- THE LEVIATHAN -

And here it did come--Alcina barreling for him, straight for his limbs. She was not small, either--nimble, yes; lightly-built for her size but that size was enormous. He had to hand it to Dontacael; he was, at least, adapting. These were not the thousand ants of a Hive: these were monsters on par with Valkhounds.

His teeth grit in a snarl and he braced, adrenaline and long training forcing the pain back long enough for him to focus. He had to time this right: a leap to his right, a twist, a backswing of that limb for which Alcina was aiming... And like a massive baseball bat swinging for the ball, Vargas thrust his meter-long arm blade for Alcina's head.

Let her impale herself, he thought--and hoped he did not misjudge, breaking his own swinging arm. He was an old soldier, though. He knew how, and when, and where to swing, when to move with the momentum-... If he were lucky, he could end this here and now.

And move on to the next of them.

He only hoped that Cain (and he dimly, distantly registered his Overseer's voice) would manage to tame the dragons.

@Alcina (given this is a riposte dodge + counterattack you can roll to dodge this too i think!!)

The shouting from all sides told him what he needed to know: that the Order idiots were here. He was more irritated than anything--no, enraged--not concerned, but furious. THIS IS MY CAVE! he thought again--only to find the tiny yelling thing trying to talk to him. His ember gaze snapped toward Cain, and he snarled his response: "WILL YOU GIVE ME SHINIES?" Order was the enemy, either way--but so was Chaos. If he was going to pick a side, for now, it'd be with a mercenary's gold-hungering heart.

When Cain had assured him that yes--he would indeed get shinies--he angled down, banking lower. A deep inhale and he aimed for the one that Vargas was fighting--though he made absolutely no attempt to avoid the Leviathan in the process. If Vargas got scorched, too, well--tough shit.

He should move faster.

Dread shot past at speed, a black-winged blur, a draconic shadow whose jaws snapped open to breathe a torrent of boiling flame over the white creature Vargas was fighting. He had to fly low--some ten feet off the ground--and he swiftly aimed to bank back upward, after, flipping his wings upward to allow his momentum to carry him back over beach and above the trees.

ooc note: confirmed that yes Cain would offer 'shinies'

@Alcina

Blight rose up, flapping hard to rise high above the battle. He'd cast his plague-breath across the beach; now it was a matter of seeing who he'd infected. If it was someone he'd not meant to, he'd cure them now. If it was-... he'd intensify the effects.

But first, he had to know who he had hit. He tried to focus on his magic--to ignore the flames and clashing bodies, the beating wings and roars of combat.

He saw at once that he'd plagued the Sentinel--one of, apparently, the Chaos side. Shit. Whoops. He'd need to fix that.

First, though, ghostlight eyes scanned the battlefield, looking to see if any others had taken up the seeds of disease he'd so haphazardly sown.

please let me know if your char got hit by Blight's disease last round!

Azrael clamped his jaws shut once the beast moved out of the way of the flame and he grit his teeth, advancing forward menacingly while chaos roared around him. There were more attacking it now - Nidhogg and the bug-creature. He growled when he realized that they had pulled its attention away from him. It wasn't even bothering to attack him anymore.

With a tremendous roar, he threw himself forward, wings beating once to give him a bit of lift. "YOU WILL NOT IGNORE ME!" Heat blazed through his claws and he struck forward to slash a burning wound on Juggernaut's hide. Both to bring its attention back to this fight, the important one, and away from the smaller creatures so that they could continue to pepper it with strikes.

@Juggernaut

The monsters at war across the beach were so massive that the howling wind barely took them out of the focus of their fighting. And Dread, so distracted by the battle, didn’t hear his call. All he saw was dragons attacking monsters on both sides, black beasts against white beasts, magic thrown one way and another, and nobody making it any clear which side Glory should be fighting on. Not his fight, apparently.

Oh, well!

There were other aerial creatures around - a couple of dragons fighting a behemoth and a slightly smaller, but not less dangerous looking insects I’d creature. There! His target!

With a screech, Glory dove forward, magic wreathing around his body and the gleaming golden armor. He imagined himself becoming a dangerous, targeted fireball heading directly towards Ace but….yeah, he wasn’t on fire. He only noticed when it was too late to pull out of the dive. He diverted himself enough to not just go crashing into Ace, completely helplessly, but still crashed directly into the ground.

Oh fuck, his armor!!

Blight's plague catches up to Rue, and they start hacking and wheezing as the watch Scorn burn. Ignoring the sudden pain, they laugh to themselves, Burn! Burn!

It's a fine course of action, until the hellboar turns, raging eyes locking on the little chaos beast. Like a deer in the headlights, they stare as the drone charges, before spinning on their hooves and taking off across the sand.

They stumble some, nearly face planting into the sand as their forelimbs burst into chaotic flame, but they're far more agile then Scorn, and keep enough distance to not get smashed into paste.

@Scorn

They can't keep running forever. The beach is full of monsters, each able to crush little Rue just as easily as the one they run from. They leap up on a rock, turning to look at the bulldozer coming for them.

Time give it another taste of chaos. Even as Rue's paws char from a unlucky lash of their own magic, they pull at it again, jaws snapping open in a hiss. Black sparks jump from their fangs, before leaping towards Scorn - weak, but still a potent touch of corruption.

More and more and more - the dragons came upon them now, breathing searing flame upon them. A red and white wall blocked Juggernaut’s view of Alcina, but whether she was within or behind it was unclear. No pain was felt through that side of the network, which could either have been a relief or of greater concern. Too much, too much - nevermind that. It had work to do.

The view from his eight red eyes contradicted the sound of the war drum in his veins, heart beating to the rhythm greater than himself. No, the rhythm was under threat - chaos was everywhere, and they had rallied even more to their side. So many, so afraid of love… but there were only two that he began his march toward. Only two that were deserving of his wrath love.

But of course, nothing could go right today. The Zoisite roiled beside him, grazing against his chitin this time, a far cry from the damage done before. But the other combatant, the upright goat, shrieked his challenge. It could not have been less interested - but claws, hot with fire, still sought its pale hide.

Despite his wounded leg, a single movement was all it took to avoid the blow, more graceful than it had anticipated. It was kind of impressed with itself, really. ”No, I think I will.” Said aloud, salt in the wound.

Back to business.

It charged for Orthrus, for the oil stained scum who had bullied him. The bigger one spat at its sibling, teasing. It wondered if it would keep this attitude once the full force of the hive had rallied to its opponent’s defence - beginning with Juggernaut, of course.

He limped into range, stingers at the ready, aiming for the Warden’s throat, neck and chest; where it must keep all the important parts, the drone assumed. The blow seemed to aim true from where it had began. ”Then bleed.” It awaited a response.

@The Warden

The wickedly Ordered beast turns her gaze to the sky too soon; Draconua snarls as all she meets is air resistance and that very same beast snarls at her descending form with a gout of flame. Jaws crack asunder with a spray of oil— inky-black iridescence that stains the sky she's taken to— as she shrieks in turn, "IT IS YOU WHO IS THE INVADER. YOU WHO SEEKS TO INVITE PATTERNS AND DECORUM INTO OUR DEN OF CHAOS!"

To allow fire to strike her form would be folly— and Draconua knows this well even in her chaotic delirium. Another dragon joins the fray, bellowing threats that go ignored despite the blast of air striking at ghastly, incorporeal wings and tearing one apart.

Her focus turns to that very shifting of air, to swell it to such a degree that there would be nothing for the Ordered dragon's fire to consume and to wipe it from existence.