Take Up the Cross – Chapter 51: Escaping Decisively

“Proof of a Creator’s eternal glory, witnessed in the actions of a tool made perfectly! Release of this tool be again demanded! Forsake this false normality the depraved world of Zennia clings to! Using what approaches, nay, meets the definition of true Art, embrace instead the pacification a tool may gift to a world corrupted by savages!

The majesty of Luna shall not be den—! Hnggh!?”

 

Loud and annoying for too long, the outrage of an arrogant doll who struggles against her bonds is finally silenced. Slinking her hand over the doll’s mouth, Still cradles the braggart while the entire party remains collapsed on the stone floor.

A growing scar of the fate they narrowly escaped still crumbles noisily behind them as they rest within the relative safety of a swaying column.

 

“Adris… I’ll do it fast! I’ve got strength left for it! Trust me to handle it forever! Everyone will be safe…!”

“Nobody here is permitted to destroy it.”

 

Staring at him with watery eyes filled with hatred, Ave’s destitute expression centers on her new obsession. While all refuse to calm within sight of a tome with stone-bound covers, Ave especially is stuck between anger and sickness as her fear of heights flares with the column’s trembling.

 

“I can’t forget the screaming until I break it, Adris~! Please, grant this elf the honor of destroying what despoils this world!”

 

No longer attempting to wrestle it from him outright, this reprieve is granted only by Kol kneeling on the elf’s back and restraining her arms. Kol wears a complicated expression, for she doesn’t disagree with the idea.

 

“Hah, no, still bad. Break book, Moon, break Elf.”

“… Ave will break her, too, then! I’ll fix alllllll of my prob—!

 

IT DOESN’T BEND LIKE THAAAAT!? KOL! STOOOOOP! AVE WON’T DO ITTT! I’M SORRY, I SWEAR!”

 

The horribly out of character malevolence Ave shows is rapidly punished.

 

“… Boss, say: ‘no fighting’.”

“But she deserves it!?”

 

“No, Neesiette saved us all. Regardless of… how concerning the method she used was, we owe the final victory to her joint effort.”

Though the aberrant tome almost specifically killed him, its preservation is paramount.

 

(As dangerous as it… no, she is with it… no, she and it are, they are still the most powerful weapons I’ve ever been remotely in control of.)

 

Still finally sits up, pulling the struggling Lunamata with her.

 

“Still, I admit no knowledge of her affliction. Will she recover?”

Bobbing her head a bit, Still’s signs are murky to discern.

{Don’t think it’s permanent. If I had to guess, it might just be… “caster’s mania”? A magician pushing something too potent through their noggin’ can get needlessly flamboyant and gain delusions of godhood. At least, the most common symptoms are those?}

Combing the doll’s hair with a melted black hand as Neesiette whips her head left and right vigorously, Still seems oddly content.

{Neesiette isn’t normal on any day… but I think she’s cuter now~? An energetic and assertive Neesiette is strong~.}

Sweetly hugging her, Still seems more like a girl with a favorite toy than a friend holding another.

 

(They’re all so weird! … How did we survive that?)

 

Securing Echo’s safety and defeating a horror from the ancient past, the confrontation is a confusing rush of emotions. The black cross created a paradoxical situation where they fought a creature clearly superior to them in every way, yet they clutched victory over it despite its insurmountable transformation.

 

“Ugh, Kol, only stronger than Elf, small bit? Why, weaker!? Boss, strength go, after win?”

 

(“What the cross gives, the cross taketh away”.)

 

With the nightmarish bells ringing a second time, all had diminished. Their health now is as precarious as Neesiette’s sanity.

 

More burnt rags than well-dressed outfighter, Still’s true condition is hidden to all but Adris. Her brave front still exposes her lethargy and pain, and aura senses detect the reduction of her presence as if her life is ebbing.

Dressing Kol with Ave’s spare puffy-blouse top does nothing to reclaim her armored stature, denying them of a front liner. Both of these two finally recover from their grievous wounds with the evaporation of Vigor, yet even the inexhaustible Kol is panting.

 

(One fight and we’re done for. Why hasn’t my heart released!?)

 

Their only sane option is to rouse and journey downwards to the escape. If the kobolds have recovered and been freed of their “loss” state, then the tables will turn rapidly.

 

(And there’s still the outside! What are we going to—?)

 

 

 

“… said, ‘no way’, you sexy lizard!”

 

A masculine voice booms down from an alcove at the center of this massive, keg storage level. The spiraling, walled stairs up signal new intruders.

 

“Up. Get up! A threat is coming!” Though he screams the words, he cannot embody the action easily, creaking as he stands. The growing tremors outside make it hard to retain stability.

 

(Neesiette’s attempt to end the world nearly did me in! Still’s medicine still isn’t eliminating the pain!)

 

Brushed out of the way by a clawed hand, a kobold who is finally white instead of charred brandishes a nearly destroyed axe.

At first aggressive, she calms.

 

“… Hm? Voice, familiar. Smell… know?”

 

“Shitty human! Chill smells them this way, hurry and protect her…! Ah, but try not to your get dick cut.”

 

Pattering feet coming from the stairs reveal a naked beauty as she bursts around the corner, before she stops dead in her tracks.

Dripping globs of a white substance down her thighs, this red-faced girl with mussed hair and sweat-soaked skin looks in horror at them, until…

 

“… Scurry! You’re safe… leader~. And you… found Echo. Scurry is always saving us!”

Putting on a thankful face and adopting a familial tone, the cool beauty (in name only) starts swaying forward with her ears flat and tail low.

“… Chill.” Snorting, Kol lifts her head as her ears perk forward.

“Yes, Chill. Chill is ready to follow Scurry, of course, Scurry is the strongest! … A shitty human is behind Chill, he did horrible things to her. Help fight him and release us… please.”

 

“Man, where’d you go, babe!? Damn, words suck. Let’s suck tongues again and understand each other! I told you I can’t keep up with your sister under— Oh?”

Squeezing out into the open, the huge man takes in the reunion.

“They’re right behind, Big Dick! AH! Hurry! They want us!”

Holding a buxom kobold under his arm and a set of gigantic glass shears with his other, the bizarre slayer, who is still completely naked and also covered in juices, regards Adris very friendly.

 

“Bro! You’re still around? Hey, man, wanna help out Mante— huhhhh… huhh?

No… no way…! Can’t… be real, man…!”

Stuck on Kol’s face, the slayer starts trembling as he backs up. Scraping his shears along the floor, he totally loses all confidence as even his blazing eyes dim.

 

(What about Kol is so terrible, aside from the usual things?)

 

“Hm? Kakaka! Good! Slayer, understand! Submit!” Swishing her tail, Kol grins and exposes her sharp teeth while lifting her axe.

“… Bro… bro, why are you with…!?” Leveling his shears, Kindle is unceremoniously dropped as Mantecado’s enormous arms start whipping wildly to menace the approaching kobold.

 

“Kol! Stand down! Man-Man-te…? You, too!” Barking the command, Kol clicks her tongue while letting her turned up ears relax. Lowering her weapon, she leans on it after.

“Hah! Slayer, lucky.”

“… Huh!? You…? Bro, she listens to you!?”

 

(… Is that an impressive thing?)

 

“Ah, Kol is one of my teammates; but, distilled to the essential truth, she is also someone I have defeated?”

Testing the waters with a slight smile and an arrogant statement…

 

“… THE FUCK? Okay, okay, cool. Bro, I’m with you!” Running up, the man claps him on the shoulder.

“How we gettin’ out?”

 

(I don’t understand.)

 

But understanding is forestalled even further when a whistling sound comes from the stairs. Flitting about, an intricately bound dagger with working wings spazzes as it points in every direction, before locking onto Kindle.

 

 

 

Flying with arrow-like precision, it launches at the girl who falls over while cowering.

 

“NOPE!”

A crunching sound comes with a snip, as glass shears bisect the weird weapon. Examining his handiwork as it clatters to the floor, Mantecado points where they came from.

“Yo, we got a problem with—!”

 

“… stOP DOING THAT!”

 

A figure dives into the room after throwing itself around the stairwell exit via sharp claws. Its glinting, sandy-brown tail aims for Kindle, only for Mantecado to dive into the attack on both knees and take the bladed-razor tip to his enormous bicep in defense.

Retreating as quickly as she dove in, this…

 

 

 

(Lizard woman?)

 

Standing six-feet tall and wearing a ruined, male’s servant uniform covered by sinister-looking spiked mail, this aggressive woman with clawed limbs seethes at the slayer. Other flying daggers are strapped to her arm, but more spots are vacant.

 

(Why a male uniform if you’ve got such delicious-looking breasts?)

 

Exposed save for a green, scaled tube top, her E-cup-sized boobs and her straw-colored, braided hair in peak maintenance show femininity lacking elsewhere. Armored scales cover where mail and uniform is absent. Without any visible wounds, only Mantecado bears damage to his rippling body.

 

(He’s obviously not fighting her well if she’s this sprightly!)

 

“… Ah, no yelling. Give them up!” Talking to herself softly, she lowers her voice to make demands. “Now there’s more of them? Shit! Hey, morons! Down here!”

Calling up the stairs, more figures join this fired up woman. Bearing Castillo uniforms and emblems, too, men and women of all races and beastly shapes start to fill the floor with weapons already drawn.

 

“Look, Mantecado ain’t got time for principles, so he only has three.

 

Second rule: ‘any chick that wants seconds, gets seconds’.

These girls are good for fifths or eights, so I’mma just pass on that request yah got.”

 

Showing surprising dedication for a mountain of rape, he adopts a martial stance in defense of everyone.

 

“Scurry! Help us!”

Crawling over to try and hide behind Kol in the spot Chill already fills, a white-furred foot to her head grinds it into the ground.

“GWEH!?”

“Shut up, shitty Kindle. Just… more trouble.”

 

“A bunch of rogue demi-humans? Oh, a human, too… HMM!?”

Inspecting the group for threats, the lizard woman begins with a sneer, before her eyes are filled with a fright resonating solely with Adris.

 

(This seems to be a common thing? I wonder…? Is it perhaps the mask and not the cross?)

 

Before the investiture, suspicion and fascination were the effects. After, fear is the predominant impression.

 

(Let’s test that theory!)

 

 

 

Remembering both the madmen of the Works and Aurumia herself, Adris’ posture is threateningly regal as he offers an upturned hand to her in greeting.

 

“Greetings, peon of the ‘Origin of Greed’. My, you are quick on the uptake aren’t you?

Noticing the difference in our authority so quickly.”

 

“Huh!? You!?”

 

Stepping back at his composed voice, sharp claws are raised defensively.

When she shows trepidation, the others present share it.

 

 

 

An assembly of Castillo servants become worried over a boy who can barely stand.

 

 

 

“Man, a new slayer is already walkin’ with this much cred? She’s wet just from your voice? Pretty good, bro.”

Ruined instantly by the happy voice of Mantecado, the word he uses merges their fear with anger when the lizard woman seems to understand it.

“Slayer!? Alchemaster curse you, two stragglers in one day!? Didn’t you fools just finish your regular invasion!? Why are there more of you!?”

Stamping her foot, the spell ends. Slinking forward, her long, muscular tail is readied as she lowers her body.

“The anti-noise seal has cracked! Give them up before we’re all fucked! All we want is the kobolds, to find out how to stop the tremors they obviously started!”

 

(Yes, tremors they started and not me!)

 

Flinching internally, he now knows how screwed they are if forced to answer questions.

Still passes off Neesiette to Adris and then produces her sword, but she can only stagger forward.

 

(No good!)

 

Kol is prepared, but hardly reliable. Ave is…

 

(Oh!?)

 

Despite her wounds and the column’s swaying, the ever-useless girl instead has her whip out and held coiled between two strong hands. Something like determination is affixed to her face, even as her eyes water.

 

With trembling increasing in severity, the column jolts due to the damage to the great walls outside spreading. A feeling of popping hits them, as the burning climate floods into the keg room. Whatever spell was holding it back fails at the worst time.

 

(This is getting bad!)

 

“I ain’t givin’ ‘em over, chica. Not even with yah wanting to fuck, too. I mean… I’ll fuck if you’re fine with a foursome…?”

Shrugging, the man then curls a finger wantonly.

“I never said I wanted to fuck you!”

“… Did Mantecado misunderstand?”

 

Slit reptilian eyes inflame as she advances. Roaring out with ear-busting volume, the woman finally loses her cool.

 

“Fucking retard! That was my announcement of combat!

 

‘I AM ACACIA! SWORN SERVANT TO THE ALCHEMASTER!’”

 

Sparking her claws as she slashes them showfully, she adopts a dramatic pose as her dangerous tail whips.

 

“‘AS A PROUD LIZARDWOMAN JUGGERNAUT, I DECLARE A CONTEST OF ARMS!

 

SHOULD YOU DEFEAT ME, I OFFER TO MARRY YOU!

WHEN I DEFEAT YOU, I SHALL REAVE YOUR SEED!’

 

… that’s just how my people do things, dickhead! I’m not saying I want to fuck!”

 

“… I’m just… not getting this chick, y’know? Ain’t we fuckin’ either way?”

 

Leaving her blinking dumbly with his vacant response, Mantecado rubs his neck. Groans come from the assembled Castillo servants, as Adris tilts his head at the stupidity they match each other with.

 

“NO! IT’S DIFFERENT! AND SHORTLY, YOU WILL FIND OUT—!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“… WHY ARE THERE PEOPLE FIGHTING IN THE KEG ROOM?

 

 

 

A room-filling voice comes over the shaking of Dining Hell, easily eclipsing Acacia’s roaring.

With the question, Adris’ soul freezes as all present pale.

 

 

 

The shaking soon surrenders to a massive rockslide, as something gargantuan stirs below them.

 

 

 

“… AH… ah… ahhhhhh… This was… what we didn’t want waking up with the earthquakes…?”

Crouching and trying to appear unimportant, this Acacia is abandoned by every Castillo servant as they hide. All of his companions join in this posture except for Adris and Kol, yet Adris’ only reason is that his body refuses to obey.

 

(AH, I CAN’T KNEEL!?)

 

 

 

With the air shaking from the entity nearing, a rockface of red scales rises to their level while shattering the tubes of force that once held its flames. The enormous cliff stops moving, before…

 

EXPLAIN SUCCINCTLY, WHY INTRUDERS ARE IN THE KITCHEN THAT BELONGS TO THIS IMMINENCE? PILFERING FOOD? DO YOU FOOLS NOT COMPREHEND THE DELICACY THAT GOES WITH PREPARING—?

 

… an enormous, horned creature with spiky red scales and a jade-green eye focuses on them.

 

 

 

As everyone shivers at this thick aura of dread leaking from the behemoth, something like slurping is heard.

 

NOTHING? THERE SHOULD BE THREE-HUNDRED SERVINGS OF ROCK LOBSTER BISQUE SIMMERING. AND THAT’S ONLY THE APPETIZER. WHERE IS THE STAFF? WHY IS NOTHING IN PREP? IT’S ALMOST DINNER. AND WHAT WERE THOSE TUBES…?

 

NO, WHY IS A SECTION OF THE KITCHEN COLLAPSING WITH THIS ENDLESS SHAKING? … THE SMELL OF THE EARTH IS ABSENT?

The thunderous, confused voice demands answers for questions nobody was asking save for the last.

 

 

 

(… Is this thing the…!?)

 

A mountain below the kitchen that fed its fires turns out not to be a natural hazard, but the one in charge of the entire place.

Within this freely owned place called Dining Hell, a creature whose body overflows with bizarre lifeforce and continental power completely overwhelms Adris’ aura senses.

 

 

 

“AH!? Staff!? Dining Hell… don’t… really got… have a… really big… um, large staff… assigned to it at present, SIR DRAGON!?”

Coming to attention while her manner of speaking changes from delinquent to servile, this proud (in description only) lizardwoman performs a perfect bow.

 

“‘NO LARGE STAFF’? RIDICULOUS. AS PART OF OUR TERMS, ONE-HUNDRED, FORTY-SEVEN KITCHEN CREW WERE PERMANENTLY TASKED WITH KEEPING THIS ESTABLISHMENT OPERATING AT PEAK EFFICIENCY AROUND THE CLOCK.

“… How… how long ago was that, sir, decided… that the Alchemaster declared this to be the case!?”

“… THAT WOULD DEPEND UPON HOW LONG THIS MASTER CHEF [THRACIA=MALCREANT] HAS SLUMBERED. … THIS ONE WAS ASSURED THAT A SOUS CHEF WOULD AWAKEN THIS IMMINENCE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE SHELLING OF THE LOBSTER MEAT, ALLOWING A TIRED MASTER CHEF TO TAKE A BRIEF RESPITE, BUT IT SEEMS THIS PROMISE WAS GIVEN…

 

IN FALSEHOOD.

 

 

 

Squinting at them, the enormous reptile’s mood worsens.

With this worsening, the shaking Dining Hell grows hotter. Super-hot air dries out Adris’ skin as he shuffles closer to the huddle of his teammates.

 

Only Kol is unaffected, but even as she shows no fear, her face is blank.

 

“Umu, not work. No way.”

Lowering her axe, she considers resistance to be pointless.

 

 

 

HOW FORTUITOUS, THOUGH. WHILE THE PREVIOUS HELP ABANDONED THEIR POSTS, THERE ARE… OPTIONS PRESENT TO REBUILD FROM.

 

“… Um… no, I’m in the employee of… respectfully, the… the… the…”

Trying to crawl away from this dragon, Acacia shows her slinking tail as she pretends this isn’t happening.

 

PRECISELY TWENTY-TWO CANDIDATES? HO, HO! THAT AFFORDS ENOUGH FOR ONE WHOLE CREW!

COME OUT AND ASSEMBLE, SO THAT WE MIGHT SHARE NAMES WITH EACH OTHER. DO TELL: WHO HAS PRIOR CULINARY EXPERIENCE? ANYONE NOT READY TO IMMEDIATELY BEGIN INSTRUCTION MAY START REPAIRING DAMAGE, INSTEAD.

 

Offering zero room for disagreement, the creature sounds quite pleased as Acacia sinks to the ground in defeat. All of the hidden servants that are still conscious start trying to creep away, but the blazing eye easily follows their movements through solid objects.

So strong that it vibrates one to the core, only the cross prevents Adris from immediately agreeing to the rumbling demands.

 

“… Mantecado.”

“Yeah, bro?”

Also mostly unfazed is one slayer, already picking up the supine Chill and Kindle after casting away his sword.

“You help me escape and I’ll see what I can do about those two kobolds. … Like these girls, I might be able to—”

“I’m your man, bro! Holy shit, will I finally get pets!?”

 

(Pets?)

 

Though able to act, Adris still twitches as he nears the frozen Still. A nudge to her produces a twisting of her head and regaining consciousness.

 

“We’re jumping.”

{… Jumping?}

“Yes, using Ave.”

{… Yeah. Yeah, okay.}

 

Slapping everyone with an energy she pulls from deep mental reserves, Still begins to rouse the group.

 

 

 

OH? DO WE HAVE DISSENT?

 

Murmuring at the show of a bunch of insignificant figures preparing to scramble, the dragon’s head exits view as its presence creeps around the column to move to their side of it…

 

 

 

“KOL! GRAB AVE! Everyone hang on to Kol and Ave, we’re getting ready to jump as a group!”

“Oh? Boss, good idea!”

 

At this incredibly stupid idea, Kol runs over to pull the unconscious Ave up from the floor. Eyes rolling back into her head and having passed out the moment the dragon appeared, she becomes a burden along with the packs she once carried.

 

Dragon!? A mere magical lizard, announces this tool! Creator above be supreme before all! No reptile, especially one whose only claims of greatness be a statistically longer lifespan and minor amplification of elemental power, stands in comparison!

Ignoble beast, so that one’s end may be delivered as well, stand openly before this tool!”

Forced to stop shutting her mouth, the irascible Lunamata picks the absolute worst time to attempt to be the boss of the Castillo.

 

 

 

YOU’RE PRETTY GUTSY, MALIGNANT MECHANISM OF LUNA! CHALLENGING THIS MASTER CHEF IS AN AMUSING DISPLAY OF MUTINY. THIS KITCHEN CAN DO WITH ONLY TWENTY-ONE, AFTER ALL.

Not bothering to explain how the change in number will be accomplished, the creature’s discontent sends everyone into a complete panic.

 

 

 

Stumbling to the edge, the group trips into the empty space.

 

 

 

An incarnation of the compacted hell within the depths of Xin’s islands, where scaled things are known to dwell, opens its jaws as it closes its massive red form on Adris.

 

 

 

“[Bull Drop]!”

With Mantecado’s voice announcing the activation of a technique, his body glows like a falling, green fruit. His velocity increase transfers to the group holding onto him, pulling them past the dragon’s snapping jaws.

 

 

 

A green ponytail whips wildly as their terminal stop nears.

 

“… Hm…. A dragon dre—?”

Rousing in freefall, opening crystal-green eyes and a scrunching mouth come with slow words that turn into silence.

 

(Saving Ave by putting Ave in danger is still saving Ave! I am your friend! PLEASE SAVE ME.)

 

Adris’ butt puckers at the second time he’s jumped to his death, waiting for Ave’s brain to complete its…

 

 

 

“[SOTHATPERLIOUSHEIGHTSMAYFORGIVE, THISDEATHLYDIVEWEMUSTOUTLIVE!] HEEEEEEEEEE—!!!”

 

 

 

At the insistence of a screaming elf, the quivering rocks below grant mercy.

 

Nearly dashing on them, a cushion of angry wind compresses around nine souls at the last moment, leaving them floating inches over the ground before the malformed safety net violently explodes.

 

 


 

Characters:

Characters:

Name: Adris fehl Dain, “Boss”
Titles: Lycia’s Little Brother, True False God
Race: Xin’El, Emperor’s Child (Human)
Sex: Male
Age: ?? – Young

 

Occupation: Crossbearer; “Star of Ruin, Cast Down from the Sky Upon a Dying World”
Discipline: [Rule in Dark]

 

Powers:

[Tool Savant] – “Adris is a tool-collecting-and-utilizing fanatic. Most men would consider him disgusting for loving tools more than his own partner. Has so many tools that it can be said to be his true power. What does he do when he has no tools left? He seeks to acquire more, obviously!”

 

[Rule in Dark – Wave of Darkness] – “Making victory possible? No, no, no. That thing isn’t that kind! There’s more than that!”

 

[Brainfry] – “You’re still with me, right buddy? Yeah, you’re still there.”

 

[Refuse to Kneel] – “Ah, even the Alchemaster can’t make me submit! This is the one that’s saved me all those times!?”

 

[Tongue of Air and Darkness] – “What’s the difference between this and the old one? Why ‘air’?”

 

[Conceptual Refusal] – “How the fuck does dominating people’s minds turn into a weird statement like this!?”

 

[Obscuring Sonjil] – “Man, this thing has gotten pretty strong on Zennia. At first only creating an area of fog, it can now cover a direction? Is something wrong…?”

 

[Marital Arts – Self-taught] – “Hoh, even if it’s dangerous to use, it feels good to prove to myself that the body is still as willing as the mind! Even if I can’t call it aura, something is inside me now!”

 

 

Disposition: Resilient / Adaptable / Sinner
Alignment: Chaotic

Eyes: Black
Hair: Black, with strands of White
Skin: Tanned

 

Statistics:

Rantil Value – “Even after all of that, Master is still an idiot!”

Stats

Attributes by Grade:

Strength – E

Vitality – E

Dexterity – D

Agility – C

Intelligence – D

Mentality – C

Luck – F

Charisma – D

 

“If you want more, stop being mean to Rantil!”

 

Beauty:

Cethran Value – “Much the same as before, but isn’t the way you look at others a bit more dashing, now? Forced to open yourself to the world, perhaps the gentleman may grow? That is likely impossible, isn’t it, Adris?”

“Really? Stealing a kick from me? Aren’t you just the littlest magpie?”

“Kicks aren’t going to help much against giants like that, yes? Having tasted more kobold, are you going to become a connoisseur of rich fur?”

“Would you not pale in comparison to the end, Adris?”

 

“Even if it’s not all about you, you just have to come up with the solution, don’t you?”

 

Description:

“A boy who is a bit out of place as far as features, he descended from the top of the Castillo to the bottom by pluck, luck, and outrageous lying. Reborn into the world of Zennia, what can be said other than ‘he’s still exactly the same, but different’?”

“Ever the consummate warrior (when it suits him), throwing himself into combat against a foe he can bring harm to is liable to brighten his day.”

“The kind of man that can bald-faced lie to everyone’s face and make himself the hero of someone else’s screw up, this is the essence of a manipulator from Xin.”

“Though hardly contributing the most, being a suitable distraction is a worthwhile offering.”

 

“A boy quickly approaches the physical limits.”

 

Commentary:

“Seeing a story through a set person’s eyes means it can get a little difficult to show other things going on. I like rest chapters like this.”

 


 

Name: “Kol” fehl Dain
Titles: Idiot
Race: Kobold
Sex: Female
Age: ???

 

Occupation: Delver, Frontliner
Discipline: ???

 

Powers:

 

[Invisible Edge] – “Axe goes through everything?”

 

[Full Contact] – “Wanna go!? Kol, let fists talk!”

 

[Unknown Aura of Dread] – “Huge blade, not dangerous?”

 

[Bulwark] – “Nobody get by Kol… ever. All belong, Kol!”

 

[Fire Resistance?] – “Huh, after big dark, Kol get fire, right? ‘Big deal’, flames!”

 

Disposition: Straightforward / Confrontational / Respectful
Alignment: Neutral

Eyes: Pink
Hair: White
Skin: Tanned

 

Statistics:

Rantil Value –

Attributes by Grade:

Strength – C

Vitality – C

Dexterity – E

Agility – F

Intelligence – F

Mentality – C

???

 

Beauty:

Cethran Value – “Are you attracted to rampaging metal? Though in your case, you appreciate the voice, don’t you? Do you long to see more? If she reminds you of a certain someone, then…?”

“All of that anger and confidence, in such a tiny package as it were, do you wonder where it all comes from?”

“Are you sure you want to be comparing Echo to this metallic terror? It might turn out to be quite a dangerous statement if she overhears it?”

“Does a rampaging wolf compare to the end?”

 

“Putting feminine clothes on a patently unfeminine person, would this not be a particular sort of fetish?”

 

Description:

“Brash and forthright, a warrior wielding an axe with two hands forsakes protection to deliver only harm. Contrary to this impression, she also seems interested in a straight up fight. If her words are any indication, she offers little thought to her actions.”

“Losing sight of what she should be doing, the would-be knight is too easily given to throwing herself into her task.”

“Belonging to the same tribe attacking her group, Kol’s error is thinking that she could somehow work everything out, despite not being socially competent enough to handle it.”

“Losing armor and the battle, she still won the war.”

 

“Even in defeat, she refuses to stay down. Even slayers fear her.”

 

Commentary:

“I want to put Kol in a dress at some point and then have her get brutally fucked.”

 


 

Name: Still
Titles: Puddle
Race: Human?
Sex: Female
Age: Young Lady

 

Occupation: Delver, Trickster/Outfighter
Discipline: ???

 

Powers:

 

[“Reprisal Strike”] – {You had it coming, deciding you could oppose me and walk away from it.}

 

[“Surprising Agility”] – {Is it honestly surprising by now? Walls are just another surface~!}

 

[Nectar] – {How does my suffering taste, spawn ofcursed blood”!?}

 

Disposition: Playful / Sadistic / Skulking
Alignment: Chaotic

Eyes: ???
Hair: ???
Skin: ???

 

Statistics:

Rantil Value –

Attributes by Grade:

Strength – E

Vitality – E

Dexterity – C

Agility – C

Intelligence – C

???

 

Beauty:

Cethran Value – “Do you really think it’s not obvious? What she possesses is what you’ve missed all your life, yes? Breasts and curves… are these not a new fruit for you to taste?”

“How will you view this betrayal, Adris? Is it a betrayal, or simply an accounting long withheld between them?”

“Beating her with malevolent kindness? That seems to be one of your favorite weapons, doesn’t it?”

“Can a wicked woman compare to the end?”

 

“As a woman who looks best when at her peak, at her lowest does she not more resemble a drowned… no, in this case, burnt rat?”

 

Description:

“A mute girl who says much with gestures, she also has more going on than she seems to. Though not outwardly aggressive, there’s an atmosphere of danger about her. Opposite of Kol, hers is subtle… Yet, she also can protect others. Given to acrobatics, it matches with her dark, but flamboyant, colors.”

“Abandoning success for a chance at vengeance, whatever is between Kol and Still appears to be worth more than victory.”

“Yet when she comes slinking back, she’s able to muster appropriate humility, if only briefly.”

“Bearing great pain, in the end, the one person least likely to potentially sacrifice herself actually risks it all.”

 

“Competency doesn’t make you immortal. Even Still can be brought low.”

 

Commentary:

“Maybe she got beat up a bit much?”

 


 

Name: Neesiette vera Luna
Titles: “Moon”
Race: Lunamata
Sex: Female
Age: ???

Occupation: Delver, Mystic
Discipline: ???

Powers:

 

[Rod of Force] – “In what way would it be changed? As designed, so shall it function, correct?”

 

[Rod of Respelling] – “A lady be every ready to instruct regarding what be in error.”

 

[“Brings An End” – Ponderous] – “[Ponderous was the end, for the unfair passage of time finally brought even earth to its conclusion]…”

 

Disposition: Impassive / Calculating / Curious
Alignment: Ordered

Eyes: Pale Violet
Hair: Amber
Skin: Pale White

 

Statistics:

Rantil Value –

Strength – F

Vitality – F

Dexterity – D

Agility – E

Intelligence – B

Mentality – C

Luck – F

???

 

Beauty:

Cethran Value – “First imps, and now short girls? This is certainly becoming a pattern, isn’t it? Though you might not fare badly with a girl as beautiful as this, yes? Though she’s a little perfect, doesn’t she seem oddly demure?”

“Despite being filled with something like dread, isn’t it wonderful how she refuses to show it?”

“Are you sensing a theme regarding the devastation she wreaks, Adris?”

“Is she not lovely? If you could end the world, what would restrain you from doing so, Adris?”

 

“Having found her voice, can you put up with it?”

 

Description:

“An otherworldly existence, she wears clothing that doesn’t fit with the Castillo. With mannerisms quite distinct from all others, even the girls she travels with seem incomparable to her uniqueness. Yet, she definitely seems to be in charge…?”

“Unlike the others, Neesiette is absolutely incapable of managing alone. Maybe that’s why she intends to be useful.”

“Magic is something complex, yet a dreamer from another world finds it a simple issue.”

“A girl who can ‘cast anything’, casts something terribly dreadful.”

 

“By casting something dreadful, she reveals a dreadful sort of ego.”

 

Commentary:

“Neesiette is different from all the rest. As reserved as she is about herself, you rarely see how she feels about others, except when trying to improve them.”

 

 


 

Name: Avenalliah Aurmaris
Titles: Lustful Lizard, Elf
Race: Elf
Sex: Female
Age: Young

Occupation: Delver, Scared Girl
Discipline: ???

Powers:

 

[“Sylvan Calling”] – “The spirits play when they want to! … They really do! Why are you looking at me like that!?”

 

[Preternatural Strikes] – “Um, I’ve always been pretty good with a whip? Elves use a lot of weapons! I just like… my whip…?”

 

[Monstrous Strength] – “EH!? Why is it monstrous!? Elves aren’t monsters!]

 

[“Unknown Angel”] – “Ave doesn’t feel especially blessed…”

 

Disposition: Joyful / Impressionable / Cowardly
Alignment: Neutral

Eyes: Crystal Green
Hair: Moss Green
Skin: White

 

Statistics:

Rantil Value –

Strength – C

Vitality – D

Dexterity – C

Intelligence – C

Mentality – F

Luck – A

Charisma – C

???

 

Beauty:

Cethran Value – “While not possessing your newly favorite curves, isn’t a girl with a naive charm also fine? Because she covers so little, you are also left without having to imagine what you could possess, yes?”

“Fear makes us both feel and appear ugly, doesn’t it? Although, perhaps women can be better thought of for not being perfect? Wouldn’t you not be granted the same courtesy, Adris?”

“Isn’t your ‘friend’ getting a little too close?”

“Even if she’s a cute elf, can she really compare to the end of everything?”

 

“Would you have preferred she wrestle with you?”

 

Description:

“As cheerful as she is skittish, Avenalliah fits an unknown position within the four delvers’ group. Though she carries a large sack, that would hardly count as a position… right?”

“No matter how frightened Ave is, she always keeps her delusions and cares first and foremost.”

“Despite faltering at every step, when she applies herself Ave can become a competent force. Capable of manipulating the winds, albeit seemingly unwillingly, to perform many useful tricks, she is the closest the team has to a true magic user.”

“Almost giving up, she decides not to when offered the chance to be what she desires to be.”

 

“After facing the end, her first thoughts are to the safety of the entire world.”

 

Commentary:

“I want people to like all the girls.”

 

 

Glossary:

 

Dragon – “A creature of legend. A supreme existence regarding destruction, they are masters of their domains and totally devoted to their ambitions.”

 

 

Chapter 50         Table of Contents          Chapter 52