It's Turbin' Time (Library of Ruina Modded/Arknights)

3.25 - Baptism

Your name is Linette.

Most people know you as "The Mirrored Knight," at least nowadays. Some know you as "The Centipede," thanks to your brief period where you completely lost your shit and wandered the Sargonian wastes in the form of… well, the centipede.

You're sure G-Corp gave it another name, but it's still a centipede, one of the many things you killed in your career.

This… thing.

The "Wreathed Centipedal."

The facsimile of a hardened abomination, some strange lifeform slumbering inside of a cocoon and scavenged by opportunists in the wake of the Smoke War. Perhaps from a lab, perhaps from a warehouse. You'll never know. It was kept in someone's collection- some rich executive. You don't know his name, and frankly, you don't care about knowing. It slept for years. How long, exactly, you don't know. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that you killed it.

You killed it. It was your first Star of the City case. You went there with Sleepy- as part of a hunt, and you killed it yourself. With your bare hands.

Ha, of course not.

Your hands are never bare, after all.

And Sleepy might have shot it a lot before, before succumbing to blood loss and leaving you to deal with it.

What matters is not that.

What matters is that it died under your hand.

It's a part of you, now. In a way. It was the first real kill. You had killed before, and this was not even the first one to truly challenge you.

But it was the first enemy that your stolen skills couldn't even scratch. The first enemy that you had to slowly, painstakingly whittle down, grinding through its dizzying array of bladed appendages, one after the other.

The first enemy to leave you a scar.

In your real body.

It doesn't exist anymore- the scar has long since melted into sludge, alongside your organs, alongside your bones, alongside your flesh- but the memory remains.

You remember the piles of corpses it gorged itself on. How the very floors of its underground lair were slick with rotting blood, fetid with the smell of decay. How it slaughtered entire Syndicates and Offices.

When you finally smashed through its hardened, chitinous skin… what you felt was incredible. It was exhilarating. When you stuck your broken hands through the opening on its head, and grasped desperately for something as it feasted on your lower half.

When you felt the soft neural tissue on your skin. On your real skin.

When it finally went limp.

The memory makes your heart flutter.

Well, not right now.

Right now, your heart is a tube. You don't think it can really flutter. It's not… designed for that, at least. Its heart always beats in the exact same frequency.

Scuttling through the city, as people screamed around you, was kind of fun- you think you even made a Silverlance duck into an alley in panic. Traversing through the alleys and dashing through the corridors, squeezing yourself through windows and small shortcuts. It's what this body was made for- the ultimate urban fighter- and you delight in the fulfillment of that purpose.

Młynar is hanging on for dear life onto your back. He doesn't look happy about those circumstances. Then again, he never looks happy about anything at all. His callused hands are clinging -with all of his prodigious strength- to the thorns that erupt from your back, coiled and twisted as they are. He snarls, and manages to place one of his feet onto a lower-placed thorn- gaining a solid foothold.

"This body... it is a strange thing."

You feel a little guilty about having kept secrets from him for this long, but you really didn't have much time to catch up, having spent six years completely insensate as a puddle in the ground.

Toland has already done the same as him, with considerably more ease. He always had a knack for adapting to strange situations, and looks a bit more amused, and a bit creeped out. You don't recall ever showing him this form before…

"What the hell is this thing, Linette? You can't just show up like this, you know! We had to take some time to catch up first, have some drinks." he muses.

You make a noise that vaguely resembles laughter. Your mouth- strangely shaped as it is- starts to secrete some substance you understand perfectly but don't know the name of.

"Well, I had pleeeenty of people to catch up with. I can assure you I'd eventually get to you. I wouldn't forget my old buddies, would I?"

You laugh, this time for real. It's a shrill, painful sound. You were not expecting them to just accept the idea of coming with you with no hesitation. They did not ask for an explanation- Młynar simply asked if this was truly a vital matter. Once you nodded, he grabbed ahold of you without hesitation.

Speaking of Młynar, he remains silent as you speak of this. He looks at the arena with worry, and a sort of vindication. It does not please him to see the storm, but he does look somewhat pleased at the sight of the destroyed colosseum, doesn't he?

He'll never admit it, but he isn't all embers. At first, he looked very much like doesn't care about what happens to him. When it came to his nieces, perhaps he still had some fight in him, but he accepted that cage of a life- a cage he trapped himself in- without question.

Młynar seemed to you as someone who had nothing left but ashes. But you saw wrongly. No, no. There's fire in there. Burning faintly, but burning all the same.

All you have to do is stoke it.

Well, no matter. That's for later. You have a task to accomplish.

"Hey, Młynar."

He turns his eyes towards your head.

"We've arrived, I assume." he asks, as you decelerate.

Well, kind of.

"Hold on, the two of you, not yet." you chitter. "Have you ever wondered what it's like to fly?"

---

Where's X?

"Thrown into the side of the arena by the second pulse of the storm. He's getting up- but navigating the storm will not be possible for him." Abel reports, as your ears ring. Time has been halted- you need it too much to let it escape your grasp.

Could he just power straight through? With the slithering, horrible thing he carries around backing him- an Abnormality of the highest possible level- can't he do it?

"He could. I should tell him to come, then?"

Yes, sounds good. If Adam high up there is wielding an Abnormality- the Abnormality, from what Abel told you, it can't be a bad idea to ask for some help from another one of them, no?

It's best if he remembers to keep [CENSORED] sealed, though. That creature's true appearance would not help in matters of maintaining cohesion during the battle. Not at all.

And there's another thing…

The new Apostle- you'll call her the girl, or the knight...

She seems young. This armor she wears seems strange at first, but it is recognizable aesthetically. It seems like something she cobbled herself, tinkering with stray pieces of technology until something that she liked- something she was comfortable with- arose.

Ah.

It reminds you of a younger version of your own armor. Pieces of Workshop technology, scavenged off slain enemies, carried in a bandolier…

You shake off the memories. Now is not the time.

The look in her eyes is… empty. You've seen this look before. She will not care about what happens to her. You can slice off her legs and she will still crawl towards you, uncaring of pain, uncaring of loss.

Or at least, until whatever Adam did to her wears off.

If it even can wear off.

It would be best if the Rhodes Island personnel around that medic- Hibiscus- were warned, you think. If Adam flees the scene, he might attempt to capture her- you think he wanted the girl as another Apostle in his ranks.

Can Abel do it?

"I can. It will take some time to find them, unfortunately, but I can."

You frown. Well, not really, as time is moving extremely slowly, but some muscles in your face receive the order to contract so they can show the beginnings of that expression.

It's best if he leaves that for last, then.

First, warn Kal'tsit and Amiya of your plans. Your focus turns to your side, where the young CEO of Rhodes Island- ain't that an impressive title for someone so young- stands. Her arms are covered in black crystal armor, and she carries, in her hand- it is a strange blade. A black sword, one-edged and fairly threatening.

"Chi Xiao," whispers the Voice. You shake off her words. Its name does not matter, not right now.

You feel Abel's alarm, but the Voice's presence withdraws as quickly as it arrived.

Amiya's sword is ready. You turn your sight towards Kal'tsit- she has her pistol in hand, and is pointing it at you. Mont3r is preparing to lunge at the enemy.

Okay. Time for the plan.

You'll need any information Abel has on WhiteNight's abilities.

"That is not WhiteNight, I believe. If it was, we would be considerably worse off." he notes. "But still. Plague Doctor has overtaken its user. Such a phenomenon is known as Corrosion, and occurs when the user of an experimental E.G.O experiences prolonged stress, or when someone utilizes E.G.O equipment or armor that they are not capable of withstanding. Given the grotesque side effects, it is likely the former- the latter's drawbacks are more subtle."

You understand.

The creature flying above is barely recognizable as human- its feathers seem to grow painfully through the skin, and their appearance suggests they are razor sharp. The lower part of Adam's skull has been reshaped into a beak, and the upper part of the veil that covered his face seems to have merged with the tissue. His eyes are dark as night, but there is something you didn't notice before- an intelligence. Not his. The "Plague Doctor" is in control- and you'd do well to not underestimate it.

"The guardians seem to be all Scythes, if we go by the numbers. The originals were frightening in close combat, and had inhuman strength- if they managed to grab ahold of an agent, it didn't matter how strong their E.G.O armor was- they were already dead. I am not entirely certain that those incomplete victims of the Doctor have the same power…" Abel says. "But if I were a betting man, I would bet on these Apostles' specialty being close-quarters combat, with little to no defense capacity. I do not believe they feel pain or that they will be impacted by any wounds that are not crippling."

Yes, you thought of that. The look in their eyes… a fanaticism that even the Index would find excessive.

"About Plague Doctor… I am unsure. In combat, WhiteNight releases waves of destructive power that would kill all but the most prepared agents, but if it could do that, it would have likely already done so. The Doctor never entered combat himself, that I can safely say."

Alright. That's… useful.

It's best if you slow down time just a little. Abel should be telling your allies this information- and asking them if they have anything that can put down the Apostles permanently, or deal any real damage.

In the meanwhile… you think you have a plan- which Abel should also inform them of.

You'll draw Jamie and the knight girl towards your allies. The first, you've faced before, if in a different state. You know his abilities. The second, you're not sure- but you think you can handle her.

You carry the Book of the Dreaming Current. You are sure that it can bypass the seeming invincibility Adam had earlier- so you're your team's best chance right now. You are a bit... a bit unsure about utilizing E.G.O again- especially after what you just saw. But if Abel believes it isn't an issue, you will trust him on this matter. You've already done it once, and it was a strange experience.

All right.

You feel Abel communicate a mental nod, plus a faint sensation of reassurance. And then, time resumes.

Your enemies charge.

You take a deep breath.

When you move once again, it is to evade the strike of the knight, who has already closed on you. She is fast, and there is a grace to her movements. Some of her self remains in the Apostle, if only in the shape of her fighting style.

She is strong- her swings have power behind them, and she has little, if any, sense of self-preservation. Just like you predicted, she cares for nothing but making absolutely sure that you are dead.

You smile.

That's not a strength.

That's a weakness.

You lash out and land a solid kick on the side of her head. She does not emote, so you spin and land another. Jamie is closing into you from behind- you evade a strike from his blade by sidestepping out of the path. The Bloodfiendish worm- Joe- wrapped around your arm hisses, releasing a jet of acidic blood into his eyes. Unfortunately, he turns his head just in time. You've done it before- he's started anticipating it. You won't be able to rely on it that much.

You can't let them surround you. Strangely enough, none of them seem to account for your tail, and you get out of the situation by landing a tail-slam on Jamie's face, which disrupts him enough to let you get out of their range.

Amiya comes in for the save shortly after, flashing into position right above Jamie- a well-practiced move, you notice.

"Amiya believes she can strike through the E.G.O armor with her sword. It has demonstrated sufficient capacity to pierce enemy defenses before- be it Arts-based or merely physical." whispers Abel, your mental-speed implant flaring into life the second you hear him speak.

Well, it's a good bet!

You turn around and move to stab the knight girl through the eye. She's fast, but you're faster. She knows instinctively she won't be able to parry, and moves to the side. The blade still catches her- but instead of piercing her brain, it simply tears out her ear and a chunk of the side of her skull. Your form blurs before she can regain her footing, and you slam the pommel of your blade into her head right as it is passing next to it.

While she might be immune to pain, getting a concussion still seems to work- she's reeling now. Joe follows by unlatching itself from you- planting a painful bite in her nose.

Well, it would be painful, if your enemy wasn't essentially a machine.

You turn back as the knightess falls to the ground. Jamie can't seem to land any attacks, with Amiya moving extremely fast around him. While he's faster and stronger then he was before, he seems to have lost some of the grace- his movements have grown fairly predictable.

Amiya's form flashes into position for a stab into his neck, but a wall of wind is moving to intercept.

You look towards Kal'tsit, who has once again asserted her dominance over Andoain. You place all your strength in your feet, and leap towards Jamie- planting both feet on his chestplate just as the wall of wind would move to strike the Rhodes Island executive.

With his concentration disrupted, it goes wildly off course and slams into the floor, kicking a cloud of dust. Jamie slams on the ground, and you try to land on his forehead, but he moves out of the way- he's recovering much quicker this time. Your tail- that you finally notice to be a shark's tail- twitches. Joe, still coiling around your arm, twitches in sync. How strange.

You suppose it's time to put your plan into motion. You look at Adam, who seems to be preparing something- he's rising higher.

Just as Jamie gets back on his feet, you grab him by the neck.

You roar internally for Abel. You're going to toss him towards Kal'tsit- he needs to tell her that. Amiya realizes what you're trying to do, and nods minutely.

You throw the armored knight with every inch of strength you have, and he flies through the air, in a direct route for Mont3r's claws, which are currently furiously attempting a complete disassembly of the Sankta's guts. Again. The man just doesn't seem to stay down.

Abel mumbles something you don't quite get, but you realize what he meant- he can't tell anyone about Hibiscus if he sticks here. You'll have to sign off on him leaving, if you want that. It'll be just a minute or less, but that amount of time still counts a lot.

You've got to cover your bases, you think. You need a failsafe. If Adam gets out he might be gunning for her.

So, better to just sign off on Abel leaving.

"I see." he says. His presence withdraws once again. But before he does, he relays what he found to you.

Mont3r is fast, and strong- but with a command, he can become even faster. Through the fight, he has been charging up- and with a simple order, Kal'tsit can order it to unleash the stored energy. It can become a defensive wall that the storm wouldn't even be able to scratch. It can become a crowd-control nightmare that can butcher enemies by the dozen, and it can focus down a single target, coating its blades in energy that will make mincemeat out of anything and everything unlucky enough to not dodge.

What.

What is that thing?

Nevermind. Amiya's the same- she's fast, and she can get even faster. She's confident that none of the Apostles will be able to nail her for the few seconds she's at her top speed, and she can use that time to slash clean through Jamie's armor.

Just as Abel leaves, Mont3r falls upon the Sankta gunman, having torn off their hand. Whatever fight he had in him, it died off. He is using his bullets to their full extent. An inhuman marksman with prediction and sense of timing off the charts- but when Mont3r got in close range, it was over.

He dodges a swing of its claws, fanning the hammer, unloading furiously into its chest, but it's no use- through the bullets lodge themselves into the beast's body, a single shot of Kal'tsit's gun is enough to close the wounds, ejecting the bullets into the ground- with the beast's strange crystal flesh growing into itself, the tissue being put back together by the force of her Arts.

His eyes are focused- he tries to turn his back on the creature and retreat, but it isn't having any of it. It falls upon the marksman, and just as it severs his spine in one clean swing, its body seems to shift in a strange manner as Kal'tsit makes a peculiar gesture.

It seems to have resorted to its second "command," preparing to handle both Andoain and Jamie, form spinning and claws shredding everything on its general vicinity with reckless abandon.

The last Apostle… Amiya is holding the other girl off with some struggling.

Your form blurs again, and you slash through the girl's armor with ease. It's tougher then it should be- it was put together quite well- but it's not tough enough. Amiya takes the advantage and slashes through her stomach. With a simple movement of your arm, Joe follows through by splashing her eyes with blood. It whines a bit while doing so- it can't do this continuously. You decide to let it rest for a while.

For one second, the knightess gasps. Then, you turn to look again at Adam- who simply vanishes into purple petals.

A previously unkown ability- you'll have to keep this in mind. If it can simply teleport away, your efforts to keep it here will be futile. But if it wished to do that, wouldn't it have simply done so already? Is the corroded status of Adam straining his capacity to reason to such a degree? Enough that he simply cannot remember his original goals?

What a frightening possibility- a weapon that eventually dissolves the very reason you sought to fight in the first place.

Well, if it can run away at its leisure, there's no time to waste. You need to put it down before it's too late.

Amiya vanishes. Even your enhanced eyes cannot track her presence. The air around her reels, as she goes from fast to supersonic in less then a second.

You take out of the book of the Dreaming Current. Words spill out of your mouth without care. A tongue that is far too long to be yours spills out of your second mouth. Your tail elongates yet again. Your senses melt- it becomes nearly impossible to judge what is and what is not. You almost hesitate. E.G.O weapons are looking more dangerous by the minute, be it to their enemies or the users themselves, but you don't have time to doubt yourself.

"I'm not wishing for things like vast meadows or warm sunlight." you say. You cannot control what comes from your lips anymore.

You leap, navigating on pure instinct and whim- and you slam into Adam just as he materializes above Amiya. You grab ahold of his neck with one hand, as you two rise higher into the sky. Your eyes fall down- and you see your allies fighting. It's difficult to precisely pin down what is happening, but you try.

Amiya's sword slams into Jamie's armor, into the plating in his shoulder. It holds- for a precious moment, it holds. He prepares to react, but then it cracks. You grin, and continue to rise, swimming through air that is as if it was liquid.

It's a soft sound, the sound of flight. The winds whisper in your ears. Your steps into the world above are certain. Your eyes are stained in rainbow colors.

Adam tries to grasp you as well, trying to claw your eyes out, trying to touch you- but your other hand moves, and you stab cleanly through his shoulder. He cries out in pain, a shrill and annoying sound.

It's disturbing you away from your dream, you realize, frowning.

Your tail elongates and coils around his other arm, constricting like a snake, applying pressure until his arm is less of an arm and more of a warm, pleasant-to-the-touch paste.

You smile.

Will you be able to fly in other places, one day? Will you be able to soar... somewhere far away from here? Soar through the sky... through this new ocean?

Adam continues to try and pry himself free, but all he can do as you fly, up up and away, is entangle himself even further in your grasp. You caress him for a second. The feathers are sharp, but they do not wound you.

You can see the city's lights from here. The storm seems to be weakening, and you can see through it. Just a bit more, and you can reach the sky.

Above the clouds.

Above everything.

Above the world.

How… beautiful- no.

This is not you.

You shake off the Current's thoughts. They are not yours. You're falling prey to the strain as well, you realize. E.G.O takes a lot out of your mind. Your tail's grasp is weakening, and Adam's bloody shoulder is knitting itself back together. His wings stretch out, trying to envelop you.

No way you'll let them do it. You throw him out of your hands, and run your sword through his brain.

He screams in agony, and a flurry of petals- shining purple- covers the two of you instantly. Damn it- this again. It's an infuriating ability. You punch him in the face, again, with Joe finding enough strength to bite deeply into his left eyeball, blood gushing out of the rupture.

Then, you're hitting the floor of the arena, momentum completely vanishing in less then a second. Adam does the same, but far worse, landing with a sickening crack.

Then he vanishes again, and you scramble to get up- but he's gotten fast.

Claws lash out and pierce through your neck at unbelievable speed. You gurgle blood. The claws withdraw and soar once more, cutting through your lackluster armor beneath your jacket and through your chest. They narrowly miss your heart- it would be fine if they didn't, you have backups- and burrow themselves around the ribs.

Then you clock the self-proclaimed doctor right in the face.

Right now, it's the time for a brawl.

And it's a savage one.

Adam acts with overwhelming speed. His movements are those of an animal, a cornered beast that has nothing to lose and everything to gain- but the Current is his counter. It can make nothing out of his invincibility, and even if he heals, it takes time. The arm you crushed is still moving wrongly- it healed badly!

You instantly realize his weakness.

He can't do this forever. Something- perhaps your bond with the Current- is telling you that the Plague Doctor, if you managed to get into a fight with it, could, but Adam isn't the Doctor. He already strained himself to the point of falling into Corrosion, and he isn't taking it well. He can't handle the strain. Even if his body can, he will eventually reach a level of stress where he'll just completely collapse.

You just have to reach that level.

Each punch renders organs into paste. Each kick and each stab heals quickly, but his movements become more and more erratic.

The storm- the storm is fading, and so is your enhancement. The Current is withdrawing. It was disturbed when you regained control, and it's growing increasingly unstable. Damn it!

You turn your head to look at Amiya, and what you see is a sight to behold.

Her blade slams into Jamie, and he blocks it with his armored hand. His flag is still on his hand, but even if it remains aloft, everything else is collapsing.

The flag will stand tall no matter what. You believe that, even if he dies on the spot, it will stand. But a flagbearer that dies hoisting their flag is still a dead flagbearer.

Amiya is straining, and her blade shines with red light.

Her form once again becomes a flash.

She strikes. Jamie blocks. She strikes, and he blocks, again, and again, and again, with increasing speed and frequency, chaining attack after attack on the same spot, with him being completely powerless to stop the flow. She attacks and attacks and attacks and the gauntlet of his armor starts cracking, and his sword gets more chipped every time he deflects a blow, and now it too is showing cracks.

Soon, all you see is a flurry of strikes- where one hit cannot be distinguished from the next.

A final strike lands-

And Jamie's blade shatters into pieces.

It falls from his hand. She attacks again- he blocks- but this time it's different. Just like that shoulderplate, his gauntlet is full of cracks. It, too breaks into pieces. He cannot dodge anymore, not when there are so many attacks and he allowed her to build her rhythm.

You follow with a similar move. Adam's concentration is disrupted by the spectacle in front of you- you can't not exploit this opening. You hit him until his blood soaks your hands completely.

And then you realize what is happening.

On Amiya's side, a hundred blows land, one after the other, carving away armor and shattering each piece of plate.

He continues to lose ground, blocking still, but it's meaningless. One final hit, and the Flagbearer Knight is thrown away into his own storm, which has now gone completely out of his control.

The ground shakes, and Adam teleports once again- this time to the center of the arena.

…Adam. No.

It's not Adam.

You realized something as you pummeled it.

It wasn't healing wrongly. It was healing differently- in a manner that was not the original. Adam's flesh was not returning- at least, not all of it.

His chest is completely covered with feathers, and bloody strips of black cloth grow out of his arms. Arms, those, that have almost entirely fused with the wings that held him aloft.

The beak is shattered, bloody, but it's not a haphazard mass of bone growing out of his skull- it has merged with it entirely, you realize.

It is as if the Abnormality- the Plague Doctor- is trying to pry itself out of his body.

Your tail sways from side to side.

A piece of Andoain's hand lands next to you- his index finger. What is left of him is essentially a pile of meat, but it's already putting itself back together.

But…

There's something wrong about it.

Before you can leap again, Adam screeches- and grey-white feathers fly through the air, sharp as razors, towards you. Time slows down, and you realize there's something wrong about them.

Like they shouldn't be.

Like the creature before you is twisted.

It was not meant to be this. The Plague Doctor would have not done this. Something, deep within you, tells you that the Plague Doctor would not fight like this. It would not fight at all. You believe- you believe it's the Current. It feels a strange kinship with it.

The wish to surrender. The yearning to descend into dreams, and the desire for something in the heavens to hear your prayers. The wish to absolve oneself of responsibility, and live a life where one's fate is in the hands of a savior- and the desperation of one who simply desires to sink into the depths, from that one who you fought before.

Both Abnormalities, you realize, call out for an escape.

And you understand them both. Thus, in this moment, you realize one thing.

This is not merely the Doctor. It is something else. Deep within your soul you know- the beginning of a Distortion, and an Abnormality attempting to fly away from its maw. They are tearing at each other, raging and conflicting, neither satisfied with the other.

The feathers are still flying your way. You move to dodge- weaving through them, trying to make your way towards Adam.

Andoain is in pieces- Kal'tsit is shielded behind her beast.

Jamie is out of bounds, had his armor smashed through, and was knocked out- Amiya moved out of the way.

The knight girl, you realize, is pinned down to the floor by Mont3r. She won't be a threat.

Adam's Apostles have been taken down. In his mental state, he's not even healing them anymore. He was mantaining them through the entire fight, but not now. But despite this revelation, to your mounting horror, you realize the truth.

You won't get there in time.

He'll escape.

Your blade moves through the air. Adam takes flight. There is no possible way to reach him. Even with the Dreaming Current cooperating- and it isn't- you just can't cross the distance fast enough with the feathers on the way.

You almost scream in frustration- and a golden wave of light strikes him directly on the chest, almost splitting him in half.

He falls to the ground. You look up, and you see.

A man with a sullen face- you recognize him. Linette's form, the one she wore in the arena… one of them, at least. Next to him, a brown-skinned man you don't recognize. Both sit atop a gigantic, monstrous bat-creature with four wings- one you recognize, too!

Extremely uncommon hunter-beasts of the Ruins- nameless, mutated and lonely chiropteran hoarders, of trinkets, of bones and of shiny things. They would likely be hunted to extinction by Fixers seeking their hoards, for their ability to sort what is and what isn't deadly from the piles of refuse in that place guarantees a good haul- if they weren't capable of prying a Grade 1 Fixer apart with a single sonic shriek.

It's Linette!

You laugh. The two men settle down on the ground, weapons out- it seems they are swordsmen. Linette melts from the sky and lands in front of them as a trickle of mercury- and reforms into her form as the Mirrored Knight.

Adam is still on the ground- for a second. Another light, and he is standing in the air again. You already have your weapons ready- but there is no need.

He lets out one final cry- and lowers his head, falling into the ground on his bird legs. Just as Andoain gapss and tries to raise his gun one final time- just as the knight girl pries herself out of Mont3r's grasp.

Their eyes go wide, and they go limp.

The storm starts to fade away.

Linette turns towards you and waves. You hear a faint scream in the distance- and X lands on the ground a few meters from you with a splatter. His body starts to shake and reform, but blood still stains the ground. He groans. The beast he controls- that disturbing creature- sits in the middle of the area that was covered by the storm. It seems that it tossed X through the winds as they started to weaken. It wiggles at you with its appendages.

Ugh.

Through that same area, various people are standing up now. Arabella- who is cradling Ayam very protectively- a furious-looking Beats, and Roland- who is staring directly into Adam. The other Librarians seem to materialize in the air shortly after, from a golden portal.

They seem surprised at being here- in a "it finally worked?" manner. The Librarian who was already here screams incoherently at them.

You turn in the direction that Roland was looking towards.

Adam stands in the middle of the battlefield.

No.

This is not Adam.

The Plague Doctor has won their conflict. He stands before you. His arms have fully merged with his wings. His bone structure has shifted into something more birdlike. The feathers cover his entire body. His eyes have a passivity, and a certainty- it feels wholly out of place.

He turns his head, looking at something in the distance. The gaping wound on his chest from the wave of light does not heal.

There is a solemnity in the air.

[ ] Write-in.

---

Status of Self and Allies:
Sieghart: You're still here. Your headache has already come knocking.
Kal'tsit: Still unharmed.
Mon3tr: At top shape.
Amiya: Outside of a few minor scratches, she's OK.
Abel: Departed from the scene.
Arabella, Beats, Ayam: Banged up but in good condition- Ayam's pet slug seems to have vanished...
The Librarians: Roland and the other one seem to be a bit scratched, but the newcomers are okay.
Linette/Linette's Friends: They haven't suffered any damages yet.
X/[CENSORED]: X hit the ground pretty hard, but he seems to heal quickly.

Enemy Status:
Andoain, the "Guardian Apostle"
- Grade: Grade 1
- Condition: Considerably wounded and incapacitated.
Sieghart's Note: He couldn't really stand up to that beast, it seems.

Jamie, the "Scythe Apostle"
- Grade: Star Of The City
- Condition: Thrown to the side of the arena. Incapacitated, with his armor broken.
Sieghart's Note: That- that girl. That was impressive.

Sona, the "Scythe Apostle"
- Grade: Grade 2
- Condition: Pinned down.
Sieghart's Note: Probably not going to be a problem.

The Plague Doctor

- Grade: ZAYIN...?
- Condition: Victorious in the internal conflict.
Sieghart's Note: Oh.

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Many thanks to @StarDragon, @Taut_Templar and @ertniter for beta reading for this chapter! You were all a huge help!