Bay 12 Games Forum

Ai and Kiyo
The boy seems more focused on Ai than Kiyo, still clearly rather worried and concerned. Almost as if he knows Ai.

Which, as Ai should know, is weird, because she's never met this guy before.

"V-visiting? Huh? W-what did I do to get the Angel-Faced D-Demon of Touto on my trail!? I s-swear, I didn't do anything wrong!"

Well. At least he called you "angel-faced".

Ragnar
As you leave, the man who herded out the soldiers earlier stalks back towards him, cursing under his breath. He gives Ragnar one look, but sighs, before walking in, his tone of voice immediately lightening to soft concern for the occupant of the room.

And now you're left with the choice of continuing the investigation or meeting back up with everyone to figure out what you found.

Ito
The door is a solid iron door, slightly rusty, made of several iron panels bolted into a frame. There are two strong hinges, one about hip height and one about eye height, made of the same iron. The only security feature visible to you is the rusted iron padlock holding the latch closed.

As far as you can tell without touching it, the door's an ordinary, old iron door. You sense a strange magic coming off of it, however.

---

Haruko and Amelie
The bush seems to turn around as they run from the girls, and you can clearly the flash of a pair of binoculars poke out-

And then the bush trips over a discarded ramune bottle, sending the man within it spilling across the sidewalk.

As Amelie and Haruko approach the fallen man, they notice a few things.

Firstly, his clothes are dishevelled, almost rags; a faded dusty red shirt and dusty khakis. His face is obscured by what you can only describe as a large bush of black beard and raggedy hair. Aside from the binoculars, with broken lenses from the fall, in his hands, you also notice a pair of small fluffy dice, what looks like a pair of small keychains in the shape of Haruko's winged form and Kamen Rider Volt, and what looks like a small panel of wood attached to a string, all of which are attached to a leather belt around his waist.

Sato
Will do. You might want to take the orb with you, too. Maybe that Ito guy can figure out what to do with it.

All
We should reconvene soon, everyone, figure out what we learned. Sato and I found something odd here. Did you guys find anything?

"Courage, Farra! Courage will see us through today, by Rhea! Courage, all of you!"
Bertholt couldn't hear her words, but he could see enough of her to know what she was going through, to force his voice out in a commanding tone, unlike the soft, smooth voice he usually employed. And he was going to do his job as a servant of Rhea; to comfort and to heal those in need, just as he had in his priory. He could see the fear in his allies' bodies, in their gaits, in their words. Some yelled back at their oncoming demise, others steadied themselves, to keep what dignity they had left in the face of certain doom.

Truth be told, he didn't feel the same anxiety, the same fear. Truth be told, he didn't know where the strength, the force he'd mustered just now came from. A zeal filled his blood, the zeal of a crusader fighting in the name of their god, the zeal of a man possessed; the same zeal possessed him to leave his life of luxury and to join the priory, the same zeal convinced him to venture away from Rheane, and the same zeal filled him today, at what seemed like their grimmest hour. There were people here in need of Bertholt's help. Roux was in danger. The others were in danger. He considered the group his flock, his charge, people to aid one moment and to laugh with the next.

Bertholt could not falter now.

He could falter later, when Death was not knocking on their doors, for Bertholt Aviane was the doorman barring Death's path, and his staff the barrier through which Death would not pass.
15-12, heal Sharne, canto to 14-10

-wao-

"Fall to your knees before me, mongrel! One as such as you has no right to lay a finger on these people!"
5-12, stab axeman D

Forty million zombies. Even for Minato, even in his experience as a hunter of Aramitama, this was something new. Nothing scary, just new.

Forty million zombies. So far, Minato had gathered, they'd seen everything they'd had to offer. Shef's portals, Faith's beams, his Rho Aias, Noriko's spears and Yoake's Keijo shenanigans; the gatling blasts they'd used to break Rho Aias, and the direct explosions they'd spawned behind his shield were testament to them at least expecting him. Their defenses were built off that. He fully expected them to have even prepared something for some of their newer techniques; Noriko's whole rain of spears, the Luin Celtchair.

But this technique, he'd never used before. He wasn't quite sure it would work. He'd practiced it a little bit, after all, to get the hang of it; if he could figure out how to do it with more weapons, then it could be useful. His weapons broke, even the tougher ones like Durandal. That was the reality of it. They were inferior copies upon copies; facsimiles made to emulate the original, that couldn't possibly even touch the original. Minato, no matter how good he was, couldn't quite yet make copies equal or superior to their base.

They reflected their wielder; always trying to emulate the heroes of old, but never quite matching them, never quite emulating them.

Maybe it wasn't the weapon that needed to change. Maybe it was the way he used it.

Noriko and Faith didn't need protecting, not in the immediate moment, not right now. They didn't need a knight in shining armor.  They needed as much explosions as physically possible, and Minato was happy to deliver. Faith had pointed out the enemy, Shef had opened a path, and Noriko was about to cover the zombies with forty million spears like a scene straight out of a Chinese wuxia movie. Now it was Minato's turn to do something.

The right leg of Minato's armor suddenly glows with the golden energy signalling Minato summoning a Regalia into the world, but instead of forming into a weapon, the projection breaks into ethereal shards, wrapping around his leg like a third suit of armor. For a brief moment, if anyone had cared to look, they might have seen what he had summoned, and then realised exactly what he'd planned to do. His hand drifts to the lever on his belt.

"Here goes nothing. Faith, don't worry. Just stay behind Yoake, Yuki and the others. Noriko and I got this."
"Limiter Off."

Doublecast Dai-Henshin, alter to six. Use 1 Resolve, and then use Unerring Spear of the Allfather and smash Minato's Gungnir-boosted foot into Stalin, using five of the stockpile to assist the attack and the remaining stockpile to defend Minato from the surroundings, with explosions if necessary.
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Quaff a vulnerary

Go on the defensive. Activate Rho Aias once more, placing it between Minato's mech and the beam. Cover Noriko's inevitable approach, trusting Yuki and Yoake to deal with themselves for the moment if they get too close. Assign five tendrils to deflect as many attacks as possible to maintain Minato's mech and protect himself and Noriko, use the rest to stop the bear from taking Yuki's provisions.
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