Why Is It Always Demons?

Job Description:

The Phoenix Mountains.

Within this range of tall peaks, something awful was stirring. A being with the potential, if left unchecked, to wreak havoc on all of civilization. Most legal mages would take it upon themselves to annihilate such a threat to Fiore, considering it their responsibility. However, there was a certain gray-haired mage somewhere among these mountains, one that felt no such responsibility whatsoever. In truth, he was here out of little more than curiosity, far from any noble cause or principle.

On a ledge hanging off of the side of one of these majestic peaks, Dmitry Kazakov was enjoying a long snooze without a care in the world. As a cloud passed by, revealing a bright ray of sunlight, that nap came to an end as the young man's mismatched eyes squinted from under the light and slowly opened. A loud yawn accompanied this awakening, the mage sitting upright and looking around. Upon confirming he was still in the same place as last night, he stood and cracked a few bones with a stretch. Soon after, his stomach gave off a light rumble, reminding him he hadn't eaten in a while. 


"Mmm, time for some grub..." With that, Dmitry began the descent down to the pond at the bottom of this part of the mountains, being careful not to slip for obvious reasons, so that he could acquire his breakfast. Within twenty minutes, the gray-hair found a suitable stick, tied some fishing line he had brought, placed a makeshift hook and bait on the end of said line, and sat down by the waterside with his line cast. "Alright now, c'mon fishy," he said to nobody, more than ready for some food. "Mitry's gotta eat here." 

Little did he know, there happened to be another mage heading this way, one that was even a part of the same guild as him...

The loud, obnoxious voice rang in Shohei's ears before his alarm clock rang off (Which was going to be in two hours). It was Zan, his rather hyperactive butler. But upon the voice of Zan, it was quickly silenced as the ferocious footsteps announced their presence in the hallway. It had to be Yoshio, his other butler he had recently been deployed here at the Kirisagi estate. Their personas did not collide well professionally. He could hear the chatter through his bed sheets.

"Quiet, you bafoon! Do not waken the master up so disruptively! Have you no respect for this working space?" Yoshio scolded.

"Working space? I see that Sho-chan and I's relation is deeper than one of a professional, besides, this is his bedroom." Zan replied more playfully than needed.

"These circumstances are more severe than I thought. But what is to be expected from a boy raised by a fool. I should've known better. Shame on me."

"You listen up, you shor-"

"Both of you are fools for subjecting me to this irritation of the constant bickering you two feel the need to commence! Ugh! Shut up." Shohei tossed the blankets off of his bed in a ferocious agitation, no mortal could describe what bitter agony he had bared upon his face. He quickly through clothes on himself, the casual jacket and pants, and burst out of the door with an atmosphere that would darken the room. Zan smiled and bowed, as well as Yoshio except he decided to be the emotionless bastard his is and say nothing with a straight face. This humored Shohei, how one could so easily discard of irritation built between co-workers. He just assumed it ran in the family.

Sometime later...

Shohei was sent to The Phoenix Mountains via train soon after he settled the bickering between his butlers. Shohei could recall Zan's pleas to accompany him on the dangerous journey, Shohei only grimaced. He had taken a job today, though reluctant, he needed the pocket money. He hadn't been informed of whom would accompany him on this dangerous mission, his arrogance proven to be bliss convinced him he would not have any trouble accomplishing the task.

The mountains were poorly charted and navigate. Several paths led to completely different areas that were surprisingly native to these mountains. He followed a particular path, hoping to get to some destination. Little to no avail, he managed to find himself lost upon one of it's majestic peaks. "Dammit, this is so stupid! At least have signs!" He ranted. But in the midst of his rage, Shohei had stumbled across a clearing towards the edge of these mountains. There lie a man who would gaze and study a pond. Shohei, with no hesitation, approached him with the most divine agitation. "Hey, you. Where am I? And what are you doing near that pond? You'll get wet." At first, it was just a warning but now it was just pure humor and amusement for Shohei. He could imagine what laughter he'd exclaim at such sights.

OOC: Uggh, sorry for the confusing post. My head cold will end me.

"Eh?" Was all that came out of the comparatively laid back man's mouth, not really sure why anyone else was out here.

"Well, I'm pretty sure most folks call these the Phoenix Mountains, but I'm pretty sure you can figure that one on a map or something. As for this here water hole..." Before going any further, Dmitry pulled his third fish out of the pond with his stick reel, adding to his collective of unfortunate lunch items and letting that be the answer to the second question asked by this new fellow. After that, he began the process of filleting and preparing each fish for cooking and eventual consumption, the entire shtick being rather efficient due to years of experience, despite the lack of necessity that had taken over the last few months. When this was done, he retrieved the fire wood and kindling he had gathered before taking his nap and used some matches he had brought from town to start a small flame, blowing on it and gradually feeding it larger and larger pieces of wood to create a decent enough fire to cook his catch. Despite the fact that he had learned long ago the means of starting a fire without a lighter or matches, Dmitry found that doing so was a 'horrific pain in the ass, like a stubborn tick'.

When the fire was nice and hot, the young mage placed a stick through each of the fish and stuck the other ends of those sticks into the ground around the fire, putting the future meals just close enough to the flames to cook the flesh without scorching them. Soon, one could see the fish taking on a darker, brownish color, signalling they were ready to eat. Naturally, Dmitry grabbed a stick and blew on it a little to cool it off, before laying into the cooked flesh.


"You kah haf one if you want, I don' mind." He said to the other man between chewing, his meal putting him in a generous-ish mood. "Jus waf it, iss a fit hot."

Frankly, Shohei could not describe how spontaneous this encounter was and how casual he took it. It wasn't everyday you found a random man in the mountains, fishing. A comical sweat-drop ran down his face with the most 'disappointed' countenance. It was the crack of noon and early in the day, he had some time to spare before proceeding to the poorly designated area of which him and his partner would exchange greetings before the mission. To be fair, Shohei could've cared less of his partner. He had the confidence that he could get farther in the mission independently. Of course, this was just wishful thinking. Shohei was a logical young man and knew that mindset was half-assed thinking. Hard work and logic never betrays but dreams and willpower fail many.

Thus, Shohei has only set goals that he could accomplish. Of course, he had dreams too. As a child, he wanted to be an explorer. At first, it didn't sound very unrealistic. Anyone could be an explorer, right? Shohei believed this to be true, but everyone is given a set of circumstances they must cope with from the time they are born. He was born into wealth. Had the world handed to him. He had money, a private estate, butlers, meals, connections, insight. And like every rich-kid cliche background, his parents never had time for him, and was left with his first butler to rely on before he moved to his Grandfather's (Which, didn't go too well). He almost felt like every child born in wealth had these circumstances where their parents were too busy. It was irrelevant to the topic, though.

Shohei glanced upwards, towards the cloudy sky. He could spare some time before the mission, so he approached the rather chummy stranger with a frown. "Well, if there was a map, do you think I'd ask for clarification?" He mumbled under his breath, he was just too young to be so grumpy. "Besides, don't you have other things to do?" He asked. Honestly, he was just wanting to kill time. This was pointless inquiry and he couldn't care less about random people in the mountains. It was like some sort of chance encounter.

Unfortunately for Shohei, Dmitry's hearing had become rather keen due to his time spent in the wild, allowing him to hear every last detail of what this man had said.

"Well, I've known quite a few folks who ain't all that good at readin' maps," he said candidly. "And then there's folks who can't read much of anything. I figure you're probably one of those types, all things considered." Dmitry paused to take a bite out of second fish, having already cleaned the first one to the bone. "I mean, you can't be all that smart, seein' as you came all the way out to place you weren't familiar with and didn't bother bringin' a map n' all." Of course, the mage didn't realize the insult in what he was saying, nor would he care if he did.

"As for me, I don't really got nothin' to do," He continued, no longer chewing at the moment. "I don't really got any jobs at the moment and my guilds not that big anymore, so there really isn't anythin' goin' on back in Hargeon. Only reason I'm out here is to check out whatever the hell's inside these here mountains. Felt it from pretty far off, so I figured it was worth gettin' a look at. Can't leave somethin' like that stompin' around without gettin' a feel for it, know if it's we're gonna have a problem or not." Having said that, Dmitry went back to his fish, finishing with it before long.  Although he wondered what anyone other than him would be doing out here, he decided that it didn't make much of a difference and wasn't worth inquiring. Instead, he turned his attention to the remaining fish, eager to learn of it's fate and who would claim it. After losing his patience, he turned to the map-less one.

"Look, are you gonna eat that or not?"

Shohei sighed at the stranger's arrogance. But he wasn't going to lie, shame on him for coming to foreign land with no sense of navigation. It made his brow twitch at his response. But, he was already humored and decided to remain passive aggressive when he got bored again. He approached the stranger even further and listened to his brief tale and background. He stared at him with his crimson optics and sighed once more, crossing his legs over one another and resting his jaw into his palm.

"For a change, I'll nod heads with you. Don't get me wrong, I'm here exhcnaging words with you because it's not like there's anyone else to do so with. You're like some wild animal, but, that's an understatement." He shrugged, upon his movements and inquiry, Shohei carelessly snatched the fish to his grasp and nibbled on it with a relaxed expression. "I wouldn't be surprised if you lived here, quite the place. I'm also here to investigate this area. But now I feel like I'll just be killing time this whole day." He closed his eyes and took bigger bites of this unexpected meal. Frankly, the words that came out of the man's mouth were grains of salt to him. They only existed to add some flavor to this bland meal. But now he was just being selfish.

This particular spot seemed to be the perfect asylum in comparison to other resorts. He almost felt like falling asleep. And he would if he wasn't occupied by the work that was given to him. He just sat there and nibbled on this meat. "Honestly, life is too short to become a workaholic. Wish I could go home." He pouted, most unlikely behavior to come from him. He was quite unsure of what to do at this particular moment, so he waited.

The member 'Dmitry' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Shohei started to actually bite his meat instead of nibbling. The texture was starting to irk him deeply. He was in a state of peace so divine, he almost fell asleep as his acquaintance began to open his maw again, birthing words of relevance. But his words which would bid farewell sparked his interest, he assumed he was a fellow wizard of Lamia Scale. She slowly opened his eyes and followed the figure to his exit, cracking a relaxed smile. Ooh?... So he's a Lamia Scale wizard? Charming. He thought to himself as the area grew silent and he stood up to his feet, taking the now barren stick from his mouth and carelessly flossing his teeth with the sharp ends. He yawned and proceeded to the exit of which the wizard would withdraw.

Shohei wasn't going to brush this opportunity off his shoulder so easily. This man knew where he was going, he could be a living map for all he knew. He silently pondered about, in hops that instinct would guide him to the wizard but truthfully he was going the opposite direction. He had almost given up the fact that he was going towards him before thunder-like roars could be heard in the near distance. Were they the designated targets labeled in his job? He sprinted towards the noise and arrived in a matter of minutes. Large beasts would stand there with grim countenances. It almost made Shohei cringe just to lay eyes upon the hideous animals. But what stood in front of the group was the very stranger he had addressed in his mind. Shohei sighed and rubbed the nape of his neck pitifully, frowning at the beasts. "Someone's grumpy." He sighed, rolling up the sleeves of his jacket as he prepared for battle.

He frowned and crouched to the crust below, placing the palm of his right hand dead on top. Below said palm, birthed a green and brown magic circle. Seconds passed, "I summon the Bladed Titan!" A strike of lightning burst down from the skies and hit directly in the middle of the magic circle. The area became ensconced in steam and smoke, and in the midst, you could view the skeleton of the titan sitting there. Muscles created out of nothing wrapped around the bones, a fluid filling the empty eye sockets but then eyeballs rolling into place as a bone mask was made a barrier. Dark and hard skin poking out of the muscles until it completely covered the body. The Bladed Titan had been summoned as it stood tall and started the flex...

"Wooo! Aw yeah! Kleng reporting for duty~" Exclaimed he.

Shohei only crouched there, in the same position, scowling.

"What the hell are you saying?"

HP: 200%
Summon's HP: 100%
MP: 90%
Summon's Remaining Duration: 5/5 Posts.

(OOC: Lol, yeah, my magic is basically titans from SnK... That can talk, lol...)

Dmitry sighed as the steam erupted throughout the area, finally realizing that this was the back-up he knew he didn't need. Still, it seemed there were three enemies to deal with at the moment, leaving him know time to brood over his company. He gripped the knife in his hand, having drawn it before his new partner summoned his servant. As he swung towards the group in front of him, the curse Dmitry had put on it released the malevolence that seemed to be permeating this place, producing a stream of darkness that acted as an extension of the blade and cut across each of the beetle like creatures in front of him. As they were reeling from the attack, Dmitry held out his arm to the side, producing a silver magic circle as his pupils glowed silver and his irises turned black.

"I invoke the Swift Hawk: Vedfolnir!" From the circle flew a hawk that appeared to be made of a smoke-like material. Just as the beetles regained their footing, Vedfolnir grazed the right one's head hard enough to tear off an antenna, sending it into a world of pain and giving the bird of prey an opportunity to tear off the other. However, upon the second appendage's removal, he was quickly shot out of the sky by a jet of boiling liquid produced by the middle beetle, dispersing it's form completely. 

When the two creatures turned to deal with the one who summoned the hawk, the left hand one was met with a knife land square in it's eyeball. Naturally, between the earlier attack and the blade in it's eye, the beast fell to the ground. The remaining bombardier immediately shot another blast of fluid at Dmitry, responding to the threat on it's life the only way it knew how. But when the nasty cocktail reached it's mark, Dmitry was no longer there, having teleported further away using his Arc of Destiny.

"Now might be a good time to jump in."  

---

HP: 300
MP: 90%

Shohei sighed and stood to his feet once more as Kleng continued to familiarize himself with the surrounding and proceeded to dismiss himself from the area within the period of time he was gifted the camouflage of the steam. He resorted to the thick bushes which would leave him obscure to the eyes of the beasts as the battle commence. The Stranger's familiar had immediately took this opportunity to strike a beast, and had done so successfully. The Bladed Titan had soon followed the steps of the familiar and blasted the sides of one of the beetles with his armored foot, sharp at the tips, and penetrated it's thick skin. The demon screeched as it fell to one side, The Bladed Titan molded his bicep-bone armor to simple blades and slashed at the demon's underbelly twice, leaving no more than an X-shaped laceration as blood oozed out.

But as Kleng would input his final lacerations, another demon would crawl up behind him while composing the most morbid of sounds and would lift itself up and slam down on Kleng. But, alarmed, Kleng dashed out of the way with with a pivetting method and sliced it's antenna off in the process. He shrieked in agony, which only drove it to create a more intimidating demeanor. Kleng stood back few steps with distance in meters between them and knelt down, thrusting his arms outwards, aimed at the demon as the bone molded into devices much like guns, and commenced fire upon the beast. The 'bullets' were large and slow, hitting the demon's skull directly only twice before smoke began to ooze out of the slots which the bullets would burst out from. Shohei only observed.

"These demons are not that fast, they could easily be defeated as long as they are distracted by one or more familiars. But these are also demons. They could very well signify that I am close to the area which need be investigated. Honestly, what a pain." He grimaced as he ruffled his messy black hair.

HP: 100%
MP: 90%
Summon's Status: 100% HP, 4/5 posts remaining.

As the last of the beetles fell, Dmitry walked over to one of them and removed his knife from it's eye. Upon wiping it off with a cloth he had brought, he dropped it the rag as it had to begun to smoke and decay. 


"Demons, eh?" He said after a sigh as he looked down at his blade, unscathed most likely due to the curse it already held.

'Say it, boy.' Dmitry's face soured as he heard the voice of his mentor, the wolf spirit Hati, who could be heard by no one else. 'Say it.'


'Fine! You were right!' The mage snapped, utilizing the bond shared between himself and all the spirits he called forth. 'Ya happy now, old man?' Yes, the wolf had predicted during the journey here that the disturbance was some form of demon, judging by the sudden and virulent effect it seemed to have. Naturally, just to spite Hati, Dmitry claimed it was just some mage playing god out in the mountains. Shaking off the petty squabble, Dmitry entered the cave. It wasn't long before he heard more scurrying deeper in, suggesting there was more of these things.

"I invoke the Great Wolf: Hati!" At these words, another magic circle of the same color as before appeared next to Dmitry, spawning a wolf of a similar appearance as the Hawk.

"Wise move, boy. This place is not one to take lightly." The spirit said aloud.

"You heard'em, fancy pants." Dmitry called back to the other mage. "Watch your self in here..."

Just as he was saying that, three more bombardiers came rushing out of the deeper recesses of the cavern. In response, Hati immediately rushed at the trio at top speed, tearing the head off of the middle one while the wake of his passing battered the armor of those beside it, leaving them vulnerable to Dmitry and his new partner. 

---

HP: 300
MP: 90

(OOC: Remaining two have one B rank of damage left before they die.)

Shohei sighed and continued to lurk in the shadows as he observed the battlefield with the most grim countenance. He had wished that he had slumbered more when he was at bay, but his restless butlers wouldn't have allowed that, even for his sake. The thought of sleeping was distracting him from the circumstances, which, weren't all that heavy.

He found a notable change in atmosphere within the few moments he was trying to conclude how things would turn out. Upon his investigation, Shohei reckoned that his partner in combat had beckoned another familiar. At first, he ignored the exchange of words the two had but glared at his new nickname. He cringed and jerked his head from slightly above his shoulders and shouted. "No way am I listening to a mutt, you twat!" He growled before Kleng, his Bladed Titan, began to resume his combat.


Kleng had finally recollected himself from the previous attack he had commenced and meld his bone armor on his biceps into blades, dashing towards the demons with great speed. And as one of said demons turned to face the gigantic familiar, Kleng had twisted his body in a complete circle as both blades would slice the beast twice, leaving only lacerations parallel to each other on his skull. The ground shook upon this attack, Shohei had to cling to something in order to maintain his stance of little comfort as he observed the demon meet it's demise. "Did he really need to shake the ground so painfully?" He grunted with much disappointment. He was still eager to commence further investigation with these demons so he wished not to dispose of the corpses just yet. "What a drag! I need to start making progress rather than fighting lower demons. But this is a great source of information." He whispered to himself, but then cracking a smile.

HP: 100%
MP: 90%
Summon: 3/5, 100%

Dmitry narrowly avoided a burst of acid from the remaining demon by utilizing his Arc of Destiny to teleport just beside the creatures head, planting his knife in it's skull. 

"You know, that mutt's been around since before you were an itch in your daddy's pants." He said to his comrade, not all that happy about inflating Hati's ego further. "As much as I hate to say it, the old bastard knows what he's talkin' about, so you might wanna listen up." Dmitry quickly removed the blade from the demon's skull, avoiding the fluid that came out.


"For once, the boy is saying something sensible." Hati smugly said, hoping to prod at the gray-hair...and succeeding. "How's about you sensibly kiss my ass, you wretched old fart."

As soon as that was said, something considerably louder began sounding off deeper in the cave, signalling the arrival of much worse encounters along the way. Out from the shadows approached a massive, armored demon that was flanked by to smaller demons that were akin to stag beetles. Both the lesser beetles came at the two mages, almost flying across the ground due to their incredible speed. In response, Hati charged at the same speed as before, slamming into the side of the stag beetle and sending it just a bit off course from Dmitry. Using the opportunity before him, the medium swung his knife just as the demon passed, releasing a blast of darkness from the blade just as it hacked into the portion of the beasts skin where Hati made his impact. The combination of all these factors caused the attack to carve clean through the torso of the foe, dividing it in two. 

After slamming into the stag beetle earlier, Hati continued to charge forward before leaping into the air and latching onto the larger demon's neck-type area/region, causing it to writhe about in response and ram into the other stag demon hard enough to send it reeling.

---

HP: 300
MP: 85%

Just when Shohei had been convinced that a pause had commenced in the midst of combat, new foes were introduced to the feud as soon as the group of fiends were eliminated with relative ease. At an incredible speed, a demon lunged towards himself mercilessly. Shohei glared the at charging beast, but refuses to rearrange his position on the battlefield. At once, Kleng quickly followed the beast with great, or even greater speed and stomped on it's charging body feet from his summoner. Shohei watched attentively, with a grimace frown as he observed the combat from point blank.

Kleng kept his foot upon the insect's back as it vigorously squirmed for liberty on the ground. He leaned down and grabbed it by arms, pulling them above it's body (Nearly tearing them off!), and held it in place and he continuously stomped on it's back until he penetrated it's thick hide. It was a gruesome beat down but Shohei was completely focused of the origins of the demon's spawning. He simply sat up from his position and walked towards where he last saw the demons enter the battlefield. It was completely distant from the combat, but he studied. "Hey, idiot! If we're gonna search for some demons, we're gonna have to start here!" He pointed towards the direction he so confidently investigated. But he soon found notable that he addressed him as "we", were they now partners? Shohei really contributed no thought or care to that inquiry but it was certainly something to keep in mind.

Kleng was still kicking and stomping up the beetle in several regions to find it's weak spots through thick armor, finally able to deal damage after few attempts and began to rip and pull at it's arms, continuously kicking the beast in the sides and back.

HP: 100%
MP: 90%
Summon: 2/5, 100%

(Posting this at 4 in the morning, may be a little confusing.)

"A little busy here, dip-shit!" Dmitry shouted as he ran towards the massive demon, not really paying attention enough to catch the 'we' part. After the hulking bug threw Hati off of it's shoulder, twisting a bit as it did so, the gray mage took the opportunity to step up it's rigid hip and grab onto it's back. Naturally, the monster swung Dmitry left and right in an effort to get him off, much like Hati before him. As the medium struggled to hang on, his mentor closed in and clamped onto the beasts knee, cracking the joint a bit. Taking the screech of pain from his adversary as a signal, Dmitry took the opportunity to plunge his knife into the place where Hati was clinging to before, breaking through the already damaged armor and releasing another screech. Not content with simple pain, he pulled the knife out and plunged the knife in about three times, the wolf tightening his grip on the knee joint in it's mouth.

Having had enough, the enormous beetle pulled back it's arm and locked the joint, obviously preparing to throw a punch the wolf on it's knee in the head. Seeing a checkmate in the making, Dmitry dismissed Hati just as the punch was thrown, leaving nothing to cushion the blow that crashed into it's limb. A sickening crunch could be heard even outside of the cave, along with another cry of pure agony. Thrown off the thing's back by the force of it's recoil, Dmitry rolled when he hit the ground and turned to sprint at it. As it was using the arm on the side of it's demolished knee to hold itself up, the right side of the creature was exposed. When Dmitry was in range, he leaped and flipped through the air, sliding off the bug's shoulder and grabbing the knife out of it's injured neck and landing behind it.

Shohei clicked his tongue with the most divine of agitation. He reckoned that his partner was slashing away at the beast who dare defy their investigations. And upon his glance, Shohei found his assumptions to be proven true at the ghastly sight of his partner and the familiar hacking away at the demon's thick skin with little mercy, if any at all! Such bloodshed! Shohei cracked the most grim of smirks upon his countenance, and what a foolish wretch he had been. He was completely oblivious to the thrill of battle, and though aware of this tackling emotion, he remained unamused by said thrill. Shohei lifted himself from his stance of little comfort and dusted himself off of the matter that would scatter upon his clothing. But then...

KABAM!

A gigantic corpse flew into the stone surface that would lie directly beside Shohei, the bloody body of the demon Kleng would slay. "Booyaaah! How bout that?" Kleng protested his greatness and strength. Shohei trembled. Fear? No. This was anger so divine it made him crack under laughter. "You're dead to me, you bafoon! We have yet another demon to kill and you stand there to boast!" He scolded, with eyes as cold as ice. Kleng froze and nodded in silence as Shohei responded with a sigh. But, the body was large... and a distant rumble could he heard... even felt in the distance. A landslide? He knew that the corpse was large and hard, but were these regions so unbalanced? He feared the worst as he gazed up the stone wall with the most doubtful of expressions, feeling vibrations grow larger. This deemed to be of great concern, but what to be done of it? Did his partner notice it? And she he flee in the midst of battle? Several questions went through his head as he strategized. "This may redeem to be... a problem."

HP: 100%
MP: 90%
Summon Status: 1/5 Posts Remaining.

Upon landing on the other side of the demon, Dmitry turned and released another blast of Dark Fang's malevolence into it's back. The creature let out one last groan before toppling over and hitting the ground, adding to the shaking all around them.

"Don't wet your pants, you whiny bastard," Dmitry said before planting the blade of his knife deep in the eye, testing to see if it was well and truly dead. Upon confirming loss of life functions, he shook some of the venom from the weapon and waited for the rest to evaporate before placing it back in his boot. "That's not the cave comin' down on us. That's the thing that's causin' all this." He could certainly feel it, the beast that was deep within these caves. The two mages must have gotten it's attention with all their fighting, causing it to stir and react. "This thing ain't just messing with the bugs around here. It's influencing the spirits as well, turning this whole area more and more toxic. We don't stop it soon, this cave's gonna be the least of our worries." With that out of the way, Dmitry began moving further into the cavern, ignoring the awful feedback he was getting from the spiritual plane.

"Trust me on this, I can sense this sorta thing. Anything that effects the spirits, effects me in turn. That's why I'm here. Whatever this thing is, it ain't good for anybody. Hell, it could probably make it all the way over to Hargeon. Now, I make not like towns all that much, but that's where my guild calls home. So there ain't a chance in Hell that I'm gonna let this thing get anywhere near there." Having finished saying his piece, Dmitry began to feel a bit ill as the greater demon's presence began to take it's toll. However, the experienced medium had dealt with another demon in the past and this wouldn't be nearly enough to stop him.

'Steady your self, boy.' Said Hati, telepathically warning Dmitry through the bond they shared. 

'This one knows your here...'


Benjamin carried out 2 launched of one Monster Dice :

,

Shohei sighed, his suspicions for landslides were now at ease upon the reassurance of his partner, who's name remained unsaid. He paused, placing his index digit and thumb upon his chin and gazing downwards as he pondered. "Ah, so this idiot is my guild mate? Never knew e stooped so low." He placed his digits on his temples and rubbed them in the midst of all the movement, Kleng only trying to keep his balance, "But they keep coming..." He grunted before finally approaching his partner, but keeping his distance from the quarrels with an insightful expression. "Do you think they'll keep coming in these small quantities at these rates?" He inquired with a rather reluctant tone.

But he knew that these quarrels would soon come to him if he had come to them. Kleng's time was almost up, and he remained in a state of fatigue and exhaustion. He grunted, placing a palm down on the soft blades of blood-stained green grass and closed his eyes. Kleng glanced at his summoner and nodded, soon disappearing upon the que of Shohei's position. Below his palm, and meters away, composed a black magic circle outlined with gold, about 10 feet in diameter. "I summon the Winged Titan! Bringer of death, Nephilim!" Exclaimed Shohei, as a lightning bolt struck down on the black magic circle in it's center. Again, steam and smoke covered the battlefield as in the midst of the mist of steam and smoke, the creation of the titan could be seen. Muscle overlapping muscle, fluids pouring out the the eye sockets until the optics rolled into place, bones plummeting out of it's back as thick tissue created it's wings. Nephilim had been summoned. He rose from the origin of steam and smoke and glanced at Shohei, with a countenance so blank, it was cold. "Young lord, it seems that you're in a bit of a frightening situation. I am here to aid you and your partner." He spoke softly.

Shohei only clicked his tongue, pointing to the approaching demons. "Partner? Please, more like dead weight. But, he does have some use." He chuckled.

HP: 100%
MP: 80%
Summon: 5/5 Posts, 100% HP.

Dmitry's Theme:

"Dead weight, huh?" Dmitry asked, holding his hand to the side as he felt more bugs crawling out of the caves nether regions. "Says the guy who came to a place he didn't know was a map, didn't bring any food, and barely knows when there's a fight happening." A magic circle appeared in front of Dmitry as two stag demons showed themselves.


"I invoke the World Serpent: Jormangand!" Just as one of the creature's was about to close in, a new monster erupted from the circle beneath it, sinking it's fang's into the insect and even raising it off the ground. The snake then curved to the right, still emerging from it's circle, and slammed the enemy into the ground, dazing the creature and leaving it on it's back. As Jormangand was unlatching it's jaws from it's prey, having already injecting it with venom, the other demon attempted to use it's speed to run Dmitry clean over. Before it could do so, the mage suddenly disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the damaged beetle, causing the healthy stag to run straight into a wall. It's own force reverberated by the stone it struck, the beetle reeled a bit, allowing Dmitry to fire two smokey wisps at it like a baseball machine on steroids.  Soon after the two projectiles struck, Jormangand followed up by slamming it up against the wall and puncturing it's shell at the same time, killing the creature fairly out right. 

Just as Dmitry was about to move on, he heard a noise behind him and quickly turn to see the first demon staggering to it's feet. Acting preemptively, the medium fired a single wisp creatures already cracked and wounded gut, sending it back a bit and buying Dmitry some time form another magic circle.

"I invoke the Gold Mane: Gullinburst!" A smoke like boar emerged from the symbol, it's mane and tusks shining like the sun, and charged the demon. On Gullinburst's impact, the creature's damaged shell gave way, sending it back to the ground for good. Dmitry exhaled deeply, before hearing more sounds and grinning.

"Well, your exaltedness, why don't you handle these guy's?"

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HP: 300
MP: 55%

Shohei smirked, the demons who once stood ferociously now slain by the fangs and blade of his partner. Nephilim shot a glance at the demons that would approach them with the most grim of intentions, and flexed his wings, clenching his fists and grunting. The smug grin on Shohei's face was pointed directly at the enemy, dusting himself off. "With pleasure."

At those words, Nephilim dashed at the beasts who stood side by side and grabbed the left by it's antennas and lifted it from the ground. As they arose from the crust below, it struggled and resisted ferociously. But with it's legs and arms hanging off of it's immobile body, it's attempts had no avail. When it was high enough, it slowly pierced it thick hide with the talons on his wings one by one. The first two struck it's skull, then it's neck, the spine, then the rear. Blood poured down from the combat above, the other demon taking this opportunity to dash towards Shohei. He merely sighed, placing his palm down on the green blades of soft grass, meters in front of him appeared a large, red magic circle about 20 feet in diameter. "I summon the Colossal Titan! Tyrant in size, Bertholdt!" At these words of beckoning, a bolt of lightning struck down in the center, steam and smoke arising from the origin. In the midst of the steam and smoke, the very same process of the creation of the titans could be seen. And few seconds afterwards, the large brute stood tall and gazed around, quickly catching sight at the approaching demon. Nephilim's talons retreated from the demon's corpse, aiming and kicking it down on top of the sprinting demon, piling them onto one another. The demon fell to it's sides, but quickly staggering to it's feet. But alas, the newly summoned titan refused to give it a chance to collect itself. Plummeting his heel down to it's skull, mercilessly. Once, twice, three times he had struck it's skull before kicking it to it's side, the ground shaking uncontrollably as Bertholdt continued to strike it beneath it's thick skin, it's underbelly. Three times it had struck it before his heel finally pierced it's skin, ensconced in oddly hued blood.

Shohei turned back to his partner, sighing. "And it's not your "exaltedness". It's Shohei Kisaragi. Remember that name, you wretch."

HP: 100%
MP: 70%
Summon's Status: Nephilim- 4/5, Bertholdt- 5/5
Note: Kind of shitted my way through the combat, so sleepy. T^T

Dmitry chuckled a bit at Shohei's self introduction, not quite impressed with him just yet. "Pfft, I'll try not to forget it, princess." He said as he walked past the titan summoner and moved through the cavern that was now clear of enemies, if not the rotten stink. Flanked by his spirits, he walked through the rather large tunnel that both waves of enemies came through, feeling the nasty presence of the cave grow as he went further in. 

All living things could sense some level of spiritual activity and essence, but for most, their sense is too weak to be consciously aware of. That's what Hati had taught him anyway. But this thing, what it was giving off. Unless Shohei had an abnormally low sensitivity to spiritual presences, he would soon feel an inexplicably sickening feeling coming from further in. If the former was the case, he was lucky.

Dmitry on the other hand, was forced to endure an even greater strain on his psyche, though he'd seen worse before. While this creature's effects on the land had and effect on the surrounding nature spirits, as well as any other kinds of spirits in the area, this creature didn't have half the direct spirit influence that the demon of fear had. Furthermore, Dmitry had since developed an even stronger grip on his mind as he had back then, making this seem puny in comparison.

"We're almost there." He said, a small bit of strain in his voice. Soon they found themselves in a massive open portion of the cave, the ceiling of which was likely at least one hundred feet up. Inside this room sat a grotesque spectacle, not suitable for some eyes. If this disgusting creature wasn't the greater demon, and Dmitry was fairly certain that it was, than the world had a propensity for creating horrors.

Shohei dusted himself off to rid of the oddly colored blood that were come in speckles on his outfit as Nephilim ceased his flight and landed rather roughly upon the ground as his partner passed by him with a careless demeanor. The titans simply stared at the man with rather blank expressions before glancing back at their summoner. Shohei was also in a train of thought before a grim expression was planted on his lips. "You all got some blood on my clothes. I wanted a clean kill. But, never mind. Escort me." He sighed as both the titans and nodded, transitioning into their lesser selves. For if they did not, they couldn't fit inside of the cavern.

The two summoners plummeted and ventured into the dark abyss where many demonic beings would owe their very being to. It was nothing but utter silence and darkness. The creaking and churning of the cavern bounced off of it's walls as the two confronted the very origin of these fleets. Their eyes beheld the majesty and horrific sight of the ghastly being in front of them. There was an unexplained tension filling the air, Shohei gazed at it with a grim countenance. "Well, big shot, what now? You seem to be the expert of all of this." He inquired rather quietly. The soft but dark growling could be heard from several areas, and the suspense made his familiars uneasy. But, Shohei remained still. For he knew how powerful this beast of darkness was in comparison to himself but remained silent until his partner offered feedback. "Young lord, perhaps you should consider stepping ba-"

"Time is money. Money is power. Money comes from that beast and if we don't slay it before sundown, then I have shamed myself. Though I doubt it will take that long." He pressed his digits against his temples and lowered his eyelids, lost in thought once more as Nephilim, his Winged Titan, nodded and remained silent henceforth.

"What do we do?" Dmitry asked rhetorically. "You look at that thing and you really gotta ask what we need to do? Kill it obviously." 

Bariael:

The mage was astonished at the priorities some people had, his counterpart's talk of money and shame completely lost on him. Trying to ignore what he perceived as foolishness, Dmitry began running around to the side of the nasty creature, hoping to get a shot at it's sac-like rear while Gullinburst charged the thing head on. Naturally, even the boar spirit was fast enough to get in close, ramming into what likely constituted the giant maggot's chest before it could be stopped.

As the disgusting demon destroyed Gullinburst with on of the spiked limbs at it's front in retaliation, Dmitry turned and unleashed a blast of darkness from his knife and cleaved a large wound into the lump of flesh at the enemy's rear. Not wanting to give time to recover, gray-hair fired two wisps from his left hand that crashed into the incision he just inflicted on the creature, eliciting an even louder roar of displeasure than when he first hit it. Dmitry took the opportunity in front of him and got on top of the area he wounded, leaping onto the demon's back so he could climb up to it's head. Grabbing onto the spike protruding from it's cranium, the medium pulled the maggot's head back and stabbed it in both eyes with his blade, bringing forth more cries of agony. However, it didn't take long after that for it to fling Dmitry off it's back, one of it's spikes cutting him in his side as he went. Rolling a bit after he hit the ground, the mage held out his hand when he stopped, forming another magic circle.

"I invoke the Twin Ravens: Huginn! Muninn!" The two birds flew forth from the circle and took up positions on both sides of the beast. Soon after, their body's transformed into long knives, piercing the joint's on it's two front limbs to slow it's attacks further before. The two blades disappeared as Dmitry got back to his feet, ready to finally let the still active Jormangand come out of hiding... 

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HP: 250
MP: 35%