War of Dragons: Breach

The battle against the Tear of Ice has been an ongoing struggle for most of the past few weeks. The constant harassment on their target has slowly wittled away more of its health, at the cost of a few Scale Emblem Alliance members having lost their lives and respawning in the various cities of Alba. A few unfortunates having respawned in Mac Anu, and have not been heard of since -- with the timing having been rather unfortunate and entirely coincidental to what happened in the Fourland Dukedom.

However, the Scale Emblem Alliance has managed to predict then next encounter with the Tear of Ice since a few days now. Though it is somewhat of a surprising business that they would be coming down to the Fourth Floor! After all, there do not appear to be any entrances to this space. They've disengaged from the harassment in order to create a coordinated wargroup on the fourth Floor.

---

The Mayor of Rovia is in attendance, though at a bit of a distance of the gathering, watching the skies with amusement. He's surrounded by his staff, as they...

Well, they're kind of comfortably at the beach, sitting on beach chairs, watching the show from afar. Even the small librarian is in attendance. "This business is stupid, I suppose. Why would they put in this much effort to defeat one of the Four?" She mumbles.

"Don't be like that, Beako." Subaru remarks. Which immediately gets him a glare.

---

Thanks to Setsuna, they have gathered right beneath there the Tear of Ice is supposed to arrive. And non-too-soon either. There's a light that shines through the sky, as if it were being pierced by something, before the Tear of Ice begins to slowly descend down from the skies, as if on an elevator of light. Slowly descending, while staring down.

There was a certain point where Kita had to put down her woodworker's tools and set back to the task of defending the Tower. Even with other threats still looming elsewhere, the threat from Tear of Ice was enough to keep her busy, working with those teams tracking or working against the creature.

Of course, the Imp also has no intention of meeting an untimely demise at the hands of the creature, either. "This is not going to be your average raid battle." She is dressed in her usual mage outfit, complete with black dress and witch's hat.

Rather than her spellbook, however, she has a guitar out, casting a pre-fight party buff across everyone. It isn't, perhaps, the strongest of buffs, but the magical music that sounds very similar to j-rock seems to flutter over the group, trying to rouse a sense of battle readiness.

Schneider has been waiting with the other members of Scale for the Tear of Ice to arrive, cooling his heels, as it were. This is obviously not something Schneider is accustomed to, as FIRE is more his thing. The arrival of the Tear if Ice draws a sigh of relief from him, apparently he was feeling tense from the anticipation. Well, with the Landers here, this is going to be a big deal.

"Crimson blood, Slaying summoning of Graves, Zul-art Jodorti, Adaryl!" he chants, then roars, "DEF LEPPARD"

He is, alas, maybe still a bit wound up, he leads the target a bit too much, and his fireball bursts just in front of her rather than on top of her. He sighs, shakes his head, tries to get his head back in the game. As it were.

    Wistera does as Wisteria always does the first time she sees any boss. She pulls her jewler's loop from her inventory and holds it to one eye to look over the Tear of Ice. She nods her head putting it away so as to avoid it getting damaged or lost and readies her weapon, sure it slows her down but an ounce of prevention and all that.

    The necromancer pacces as he waits, and then stops and looks at the UI window for time, then goes back to pacing and every so often he would cast a glance over to the Rovia group and shake his head. This would repeat a few times until the light begins to shine and down comes the Tear of Ice. "Ok here we go. Remember magic is not the best option but lets hit it with anything we can for now."

     Looking over to his skeleton knight he crouches down and provides a foothold with his hands. Moment laters the knight charges Setsuna and leaps upward to the Tear of Ice, it's rusty sword glowing with magic as it strikes out at the machine. Once the knight lands, in whatever condition Setsuna would give it a command, " Stay back now, you are done."

Vertina takes a cautious step back as the glow descends from above, squinting a bit to make sure she's got a bead on the machina woman coming down to harass them once more. Remembering what happened last time when she tried to use her trademark projectile attack, the Salamander has prepared a different approach.

She pulls a flash out of her inventory, cusping it in both hands and giving it a few shakes while she rapidly heats it with a bit of fire. Waiting for Tear of Ice to come down just far enough to be in her range. That's when she grips the flash in one hand, spins around for a bit more momentum and hurtles it towards their obnoxious foe.

The alchemical concoction contained within is extremely volatile and combustable, intended to splatter on impact and physically eat through it's target with the superheated chemical. She made sure to use regeants that were physical and not arcane in nature, so it's ike putting the literal burn into chemical burns.

The loss of several Mac Anu-native Scale Emblem personnel has been weighing on the good doctor's mind for the past little while. He can only assume now that they've been compromised. As such, he's relegated all non-essential Fourlanders in the Alliance to logistical and administrative duties for the time being.

He, meanwhile, has been... busy. A route from the point of the Tear of Ice's arrival leading deeper into the Fourth Floor has been plotted out, the path overlooked by mounds of earth that weren't there a couple of weeks ago. Each one hides an ambush, points at which Prophylaxis has prepared a number of surprise attacks.

Nevermind all of the other information he's gathered so far.

"We don't know whether she absorbs magic or not, but given her prior behavior, it's either that or she's weaker at close-quarters combat. We'll find out," Prophylaxis huffs. The beam of light appears and the doctor... grunts, "Of course she gets an elevator. Why don't /we/ get an elevator...!?" He gestures with his staff, several members of the raid, all armed with bows, take aim and fire...

As the doctor's magic massively accelerates the arrows in flight. The result is a physical attack... That was only /briefly/ touched by magic, but then no more.

"You should just let me take care of it." Garfiel Tinsel remarks, punching a fist into his other open hand, grinning while looking at the descending 'angel' from up above.

"Oho, tha~~aaat's what you want?" Roswaal asks Garfiel in return.

"Leave him alone." Subaru snaps at the mayor.

----

Music begins to kick off, and it isn't long before the party buffs start to fly, with Kita leading them off. The J-Rock is unknown to most of the Roswaal party. But notably, Subaru is humming to the music, tapping his foot - though a bit surprised at the realization he seems to know this song.

Schneider's fireball bursts before it reaches the Tear of Ice, as it turns its head, and fires a shockwave of blue light from its eyes - which seems to tear the fireball apart. In fact, it starts doing this to various spells coming in. Turning her head with these small moments of weakness between them, before cancelling more and more magic!

It descends further, slowly approaching the ground. Setsuna's Skeleton Knight has to THROW its weapon to reach it at this time, the weapon slicing into its armor, showing that red light, before it begins to descend back down to earth!

More light soon fills the skies, the burning flash of light of Vertina's momentarily blinding the Tear of Ice, finally allowing the rest of the spells to go through!

The arrows pierce through the light, tearing into her body. Some of them getting stuck as the Tear of Ice begins to shift and dance through the air while on that 'elevator' of light, getting more and more annoyed as the time goes on. Screetching her broken metalic voice at those below! The sheer screetch itself causing the ground to freeze beneath them, making it harder to move!

And just when it looks like they'll get another bit of free attacks, she lashes her right arm out and forms what looks to be some kind of pale white-blue laserblade from an emitter at the palm of that right hand, and jumps! She plummets right for the ground, aiming for Prophylaxis' position as she comes in - slamming into the ground. The impact point sending violent ice-shards up from the ground, weaving around like roots of a tree, before they shark out from the ground!

From there, she lashes at the Doctor, before turning upon the others. The blade on her arm growing larger, and she cuts a swath towards the nearest fighters. A few unlucky ones get sliced through, which turns them into ice-sculptures rather than killing them! A status on them: HEAVY FREEZE.

After the last encounter, Kita seems somewhat more prepared for what Tear of Ice might be able to dish out. However, that doesn't mean that it isn't a frightening experience for that blade to come sweeping her way. With a quick motion of her arms, she draws the guitar forward, strumming a chord and sending out ripples of sonic and dark energy that form into a barrier, deflecting the blow around herself.

"Alright, enough with the music. This calls for something with a little more oumph." With the swipe of one hand, she stows the instrument away, replacing it with the gothic looking spellbook with the many silk ribbons dangling from it.

She starts to draw out rune symbols in the air in front of her, and as each one ignites in flames, it begins to form into a circle which forms around her, bolstering her magical abilities. The Ley Lines glow around her, the symbols circling at her feet as she begins to cast a series of simple magical spells, but each one seems to be bolstered by that buffing magic.

    Wisteria starts casting, while she'd love to get in and fight, that's her real life response, her class is better for support and debuff. She starts trying to throw up her Dark Chain curses. She sends the chains snaking out without them seeming to affect the Tear in any truely detrimental way.

It looks like Schneider came here a day late and a yen short, as it were, his fireball blows up early and his defensive shield comes up late, just -after- the ice shreds shred his HP bar pretty harshly. Luckily, the party as a whole is standing up to the attack pretty well, and he's just got to get his act together. Now's not the time to be losing it!

Schneider picks himself up and checks his situation quickly, looks like he's got a moment, so he casts, "Brain, Brain dead. Obey your blood oath, come forth from the land of Avalon. Fire of Gehenna, become a fiery blast and burn everything around us!" He takes a deep breath, concentrates, and shouts, "EXODUS!"

This time, his explosion goes off right on target, ground zero in her face. That's one of his old standby spells, it's usually done him well, so he shouldn't be surprised that it's not letting him down today.

"Incoming!" Not that it isn't obvious as Tear of Ice comes slamming down to the ground, and letting loose with the ice attacks as soon as she does. Vertina grimaces as she quickly executes a few hand gestures and then takes off running towards Tear of Ice. Except now there are several of her charging across the field. Every time it looks like Vertina gets hit by the ice spikes weaving from the ground, it turns out to be one of the mirage images as it just poofs in motes of light and frost from being struck. One.. two... three... But the decoys do their job drawing the ice chains to them and away from their prognator.

The fourth however is the real Vertina, afterimages blurring together as she took an angle to get around behind Tear of Ice, and into melee range. To capitalize on the oppritunity she leaps at the machina woman from behind, bringing the claw-like knuckle blades of her battle gloves down in a vicious cross-slash that leaves a glowing X briefly in their wake from the bit of ki she's sacrificed to amplify the physical force of her blows.

    Setsuna is ready when the machine jumps down and then hits the ground, the necromancer ready to dodge at a moments notice as ice shards erupt around him. Fortunately he gets out of it mostly unphased and even manages to not be in the destructive path of the blade. Watching the Tear of Ice for a moment and the others begin to do their best to contain it he goes to work. The hairpin stuck into his topknot begins to glow with magic as Setsuna activates the power of it. The moment he opens himself up though he can already feel the headache, every damn time it seems.

     A moment later and Setsuna speaks up over the chimlink, "It is saying something about Intruders, I am guessing us". Holding his head for a moment and then he adds, "It's attempting to speak but I think it is to badly damaged to speak."

The last time the Tear of Ice tore into the elites of the Scale, they were utterly unprepared for the raw power she could bring to bear.

Now, they're... Uh. Only marginally more well-equipped for the raw power she can bring to bear. The doctor grimaces when the Tear's blade ignites, his staff raised to manifest a hemispherical shell of crystaline flame. Blue and white clash for a terrible, titanic instant before the barrier shatters into so many fragments...

But the doctor... is no longer there.

He's sidestepped to the side, dodged out of the way at the last.

"Hhhah!" He roars, swinging his staff in a wide arc. Caught on its head is a chunk of that barrier-dome. He drives it in, swinging like he's got a greataxe or lacrosse stick in his hands, sending the chunk of barrier hurtling directly into the Tear's torso...!

Ice washes over Kita's barrier, ice crystals coming to life around her, turning the landscape into a spiked one. Cold begins to drift across the battlefield, as Ley Lines begin to glow. Magical spells begin to cast forth, tearing into the Tear of Ice's position.

----

"Hmmm, I think that girl may be a better mage than you, Beako." Subaru ribs the small girl, which immediately gets him a kick in the shins from the small spiral-haired one. "Stop calling me small. And there's no way she is better than me."

She quiets, before turning to look the way of the Adventurers. "She's good though. So is that man, and that one." She points at Schneider and Prophylaxis.

Subaru shivers and rubs his arms. "Is it me or is it getting cold?" To which Emilia tilts her head. "Is it?"

----

Dark Chains snake and grab hold of the Tear of Ice, halting her rampage momentarily, stopping her from using that blade from shattering any more of Kita's spells, and rooting her in place as Schneider brings on the next spell. Flame casting down upon his target...

And fire bursting to life, managing to just barely wear away the ice around him and preventing Schneider from being turned into an icicle! Were he not using flame techniques, he would be in far more trouble right about now.

The detonation erupts around the Tear of Ice, trembling the battlefield and pushing back some of the melee combattants. Only to cause a steam-explosion, at the center of which the Tear of Ice is taking some severe damage!

Vertina, after some of the mirages are cleared, manages to get through! The claw-knuckle breaking through the steam-clouds and ripping into the Tear of Ice. Right before it turns its eyeless mask down towards her, and grabs hold of one of her arms. Frost rapidly starting to set in on her wrist where it is holding her!

Only for the Doctor to bring that flame-barrier in like an axe and chops into her hand, stopping her from freezing Vertina. But this brings him dangerously close to her, and she grabs out at his head instead and tries to instant-freeze him right where he stands...

And begins to DRAIN at the connection between him and Yuki-Onna. Trying to drain the Ice magic right out of him to empower herself!

As she does so, pulses of cold begin to ripple out from her. Frost forming in the air. People who are breathing at the moment will notice that their lips start to get shut together. Anything water, breath, dust, plant matter, begins to freeze so rapidly. Their eyes starting to get stuck together. Hair sticking to the back of their necks... as the temperature begins to PLUMMET around her.

----

"They're going to need help, Roswaal. Even we can't beat that thing on our own." Subaru points out.

"Theee~eeeyy said they could handle it without our help." Roswaal answers Subaru. "Yoooo~uu~ou should sit down, and learn something. Watch." A small smile, as he looks at the 'camera'. "Hear... feel... Think."

    Wisteria pulls out one of her crystals and starts to charge it, sure it isn't quite as good as one of her big perminant structures but she pumps mana into the engraved crystal. A shimmering pops into being around the group, those who have seen the marina in action or were at the upgrade of the defenses of the SEA HQ would recognize the effect. Energy moving to only the poitns where attacks are incoming.

As the temperature begins to fall, it is all too easy for it to seep through the thin clothing that Kita wears. She starts to shiver, even before the effects of that radiating cold start to set in. "Fff..." She doesn't give word to whatever was going to come out, as her teeth chatter instead.

In the end, despite her best efforts to ward off the effects, it doesn't seem to help as ice begins to form on her extremities and her fingers start to ache with frostbite. "Need to h-h-heat things up. Or we'll all freeze."

Luckily, fire is one of the secondary abilities of the black mage. Of course, her idea of fire is a raging inferno of dark fire magic, which she weaves through shivering fingers as she draws out the runes into the air. A series of dark orbs hover around her, warming through some of the ice, before she launches them one by one towards Tear of Ice.

As the temperature begins to drop Schneider is compelled to set fire to the world around him, to keep him from freezing. "Kaizard, aruzard, kisk! Hansay Glossik! Unleash total destruction! Sage of Hades use the seven keys to open the gates of Hell!" He shivers, casts, "HALLOWEEN!" But the spell, which normally creates intense magical fire, is subdued by the Tear of Ice's cold magic, and his face starts to glaze over with ice.

But he's got to fight back. With crackling voice, he chants, "Deep Doomsday. To the spirits of land and air, bound by the pact, fulfill your obligation now. .... Megadeath!" /That/ spell, at least, isn't sucked away, rather enveloping the Tear of Ice in terrible, intense flames, burning away HP, though never as fast as Schneider would like.

Gods damned for being an Ice themed monstrousity Tear is fast. Fast enough to turn around and grab Vertina's arm before she can back away from the machina, invoking a snarl of pain from the Salamander as just the touch is bitter cold. Frost starts to almost immeadiately form, digging into her partially scaled skin. Then Proph smashes the robo-bitch off of her. Though as she stumbles back Vertina growls, unable to shake the ice off her arm. Takes out some of her alchemical fire and dumps it over the ice, causing it to steam and sizzle, but it's not melting fast enough to negate the damage it's doing. She huffs, and flicks the flask away. "Welp, no punching things for the moment..."

Then she grins in an almost predatory fashion, showing sharp anime dragon-girl fangs in the corners of her mouth. "But if you think that's going to stop me..."

Vertina steps back towards Tear and twists, bringing one of her long powerful legs up as she does so. "RAGNAROK AXE!" The variant move ignites the flames around her foot instead of a fist, even as she brings it down the blazing heal on top of Tear in a fiery axe kick!

    The first pulse of cold burst across the skin of Setsuna and causes him to start shiver as the plants around him begin to turn to ice. Quickly he gathers up dark energy and a shield of bone but bones turn brittle in the cold as the pulses cut right through it and Setsuna is starting to find himself frozen. Teeth chattering he says on chims, "Doc I'm cold...gonna hit it to warm up." Setsuna begins to dash forward as he channels magic through his body, as if he was was his own necromancy summon, to boost his muscles beyond normal limits and make sure they still move in these frigid environments. Finally he gets within striking distant as he throws his fist with all his weight behind it at the shoulder point of the creature. On the chims he adds, "Target the right shoulder, lets take the arm. "

In Prophylaxis' defense, he was informed that the local Rovians didn't think that the Scale could deal with this particular threat. If they offered to help and were turned down, he was obviously not informed!!

(Setsuna, what gives!?)

Prophylaxis whirls back, the last dregs of his firewall disintegrating. Unfortunately, he's still far too close to the Tear of Ice. /Far/ too close. "What--" he gasps, as she grabs hold of his head. A familiar chill rushes through him, this isn't the first time he's been frozen solid. But...

She's doing something... /else/ too. Something that reaches deep into him and tugs at something precious and important.

Suddenly, the stakes are somehow even higher.

But that's why he has come prepared.

Strictly speaking, this spell was partly designed to thaw him out in case the Yuki-Onna ever decided to freeze him again, but in this case... In this case he uses it for a different purpose entirely. The doctor's eyes ignite with literal firelight, flames lick at his lips as he invokes the spirits of fire and conflagration, imbuing them into his own flesh. When the Tear of Ice goes to grab at that link, she instead gets a magical faceful of blazing hot fire-aspected mana instead.

With a roar, the doctor kicks himself free and leaps back several steps, only stopping when he drives his staff into the ground to conjure a series of entwining vines around the Tear of Ice's limbs. "Tch. We can last only a little while longer... But that's enough! Keep hitting her, and prepare to retreat down the planned route!"

"I had to make a very pricy deal in order to take care of this matter." Roswaal explains to Subaru. "And when you make a deal like that, it is important that you see pay-off. You cannot just run around doing things just because you feel it is the 'right thing to do'." The Mayor pushes home.

"Why not? What's wrong with doing the right thing?" Subaru demands to know. Which gets him a huff of a sound from Beatrice. "Stupid Subaru." Adopting one of Ram's comments; "Life isn't so simple."

"What's the Four anyhow?" Subaru demands to know.

"Like we'd tell you." Beatrice answers.

"You get Nothing when giving Nothing, boy. You still haven't learned." Roswaal points out.

----

Ice cracks and the ground continues to snap. It's so bad that the air /flickers/ and /cracks/ any time there is movement. The 'sun' above causing a strange alien rainbow to spread across the landscape.

Each breath is hard-taken, even by those who manage to cast their flame magics to protect htemselves. Wisteria's crystal, once deployed, immediately begins to strain under the intense stress. She can see just how FAST the Mana she has put into the crystal begins to plumet, and she will have to force more magic into it to maintain it as the attack on peoples' bodies continue!

Intense flames detonate against Tear of Ice's body as she continues to move, holding onto Prophylaxis. Her masked and cold expression remaining when viewing the world around her. Whirls of ice-floe shatter, melt, then re-engage against the flames of heat cast forth by Schneider. Parts of her body melting further. Her skin on her left arm practically fully gone, showing the metalic workings of her body. Parts where it's obvious metalic connections that allow for the various mechanical workings.

Zipping orbs of darkness cascade against its body not moments later, as Kita fights through the icy cold, and assaults its position. It sweeps its laser-arm to shatter one, only for another to impact against its barrier of cold, ripping across its face and shaving off more health off of the Black level creature!

Setsuna calls for a shot and focus on its right shoulder, and PUNCHES against its shoulder joint, which cracks beneath the fierce assault. But it's not enough to tear it off. Instead, the Tear of ice stumbles back a foot... and then grabs for Setsuna's hair in an attempt to disable him! Only to suddenly be pushed back by a fierce gout of flame, as Prophylaxis releases a spirit of flame upon her. His body burning, forcing her to release from the sheer force of that magic, unable to absorb Flame in the way she can absorb Ice!

----

"After many generations, this is the first time we've had to make a deal with that Witch." Roswaal L Mathers points out to Subaru. "And I do not believe the Adventurers will understand the price."

As the cold begins to reach them, the river itself frozen... and their heads tilt to a position above the Tear of Ice... up in the sky. As a new shadow shows itself, slowly encircling the battlefield.

----

The Tear of Ice continues the battle, kicking right for Setsuna's ribcage and slamming him towards Prophylaxis, and sending them right for a battlefield area filled with sharp ice spines pointing towards them.

She then turns her hand to the skies... which suddenly splits open. As the air around them shifts... and a sigil rapidly grows along the ground. It screetches something which in that moment, only Setsuna can understand...

As Prophylaxis feels that connection of his tugged on for just a moment longer - the remnants of its momentary drain on him - as something is forced out of him for but a moment before his spirit of flame cuts that connection...

And snow suddenly ERUPTS upon the battlefield. Ice and Sleet rains and whirlwinds through the area! Intense ice tearing across the battlefield, forming a landscape that feels alien and nemesis to Life itself! The clouds turn dark and grey, and sight becomes impossible. On the raid overview, people can see allies starting to drop in health too dramatically for healers to keep up with! And the storm only seems to grow further!

It becomes almost impossible to see their allies anymore! As the ice cuts across their bodies...

As the snow becomes blinding, the cold sinks in to Kita's very bones. "Need... to withdraw. Can't..." She looks at her hands, shivering from the chill, giving one last attempt at forming a magical spell. However, she can't even manage to trace the runes properly and the spell fails, vanishing on the next gust of wind. "Can't cast in this c-c-cold."

With her attempt to attack having fizzled out, Kita simply retreats in what she hopes is a safe direction, or at least in any direction away from Tear of Ice, her hands shivering as she tries to sort through her inventory to find her winter gear, even if it may be too little, too late for that.

Schneider is not even able to take this hit, and he feels like a total wuss, but he dives for cover behind Prophylaxis as the Tear of Ice throws that insane attack at us. He barely manages to avoid dying horribly, and the Doc got hurt for him, which sucks, though not so bad as being out of big enough attack spells to fight with.

What he does have is one of his new spells, intended to set enemy shipping on fire, but hopefully it will work on the Tear. But he's hustling out of here, either way, so he conjured the ball of fire, surrounded, protected by water and air, and he hurls that at her. She can do as she likes with the fire and airy shields, they'll either make them more effective, or it'll take the shields down and release the fire all onto her. Which is what will happen if she does nothing, so it's a harsh spell. But Schneider and his handful of HP are hauling his frozen ass out of here post haste.

Vertina growls as winds and ice bombard the battlefield. She tries to dig in her feet while holding an arm up to shield her face, igniting her fiery aura... but it's not enough. She's still losing traction, unable to build up the momentum the defensive technique relies on, and the tremendous bitter winds still digging through. Not to mention it's creating blinding ground blizzard conditions. With a snort she shifts to draw some of that fire into her hand, and then lobs it into the air like a flare to try and pierce the low visibility.

The flare's flash also reflects off something up in the sky, getting her attention... and even her expression to turn into a grimace as she makes out the massive shape similar to a whale -above them- somehow through the whailing whiteout.

"Uh, guys," she quickly mutters into the Raid chim. "I hate to make a bad time worse, but we've got a very big whale shaped problem inbound overhead!" A pause, as she considers how rediculous that last part sounds. ".. Yes. OVERHEAD."

Okay, definitely not the time to stick around. Vertina flares her fiery aura again, this time unleashing some of the flame like a thruster to push herself through the winds. But not without saying one last farewell to their foe, pulling a few kunai out and flinging them at the icy bitch. Though with the winds and the snow it's hard to tell if they actually hit anything.

Not that Vertina is sticking around to find out.

    Setsuna is knocked back and buried under the snow, focusing as much as he can he wraps himself in fire but his lips are still blue, ice forming on his body. " Just a little more. Going for that arm again." Slipping into the whiteout around him he moves as if it is the shadows. When he reappears he comes at the Tear form the side, once again trying to focus with the right arm, this time his knife in hand, hoping that with the damage already done it is an opening to slash through and at least take one weapon away from it for next time. Either way the moment his attack his over he is already running, informing it where they are going, "See you next time on the third floor."

    Wisteria's ears perk up with the Chim even as her crystal runs dry at the renewed fury of the storm. "Can't keep up a barrier strong enough I'd need a team to dump their MP bars over here." she says even as the crystal disappears into her inventory and her black crackling blade appears in her hand. She starts a fighting retreat, bouncing and skipping away like the caerbannog she is, her blade slashing out to send waves of dark crackling energy at the place she assumes the Tear still is. She isn't about to figure out if the whale is actually coming and she isn't about to freeze to death... but fire lzrd cuddles will have to wait until they can get out of here. Then she'll try to find a hot bath and a cuddle to kill off all this cold that cuts right through her fur.

Even with his emergency spirit conjuration, Prophylaxis isn't able to stop the Tear of Ice from drawing a bit of the Yuki-Onna's power out through his link. The doctor grits his teeth and squints as a familiar wind kicks up. This horrible, bone-chilling cold, this awful, life-smothering frost... It's familiar. Too familiar. Far, far too familiar. His teeth chatter together, red eyes struggling to stay open without being gouged out by a whirling razor of ice. This is... this is bad. Untenable, even.

Even with Vertina's flare lighting up the battlefield, they can't keep this up as long as the Tear is channeling that power. But... The way the party's HP is dropping, unless they do /something/ drastic soon, someone's going to...

Schneider. Schneider is going to die.

Not... on his watch.

Not /again./

"P-prophylaxis..." The doctor's lips whisper, his lips turning ice-blue. He grunts, squaring his numb jaw before declaring: "PROPHYLAXIS_HAGALAZ_DRAGON_OPAL!" A phrase is roared into the world, but not alone. A distant rumble of a great being, long lost, thrums through the fourth floor of the tower... And gives way to a hammering chorus of drumbeats. A globe of interlocking hexagonal shapes surrounds Schneider, protecting the injured mage from the worst of the storm. But he's not done. They all need to survive. They ALL need to survive!

"Yeeeee..." The doctor... sings. Runes winding down his gauntlet-free arm blaze with golden light as the ground itself begins to shift. "sAsAwLYA/. reta lAnYAcLYAaLYE! INFEL_PHIRA => ADDR:0x121:3461:3270 :: jYEwA KAIRA/!"

BGM CHANGE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSFqqP9Pqhw

It's... it's a strange, almost incomprehensible lyric. But the drumbeats that shake the earth are undeniable. A deluge of rock and soil cut through the roiling wind, pouring down atop the Tear of Ice like an avalanche... Before a series of vines abruptly rise to try and squeeze the mass of conjured earth tight around her, crushing her, holding her in place...

For that enormous shadow to fall out of the sky.

The doctor still sings as he retreats, "hYAmmrA ttu yAyE! hYAmmrA ttu rwLYE! xE rre qejyu yAzAt ouwua naflansee!"

Finally, it's enough. The flow of earth stops. "Everyone, out!" Prophylaxis shouts into the chims, "Get out before that damn whale drops! Follow the evacuation plan!"

"I don't like the kinds of games you are playing." Subaru grunts at Roswaal, as he watches the massive Storm Gust begin to expand over the area, hitting their 'beach party'. Enough so that Beatrice stands up and puts her hands forward while showing the angriest little pouty face... and erects a barrier around their breach front property.

"I hate that I must agree with Subaru, but to make a deal for /that/ thing..."

----

The stormgust continues to rage, as a massive shadow descends from above, openings its mouth amidst the howling winds. The Tear of Ice however is too busy dealing with the warriors of the Scale Emblem Alliance!

Kita's runes flicker and ripple, as for a moment, she almost seems to forget some of them of not fault of her own. There is this sense of dread that comes with it all. As that Whale is announced, coming from above!

Schneider is protected by Prophylaxis, using a protective shield that for just a moment, angrily proclaims: <<< IMMORTAL OBJECT >>>.

Flame sears through the cold, ripping towards the shadow of the Tear of Ice, creating a tunnel of steam right along its path! The flames erupting and flaring across her body, forcing the Tear of Ice to bring its hand forward and hold a barrier!

Kunai stab into its shoulder, detonating as the heat grows once again within Vertina's technique while she retreats! In that moment, Setsuna brings that knife towards that shoulder once more, prying into the metal, tearing against its arm with fierce force!

The shadow upon the Storm's area grows, the howling of an ancient whale-like being roaring louder! Wisteria's black blade lashes out right where Setsuna is holding and pulling... and then CUTS! That right arm being ripped off, shattering, not moments before Setsuna retreats and the shadow starts to almost blot the skies for the Tear of Ice!

----

"But won't they..."

"I made a deal, diiiiidn't I?" Roswaal L Mayers remarks. "I~~iii do not doooo things in halves like yooouuuoouu, boy."

"It's going to just get away won't it?" Subaru asks. "Nothing stops that thing from just moving."

Roswaal smiles. "It won't get away. The Future is already Written."

----

The Tear of ice turns, looking at the shadow coming down. Only to try and move... and be halted. Vines rise and constict as stone seeks to entomb her. Holding her from getting away in those precious moments that Machina would have were it to desire and retreat...

Then...

WHOOOOOM.

A shockwave casts forth, and the Storm Gust is disrupted. The entire spell ends, with the shattering of the air itself. The air detonates out, as where was once the Tear of Ice and all of her ice magic...

And now, the land seems whole. An enormous airborne Whale hovering in the air just above the ground, staring at the Adventurers and Landers with... disinterest? Is it even possible to read an 'emotion' from something so utterly enormous?

It hovers where, the Tear of Ice nowhere to be seen. Its magics gone...

Yet, those who were THERE THAT DAY, they will notice, they have not forgotten about the Tear of Ice.

----

"Beatrice."

"Yes."

----

Stepping out from the middle of the air itself, Roswaal steps out besides the Scale Emblem warriors, smiling at the with ever the mischievous look.

"Iiiii~ felt it was wise to interfeee^eere." The strange clown-faced man remarks, looking upon the massive whale, rather than Kita or Prophylaxis or any of the others.

"That will not hold." He then points out, motioning his hand forward.

"Prepare youuur people. Youooouuu~ have a mooo~onth, I estimate." The Mayor declares, watching with wonder as that Whale remains hanging there in the air as if it were simply part of the ocean. Smiling with such... eerie wonder.

The man then turns to Prophylaxis. "Aaaa~aa gift." With this devilish intonement that suggests that this Gift will demand one in Return one day.

Vertina catchs up with everyone else having vacated the fight. "Everyone out? Yeah? Yeah." She mutters as she tries to draw some light ki into a healing touch to keep her arm that was frozen for a bit from suffering frostbite.

Then Mayor Roswaal appears.... He is the one that somehow got the giant white whale to intercept that murderous ice bitch?

"So that thing showing up wasn't a fluke?" Pause. "No pun intended."

Ugh, now they're probably going to owe the weirdo. But that's for leaders like Prophlaxis to worry about. Vertina has other things to concern herself with. "When we get back to Tolbana I'll make drinks and a nice hot dinner to help warm the chills out of everybody."

    Setsuna turns back when the whale impacts and causes the machine to be renamed Jonah, but given that he can still remember that the thing existed he suspects that it's not done for. Then he hears the sound of the Mayor behind him and he jumps and turns around slowly as he gathers closer. If anything he feels a bit embarrassed that despite his request for them to stay out of it they still had to help. For the moment he listens and he hears the deal being made in the mayor's voice. "So one month..." He trails off and looks in the direction of the whale, " Is the whale going to sruvive that long? "

Roswaal doesn't answer Setuna. He simply seems to smile at Setsuna without a single word, yet still manages to convey that the answer 'should be obvious'.

Schneider is distracted by an unexpected sound, and turns to look over his shoulder, pausing in his run so he doesn't trip and fall. Which is a good thing, because otherwise he totally would have. "What in hell is /that/?" he has to ask, because he wasn't recruited to Scale until some time after they'd met the whale the first time. "A month?" he wonders. What can he do in a month? Well, he'll find out, won't he?

To everyone's surprise, but MOSTLY to Prophylaxis', the whale comes crashing down but... /only/ on top of the Tear of Ice. And more worryingly, the thing seems absolutely disinterested in everyone and everything else around it, almost as though... It were called here for a reason.

Because, after a fashion, it /was./

"What...?" The doctor asks, absolutely baffled... Only for one Roswaal L. Mathers to step out from thin air. A gift. A gift of one month, and of life. He exhales slowly, invoking a few fire spells to warm his fellow Scale Emblemers up. They need it, after what happened. "...Thank you," he says, courtiously. "I'll have to figure out something we can do to... reciprocate."

"...When she returns, will she still be channeling that storm?"