[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qSXKgkY.png[/img]
[sub][@Nanaya][@Sifr][/sub][/center]
Monstrous.

It was a creature designed with murder in mind, a great wolf formed from shadow and mist, cleaving through the air with a bladed tail while shards shot out in rapid succession, so powerful that they sunk in the dirt entirely.

And it spoke too, a thoughtful rasp that didn’t match its savage attacks.

[b]“Adapa,”[/b] Otis spoke, springing up from the dive-roll he executed to avoid the arrows, [b]“record.”[/b]

The Door remained present, a perpetual escape route that would be a death sentence for any enemies to enter, and his Personal Barrier would ensure that he’d be able to absorb at least a few hits if he had to. Information, then, was what he wanted. The arcane tome opened up beside him, burning with that heatless flame, as Hildegunde’s own bullet cracked through the air.

[b]“Only if we leave,”[/b] the Strigidae replied, chambering his firearm with ensorcelled bullets. [b]“Watch your eyes.”[/b]

The trigger was pulled, and essence-imbued steel flew through the air, the heat generated by air friction triggering a particular reaction mid-flight as it exploded in a blinding flash of light. It was only a distraction, a pause that’d allow him to break up the flow of combat as he aimed his gun skywards next, sending a second bullet upwards past the canopy. That one exploded too, a burst of brilliance to serve as a signal.

[b]“Best to surrender now!”[/b] he called out to the shadow-wolf. [b]“Wouldn’t take much longer for Alto to arrive. And amongst the student population, there’s at least ten who have Ethos specialized in hunting and tracking, so it’s a waste of effort to try escaping.”[/b]

Lies, all of them.

If conflict could be won with empty threats though, that would be for the best.