The champion was pulling apart at the seams. Gaheris watched as Saran'zol's skin swelled, burst and desperately attempted to seal itself over and over, able to absorb every gruesome detail thanks to her close proximity. The cost of real power, too strong for its own shell. Would this be her fate too, one day?

No time to reflect. He was dying, maybe, it was hard to tell, but all that was left of his will fixed on her, and Gaheris was forced to remember what it was like to be prey.

Again, she reached for her well of magic, obediently it responded. The blade was sent backwards, but it wasn't enough, could never be enough. She wasn't strong enough to stop what came next.

Gaheris was flung backward by the vacuum, landing heavily in a dirty clump of fins. Her chest heaved and her ears rang - had something broken? Her mind raced around its cage, unable to find an answer, any kind of clarity. There was just the now, her burning lungs and the taste of copper.

hrrrk. A hand wrapped around his neck, pulling him upwards and out of his stupor. His legs kicked and his wings batted uselessly at the champion.

He was bigger now, stronger... But it hadn't changed a thing.

It has to be true

Saran'zol wasn't dying quietly. He was exploding like a star gone supernova. The red light shines brighter, energy sparking hotter as wounds shifted dance across Saran'zol's rapidly healing, rapidly falling apart body. It was both awe-inspiring and terrifying, how he fought and fought and fought, even as his body combusted from the strain.

He had learned from before- and he was beginning to run out of energy- so the shield is just a haphazard wall of ice rather than a complete shell. And the shell is thin and brittle, crumbling apart easily as the blast of energy crashes into it. But it's enough to dissipate the force before to reaches Phelix.

I'm counting on you
To be my wings and my eyes

He followed the Champion, snarling, too far at the moment from where he'd stumbled to be affected by the energy. But now was his opening, his chance! The valkhound was still for a moment! He could do something!

With a roar, Azrael surged forward to dig his claws into one of the many wounds opened by the red energy coming from underneath the champion's scales. He tore back, getting leverage underneath the actual plates to rip them clean off the valkhound, with his hide along with it.

He was almost done. Just one final push, and it'd be over. At least, that was the impression Relic got - it was hard to understand what exactly was happening to Saran'zol's body. But any damage she would do would stay, maybe just not in the same place...

She'd gotten away without a scratch. A couple of bruises maybe, but nothing nearing the damage the others had tanked. Relic had died before, her killer was fighting among them - she could stand to weather the storm, just for a moment.

Rather than waste time trying to outrun the shock wave, she braced - though considering her size and weight, it did very little to stop her from being sent soaring high, a little brown and black smudge against Orion's sparkling ceiling.

Relic didn't bother with trying to fall gracefully, instead smacking into the dirt with a SNAP as one of her wings broke completely. The noise that left her was a half yelp, half scream, but the shock of pain didn't stop her from scrambling to her feet and shooting back towards the champion.

She aimed for his strange, ugly, extra arm, one that had grabbed Gaheris off the ground like a wet noodle. Instead of ripping meat from bone, Relic wrapped her jaws around the forearm and squeezed, claws scrabbling against his torso as she fought to disable the limb completely. Easier said then done, considering the size difference.

There wasn't a lot of time to dodge or outrun the sudden burst of energy that came rippling out of the... melting? Valkhound. Nidhogg didn't know what the hell was happening, but it was alarming enough that he was already on the move. Not that he wasn't, anyway; the rhythm of hit-and-run was something he'd easily settled into. Although it'd been mostly "run," lately.

He wasn't sure how it happened, not then and he wouldn't be, later. He thought he was at a safe distance. It sure looked like it, to him. But then there was a crack, a deep vibration that seemed to slow around him, and the world was spinning.

And then everything went black.

After he'd lost consciousness, his body still ragdolled across the dusty floor; the chrysalis was rising up to claim him moments later.

exit Nidhogg to chrysalis

Shrike eyed the places that were breaking apart, the red light, the tearing wounds. She slammed in again, wings folding, aiming for the spots that looked the weakest, the brightest. She was oblivious to others taking wounds, dodging, or even nearly dying. Her eyes were on Saran'zol, and she was hungry for victory.

Her claws were out, her mandibles parted and her eyes bright with bloodthirst; when she came slamming in she held back nothing, making no attempt toward self-defense. It was all-or-nothing, and she was lost to it.

Second stupid phone post! Second stupid phone post! Second stupid phone post! Wonder what it’s for?

Audland’s flame ended up being kind of an L gamer move, but at least it had gone somewhere. Contributed something.

Audland watched like his wayward spark fly up and up like it was the Fourth of July and they were on a completely different planet (callout! happy birthday snail!). It barely singed Saran’zol’s shoulder, leaving not a mark behind.

But it looked more like the Unbound Champion’s body would be its own undoing. Something was swelling towards a fast approaching climax. Audland was not envious of Saran’zol’s position.

Still, to his credit, the beast was swinging and roaring and, just, going down fighting. To Audland, something about it felt… grim. He didn’t have time to recognize why.

Well, for his next move, he might as well prepare for what was to come. Seemed like another light show was in order—but to be honest, with the way people seemed to be getting their acts together and wailing on him now, was it even gonna happen?

With the uncertainty in the air, Audland realized he functionally had two options: curl up in a ball and hope he didn’t look like a cowardly idiot when the bomb sputtered off into nothing, or try some other way of circumventing the problem. Contributing directly was a no-go at this point; big S-Z was practically dead twelve times over by now.

Ah, what the hell. He needed the practice anyway.

perplexing tendrils of chaos attempted to reach toward Saran’zol’s fading mind. Then… well. They just. Dropped.

Audland began to roll his eyes as the visions of war and chaos started to overtake his vision.

His throat burned. Probably best that the damage wasn't any worse when so much energy condensed into a beam of pure destruction had left it just moments before. Nevertheless, after such a stunt, any halted speech he wanted to deliver would have to wait after a lengthy period of repair, whether accomplished through time, magic, or an deeply undesired trip to the chrysalis. So instead of gloating or spitting out a barb against his opponent, Fahl watched the living light show being put on before him, a hint of satisfaction sprouting amongst revulsion at his own work, a face blasted so harshly it was akin to that of a vandalized statue robbed of its identity.

Naturally, this didn't have time to flourish into any real sense of triumph. Time rewound, even as other parts succumbed to Saran'zol's own power, and he again found himself facing a blade and a glare from eyes which should've been vaporized. Break time was over. The dance, an awful exchange of attack and defend, began again. After this long, however, and none too elegant of an evader, he didn't know whether he could keep up the pace this go around.

Wheezes reverberated in his skull as Fahl bolted to the side, low to the ground as he possibly could make himself, body already quite squat by nature. Much as he wanted to land another spiteful blow on the enemy, reason ultimately delivered the final ruling for his actions. Don't be stupid. Don't be dead.

THE CHAMPION,
UNBOUND

saran'zol

the unbound champion

0/300

The unstable magic swept through the gembound, most of which made themselves unaffected, but Relic tanked the hit, and Nidhogg was unable to escape in time, the latter of which tumbled away before falling into a chrysalis that sparked with remnants of his red energy.

As for the rest of the gembound...Shrike barrelled in, slamming hard into the Champion and latching on just as Azrael began to tear into his plates. The arm that had grabbed Gaheris was suddenly mauled as Relic grabbed and shattered the wrist bone, dropping the dragon immediately. And the blade that had soared towards Gaheris as well was repelled again, this time sinking right into his chest.

He screeched and shuddered violently. Saran'zol staggered back under the assault as the bolts of red continued to crawl across his body frantically, trying to close wounds, but opening more. But what he had couldn't be healed. He was too damage. The wounds only got bigger, red light searing from his chest, his back, his arm, his leg-

His eyes widened as his body began to give out. He could barely stand. One of his armored plates suddenly blew right off his body as a wound ripped itself open and red light and energy poured from the wound. Another one shot towards the ground like a bullet. It was almost blinding for the surrounding gembound, and it was a warning. They needed to get away now.

They would feel the heavy energy thick in the air as it coalesced and reached a breaking point as light erupted from the unbound champion's body as the remaining energy escaped in a blast, his damaged, broken body unable to contain it any longer. All the gembound still standing were in danger as the air shattered from the force of the explosion.

RELIC 8/20	AZRAEL 12/20	SHRIKE 13/20
FAHL 20/20	GAHERIS 8/20	PHELIX 8/20
BAUXITE T-ONE ▼Unconscious 0/20	NIDHOGG ▼Unconscious 0/20	AUDLAND 20/20

[ ACTION LOG ]

> The energy within Saran'zol explodes outwards! Failure to dodge will inflict 16 points of damage on all gembound!


> Gaheris repels Saran'zol's attack, dealing 12 damage!
> Gaheris, Relic, and Nidhogg fail to dodge and take 12 damage from Saran'zol's magic!
> Nidhogg falls unconscious!
> Phelix defends against Saran'zol's magic and Fahl dodges his blade!
> Shrike slams into Saran'zol for 20 damage!
> Relic breaks Saran'zol's arm, releasing Gaheris and dealing 12 damage!
> Azrael rips off some of Saran'zol's armor, dealing 17 damage!

@Nidhogg will awaken with the following special chrysalis consequence:

Manifest: Red-tipped black spikes will grow from random parts of Nidhogg's body, at places that do not hinder movement.

@Relic (Gaheris) @Shrike @Fahl @Azrael @Phelix @Audland

It was gloriously satisfying, ripping plates and scales and skin from the Unbound Champion's hide, but the buildup of energy was concerning. With a snarl, he pushed himself off and began to back up as the valkhound writhed from his breaking form. He felt the energy gathering a moment before it erupted. He made to get out of the way, but he was armored and slow. He couldn't push himself far enough before the energy rolled over the gathered gembound.