Nexus Campus Town

[Panda]

Nanako

Instead of thrilling sound of Costin's flesh tearing at the seams, Nanako was met with an explosion just before she could pull. Her strike still landed, blowing the vampire away, but the only taste left in her mouth was a hint of blood and a curious heat. Dozens of throbbing aches racked her body even as they faded. She was almost a little sad to feel them go, but sure that they'd be replaced soon enough.

"Hrm. Spicy," the squirrel girl remarked, spitting what was left of Costin's blood out, "But you'd know, wouldn't you?"

Bloody spears rose from the ground where Costin first hit it, building on each other and branching outwards like a massive murderous tree. It rose between them, ravaging the space between Costin and Nanako with scarlet spears. Faced with such a sight, there was only one thing for the squirrel girl to do. She planted her feet firmly, then took off with booming reports, running straight at the welcoming storm of spears. Cracks of abyssal nothing ran through the structure as Nanako started raining punches upon it, turning spears into shards, glittering in the darkening dome like a enormous ruby chandelier.

Finally, the squirrel girl burst from the trunk of the great tree in a storm of sanguine splinters, rushing down Costin relentlessly. Hazel eyes gleamed in the reflected scarlet, Nanako rearing back for a powerful blow, only for her tail to whip out for Costin's leg, trying to trap the vampire for the moment it would take to pound Costin into the dirt with a short, powerful blow from her other hand.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

"That would be most troublesome, master. One's already trouble enough as it is." He bit his nail in frustration. Meanwhile, the flames kept raging in the dome, growing in intensity while the vines and thorns seeped inside to reinforce the magic.

Costin

His cracked bones screamed a bloody curse. His [CROWNING JEWEL STORM OF KILLING THORNS] was a technique that few could unleash unscathed, and even fewer could master. It was a powerful curse that used blood as a medium to rush forth like a sea of stakes. It was folly to simply withstand it.

Nanako withstood it.

His bloody spears gave in to the beast girls raw violence. Sound, feeling, the tremors reverberating through the stakes. The scent of it all sent signals to the apostle's synapses. Even the smallest of barriers can make a difference between fighters, but more importantly... the feeling of his blood being crushed allowed him to read the following blow. In an instant, his face visibly cracked like porcelain and caved in with a bloody smash, a blow like that would kill a man with ease. It was something that should be avoided at all cost. It's why he didn't. After all, he could see she was chasing a feeling.

"...but still... your fist... it lacks something."

And so was he.

His leg dodged her tail before it came, and the moment she broke out was all it took to deliver his own counter. Drawn into the unorthodox shift of his body, her fist slipped off his bloody skull. Her fist caved in a massive shockwave behind Costin, blowing a crevice inside the dome.

It didn't follow, but hit at the same exact time. His shoulder slam that rammed straight into her chest - no, shooting straight for a point beyond her body, using the force of her momentum to increase his own power. Even with such a basic technique, his talent for raw violence was yet to be rivaled.

"Come and get it."

[YOLF]

Headmaster

The whole thing shuddered like jelly that threatened to have even more holes put into it, such was the intensity of that violent dissonance. Even with the support of the professor's spells, the two warriors seemed to have vanquished anything but the contest from their brains, and all their ability was empowered to the same purpose. If the Headmaster could afford it, she might have graced Lawrence with a sympathetic glance.

But closing her jaw in hard decisiveness, she clenched her free hand into a fist, and thrust it into the air above her head. The immense mass slaved to her enchantments responded at once, and the dome that surrounded the fighters rocketed into the sky in a cloud of dust. Every loose piece of upturned terrain followed it, slamming into the near-spherical shape and joining the outer shell, as its walls flowed and hurried to shut the jagged hole.

The dome slid on its axis as it accelerated in an arc over the streets, and squirrelgirl and vampire could see the rapidly blurred scenery pass them through the gaps, before it closed them in the privacy of darkness.

If either was paying attention, they would see the sonic motion of their arena was propelling them towards the central lake.

[Panda]

Nanako

He was ready for her when she burst from the bloody tree, that much was obvious. It didn't matter, she was faster. An bloodthirsty evaluation seemingly proven correct as her fist caved his face in, bones snapping like wet driftwood under her fist, the strange inversion of the usual feeling of soft flesh to hard bone bringing new excitement to the squirrel girl. However, that excitement turned to ice in her chest as he managed to step out of the way of her tail swipe despite his pulverized face, only to come roaring back as he rammed into her, aiming beyond her as his momentum carried them back. The feeling of him concentrating his force onto the point of his shoulder, knocking the air from her lungs, compressing her guts, and bending her over around her opponent. It melted that core all over again, setting her aflame with wanton bestial desire.

Costin's counter flung them back into the ruins of the tree, the impact at her back a piddling nothing compared to the feeling of being run through like this. Then the dome lurched into the air, closing in dark around them as the sudden motion knocked them both over. She didn't know where the dome was heading and she didn't care, as finally they slammed into a wall that didn't give way under their violence.

"That so?" she shot back breathlessly, bracing herself against the wall, raising both arms, and slamming them down into Costin's back to knock the vampire down.

"Why don'tcha tell me what it is, then?!" the followup came without delay, the squirrel girl unleashing a vicious kick to knock him away like a football.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

But the time of words had passed, and as expected, her taunt would only be answered one way. From the dawn of time, there was a manner of exchanging hearts truer than any magic, devoid of any lies or falsehoods.

All you needed was your fist.

"This job is starting to outweigh the paygrade..."

His synapses flashed like searing metal in his flesh, and his bones yielded no feeling anymore. The thrumming of the earth, the shifts in the air, the feeling of Nanako's muscles expanding and contracting - they guided the slight shift of his undying body, and he instantly dodged the arms before they were thrown, raising his fist to counter with a concussive punch to her chin. A terrifying blow that'd make any veteran submit, it wasn't without its price, for his hand exploded instantly, revealing raw exposed bone. And yet he committed to the strike, pushing the blow even further with nothing but his shattered stump. He felt grateful for this feeling. The hunt.

Was that why he smiled even now?

The dome shook with impossible vigor, and all directions reversed as he knew that the dome was hurling straight into the skies. The kick couldn't be avoided regardless, but he went limp to try and soften it. For his trouble, his entire lower half split horrifyingly, connected by nothing but a handful of bone and flesh while the explosion hurled him back - forward, somewhere even he couldn't see. Immediately focused down by a storm of explosions, he was focused down by Phenex's flames, but the tyrant's smile took a handsome quality, or perhaps that quality was easier to see under this violent light.

"Haah..." Or rather, that it was time to end the fight he entertained for fun - and finish his business.

Rammed against the wall, he grabbed onto it and used his mangled arm to strike the cracked dome one more time with his reinforced elbow, exerting his circuits while unleashing a powerful array of curses to weaponize his gushing blood. For a split second, red lines started flashing across the back of the dome. Somehow, its foundations cracked and corroded in a flash, and it cracked like an egg before the mangled apostle ejected, hurled back up the skies.

The setting sun looked down on him, but not a single ray touched his skin.

Even now, his body was shackled by darkness. His black sunglasses, ragged bloodied attire, the torn state of his body, the irony wasn't lost on it.

That's why even now, soaring above the lake, he smiled freely.

Costin's less mutilated arm raised. Was it a curse? An attack?

He closed his fist... and raised his thumb, facing the headmaster's general direction.

And to contrast an ascent... eventually... everyone must fall.

Lawrence

The sorcerer's throat tightened, and his fist clenched tight enough to draw blood. He looked at the headmaster worriedly but ultimately sighed. "How foolish."

[YOLF]

Headmaster

What was reflected in those golden eyes that watched the mirth of an inhuman warrior swell through the gauntlet of obstacles? As though pain and evisceration were nothing more than fulfilling refinements to that gigantic passion, the vampire broke free of the arena she'd painstakingly made, and offered his taunt as a gift. If the Headmaster had any response she would bother to give, it was only this: he wasn't done falling either.

In turn, she raised an arm, closing her hand into a fist but for her raised thumb... and then pointed the thumb down in a firm swipe.

Every remaining piece of the dome split apart on its down, and in the blink of a superhuman eye, amassed into a single, hardened shape. It rose higher than him, and bereft of the ability to manuever mid-air, the vampire was slammed down to the water as by a meteoric club.

[Panda]

Nanako

Gore and stray flesh splattered her face as Costin shattered his hand against her, but the blow was effective. Even as the sound of his bones snapping like dry twigs and his flesh tearing filled her ears, the squirrel girl was too dazed to chase him as he was launched away. She lurched upwards dizzily, but by the time she was on her feet again, he'd done something to make the dome crumble and corrode away. Gritting her teeth, she moved to leap after him, only for the floor to vanish from under her feet. Blinking, she glanced down to see the rubble flying away to reform into a giant mallet above them. In the same moment, the feathery exoskeleton fell away from the squirrel girl's body, flowing into large wings ending in clawed hands resting on her shoulders.

What the- whatever, let's give it a shot.

"You ain't gettin' away that easy," Nanako muttered, ascending with a mighty flap of her new wings, rocketing up into the air to chase him. Too late, she realized she had no idea how to slow her ascent or change direction.

"Shit, how do I-AHHHHHH" she was cut off with a surprised yell as she turned her head to keep track of Costin, only for the unconscious movement to carry through to her wing, sending her spiralling downwards madly, falling just as fast as she'd risen.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

It's not that he could've seen the shadow looking over him, but the sounds and vibrations in the air were more than enough to warn him. Staring up at the giant hammer, Costin could do nothing but sigh with a laissez-faire expression - his smile now edging between satisfaction and worry.

Good grief...
"Dumnezeule mare..."

And then the impact, sending him down the bottom of the lake with judgment and fury. But even so, Costin accepted it with his arms crossed casually, even if his body looked more like a bloody meat-rag. His sunglasses still perfectly placed, he passed the falling beast girl a curious glance before sinking into the depths.

Oh... I didn't even notice... heh, not bad ladies. Not bad.

It was the first time he finished a fight without his earphones, and yet he didn't feel the horrifying itch and the throb of madness. He felt.. content, for the first time in ages. It's as if their voices and blows were an enthralling melody on their own, just thinking about this fight was enough to pacify the beast. All in all, he had but a single thought, free from all regrets.

"What a wonderful world."

Thats why it was such a shame.



Lawrence

"..." With his one arm left, he wiped the cool sweat-like liquid off his brow. So that was it... it was over. With a satisfied sigh, he helped himself off the lady, limping weakly. It was embarassing being held like this, he disliked the idea of being held at all to begin with.

"Thank you, master. And... I'm sorry. If I were more competent, this could have been avoided."

As sinisterly as he always liked to exaggerate his mannerisms, his grief sounded genuine. For the first time, there was some melancholy when his black eyes looked at her golden hue. Maybe it's because he knew. Or maybe he felt it, deep down, that this was all as it was meant to be. He took a small step away from her. That's when it happened. If he'd have staggered at all, it was after the first five swords pierced his abdomen.

"Kuh...wh...what!?" Horrified, Lawrence vomited a spew of mud. That wretched thing was in the depths, its blood couldn't have shot out of it. There wasn't any way for him to suddenly hack him from there. So how?

The ashen corpse fell down weakly. Bleeding. Dying. He didn't see it, couldn't see it - half of his head was cleanly blown off. It was just... the blood squirrelgirl punched out of the vampire's wounds was still littered about. Was that the difference between the mage and the apostle? While she controlled this external pocket world, that vampire's essence was like a world unto itself.

In an instant, a flurry of weapons had already lodged inside Lawrence like gunshots, faster than he could possibly react. Punching deep inside like curses, with no hope to escape.

"G...raghh...!!"

But enough... to perform one last ditch trick. The grail king burst like a sea of black metal and covered him like a dome, pushing the headmistress away. Its why the sudden explosion was deafened by the tought-metal, cracking from the seams until it slowly began dissipating into smoke. Phenex let out a blood curdling scream as flames bled out of its breaking form. Queen Mab let out an agonizing ring as it cracked and turned inside out - then to nothing.

The burning blood exploded inside the dome, destroying every shred of the man. Not even a page of the book he held remained, nor did the ashen corpse leave any ash to mourn. But there was no mistaking that scream, and the finality of it all. The stakes blew up the ashen man to nothing.

Now, there was nothing.


Costin

Arms still crossed, he bled out while his wounds forcefully closed shut. He couldn't move... in the water at least, not that he'd have in the first place. That's maybe why he looked so bored - even though he managed to crack a sadistic grin in the end.

"Mission accomplished."

[YOLF]

Headmaster

She watched her hand stretch towards the summoner too late to matter. "Professor!" She called out, tone pallid from disbelief. But the Headmaster could only stand witness to the sudden sacrifice, with irises as dull as stones, and be left with the sounds dissipating in the air like the echoes of a ghost.

Her weapons made of the city itself floated above the lake forgotten, for as long as that instant stretched.

"Fool... did I read you wrong all along?" She asked the emptiness. Not once, but twice he'd protected an immortal guardian over himself. With a last breath. What of the plans in his head, the hopes in his heart, now that he was gone? Perhaps the schemes she hadn't yet uncovered had brought this along. She looked away through a shivering breath. "Could you just not let go of your dignity?

The instant ended. Something different overlapped the shock and questions, as the Headmaster launched her senses beyond. She could see him, the sinking vampire, and without further delay her commands came into action. The surface of the lake rippled and thundered. Not just the dark depths, but stone, sand and buried stone also enveloped him, entombing the warrior.

"Stay there," she said, giving the waters a withered glance. The squirrel girl could fly herself out. It wasn't her concern right now. The headmaster crouched on the last place Lawrence had stood, and connected her telepathy to colleagues coordinating the evacuation of the area. While she updated herself, a flurry of bricks and steel began to flow back to the street that was stripped bare.

[YOLF]

Headmaster
Clocktower, 700 Feet Below Ground
At a later time

It hadn't been difficult to remove the vampire from the bottom of the lake or to restore the basic shape of the street he'd helped ruin. Acquiring the right measures to keep him safely restrained had merely been a matter of making the right calls and demands. Transfering him to the appropriate location had been more logistically complicated. It was a welcome surprise that he seemed unable to move effectively within water at all, but passing him through a door to his new holding place and placing the bindings without risking his release set a nervous mood upon everyone who had made themselves available to help. The Headmaster had smiled firmly with a severe bent to her eyebrows through the process, betraying no sign of turmoil until it was done.

Which brought them here. This grey and onyx room deep into the foundations of her home, where the vampire sat on a simple chair. His ankles and wrists were weighed down and bound together to the other with thick electronic manacles, red-tinted chains wrapped around his waist to connect to pillars equidistant from the center of the room, and multiple magic circles that limited his movement and vampiric might shone dimly on the glazed tiles of the floor. Entangling and self-devouring knots were engraved along the arches above his head and the variable width of the pillars every few feet, and orbs mounted upon the mid-point of the walls illuminated the chambers.

The two parts of the black iron door slid shut behind the Headmaster, forming once more an undecipherable sigil in relief on its surface. She came in with a steaming cup and a chair, and saw about setting them both down, one on the utilitary table in front of her prisoner, and the other on the floor, unfolded, before she proceeded to sit.

"Now. I don't believe I caught your name," she said. After a moment, she pulled the hood down, revealing the slightly unkept bun and pinned braids of her hair. "What do you say we begin there?"

[Panda]

Nanako

Nanako could not fly herself out, as it turned out. The squirrel girl's abrupt turn being mirrored by her new wings had sent her into an unexpected deathspiral, hurtling down to the ground almost as fast as she'd risen before crashing down with a great plume of dirt and dust. Impact with the ground was short, sharp, sudden, and kicked the air out of Nanako's chest, leaving the squirrel girl breathless and coughing for a moment before she caught her breath, body throbbing for a moment with the crash.

With a quiet groan, Nanako picked herself back up, body throbbing with all the blows Costin had heaped upon her, bruises fading by inches as she stepped out of the dust cloud, breathing hard in the aftermath of the fight. The sight that awaited her, of the headmaster standing there, Costin's blood sprayed everywhere, and the tattooed man nowhere to be seen, told her more than she wanted to know in that moment. Confusion struck the squirrel girl for a moment until she remembered the bloody tree Costin had grown within the dome.

She hadn't known the man all that well, and didn't have anything more to say to the headmaster now, so with one last glare to the lake, the squirrel girl zipped off, trying to find somewhere to clear her head after that fight.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Headmaster
Clocktower, 700 Feet Below Ground
At a later time

It hadn't been difficult to remove the vampire from the bottom of the lake or to restore the basic shape of the street he'd helped ruin. Acquiring the right measures to keep him safely restrained had merely been a matter of making the right calls and demands. Transfering him to the appropriate location had been more logistically complicated. It was a welcome surprise that he seemed unable to move effectively within water at all, but passing him through a door to his new holding place and placing the bindings without risking his release set a nervous mood upon everyone who had made themselves available to help. The Headmaster had smiled firmly with a severe bent to her eyebrows through the process, betraying no sign of turmoil until it was done.

Which brought them here. This grey and onyx room deep into the foundations of her home, where the vampire sat on a simple chair. His ankles and wrists were weighed down and bound together to the other with thick electronic manacles, red-tinted chains wrapped around his waist to connect to pillars equidistant from the center of the room, and multiple magic circles that limited his movement and vampiric might shone dimly on the glazed tiles of the floor. Entangling and self-devouring knots were engraved along the arches above his head and the variable width of the pillars every few feet, and orbs mounted upon the mid-point of the walls illuminated the chambers.

The two parts of the black iron door slid shut behind the Headmaster, forming once more an undecipherable sigil in relief on its surface. She came in with a steaming cup and a chair, and saw about setting them both down, one on the utilitary table in front of her prisoner, and the other on the floor, unfolded, before she proceeded to sit.

"Now. I don't believe I caught your name," she said. After a moment, she pulled the hood down, revealing the slightly unkept bun and pinned braids of her hair. "What do you say we begin there?"

Costin Andrei

"Ah..." His messy hair dripped down the cool floors, the magnificent braided mane of his undone by the prior battle. Wretched. Defeated. But the apostle hardly looked like the loser of that battle. His form and wounds were mended perfectly. Not a single open wound, nor a broken bone to claim his. The only wounds and scars on his body were old, ancient things best left forgotten. But without so much as a rat crawling these dungeons, he amused himself scraping at the floors.

Scraping, scraping, scrape. Like a claw digging inside your skull. The sound reverberated sickly, like a mad pitter-patter. But it wasn't mad or senseless. Even a small ritual like this could hold off the dark impulses swirling in his mind.

Step. Step. Step...

And then the steps. He heard them from so far away, his lips quaked in anticipation. Hatefully, the vampire salivated. Her scent. Her form. The music-like sounds were this close to him - and as if by some sorcery, these sensations dulled the scrapings and the scratchings. As if her presence was more calming than any of that violence. In a way, you could tell he liked her.

Because of that, he took his time. He didn't act so abrupt as to spit out a curse or an injurious phrase. He took the time and care to answer her thoughtfully.

                                                                                Extinction
"Former 14th member of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors. [絶滅] , Costin Andrei." And yet Costin's lips were curled up like the broken glass moon, betraying his good mood. Truth be told, for a guest, he was behaving himself extraordinarily well... at least in the cage. Even if he couldn't move through water, he hardly attempted to flee or resist - and he hardly harmed any of his jailors. Of course, she was no exception. "Ku ku ku... If I did, I would not share with such a rude visitor. Those were your words, nameless mage. And yet you'd ask me something so bold with your lonesome cup in hand, and after chaining me so thoroughly. What am I to make of that?"

[YOLF]

Headmaster

With a slight smile that showed no effect on the rest of her face, the woman rested an arm on the table, and with the other pulled her hot drink closer. "You're under a misunderstanding, Mister Andrei," she said. "You were the guest in my house, and an exceedingly rude one. That you are now a prisoner is the consequence of your own conduct."

The headmaster inhaled deeply of the coffee, permeating her nose with the scent, and took a sip. She let out a steaming sigh of satisfaction and set the mug down once again, leaning forward.

"Apostles of who?" She asked.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Costin

The vampire chortled cooly. "Hah, I'm not complaining, that's that - and this is this. Still, it takes a hundred years for one of our kin to be sealed up, and yet you've managed to do it in a day. That alone is praiseworthy... you're pretty good." He pointed a finger gun at her with a friendly smile. So she isn't a mage from my world. Good, I can keep using this then. "Well, whatever. It doesn't really matter. Apostles... it's a long story, and not particularly interesting at that. Bloodsuckers, parasites, a function of the world... believe whatever you want to believe. After causing all that ruckus, It's none of my business how you live your life."

And with a satisfied sigh, he laid back - relaxing himself like he was in a spa rather than a prison. Then again, compared to the prison he once dwelled in, this was an actual tropical paradise.

"Don't be too sour on the details or the methods. If I didn't go wild once in a while, I wouldn't get to meet all sorts of interesting fellas. We wouldn't be having a nice chat over this fragrant smell, and that would be... inconvenient for the both of us. By the by, is that a mediterranean blend? It smells pretty damn amazing."

[YOLF]

Headmaster

Not from this world. A group of elite vampires. How elite? He could have been saying only what he wished her to believe. Costin was the only issue she faced at this moment, not these hypothetical peers. There were more pressing factors to peel away.

The Headmaster inhaled patiently of the steaming drink. The scent was mellow but robust, and the blend lingered on her tongue from the first sip. She looked up from it with an unfriendly bent to her brows.

"Are you in the habit of killing interesting fellows shortly after meeting them?" She asked. "Doesn't that rather defeat the point?"