Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

If there was a point where it was evident that their foe had truly stopped holding back, this would be it. The houndmaster had consumed another one of its hounds to empower itself again. Any remaining façade of a human form was discarded fully as it warped and twisted into a towering beast. Fortunately, Fleuri and Fanilly would not be battling it alone- the witch and her ride-along appeared from above and began raining attacks down upon it.

Your pack dwindles, while mine grows. Now you are the prey being hounded.

With their airborne allies attacking the limbs, and Fanilly attacking its flank, now would be the time to strike while the beast was distracted and hindered. Fleuri readied his greatsword, and uttered a silent prayer to Reon.

Reon, Goddess of the Sun, guide my blade, help me to strike true...

With that, Fleuri charged forward, swinging his blade horizontally at the beast's midsection between its hips and ribcage.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Not even having its arm cut off was enough to slow down this fae. With a sacrifice of another one of its dogs, it grew a new arm, a monstrous, bestial thing that was tough enough to block Fleuri's blow. As long as it had dogs to sacrifice, it would be able to continue to heal its injuries- and each time it became more monstrous. With just two dogs, it had turned from a largely humanoid axeman to a monstrous, asymmetrical man-beast.

Fanilly moved to intercept the dogs closing in, swiftly felling two of them. Fleuri wasn't sure if the houndmaster's powers enabled them to heal from consuming already-slain beasts, but thinning the pack would take the pressure off of them regardless.

The captain's orders were to hold out a little longer, and by Reon, Fleuri was determined to not let her down.

The fae continued to focus its efforts on Fleuri. The strike that came was feral and lacking in technique- perhaps a sign that its mind was being affected by its monstrous transformation. As it brought its axe down, the knight intercepted the weapon with his greatsword, deflecting it into the ground to Fleuri's right, as to keep himself as far away as possible from the reach of the huntmaster's free arm and not give himself an easy opening to be grabbed.

He pulled his sword back, assuming a stance for an attack and striking one of the hounds in the face with the pommel in the process. In fixating on Fleuri, the houndmaster had left itself blind to Fanilly, who was now moving to strike- if her next attack did not finish their foe off, Fleuri would make certain to capitalize on whatever distraction it might offer.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

The hounds closing in was the least of his problem- whatever injuries Fleuri had inflicted upon his foe were seemingly undone as it struck down one of its own hunting beasts and seemingly drew power from the corpse to turn itself into a bestial monstrosity. Fanilly's entrance into the fight, swiftly and literally disarming their foe, could not have come at a better time.

"Perfect timing, Captain," Fleuri spoke- the first words he had spoken since going into battle against the Houndmaster- yet still not breaking his silence towards his foe.

The contrast between the houndmaster sacrificing its own pets to strengthen itself to the knight-captain coming to the aid of one of her followers was poetic. If he made it out of this, Fleuri resolved to ensure that the scribes and bards did not forget that detail. All the more reason to ensure that they won this fight.

His foe was much larger and stronger now. Even with the loss of one arm, it may very well be able to swing the axe with more force than it previously could with two arms. It was also more inhuman, more beast-like, and its last attack showed that its fighting style had similarly become more monstrous.

A changing battle required changing tactics.

Fleuri maneuvered to the left side of Fanilly. With an ally at his side, he could no longer make the same wide sweeps with his sword, and would have to change things up a bit. This was not a problem- adaptability and flexibility in battle were both things that the Mirror Knight had impressed upon him during their training. His next move- bringing his sword to his hip as if sheathed, then attacking in a faux-unsheathing motion, bringing it around to the left the moment the dogs came into range and then continuing towards the houndmaster in front of him- was a technique from another one of his mentors, one he had the fortune of learning from in both the real world and Merilia's plane.

With the two of them fighting this fae, with the training and tests that Merilia had subjected them to, surely they shall prevail.

Another Life in a Fantasy World (Invite Only)

Javal

Their hunch that the Church might be safe had proven correct- upon entering the church grounds, the zombie did not follow- instead it came to a stop and sauntered off.

That was too close, Javal thought. He didn't want to make it a habit of relying entirely on vague hunches for getting out of trouble, until they could figure out what was going on, that was all they'd have to go on. For now, however, this was probably the safest that they had been since waking up in this world. Javal believed it would be best for them to thoroughly explore this sanctuary.

There were no survivors in the church, but at least there were no corpses. Something had damaged these pews, but there were no corpses and no blood. As Javal's eyes fell on the altar, he couldn't help but wonder just what sort of faith built this church.

Javal moved in closer to take a closer look at the altar, which like the pews, appeared to have been disturbed. He was hoping to get a look at whatever symbols might be here, but what instead caught his eye was what looked like a gap in the floor peeking underneath it. Just what was underneath it? A passage, or perhaps a hidden compartment? Either way, it was worth a look.

"Looks like there's an empty space under the altar," he answered Sephily. "Help me push this out of the way, there could be something in there," he spoke, placing his hands firmly on the alter and attempting to push.

@VitaVitaAR@FujiwaraPhoenix@Rune_Alchemist

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

There were some blows to be deflected or parried, and some blows to be avoided, and the houndmaster's strike was, by Fleuri's estimate, firmly in the latter category. As the axe came hurtling town, Fleuri lunged to the side, out of the path of the descending weapon.

It was no surprise that this fae had no concern for the lives of their dogs. Even if their inhuman mind was capable of compassion or affection, Fleuri had heard stories of the Midnight Hunt never running out of hunters, never ceasing or diminishing until the sun rose, and suspected that death did not hold the same permanence for the participants of the hunt as it did for mortal beings. The fact that a long-dead villain was leading them further lent credence to this notion.

Regardless of whether he could actually hit it hard enough to keep it down, Fleuri would keep it occupied so long as was needed for Tyaethe to fell Rozenalt.

The moment the axe came down, Fleuri swung his sword horizontally towards the houndmaster's neck. With his foe summoning more hounds, even if they hadn't yet lunged, Fleuri needed to be ready to bring his sword around to his flanks at a moment's notice.

Another Life in a Fantasy World (Invite Only)

Javal

That huge zombie was faster than it looked, Javal assessed as he looked back. They had no success in shaking it off thus far, and he feared that even if they could manage to keep their distance for the time being, they'd tire out before it did.

Mercifully, the alley exit that they had reached appeared to be free of zombies. They were still on the run, but at least they weren't trapped yet. One building stood out to Javal- a church in unusually fine condition. Equally strange what what almost looked like a slight distortion of light around it.

Could the church be a safe haven from the zombies? Maybe, maybe not, but heading there seemed like a better chance than fleeing in any other direction, or trying to fight the big zombie.

"That church looks promising," he spoke to his companions before dashing towards the building.

It'd be pretty surreal if their reincarnation journey were to end being mauled by zombies so soon after being reborn.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

His hunch was correct- Fleuri's foe seemingly commanded hounds to peel off from elsewhere in the procession to target him, coming at him from opposite sides. In addition to the dogs, the hounds' handler was coming forward with a large axe, evidently being not the type to hide behind his pets.

Not counting any other fae that might step in, or any more hounds that he might call to his side, that meant three foes to worry about, each coming from a different angle. With the threat of even more hounds potentially being called to attack him meant that Fleuri would need to swiftly fell them as they came lest he be overwhelmed- all while dealing with the attacks from their master.

As the canine fae and the faceless axeman closed in, Fleuri lunged forward and spun in a circle, twirling his sword around, timed to strike the dogs and then come back forward in time to meet his foe's axe.

Another Life in a Fantasy World (Invite Only)

Javal

As soon as Javal beheld the creature that had just made its entrance behind them, he knew that this was not a foe that they could fight in this situation. A massive zombie, strong enough to smash a door to pieces, dragging a huge sword- facing it would be a daunting task even if they weren't in a cramped alley. There was also the matter that the noise may have alerted other zombies, given another reason to rapidly get as far away from this place as possible.

"Get moving!" he spurred his companions, gesturing towards the opposite end of the alley. There could be more zombies on the other side, but to let that thing catch them seemed like almost certain death. Being the only one with armor or a weapon, he would take up the rear- as unpleasant a task as it was going to be.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR

Another Life in a Fantasy World (Invite Only)

Javal

The paths beyond the rubble definitely looked more appealing. One led into the ruins of what looked like a shop, the other was a side passage. The shop might have something useful, but they needed to get out of this zombie-infested town as quickly as possible.

Javal considered his options, and whether the shop could have anything that they needed, when Lena made her decision and headed to the side passage. Javal followed behind, wishing neither to hesitate nor risk splitting up. Of course, they still needed to figure out just how to escape this place. In theory, heading in any direction for long enough would eventually lead them out, but the streets, alleys, and zombies, and rubble might not permit an easy exit.

Perhaps it would help to locate a decent vantage point. The climb over the rubble had made it evident that his new body was fairly dextrous, perhaps there were other places that he could scale...

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

If Fleuri had known in advance that they'd be fighting the Midnight Hunt, he would have gone back to his family mausoleum to borrow Armand's enchanted weapons, because his mundane greatsword was rapidly becoming inadequate for what they were expected to face. Fortunately, Lord Arken was able to augment their weapons with magic, which should enable them to strike down supernatural foes.

Hopefully the new sword he had commissioned from the castle smith was almost finished because there would be no better swan song for Fleuri's current weapon than this. Facing down the Midnight Hunt, imbued with magic enabling it to cut what it ordinarily couldn't...he could think of no better final job for his sword than this.

Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself, but he really believed they could pull this off. Between Merilia's training and Arken's magic, the knights were a force to be reckoned with. Besides, surely the Moonlit Queen wouldn't have gone for such a lopsided wager- eleven souls for a mere fragment of one- if the odds didn't favor the knights, right?

---

This was it- the legendary Midnight Hunt was upon them. Fae and spirits emerged from the woods, ready to fight. Among them were the infamous Knights of the Midnight Hunt sitting upon their mounts, massive polearms in hand. But even more distinctive than the fae knights was a quintet of unique figures, the most notable of which was Rozenalt himself.

A few weeks ago, Fleuri would have considered it unthinkable for himself and the rest of the captain's favored band of knights to face down such a foe with an expectation of winning. However, as much as his heart was racing, he believed Merilia had prepared him well for this. Training with the Mirror Knight and facing Merilia's tests had not only greatly improved his martial skills, but also steeled his mind for going up against figures of legend.

The confidence in Fanilly's voice, and the (possibly literal) bloodlust exhibited by Tyaethe at her chance at facing Rozenalt again only further fired him up.

Renar moved to face the fae with the bear trap, while Gerard challenged the woman in white. With those two occupied, Fleuri's eyes, concealed by his helmet's faceplate, turned to the houndmaster. He would take on this one. He was unsure if it controlled just the two hound-beasts on its leash, or if it give commands to all of the twisted hounds brought along to this Midnight Hunt, but regardless, it was clearly an important figure among their adversaries and needed to be dealt with.

Fleuri lunged forward, cutting down one of the hunched creatures in his path and bringing his blade through what almost looked like a shadow at his flank- but was unsure if he had hit anything with that strike. He brought his sword back around and brought it to a stop when it came to point towards the hound handler, then raised it and gave his tournament salute, as if to mark them as his foe. He saw no reason to speak- from the tales he had heard, the Knights of the Midnight Hunt never spoke, and he would repay them and their kin the same courtesy.