Rhugris's Gamble: The Women Kings

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Nagase
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Rhugris's Gamble: The Women Kings

Post by Nagase »

She rested atop of a towering mound of sand, taking a freshly earned break to catch her breath. Her right hand rested on her shoulder, nursing a burn she’d be struggling with healing. “Arrogant Tools.” She whispered while twisting a small finger bone, rotating it back and forth like a coin between her fingers. “Every overzealous vesta maniac this gauntlet has to offer has conveniently found me, carrying my name with them.” The winds suddenly began to pick up and snatched her cloak from her waist, with no more than an impulse she snatched the tattered remains of her cloak from the wind, snagging one of the holes with the boney-finger she had kept as a souvenir from her last encounter. Seeking shelter from the winds, a small fledgling vulture landed near her, hiding under the shade of her cloak while picking the scraps of meat left on the pile of bones surrounding nagase. When finished it held open its mouth for a moment before bellowing a single high pitch caw the pierced the air . Her face was frozen with a pained frown for a moment before she shut her eyes.

"...Little Vulture, I hate this game. I shudder to think what twisted ambition made it through Vorim's shadow. It's not every day we're allowed such a vivid connection with our unconscious realm and Vorim's pass or fail interpretation made it all the more challenging. Those who moved on are either sharpened by their renewed resolve or wandering this desert as a beast…with no face. Did the first kings really have to endure this or was baldie just running his mouth for show?"

-The Vivin, a species of vulture that inhabit the southern border of the Acrix desert, now referred to as Little vulture, had been following nagase since the maze. She wasn't sure if the fledgling had been abandoned or his parents lives taken;but, the creature was great at seeing through the frequent sandstorms and worked diligently to alert her of approaching danger, even those capable of hiding themselves from light. “I know you can't talk, but I get the feeling you're asking about the maze…probably wondering why there is less food?"

-Little vulture let out another high pitch caw, this time three cries in a roll, each followed by an erratic blinking of his three eyes that caused nagase to burst into laughter.

"Caw!" She said, mimicking the bird's cry with frightening precision. "Silly bird, there are significantly less contenders…and judging by how quiet this desert is, I'd wager even this challenge is coming to a close."

Little Vulture "Caw. Caw."

"Keep it down. I already have enough keys to qualify and I dont need anymore Vesta airheads-Hungry to prove themselves, interrupting my Arbiter. I must’ve heard a hundred backstories since I got here and scorched a third of them alive.” She said with a roaring passion, forgoing her own request for discretion. She thrusted her arms for the birds, only to have it render itself intangible, leaving her hands clasped together inside of its flickering body. “Damn….no wonder youre still regarded as a myth. I'm tired and hungry and if I didn't know you from the maze;i’d be sure you were an illusion- with a freaky lil skill like that.” Little vulture tilted its head and blinked his three eyes in unison. Nagase plopped her body unton the sand floor, her hands still clasped together and gathered the bones around her into a single pile, that began to flume with a black smoke. “Its been a full Vescrutian day since we started this challenge and I'm the one who is actually hungry, you eaten a weeks worth in a day." She whispered as she began to gather Naten using a style of mudra her mother passed down to her.

Bird:"What about those four boys you saw at registration"

Nagase's head sharply turned and silently stared at the vulture, her eyes darting around her closed eyelids.

Nagase:…. hallucination?

Her question went unanswered by the bird, save for a few animal cries it made.

Nagase:... I tried to save them, my conscience is clear- you lazy bird.
Last edited by Nagase on Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Ranora Hellgate
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Ranora Hellgate »

"Who are you talking to?"

Hailed a voice from the foot of Nagase's dwarfing throne of sand and bone. The voice was soft and heavy like a chilled glass of muddled grapes. But it belonged to someone who was nowhere near as fine and delicate as an aged merlot.

Ranora's eyes were deceptively kind. They were pretty, like shards of glass held against beams of light. Nagase could probably see those azure moons glaring up at her from below. They burned with a subtle heat that somehow managed to glow in broad day light. But at the end of the day, they were still shards of glass. A pair deadly blue daggers that latched unto this wounded fawn with nothing in mind but murderous intent.

Once Nagase took a gander at the only living thing for miles, she'd see Ranora was literally a drip with the blood of her enemies.. and obstacles. She was the cause of this eerie silence. This absence of presence. Her hair, which was normally a river of molten silver, was matted down by liters of sticky red fluids she bled from a proud, Holguard warrior.

She took his armor after ripping him apart. It was composed of coveted minerals and metals that proved useful in combat. In her hand, she was carrying the dismembered arm of a larger man. The birthrune seen at the palm of his hand linked him to the Vesta family, but what remained of the appendage was vandalized in gnarly bite marks. Bite marks that couldn't belong to this 5'9 little girl.

She took another bite.

"Dui yo fee seh up there"

She mumbled through a mouthful of bones and muscular tissue, which probably came off like jarbled nonesense to Nagase from where she sat. Unlike everyone else she encountered during her exodus through Thassigars Maze, Ranora looked unphased by the Naten draining affects that pervaded its walls. Her "brothers and sisters", all of them, she saw the powers they clung to eventually fade away like weak kindles. They were supposed to be warriors, but not one of them offered her a battle worth bragging about. Most of them we're weak. Big fish, small pond sort of deal. Some of them bartered for their lives, using keys as leverage. But they all tasted the same. Delicious. They kept her strong while they weakened. Every bite. Every morsel. She took her time traversing the maze. She thoroughly enjoyed this "challenge", but Ranora thought of this as more than a tasting than anything else. She wasn't tired at all. She wasn't even full yet. In fact, Ranora was still peckish.

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Nagase
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Nagase »

Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Fri Dec 23, 2022 2:48 am
"Who are you talking to?"
-Her chatter came to abrupt halt as wind of her visiters words swept passed her ears. With a slight tilt of her head, she gestured for the vulture to investigate the muttering they'd heard.-

"Damn, I'd wondered if Id get the chance to put a face to the legend." She said with enough vigor to carry her nonchalant tone to the ears of her new guest. Flashes of pale red lightning illuminated the night sky, followed by the screeching crackle of thunder behind it. In it's wake came the distinct smell of fresh water that swept over the desert, a scent incredibly difficult miss in these arid lands.

With a casual strut she made her way over the edge of her tower of sand, leaving behind a featureless shadow creature with it's hands clasped together and silently mouthing something

"You're the cannibal whose name was on everyone's tongue inside the maze. After everything I heard, I had looked forward to running into you;but, now that I'm getting a ...whiff, im having a change of heart. Sloppy. Undisciplined."

Her eyes followed Ranora's every move with methodical precision, reading her meat filled mouth through her abhorrent mannerism posed it challenge on her patience;but, a sudden deluge of rain broke her growing frustration. "Eh...water?" It had been over decade since rained kissed this section of the desert, evident by the dried river bed just 20 meters from her tower.
Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Fri Dec 23, 2022 2:48 am
"Dui yo fee seh up there?"
"Huh...fee seh?! Oooooh safe? Poor thing, this is your last supper." She said while waving her finger, a gestured that was overshadowed by a hulking silhouette of giant woman mimicking her gestures. A presence that was only illuminated by the flash of lightning from the approaching storm.

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Ranora Hellgate
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Ranora Hellgate »

*..CRUNCH.. ..CRUNCH.. ..CRUNCH....CRUNCH..*

Ranora took another slobbering bite. This one ripped the ulna out of this dismembered forearm just before the storm broke around her. She could barely hear Nagase's shady comments over the sounds of her gnashing teeth. But the rain stilled her lips quickly.

The sudden storm swept the visceral slime from her sandstone skin and brought the molten gleam of silver back to her hair. Unfortunately however, the rain also fouled the flavor of raw meat. She swallowed what was left in her mouth and swiped her lips clean.

Nagase was approaching her.
With a casual strut she made her way over the edge of her tower of sand, leaving behind a featureless shadow creature with it's hands clasped together and silently mouthing something

"You're the cannibal whose name was on everyone's tongue inside the maze. After everything I heard, I had looked forward to running into you;but, now that I'm getting a ...whiff, im having a change of heart. Sloppy. Undisciplined.."
Ranora scoffed, raking her fingers through her slick tresses.
"Poor thing, this is your last supper."

She said while waving her finger, a gestured that was overshadowed by a hulking silhouette of a giant woman mimicking her gestures.
Ranora craned her neck with intrigue upon seeing the skulking colossus beneath the storm. A very poignant show of strength that none of her prior victims could display before the died. This forced her still lips into thin smile, but she wouldn't let her self get overly excited. She'd seen her father slay monsters twice the size of this etheral obilisk without aid or calvary. Today was her chance. Another gift from the Red.

"..ugh, blah blah blah.. why do you all talk so much?"

She said mockingly as her eyes began to burn into tiny pockets of blue. Every single sibling she encountered, murdered, or eaten within the maze were always loquacious to some degree. Some of them were more poetic than others, but it was as if wordsmith was in their DNA. So talkative. Slaves to rhetoric. Not Ranora. Talking wasn't her strong point. Killing was.

"..you wanna know what you smell like?"

She said bearing a beautfiul smile. Crest white, clean, and deadly.

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Nagase
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Nagase »

Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Thu Jan 12, 2023 2:50 pm
"..you wanna know what you smell like?" She said bearing a beautfiul smile. Crest white, clean, and deadly.
Her eyes locked onto the cannibal's crest white smile and narrowed to a slit. The Cannibal's behavior was casual and forth coming, brazenly devouring the flesh of your own species-even among vescrutias worst, was qualified insanity.

But without a care in the world the beautiful beast chewed away. Cooking food was a staple of cognitive develop, even if the evolution were to reset, it wouldn't take a developing conscious mind long to discover the value of heating it's meat. Yet this creature seemed comfortable and healthy eating raw flesh.

"Perfect teeth is a clear give away for high speed regeneration or rapid cellular evolution. Though cosmetics alteration or glamour spells are possible outcomes aswell.

She said mostly as a whisper. Immediately after a display of horizontal lightning stretched across the skyline like the endless roots of the forest- once again revealing a towering presence, now holding it's hand over her. The sudden down pour quickly caught up to them, allowing rain to drenched the drought written desert and slowly fill the riverbed.

"... I imagine I smell of seared flesh and sweat;but, I'm guessing you're thinking-lunch?"

She said with a light hearted chuckle and a glance over her shoulder at the shadow.

"That's the punch line, right?"

The shadowy figure she created with her Anthem, myou myaku ended it's Arbiter's preparation. It's enigmatic and featureless canvas began to take a more detailed form of a slender man wearing casual pants, glasses and a jacket. The figure made it's way over to nagase and kneeled, where she adorned the black tattered cloak she tied to her waist around its neck.

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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Ranora Hellgate »

The storm provided her the perfect blanket of cover. Ranora lifted her nose to the down pour and allowed the cool shower to wash over her. It was a refreshing reprieve from the strangling sun.
a display of horizontal lightning stretched across the skyline like the endless roots of the forest- once again revealing a towering presence, now holding it's hand over her. The sudden down pour quickly caught up to them, allowing rain to drenched the drought written desert and slowly fill the riverbed.
Again, Ranora spied the colossal figure lurching above them in the darkened clouds. The lightning teased its presence. Haunting. Still. And again, she felt the excitement. Zeal bubbling in her blood like some volatile compound. Her grip around the dismembered arm tightened until loose bone splintered from the ulna.
"... I imagine I smell of seared flesh and sweat;but, I'm guessing you're thinking-lunch?"

She said with a light hearted chuckle and a glance over her shoulder at the shadow.

"That's the punch line, right?"
Ranora's snooty smile dwindled now to more of a haughty crease. She started slowly walking toward Nagase's tower of ruin. Real slow as if she owned the ground beneath her.

"There is no punch line, because there is no joke. I don't joke. I'm going to kill you, little one. And then I'm going to eat you."

!!KRRRAAAAAAAAKAHH!!

Ranora was sprung by the latter crack of thunder, her approach hidden beneath the celestial flash of colliding electrons. This sudden burst of speed splintered the mound of wet soil where she stood and stalked it to flame. Her movements were ethereal. Ghost like in comparison. By every account she simply vanished from the face of the earth but the heat of her presence pressed heavy against Nagase like an invisible, blistering fog.

Too most men it would seem like a hurricane was upon them. Not some formless foe, this vestige of death. Ranora was more vector than mass by the time she reached her target, and she was swinging her departed sibling's torn appendage toward Nagase's turned neck as if it were an instrument of war. If the little Hellgate had magical eyes in the back of her head, then she'd probably see what crazed excitement looked like first hand. This was always how Ranora initiated battle. She always struck first and she rarely ever missed. To take charge and control of the battlefield was how the Q'aalyia were conditoned. It was the best way to gauge your foe, and the easiest way to discern their weaknesses. Overwhelming, unrelenting force. The likes of which would tear the desert asunder should she connect and funnel a hole through the clouds to the stars.

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Nagase
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Nagase »

Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:25 am
Again, Ranora spied the colossal figure lurching above them in the darkened clouds. The lightning teased its presence. Haunting. Still. And again, she felt the excitement. Zeal bubbling in her blood like some volatile compound. Her grip around the dismembered arm tightened until loose bone splintered from the ulna.
"You're twisted and I like that about you." She said while squeezing the sand in her hand. "I turned my nightmares, my fears and adversaries into pawns for my ambition. I seek, stalk, and study those who weave their lives with the needle of Necessity and "brutality" It's...in my nature. So, im not typically shaken by the abhorrent nightmares found on this planet... But what does bother me, more than your overwhelming murderous intent-is the boundaries of this game. How are they keeping us from using our unregistered Arbiters?
Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:25 am
Ranora's snooty smile dwindled now to more of a haughty crease. She started slowly walking toward Nagase's tower of ruin. Real slow as if she owned the ground beneath her.
See...by now, I'd be using your name as if it were common tongue. No matter how deeply shrouded your life was, your thoughts, feelings, fears, memories...they'd all be floating around the air- as free as fruit from a tree. Yet, i hear nothing. We didn't take anything, no foreign substances are in our bodies, no naten diffusers or inhibitors on the battlefield. Yet, i cant hear a word you're thinking. Naturally, I imagine outside of combat your synapses aren't that high to begin with; but, if you've survived Vorim's Riddle...you should understand the problem.

"I know i'm rambling...b-"
Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:25 am
"There is no punch line, because there is no joke. I don't joke. I'm going to kill you, little one. And then I'm going to eat you."

!!KRRRAAAAAAAAKAHH!!
Are you listening...how are they preventing us from using our Arbiters?
Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:25 am
Ranora was sprung by the latter crack of thunder, her approach hidden beneath the celestial flash of colliding electrons. This sudden burst of speed splintered the mound of wet soil where she stood and stalked it to flame. Her movements were ethereal. Ghost like in comparison. By every account she simply vanished from the face of the earth but the heat of her presence pressed heavy against Nagase like an invisible, blistering fog.

-The tower of sand she rested on went up in flames and her opponent disappeared, but Nagase remained still, now floating in the air with the ravenous blaze brooding beneath her. the crackling of electrical pressure illuminated the presence holding the mouthy Hellgate in its palm. Its hands created a ceiling that neither the flames, heat nor smoke, could penetrate. The shadowed figured kneeling beside her remained at its knee, arm across its chest and head bow while whispering "L.O.D"-

"I watched enough people die in this game to know...its not from a lack of trying that they didnt use their unregistered arbiters-my fear...to sum this all up for you. One of the crowns has the ability to bind Mass arbiters at whim."
Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Sat Jan 28, 2023 12:25 am
Too most men it would seem like a hurricane was upon them. Not some formless foe, this vestige of death. Ranora was more vector than mass by the time she reached her target, and she was swinging her departed sibling's torn appendage toward Nagase's turned neck as if it were an instrument of war. If the little Hellgate had magical eyes in the back of her head, then she'd probably see what crazed excitement looked like first hand. This was always how Ranora initiated battle. She always struck first and she rarely ever missed. To take charge and control of the battlefield was how the Q'aalyia were conditoned. It was the best way to gauge your foe, and the easiest way to discern their weaknesses. Overwhelming, unrelenting force. The likes of which would tear the desert asunder should she connect and funnel a hole through the clouds to the stars.

The severed limb that Ranora wielded like an instrument of war made a certain connection, the likes of which released a near ear shattering gong across the desert and pulverized what remained of the flaming tower of sand crumbling beneath them. As the dust settled and the periodic illumination from the storm above, Ranora could see her weapon was tightly lodged in what appeared to be the teeth of the presence she'd been seeing and no struggle was strong enough to pry her weapon from its grasp. Nagase was enveloped in the presence and its head surronded her body, with presence's huge eyes staring at her, glowing with the same tint as the red lightning that filled the sky. Ranora would feel that she too was quickly become enveloped by the same inevibility that had ensnared her weapon, her only warning was a slight tickle shooting down her spine. "I'm a Scion,dear. I wasn't joking when I warned you'd eatin your last meal." Nagase didnt bother to meet her opponent face to face, but the shadowy figure she created took swift action. It reached its hand into a black portal, much larger than the ones she crafted with her myou myaku. Within an instant its featureless expression and shadowed canvas became identical to a pale skin male with orange hair and eyes.

A portal appeared beneath Ranora and out came a comically large cannon, pulsing and humming with energy, with Ranora directly beneath the megalithic weapon. She'd barely have time to ponder the rhyme of reason to such machinations before she were absorbed completely ,both soul and matter , by the all consuming pressure of what would feel like the spontaneous emergence of a black hole.

Lord of Darkness:"Giga Abysss Cannon."

As if his word alone were the trigger to his weapon, it unleashed its payload. Sending a burst of pressure high into the air, hopefully draining both spirit and flesh from her adversaries body.

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Ranora Hellgate
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Ranora Hellgate »

Ranora didn't flinch once thwarted by Nagase's sinister, translucent suit of armor. She didn't even try to wriggle free from its razor fanged embrace. She anticipated some resistance, but the style of her foe's defenses did crease Ranora's face in confusion. She didn't have the luxury to analyze it though, her opponent was already performing their counter.
Ranora would feel that she too was quickly become enveloped by the same inevibility that had ensnared her weapon.

"I'm a Scion,dear. I wasn't joking when I warned you'd eatin your last meal."

Nagase didnt bother to meet her opponent face to face, but the shadowy figure she created took swift action. It reached its hand into a black portal, much larger than the ones Nagase crafted with her myou myaku.. and out came a comically large cannon, pulsing and humming with energy, with Ranora directly beneath the megalithic weapon. She'd barely have time to ponder the rhyme of reason to such machinations before she were absorbed completely ,both soul and matter , by the all consuming pressure of what would feel like the spontaneous emergence of a black hole.

Lord of Darkness: "Giga Abysss Cannon."

As if his word alone were the trigger to his weapon, it unleashed its payload. Sending a burst of pressure high into the air, hopefully draining both spirit and flesh from her adversaries body.
Tch..

It would seem that this was a feign of vulnerability to lure her in close. A trap. One Ranora had willingly thrown herself into as a means of gauging her opposition. And while their were methods to her madness, she'd have to address their consequences before reaping the fruits of her labor.

First, there was the matter of her weapon. Frozen in place by this ambiguous force. Originally, Ranora thought the savagery behind her strike would cause the dismembered appendage to shatter from the impact. The fact that it was still in perfect condition, despite the devastating shockwave generated from the impact, was unnerving. That is, until Nagase exposed herself as Scion. A generous fact that altered Ranora's mentality toward this battle entirely.

Psychic creatures were considered among the zenith on the totem pole where she came from. The Q'aalyia tribe made a living hunting and poaching deadly monsters and prestigious armadas. It was their way. But Psion were different. They were unnatural. Unpredictable. Unique and Incredibly dangerous organisms that her upper tribesmen deemed unwise to haunt alone. This too, unnerved her..

But Ranora didn't fold under pressure. But she did feel Nagase's ghost-like embrace closing in around her, applying paralyzing effects to her muscles without so much as lifting a finger. Ranora's grin was gone entirely. In its place, a frenzy of emotions were wrestling for dominance. Fear and focus chief among them.

What emerged from the swirling mass of darkness truly brought together Nagase's grandiose display of strength.. Or lack thereof. The weapon was an enormous mass of spectral metals oozing vampiric energies that Ranora could feel literally tugging at her soul. It was god awful. Traumatizing and awe inspiring all at once. And to make matters worse, Nagase was still talking, as if anything could be heard over the throes of might and power. She offered food for thought but, for all her prolixity, Ranora couldn't hear any of it. She had to focus on not getting obliterated by the eye blistering flash blaring from this cannon.

Her initial reaction was her only reaction. With all of her strength, Ranora waved her free hand through this constricting presence and toward the incoming blast beneath her. It was all she could do given the time crunch. Just extending her palm as if to say STOP!! to this inevitable wave of death. Which admittedly wouldn't be enough for her to circumvent impending doom, but what emerged around her proved far more useful. It appeared inches from her fingertips, just as the giga abyss cannon unleashed its point blank blast from beneath her feet. It was a massive sky-arching, holographic barrier pulsating along its hexagonal structure. It looked like a giant honeycomb. Truly gargantuan in its own right, but still meek in comparison to Nagase's phantasmal firearm. Fortunately, size was irrelevant in this case.

Ranora was mostly unacquainted with the minutiae of this technique. As far as she was concerned, it was simply a powerful shield, one she'd seen protect its original owner from a bevy of cataclysmic attacks with little effort. She never learned the man's name, but he and his caravan of Holgurd Hellgates were the first victims in Ranora's warpath. She stumbled upon them hours ago during her exodus through that convoluted labyrinth. They were less than admirable men, yet gilded in plates of regal armor that conveyed prestige and higher nobility. She found them classless, and oafishly beside themselves with confidence and pride. She remembered at least a dozen soldiers. Muscle bound, battle seasoned. All seduced by the bravado of their leader. He, a middle aged Hellgate with silver hair and dwarfing dimensions, allowed his depraved predilection toward beautiful young women to lead his battalion to Ranora. Each of them were powerful warriors, but they underestimated her delicate features. She killed them all and devoured their leader, gaining in the process the magnificent tool that inflated his ego.

The Holgurd were known if nothing else for their immaculate defensive capabilities. They could mold barriers that did more than simply deflect ballistics. Leagues more. The blood now flowing through Ranora's veins equipped her with a protective shell that literally dissected any force formed against it. Nagase's earth splitting ordinance put its integrity to task. The frequency created from the collision struck thrice as loud as the celestial flashes above them. Both of Ranora's eardrums popped like balloons, deafening her to an extent as she glared through the concussive storm. Wincing. Gritting her teeth. But her barrier held true enough. She was protected by the ghoulish, soul draining lights. The hexagonal plates dissected the lion's share of the blast. However, the magnitude behind the Giga Abyss cannon was more than enough to blast her miles away in the opposing direction.

Ranora violently crashed into the sands thereafter. Her body was kept mostly unscathed from the aforementioned materials she was wearing, but she was still winded from the exchange. She felt lighter. Weaker. She checked her body for any missing parts and heaved a well deserved sigh of relief when she discerned she was all still there. No missing pieces. A few broken things but nothing serious, aside from perhaps her wounded ego.

"..."

Ranora didn't say anything witty or cute as she took a breath and gandered upon the aftermath. The direction she was thrown from was torn and decimated by Nagase's blast. She could barely see her from this far away beneath the shadowy clouds, but Ranora doubted the same could be said about her psychic foe.

"..Kaava."

She whispered through scattered breaths. A word in her native tongue that held hundreds of different meanings reliant on tone and context. None of them were flattering, all of them were crude.

Ranora shifted her feet in the sands, and braced herself for enemies impending pursuit. She adopted a more defensive demeanor as she began harnessing her Naten, causing her blue eyes to steam blue smoke. The distance gave her a small cushion of opportunity to adjust. One she didn't plan to waste.

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Re: Rhugris's Gamble

Post by Nagase »

Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:57 pm
Her initial reaction was her only reaction. With all of her strength, Ranora waved her free hand through this constricting presence and toward the incoming blast beneath her. It was all she could do given the time crunch. Just extending her palm as if to say STOP!! to this inevitable wave of death. Which admittedly wouldn't be enough for her to circumvent impending doom, but what emerged around her proved far more useful. It appeared inches from her fingertips, just as the giga abyss cannon unleashed its point blank blast from beneath her feet. It was a massive sky-arching, holographic barrier pulsating along its hexagonal structure. It looked like a giant honeycomb. Truly gargantuan in its own right, but still meek in comparison to Nagase's phantasmal firearm. Fortunately, size was irrelevant in this case.
-The cannon went off, releasing a force of pure vampiric Naten that crystalized the sands beneath the pharomic presence of the Cannon, vaporizing the hardened silicon and reshaping it into towering , gradient blue quarts from it's immense pressure and heat.-


"What....that's not your anthem! I can smell the pungent odor of a Holgurd underwater. Come to think of it...you're the woman who was right infront of me at registration, your anthems ahhhhh?" -She said as her thoughts began drifting into reflection, vividly recalling the Holgurd family crest she'd seen on Ranora's deceased victims arm.- "Actually, even that shape of that shield, Hellagard, is unique to some promising Holgurd dickhead;but, if you're...using it."
Ranora Hellgate wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:57 pm

Ranora violently crashed into the sands thereafter. Her body was kept mostly unscathed from the aforementioned materials she was wearing, but she was still winded from the exchange. She felt lighter. Weaker. She checked her body for any missing parts and heaved a well deserved sigh of relief when she discerned she was all still there. No missing pieces. A few broken things but nothing serious, aside from perhaps her wounded ego.

"..."
-The colossal presence, illuminated by the ever increasing aggression of the storm, could be seen glaring in an arbitrary direction, not even searching for Ranora, whose body was violently flung just outside of nagase's Psionic grasp. She scuffed and kicked at the air in disappointment., before squatting in the air, falling into a restful position with her arms resting on her right knee. Much like before, a shadow persona leapt from her rear and began working on her Ava, a series of handseals.-

Though too far in the air and too far from Ranora to see, Nagase's face was covered in deep lacerations, some even showing her cheek bone, all of which stretched outwards from her lips. Fiber by fiber the tissues reconnected with one another, reversing the damage caused by Ranora's collision with her psychic presence. The process was sluggish, even if it were to be compared to a ranked novice's cellular rejuvenation-she was tired. Her journey through the crown jewel had been rich with conflict and the effects of Tassithgur's maze still weighed heavily on her Naten reservoirs. Not to mention the number of times she'd used her psionic imagination to make nocturnal servants of Vescrutia Fabled legends.

"Damn…a florum's anthem should allow them to gain information from eating matter; but, this whore appears to get control of a creatures Arbiter?!"

Lord of D:We should retreat, with all things considered.

Nagase:Not a chance. *She said brazenly.* She may have blocked your attack; but, I'm sure she felt the sting-otherwise she'd be rushing over here to repay the favor. Wait...*She paushed in her speech and shyly directed her attention at her Psionic generated warrior.* You have consciousness?! *She asked nervously while licking the outside of her face from her exposed jaw.*

Lord of d: I wouldn't call this…consciousness?

She heaved a heavy sign and chose to keep her thoughts on the matter to herself;but, soothed the realization of the situation with a long winded swear.

Nagase: Fuckkkkk

She could recall her mother's warning about nocturnal servants expressing themselves being the first sign of a problem; but, in her current situation she'd have to ignore the warning she'd been given. It would take too much time and energy to create another legend, it was safer to roll the dice with the Lord of darkness , a former champion of her father's relic- Shinobi alliance. Still resting the weight of her arms on her knee she weaved a series of hand signs, conjuring multiple featureless shadows to spawn at her side.

The crimson red lightning strikes that lashed at the heavens grew more intense as Nagase pulled naten from the charged particles, which pulled the charged electrons from the confines of the skies and caused them to violently lash out the ground beneath them, sporadic and outside of her control- the bolts illuminated her intentions. The towering presence of her psionic prowess, motioned in Ranora's direction. With it head still arbitration affixed in a random direction, the hands of the beast slowly parted the clouds that hid Ranora from sight . Like the massless beast it was, the finger poised at the ground slowly and silently descended past the clouds and pressed against the sands with great force. The wet sand behaved like a liquid and under the pressure and influence of her psychic grasp, it raced for Ranora like a raging tsunami gaining mass, speed and destructive force in its approach.

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Ranora Hellgate
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Re: Rhugris's Gamble: The Women Kings

Post by Ranora Hellgate »

Ranora used the sudden reprieve from Nagase's assault to catch her breath and properly assess the damage she suffered in the exchange. She knelt onto the sands and gingerly caressed her bruises; two of her ribs were fractured in the fall but there was no internal bleeding. It seemed that the Hologuards armor did its job well, but she could tell something was wrong.. She felt so tired all of a sudden. Her vision was blurred, muscles fatigued, even her knees were trembling trying to support her weight. She was hurt of course, but a few cracked ribs shouldn't be dragging her to her knees. In the short time she had to think on it, Ranora discerned the devilish projectile was to blame. It must have harbored a poisoning effect so concentrated not even deflecting the blast could circumvent it. She shuddered at the thought of a direct hit as she finally caught her breath.

"..the hell was--"

Ranora said to herself cleaning the blood from her face. Immediately after, she was stilted to her feet by lashing bolts of crimson lightning peeling apart the sky. Adrenaline once again numbed her whining bruises and drew her eyes to storm above.
The towering presence of Nagase's psionic prowess, motioned in Ranora's direction.. the hands of the beast slowly parted the clouds that hid Ranora from sight. Like the massless beast's finger poised at the ground slowly and silently descended past the clouds and pressed against the sands with great force.

The wet sand behaved like a liquid and under the pressure and influence of her psychic grasp, it raced for Ranora like a raging tsunami gaining mass, speed and destructive force in its approach.
"..what is she?"

Ranora wasn't entirely sure how she should have prepared herself for what was cascading toward her. The Psion had weaponized the terrain itself, terraforming the sands into a raging vector of sand with a runup height of nearly 100 meters. A giant tsunami of sand and sediment, crafted by her own personal sentient colossus. This was the power the elders warned her about; the might they begged her to circumvent at all cost. Psychics could solidify their rage into concrete, tangible tools of combat that would outlast and out work anything forged against them. Their potential mocked the limitations of man, and not enough was known about them to dissect a weakness.

Just as the dwarfing wave of eroding sand drowned her in its shadow, Ranora could taste something sour in the back of her throat. It dried out her mouth and wet her pits with cold sweat despite this blistering heat. She was afraid. Something that happened only a handful of times in her eighteen years alive. It was so rare she remembered its bitter flavor, and it ignited her blood with a cocktail of defiant emotions in response. Rage. Anger. Pride. It was an overflow of everything she could muster, but trying to dilute fear was hard. For a second move. She drew her stance in the quaking sands but Ranora truly didn't know what to do. But in her indecision, the towering sands had rumbled closer. Taller. Flying wasn't an option with the behemoth in the clouds. Retreat felt like a trap against an enemy that could attack from any range. But still, the wave of death rumbled closer..

She was out of time.. But something happened.

(-Within Ranora's Mind-)
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"Ah yes, the simpleton.. I nearly didn't bother with this one."

.. a strange occurrence, one brought on by the low timber of a disembodied voice harking from every direction. It caused the menacing tower of sand crashing toward her to slow to a crawl until it was completely frozen in suspended animation. Just as everything was around her; from the haunting storm clouds roaring above, to the shifting grains between her toes. She thought Nagase was to blame. It made sense at first. Psion's were capable of things far beyond the scope of her imagination, so stopping the flow of time seemed feasible. Yet.

"..yet I've found myself drawn to her pathetic tale.. Long before her homecoming.. Ranora..'Hellgate'.. Look how far you've come from that shit stained cage your father kept you in."

Ranora's eyes widened to dinner plates and reached over her shoulders for the source of the celestial octave but she saw no one. Just silence and sand. Even the winds were gone to this ambiguous distortion. But not this voice. Sinister and wet with contempt. Ranora's search for its owner was persistent but futile. It continued..

"A petulant creature. Filled to her cusp with displaced malice, void of any ambition short of bloodshed. A mutt of warfare, curbed to a heel by her soulless father.. You are an embarrassment to us, and you do not belong here."

She saw nothing no matter where she looked, but soon Ranora was drawn to a suffocating presence over her shoulder that was so powerful.. so otherworldly, it sent shivers down her spine. The source of this disembodied voice and the epicenter of these cruel waves of energy, was a shadowy figure whose form mimicked hers. The two of them were connected by a thread of darkness running along the sands.

"..you don't belong anywhere. But it is not your fault. As I've said.. I've been watching you. Your legacy was stolen from you. Your mind poisoned and perverted. And you have mistaken this trauma for an identity.. No longer."

Her shadow spoke with no face or distinguishing features, but the weight of its voice staggered Ranora to her knees. The voice belonged to something beyond her years. Nothing human about it aside from the language it used. That, and the two slits of ivory energy staring back at her.

"What is this?! Tricks? Deception!?"

Her roar was throaty and defiant, But Ranora couldn't muster the strength to stand among this crushing presence despite her grit.

"I do not fear your illusions, Psion!"

A far cry from the truth. It was then, the shadowy figure began to warb and distort right before her eyes. Light bent around it, soon air and space did too. In less than a few seconds, the entire desert was swallowed in this slithering living shadow. All but the sinister pair of ivory slits, persistent on judging and glaring at Ranora until the end of time.

"I will teach you."
(-Outside Her Mind-)

Ranora's eyes went pearl white. Glossy. Blank. And her mouth slacked as far as her jaw would allow. She was unconscious by the looks of it, but still she stood defiant of the encroaching tower of cascading sand. That's when a unique sigil formed at the center of her forehead, etched by an invisible blade that saw blood run down the bridge of her nose. This symbol pulsated like a throbbing vein until Ranora used her hand to touch the ground. This mirrored the magical symbol unto the shifting sands, and triggered a massive tremor that flattened the desert with a colorless explosion that would reach on forever unless properly stopped. But the nature of its destructive might wasn't raw power or blunt force. Materials caught up in this eldritch whirlwind were deconstructed and distingrated on an alchemical scale. And it traveled at alarming velocity. Upon collision with the dwarfing wall of sand, Nagase's tsunami was immediately transmuted into a variant of dust too light or thin to maintain a solid shape.

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