Palace of Greed, El Dorado (Library of Ruina)

[] Focus on the Leader. He's the more dangerous one out of the two. You can feel it. Take him out of the equation, and you can deal with the woman easy. Easier said than done, of course. You'd have to deal with the woman throwing knives at ya.

-[] Melee or Repression




For a second that stretches into forever, nobody moves. There you are, one against two. Around you, rows and rows of broken, shattered pews. Behind you, Wu, making himself scarce, away from danger. He's still in danger, you remind yourself. And there, beyond you, in the back of the Church, Kai faces the blond-haired Raizer in a similar standstill as yours. You return to the dark-haired boy, and the dark-haired woman. Their shoulders loose; relaxed, yet at the same time, ready. On the woman, a wide, bloodthirsty smile. On the boy, flat nothing.

Further up North, beyond your senses, a similar stand-off occurs. Mao, Vice-And-To-Be-Captain of the Scarecrow Office, perches on the rooftop of Youn's Trading Company. Poor Miss Youn curls up behind her, making herself as small as possible. Meanwhile, somewhere in this building, killers stalk for her client's flesh, and blood. She's tired, and she misses her home oh so much. Down West, Mori, Spy-And-Technician of the Scarecrow Office, drops from the ceiling, and unravels his arm. The Hunter beneath him expects it, and he bounces away, narrowly avoiding a cut to his neck. He glances behind him, and shoots the client a reassuring look, before turning back to the Hunter. In the Scarecrow Office, Daniel, Boss-Captain-Leader of the Scarecrows stares blankly at his own Office, blinking occasionally. In his mind, a ten-year-old war rages on. In the same room, Burke, Assistant-And-Administrator of the Scarecrow Office sorts through the job request files, checking and double-checking who could do what. He glances to the side, and frowns worriedly at his Boss. He's been less, and less.

Back to East, to the here, and the now, in the back of a church, Kai, daughter of a renowned Fixer, stands-at-a-still before a man nearly twice her size. Behind her, the unconscious body of her charge. The schoolgirl could not be that much younger than her. She will die first before she lets the girl leave her. His low stance, and the way he grips his blade tells her what she needs to know. Her own sword, Mother's Gift, vibrates, its cold flaking her own palm. In her warm beating heart, something cold thrums outward: anticipation. But then, a moment of weakness. Of distraction. She glances to the side, and spot Lily facing two of the Raizer Siblings, she adds, noticing the similarity of the two – the boy looks around her own age. Kai feels worry, and –

You, Lily, don't know it, but you're all in this together.

Somebody, or maybe something who the hell knows, makes a noise. A tap. Or maybe it's a click. More a crack, if you linger on it for a bit. Doesn't matter.

It sounds like thunder.

And the boy dashes forward in a burst of motion. One moment, he stands a good few meter away from you, and the next, he's right in front of you, daggers ready to shred you into ribbons. You raise your guard, and the blows start raining on you. Cuts, and stabs, and slices. They're not to kill, not immediately. Death by a thousand cuts, he's going to bleed you dry like a fucking pig. You growl, feeling the shallow stings slowly building on your skin. None of them cut deep, and you can thank Karrion for that.

[No Damage. 1 Bleed Applied.]

With a grunt, you lash out with your crowbar, and it misses by a wide mile as the boy swerves around you, behind you. Hell no. You follow him, locking him down. In the corner of your eyes, the woman throws her knives after you. "Fuck," you curse, growling, as you bring your arms up, your exposed flesh. They rain on you, but none of them manage to even pierce your armor, bouncing off them.

Your shallow cuts fucking sting.

[-1 HP from Bleed. 29/30 HP.]

You turn, and just in fucking time – the little shit weaves away from you, into the dark. "You're going nowhere, fuckface," your crowbar bites into the collar of his jacket, and for the first time, you see something else in his face other than flatness: surprise.

[Empathy Check: Easy Difficulty: Pass]

Fear.

You grin, triumphant, and pull. He stumbles towards you, trying and failing to regain his balance, and you lunge after him. Your free hand wraps around his little neck and lifts him up to your face. He's light, you muse, as he chokes, scrabbling pointlessly in your grip. His daggers glance off from your sleeves, and his legs weakly kick against your body. He growls, and chokes. Quickly, he shifts gear, holding onto your hand, breathing heavily – a desperate plan trying to form in his mind, eyes shifting back, and forth. Barely human. More a rabid animal. A Rat, the image crosses your mind. Fitting, for a filthy Syndicate.

"Kayu!"

[Empathy Check: Hard Difficulty. Pass.]

A full-bodied flinch – eyes widening, as if drenched by icy water. It disappears as quick as it appeared. On a strange whim, you turn around, and the knives the woman's about to throw never leave her hands.

You blink.

Huh.

Your throat dries.

Fuck.

Eyes locked with him; a question begins to form itself: is it worth it? What is? You. Are you worth it – worth this – worth him? Strip everything away. All of it. Just for a moment, forget everything about this mission. Forget about Wu. Forget about Kai, the distant clashing of metals as she guards the hostage with every inch of her life. Forget that. Forget about the Syndicate, about the Raizers, about the man fighting Kai, and about the woman trying to turn you into a pincushion. Forget about all those.

For the time being, there is only you. There is only him.

Kayu, that's what the woman called. Dull, and dark eyes, with as equally as dark bags underneath. Something peeks from beneath his scarf. Raw, and pink, and ugly. A scar. Scars, barely visible, peeking out like a dozen of reaching hands. How old is he? Can't be much older than you – definitely younger. So seventeen? Hell, sixteen? And fuck, he's already leading a Syndicate. God. What a fucking joke. You'd laugh if it's not so fucking unfunny. That shit ain't right. How many has he killed, then? Who could say. You're no fucking magic-man, but plenty. More than zero. More than you. The Raizers got a rep, and this Kayu got the eyes of a murderer. He wouldn't hesitate to kill you.

Then again, not many would.

So here he is: Kayu, the sixteen-to-eighteen years old Syndicate leader. Young. Scarred. Killed more than you.

How about you? Lily. Eighteen. One-and-a-half week old Low-Grade Fixer. You have a goal – no, not just a goal: a dream.

So, is your dream worth more than him? Was it worth more than the people you've killed before, and will it worth more than the people you're going to kill after? Who decides that, then? Who decides the value of your "worth" and this boy's "worth"?

You don't know. You just don't know.

[Justice Check. Very Hard Difficulty. Fail.]

That's just how it is in this fucking City.

You don't know, and there's nothing you can do.

A random odd phrase brushes your mind: This is this, that is that.

You breathe out, and Kayu's eyes widen as you simply drop him. He stares at you, and you stare at him, cold. He looks away first, a trembling backstep away from you. You smile, and you lash out – he grunts out in shock as your leg bites into his side, and he flies towards the rows, after rows of pews. An explosion of dust, and crackling wood follows.

Your cuts sting. You grimace.

[-1 HP from Bleed. 28/30 HP. Bleed Effect is Gone.]

In the ensuing cloud of dust, Kayu picks himself up, twitching out into view. His eyes flinch away from you.

[-10 SP. Kayu's SP: 10/20. Kayu is now Terrified. -2 to Every Action.]

"Kayu!" the woman calls out, her voice tight. Worried, you recognize – that smiling, and grinning 'hardcore' bullshit gone in the moment. Her eyes jump between you, and him. "You cool?"

Kayu nods.

[Empathy Check: Easy Difficulty. Pass.]

He's not cool.

But just like that, Kayu leaps at you, his daggers splayed to turn you into ribbons. One moment, he's there, the next, he's still there, and the next – he's slower, you realize. No, not slower. Predictable. Hesitant. Scared. In the corner of your eyes, the woman begins to throw her knives, and you curse. Fuck. That's their play. Fuck it. His daggers cut at you, and you raise your guards. It's a flurry of blows, sharp blades cutting at you, but they might as well be plastic knives. Metal clangs against metal they clash against your crowbar – he tries to cut at your neck, at your face, but he couldn't reach you. You raise your crowbar, and his eyes widen – a stuttering step backwards, and –

Pain flares on your back. You growl, buckling, stumbling forward for a moment. You recover immediately, raising your arm against Kayu's swing. Against Karrion's armor, it simply glances off. You look over your shoulder. A good half-a-dozen knives, sharp, and rusty, stick out of your back. They pierce through the fabric, into your skin, and biting your flesh, digging deep. Something leaks. Blood, pooling underneath your coat, spilling out like you're some kinda fucked up balloon.

[-6 HP. 22/30 HP. Slightly Injured.]

With a roll of your shoulders, followed up by an immediate regret as something – make that several somethings – pull on your back, you awkwardly straighten yourself up. Fuck. They ain't gonna turn out pretty.

"Hardcore," the woman drawls out, a shit-eating sneer on her shitty mug.

You glare. "Fucking bitch," and in the corner of your eyes, something flicker. Your crowbar cuts the air, and the shadow flinches away, narrowly missing your hook. He stares at you with eyes the size of dinner plates. You grin, teeth, and all. "But you ain't going nowhere, little shit," you spit.

[Kayu Dodged. +1 SP. Kayu's SP: 11/20.]

He tries to back away again, but your eyes are on him, nose tracking him like a hound – he goes left, and you go left, he goes right, and you go right. Back, and forth. Forth, and back. A hail of knives come from your back, but you ignore them. Karrion's armor shaves the worst of it, but the come in waves, and the blades shred you apart like paper. Your back feels stiff, and every motion burns, and numb, and cold, and warm at the same time. You couldn't move your legs right, and you could feel something poking out of them, almost like a piece of meat stuck between your teeth. You glance down, and see a couple sticking out of your sides. Your vision blurs, the surrounding an unfocused haze –

[-6 HP. 16/30 HP. Injured. -1 to Dice Checks.]

Your focus never breaks from the boy. You circle him, corner him, hunt him.

[Instinct Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]

He feels cornered.

He's always the cat in the game, never the mouse.

He's realizing that he's not the cat anymore.

[Empathy Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]

Because the little shit has never experienced this before, you quickly figure out, tasting copper inside your mouth. Your grin widens. Shitty fucking Syndicate shits. You recognize his tactics. It's very familiar. In fact, it's the same type that Kai suggested, that you just pulled off. Let others do the distractin', and meanwhile, he makes himself scarce, come up from behind, and – stab-stabbity-stab-stab. Rinse and repeat. It always works. Has always worked.

[Empathy Check: Hard Difficulty. Pass.]

He's proud of it: sneaking.

It's the only thing he's good at. For.

[Kayu Failed Stealth 3 Consecutive Times. -2 SP. Kayu's Current SP: 9/20 SP.]

[Empathy Check: Improbable Difficulty. Fail.]

Don't fucking relate to this shit. He's nothing like you.

Eyes, dark and empty, start to swivel wildly. Left right up down left right down up – a wild animal looking for an out. He hunches low, and forward, and his eyes eventually settle down to you. With a guttural, wordless bark, he lunges at you – a thrust with his entire weight behind it; a desperate all-or-nothing attack. You swing your crowbar, and his lunge stutters – and he only notices left hook several seconds too late.

He staggers, stumbling to the right, and then to the left, only to go back to the right. He tries to stand still, and fail. His eyes try to stare at you, but they're faded, swimming, going straight through you. A blink. Two. Three. Still nothing.

He's frozen.

[-5 SP. Kayu's SP: 4/20 SP. Kayu is now Hopeless. -3 to Dice Rolls.]

"Get away from him, you bitch!"

You turn around, and are immediately greeted by a hail of flying knives. You swing your crowbar, and metal clashes against metal – against Tor's knockback, the knives fly away, scattering back. On the roof, and into the floor. Your muscles scream, the blades sticking into your body screeching with every motion you take, and beneath, you notice the pooling, and trails of blood you leave behind.

Time to end this, you think, and twist your body back. He's still there, staring at you, and not at you. Through you. Your hand reaches to him, and his head snaps up, awake. He takes a step back, but it's a token effort at best. Once again, you're reminded by how light he actually is. He kicks against you stomach, and you couldn't even feel it. One drives the knife on your side deeper, but only barely. It just hurts. His hands scratch against your hand, his daggers dropped on the floor, nails trying, and failing to pierce through your skin, leaving behind only thin red marks. His struggles come in spurts, each second growing more desperate, growing more futile, growing wilder. He's saying something, shouting, or screaming, but it all comes out in guttural nonsense.

The scarf comes loose, slipping away – lips twisted, half of it gone, teeth visible. On his throat, burns, and stitches, and more scars. You can see through the stitches, inside the throat. In that moment, his struggle is forgotten, and he tries and fail to reach his falling scarf. "A-a-a-a –" his hands fly up to cover his neck, his hanging legs pulled up close to his body, curling into himself.

"Drop him, you bitch!"

You do just that, and the boy hits the floor, shivering, and twitching. He tries to crawl away. You let him. His mouth moves, flapping about, but the only sound that comes is that same growling, wordless noise.

[Insight Check: Very Hard Difficulty. Failure.]

Just nonsense.

[Empathy Check: Very Hard Difficulty. Failure.]

Unimportant.

[Instinct Check: Hard Difficulty. Pass.]

Somewhere in the City, a lump of coal crawls out of an alley, drenched head to toe in blood. For a moment, he rests his elbow against the wall, breathing raggedly. Behind him, a pile of corpses. Despair nips at his toes. This is a man who has lost everything, led only by his aimless wrath. In the deepest forgotten dredge of his mind: a plea. A Lost Name. Stop. Please. Can't do this anymore. He wants to stop.

But he can't. He won't. He doesn't want to. He has to.

Someone needs to pay.

But please.

[-9 SP. Kayu's SP: 0/20 SP. Kayu Falls into Panic. Wander Status Applied: -2 SP to Nearby Allies Every "Round". Out of Battle.]

You tear your gaze away from the thing. Unlike before, even knowing that the you of yesterdays couldn't have possibly defeated this boy, you don't take any satisfaction of it. You're not some psycho who gets off from snuff-shit like this.

Exhaling, you turn your attention to the woman. Your back, covered in what feels like dozens of knives, hurts like a bitch. Now it's time for some fucking payback.

You advance on her.

The first volley stops you, and the second catches you by surprise, cutting your skin open as they fly past you.

[-2 HP. 14/30 HP left. Injured.]

But by the third, you get a sense in her attack. There's a pattern to it, and your crowbar sends her knives away. You finally take another step forward. By the fourth, you wonder how, and where she got all those knives from. You take another step forward. You're close now, and she knows it. She's losing it. Her attention's split between you, and the crawling Kayu. There's only one way to end this, and it's not one where she gets out of here unscathed. By the fifth, the pattern's gone. She's just throwing knives at you, and some of them only hit you by the hilt – those, you don't even bother guarding against.

You take another step forward – and just like that, you're in her face.

"Fuck," she spits, dashing back –

Her body snaps as your crowbar slams against her side. She drops to the side, the floorboard underneath cracking as she gasps for air. Her face contorts, and as her bangs are swept aside, you catch the eyes underneath. One is sewn shut, and the other stares at you, swimming in confusion. In pain.

And then resignation.

She glares, pulling out a knife from her sleeves, and it flies with a snap of her wrist. It bounces off your coat. You swing, and she curls up. Underneath her, the floorboard screams in protest. Something cracks, and it's not the floor. The woman chokes her scream, turning her head sideways. You don't gotta turn to know where – or who, she's staring at. She mouths something.

[Insight Check. Very Hard Difficulty. Fail.]

You look away –

[Empathy Check. Very Hard Difficulty. Fail.]

—and swing.






"Mia!" Wu surges immediately from his hiding spot, rushing to the podium. He practically slides over the unconscious schoolgirl. "Dearie, are you –" he stops himself, scouring her body, eyes staying on the cuts, and bruises. "Oh dearie…" he mumbles, shoulders slumping. Relief mixed with something else. He closes his eyes. "Thank God."

"… D-dad," the schoolgirl mumbles, waking up, staring blearily. "Y-you're… here?"

"I'm here," Wu nods, sinking deep, nuzzling the girl. "I'm here."

You look away from the scene. It feels like you're intruding on something… something. It's also pretty unpleasant to look at just in general. You walk up to Kai, who watches the whole reunion with an odd look in her face. Odder look than her already generally odd look. She looks… bad. You frown. There's a gash to her side, Karrion's outfit torn apart, and her left arm is bent at an odd angle. "… You alright?" you ask.

She glances to you, wincing. "Caught me off guard," she explains, turning to the scattered pieces of ice on the floor. "It will heal," then she pauses, turning to look at you. "… Are you?"

Looking at yourself, you grimace. Now that the excitement's going away, you could feel the damage of your fight coming at you in full force. Fuck. It hurts. Your everything hurts. You glance down to your side, and hiss. Ah, that's… deep. You also probably look like some kinda freak, covered in a shit-ton of knives. A human pincushion. "I'm fine."

Kai stares at you. She stares at you hard.

You look away, grimacing. "It'll heal," you echo, reaching down to the hilt-deep knife –

Kai's uninjured hand forms a wall, stopping you before you could pull it out. You give her a look. "Please do not do that," she shakes her head.

You furrow your brows. "Why the fuck not? It'll only get worse, Kai."

Kai stares at you. She stares at you hard.

You glare back. "I'll fucking do it, bitch."

"… At least wait until we get back to the Office," she mumbles, glancing away. "Please."

You open your mouth, then closes it. "Fine," you grumble, dropping your hand.

"… Fixers," Wu walks up. Limping by his side, Mia the Schoolgirl stares at you with a mix of horror, and awe. Wu bows. "Thank you. For this. For all of this."

"M-mhm," Mia nods awkwardly. She can't seem to tear her eyes off from Kai. "Thanks. Yeah."

"Just doing what we're paid for," you shrug – and immediately regret that. "So yeah."

"Nevertheless," he sighs, smiling. Smiling, you realize, blinking. He slowly walks down to the piles of money in the center of the church, and starts collecting them. "Here," he says, after a moment. "Your bonus."

You share a look with Kai, before taking it. You'll discuss the split later.

[+ 500,000 Ahn into Reward Pool. Current Reward Pool: 1,850,000 Ahn]

A thought suddenly comes to mind, as Wu puts the money back into the case, strapping the watch back to his wrist. "Pretty sure I remember you said you'll give the entire briefcase," you point out.

Kai glances at you.

Wu coughs, laughing awkwardly. Mia furrows her brows. "… I said that only when the worst occurred," Mia's eyes widen in realization. "In which case, I would've given anything, because…" he trails off, shaking his head.

"Dad!"

"I know, I know," he smiles, tired – that firm, stone-chiseled expression gone. Only warmth here. Once again, this feels awful to watch. "But you understand yes, Miss Lily, Miss Kai? Now that the adrenaline, and panic have run its course, I am remembering that I am not made of money, and…" he shifts his eyes back to the money. "This is a lot of money."

"It is fine."

You give Kai a look, then back down to the stack of money in hand. "Sure, whatever," you mumble. "Not like I was gonna extort you or shit."

"I know," Wu nods. "Your service has been exemplary."

[Empathy Check: Medium Difficulty. Pass.]

He really means all of that.

"Fucking whatever," you spit, shoving your hands – and pausing immediately when you feel something pull at your back. Grumbling under your breath, you just look away. And they fall down to the shivering, curled up boy that was the Raizer Juggler's Gangleader. Kayu. Your hand falls to your crowbar. "… What we gonna do with him."

Kai, Wu, and Mia follow your eyes.

"Kill him," Wu says immediately, and there's that firm, stone-chiseled voice again. "Just kill him, Fixers."

"D-dad," Mia squeaks. Wu glances to her, frowning. The schoolgirl grimaces. There's something in her eyes. Something you never had, and never will have. "… J-just… we could just leave him," she trails off, wriggling awkwardly.

"Mia," Wu whispers, not quite harsh, but hard. "He hurt you. They kidnapped you. Hurt you. God," his voice breaks, once again looking over her. "They hurt you."

"H-he didn't hurt me," she shakes her head. "It was… it was mostly…" she trails off, gazing towards the podium. They slowly pan out to the unmoving body of the woman, before she immediately looks away, face paling. "He just took me, and… he never touched me."

You turn to Kai, and Kai turns to you. She shrugs. You shrug as well.

Well. Side-by-side, you and Kai walk up to the boy. He's still whispering. Mouthing something low, guttural nonsense.

"Sister. Rayu," Kai mumbles, voice monotone. "Help. Can't do this no more…" she trails off. You glance to her., and she glances back "It repeats."

"So they're related," you muse, staring at the woman's – Rayu's corpse. "Didn't know that."

Kai gives you another look.

She's been giving you a lotta those, these last twenty or so minutes. "You've been giving me a lotta looks," you point out suddenly.

She blinks, jumping. "Ah," she says, and then no more. "So."

"So…" you nod, fingering your crowbar.

Article:

Mission Success! Your HP has Recovered from 14/30 HP to 18/30 HP. You Are Still Injured. -1 to All Combat-related Rolls. You Are Rewarded with 700 XP. In Total, you have: 915 XP.

[] Plan How To Spend XP
-[] Stat
-[] Or Skills

What to do with Kayu? (Choose 1)

[] Just Kill Him. There's no real satisfaction to this. No thrill in the battles. You came into the fighting expecting something simple, and straightforward, but instead you got… this. There's a difference, you're realizing, between killing like this, and killing with something on the line. Too… cold-blooded to your taste. Whatever, just end him. It's practically a mercy.

[] "Spare" Him. You'll just leave him there, leave whatever comes next come. This is not mercy, no matter how Mia the Schoolgirl sees it. This is hell. You'd know. He got nowhere to go. Nobody to be. But whatever. Yeah. Sure. Whatever. If he ever snaps out of it, you are sure that in no way, will this bite you back in the ass.

How do you split the Reward? (Choose 1)

[] Sixty-Forty. Who knows. Maybe. You still… you still need the money, and… and you did your own fair share of the job, right? Unlike last time. Yeah. Yeah…. Yeah. Reward: 1,110,000 Ahn. Cost: Your Pride.

[] Fifty-Fifty. All equal, and fair-like. You like it. Simple, and clean. You both did your own fair share of the job. You think. Reward: 925,000 Ahn. Fair and Square.

[] Forty-Sixty. Loathe as you are to cut your own reward, Kai deserves it, you think. Yeah. You'll admit it – the mission hinged on her, and she succeeded, and well… it's also to make up for last time. Reward: 740,000 Ahn.

[] Write-in. (Kai Will Accept Whatever, But Don't Abuse It, or She Won't Like It. She will be a taad hesitant if receiving more, but that's not a bad thing.)

Spoiler: Tweaks, As Expected

So, to get it out first, I changed how Repression works in this update. Functionally, it's the same. It does Sanity Damage. But rather than rolling for Melee to Hit, then Repression for Damage, I just immediately rolled for Repression both for Hit, and Damage. So just removing that extra step. It seems weird, looking back on it, why I initially decided that's how Repression's gonna work, since it was supposed to be its own thing as Justice's Combat Skill, like how Ranged, and Stealth are their respective Stat's Combat Skill.

Also, I might be changing how Sanity Debuff works in the future. I'm not sure how. Embarrassingly, while writing this update, I realized that I hadn't planned on how Sanity Damage Debuff would work, so I defaulted to applying the same Debuff as HP Damage Debuff. I'm not sure if this is fine overall, but… well, I'm really, really, really open to suggestions. Coincidentally, this is why this update took a little bit a while to write… that, and how to apply Repression into the narrative properly.

Hopefully, that one worked.

Spoiler: Rolls

"Round 1"

Kayu is the fastest. He goes for an attack: 8 (7+1). 9 Damage. Lily blocks: 6(3+3). 9 Defense. Damage Nullified. 1 Bleed Applied. Rayu throws knives. 12 (10+2). 12+1+1(Bleed): 14 Damage. Lily Blocks again: 8+3: 11+3 Defense. Lily loses 1 Health from Bleed. Bleed is gone. 29/30.

Kayu goes for Stealth: 10. Instinct Roll for Lily: 12. Kayu's Stealth Fails. Lily grabs Kayu before he could fade out. Tries to get away: 8+2: 10. Fail. Use Repression: 9+2: 11. Minimum 1 Ego Resist: 10 Sanity Damage. Kayu's Sanity: 10/20. He's now Terrified. -2 to Every Action. Bleed procs. 28/30.

"Round 2"

Bleed Effect Goes away. Kayu and Rayu uses Teamwork! Kayu, and Rayu attacks at the same time. Lily can only focus on one. 7+1-1: 7 and 6+2: 8. Lily prioritizes on Kayu. 6+3. 9 Defense. Kayu's blocked. No Bleed. Rayu's attack goes through. 9(8+1 Damage) vs 3 Armor Resist. 6 Damage. 22/30. Slightly Injured.

You go after Kayu. But Kayu's going into Stealth. 6+2: 8. Vs Lily's Instinct: 10. Stealth Fails again. Kayu's shocked at that, as you straight up go after him. 9+2: 11. Tries to get away: 11-2+2: 11. Barely gets away. Heals 1 SP. 11/20.

Stares at you, wide-eyed in terror. Disconcerted.

"Round 3":

Kayu and Rayu use Teamwork! Kayu goes into Stealth, while Rayu strikes you. Focus only on one. Stealth: 8+2-1: 9. Rayu Attak: 6+2: 8. Lily's Instinct: 10+2: 12. Kayu Fails his Stealth check for the third time. 1d3 for Sanity Damage. Suffers 2 Sanity Damage. 9/20. 9-3: 6 Damage. 16/30. Lily's Injured. -1 to Actions.

Lily goes for Repression again! 4-1+2: 5. Kayu Dodge: 3-2+2: 3. 5/20 SP. Hopeless. -3 Debuff. Kayu no longer goes into Stealth. Kayu no longer can use Teamwork. Kayu loses Initiative.

"Round 4":

Rayu attacks, desperate to get Lily away from Kayu. Roll: 7 (6+1). Lily Blocks: 8+3-1: 10. Blocks completely. Repression on Kayu: 8+2-1: 9. Kayu struggles(?): 8-3+2: 7. Kayu's Gone Panicked. Wander Effect Triggers. His eyes muddled. He speaks for the first time: his voice crackly; grown unused, and broken. It asks for help. Pleading. He doesn't want to do this anymore.

Rayu loses -2 Sanity Every Round. 23/25 SP.

Lily Turns to Rayu.

"Round 5":

Rayu's Attack: 9+2: 11+1: 12, 21/25 SP. 11+2: 13+1: 14. 19/25 SP Nervous. 3+2: 5. 17/25 SP. 7+2: 9. 15/25 SP. 6+2: 8. 13/25 SP. Terrified. -1 Debuff.

Lily Blocks and Advance: 7+2: 9+3: 12, 7+2: 9+3: 12, 4+2: 6. 8+2: 10. 9+2: 11.

Summary: 12 vs 12, 14 vs 12, 5 vs 6, 9 vs 10, 8 vs 11

Tie. No Damage. Lose. -2 Damage. 14/30 Health. Injured. Win. Win. Win.

Grows more desperate, more terrified each time.

Face-Punching Distance. Rayu cannot attack Ranged. Super useless at Melee. Got all kinds of debuffs. Practically crippled.

Do I really need to roll?

I did roll. She got beat, and none of her attacks come through.

Mission Complete! The Raizers Destroyed.

What about Kai. She wins, of course, but how's she, you know, in general?

Kai: 40+25 (Just Generally Better): 65.

Dude: 36+10 (Not Your Ordinary Swordsman): 46

Got Caught Off-Guard, and some nasty wounds there, but nothing that won't heal. All's Well.