Prickly

  Marg armies, dying soldiers. The streets of Malencia run red with the blood of people so desperate to protect what's precious to them. The i bystander lies dead in his home, knife in hand to protect his wife. The wife dies shortly afterward, prioritizing stuffing her kids in a closet to keep them safe from an inquisition hellbent on razing this heretical city to the ground. The inquisitor follows his victims, all he wanted was to protect the world as a whole at the cost of some parably minor sacrifices, now a dagger is stu his neck as a child seeking vengeance had snuck up on him. That would at least be the experiehe Grand Army has had with Malencia so far, but the upper district is a new hell brought upohe purge had left many mansioy, rge buildings with thick walls. The Malencia guard has seen fit to use the remains of potential traitors to good use, nearly every mansion has been turned into small forts wreaking havo passing enemies. Malen surveilnd devastators have also rejoihe field of bat more actively here, this is the perfect stomping ground for both of them after all.

  Asahi's Hero Party cleaves a way through one of the walls surrounding such a fort, while certainly strong when magically enhanced as they are, the walls are no match for the stro adventurer group in Faeruhe break-in is not quiet, and the arm is heard over the sounds of bat. Liquidators raise their guns at the intruders, bullets hitting iively on the barrier created by Nalia. Tolbert rushes out of the barrier, his armor proving suffit against the hail of attacks. Seeing the dwarf charge at them like an unstoppable force has the Malens for a short moment, fear proving to be an ample distra as Larielle pins a few of them in their necks. Standing troops that mao get this far flood the breach, eager to ehe dreaded liquidators in close bat. Soon enough, the sounds of gunfire is repced with the cttering of metal, and the groans of the dying.

  Looking to capture a way towards the keep, Asahi tries to move towards the mansion itself, but an odd sight catches his eye. The brave men of The Grand Army are dragged into shadows when no one looks at their melee, a quid quiet takedown usually favored by rogues.

  "Xyrashi! Enemy rogues are upon the soldiers! you dispel their cloaks?" The wolfgirl es out of her own invisibility from her positioo the gate, numerous corpses of the masked gunmen y scattered nearby. She throws a bead in the middle of the courtyard, and in a fsh everyone previously camoufged bees visible. Instead of having the effect of revealing the eo be able to defend against them, there are screams of horrors instead.

  Amorphous goo-like bck creatures, eyes and mouths at pces where they should not be, grotesque forms left and right. The Malen surveilnce are masters at stealth, here in the shades of the courtyard of a mansion they make for fine assassins. Terror isn't the only thing to strike the hearts of men that sed, as the liquidators were wholly ued by their allies physical appearahe brief respite bought by diretervention from the surveileams was enough for them to retake some distahe creatures from surveilnce aren't so tactically ined, their exposure proving fatal as the mages present throw everything they have at them in panic. Explosions of bck goo dot the field, and the situation is looking worse for the Malens by the sed.

  "Throw grenades! Yellow!" The sergeant of the garrison is eager to prove that theory false, having mao skillfully evade headhuhus far. The soldiers of Malencia are quick to respond while they still , crudely made isters with yellow stripes over fly through the air. Nalia quickly provides a barrier for the people close by, the majority of troops were herded into a killzone, resulting in them all being tightly packed. Something the Malens are now mildly regretting. The grenades go off, and instead of the thunder aal their ons are usually apanied by, the grenades instead unleash a sickly yellow gas smelling faintly of... mustard.

  The troops ihe barrier jured by Nalia are fine, but Nalia herself feels something scrape against the barrier as the yellow fog is identified to be harmful by her protective magic. Sure enough, the people outside the barrier quickly start maki coughing hey desperately try to grab at their armor in an attempt to get it off as the gas easily seeps through the gaps in their pting. The hero's party is snapped out of their stupor as lightning strikes the barrier, on the roof of the mansion a Malen mage arrived, his more ufit denoting him as a Malencia devastator. Iime it takes to identify him, lightning strikes the barrier five more times, Nalia is holding out, but she 't both retaliate and maintain the barrier. Asahi quickly tries to think of a pn, but nine more lightning strikes ter, the lightning mage is silenced by a dagger. Xyrashi was never within the barrier, and had decided to stalk the battlefield for something worth killing. She initially thought of the sergeant, but decided to hang bastead. Something that's now paying itself off tenfold, as the trump card in this area was quickly eliminated without much of a fuss.

  The corpse of the devastator unceremoniously falling off the roof is the cherry on top for the liquidators, their sergeant sounds the horn of retreat, and all liquidators quickly jump off the low wall surrounding the fortified estate. No one is able to chase them in this position, but a few of them that were too close did get a few arrows in their backs as they retreated. The noxious fog disperses as well with the aid of wind magic. Fadunia goes to the soldiers affected by the gas, all of them still alive, even if they are currently wishing they weren't. Some mao take off their helmets, showing off burnt skin, and bits of lung stig to the inside of their helmets. Another round of coughing, and now those bits are on Fadunia's dress. To her horror, healing magi't doing much, the gas is already stuside their lungs.

  "Fadunia, I know what you are thinking, it would take too much time to stay here and treat them. The best we do for these men is make sure this doesn't happen to their family members." Fadunia looks at Asahi with tears in her eyes, she has never failed to save someone from death within arm's reach. Even if her magic has gotten weaker after the dimensional merge, she's certain that no matter how strong healing magic gets, these people are beyond saving. She stands back up with determination behieary eyes, and the dying man who was holding on to her nun's habit loses his grip as he desds into another painful coughing fit.

  Now that this fort is cleared out, Asahi sees a path to the castle. The soohey get there, the soohey end this.

  Before turning to the castle, Asahi narrows his eyes at the corpses that litter the floor o time. Guns, and gas. Either his enemy is quite the innovator, or has dohis before.

  Prickly