A gnarly toenail tore against Magpie’s side as she leapt past the zomboni, body burning up with power. Glancing blow indeed, capable of gouging the flesh beneath her robes but not enough to kill her outright. And from there, it was a clean two-hit wombo combo as her fingers hooked into the jaw of the flying oni, arresting its motion and pulling its desiccated body with her. Feet skidding against the ground, the brawler hurled her quarry head-first with such force that a meter-wide crater was formed even as its body bounced back up!

And as it did, her fist drew back, the last vestiges of her SP turning her arm incandescent. A shining power, a brilliant force, raw strength converted into big numbers. With an uppercut that her descendants would be talking about for generations to come, Magpie sent the monster skywards, turning away as an explosion of light rocked the entire battlefield, shaking her organs to its core.

That was her, right? That was totally her.

…naw, that was Raime.

In the aftermath of the God-Searing Light, steam hissed out of the volcano-esque arm cannon, the Scout feeling utterly drained. He was bleeding and his heart was pounding much too quickly to be considered healthy. Before him, an Amulak coated in carbonized oni-ash was still trapped, and further off, Klein had no intention of getting up again. Magpie and Ames, with only the worms of the remaining oni to deal with, dispatched them swiftly. The encounter was over. The corpses of the oni and the strange creatures that infested them both dissolved into a chromatic display of pixels that reformed into loot. Experience points flooded the entire party as well, everyone experiencing at least one level up, and thus their Resources were all filled back up. 

But a sense of imbalance remained.

The holes in Raime’s body were reformed, but his arm was not regrown. In the corner of his eye, a status effect was displayed.

[b][Dismembered – Right Arm][/b]

The winds of the Thunderstruck Grove continued to whisper, as new fog coated the skylight that had been there only moments before. The party had a moment or two to decide before the monstrosities of the blasted forest began to follow the trails of blood once more.

Retreat or proceed?
[sub][@Shovel][@Searat][@Psyker Landshark][@OwO][@Yankee][/sub]