[GM Post]

Whatever Ragnar was expecting, a literal bucket on his head and some hideously loud clanging noise was not on the list. The northlander roared in anger as he clawed and failed to even touch the offending object, rendering him near-completely blind and deaf to what's going on around him. The axe in his hand cleaved with abandon, catching the blackened table a couple times but otherwise failed to get remotely close to any of his foes.

[b][color=ed1c24]"WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS?! FACE ME BLADE TO BLADE!"[/color][/b]

He wouldn't get his wish. Both Chounan and Veronica caught the warning and steered clear, a gleaming arrow landing dead center on Ragnar's chest. another explosion consumed the berserker, momentarily staggering him with concussive shockwave. The vampiress didn't miss the moment as she rushed back in, braving the remnant of the explosion to deliver a single strike to their foe.

The scythe tore through Ragnar's crimson aura like hot knife through butter, plunging through the heart where the weapon keened with greed. Yet her eyes widened as the man still refused to drop, brawny arm grabbing the scythe and refusing to let go. She had to abandon the weapon to avoid an axe blow, staring with morbid amazement at the sheer resilience of the brute.

[b][color=ed1c24]"Finally! Slippery bastard."[/color][/b]

The scythe was torn out, splatter of blood unnaturally following and flowing into it. The crimson aura coating him thickened to the point that it's veritably opaque now, looking less like a man and more like a creature made out of blood. The illusory bucket and hammer sizzled and faded upon contacting this seemingly enhanced layer, though from the sounds of it the man underneath wasn't doing very well at all.

Ragnar rampaged forward, Veronica and Chounan pushed further and further as he seemingly beelined to the elf. The vampiress seemed to do okay, but the swordsman's skin started to blister the longer he's locked in close combat with the brute. It was through sheer willpower that he kept blocking the way, deflecting and parrying with blood flowing through his palm.

Above, Asevor was unceremoniously ambushed in joint attack - something that he did not expect, considering his invisibile state. Pain seized him all of sudden, stopping his hand in place, followed by an inhuman screech so terrible the old man actually blacked out for a moment.

[b][color=#778da9]"ARGH! You dare-!"[/color][/b]

Another protective ring started to crack, purging the magical influence of the scream and the hold. The false archmage was swift in tapping in another of his ring, soft layer of healing light fixing his burst eardrum though it did little to the blood that had dripped out. More pressingly, the tesseract was halfway unraveling by the time he regained his faculty. He willed it to collapse in that state, the purge barely a tenth as potent or widespread as it should, but enough to buy a little time.

A spell construct flowed into the mental mold, finishing in record time as for the first time today Asevor actually felt threatened to some extent. An unfocused bluish-white beam of arcane energy howled through the corridor, blasting Solomon and his latest banshee summon before colliding hard enough to crack the far wall of the fort.

Breathing rapidly, the old man hurriedly grasped for his necklace... only to find that the undead caster that ambushed him were still nearby somewhere. Turning with paranoia to the floors and walls and ceiling, Asevor immediately decided to bolt up and toward the battlement. Out in the open, he'll have a lot more options. Otherwise it would be putting the cart before the horse if he accidentally buried himself in this godforsaken fort.

At the antechamber below, Kaito would find the dead baron and a few more dead servants mixed in a pile of rubble that once was a staircase but now ruined and collapsed by explosion. Getting up... probably will take some effort. And was likely unsafe. But what choice did he have?