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"It is a nice day, though it's going to be raining a little while later." He watched Iteral touch the chains, to no effect. They stayed intact. Not that she would run off anyway, if she knew what was best for her country and people. "I can sense a third being, Isla. Watch your back."

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Isla Greer

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With a roar, the ghoul took off, lunging for the time manipulator like a beast. It flickered in and out of existence and appeared behind her.

Isla took her eyes off the fight. That should be sufficiently distracting.

"A third being?" she questioned. She pinned her sword to her hip and surveyed the battlefield. Perhaps she should summon a seeker soul, but... the Netherworld was already closing. To open the portal to the second realm again might tap into her life force, a sacrifice she wouldn't make for this battle.

She hissed underneath her breath. The old fashioned way, then.

Isla raised her sword and glanced back and forth. The magician was by Old Man Ferran. Safe then, presumably. He would need to be kept alive, for sake of alliances.

A flicker of movement caught in the corner of her eye.

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"Enough already, god." Iteral looks into her pocket, tearing open a small bag of powder to drop them onto the chains, as the powder ignites enough that the ground around it boils. She did all that while running or time-shifting away from the ghoul. "You're calling us disgusting, yet I'll be the one to clean your clock!"

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Kendo was just sitting next to legion, sipping from a mug.

"Aye, the rains will be coming. How was your day?"

Kendo took a long sip from his mug.

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"My day was fairly well until you three decided to show up." He glanced towards the treeline. He could see the guardian angel from where he stood. "Clean my clock? What a childish catchphrase, it almost made me laugh." He watched Isla. "Don't put that strength to bad use, darling. I gifted it for such reason."

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"Aye, sorry bout that, mate. You need compensation?"

He sipped from the mug.

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Isla Greer

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What do you think I'm trying to do? Isla shoved her frustration down. What could he mean by that?

She pressed her hands to her heart, and drew out the magic there. This time, she could sense something else- something stronger, more purer than her magic. Something descended from the gods themselves.

I could open twenty portals with this, she realized. She cast a glance at the Legion, but he was as fake as ever- smile on his face, smooth features. As impeccable as a gentleman in his own parlour instead of a battlefield.

Fine, then.

"Searcher," she muttered, and with a ripple of magic, the sky split once more, releasing a smaller ghoul.

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Adrik Volkov

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The battle of the magicians waged on around them. Adrik's chest felt tight. What did he do? Just- stand here?

The kind man recovered first. "Onward, men!" he cried. "Do we cower like children while our queen fights for us? No! We will defend Snavia to its last breath!"

With a roar, he thrust forward, heading straight for the time user.

"No!" Adrik cried. "Wait! She'll kill you!"

But he could only watch helplessly as the army surged forward.

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Kendo flicked his finger, and a storm of jagged, broken bones appeared in the air above the army.

"And... down."

He pointed his finger down, sending the bones flying, stabbing through the army. He turned back to legion.

"Anything you want, so I can compensate for the damage?"

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Iteral uses that opportunity for a strike this time: Leaping over that weird ghoul, she pulls out another clock. This one was attached to a chain, full of sharp blades and emanated weird magic from it, as she went for a few swings at Isla. "Well, I don't know what you are talking about... but how about that ally of mine stops wasting time and starts using it!"

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Adrik Volkov

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"No!" Adrik cried.

In slow motion, he watched each soldier crumble to the ground. The lucky ones were speared through the neck, severing the bones. No doubt it'd be a quick death. The unlucky ones-

His eyes snapped to one, a stout man he'd sat with. He was pierced directly through his chest.

He staggered forward, looking around at the fallen bodies. He looked up and met the stranger's eyes, and a demon's soulless eyes stared back. Everything went still.

Someone was tugging at his sleeve.

With a gasp, he whipped around, expecting a zombie, and saw the kind soldier from earlier. He'd been speared through the abdomen. A slower death, no doubt, but equally lethal.

Adrik crumbled to the ground, moving to cradle the man's head in his lap. He wasn't long for the world- twitching all over, gasping for each breath.

Then he noticed what the man was holding. A sleeve. A person was clutched against the man's chest- someone he'd tried to save, shield with his own body.

"Heal him!" the old soldier begged. "Please, magician-" His bloodied hands slipped from Adrik's coat. Tears clouded his eyes. "Magician- please... give my life..." He clutched at the hem of Adrik's shirt. "I- I promise, anything, all my money, just... just..." He was still shallowly breathing, but his eyes had gone dim.

Adrik looked at the person the old soldier had been clutching. A teenager. 18 or 19. He was already dead. And the soldier had tried to barter his life for him.

"Oh god," he whispered. He glanced back at the old soldier. He was still twitching, but his chest had stopped the rhymetic movement.

He looked up at the stranger- no, the monster again and something horrible was rising in his throat. A fierce sob, threatening to tear its way out his chest.

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Isla Greer

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"Damn fools!" Isla hissed, jumping to the side, narrowly in time to avoid being speared through the head. Pain rippled through her cheek. She brought her fingers up to it, and they came back bloody.

She narrowed her eyes at the time magician. "You're good." She drew her sword out. "Is it a duel you wish for? Then a duel you shall have."

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"Look, I'm not even sure I want to hurt you. Right, all I want is to save her." She points at the restrained one behind, seeing her little powder mixture also being unsuccessful. "You're a fine thing and all that but I'm more than busy, I have unlimited time but limited limbs." Iteral waits for a strike from the ghoul, leaping back and swinging her clock so both strike one of the chains at the same time.

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kendo appeared next to Adrik, looking mildly disinterested.

"Well, that worked a lot better than I thought it would. I'll have to write that down."

The bones disappeared, leaving the bodies on the ground. he turned to Adrik, his grin gone.

"I'm sorry."

He tilted his head slightly, his ice-blue eyes cold.

"No one should have to watch their comrades die."

he shrugged.

"That's just war, though."

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When Ayran arrived at Snavia at last, he isn't surprised in the slightest at the utter destruction it's state was. He snanneed his eyes, though all the debris, and found a apartment building that surprisingly wasn't down yet. He quickly climbed the stairs to the roof, and set up his sniper rifle.

He knew where his target was, now all he needed was patience and wait for the prey to fall into his trap.

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Adrik Volkov

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Adrik stared at the man standing over him. He was fairly handsome- probably not much older than Adrik. His features were impish and angular, strong and secure- a fixed face. Everything was carved, shaped to be perfect.

A beautiful statue. A saint, carved from nothing less than pure gold.

His eyes lowered to stare at the shovel in the man's hands.

Oh, he realized. I'm about to die.

And suddenly, fury was coursing through him. No! He would not die, fallen to cowards who put him between their wars. He refused to be yet another puppet- another string cut for the sake of the control that all these dictators craved. He was the sole survivor. He was their hero.

He would not die here.

Use your brain, Adrik, a voice echoed in his brain. His mother's face flickered in and out of view, and he seized it, clutching her beautiful expression in his arm as he ducked under the expected blow. He backed up, scanning the battlefield. Whatever he could use to prolong his life, prolong his memories, he would take it.

No matter what cost.

He set his jaw and brought his boot down on a corpse. A sickening crack sang through the air. Carefully, he peeled a sword from the lifeless fingers.

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Isla Greer

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"Save her?" Isla laughed darkly. "More like attack your own allies. Prolong your own hope-" Her eyes narrowed as she lunged in for a thrust of her sword. She danced backward with the movement, going with the flow of the feint.

"You use her as your excuse, but ultimately all you want is strength for your own kingdom. It's selfishness which drives you people- always is."

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"I have no kingdom!" Iteral was slashed this time, holding her chest. "I travel through time a lot, I have seen many kingdoms rise and fall. I have also seen Legion's fall, run while you still can. Desert and live an actual life, instead of dying to some dunce." She taps her clock, the wound being restored but not the clothing.

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Isla Greer

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"Perhaps then," she said calmly, despite the sweat pouring down her face. "That explains why you are as treacherous as you are." She ducked underneath Iteral's shoulder, trying for a swipe at her neck, then jumping back before seeing if it connected.

"Desertion- you speak as though it's a simple act. Like changing clothes. Move to a new land, wander a bit farther." She drew her sword in. "You have no one to whom you can trust. You are faithless, wandering without home nor hope. You haven't a person nor place who you place value or loyalty in. And that is why you are fighting us here today. Because you think some abstract concept is more important..."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Than people." She lunged forward, going for a stab.

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Kendo dug the shovel into the ground. Certainly not what Adrik was expecting. he glanced back and explained himself.

"Warriors deserve to be buried, at the very least, do they not? It's a simple courtesy, the least I can do for taking their lives."

he started to dig out a hole.

"I'm not heartless. I'm not gonna murder a kid like you in cold blood. I don't like killing."

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Iteral went for a counter-strike this time around. The last hit barely dodged her neck, so instead she grinds her clock against her sword, getting close to her face. "I am no traitor, I have fought in different wars in different factions. I even fought myself once. Wars are just excuses for people in power to seek more. They send those who are foolish enough to believe them into battle while not risking anything themselves. You are nothing but a pawn to him." She goes for a headbutt this time, gritting her teeth.

"I could show you the future but I do not. If you wish to stay on the path of malignance, so be it. But do not act surprised when you falter."

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Legion watched the scene unfold in front of him. He noticed that even a slight graze would make the goddess flinch, so the chains were definitely causing her to shake. Her thin wrists were pressed against her chest, fingers playing with the top hem of her dress. She stared silently, a deep frown engraved her features. Once he figured he was done, he used the Saint to open a portal back to her palace- his base. Before they left, he stopped to lean down and whisper in her ear. She turned around and held her hands out. A warm glow left her hands and connected to the wounds on Isla's body, healing and rejuvenating her. "I shall take my leave of you. I do hope to see you all very soon~"

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Adrik Volkov

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"A kid?" Adrik asked coldly. "Then what about them?" He angled his head towards the bodies lying on the ground. "Half of them couldn't be out of college. Yet you chose to slaughter them meaninglessly- if I'd dove in, your bones would've killed me too. You only make exceptions..." His teeth clenched. "When your stupid pride is at stake. When you can't dehumanize..."

He realized he was shaking. He wasn't even sure what he was saying.

"I swear to you... no matter how long it takes, I will kill you. For my family and for..." He swallowed. "All the people you kill without even looking at their faces."

He clutched at his sleeves. "So kill me now, or else you'll regret it."

Please, he thought, but didn't add.

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Isla Greer

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Isla gritted her teeth, struggling against the weight of her enemy. In some point when the blow connected, she'd bitten her tongue. She could taste iron all over her mouth.

And yet still, she smiled. Through bloody teeth she smiled. "A pawn? My dear, I'm afraid you're mistaken on many accounts."

Then something rushed through her body. Energy. Revitalization. She found the strength to push the time user away and retreat, jumping back to her magic user. "We're going!" she hissed to him. "Now!"

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