[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/io96cQp.png[/img][/center]

[center][@Lonewolf685][/center]

With Olivia being gently cradled in Xolys’s arms and Suzuya riding atop him, the eldritch beast set out across the rooftops of London, paying careful attention to remain close to the rest of the group, should an attack occur, but also ensuring that he traveled on the opposite side of the street from where Lupin and Stripes were leaping from building to building as well. Although Olivia was often blissfully unaware of such things, the far more attentive and observant Master of Xhar’doth had realized that the somewhat misanthropic Stripes actually became weaker when more allies were present. Thus, he would endeavor to give both the feline girl and her wolfish teammate a wide berth during this patrol.

Following Ozma’s lead, the group eventually found themselves at an abandoned shopping mall on the outskirts of the city. Although most would probably consider such a location rather unappealing, if not outright creepy, Olivia unsurprisingly found it utterly fascinating. As they entered the dilapidated structure, her head was a blur of motion as it looked in all directions in an effort to take in every aspect of their ominous surroundings. Indeed, the blonde beauty was so enthralled by the gloomy panorama of urban decay that she didn’t even notice the spell Ozma was casting to seal them within it. 

[color=LightSkyBlue]“Goodness! This looks like something right out of a horror movie!”[/color] Olivia exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with wonderment. [color=LightSkyBlue]“It has such an unsettling ambiance, I’d imagine [i]dozens[/i] of ghosts could probably live here! Or maybe fungus monsters! Or Pageless!”[/color] she added a moment later as she noticed a sea of yellow eyes glowing in the mall’s darkened recesses. 

Ozma had been saying some rather interesting things about how they were actually searching for someone, and how this mission would be “off the record”, but as thought-provoking as those statements were for the Ethereal Rose, they rapidly paled in significance once the Pageless finally revealed themselves…  

[color=LightSkyBlue]“Oh wow! They’re so precious!”[/color] the azure-clad beauty squealed in delight. [color=LightSkyBlue]“They look just like giant iguanas! Don’t you think so, darling?”[/color]

[color=MediumBlue]“Indeed, my sweet,”[/color] the eldritch beast replied. [color=MediumBlue]“But I fear their opinion of [i]us[/i] is far less appreciative…”[/color]

A moment later, that fear was confirmed as the Pageless began their assault. Since they were still at a fair distance, Xolys opened with a ranged attack, his swirling beam of unreality adding its destructive power to a hail of magic missiles from Stripes. Still, there were far too many Pageless for this strategy to be effective for long, and so the Master of Xhar’doth readied his many scythed and spiked appendages in preparation for when their foes entered melee range. Meanwhile, Olivia, fully confident in Xolys and Burning Heart’s ability to handle the situation, only hoped she’d be able to have enough time to get a closer look at the reptilian monsters before they were completely dispatched.