Land of Dragons Raid: Orcus, The Invisible General

[Lore Moogle]

~♥ Welcome to the raid, kupo! Here is some information you need to know before you start posting. There is a limit to the number of times a character can post. This is so a fight won't go on and on, kupo. For these particular raids the limit is 10. On the last post, characters will need to prepare themselves for the end of the battle whether that be by retreating, setting up final defenses, sacrifices, etc. A warning will be given on the last post to remind you. That's all and have fun, kupo! ♥~

The Unseen Invasion

“Get back,” the Chinese general shouts to two dozen armored troops who’ve formed a ring around their superior officer, and an unknown, dark creature. A  monster ebony in color with muscle rippling across its sleek figure slowly closes the distance between itself and its opponent, its blood red blade glowing with an eerie black flame. A devil of sorts come to lay waste to any and all that were unlucky enough to cross its path. The poor old man who took up the mantle to stop this pure blooded heartless could barely keep up. In fact, many in attendance would even say that the general was being toyed with, acting as entertainment for the evil creature.

While his body showed clear signs of exhaustion, with many wounds showing through gaps of broken armor, the Invisible didn’t have a single injury on its body. The men in attendance watched, their eyes filled with disbelief as every thrust, slash, and swing was met with a parry, and an immediate counterattack. The sheer speed and agility of this heartless easily overtook the older gentlemen, earning him another wound for his troubles.

One of the foot soldiers, who was seen standing with his fellow men, held the hilt of his blade in a shaky grip, furious as to what lay out before him. It’s when the general cries out from a clean cut across his thigh does he muster up the courage to break free from the order he was given, and attempt to avenge not only the general’s humiliation, but the lives of his many comrades that’d fallen before this behemoth of darkness.

A reckless move to be sure, one that his comrades try to rectify. They call his name, arms outstretched to stop him, but his anger propels him forward, leaving them with empty hands. A feral cry escapes his lips as he closes in, much to the astonishment of his superior officer. The General opens his mouth to try and speak sense, but it’s far too late. Darkness breezes past the General in a flash, and within seconds, the foot soldier stops in his path, blood running from an open wound in his stomach.

His jaw drops, and a bubble of blood bursts from the open orifice. A single gurgle from the back of his throat is the only sound he makes before his upper body falls back, and his lower forward.

Bifurcation before anyone could even blink…

“G-Guan Shi,” the General stammers through ragged breaths. There is no time to mourn another fallen man as he’s forced to block an incoming strike. But, the sheer strength behind the blow, is more than enough to send the old man skidding a few yards, stopping short of a concrete bridge over water. “You monster.”

Gritting his teeth from the fresh cut, the general ignores it as best he can, before running towards certain doom. Unlike his subordinates, he leaves no openings, a tight stance. Sadly, it isn’t enough, nowhere near enough. The Invisible doesn’t bother raising it’s sword against the general as the distance is closed. The sword strikes true, a single thrust set to pierce its hide, but to no avail. Upon contact, the blade shatters like glass, and the hopes of the general and his men break with it.

“Do you understand?” Comes a gritty, ethereal voice from beyond, “you never had a chance to begin with.” With the general’s spirit broken, the Invisible casually strolls past the wounded General, not even bothering to give him a passing glance. “You’re a failure, not only to your men, but to your country.” Silence is the only response it receives as the old man drops to his knees.

The others in attendance offer no resistance, allowing the Invisible to pass through them. Their compliance is what spares them the same fate that hundreds had before them. Corpses litter what was once a stark grey stone area. Their blood pools, coalescing from the close proximity, decorating the Empresses’ courtyard with the signs of war.

As the Invisible passes over the bridge, but before it reaches the stairs leading to the palace, it stops in place, staring up at the structure laid out before it.

“This world will know darkness. Everyone shall take a knee in the presence of Orcus,” the red invisible says before snapping its fingers, summoning eight of its brethren. All identical to the leader in appearance, aside from size and color.

“Kill them, they are not worth becoming like us. I will not have weak creatures in my ranks.” In a flash the flying heartless rush the cowering troops.

[Hoshiko]

From above, there was a flash of white that came flying down between the advancing heartless and the fearful humans. There was a large crash and boom as a sudden dust cloud appeared with crackles of electricity lacing it, covering both the Orcas and the humans. A large crater had been formed at the site of the impact. A second later, a large wave of water appeared seemingly out of nowhere, crashing down over the side of the heartless and completely avoiding the humans. However, before the dust could clear, a shadow jumped upwards.

A girl wearing a white jacket and black jeans emerged, long black hair flowing from the wind. She had jumped higher than what was humanely possible. The immediate space around her crackled with electricity, showing her movements were imbued with magic. Her arms were held above her, the width of a yoga ball apart. A measurement garnered by the fact that there was a large ball of erratic lightning that also about the size of a yoga ball being suspended there. She threw it downwards towards where the heartless would be. Upon impact, it would explode, electrifying the heartless, with the water soaking them only increasing the damage output, overall dealing major damage.

"Never thought I'd ever see a talking heartless grunt," Hoshi mumbled to herself as Eizo, her weapon, appeared in her left hand.

[Lore Moogle]

“Grunt?” Orcus chuckles, shaking his head. As the bolts surge around him, he can’t help but take notice of the light numbing elements this electricity held. A quick flex of the muscles seems to dispel the energy that held him. The other invisibles, however, were having a significantly harder time doing the same. Having been soaked and promptly electrocuted, their bodies were wracked with pain by the intruding party. In spite of that, not a single one appears to be close to falling from Hoshi’s attack. At least the humans were spared their immediate fate.

“I guess the poor woman must be color blind,” as he speaks, he points her way. Light would momentarily blind Hoshi as a silver rune came into being upon her chest. In that segment of time, three of the eight invisibles stretched their wings and took flight to meet the young woman. One at her left, one at her right, and one final heartless behind her. Once they were upon her, they would unleash a fury of swipes with their swords from three different directions.

All the while Orcus remains on the ground, watching the fight from above. The remaining five Invisibles saw to attacking the humans anew.

Orcus Skills Used:

[Hoshiko]

The heartless leader, or who Hoshi assumed was as he was the only one talking, pointed at her and suddenly she was blinded. She felt something being seared into her body, followed by the feeling of her magic and other energy ebbing away, suddenly locked from her. But her abilities weren't completely gone. She wasn't totally powerless.

Blinding an opponent often meant an attack was quick to follow, so Hoshi wasted no time reacting. As the sounds of wings grew closer, she breathed in deeply. As she exhaled, her body suddenly emitted a bright and blinding flash as it turned into electricity. Like a lightning bolt, it zipped around, around the incoming heartless and landed in front of the still cowering soldiers. Her physical form was formed, in a stance of her holding her arm in front of her.

As soon as she was whole once again, there was another large wave of water and exploded from in front of her, crashing down upon the heartless. The wave was even fall enough to smash into the ones in the sky. However, unlike last time, Hoshi did not follow up with lightning. Instead, as the wave slammed down, it became to expand and cool, turning into ice, completely freezing any heartless who found themselves caught in the water. The wave would continue expanding until the rest of the courtyard was frozen, creating a large glacier like structure.

Hoshi rubbed her eyes and shook her head. “Cheap tricks, though that comes to no surprise from such vile beings such as yourselves,” she said out loud as she kept lowering the temperature of the ice. She didn't just stop at the freezing point. She wanted to lower it well below that, where it would burn. The heartless wouldn't be just immobilized, they would be destroyed, taking on a constant stream of massive damage that only got more damaging each second. Soon, the air of the courtyard fell several degrees. This would extend to the whole town.

Hoshi had no spells or summons she could use, so there goes calling in her dad's replica for help. Luckily, she mostly relied on her inherent supernatural abilities that came natural to her, which was mostly the complete manipulation of certain elements. She also was a physical fighter, using elements to assist her physical attacks.

Meanwhile, as she was prepared for the counter, not being naive enough to believe her opponents already were defeated, her skin began to darken more and more as she quietly covered herself with layers of Darkness to create extra protection from attacks. She would augment her strength and speed with her electricity, but for some reason, she couldn't. Another trick, probably. Stupid heartless.

[Lore Moogle]

Orcus gracefully lands atop the glacier, having completely avoided Hoshi’s reactionary attack. With his link to her, following her movements made it somewhat easier to predict how she would proceed. He could clearly see her moving to the soldiers nearby, and with his rune sapping her speed, Hoshi might find him outmaneuvering her should she waiver in her attacks. Sadly, his own heartless lacked his own intuition.

While he could clearly feel the elements at work, the invisible leader wouldn’t falter from something like this. Not even the invisible grunts would be out of the fight just yet. Though, that wasn’t to say that her supernatural abilities did nothing. Were they without their leader, they would have died without so much as counterattacking. With a single snap of Orcus’ fingers, the invisibles trapped within the ice retreat to a dimension beyond, their physical forms becoming incorporeal. Their swords, however, remain trapped. That is until their unending will to serve their general forces them to the surface.

Like thin missiles they shoot out from below the icy floor. Now, they float around Orcus, the tips all pointed towards the one who interrupted the impending execution. One by one the eight floating swords took their place above Hoshi’s head, and small rings of fire took to orbiting her body. Five flames linked to form a hoop of sorts to try and keep the swordmaster from moving. They would simultaneously unleash their attacks upon the woman. However, once their attacks  reach their end, the heartless’ physical forms would re-enter the mortal plane.

“There are those stronger than I that seek to stand at the top,” Orcus explains, raising his razor-like sword above his head. As his sword begins to glow, the blades above Hoshi’s head take on the same purple hue. “If my heartless were to so bold as to die here, how would I stake my claim? After all, it’s a new generation, one of darkness.” The hilt of the red one’s blade began to quiver, as though the metal took on malleable properties.

And suddenly, like glass, it shatters, revealing black ink-like tendrils. They writhe about wildly, the somewhat clear surfaces showing glowing red orbs traveling within. As though they were haunted roots desperately seeking a means to maintain life, they burrow within Orcus. The red heartless itself, doesn’t appear to flinch as the parasitic creature seemingly worms its way deep within. Once they reached a point that satisfied them, their movements stopped.

A certain air of terror grips at the throats of those nearby as those pale yellow orbs scan those standing in his way. Should she manage her way around the impending attack, the angry ogre was more than ready to rush in and swing wherever she lands. With the sword seemingly fused with the heartless, the two working in tandem may just push his own body beyond normal limits.

Orcus Skills Used:

[Hoshiko]

The heartless gang were persistent. Why couldn't they just stay frozen and make things easier for Hoshi? She wasn't exactly experienced at this whole saving the day thing, though it'd be nice if they made it easy enough for her first try to be a success, but that didn't seem to be happening.

The heartless in the ice suddenly disappeared, excluding their swords which quickly shot out, seemingly under control of the one heartless who did not get trapped. He also was the only one who talked, so it made sense that he was the leader. So annoying. Why was everything annoying?!

As the heartless leader droned on about something Hoshi didn't care about, the swords rose above her, preparing an attack that she probably didn't want to land. “Annabelle didn't wish for you, blabbermouth,” she muttered, raising her arms. As the attacks went off, Hoshi was encompassed in a pillar of ice. The attacks would land on the ice, destroying it and creating a large cloud of powdered ice and raining ice shards, obscuring visibility again.

Suddenly, a dozen or so ice spikes shot from the area around the heartless leader, while the ice he was touched would expand and take hold of his feet and legs preventing movement. As the dust would clear below, it would show a slim line of ice connecting from where Hoshi was to the glacier.

At the same time, Hoshi suddenly formed out of the ice. Her skin was a worrying shade of blue, as she was intentionally matched her body temperature to that of the ice, which was now well below freezing and would give anybody frostbite by simply touching it. She was immune to its effects, of course.

Hoshi’s ability of turning into electricity wasn't just restricted to it. She had full manipulation of ice as well, among other elements. She was now part of the giant glacier she had made, now able to be anywhere it was with speed no longer a factor. In addition, though she herself would not be aware of it, the Orcus would only detect the entire glacier as Hoshi rather than her single, specific point in it.

“You gonna keep sending your goons after me or you actually going to do something, you lazy piece of crap,” Hoshi said, with a smirk. The best way to win in this situation was to get rid of the head honcho first. Then, Hoshi would actually be able to use her magic so she could have more offensive abilities, which were really holding her back right now.

[Lore Moogle]

This will be the final boss post, kupo. The Heartless have attained victory. You will be allowed one post to respond. Remember, do not continue to fight a hopeless battle. To do so will result in death, but that is up to you. Your fate is in your hands. Sometimes the best tactic is to retreat, Kupo.

Orcus and his soldiers suddenly ceased the attack as a tremor rolled through the ground. The Invisibles were called back and their fight with the woman was no longer their priority. They retreated to the darkness, teleporting to their true master. “It is over. He is here.” the general said, a haunting laugh left behind. The source of the chaos was coming from the palace.

Just when it seemed that the Blight Witch was about to gain her victory over the Heartless, something changed, a faint ripple surged through the air, bending the very fabric of reality. As the Kurt Zisa prepared to engage the witch in combat once more, it fell short of its strike, frozen in place as its cobra like head gazed down to the ground below. It was then the entire world began to shake. Starting from the center of what remained of the Imperial Palace, an innocent black dot appeared. It increased in size, expanding over the palace and further until almost the entire city had been swallowed. Black smoke quickly filled the air; an all consuming darkness that spread from the ruined city to the snowy mountaintops until the presence of the sun vanished altogether. A portal had been created directly from the End of the World, and what lay within that abyss was a creature beyond any common man’s comprehension of horror. A glowing reptilian eye appeared within its depths, an eye so large that the giant portal could only reveal half of it.

The blight that lay upon the ground disintegrated the moment the shadowy tendrils came into contact, leaving not even a trace of its presence. This darkness came from a creature more powerful than all the Heartless lords invading the worlds put together and more. The blight was no match for the strength of this unknown being.

As the eye disappeared, it was replaced with the very tip of a dark monstrous claw, making the Kurt Zisa appear as a dwarf Heartless in comparison. An aura suddenly enveloped the injured leader, causing its armor to turn red and sprout black spikes all along its now mended body. The single cobra head split into five, hissing and spitting a venomous spray that burned all it touched. This was no longer the Heartless that Meikai had been fighting.

Once the Kurt Zisa received the blessing of this god-like Heartless, more of them poured out from the portal, ranging from the lowliest of shadows to the towering darksides. There was no hope. The Land of Dragons would be claimed by darkness this day. From the night sky, another void was left in the wake of a dying star.

[Lore Moogle]

Raid End

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