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Previously on 999 Quest:

A battle between you and your counterparts against the anomaly began in earnest, works of power and purifying light coming together to pierce into the darkness. Where it sought to shroud you in its vileness, you brought warmth and hope. Where it sang songs of dissolution, you brought songs of rejuvenation. And where it lashed with waves of nothingness, you fought it with the very will of creation at your backs.

And now it floats in the skies above, a shattered and melting thing of insectoid parts and fragmented essence, a mass of writhing red and green swirling in its centre, torn open by yourprior assault. Thick black smoke rises up and unfurls into screaming faces from its frame, some of the visages being human, whilst others are of far stranger things. Distorted noises hang in the background, like the sound of radio noise layered upon itself.

"[Orange, Red,]" Blue turns to you, expression haggard and voice finally slipping in some exhaustion. "[What now? We've definitely got this thing on the ropes, but we're not looking too shabby ourselves.]"

You hate to admit it, but he's right. You're so close to taking this thing down, but you've also started running yourselves ragged against it. Chances are that you don't have much time before you're all burnt out. Which means you'll have to make whatever you're going to do next count.

What are your plans?

>>3831588
Surround the entity on all sides
Slowly approach with chorus of pain
Melt with purifying touch at melee

Seems like a dramatic enough of a finish to me

>>3831647
Plan "Melt the fucker" is a go. Roll me a 4d100.

Rolled 27, 65, 9, 87 = 188 (4d100)

>>3831675

Rolled 87, 22, 97, 51 = 257 (4d100)

>>3831675

Rolled 18, 87, 25, 50 = 180 (4d100)

>>3831675

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>>3831676
>>3831692
>>3831697
257. Excellent work all around. Writing.

>>3831647
>Surround the entity on all sides
>Slowly approach with chorus of pain
>Melt with purifying touch at melee
You have a plan. A really elaborate one for sure, but it's a plan. Without any real hesitation, you send the relevant bits to Blue and Red. Blue turns to you and gives you a look.

"[This is a terrible idea.]"

Well, do YOU have any bright ideas, alec?

He heaves a sigh and mutters a "No" beneath his breath. That's what you thought.

Blue and Red move quickly, placing themselves at the sides of the entity, whislt you advance from the front, focused and determined. And together you start to sing.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=CdkLr9hflyw

>Chorus of Pain (F+)

This time, the words flow well and true, spreading outwards in waves of force that tear into the anomaly which shudders and squelched in pain. Slowly but surely, the three of you close in around it, light and power flaring up from your bodies as the shadows melt around you. The entity screams and massive jagged limbs, spines of liquid night, fly towards you.

Your combined song continues to burn into the darkness, dispersing the darkness and sending the entity reeling. Almost...almost...

A few more steps are taken, as the anomaly lashes and screams in a rage, before you're right in front of the twisted star.

Now.

You leap up, arms burning with blazing light, and without hesitation you raise a hand and press it towards the open hole where the eye of the entity once was. And you will it to *burn*.

All goes still for but a moment and the flames rush in. And then suddenly you're thrown back. The force of the thing's warbling cry of anguish being enough to send you flying.

"[Orange!]" Blue and Red call out in unison.

Arms of darkness reach out at you, and the leering faces of the black smoke spread on either side of your body. And then thry begin to pull, tearing at your flesh and threatening to rip you in two.

"Joinusjoinusfivefivefivefive" they repeat, voice like a scratchy and broken record, as more arms wrap around you and start to tug tighter even as the black star continues to lash and tear at anything within range without any rhyme or reason.

>>3832433
Attempt to break free of the darkness pulling at us and then go back to blue and red.

>>3832480
+1.

>>3832480
>>3832482
Roll me a 4d100 for your break out.

Rolled 4, 44, 75, 43 = 166 (4d100)

>>3832784

Rolled 60, 58, 89, 42 = 249 (4d100)

>>3832784

Rolled 82, 84, 2, 50 = 218 (4d100)

>>3832784

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>>3832801
>>3833056
>>3833315
249. Guess you're breaking free this time. Writing.

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>>3832480
>>3832482
>Attempt to break free of the darkness pulling at us and then go back to blue and red.
The grasping arms tug and tear at you, threatening to split you in two. And honestly? You're getting really tired of them pulling at you.

With sharp intake of breath, your body ERUPTS with fire, flames leaking out of you and into the open space as you ignite. As expected, the shadowy limbs and faces don't really like your display. At all.

The darkness burns in your power, dissolving and quickly being washed away by the raw potency of your craft. The faces offer wordless howls, before they too are wiped away.

You hang in the air for a moment, letting your power hang around just a bit longer, to ensure the destruction of any remaining hostile forces. And then you let it drop, allowing your body to sag a b8t as you start pulling yourself back together.

Note to self: develop a reliable shielding spell.

You turn yourself to focus on the situation on hand, and notice Red and Blue dodging beneath massive limbs and thick tendrils of smoke, as the entity just resorts to frantic flailing.

Under normal circumstances, you'd find the flailing kind of pathetic, and a good sign that the anomaly is on its last legs. And whilst the latter may be true, you're seeing how quick this thing is moving, following up each frantic strike with another and another and another and another...

Whilst it has certainly revealed its true nature as just a hateful mass of barely-sapient evil, that doesn't really change that it's channeling as much of its remaining strength as it can into trying to utterly destroy you. Red and Blue likely can't keep dodging forever, either.

Your fears are confirmed when Red gets smacked aside by a tendril, which is quickly followed up by another smashing him aside as around a dozen chitinous limbs move up in a position where they'd quite clearly run him through. Blue won't make it in time to save him at this rate.

Any ideas?

>>3834829
Chain up his limbs
Make him trip

>>3834829
Rush to Red and fight off the tendrils attacking him. Then attempt to use our healing magic on him.

>>3834841
>>3834879
Roll me a 3d100 for these plans.

Rolled 1, 65, 5 = 71 (3d100)

>>3835919

>>3835999
Oof

Rolled 37, 46, 25 = 108 (3d100)

>>3835919

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>>3835999
>>3836019
>>3836214
Almost ended up with a big oof there, but the 108 saved it. Writing.

>>3834841
>>3834879
>Chain up his limbs
>Make him trip
You move, reaching up with a hand and letting power blossom through you. Around you, the Chains of Harrow flare to life, snaking around with almost lifelike movements independent of yourself. And with a quick mental calculation, you set them loose.

They burst into the air, streaming forward with a set purpose and goal. Razor sharp chains that wrap around the limbs and dig into them, severing some of them outright, whilst constricting the forward movement of the rest.

>Chains of Harrow (C+)

Flashing forward with equally frightening amounts of speeds, you shear through several limbs with another set of chains, moving closer up to Red.

>Rush to Red and fight off the tendrils attacking him. Then attempt to use our healing magic on him.
Getting to Red was the easy part. It's now fighting off the very nasty limbs and tentacles that's the real problem.

You dodge out of the way of one jagged and twisting limb, one that spirals out into a strange fractal pattern through the air. You turn and slice it away, before countering another few strikes to your side and from overhead. Beside you, the Chains you'd called forth early zip around the battlefield, cutting apart anything foolish enough to get in their way.

"BLORBLE!" With a cry of great effort, you bring your sword up above, and watch as the chains home in on it, spiralling arou d the tip before shooting outwards in every direction to lance every assailant around you at once, breaking through the tide in one massive blow.

As the limbs start dissolving back into the darkness that birthed thrm, you turn to Red and start trying to heal him, your light coursing into his body. Warmth washing over him as he steadily starts to regain consciousness.

"[O...Ora..nge?]"

"Blorble-blorb." No need for words. Just rest a little.

As he starts to come back to the present, you turn your attention Blue attempting to fight off the anomaly on his own, and honestly making some good effort at it. He shoots blasts of purifying fire at it as hard as he can, and makes sure to keep an eye out for its swipes and more esoteric attacks as they keep coming and comin-

Suddenly a lance of red and green energy shoots from the thing's centre, which Blue manages to guard against luckily. But then comes another, and another, and another. Until instead of being separate attacks, it's all just one long repeating beam of energy.

"[Orange...we have to help him.." Red sits up once more, grunting in pain a bit. He's not fully healed yet, but doesn't seem like he's gonna let that stop him any.

Another wall of cloying darkness, ripe with decay and death, spreads around you, almost engulfing you and forming something akin to a wall to bar your path. Spiny masses erupt all around you, like giant shoots reaching up into the skies of the abyss. More leering faces push out from them, laughing and crying and raging and everything in between. Dim lights gather in their nonexistent eyes.

Rolled 22, 91, 1 = 114 (3d100)

>>3836753
Attempt to break through the wall and then block the beam with an ice-wall.

>>3836753
Freeze up the wall of darkness before smashing it with our trusted blade giving red the opportunity to dash forward and get blue out of the way
While red is doing what we charge in and stab it in the centre

Rolled 76, 67, 31 = 174 (3d100)

Is this a Lilo and Stitch quest?

>>3836999
It's a crossover of SCP and World of Darkness, our MC is SCP-999

scp-wiki.net/scp-999

>>3837066
https://youtu.be/mjB5zRWNbpk

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>>3836809
>>3836927
>>3836928
174. Plan smash the wall and intercept is a go. Writing.

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>>3836809
>>3836927
>Attempt to break through the wall and then block the beam with an ice-wall.
>Freeze up the wall of darkness before smashing it with our trusted blade giving red the opportunity to dash forward and get blue out of the way
>While red is doing what we charge in and stab it in the centre
You and Red ready yourselves, as the lights in the faces covering the thorny masses of darkness barring your path flare once, an explosion of disruptive power rocketing forwards with malign intent.

You charge power into your body, focus it, and then release it in a massive wave of frost and winter cold, the power storming to clash against the wail of the damned trying to engulf you. And forcing as much of your might and will into the counterattack as you can, you push the darkness back, the beam being split in half by the raw tide of your spiritual pressure.

In but an instant, the faces and the darkness they're attached to have been frozen solid, unable to respond as you close in with your sword brimming with near-solid light.

And with a roar of effort, you cleave downwards. And the wall goes down with the blade.

As the darkness splits and breaks apart, spines and faces dispersing into nothingness, Red shoots past you and moves up to Blue, whose defense is steadily breaking away under the power gathered against him.

Red's body shudders as he brushes up against the hateful stream pouring out from the entity, but he steadied himself quickly. And after rather roughly pushing Blue aside, he raises a wall of ice to block the attack in his stead.

"[Orange! Now!]" he shouts, voice lacking its normal stutter.

You speed upwards, boosting yourself with your own power as you race into the air, and up above Blue and Red and out above the peak of the wall of ice Red conjured. Behind it, the anomaly continues its assault, raging and hateful. So focused in its attempts to murder your companions that it doesn't even notice you hanging above it.

Exactly what you need.

Without a sound, you fall. Your blade points forward and light burns within it, spiralling around it and cutting through all the shadows around. Until even your body vanishes in that light, power and energy flooding you as never before.

The anomaly decides to turn its gaze upwards you, stopping in its assault as it seemingly *senses* your approach. But by then it's too late. It can do little more than flail ineffectually as your blade pieces right through and out of it, carrying you along with its own forward momentum.

The space around you, the madness that has tired to consume you ever since you entered the mass of this entity to recover Red and Blue, shudders once. And then twice. And then a third time.

Then it *cracks*.

The darkness howls and screeches as cracks move through it, letting in something else. A light and warmth that had been entirely foreign to this place until now.

You've hurt it. Definitively this time.

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>>3837869
Ok what now

>>3837869
I got nothing, may we have some prompts?

>>3837869
>>3838905
>>3839179
Ran out of space in that last one, and was stuck on campus for most of the day with shitty Internet. Sorry about that.

The anomaly utters a sound that you can't quite describe, like those weird scratchy noises you'd occasionally hear from some of the stranger entities back in the Foundation facilities, but somehow worse. Spines shoot out and stretch far into the cracks above, twisting and shimmering with abyssal light as the thing tries to mend itself.

For a second, you find it leaving your vision, until it spins around in the air, black limbs and a whirl of tendrils spreading about slashing down at you with malign intent. Then it vanishes again just before the first one touches you. To your side, you see it repeating the same process with Red and Blue, before disappearing once more.

"[What the fuck is going on?]"

Blue soon gets an answer to his question, as with a sudden flicker in the space around you, *three* instances of the entity appear, spinning around as their limbs dance towards you, bladed appendages slashing through the air at almost comical speeds. The arc of the first few aiming straight for your centre mass, as if intending to cleave you in two.

Plans?

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>>3839305
Fuck it
>Retreat into the ''sky'' and look for a way out
>See if we can sense the general direction of purple and fly that way

>>3840523
Plan "Fuck It" is a go. Roll a 3d100.

Rolled 29, 43, 26 = 98 (3d100)

>>3840992

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>>3841427
98. Ouch. Definitely not the best of results. Writing.

>>3840523
>>3840992
>>3841427
>>3841561

Cowardice always fails...

>>3842026
I'm done with this. I want to do things proactively instead of reactively!

>>3840523
>Retreat into the ''sky'' and look for a way out
>See if we can sense the general direction of purple and fly that way
Alright, you've had more than enough of this. Pushing yourself as hard as you can, you shift your body out of the way of the thing's attack, lashing blades of shadow completely missing the mark as you flow around them. Your vague link to Blue and Red tells you that they also managed to get out of harm's way.

Shifting once again, and turning your form into that of a bird, you whirl through the darkness, looking for any way out. Reaching out with your power, you try to "feel" for the direction where Purple and the others would be.

It's brief, a flickering spark amidst the void, but you get something. Far above you, amidst a web of cracks.

Before you can fly up to meet that spark however, the anomaly shifts, the darkness spiralling downwards, turning into a massive drop down below, pulling you out of the air and into a pit. Far below you, the star has shifted itself, a great maw yawning open and waiting to swallow the three of you whole.

But as it does so, you can see the swirling fractal of red and green in the very centre of it. The heart of the anomaly. The eye of the storm.

Blue and Red are falling alongside you, not *quite* panicking but definitely giving the indication that they're waiting on you to take the initiative here.

Rolled 34, 50, 87 = 171 (3d100)

>>3842192
>But as it does so, you can see the swirling fractal of red and green in the very centre of it. The heart of the anomaly. The eye of the storm.

Good! Let's nuke the shit out of it with a SONG OF FURY!

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>>3842248
171. Well, can't say this isn't going to be quite explosive. Writing.

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>>3842248
>Good! Let's nuke the shit out of it with a SONG OF FURY!
The fractal mass almost seems aware of you, as it shifts in response to the growing rora of power flowing around you. More dark limbs reach up and try to entangle you, but are burnt away the instant they touch your body. Beside you, Red and Blue flare with their own power to match yours.

You'll only have one shot at this. Can't mess it up.

With focused precision, you funnel all the accumulated energy into a single point in font of your body. And as that hideous maw draws ever closer, to the point you can more clearly see the ocean swirling at the heart of it, you channel as much of yourself into the attack as you possibly can.

Then you let it drop.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2JpkMXinO1M

Light floods downwards almost immediately, the power cascading as your song pushes its way through the anomaly's defenses to strike at the core.

The main mass of the entity jerks about rapidly, desperate to defend the centre of its being from your attack, but then Red and Blue add their own songs to your own, bolstering your attack. The anomaly moves the shadowy appendages it's been striking you with in an effort to shield its highly vulnerable centre, but even that hasty defense falters against the might of your spirit.

A roar of pain and a burst of spiralling essence send the three of you hurtling backwards, up and away from the suction of the entity's maw, as yet more cracks start to blossom upwards throughout the void, piercing through the darkness.

"[Or...an...g]" a scratchy noise starts to echo around you, sounding almost familiar in spite of how choppy it comes across. And that feeling too...

Purple?

Unfortunately, you don't get much time to ponder before the darkness once more pushes itself into an assault, launching dozens of spindly limbs and blades at you in a desperate bid at your life. Blue and Red rush in front of you to bat them away.

"[Orange, I think it might be time to bail!]" Blue shouts, as he parries another swipe at him. "[Think you can try and break through those cracks?]"

Rolled 20, 61, 40 = 121 (3d100)

>>3845582
Attack the cracks with our sword.

Rolled 17, 44, 12 = 73 (3d100)

>>3845582
Slip through the small cracks. Take advantage of our malleable goo bodies

Rolled 83, 99, 2 = 184 (3d100)

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>>3845612
>>3846456
>>3847044
tfw you're suffering from a shitty illness so bad it leaves you mostly bed-ridden and saps your will to write

184. As Blue said, it's probably time to GTFO. Writing.

>>3847655
>tfw you're suffering from a shitty illness so bad it leaves you mostly bed-ridden and saps your will to write

Hope you get better bro.

>>3847655
Flu?

>>3847690
I'm feeling better now, but not by much.

>>3848330
Probably.

Anyway, I'll get finished with the update soonish.

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>>3845612
>>3846456
>Attack the cracks with our sword.
>Slip through the small cracks. Take advantage of our malleable goo bodies
You nod to Blue, and decide to follow his idea of getting out of here. Flying high up away from the immediate reach of the grasping and piercing limbs, you take note of the current appearance of the cracks.

They distort and shift wildly, fluctuating and vibrating with the light shining from within them. As it stands, you could probably TRY to slip through them, but you'd likely lose most of your mass in the attempt, if not outright die.

Well, only one thing left to do then.

Moving up to the closest crack, you ready yourself, shifting your body in preparation. And then-

You hit it with your sword. It rings.

You hit it again. It rings louder.

You hit it once more. Still it rings louder.

It's on the fourth swing that you hear something distinctive, that you feel the divide part. The crash shudders once, then twice, and finally breaks open to reveal a shimmering pathway of light.

As the crack widens, you can hear the very unpleasant sound of the darkness voicing its own agitation.


"Blorble! Blorble-blorble!" you shout down to Blue and Red, jsut as you tear open another crack.

"[Alright! Time to go, Red!]" Blue shouts, before grabbing Red with a pseudopod, before tensing himself and rocketing upwards.

"[W-waiaaaAAAAAAAAA]" poor Red doesn't get much of a chance to say anything beofre he's taken shooting into the air and out through one of the recently widened cracks.

Guess it's time for you to leave as well. In all honesty, this place is getting a -10 star review from you hand you get out of here.

Leaping after Red and Blue, you float through the seemingly endless kaleidoscope of light, forcing you ever upwards towards what you can only hope is the way out of here.

An echoing howl rebounds behind you though, and a thousand murmurs of decay and ruin blossom upwards as a mass of colorless green and shifting shadowy tendrils forcibly drags its way up to you. Can't this thing take a hint?

A mass of bone and what you suspect to be human teeth shoots past you, and only barely misses you as the thought passes through your mind. Guess not.

Any plans?

>>3850042
Orange: Chains of harrow on entity's tendrils
Blue & Red: Communicate with Purple

Rolled 48, 52, 32 = 132 (3d100)

>>3850711

Rolled 96, 64, 47 = 207 (3d100)

>>3850711
Support.

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>>3850711
>>3850714
>>3851117
207. Plan ESCAPE is off to s good start. Writing

>>3850711
>Orange: Chains of harrow on entity's tendrils
Moving around sharply to avoid yet more projectiles, you glare at the approaching storm of darkness. Pushing more power into yourself, you unleash a rain of chains onto the entity, sharp interlocking masses of light raping and cutting through its limbs to slow it down.

>Chains of Harrow (C+)

You don't even get much of a chance to heave a breath in relief, as the entity just tears its limbs out from the chains and keeps on charging up at you, a tide of black death intent on swallowing you whole.

>Blue & Red: Communicate with Purple
"[Or..ang...Bl..e?...]" a murmur passes by, laced with white noise. "[Diff...icul...ca..n'..t....ear...]"

"[Shit.]" Red curses, as the connection breaks down again. "[Orange! K-keep that thing off us a little bit longer! W-We'll keep trying over here!]"

Gee, what do they THINK you've been doing so far? Playing with crayons?

Rolled 30, 98, 27 = 155 (3d100)

>>3853754
Leave a construct made out of our goo and rigged to continuously burn, producing bright purifying light. Hopefully the entity takes the bait
After we're done with that we go meet up with Red & Blue

>>3854473
It's a massive storm of darkness, insectoid limbs, and very, very sharp tentacles. Are you sure you want to create just the one?

>>3854805
Well I figured if it's glowing with holy power like a lighthouse in a sea of darkness one would be enough but you raise a good point
Make as many as we can and throw them in different directions

Rolled 63, 46, 33 = 142 (3d100)

>>3854814
Support.

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>>3854473
>>3854814
>>3855230
I'll go with the original roll of 155 here. Time to spam as many copies as possible. Writing.

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>>3854473
>Leave a construct made out of our goo and rigged to continuously burn, producing bright purifying light. Hopefully the entity takes the bait
After we're done with that we go meet up with Red & Blue
>Make as many as we can and throw them in different directions
You move your arms in front of you, allowing them to shimmer with a gleaming sea of internal light. Then, you start to push it out of you.

It's honestly a weird feeling, removing parts of yourself along with your own essence. And when you do so, you can honestly feel yourself getting a bit 'lighter', overall.

When all is said and done, a mass of goo sloshes about before you, its shapeless mass burning like a bonfire.

>A new skill has attained realization within you (Construction) (D)! From your own form, you can create things, basic entities that are formed from your essence and some of your own mass. But it seems like the ability has its own effects on you. Might not want to overdo it.

You leave the burning mass there, as the ever-screaming tide of darkness twists upwards towards you. Pushing yourself again, you start forcing out another construct from yourself, which drifts away from you and starts to burn brightly.

Then you do another. And another. And another. And another. And-

By the time you're finished, you have replicated dozens upon dozens of times. You can FEEL how exhausted this has made you, but if it ensures you have even the slightest chance of escaping, you'll take it.

>Construction (D+)!
>Construction (D++!)

You start to drift away just as the anomaly actually starts pushing itself to meet your constructs. Jagged limbs, too many teeth, and insectoid buzzing swarm about as it starts mindlessly tearing at your blob copies, seeming to mistake them as actually being you.

What an idiot.

Speeding onwards yourself, even with how tired you now feel, you manage to catch up to Red and Blue, who are keeping pace with each other as they search for an exit from this hell.

"[Orange, look there.]" Blue points directly above the three of you. You take a look up to see what hes focused on.

In a single point above you, there seems to be a veritable storm of darkness clouding about a single swirling mass of light. Energy crackles from that bright tear, but it's immediately shadowed and swallowed up by the darkness choking it.

Is that the exit?

"[That HAS to be our ticket out of here.]"

"[W-Well, y-yeah, captain o-obvious.]" Red mutters sarcastically. "[B-but how are we going to get t-through?]"

You might have an idea or two.

An echoing howl behind you though, tells you that you might need to hurry up and get on with it. Seems your constructs weren't *that* good of a distraction in the end.

Plans?

>>3856532
>You might have an idea or two
Oh, yes this calls for holy sword action

>>3856808
Open up a tear in darkness!

>>3856808
>>3856811
Support.

>>3856808
>>3856811
>>3857330
Roll me a 5d100

Rolled 64, 64, 90, 38, 59 = 315 (5d100)

>>3857840

Rolled 9, 42, 50, 63, 58 = 222 (5d100)

>>3857840

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>>3858068
>>3858522
315. It's time to strike the dark. Writing.

>>3856808
>>3856811
>Oh, yes this calls for holy sword action
>Open up a tear in darkness!
You swing your blade around your head, light sparking off the sides of it as you do so, before you swing it in the general direction of the dark barrier.

*Something* presses out of the blade then, a wave of force that pushes you back somewhat at the sheer speed and power behind it as it barrels into the dark barrier above.

The darkness shifts in clear agitation, hissing noises echoing from its mass as it pulls more tightly against the crack of light, but it does little else.

So you raise you sword, and decide to do the only reasonable thing.

You charge.

The light rushes around you and flares up into a great configuration of shapes and energies, piercing into the mess of darkness around the wound in the void, which actively starts to *howl* in protest at your attack. And the voices actually sound strikingly familiar too...Wait a minute-

-The cultists?

Another howl of their merged voices echoes in response, and you start to gather power into the tip of your blade once more. And with a final shout of force, you dig it deep into the mass of dark power, causing it strain and cry out.

A final roar of hate is given from the forcibly merged essence of the anomalous cultists, right before they shred to pieces and dissolve. Jsut in time too, as you turn to find the anomaly having finally caught up.

"[Alright Orange, time to go!]" Blue speeds by you, grabbing you with an arm and holding Red with another, as he races towards the exit crack, with the entity lapping at your backs.

"[W-We aren't going to make i-]"

"[Yes we are. Shut up, Red.]"

You're making headway to the exit for sure, but already you see the entity surging forward for and faster. It'll gain on you in but a few moments.

A tentacle snags out, and you can only barely force Blue to maneuver out of its path. Then comes the other two.

They move on opposite sides of you and slash at Blue's body, attempt to cut the three of you to ribbons, but Blue manages to push himself just enough to evade that attack as well.

Which is why the anomaly responds by opening a massive distorted jaw on its dark mass, and vomits forth a pre concentrated orb of dark green matter, which barrels towards you st frightening speeds.

"[Yeah, definitely not making it.]" Red stares at the approaching death-ball with a somewhat frightened look, that seems somewhat resigned.

"Blorble blorb."

"[Come on. Come on. Come on....]"

Well, if this is going to be your last journey, at least it we a good one. You had fun with it. Shame you didn't get to-

!?

An web of purple and blue light spreads before your eyes, popping into existence just in time to weather the force of the death-orb and cause it to violently detonate against the defense. Turning to focus on what's in front of Blue, you watch as a cone of deep purple light forms and starts to draw you in.

"[Really, you guys worry a tad too much.]"

Purple!

>cont

>>3859911
>cont

Purple sighs a bit, shaking his head with a smile before looking at you.

"[Good to see you too, Orange, Red, Blue. I take it you've been having fun?]" he questions.

"[Fuck no.]" Red and Blue both respond without any hesitation. Can't say you blame them.

"[Well, that's only logical.]" Purple nods a bit, and gestures to the portal, as the mage, his three acolytes, and Spanko with Lord Blackwood in tow entire the scene. "[But now, everyone's here. You don't have to suffer this alone anymore.]"

He turns back to you, and looks beyond, into the vast storm of evil still clawing its way up at you. Magical power crackles against his body and symbols form into the air around him.

"[Go, we'll cover your escape. That crack leads back outside.]" he says, body starting to shimmer with light. "[Once you're out, we'll follow you back. Then we'll finish this. Together.]"

He turns to you, still in Blue's grip, and his expression more or less says it all, even without his words.

"[Orange, please keep Red and Blue. We're almost done here, and it would be a shame if we lost them just as we got them back again.]"

You give him a nod. You swear it.

"Well then, my boy," this time, it's Blackwood who speaks up. "best for you to be off now. We'll handle this crude beast."

Red and Blue look to you then and there, expressions genuinely hopeful.

"[Well, Orange? Ya' ready or not?]" Blue looks to you, mirth playing in his eyes.

Well? What's your answer?

>>3859929
>Yes

>>3859929
No time like a present

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>>3860179
>>3860189
>Yes
>No time like a present
"[Well, what the fuck are we waiting for!?]" he shouts, before rocketing off full throttle just as you finish speaking.

Real classy, Blue.

"[Banzai!]"

He rushes past your combined allies, who draw their weapons and ready their spells, as the howling darkness moves faster than it ever has before, desperate to reach you and consume you.

The elder mage raises a hand as you pass by, light shimmering from his palm, and with a flash of repelling power, he sets the shadows back before leaping into the fray.

Blue speeds into the crack in existence, racing through the wound back into material space. All arouns you, more cracks race along and spread out, spreading as you move further and further. A single point of light lies ahead, one that's getting increasingly close...

With a sudden burst of force, the three of you rocket out of the hole, flying forward with immense force, with all of you hurtling in different directions as Blue releases you.

Luckily, you all manage to shift your bodies to accommodate air travel in time, but it was still pretty disorienting.

Holding yourself in the air, you turn to the entity's physical mass, which doesn't look like it's seen the best of days.

The msin mass has turned brittle, succumbing to a kind of dessication, looking so fragile as if a stiff breeze might cause it to crumble apart. All along its frame, jagged cracks emerge, hissing smoke that uickly dissolves into the air. The once actively moving and striking spiderlike limbs barely give as much as a twitch anymore. And at the very front of the entity, a large tear is present from where you just emerged, leaking black-brown sludge. Above you, the sky is littered with massive breaks where the illusion starts to come apart, whilst below on the ground the once-shifting sands have turned to still, black ash.

It doesn't take long following your analysis before you watch the massive hole in the anomaly shudder again, before spitting out Purple and company, who race into the air just as snapping tendrils follow behind them.

"Blorble!"

"[Good to see you guys in one piece.]" Blue nods, with Red grinning alongside him.

"We would not die, spirit." the elder mage waves off their commentary. "The entity is clearly vastly weakened from our continued assault, both within and without."

Wait a minute. They were fighting out here?

"[Yes we were, Orange.]" Purple answers your unspoken question almost as soon as it comes. "[When you went in, it quickly recovered and began an assault. It seems to be frighteningly good at multi-tasking.]"

As he finishes speaking, the mountainous mass of evil starts to shudder back to life once more, smoke and green light rising, though far weaker than before.

Guess it's not quite done with you yet.

"Enough prattle! It's time to end this!" the mage shouts, with his acolytes following suit.

"[Right!]" you and your counterparts shout and ready your respective weapons.

>Final combat time

Rolled 19, 99, 21 = 139 (3d100)

>>3860289
>>Final combat time

Nuke him with a PURIFYING EXPLOSION!

Rolled 54, 28, 96 = 178 (3d100)

>>3861940

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>>3861940
>>3861974
178. Plan nuke it is primed for detonation. Writing.

>>3861940
>>3861974
>Nuke him with a PURIFYING EXPLOSION!
A shuddering groan emits from the entity as its form twitches and shifts. Sharp black blades dart from all directions as it makes for one last desperate play at your lives.

Blue snaps around, blade and purifying aura cutting through in a vicious counterstrike. Red proceeds to follow it up by hurling balls of raw flame towards the general direction of oncoming attacks (though a fair few whiff), blasting thrm apart in a shower of light. Purple moves alongside Spanko and Lord Blackwood as they lob attacks straight at the beast itself, with Purple dragging motes of multi-colored energy into a veritable storm around him, power running off his form and augmenting the duo of Spanko and Blackwood's own attacks as they dig into the anomaly's mass.

Beside you, the mage and his acolytes almost seem to *rip* chunks of the world around you out of the space between them, before hurtling them at their enemy, which break upon impact. Bits and pieces of splintered reality rain down all around, right before the oldest mage channels a wall of force around himself and his younger students to block a retaliatory spike of darkness.

Guess you're up next.

Slipping between strikes, you move up towards the entity, dodging any strike it tries to send your way. Energy flows into your core, suffusing your very frame, a rippling mass of light becoming your body for all but a few moments.

Then you let it out all at once, a burst of power that cracks the space in front of you and spreads right on down into the anomaly, which helplessly twitches and writhes as the explosion of purifying light devastates it and tears through its body. Pillars of black smog rise up and out of newly opened wounds, gushing forth akin to blood. The anomaly let's loose another low-groan of agony, many voices playing over each other until thry become a mindless buzz.

>Purifying Explosion (D+++)

Hands twist out of the smog and reach for you, half-formed and hardly stable as they are, but reach for you thry most certainly you do. As they do, the gaping hole in the centre of the anomaly starts to beat with a sickly light. An unwell glow that bodes very ill in its intent for you and yours.

>>3862901
lob a construct making purifying flame right into the wound

>>3863571
Roll a 3d100.

Rolled 16, 46, 54 = 116 (3d100)

>>3864059

Rolled 10, 8, 63 = 81 (3d100)

>>3864059

Rolled 83, 35, 18 = 136 (3d100)

>>3864059

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>>3864122
>>3864184
>>3864189
136. Ouch. This is going to hurt a bit. Writing.

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>>3863571
>lob a construct making purifying flame right into the wound
Purifying power surges over and through you, as you sever a piece of yourself and infuse it with your essence, molding it into a new shape.

The construct bobs in the air a bit, an oddly shaped mass of orange goo with motes of light drifting around it and pulsating with the essence that swims within you.

Holding it close for a moment, you raise it overhead, and throw it right at the gaping wound just as the building energy reaches a peak and the numerous half-formed and distorted limbs actually bear down on you.

A violent reaction occurs as the construct falls into that sickly light. Whatever the anomaly was attempting to do was apparently disrupted prematurely by the introduction of raw purifying material into it, and it detonates violently, showering you in crackling streams of flames flecked with deep purples and greens.

"[Orange!]" you hear Blue cry out, just as the wave starts to wash over you and the anomaly thrashed about as more and more of its body ruptures and lets loose hideous gouts of flame and ashen matter. You reach out and start to draw upon your own light just as the crashing power falls on you.

>Roll a 5d100

Rolled 75, 67, 11, 38, 50 = 241 (5d100)

>>3865078

>>3865149
Ah, geez

Rolled 30, 73, 80, 100, 91 = 374 (5d100)

>>3865078

Rolled 46, 55, 8, 99, 91 = 299 (5d100)

>>3865078

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>>3865149
>>3865151
>>3865321
>>3865441
374. Saved by the bell, it seems. Writing.

>>3865149
>>3865321
>>3865441
Energy races to your side in an instant, your body rippling to receive it as the unholy mixture of flames fall upon you.

And in that brief instant before your protective barrier shoots up, you feel *PAIN*.

The sickening fire digs into you and scratches away at your body, before you flare your defenses and tense your body, fighting back against it and dispersing it, just as your shielding covers you wholly and safeguards you from the bulk of the wave of power.

The anomaly lashes and screams on the other side, black smoke and fire being expelled in all directions as it writhes and hates. And you can tell that it is dying. Its form can't keep up, and it's starting to break down and destabilize, coming apart at the seams.

All that this is now is one last desperate bid to kill you. In mustering all of its accursed rage and hate, it brings to bear the last motes of dark power it has to try and smite you into nonexistence.

But you will not allow it. This nightmare ends *here*.

You draw your sword, as the waves of crushing power wane however slightly, you see your opening. A flash of sparkling green flickers about the edge of the entity's 'head', encased in a shell of black. It hovers over the body, and thick strands of green light and motes of static pull themselves into it as it struggles to try and reach into the upper air.

It takes you a few moments of really connect the dots here, but when you do, it just makes you even more angry, even after all that has happened here today.

It's trying to get away. Or rather, whatever it can hope to separate in time to make for an escape attempt. But it's not going to, not after all that it did to your friends, to your family.

>Final rolls here. Any plan you come up with will necessitate a roll of a 5d100. Make it count

Rolled 14, 82, 99, 73, 40 = 308 (5d100)

>>3866466
Use our chains of harrow to tie it up and stop it from escaping or separating itself.

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>>3866663
308. Excellent chain work, right here. Writing.

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>>3866663
>Use our chains of harrow to tie it up and stop it from escaping or separating itself.
You snap forward, chains flying out in all directions as thry snag around the beast's form, wrapping around it and sharply cutting into its mass, even as the little shell shifts about the main body in clear agitation. It unfolds itself, a strange lotus of sparking green and hateful boiling wrath gush out, and start swirling towards you.

>Chains of Harrow (C+)!

As the green starts to bear down on you, you see that its power burns right through your chains as it passes by oh so slowly. Its as if it doesn't even care.

"BLORBLE!" you shout to the others, even as the motes of all-burning flame drive themselves ever closer.

"[Geez Orange, no need to shout.]"

A flash of Blue and Red above you, and suddenly their blades slam hard again at the shell at the opposite end, cracking it and causing the green flames to shudder still.

Behind you, Purple and the mages have been weaving something together, something big. The strands of interlocking magic unfurl into a dazzling sight, before exploding forwards with such force that it is obscene. Larger than any of your previous attacks combined, the burst of spellwork almost hurts your mind to try and reasonably grasp.

The power washes over you almost harmlessly, leaving only sticking sensation, and it does the same for Red and Blue. But any other mystical effect seems to dissolve at its touch, including your Chains. As for the entity itself....well.

You can only watch as the magic rolls over the anomaly, who starts to writhe and push against it, only to start steadily breaking down. The orb of darkness violently dislodges both Blue and Red but is capable of doing nothing against the onslaught of magic arrayed against it.

Its too weak, too lessened. And so all it can do is howl as it starts to break apart and dissolve in the light.

And as the entity dissolves, you watch as the fading motes of smoke flow upwards into the sky in one last desperate effort, before the light of the magic touches them as well, and thry go still and fade away just as simply.

When all is said and all is done, and all the magic passes, all that remains of the entity is a single glowing object and something else. The glowing object seems almost kindly in its glow and strikingly familiar, but the other thing has a a deep dark glassy shine to it. Something foul.

The other thing, a sliver of a glassy mass, rockets into the air before you can so much as contemplate reaching out to it, up and out of one of the cracks in the sky. And within moments, it's gone.

Looking back to the other thing beating softly in the leftover magic of the spell, you move over and pick it up. Upon closer inspection, you can see that it's in fact a-

-pocket watch? Is this what Notes had lost?

The watch pulsates three times, as if in confirmation.

Storing the watch away in your mass somewhere for safety, you turn back to your friends waiting for you.

>cont

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>>3868043
>cont

You move back over to the group, who have gathered together to finally part. They all look exhausted and run down, but all seem glad to have this nightmare finally put behind them.

"It seems that victory is ours this day." Blackwood is the first to speak from atop Spanko's back, with the good doctor letting out a hearty cack of support.

"Yes. It is. But for how long one cannot say." the elder mage has a thoughtful and distant look in his eyes as he speaks. Then he turns over to you.

"This is the end of our time together, spirit. And whilst I still hold no true trust for you in my heart, you aided greatly in what could've been a truly horrific Abyssal incursion. And for that, I must thank you."

He reaches out and offers a hand, glowing with the faint lines of magic. You reach up and take it with an arm.

"My name is Argus, member of the Diamond Orders. Whilst I doubt we will cross paths again, use that name amongst some of those you may encounter. There is a chance that I might've crossed paths with them." the man, Argus, has a firm grip and a face to match, but you can catch the waves of 'something' flowing off him. Not quite joy, but not outright disregard either.

"And I suppose with that, we shall be off. Take care of you and yours spirit. Dark things are stirring, as this day is sure to prove, and I fear the worst is yet to rise."

With those final ominous words, Argus and his apprentices turn and drift away, rings of magic floating about them before they finally disappear into the air, unwinding into strings of light and dust.

"[What an interesting man.]" Purple remarks, looking off to where Argus had just left.

"[You mean an utter asshole.]"

"[Of course you'd feel that way, Blue. You're crass and simple. You just can't see the deeper meanings behind the actions of some people.]"

"[Wha-'Crass and simple?' I'm fine with the crass, but you did not just call me simple, you smug sonnuva-]"

You, Blackwood, and Red sigh as one, and Red looks to you apologetically, before going to try and get those two to stop tearing into each other.

Turning around, you look out, and watch as this strange realm starts to come apart, breaking down to reveal the brilliant sight of the outside world, with its cities and streets and lights. Full of strange dark things and monsters, but just as full of wonderful and mystical beings and people.

And with that in mind, and with your friends and family at your back, you start to move forward, to plunge yourself back into that strange new world once more.

Time to go home.

-999 Quest 16 End-

Thanks for sticking around with this one guys. Next week is probably just going to be a bunch of simple investigation and exploring stuff, so nothing big (hopefully). Hope to see you all then.

>>3868060
Aye