>>42134736

To be perfectly fair, you do have some concerns about having to be scraped off the floor, but you’re not going to let him know that.

>“That’s exactly why you’re not ready.” His eyes rest upon you, observing you.

“What does that even mean?” You scoff.

He sighs and struggles his way back up. “Do what you want. I’m too tired to keep stopping you.” He returns to his room.

UGH.

He took the wind right out of your sails, that old bastard. You grumble as you heft the large tub back to its proper place.

~

Quickly forgetting the dream, you rise from the bed with purpose. Today’s operation has been set to start early, so you there’s no sleeping in as you have been these past few days.

The dark-colored armor slips snugly on top of your body as it always has, but today it feels lighter than it has been in the past. Whether that has to do with the lifting of the curse, the potential loss of the stealth enchantment upon it, or both, you’re just going to have to wait for battle to know for certain.

Damn it, Izu. Surely there has to be a way to know now.

“Nope.” He calls out from across the room and heads over to you. He bends down to fasten the long laces of your boots.

[2/3]

>>42134736
Woot

>>42134765

Once finished, he energetically rises and hands your sheathed dagger. “Shall we?” He asks clapping his hands.

“We?” Skepticism heavy on your face. “I never agreed to you coming along.”

He places he hands on his hips and pouts. “I can help. You know that.”

Izu would see right through you if you denied that fact, but while he has been in a battle before, this upcoming mission is going to be quite unlike anything you’ve ever participated in before. An unfortunate distraction could lead to your failure, but on the other hand, another ally might help secure your victory.

>”Alright, you can come along.”

>”You can come along, but you’re going to stay out of the battle.”

>”Izu, you can’t come along this time, and I truly mean that.”

>Write in.

>>42134781
>>”Alright, you can come along.”

>>42134771
Woot indeed!

Hello and welcome to the 50th thread! Sorry for the delay. Coincidentally, it's fallen on quite an important run, so keep that in mind.

Now we play the waiting game.

>>42134825
Going with the single vote to get the thread rolling, but only once this time around.

>Writing~

>>42134781
Isn't there something more useful he can do? We've got enough raw firepower, what we need is either healing, protection, information, or infiltration.

>>42135099
You can set him to particular tasks as the battle progresses. That was mostly a choice to permit or deny him to come along at all.

>>42134924

You have your suspicions that he’d do as he pleases, so at the very least he can be useful under your supervision.

“Alright, Izu. You can come along.” You relent and wonder when your mentor and apprentice role became like this. “But you will follow my lead during battle.”

He pumps his fist in celebration. “You’ll get to see what I learned from the cloak this way too.” His eyes beam with excitement.

You take one last glance at the room that’s sheltered you this past week. Win or lose, last night was the last time you’re going to sleep here.

Izu is already at the door, impatiently waiting for you to remove the seal upon it.

Once open, the two of you leave the empty manor, and have a pleasant stroll through the city of Impel towards the front lines.

As you watch Izu skip along the ancient roads of the capital city, you sense something strange, as if someone’s watching the two of you proceed through the city.

You scout the area around you and find nothing. Well, they’re not going to stop you now by simply watching you walk, nor would you let them stop you if they tried something else.

Your force’s front lines appear quite barren upon your arrival. A small number of heavy siege transports filled with wailing pyromancers, a few lines of hand-shackled female prisoners, and the other councilmembers looking over the vast empty space between your current position and the palace’s walls. But the massively disturbed earth in front of you tells a different story.

While approaching, you do your best to mess up Izu’s hair to further disguise him, but somehow that look feels more appropriate for him.

[1/2]

>>42135547

“Don’t smile so much.” You order, and turn to already see his lips fighting against his desire.

Virgil turns upon your arrival. “We’re all here now it seems.” He announces to the others.

They turn upon hearing his words, and you feel Izu shrink behind you.

“WHO IS THAT!?” Justina disregards any formality and tries to slide past you to get a better glance at Izu. He twists around you to avoid her, and suddenly you have two people annoyingly orbiting your body.

To your surprise, The Empress suddenly appears and plucks Izu off away from Justina’s assault and places him firmly in front of you.

This simple action seems to calm Justina, but she still hungrily stares at Izu from where she stands.

The Empress silently walks to front of the overlook and surveys the land.

Justina slides up next you more calmly than before. “I’m not going to lie to you, Sophia. I want him.” She stares again at Izu. “If his hair and eyes were a little less boring of a color, he’d be perfect." She fantasizes for a few moments before turning back to you. "Why is he with you?” She demands, not out of disrespect, but out of desire.

Thankfully, you know that Justina has enough sense to not make this issue for the upcoming battle, but after that is a different matter entirely.

>Respond honestly that he’s your apprentice.

>Tell her nothing but that he’s off limits.

>Stare at her coldly and remain silent.

>Write in.

>>42135574
>Respond honestly that he’s your apprentice.
"If you so much as touch him, pray eh takes care of your first. Otherwise I'll deal with it, and my the time I'm done She*nod in the Empress's direction* will be impressed with what've done."

>>42135574
>Respond honestly that he’s your apprentice.
And I don't think you've made the best of first impressions. Since you were as forward as I expected, you're not allowed anywhere near him.

>>42135574
>>Respond honestly that he’s your apprentice.
Go away now, your presence is as always not appreciated so close to me

Sup Auri

>>42135653
>>42135665

>>42135679
Hello, anon!


Clear and firm hands off.

>Writing~

File: 1395579259073.jpg (49 KB, 482x600)

49 KB JPG

>Show up late.
>Anons made good choices.

>>42136128
Good to have you here, anon!

>>42135713

You put your hand on top of his head. “He’s my apprentice.” You fix the hair you messed up earlier. “Even for you, you didn’t make the best of first impressions.”

She sighs derisively at your words. “I apologize. My name is Justina.” Justina kneels to get face to face with him, but you poke her forehead back until she’s standing straight once again.

“I-I’m Matt.” Izu announces shyly, fear heavy in his voice.

You know for a fact that he’s not afraid of her in the slightest, even knowing full well what she does to children just like him. The act he plays now, he does for reasons unknown to you.

His apprehension makes Justina fume with desire.

You lean over to her and begin to whisper menacingly. “Touch him, and by the time I’m done with you, even Our Empress will be impressed with what I've done.”

Her shoulders slump visibly. “He doesn’t have a younger brother or sister does he?”

“You can go away now, I don’t want you so close to me anymore.” You finish.

She collects herself and hides her vast disappointment. “You’re lucky I like you, Sophia.” She gives one last wave to Izu. “Let me know if you ever change your mind. For now I will only look, and imagine…”

The Empress turns toward the rest of you, and you all line up at attention, except for Izu, who’s currently flicking at one of the laces of your gauntlet.

[1/2]

>>42136271

Her long robes flow after her as she paces in front of you all. “The time has come where we will soon be looking upon the vast stretches of Impel from a comfortable position on top of the palace walls.”

She stops in front of Izu, who gives her a brief wave of recognition before returning to your gauntlet.

An almost imperceptible smile forms on her face. “Our main plan, conceived largely thanks to Sophia here, is to break through the walls using our prisoners as explosives and deal with Nahldol Ignisval, personally.”

She continues walking. “Meanwhile, Zarn will lead an assault on their front gates with the majority of our army. Doing so will force Nahldol to divert his troops to hold off the assault.” She places a hand on Zarn’s shoulder. “How’s the hand, old friend?”

“Ready to crush even Nahldol’s thickest skull, my Empress.” He bows upon finishing his words.

“I’m glad to hear it.” She smiles supportively. “Most of the rest of you will be assisting Zarn in the front line siege. I, Sophia, her apprentice, and one other will make our way to Nahldol.”

The Empress turns back to you. “I leave it up to you to decide who will be accompanying us, Sophia.”

Quite an interesting choice to be left to you. The path to the palace might be a rough one, and the inside is sure to have defenses that you’ve yet to see, so the choice of who you bring along is something to give added thought to. Anyone, save for Zarn, can accompany you on this.

Who else will you bring?

>Philomena.

>Justina.

>Virgil.

>Disgur.

>Sivaht.

>No one.

>>42136309
>Disgur.

>>42136309
>Sivaht.

I would REALLY rather not have to let the dice decide this one. So I will wait a few more minutes.

>>42136516
Mostly just so long as it isn't Justina.

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>42136516
>>42136558
Alright then:

1=Disgur
2=Sivaht

>Writing the winner

>>42136580
I HAVE ARRIVED

>>42136713
Hello there, anon! We're just about to get rolling with the mission.

>>42136580

Disgur’s abilities to strike at range and his resourcefulness appeal to you the most.

“Disgur will be the one joining us.” You announce to everyone.

He steps forward and bows. “I’m glad to be of service.” He rasps.

“Then it is decided.” The Empress turns to everyone else not part of your mission. “Soon you all will have a proper army to command. Stay safe and see your aspirations become reality by my side.”

They all bow one last time, before rushing to their positions. You fall back, and watch as at The Empress’s command thousands upon thousands of your flesh soldiers rise from the ground far in front of you.

“ON ME YOU PUTRID AND PAMPERED SHITS!” Zarn snarls as he rushes to the front of the lines. “You were not raised to be soldiers, but I will have you fight!”

The unsightly and bulky modified soldiers rise near the prisoner transport. The thick and bloated bodies ready to absorb a huge number of blows.

Disgur morphs into a teeming mass of quick moving flesh and slides his way to the front of the transport. You fly over to him.

“Our goal isn’t on this side of the palace.” The Empress suddenly announces from behind the two of you. “There is a relatively small point of access near the west side.”

The thundering of the ground amplifies as the palace forces rush out to fend off the assault.

The west side of the palace is made almost entirely of incredibly steep cliffs, making it even more inhospitable for an attack. But with the proper distraction and your small numbers, it’s the most advantageous point of entry.

With crucial haste, you and the transport wrap around the palace in less than half an hour, the prisoners goaded along by Disgur and a number of flesh soldiers.

[1/2]

File: pal5.png (1.44 MB, 1281x821)

1.44 MB PNG

>>42137279

Soon, you’re the closest you’ve been to the palace in weeks, and only a few hundred yards of desolate ground lies between you and your first goal.

“There.” The Empress points to the bottom of the sloping cliffs. “That is where the transport must be lead.” Clear violet lines of raw energy begin to wrap around her body. “I must prepare for the massive ignition of the prisoners.” She teleports behind you on a high crag of rock.

Suddenly, a long line of signal fires begin to light up from the destination of your assault to the rest of the palace walls.

“Move!” Disgur orders the transport in a hideous squeal of rage. He turns to you. “They’ve spotted us earlier than we had anticipated.”

Upon the walls, enormous weapons of defense are being readied and aimed at the transport.

Defense is not your strong suit, but the transport might not make it all the way if you don’t help it somehow.

“I’ll do it!” Izu announces with urgency. He looks up to the massive weapons upon the walls, and his legs visibly tremble. “But I have to go alone. I can’t protect us all.”

Izu can protect against guard against a huge number of attacks, whilst your set of skills will prove to be less helpful in this task. It makes logical sense for him to go at it alone, but you can feel the words of denial wanting to form upon your lips.

>Let him protect the transport.

>Accompany him to protect the transport.

>Deny him, protect the transport by yourself.

>Write in.

>>42137311
>Let him protect the transport.
Be careful IZu

>>42137311
>>Accompany him to protect the transport.

>>42137311
>Let him protect the transport.

>>42137334
>>42137492
Apprentice to show you his moves.

>Writing~

>>42137507

You won’t be stopped here, you have to use all resources available to you, and for this, having Izu go at it alone makes the most strategic sense.

“Be careful, Izu.” You finally relent.

He puts on a brave face when looking at you, and even gives you a salute before turning back to his task. Izu studies the land ahead of him and where the weapons are located upon the wall, he shakes so much that his knees nearly knock together, but soon musters up his courage and rushes toward the transport.

Before he arrives, you witness two of your bloated soldiers get pinned to the ground by dauntingly large ballista bolts, their entire length is longer than you are tall.

Izu stumbles here and there, but eventually catches up with the transport, just as a cluster of flaming rocks sail toward the transport where the mutilated prisoners lie.

The area is lit up, as the rocks explode upon impact with Izu’s barrier. He sets up a myriad of protective barriers above the transport, even expending the energy to protect the large bloated soldiers designed simply to take hits.

Horrid scraping noises ring out through the land, as the metal bolts ricochet off of Izu’s barriers, and are sent in a number of directions.

He’s doing well, but the onslaught only worsens as he get closer in range of more weapons. Immense boulders soar into the sky, and Izu has to erect multiple shields to keep it from crashing upon the transport.

Dozens of the bloated soldiers are lost by the time they cross the halfway point, and the assault reaches its peak as all weapons can now effectively hit the transport.

Izu dashes to the side of the transport as more and more of his barriers shatter over his head. One breaks near him, and he takes a few sharp shards of his barrier to his arm.

[1/2]

>>42138200
His rate of defense slows as the pain distracts him. The female prisoner vanguard lets out a loud scream as Izu barely manages to prevent rocks from crushing their heads at the last moment.

A number of the weapons on the wall turn their full attention to the boy, and Izu can hardly keep up with the attacks directed to him. You begin to take off as his last barrier shatters, and witness something quite surprising.

The enemy has completely stopped firing. High on top of the walls you spot and immaculately armored figure running behind the weapons ordering them to stop firing.

Nahldol Ignisval stares helpless as dozens of female prisoners are paraded in front of him, approaching closer and closer to the wall. He still doesn’t permit his soldiers to fire, even as the prisoners are forced along the wall.

The transport has reached its destination.

Izu scrambles as quickly as his legs allow him to, desperately running away from the oncoming blast. You’re pulled to the ground just as you’re going to rush to retrieve him.

Disgur yells as he pulls you behind a rock. “Protect yourself!”

Before you can do anything else, white light floods the entirety of your vision, forcing your eyes shut. Heat, light, and destructive noise wash over you in waves as all you can do is shield your ears from the blast.

[2/3]

>>42138224

Advancing before the final shockwave has ended, you discover that the land in front of has been transformed into a huge debris covered pit, and at the epicenter of it all lies a hole in the walls of the palace, barely large enough to let a few people through at a time.

“I protected him from the blast.” The Empress urgently informs you. “But he’s still under the rubble.”

“I will find him.” Disgur proclaims immediately. “I’ll bring him back to safety and rejoin you, so you two need to make sure our work hasn’t gone to waste.”

Underneath the colossal rocks of the warped landscape lies one young boy, your apprentice. He fought very hard to make sure that the transport made it to the walls. What will you do?

>Proceed immediately into the palace grounds.

>Find Izu first, then head into the palace.

>Write in.

>>42138239
>>Proceed immediately into the palace grounds.
Disgur if you don't, Pray you die bravely in battle.

>>42138239
>Proceed immediately into the palace grounds.
Disgur seems like a bro

>>42138289
>>42138308
Breaking through the walls!

>Writing~

>>42138401

Knowing what needs to be done, you turn back to Disgur. “Do not fail." You warn. "If you do, pray that you die in battle.”

“The boy will be safe.” He stands firmly and unafraid of your threats.

“He will be because I will see to it personally.” The Empress looks directly into your eyes while saying so. “Disgur, lead the way directly to Nahldol. I will be joining you shortly.” She teleports away and immediately, enormous slabs of debris are lifted from the earth all around you.

She’s never deviated from any of her assigned tasks before, why does she start now?

Before you get a chance to think, Disgur slides toward the point of impact with stunning speed, and you take off after him.

Once you catch up, you discover him splitting his own body into various orifices of the defending soldier’s, and boring his way through their fleshy insides and then out again.

These ruthless grunts aren’t used to dealing with Pyromancers, so you easily carve a path for yourself on top the ashes of dozens of soldiers.

Strangely, there aren’t more soldiers to impede your progress, as it seems that a number of them have fallen back to main courtyard in front of you.

“They’ve got something planned for us.” You inform Disgur as you clean up the remaining stragglers.

Disgur reforms next to you. “Almost certainly.”

The ground quakes around you, as if responding to your words, but does so in a type of pattern, almost like footsteps.

You continue into the expansive courtyard, and discover one of the palace’s main defenses.

Impel soldiers make a mad dash in all the same direction, behind what you stare at now.

[1/2]

File: palc.jpg (507 KB, 1553x1300)

507 KB JPG

>>42138976

A titanic construct of flesh and stone lies in front of you. Even as it sits, it towers above everything else. Flames ooze slowly from its back, as it flexes its muscles, preparing to stand in what seems like the first time in a very long time.

It sighs as it rises even higher, huge rocks falling from its body, its wind-like breath stings your eyes with its sourness.

“It’s bound to this place.” Disgur informs you as he looks upon the creature, visibly annoyed. “We don’t nearly have enough time to kill the thing, so we have to make our way past it and into the western hall.”

You watch as it looks in the direction of the two of you, and its mouth begins to twist with killer purpose. “If we don’t have the time to kill, how do we suggest we get past this waste of space?”

“My suggestion for you…” He puts heavy emphasis on the word, you. “Run.” Suddenly his body collapses to the ground, whereupon dozens of bizarrely quick slugs race into a nearby drain.

Thanks.

Damn it, Izu, why couldn’t you know for certain if the stealth enchantment stills works? Supposing that it still does, then simply walking by it as calmly as possible would be your best option. If it doesn’t, then that method is going to be measurably less effective.

>Try to sneak past the creature.

>Fly over the creature as quickly as you can.

>Run past the creature as quickly as you can.

>Write in.

>>42139023
>Try to sneak past the creature.
Then Use blink to keep to the shadows.

>>42139023
>>42139234
Seconding.

>>42139234
>>42139256
Alright, back on track.

>Writing~

>>42139277
Seens ok.

>>42139023
>Try to sneak past the creature.
If it makes as if to attack us seal it and teleport to cover.

>>42139023
>>Fly over the creature as quickly as you can.

>>42139277

The sound of you running past it or flying around it might give yourself away, and if you have a chance to sneak past the creature quickly, then you’re going to take it.

As calmly as your body will allow right now, you walk almost directly toward the creature. It still looks in your direction, but it doesn’t seem to be following your movement exactly.

It suddenly steps forward, roughly shaking the ground around you, and causing you to fall on your rear.

A very illogical thought of wanting to kill Izu if you happen to die rushes through your mind.

The construct begins to sniff the air heavily, and bends its head toward the drain in which Disgur disappeared into.

You’re still not sure if it has yet to notice you due to your stealth enchantment still working, or whether the massive size difference in between the two of you, makes you like an ant to him.

Either way, you do your best not to rush, and eventually, make your way past most of the courtyard. At this point, it’s almost certain that your stealth enchantment is still working otherwise it would’ve sniffed you out by now.

It suddenly begins to sets its foot down directly upon where you were standing that moment, forcing you to teleport away in sheer panic.

Once again, you land on your rear, only much more roughly this time. The urgency of your teleportation did not allow for you to properly borrow the method of landing. At the very least, you’re only a few dozen feet away from the entrance of the western hall.

The colossus twists its body toward where you landed, instantly smelling you after you teleportation. Its mouth twists with added hatred. A massive column of flame erupts from its back as sets out in pursuit.

~

>>42139616
Okay, that's where I'm going to end it for tonight. A lot of stuff happening in this thread already and we're not done with the siege yet. I don't know why, but I half expected to reach an end for the mission by today, but perhaps the fact of it being the 50th thread put expectations in my mind.

Anyway, as always, I want to thank everyone that played today! If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them in the thread, and I will do my best to respond to them.

If not, then I wish you a good day/night, and hope to see you again next time!


>(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/QM_Auri

>>42139668
Would this have happened if we did not add blink?

>>42139616
>A very illogical thought of wanting to kill Izu if you happen to die rushes through your mind.
Izu didn't remove anything.

>>42139708
Assuming that you had made it this far without it, not very good things, most likely having to do with bodily injury.

>>42139736
Yeah, that was slightly before you were certain that your enchantment had been unaffected by the curse removal.

>>42139737
Would flying or running have worked better?

>>42139752
Shit Izu is the BBEG, that is why the empress wants him alive.

>>42139761
I apologize in advance, because my answer is very vague sounding.

If we're still assuming that this is a scenario without teleportation, then it would've produced a different scenario where you would've had different problems to deal with that would've resulted in potentially better or worse results. A whole new line of choices would open up, so I can't say for certain the end result.

Please tell me if I somehow misinterpreted your question.

>>42139768
The Empress wants a lot of people to continue living, but does anyone know for how long?

>>42139668
thx 4 runin budi gud thred

>>42139974
You're very welcome!

Alright, I'll be stepping out for the night. Until next time!

>>42139839
Why is The Usurper so attached to Izu?

>>42139982
I think the Empress actually likes Izu.

>>42140159
For now you can only speculate, but
>>42140165
Maybe this is a potential reason.

This time I'm really gone. Later!

>>42140165
I think she's doing it just to mess with us, you know keep us on our toes about who's in charge

>>42140234
I think she made Izu and wants to use him for a sacrifice.

>>42140331
That'd be wrong anon. We were there when he was made.

>>42140375
I mean she made him as in she knew who he was. Did you never watch any undercover cop, or spy movies?

>>42140396
Just missed context. Sorry.

>>42140331
Either he's a sacrifice, or Usurper had a SOMETHING for Izurieg.