances around suddenly.

“Did you sense that weird aura?”

She narrowed her eyes.

Was it Inanna?

No, he wouldn't have been able to sense her energy. Perhaps Auroc.

"It might be Auroc, the god that I'm on this world to fight. My friends are fighting him right now and I need to get back to help them."

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Her mother, in a surprising show of emotion, holds her right hand out, indicating Neva to take it.

Neva took her mother's hand and gave it a squeeze. For various reasons, there had always been a certain amount of distance between them, emotionally, but knowing that her mother had been doing all she could to oppose Auroc and protect her from the false god made her want to bridge that gap after all this was said and done.

"Then prepare to feed energy into the rune on my signal.....and start thinking up ideas for the victory feast." Etrina side smirked.



"Nevalinna, good....was starting to think I'd be carrying his ritual on your mothers advice along." Etrina spoke, eyes focused on the ruin but attention spread around her. "If you would be so kind as to take up a position on the other side? We're going to attempt to re purpose this rune array to trigger a planet wide purge of aurocs influence.......as opposed to simply exploding. Perhaps you can introduce some of that Hozen with our changes to balance the magical equation...so to speak."



Nodded slowly, Etrina spread her hands, focusing her vast energies and then expanding it outwards. The energies flow from her to each foci, floating above the four corners of the array, who in turn mimic her actions and focus that energy down upon the Rune. "My foci will act as the array, focus our efforts.....Neva, Queen....when you are ready."

Releasing her mother's hand, Nevanlinna nodded and took up position. Her mother was far and away better with these rune arrays than she was, so the best she could do would be to act as support. Injecting Hozon into the array to stabilize the thing was also a good idea.

...probably.

Regardless, she readied herself to do her part.

[Miburo]

With a grunt of surprise, the Noble impales itself on Held, his rapier falling from his hands as he dies upon the Nevadian Death Sphere.

Just as swiftly as it had come into being, the sphere began to vanish, the spines retracting themselves from the Nobles body. The Nevadians hair unraveled from around him, shrinking back to its traditional length.

The Nevadian barely spared a glance at the slain Noble, apathetically watching his body begin it's long descent.

Breathing heavily, the Nevadian let out a sigh of relief between breaths.

That was a close one....

Held scanned his surroundings, intent on avoiding another surprise. There was little time to waste, as for all he knew, yet more foes would rush forward to intercept him. Furthermore, with every moment that passed, more lives were lost, the planet was more corrupted, and Auroc's power grew greater.

The Gold and Silver spears were gripped tight, as the spiraling power of purification hummed loudly above them.

The Nevadian peered into the soul of the Threshling planet, seeing both the life stream, and the corruption of Auroc's taint within it. A deadly disease required a potent cure.

SPIRALING......

He reared back his hands, pointing the razor sharp tips of his blades, heads surging with power, towards the earth below.

Horn......

The spheres rotated at a feverish pace, a high pitched whining as to beg--nay, plead--for release as he prepared himself, forcing himself to go just a tad further.

A moment passed, and he knew he could go no further, the burning white of the attack so intense as to force even him to look away slightly.

....PURIFICATION!

He thrust forth his arms, and a beam of energy as wide as The Nevadian himself shot forth from each spear, twisting, turning, drilling through the air.

The Nevadian brought the spears closer together, and the beams crossed, easily tripling in size, a massive spiral beam boring into Reshlan.

Soon it would reach the heart of the world where Auroc's power lay, and soon it would seek to rend that wicked strength asunder with the power of it's light.

[grampagen]

"Then prepare to feed energy into the rune on my signal.....and start thinking up ideas for the victory feast." Etrina side smirked.



"Nevalinna, good....was starting to think I'd be carrying his ritual on your mothers advice along." Etrina spoke, eyes focused on the ruin but attention spread around her. "If you would be so kind as to take up a position on the other side? We're going to attempt to re purpose this rune array to trigger a planet wide purge of aurocs influence.......as opposed to simply exploding. Perhaps you can introduce some of that Hozen with our changes to balance the magical equation...so to speak."



Nodded slowly, Etrina spread her hands, focusing her vast energies and then expanding it outwards. The energies flow from her to each foci, floating above the four corners of the array, who in turn mimic her actions and focus that energy down upon the Rune. "My foci will act as the array, focus our efforts.....Neva, Queen....when you are ready."

"Well, it's not much, but I'll see what I can do," Zaofan said. "Ah, what a shame. I had to make a hard trade to get two jugs of Baradur spirits...but we'll get through this, I guarantee!"

All he could do at the moment was monitor the situation for any changes in the planetary mantle. Hopefully what energy Ochazuke and Zaofan had gathered to intercept would be sufficient to contest the Majin sovereignty. Yet within the span of his planet-wide meditation field, the reverbe of battle shook the very leylines, and there was little sign of Auroc slowing down.

"From inside Auroc. I saw it there so I spear-fished it out. He turned to black rain for a while, then he started to reform, only last I saw he's missing half of himself." Dash walked it over, her gloved hand holding it out to show them, "An now ah have no idea what to do with it. Was hopin' you or someone else might know."

"..."

Ochazuke said nothing in response, only silently loaning a portion of his focus to determine what, if any, effect this piece of Auroc might potentiate in the middle of his own network of spellcraft.

Perhaps there might be something revealed from it...

[Monstrous Bird of Qin, Ou Ki]

Just as swiftly as it had come into being, the sphere began to vanish, the spines retracting themselves from the Nobles body. The Nevadians hair unraveled from around him, shrinking back to its traditional length.

The Nevadian barely spared a glance at the slain Noble, apathetically watching his body begin it's long descent.

Breathing heavily, the Nevadian let out a sigh of relief between breaths.

That was a close one....

Held scanned his surroundings, intent on avoiding another surprise. There was little time to waste, as for all he knew, yet more foes would rush forward to intercept him.

The Gold and Silver spears were gripped tight, as the spiraling power of purification hummed loudly above them.

The Nevadian peered into the soul of the Threshling planet, seeing both the life stream, and the corruption of Auroc's taint within it. A deadly disease required a potent cure.

SPIRALING......

He reared back his hands, pointing the tips of the blades towards the earth below.

Horn......

The spheres rotated at a feverish pace, a high pitched whining as to beg--nay, plead--for release as he prepared himself, forcing himself to go just a tad further.

A moment passed, and he knew he could go no further, the burning white of the attack so intense as to force even him to look away slightly.

PURIFICATION!

He thrust forth his arms, and a beam of energy as wide as The Nevadian himself shot forth from each spear, twisting, turning, drilling through the air.

The Nevadian brought the spears closer together, and the beams crossed, easily tripling in size, a massive spiral beam boring into Reshlan.

Soon it would reach the heart of the world where Auroc's power lay, and soon it would seek to rend that wicked strength asunder with the power of it's light.

"You conduct yourself well... Nevadian," came a cool, calm voice from behind the Admiral. Suddenly, there was a power... a massive, oppressive, overwhelming power behind him, as if it had simply appeared out of nowhere. "You, however, are an invader, and I, Sefiroth the One-Winged Knight of Auroc, shall expel you and your kind, including the Infidel princess, from Holy Reshlan."

Behind him, he would find a threshling knight, clad in black armor, and with long flowing white hair. In his hand he held a sword... a ridiculously long curved sword. Far too long for any sane man to wield, but one got the sense that this 'Sefiroth' could wield it with deadly speed, power, and precision far beyond what one would expect from its impressive length.



"Prepare yourself!" The knight raised his hands and dark clouds formed, swirling inwards until an ominous twilight had settled upon the region...


...more oddly, a distinctive, almost "boss music" orchestral theme began playing just as the clouds gathered. The Nevadian would not have time to enjoy the music, however, as Sefiroth, with amazing speed, charged at the Nevadian, swinging his blade towards the Nevadian's neck.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

She narrowed her eyes.

Was it Inanna?

No, he wouldn't have been able to sense her energy. Perhaps Auroc.

"It might be Auroc, the god that I'm on this world to fight. My friends are fighting him right now and I need to get back to help them."

He shakes his head and then points up.

A figure starts to float down. Cloaked in grey clothes and a hood, the man floats down to their level.

“Forgive the unusual circumstances in this visitation, Princess. Goku. This was the only chance I would have to connect the both of you. Bypassing the universal lock out is...no easy feat.”

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

It burns into her skin slightly, but fails to penetrate.

The Katchin succeeded, Inanna sighed.

Then she moved shakily to retrieve the now masterless relics.

[Sub-Zero MKA]

He shakes his head and then points up.

A figure starts to float down. Cloaked in grey clothes and a hood, the man floats down to their level.

“Forgive the unusual circumstances in this visitation, Princess. Goku. This was the only chance I would have to connect the both of you. Bypassing the universal lock out is...no easy feat.”

She followed his finger and found a... mysterious being floating down to meet them. His manner of dress was simple, but unrecognizable. As was his aura. Her brow furrowed in confusion. She activated Observational Focus to gain further insight into this stranger beyond what she could see and sense. "Who are you? What do you want?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding..." Blizzar breathed a sigh of relief, despite the state of his feet. "Best we clear the air, eh?"

The Arcosian knelt down and begins to charge his ki and focus his mind. With a mighty bellow, his telekinesis raged forth in an attempt to tear asunder the entire temple as well as expose his unseen opponent.

The shrine shreds apart, and amidst the ruins, a swift and short figure darts in and punches Blizzar in the throat.

[Tami]

"Well, it's not much, but I'll see what I can do," Zaofan said. "Ah, what a shame. I had to make a hard trade to get two jugs of Baradur spirits...but we'll get through this, I guarantee!"

All he could do at the moment was monitor the situation for any changes in the planetary mantle. Hopefully what energy Ochazuke and Zaofan had gathered to intercept would be sufficient to contest the Majin sovereignty. Yet within the span of his planet-wide meditation field, the reverbe of battle shook the very leylines, and there was little sign of Auroc slowing down.



"..."

Ochazuke said nothing in response, only silently loaning a portion of his focus to determine what, if any, effect this piece of Auroc might potentiate in the middle of his own network of spellcraft.

Perhaps there might be something revealed from it...

Relaxing slightly, Dash waits patiently for Ochazuke's next response. As she waits, she looks down at the crystal with a mix of apprehension and curiosity.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

She followed his finger and found a... mysterious being floating down to meet them. His manner of dress was simple, but unrecognizable. As was his aura. Her brow furrowed in confusion. She activated Observational Focus to gain further insight into this stranger beyond what she could see and sense. "Who are you? What do you want?"

“I wanted you two meet so Goku could help you obtain your Ascended form. Goku is unique, as someone who has seen life on both sides multiple times. He will be able help you far quicker than anyone else. Beyond that, my reasons are...my own.”

Parsley, you get no reading on the person at all.

Goku frowns but nods.

“I can sense she’s close. I don’t mind helping.”

[bruceleegreyhulk]

She finds her going to where the others are in the basement.

Praxat follows Dash to the basement.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The crystal seems to be a control nexus to Ochazuke, something Auroc could use to better control the various energies he was siphoning and feeding in through his taint.

As you realize this, a massive surge of power seems to make the entire planet shudder. Anyone who is sensing the planet and can sense Auroc’s taint in it can feel a slow but steady pulse of pure unadulterated purification.

The leylines seem to cry out in relief as Held’s attack travels like liquid quicksilver through the energy veins of the planet, scouring away Auroc’s taint on the inside like a high power pressure washer.

His taint remains in the air and soil, but his access to nearly limitless energy is gone, not can he siphon from his people anymore.

The Runic Sigil of destruction remains primed however.

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

The Katchin succeeded, Inanna sighed.

Then she moved shakily to retrieve the now masterless relics.

Both seem simple and even plain, but they thrum with old magic.