[] Stay here for now, result up, heal and meditate while Sparks finds a way to trick the dog digimon into being stored. Pit… will have to succeed or lose on his own accord.
===
"Then uh, are we going to stay here?" Schwartz asks before nudging his head towards the pillar of golden flame rising into the sky.
"Or travel yonder?"
"We…" You trail off into a tired frown and sit back.
To fight the Gloaming or stay here and recover, the decision ultimately comes down to one aspect. Whether or not you're going to help Pit,
your friend with his battle.
And the answer here is a solid no.
Sinduramon's attempts to delete Schwartz and eliminate your squad might've been infuriating, but it doesn't affect your decision here. In the end this isn't a strictly lethal battle, the Asuramon will survive even if he's forced to retreat, and Andiramon isn't intending to delete him. His life isn't in danger. Beyond that, you're not part of The Blessed Host anymore, and haven't been since this month started… plus seventy-two days, thanks to accelerated time.
"We stay and rest." You order as several azure rings of flame wrap around your discarded arms and raise them up towards your stumps. Sparks offers another golden healing disc without a word, and you take it with a grateful nod.
Recovering with magic alone would have been possible… however the cost to your reserves would be tremendous.
Better to save my power for the road ahead.
You breathe a sigh of relief as the artifact breaks, flooding your body with a rush of restorative energy. It targets your very worst injuries first, reattaching your metal bones where they'd been severed, healing the most severe burns and repairing your turbines. That however is where it runs out of power. Your cuirass, your fur and your copious *minor* wounds remain as they were.
Rgh… was there simply too much damage overall? Aye… that has to be it.
"Uh, ya want another one Verge?"
"Save the rest." You murmur, cautiously flexing your fingers. After reaffirming that they are indeed working just as before, you cross your legs and let your eye close.
Peace. Let your spirit rest. Calm heart, clear mind.
Steady breath by breath, your muscles relax allowing energy to circulate throughout in the special manner *MayorTyrannomon* had taught you. This method of internal spirit circulation lacks the effectiveness and speed far from a healing spell, merely hastening your recovery by a small increment, but that alone is still very valuable. More importantly, the process doesn't use up your energy reserves to function, to the contrary it helps them regrow as well. It's only cost is what excess data you'd built up through meals.
Given the arduous battle you'd just endured, and the insane emotional turmoil you'd undergone… focusing on recovery should be your highest priority at the moment. Well… besides securing the last two targets.
"Sparks." You ask, inclining your head towards the growling armored hound. "Can you store them?"
"Tch, yeah I'll think of something." He grumbles, and you hear the sound of his
Book being flipped open
. "Figure I've got a friggen' bone or two somewhere around."
Thresh doesn't protest your decision, his only contribution to the conversation is letting out a very loud snore.
"We're not going? Cool, cool…" Schwartz sighs disappointedly, then does something you don't expect. Your ears twitch in surprise as he pulls out a book of his own and begins loudly writing things down.
"Oi! Where'd ya get that?!"
"I dunno." The Baalmon replies with a shifting of cloth that you're pretty sure means he just shrugged.
"I've just got it now, like… I'm pretty sure it came with my evolution?"
An item he received upon evolving, Interesting…
"Hrmph… betcha mine's better." Your closest friend brags… which to be fair isn't a lie. Ser Schwartz's book probably doesn't act like a teleporter and pocket dimension.
"Probably dude…" He replies, before loudly scratching another line into his presumed page.
Bit by bit the excess energy of
Wrath empowering your body slides away, leaving muscles and bones to shrink. Feeling yourself gradually begin to lose a good five feet worth of mass is… strange, almost like part of your body is fading away, which it technically is. More than that however is the sheer
fatigue, which accompanies the energy's retreat.
Power always comes with a price, and in this case since it's an effect brought about by purely internal mechanics rather than foreign power, the toll here happens to be your spiritual and physical reserves.
The rush of tiredness is nearly overwhelming, you almost fall unconscious as the rush of fury wears off.
Rgh… If I'd waited longer… then the repercussions might have taken my consciousness…
"Hey GrappLeomon have you noticed anything like, weird… forsooth, something was weird when I was eating earlier."
Eating? What would… ah, he means loading.
"I have not." You release a breath, then slowly roll your shoulders. "My road here has not contained much loading."
Mayhaps that is something I could test...
Schwartz sighs in disappointment, but doesn't stop writing for a moment. With that silence pervades the battlefield… mostly. Sparks still grumbles to himself in the background thinking up strategies to deal with *the stupid regenerating mutt* and of course there's the constant filter of battle in the background.
Your esoteric senses stretch out towards the surrounding city, making a general count of the remaining teams and comparing them to the mass of several thousand that had originally entered…
Hrm… roughly one hundred and ninety-eight teams left, less than a tenth. Most have respectable auras, albeit only comparable to when I first became a GrappLeomon… others… How strange, why is the area still suffused with so much energy? The interference should be most gone not… more powerful?... Curious.
Aside from the Host and Gloaming teams, there's still a number of quartets that could conceivably give you trouble in battle. And with… that insane murderer's forces closing the circle in further, they're all being pushed further inwards.
Hold… Schwartz said that several buildings near the center were filled with explosives… and the circle is pushing contestants into that area. Spirits below, he must intend to blow away the weaker remaining teams!
That's troubling, especially since there's a mon on your team that could theoretically be harmed by a powerful explosion. Sparks.
Once he's finished with storing those two I'll… hold. We're being surrounded.
You frown as a full score of the *scattered* teams form a rough circle around your location and begin to close. Their intent and purpose are something you recognize instantly. To overwhelm a stronger, while they're haggard through number.
Allowing the net to close will mean another full battle.
This must be dealt with preemptively.
"Ser Schwartz." You murmur, pushing through fatigue to stand back up.
"Yes mon?" The Baalmon answers with a loud *thud* as his book closes
. "Is this about the guys surrounding us?"
"Aye. Travel south, deal with them individually. I will go north."
For that is where the strongest group is.
"Sure thing, kinda hungry again anyways…" Him referring to the act of loading other mon as some manner of meal is… a little disturbing, but there's no harm in it you suppose. It's also not technically incorrect given how the process works.
"Very well." You murmur, then bound away. It's only when the energy signatures come close that your eye finally snaps open.
The first and largest opponent, a
Brachimon stands on four pillar-like legs on ground level, its sewn mouth half open in shock at your sudden appearance. Seated upon its back some sort of
winged, armored humanoid mon wielding an oversized glaive. His species isn't something your mind is readily able to identify. Above it is the group's weakest member, a
Butterflamon-
"Sweet Kick!" Which wastes no time in attempting to attack you. He's swiftly followed by the much larger humanoid, whom kicks off the living platform and brings its weapon back for a following thrust. Nearly as fast as you are… but the mon won't be nearly as strong or tough.
The last and most potent feeling member is the slowest to react.
Gogmamon, a bulky half ore half crystalline Ultimate at height with you, looks up in surprise.
You:
=== Choose One:
[] Deal with them non-lethally, it'll strain your endurance and cause injuries, but there's no need to delete them. They may not have partaken in the slaughter.
[] Delete the pair attacking you, and load their data. You need the refreshing effects and they may have taken part in the slaughter earlier.
[] Write in.
===AN:
Originally I was just gonna have Verge kill the two attacking him, but then I realized hey, you all deserve the character agency.