With the great roaring of the massive Minotaur and the brutal assault on the front of the temple, Xalmann is free to move around the side. The mechanical drake dropped him off just as the Minotaur began the distraction. The huge drake had easily been spotted flying overhead, but the cultists had no time to deal with that with the giant Minotaur upon them. With that, the side of the temple is completely deserted and stealth isn't necessary in the slightest. He doubted anything could possibly hear his footsteps over the sound of the rampaging beast nearby.

Xalmann easily makes his way up the stairs and to the hole in the side of the temple. He looks inside from behind the wall. Inside, he can see another demon and another cultist. They both clearly heard the sound outside as well and stand ready to attack anything that comes through the door. From the sound of the hoof steps and roaring, neither they or Xalmann would be surprised if the Minotaur just broke through the door himself. But, they were waiting for the Lizardman to open the door instead.

Looking down, he could see that there was no staircase inside the temple back up to the hole. Once he went in, there would likely be no coming back out without opening the front door. But first, he could start his attack from here. With his axe in his hand and his dagger in the other, he pulled his axe back as if he was about to throw it. When he swung it forward, he kept ahold of the handle and instead of the axe flying forward, a ball of fire flew directly toward the cultist.

The man looked to the side just in time to see the fire before it hit him. He suddenly raised a wall of bones and shadow to block it. The fire hit the wall, sending a small explosion outward and making the demon nonchalantly hold an arm up to block the fire. They had been far more concerned with the front door than with the side of the temple, causing them to be caught off guard, but they were quick with their spells. The demon looked at the Lizardman angrily, fire still burning on its arm. The fire had affected it much more than it had anticipated. From behind the wall, the cultist peaked out before retreating to somewhere safer.

Xalmann dropped down into the temple and began running toward the demon to engage it in close combat, one of the mechanical men and a smaller version of the mechanical drake close behind him.

---

Fire Bolt
Arcane Focus
Becoming the Inferno
Conflagration
Extended Conflagration

Burns cover the leathery, red skin of the demon's forearm, but its yellow eyes peer with abyssal ire. In its other arm, it wields a massive mace of black steel; its head is larger than a man's.

"Gio ztioqw sid tubx likx txyx. Xy naqq ryxue gio. Rqule ztaxqw!"

Shadows rise and swirl around its dark, sinful form^[1]. Among them, inky strands coalesce into its open palm.

The jackal-bot runs - sideways, apparently - past Xalmann, clanking toward the demon, which swings its mace down at the hound. But its weapon does nothing; in fact, it passes directly through the golem. The bot leaps and gnashes its teeth at the underworldly monster, which raises its hand in defense, but this attack, too, is ineffectual, passing through the demon's wrist. But, two seconds after the attack, invisible teeth pierce its leathery hide! The monster lets out a groan: a sound deeper and rougher than any mortal could produce.

The unseen fangs continue to rip and tear the demon's flesh, even as the jackal appears to be standing completely still, two yards away. The fiend roars in hate, and the shadows in its hand explode outward, sending a wave of darkness^[2] that washes over the floor like a flood of night. The jackal-bot vanishes, only to reappear on the floor in pieces.

Bishop crouches down, training its crossbow on the demon's skull, when it's distracted by a sudden puff of smoke to its right. Leaping out of the puff is the cultist that fled: a cloaked goblin wielding two scimitars. While it wears the same robes as the other cultists, the sleeves have been torn off, revealing green muscle underneath.

In midair, the goblin begins to swirl its blades about, creating a maelstrom of steel that cuts through the air toward Bishop. The bow-bot raises its weapon, saving its proverbial life, though the goblin's momentum still bowls it over. Bishop clatters against the flagstone while the goblin lands acrobatically^[3] at the other side.

"Dunno what the hell you are, but none a' ya's getting that rock!" he shouts in a rocky, grating voice before vanishing in another smokeburst.

Meanwhile, the drake hovers above, ready to lend fire support - or water support, more accurately.

---

The cultists rush for cover, narrowly avoiding a shower of pressurized water from the massive drake above. Veliky looks over the carnage like a tyrant would look over their kingdom. Two threats down already. Not bad at all, but the cultists haven't used a scrap of magic yet; *that's* when things will get dangerous.

But more pressing on her mind is the status of Xalmann. He entered the temple unattended. Anything could be happening to him. He could be doing anything. She can't allow him to act on his own; despite Shaa's sentiments of cooperation, she would be naïve to assume anything but avarice from the lizardman. She needs eyes on him. Luckily, she can have as many eyes as she pleases.

With a snap of her fingers, another clone appears^[4], but doesn't remain for long before vanishing^[5]. Unseen and too diminutive to be noticed, the replicant easily circumvents the battle, following Xalmann through up the ruined stairs and through the aperture.

Meanwhile, the cultists hurl bolts of fire^[6] from behind tents, boulders and other barriers. They're on a defensive, but they're wildly outmatched by a titanic minotaur and a metal drake. But, just as Veliky had feared, they have countless tricks up their sleeves.

One of the dark-clad zealots begins to chant and trace blasphemous sigils into the air. His voice, despite being quiet when compared to the chaos, echoes over all other ambience. It traces ticklishly along the inside of Shaa's ear before scratching into his brain. It hurts, but not in any physical way; it's akin to the pain of a breakup, or a sad song.

It's transfixing. Now, it not only blots out other sounds, but sights and sensations as well. Shaa's vision blurs, as if he's staring through a rain-covered window. The shapes and colours meld together, mixing like a broth of light. But the disorientation is not so perplexing as the moment that it all suddenly clears.

Bart. Wherever he looks, it's just Barts^[7]. The enemies have turned into Bart, his allies have turned into Bart, even the corpses have turned into Bart. They surround him on all sides, staring up at the massive Shaa with condescending grins on their punchable faces. One of them stands just beside his massive hoof.

"Conscript Shaa, query: confirm status. Are you okay?" Rook inquires. But Shaa just hears snide laughter.

---

1. Black Shield (Demon)
2. Death Wave (Demon)
3. Cat's Grace (Skunkt)
4. Replicant
5. Invisibility
6. Fire Bolt (Cultist)
7. Whispering Madness (Cultist)

What in the world was happening? He knew Bart was going to be here. That’s why he was here, to make that jerks insides his outsides. But now he was here…and there…and everywhere. The feeling of really wanting to punch him was still there. Check. But he was here, there everywhere not just one place he could punch him. Had that schmarmy bastard put a hex on him? He could just kill everyone. No, wait a minute, that wasn’t right. There are people around here he shouldn’t be smashing right? The noise inside his head was deafening.

SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!

Maybe he could just keep punching things until it felt wrong. No, that didn’t sound right either. The laughing was getting louder and Shaa could feel himself getting more and more upset. HAHAHAH HAHAHA HAHAHA

Then a small voice came from out of the darkness. Let it go…

WHAT? Shaa was getting desperate.

Let it go…

He tried to focus on the voice. He knew what he needed to do. Shaa released the earth energy from his body, shrinking back down to his normal size. He wouldn’t accidentally squish anyone he wasn’t supposed to now but he was also more vulnerable. He needed to change tactics until he could get his head right. Shaa ran over to the gate and put the gate to his back. Feeling the earth, giant thorns burst from the ground separating him and all of the other Barts out there. He couldn’t get them but at least they would really be hard pressed to get to him now too. Shaa sat behind the wall of thorns and tried his best to calm down. Quiet. Quiet Quiet. 

With Shaa now shrunk and significantly less intimidating, one of the wizards turned their attention to the most dangerous player on the field. The drake.

Thw wizard makes several strange gestures with his hands while muttering. Above him appears a giant spectral Bat out of the darkness. The wizard sends the bat after the drake. It screeches and fires bolts of dark energy out of its mouth. The drake sees the dark beast coming and readies itself for the attack.

---

summon Dark Elemental (mage)
Chaos Bolt bat
Thorn Wave

As Xalmann runs toward the demon that's now encased in a black aura, his scales begin to glow and the air around him is distorted by the waves of heat coming off of him. He has enough distance from the machines to not harm them with his magic and they seem preoccupied with a different foe. He'll handle this demon and then assist them if they need it. The robot dog was easily destroyed, so he needs to be careful of this foe.

Finally within reach of the demon, the Lizardman begins his assault on the enemy, expecting them to burst into flame thanks to his fiery aura. He's surprised when they seem entirely unaffected by the heat. The black aura around the demon seems to be absorbing the heat and protecting the demon. This battle may be even more difficult than he had imagined, but this just means he might have to fight the way he had in his tribe. No fire magic, just his weapons.

With a swing of his axe, the demon steps back out of range to avoid the attack. At the same time, the inky black aura around their hands extends out, forming claws of pure darkness. They swing the claws at Xalmann, who raises their dagger to parry the attack before swinging his axe toward the demon again, but he suddenly feels awful pain in his arm. The claws had passed right through the dagger and left deep gashes in his scales, which were now bleeding heavily.

At the same time, the axe cuts into the side of the demon's torso. He attempts to siphon some of the demon's energy to help heal his wound, but again, the black aura prevents his spell from taking any effect. The demon's other hand swings toward the Lizardman, claws aimed at his chest.

There's no choice but to let go of the axe and leap back, the weapon would have been unable to block the claws anyways. Thankfully, the axe reappears immediately in Xalmann's hand. The gash in the demon's side, now with nothing to stem the flow, oozes with black ichor. The wounds on Xalmann's arm closed up, but he knows he can't do that many more times. Still, he couldn't fight if he bled out, so it had to be done.

The two glare at each other after exchanging blows while the Goblin and the robots have to focus on their own battle. Xalmann just hopes they can handle themselves. If he has to fight this demon and the Goblin at the same time, he wasn't so sure he could win.

---

Death Swipe (Demon)
Heat Cloak
Vampiric Touch
Arcane Focus
Always There
Sharing Essence

The demon presses its claw to the wound in its side, painting it in cold black, and licks the ichoric substance with an abominably long tongue. Its saliva ignites the blood, creating a huge mote of green flame^[1]. It raises the hand and lobs the inferno at Xalmann!

But Drizzle, the mini drake, proves that its patience wasn't slothen; it soars over the ball in flight and sprays the flying blaze with water, extinguishing it in midair and filling the room with steam! Bishop blocks its crimson eyes while Drizzle lands at its side.

The demon clenches a clawed fist and leaps back into the hallway. Beside it, the goblin-cultist appears in a burst of smoke that contrasts against the ethereal smog.

"Let's see how ya deal with this, scrubs!"

The goblin begins to chant, and the demon joins it in a hellish harmony. The clouds of steam obscure them, and the infernal song becomes more omnipresent.

With the chant's last note, two purple lights pierce the fog and two black-cloaked beings of darkness^[2,3] step into the room before Xalmann. The clutch two-handed swords in front of them, as if in prayer, before lowering them into a fighting stance.

---

A ball of inky black, crackling with purple lightning, warbles through the air toward the metal drake. But it doesn't try to avoid it; in fact, it stops and hovers on its mighty wings. But the Knight in its saddle cracks its whip once, then swings it at the ball of darkness. When it makes contact, the ball dissipates^[4] into tiny wisps! The Knight furls the whip back into place and, with a buzzing command, has its mount shower that same elemental with water, but it evades the torrent like a shadow evades light.

The two flying beasts take to the sky, locked in an airborne duel, fusillading one-another with water and darkness. The droplets and specks of their respective barrages rain down upon the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Veliky is trying to figure out what the Hell Shaa's doing. A spell was cast; is he scared? She's seen and been subjected to fear spells in the past - in fact, she knows some herself. If so, she could calm him with an antithetical hex, except he's barricaded himself in some sort of thorntress (a fortress of thorns)!

She grimaces; either way, there's nothing she can do for him now. Now's he only has five troops to her name, and only two of them are even capable of combat. But she can't retreat; the mission can't afford it.

"Rook, flank around! Fisher, stay with me!"

With concurrent chirps, Rook sprints to the perimeter while Fisher moves protectively in front of Veliky, trident extended. But his weapon seems pathetically meagre against the two cultists that now approach them, who wield arcane knowledge as a terrifying weapon. Only one incantation incapacitated the mighty Shaa; what could it do to little Veliky?... And where's the third cultist?

No time to think about it. The cultists harmonize in an eldritch incantation. In front of Fisher, two mounds of bone rise from the stone, each snapping into place and taking the shape of a hulking, skeletal giant^[5]. One wields an axe headed by the jawbone of a dragon, while the other carries a greatsword forged from the enormous spine of a-

"Oh. That's easy."

She raises both hands, as if commanding them to halt. And they do^[6]; as purple sigils appear in Veliky's palms, both skeletal titans freeze in place!

Veliky isn't normally one to boast, but, here, it may actually work to her advantage. She takes a confident step forward, completely heedless of the paralyzed monsters.

"Is that all you have?" She looks at her wrist nonchalantly, at a watch she isn't wearing. "Guess you've never fought a paladin before, huh^[7]? Magic doesn't work on me. Now, can we make this quick? I've got places to be."

The duo cultists glance at each-other. A paladin? Is this tiny woman really one of the heroes of legend? Her stature suggests otherwise, but her demeanour, her confidence...

They look back at her, shaken, but stirred into a different tactic. One draws a spiked mace; the other, a sickle. Veliky stares them down, undaunted.

---

Rook dashes swiftly^[8] over rock-riddled terrain, just out of sight of the main battle. Another 10 seconds at most, and it can be behind the cultists, ready to slice open their backs. But, as it rounds the corner of a tent, a bulky cultist sends the bot soaring with a shoulder tackle! Its tin hull screeches as it grinds across the stone ground.

Its attacker doesn't waste a breath. Just as Rook rises to its knees, he swings an uppercut to its crimson visor, but Rook avoids the attack with an impossibly nimble^[8] backward cartwheel that puts it on its taloned feet.

The cultist's dark, congregational robes bely a juggernaut! He continues his bull charge, throwing his arms with reckless abandon. Rook parries each swing: to deflect a fist with a katana would normally mangle the attacker, but this cultist's fists are inexplicably made of stone^[9]!

Rook does, however, match him in talent. His reckless swings leave an opening; Rook seizes the opportunity to thrust its sword at his chest! But, not only does the cultist dodge the stab, he also locks Rook's blade under his armpit! With his opponents defense prohibited, he jabs once, then twice, then strikes with a right hook; Rook moves its head out of danger each time.

The bot raises a talon and kicks the cultist in the stomach, pushing him several feet away and freeing the blade.

Now, they face each-other, just outside of measure. The cultist sneers and taunts with a voice as strong and coarse as his stone fists.

"I'm gonna knock you out!"

Rook wields its sword in a powerful ox's stance.

"Enemy cultist, inpolar: I was not designed to fear termination. Query: why does your organization seek the Sol Stone?"

The cultist takes a step forward; Rook reverses with a step back.

"Why don't you stick around and find out?"

---

1. Massive Fire Ball (Demon)
2. Summon: Major Minion (Demon)
3. Summon: Major Minion (Skunkt)
4. Sigil's Blessing [holy]
5. Undead Hulk (Cultist)
6. Halt Undead
7. Smooth Talking
8. Cat's Grace (Rook)
9. Stone Hands (Cultist)

Well this was just fantastic. Shaa had been waiting for months for a chance to find Bart and give him the thrashing of the universe and finally, FINALLY, there he was. And there. And over there. That sneaky weasel had evaded him so many times and if this kept up, he would freaking do it again. Shaa could just just pull his horns out in frustration.

You are a rock, move.

It was that voice again. The one from the darkness. Just who was it?

I’m afraid. I’m afraid I might hurt someone that I am not supposed to. I’m always afraid of that actually. I can’t move. Besides, if I’m a rock, rocks don’t move either. We just sit here like lumps. I am a rock.

Don’t be dense. Rocks move all of the time. And when rocks move, they are unstoppable. Landslides, lava flows, techtonic plates, earthquakes, rain.

What in the heck is a techtonic plate? And rain is water.

They are massive rocks. And how do you think rain and snow form? Water concentrates around tiny dust particles, earth. Do you think hurricanes are just wind? You are a rock. Move.

One of the mages saw Shaa muttering to himself and knew his spell had taken hold. This was his chance to finish the Minotaur off while he was he was out of his mind. He started moving towards the wall of thorns.

The tiny head voice was right. He couldn’t just sit here. Well there were the Barts flying around, that probably wasn’t him. He wouldn’t put it past him per se but…ummm no. Then there was the tiny Bart. No, why would he make himself tiny? That’s not him. Wait. Someone was coming.

The dark mage pushed carefully past the wall of thorns to find Shaa sitting there muttering, his eyes far away.

Haha you really are just some dumb beast aren’t you Shaa of the wandering path. Surprised ? Yes, I know you bull man. Lord Barthalamu hates you and your one armed friend quite fiercely. He figured you might find us and here you are. The mage walked up to Shaa smirking. His one request was that we take our time. Make you suffer. Raising his hand, the mage back hands Shaa in the face. Shaa doesn’t move and the mages hand is now torn and bloody. What the??

The mage examines Shaa more closely to find his hair is full of thorns. Interesting…well there is more than one way to skin a bull.

Move.

Shaa was so confused. There was a Bart right in front of him. Was he a friend that that was trying to help his madness? Was he an enemy seeing his ridiculous state and lording it over him…now THAT sounded like Bart.

You are a rock. I am a rock…and I am afraid to crush my friends.

Does the mountain apologize to the climber for being difficult? Does the valley close up so people can cross? People try to overcome the earth, but it is the foundation of all creation. All must pay homage.

The mage pulls out a curved dagger and swipes it across Shaa’s chest. It barely scratches him and he makes no move. The mage checks his dagger in puzzlement. He switches his grip and prepares to stab Shaa in the face. Suddenly, Shaa stands up to his full height. A cloud of dust and rock swirl around him, blinding the mage. What in the? I have your mind beast! Be still and let me kill you like a good monster.

Shaa grabs the mage by the throat and lifts him off the ground, pulling him even closer into the dust cloud. His eyes are still far away but he screams loudly I AM THE ROOOOOOCK! ROOOAAARRR!

The mage’s legs flail wildly as Shaa hauls him to the gate dangling in the air. He attempts to free himself, even stabbing the arm that holds him to no avail. Blerrk blluuggg! As Shaa reaches the gate, he slams the mages head directly into it with all his might, firmly embedding it right into the wood. The mages lifeless body hangs from the gate like a wet towel hung out to dry.

The madness is gone and with it, the voice from the dark. Was it a part of him speaking or something else. Either way, Shaa felt inside that his prayer had been heard and answered. In his darkest hour, Shaa felt fundamentally changed. Disappointingly the real Bart was no where to be seen. But there were two mages left and a dark bat that needed dealing with. Or more accurately, two mages and a bat had a very determined Minotaur to deal with.

---

Bulls Strength 
Iron Grip
Stone Giant
Solid as Stone
Force of Nature
Earth Aura

Xalmann covers his face at the sudden burst of steam that fills the room. This was inconvenient. It was a bit difficult to see now, but not too horrible. It wasn't that thick of a mist that he couldn't see at all, only enough to help enemies try to come from behind undetected. Inconvenient, but not impossible to deal with.

What was far more troubling was the two undead beings that now appeared before the Lizardman, giant black swords in their hands. The demon and the goblin had retreated into the mist, probably waiting for opportunities to attack from afar with spells while Xalmann was busy dealing with these two walking corpses. This was not a good situation. Where were the damn robots when he might have needed them?

With his scales still glowing with heat, Xalmann ran toward the two new enemies. As he grew closer, they both readied their weapons. One swung its sword in a horizontal slash, making Xalmann fall backward to slide beneath it and avoid being cut in half. With his tail acting as a third leg, he pushed himself back to his feet and slashed at the other corpse with his dagger, slashing them in the leg. It froze for a moment, no longer able to see the scene that was actually in front of it, instead watching a Lizardfolk village burn.

As the Lizardman was in close proximity to both of the undead, they began to sizzle and smoke. So these two weren't immune to the effects of his fire, like that demon was. That was helpful. They both burst into flames, screaming in agony. The other undead, not frozen by the dagger, raised their sword to swing down at the Lizardman, ignoring the flames currently turning its body to ash. Xalmann was easily able to dodge to the side of the swing, but felt a terrible pain in his shoulder. He looked up to see the goblin standing at a distance, obscured by the mist. A bit of purple energy was fading from his hands after firing a beam at the distracted Lizarfolk.

Xalmann then felt a presence behind him. He leapt forward and looked back in time to see the demon standing there. He felt pain in his back as the demon raked its black claws across his scales. The scratches were fairly shallow, but the pain and warm feeling of blood on his back were still present.

The demon gave a cold laugh, but it was quickly cut off as he watched Xalmann sink his axe into the frozen, burning undead it had summoned. The energy was siphoned from it, healing the Lizardman's wounds. However, he could tell they still took a toll. The blood was not replenished and they would become fatigued from combat with so many foes. The demon and goblin could overpower the Lizardman soon enough, even if he could keep healing his injuries.

Even as the two undead summons collapsed into ash and his black shield faded away, he felt confident in his victory.

---

Dagger of Torment
Heat Cloak
Prehensile Tail
Conflagration
Vampiric Touch
Arcane Focus
Chaos Bolt (Goblin)
Death Swipe (Demon)

Ker-chou

A bolt flies through the steam, directly into the demon's back! A cry like a storm in the night pierces the air, heard even outside the temple.

Lightning^[1] courses courses through the demon's abdomen, causing its abs to violently contract. It keels over, and its mace crashes into the ground. It's defenceless... but not without infinite spite.

"Gio naqq wax, gyal. Gio ztuqq kxxd gioy dyarxzkxs as dtx wxxj!"

The demon convulses, and, from the centre of its slender chest, a thin tendril of purple, eldritch light^[2] reaches out, piercing Xalmann's heart! But, strangely, his chest doesn't hurt at all. Rather, it feels as if his back has been pierced by something sharp.

The fiend chortles in a way that seems to reverberate from the shallow depths of the Abyss. Then, it raises and ethereal claw to its neck... and drags it across, slitting its own throat. But, as it does, an identical wound manifests on Xalmann! Crimson spurts from his neck in rhythmic pulses, just as black pours from the demon's!

This is no superficial slash or cut. This is the nightmare of mortality made true.

Bishop rushes to Xalmann's side, scanning the mist for the remaining enemy.

"Ya think yer tough?" The voice bounces off the wall, emanating from somewhere in the steam. "Well I've dealt with tough before! Let's see how you handle THIS!"

Bishop turns its crossbow as the sound of something rolling draws its focus. Out of the steam rolls a pair of strange, segmented flasks. Different substances slosh and froth within, blending into a disgusting alchemical concoction that's gradually beginning to glow. The flasks shake, becoming more violent by the second, until they both burst open in a blinding flash of light! And when it clears, two truly strange beings stand tall, arms crossed.

Each possesses the herculean musculature of the most powerful warriors, combined with certain animalistic features. One has the head, black hide and whipping tentacles of a displacer beast while the other dons the chitin and mandibles of an ankheg. The stare down at the bleeding Xalmann, as if in judgement.

---

Sparks fly, metal meets stone: Rook's nimble slashes match the cultist's brute force.

The golem slashes from the shoulder, then up from the hip; both scratches are blocked by its enemy's raised fists. But it stops the blade, thrusting it forward, between the fists. It grinds uglily through the stone crevice, and toward the cultist's face! Yet the cultist raises his hands, diverting the blade upward and ensnaring it.

With its quick tactical calculations, the Rook kicks the cultist in the abs; the cultist barely seems pained, but he is pushed away, freeing the blade. Not willing to give up the offensive, the bot swings, and metal clashes against stone again.

"Recommendation: your efforts are futile. Surrender."

Unfortunately, the cultist needs only one hand to deflect. With the other, he strikes Rook in the chest in a right cross, staggering it.

"What would you know about 'futile?'" A left cross: the Rook moves its head aside and raises its guard, but the cultist follows with an uppercut that noisily knocks the sword upward. "You don't even have a purpose!" Rook curls at an uppercut to its metal gut, and spins at a hook to its face. "You want to know why we want the Stone?" He grabs the bot by the shoulders and bashes its head with his own! "Because we have a dream!" A third uppercut sends Rook soaring. Yet, in spite of the dents and the sheer force of the strike, Rook lands on its own two feet^[3], unmenaced and still clutching its sword. Still, its wounds are evident; its joints now make horrid screeching noises with every movement, in addition to the hiss.

"Correction: I do have a purpose. I am here to kill you."

With a chuckle, the cultist lowers his guard. It's as if he doesn't fear the bot at all.

"Then come on! Do it!"

---

Veliky watches the cultist with the spiked mace disappear into the thorny bush. That's a mistake; frightened or not, Shaa's a cornered animal with the strength of an elephant (an animal Veliky's never seen and has no idea what it looks like). She knows that one won't be coming back.

But the sicklist is no write-off. He's armed, he's dangerous, and he's coming. Fisher stands protectively with its trident, but its student-class combative processor is simply no match. The cultist hooks his sickle around the trident and tugs it aside before planting an elbow in the bot's tin face and, finally, driving the point into the back of its neck. The bot's eyes go dark and grey as he yanks his weapon free.

He turns to face the supposed paladin, only to find that she's vanished! The cultist chuckles to himself; she claimed to be a paladin, yet she ran at the first sight of danger: a bold-faced, but weak-hearted lie.

...Or so he thinks. The bit about being a paladin was wholly untrue, but Veliky is anything but weak-hearted. Unbeknownst to the cultist, she runs vertically^[4] up the leg of one of the undead behemoths! She reaches the head in no time, and leaps off as if diving into the ocean, only to flip at the last second and plant both boots directly into the base of the cultist's spine.

It was a forceful dropkick, to be sure, and it might've even severely injured the cultist. But, more importantly, it sends a forceful wave of what we'd know as radiation^[5] through the cultist's abdomen, boiling his blood. His hands spasm as he falls, dead.

Veliky's landing isn't exactly graceful, but she stands and dusts herself off.

"I AM THE ROOOOOOCK! ROOOAAARRR!"

That's about what she expected. She turns to see the minotaur - hulking, even after his spell has faded - stepping out of the thorny cage.

"Good to see you recovered," she says bluntly, though this might be the warmest thing she's said thus far. "Come on, let's get inside and check on Xalmann."

But that won't be happening quite yet. From behind, she hears the crunching of a thousand bones. Veliky groans in annoyance.

"Right, almost forgot."

She turns back, to where the two undead hulks have now become free: one with an gargantuan axe, one with a colossal sword. For heads, they have horned skulls, each with three empty eye sockets that glare like the void.

"You ready, Shaa? If you can fight, now would be a good time."

---

1. Sigil's Bless [Lightning]
2. Soul Shackle (Demon)
3. Cat's Grace (Rook)
4. Spider Silk Boots

Shaa looked over at the two hulking brutes, stretched his neck, and said Am I ready? He walked with purpose towards the hulk with the giant axe. It’s dead eyes empty like the abyss that it came from. I’d like to see them stop me.

As it happens, this was not the first time that he had fought variations of this monster. Yes they were big. Yes they were strong. But they were, without fail, without exception, dumb. Like really dumb. Like blow your paycheck on lottery tickets, dumb. Like not getting renters insurance, dumb. Like showing up for a job interview drunk, dumb. 

As Shaa approached the axe hulk, he skittered to the side to get closer to the one with the sword. As the axe hulk followed, it stumbled slightly into the sword hulk. Shaa kept circling the pair faster and faster and faster until they were falling on top of each other. The problem with being mostly mindless beasts without a master was that they lacked any real strategy. Just smash and kill. They were really good at it too if you let them. Shaa had no intention of doing that.

All of the sudden, Shaa dug in his hooves and skid to a stop. He slammed his hands into the ground , sending shockwaves underneath them. Unable to keep balance, they collapse on top of each other into a heap. Shaa walks over and grabs the big axe and proceeds to chop up the three eyed skull heads. Every time they attempted to stand, Shaa took the axe and lopped off the limb until it was just a mass of bones and sinew.

After kicking the bones for a while , Shaa looked over at Veliky. When I got a closer look at the gate, there is no way to open it from out here. Considering the gate is still closed, I’m worried about what’s going on inside with our fire lizard friend. I thought he was supposed to open the gate? I say we put these guys to bed and find out what’s going on in there. Shaa gave a hard kick to a skull and sent it flying across the field.

---

Rumbling Tremors 
Bulls Strength

Xalmann drops to his knees and clutches at his bleeding throat, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. The demon just smiles up him, their own throat bleeding. The demon may die, but at least they'll take this damn Lizard with them. Or so they thought. After a moment, the wound on the Lizardman's throat closes. He continues to choke on the blood that had entered his trachea for a moment, but soon he gasps for air, able to breathe again. The demon looks furious at this. How could they have healed such a wound!? Damnit!

The demon raises their arm, slowly, trying to cast one last spell, trying to kill this persistent pest, but their arm drops to the ground as they breathe their last, gurgling breath. The demon may be dead, but the fight isn't over yet for Xalmann. The Goblin is upset over the loss of the demon, a powerful ally, but they can handle the rest with the help of their two new summons.

Xalmann stands, the two strange, animalistic creatures staring down at him. His arm, back, and front are all covered in his own blood. This fight has been quite literally draining. His breathing is a bit heavy from all of the exertion of this relentless battle with the demon, the Goblin, and all of the new enemies they keep having to summon. It's infuriating. What even are these two latest creatures in his way?

He stands facing the two creatures, but his eyes glare angrily at the Goblin that summoned them. Suddenly, he dashes to the side, completely ignoring the two creatures and running straight for the Goblin. The Ankheg head goes to grab him in a headlock, but he thrusts his dagger upward, straight into a gap in the chitin on its arm, freezing it for a moment. The Displacer head behind him tries to grab him by the tail, but he pulls the dagger out of the other's arm and throws it at them, impaling them in the chest and freezing them for a moment as well. With both of the muscle heads in such close proximity to the fiery Lizard, they both start to smoke before fire erupts all over both of their bodies. Xalmann runs, now one hand empty, toward the Goblin.

Just take out this damn Goblin, and he won't have to worry about any more enemies being summoned. The robots can distract the frozen, burning muscle heads for that long, hopefully.

---

Sharing Essence
Dagger of Torment
Heat Cloak
Conflagration

"Oh, kahn!"

The goblin is gone, again, in an explosion of smoke that defies the steam like oil in water. Is he turning invisible? Is it some form of teleportation? Is he somehow becoming ethereal? Whatever he's doing, it isn't momma's dark magic.

He reappears three yards away. The room, once dominated by steam, is quickly becoming a choking maelstrom of white and black. By the time he's appeared, he's already casting a spell.

"Rqule Ztaxqw!"

The words are as frustrating as they are unsettling. It's the same spell^[1] that had already caused Xalmann such grief with the demon before. Shadows crawl under the goblin's robes like rats.

"Ya think ya can just walk in, throwin' fire and stop what's comin'? We're the winds o' change, and ya can't cut change! Speaking o' which..." The bots stood no chance against the monstrously masculine and masculinely monstrous men. "Deal with the ones outside! I'll deal with this one."

He hoists his heavy, dual scimitars over his shoulders, and begins to spin with incredible velocity! The two blades cut through the air, sounding like a thousand. Like a spinning top, he slowly glides across the floor, swirling blades drawing closer to the lizardman!

---

A decisive, but ill-fated swing. The blade strikes the cultist's stone fist and bends in half.

"Knice knife!"

The Rook's processor clicks and grinds in a struggle to adapt. It isn't calibrated for unarmed combat.

If the cultist were unintimidated by Rook before; now, he seems completely unphased.

"You aren't ending our plan, you're expanding it!"

"Q-q-query: what are you t-talking about?"

"Ha-ha-ha! Well, none of this will matter, soon. Things are about to change. It'll be just like the good ol' days of the Rune War!"

"Negative: the Rune War was a tragedy."

"You just don't get it, do you?"

"Affirmative: I understand your psychopathy. I simply do not find it endearing."

---

Well, Veliky can't say she's ever seen two undead giants destroyed so easily. Granted, she's never seen an undead giant at all, but it's still impressive.

"Well done. Now let's-" The great doorway behind her begins to grind, crushing thorns as it slowly swings open. "Oh- what now?!"

Steam and smoke spill out of the great gateway, side-by-side like the stripes of a zebra. And striding out of the cloud are two figures with the confidence of kings, the menace of dragons and the builds of heroes: one with the head and tentacles of a displacer beast, the other with the chitin of an ankheg. Small fires still burn on their flesh, but they show no signs of pain. The ankheg-man cracks his chitinous knuckles while the other pulls a knife from his own chest. Veliky's eyes widen.

"These... I've seen these before."

She backs away to stand with Shaa by the piles of giant bones.

"Ray and I fought one of these in the Marsh Flats, during our last encounter with the cultists. Ray needed an explosive to even hurt one. They're no joke..." she glances to the minotaur beside her, just as muscled as the two bestial grapplers. "but neither are you."

She points at them, and her irises fill with an orange light, as if molten brass were being poured into them. Falling over Shaa is a sense of absolute justice. It demands strength, might, will, and it demands destruction^[2].

"Fight!"

---

1. Black Shield (Skunkt)
2. Inspiring Presence

Shaa made a quick mental note to yell at Ray for failing to mention fighting these guys. Would have been helpful but what about today has been easy in the slightest? Considering everything, he was actually feeling really good for some reason.  Shaa looked at the two and considered his options. He could just run up and punch them. If it was just one of them, that would probably be fine, but there were two. They way that they were looking at them told Shaa these were not just mindless brutes. They were warriors and he had to treat them that way.

He had the sword and the axe from the undead monsters. Shaa was pretty handy with a weapon but he was no expert. Getting into a sword fight with these guys would not be the best idea.  People that came in with weapons typically knew how to use them. 

There was a reason that a brawler like Shaa had managed to stay alive as long as he did. Minotaur in general fight so much eventually some bar brawl or war leads them to a violent and ugly end. Shaa liked to fight, he wasn’t a coward. But it wasn’t his size, or skills, or even his strength that kept him alive. If Shaa had any talent that set him apart from other fighters was that he was very, very unpredictable. People always made assumptions about him as a Minotaur that he was just some mindless beast who charges in without thought. The truth was, and maybe it was because of his time with those centaurs, that he loved to think outside the box. And by the time his enemies saw him coming, it was too late.

Veliky, no matter what happens, don’t let them near you. Before she had a chance to respond, Shaa picked up one of the larger bones and hurled it at the displacer beast man’s head. He holds up his dagger to deflect the bone. Shaa mange’s to fuel another adrenaline rush, and rips past the warriors, and right towards the gate. The displacer beast runs after Shaa but can’t keep up the pace. The ank-hey man continues walking towards Veliky.

Shaa soon reaches the giant gate and sees what he hoped he was going to see. Shaa runs up to the rock holding the hinges of the gate and starts punching holes in them. The displacer is getting closer but can’t quite tell what he is up to. After he punches enough holes, he jams his fist into the rock behind the hinges. When displacer is close enough, charged with his renewed strength from Veliky’s spell, Shaa casts the largest rumbling tremors spell that he can. As he does, the hinges pop loose from the rock. Soon, one side of the massive gate begins to fall. The displacer finally sees what is happening and tries to run but it’s too late. Half of the gate falls down right on top of him squashing him like a bug. Well, it’s not an explosion.

Shaa tromps across the top of the gate for fun and to make sure cat man wasn’t coming back. He hops off the fallen gate and starts back for Veliky and the ank- hey man. The man has now stopped his persuit of Veliky having watched his companion flattened. He turned back to Shaa and pointed at him in some sort of challenge.

Yeah man, I hear you. Leave the little one alone. This one is just you and me.

---

improvised weapons
adrenaline rush
bulls strength
Force of Nature
rumbling tremors

With the two animal-headed wrestlers leaving through the now opened gate and the machines destroyed by them, Xalmann is free to fight the Goblin one on one. He really hopes so at least, He's sick of this Goblin summoning more meat shields. He runs at them, axe in one hand and his empty hand beginning to glow brighter and hotter than the rest of his body. The Goblin spins toward him, blades out like some deadly version of a children's toy. The Goblin lets it rip, as the Lizardman swings his axe forward and hurls it at them while they still have some distance.

The Goblin has to swerve to the side to avoid the thrown axe, losing a bit of their momentum, but continuing their deadly spin toward Xalmann. Before the two clash, Xalmann dives to the side and grabs what remains of the small, metal drake in his hand and holds it like a shield. The Goblin's scimitars scrape across the metal, sending sparks flying. With their opponent blocked by the makeshift shield, the axe reappears in their hand and they throw their axe toward the Goblin's twisting feet, underneath the whirling blades.

The axe chops into their leg, the head burning hot and searing the flesh around it. Thankfully, their shield could only stop spells from harming them and not a weapon. With a scream, the Goblin's spin stops and they fall backward. The goblin looks furious at the Lizardman, but shouts.

"If you think the battle is over, you're wrong!"

The Goblin begins to chant. Xalmann wanted to siphon their energy away using the axe embedded in their leg, but the black shield once again prevented the spell from taking hold. The Goblin seemed nervous. In truth, their magic supply was nearly depleted from all of the powerful spells they'd used already. On top of that, they would have a very difficult time walking thanks to the wound on their leg. They only had enough magic left to make one final, desperate move. They raised their hand and shot a beam of dark energy at the Lizardman which wrapped around him and bound him in place. They then raised their hand again and summoned two dogs made of pure darkness.

The Goblin climbed onto the back of one of the dogs while the other growled and slowly moved toward the immobilized Lizardman. Their last chance was to flee while their minion hurt the Lizardfolk as much as it could before the binding wore off. The dog carried the Goblin toward the open door and hopefully to safety while Xalmann glared angrily.

I knew it. More damn minions. Xalmann silently thought to himself.

---

Scorching Touch
Always There
Black Shield (Goblin)
Dark Binding (Goblin)
Summon: Minor Minion (Goblin)

The Rook is knocked to the ground. Its body is barely holding together, clattering down like a set of pans on a string. One of its eye lenses has shattered, revealing the ominous sensor beneath. Blixt™ Super is leaking from its hull.

Its weapon has been knocked to the ground; any advantage in reach it possessed was tarnished by its destruction.

Rook's joints creak cacophonously. Its attempts to stand are weak, almost piteous. At this point, the cultist is just toying with the poor bot, whom he could destroy at any time.

"Charon is diseased: rotten to the core. There's no saving it. But, with the Stone, we can make a new Charon! One free from pansy kings!"

Rook's joints strain and hiss loudly as it finally rises to its feet. It's disarmed, and facing a far more powerful opponent. But, even so, its programming forbids it from abandoning a mission.

Blixt™ spurts from the Rook's neck. Its demise is assured, but not immediate. It has just enough energy to keep fighting.

It raises its metal fist, steel knuckles protruding from under torn tin, and dashes forward! The cultist stands stoically. Rook strikes the cultist in the abdomen... but the cultist doesn't even flinch. Rook punches again, and again, and again and again yet it's as if the cultist's abs are made of iron^[1]!

After a barrage of strikes, the cultist isn't even phased. Rook backs away, processor grinding as it reevaluates its tactics.

"Query: why won't you die?"

The cultist laughs heartily, yet sinisterly.

"Masomagic, son! I harden in response to physical trauma!"

Rook's processor grinds and sparks.

"Query: clarify."

"Doesn't matter. The world's about to change; it'll be a revolution! The people of Charon will be free from unjust tyranny! It'll make Charon great again!"

There's a change in the winds - literally. The cultist's head jerks to the right, to see the great drake-golem swooping over him! It rears its head back and sprays a cone of pressurized water down on him! But he's too quick to be caught unawares; he dives out of the way, crashing into a nearby tent.

It wasn't fatal, but it was exactly the advantage Rook needed. It dashes forward again - this time, picking up its broken sword as it does. Just as the cultist turns to hook the bot with a powerful fist, Rook slashes him across the chest, turns, and stabs the broken sword into the cultist's chest! The hulking brawler's face twists in shock and pain. He coughs up blood, but he's far from dead.

Rook yanks the sword out and stands facing its enemy. It swings the broken blade left, right, up, down in a rapid and relentless series of slices that cut open his torso in every which way! The cultist stands, bleeding and dazed. Rook raises its leg and kicks him in the stomach, sending him back and down.

The cultist's breaths are ragged and strained. He struggles to lift his head... when the drake lands on top of him, crushing him instantly. It's done.

The Knight and Rook exchange chirps and beeps as Rook clutches its oozing breaches. The drake lowers its body to the ground, and the Rook painstakingly and effortfully climbs on top, behind Knight.

---

The beast thing paces around Shaa, sizing him up with human cunning. It's unclear how much emotion it feels; its beady eyes and jagged manibles don't tell much. Its features are animalistic, yet its demeanour is cold, like a thug under a crime lord.

Suddenly, another figure emerges from the steam, riding atop a hound of darkness. It's a figure that Veliky's too familiar with, and who's too familiar with her. Their eyes meet from across Shaa and the man-beast's battlefield.

"Oh, I shoulda known. Well I ain't playin', this time! See you later, scrub."

"Not happening."

Veliky raises her hand, as if choking something. The goblin clutches his own neck and falls off his mount^[2]!

Veliky's face lightens in satisfaction, and a bit of confusion. How'd she know how to do that...? Doesn't matter; it works.

Veliky vanishes into thin air^[3], reappearing closer to the goblin, who crawls feebly away.

"G-get 'er!"

He points at the somehow-looming quarterling, and the shadowy canine rushes toward her! This isn't good; she'd hoped it were only a mount, not an enemy! She raises her arm to defend herself and the umbra sinks its fangs into her. It's a bizarre feeling: painful, yet strangely numb, like the flow in her veins has run dry. And yet, despite the pain, Veliky is stoic, surprising even herself.

"Huh...?" Her pained wince turns to surprise.

The dog yanks back and forth, yet her arm remains completely steady. Such force should've broken her bones, if not severed her arm entirely, yet, somehow, she's fine^[4].

Again, finds herself with questions that she doesn't have time to answer. She grits her teeth and wills divine light into her arm. Radiance glows from inside the creature's jaw until the creature's shadowy form bursts open in a bright flash^[5]! She clenches her fist and looks at the wounds on her forearm - or, rather, the lack thereof. Her skin there has turned grey and lifeless, yet bears no marks.

She looks to the prone, cowering goblin. Time to tie up some loose ends.

Meanwhile, the man-beast's time is now. It stomps with enough force to shake the earth, then leaps at Shaa with incredible strength, both legs extended forward in a continental dropkick!

---

1. Stone Giant (Buff Cultist)
2. Desperation
3. Invisibility
4. (Durabone Graft) Personal DuraTin EndoArm
5. Angelic Light

As strange as it may sound, Shaa had not been in a straightforward brawl in awhile. And he missed it. It seemed that he just kept spending his days reading, eating, exercising, meditating. Even when he did get to fight it was always something. Some monster or magical being. Even if they were normal guys, Shaa would just run roughshod over them and call it a day. But this guy was different. He was a bruiser and he could probably take a hit. Shaa squared his jaw and watched for him to make a move.

The move came in the form of a continental drop kick. As the beast came flying towards him, Shaa grabbed him out of the air by the waist. The beast man was now hanging upside down in Shaa’s arms. Shaa drops to his knees, slamming the Ankhegs head into the ground. Shaa releases him and the ankheg man scrambles back up ready to fight again, only a little shaky. Serves you right thinking you could pull that off. The beast man narrowed his eyes and charged at him directly.

The two fighters hands clasped as they both struggled for dominance. Soon the ankheg tried to bite Shaa in the face with its giant mandibles. Shaa swings his head and manages to fend him off with his horns. Back and forth they struck at each other. They both push off each other to regroup. As they came back together, Shaa tried to punch him in the face but he blocked the strike, with the force of the punch knocking the beast man backwards.

The two fighters circled each other, looking for an opening. The ankhe punches at Shaa who holds his arms up to block the aggressive attack. The ankhe grabs Shaa’s wrist, turns his back to him and flips Shaa over his shoulder. Shaa lands on the ground with a loud thump. While he is down on the ground, the ankhe man tries to ground stomp him. He manages to land a couple shots until Shaa is finally able to roll out of it and gets back to his feet. The ankhe tries to grab him again, but Shaa counters by grabbing one of his mandibles and yanking it to throw him off balance. The beast man backs off and resettles, staring at Shaa.

Shaa prepared a special maneuver from the fighters guild. Shaa moved in and attempted to strike him again. As the ankheg blocked the strike, Shaa broke through his defense, leaving him wide open for a second unblock-able attack. With his follow up strike, Shaa jams his hand into the beast man’s chest. The creature gets what can only be described as a look of surprise on his face. His left hand on his shoulder, Shaa removes his right hand from the beast man’s pierced chest, his heart still beating in his hand. With a slight push, the ankheg falls to the ground in a heap. Shaa tosses the heart beside him and it rolls haphazardly in the dirt, twitching a bit as it comes to a stop. Shaa puts his thumb to one side of his snout and blows out a little encrusted dirt and blood.

I swear to Ginma, if one more mage, demon, imp or rot infested goblin, gets in my way….he won’t be for long.

---

Horns
Bull Strength
Guard Break
Force of Nature
Hands are Weapons