[h2][right]Khaine, Lenuria Ruins[/right][/h2]

This entire thing was going to Hell, and not in a good way. The attack was a success, but was soon interrupted by a barrage of giant monstrous squids. With a thought and a gesture Khaine floated around the attacks atop the spiked wheel he now used as a steed. Normally he'd be able to predict the patterns, but this damned flower smoke was blocking his vision. Hopefully whatever was attacking was having as much trouble aiming as Khaine was having trouble dodging. A glancing blow sent him flying several meters, but his sturdy construction saved him. It took a lot of force to damage his body, and as long as his heart remained intact, he'd be fine. Of course a direct hit would be unpleasant with the speed those things were going at, and Khaine had no intention of testing his defenses against such a blow.

With the power of the philosopher's stone Khaine opened a portal to an area near the ocean's surface. Stepping through he reappeared far above the battle, out of the lavender-scented smoke cloud and the barrage of monstrous creatures. It appeared that not only his area, but the entire city had been consumed by some kind of strange ink cloud. It prevented Khaine from pinpointing anyone else within the cloud, although he could see what looked like a massive shadowy sillhouette. Another giant monster? The snake from before? Maybe the stone giant he'd briefly seen during the battle, although it looked bigger than that. Regardless, it was clear that something serious was going on down there, and Khaine had no idea how to counter it. His fight with the angelic general would have to be put on hold for the moment while he tried to sort out this situation.

Thinking for a moment, Khaine focused his power on summoning more portals to hell. Not a frozen or boiling hell this time, but rather a dark and empty hell. Hell was a more varied place than most supposed, after all. The goal this time wasn't to freeze or boil the water, but rather to create several large whirlpools. Start draining water away into one of Hell's large empty caverns. Plenty of room down there. If the smoke was something physical, he might be able to drain it away, make his life easier. In addition the strong current would suck in any forces that got too close, regardless of what side they were on. While it was likely to affect his allies as much as it did his enemies, a demon would at least know their way around in Hell. It was risky, but at the very least it would provide a terrain advantage to any of his allies that got sucked in, and he could retrieve anyone who was on his side after the fact. A second risk was that he dumped the staff in Hell while he was busy, which was the reason he didn't want to use this strategy, but it was better than nothing.

Flashing red gates opened up in several locations spread through the city. Water immediately flowed through the large portals, forming swirling underwater whirlpools. Powerful currents would draw anything from magical sealife to treasures and soldiers into the literal abyss, where the monstrosities of Lenuria were sure to fit right in. Of course Khaine was completely unable to aim with this attack, but at least one of these vortexes would be placed near the monstrous shadow in the blackness.

[right][h2]Antaeus, Lenuria Ruins[/h2][/right]

The cowardly attacker had vanished, seemingly into nothingness! Then again, Antaeus couldn't see anything in this smoke. He threw a punch on the off chance that his attacker was in front of him, and hit nothing but water. Crying out in frustration Antaeus performed attacks in random directions, not being able to tell if he was completely surrounded, or all alone. Typical demonic trickery! The minions of Hell were too cowardly to face him head-on, so they tried to hide from him under the cover of this smoke? Despicable. But his moral high ground wasn't helping Antaeus actually find his enemies, so he was forced to shrink back down to his 10-meter standard size. No point in going full size when he didn't even know where or what the enemy was. This was maddening. However, despite his generally brutish approach, even Antaeus was not entirely devoid of subtlety. If his eyes and ears were fooled, then he might need to use his other senses. Reaching out, Antaeus made use of his connection to the earth, to the very rocks around him.

As a being born from earth, Antaeus was inextricably linked to stone and dirt. Such elements were his literal flesh and blood. It was the source of his power, and he was the fist through which that power was manifested. While rocks do not speak they can tell many stories to those who know how to listen. Small vibrations, tiny movements, indicative of larger movements. He could feel the roots of some kind of plant worming it's way through the ground, he could feel the vibrations from the movement of several large creatures. And in the background, the gentle rumbling hum of mother earth herself, the distant echo of tectonic friction. He would track down the beast through this, and then he would face it in combat. After all, none could hope to face Antaeus in a fair fight!