Tides Of Protomis CXXXV

Force Of Gravity

In the Northeastern corner of the continent of Ixis, there sat a grand dome, constructed of the same Ivory stone, known to the demons as Odryx. Housed within the dome, were buildings residential, and agricultural alike. With these buildings neatly mixed, and organized into different districts to improve efficiency. Such was the way of the General who had this place constructed, Zeta. The aforementioned demon sat in the inner sanctum of the dome, a spartan building decorated by plants, not exactly the choice of the demon who built it, but a change he cared not about. As he commonly would, he stayed alone in his darkened chambers. Enjoying the peace and quiet this isolation brought. Such also allowed him to go through his thoughts.

The only one he could consider anywhere near trustworthy among his “Comrades” was deceased, the replacement generals brought in only proved to further the rift between them all. General Deltus had never bothered to make his dislike of them clear, but by this point, they hadn’t even been hearing status reports from his domain, and his own messengers were turned away at the door… And Xi was another matter entirely.

“Can this situation be rectified? That is a question I have no answer to…”

Before the general had much time to continue his pondering, his door slammed open, and in ran, a body forged of stone, shaped into a chiseled masculine form.

“I apologize for the interruption, Lord Zeta, But we've received word that Zylsis is under attack!” This made the demon’s gaze shoot over to him, eyes widened.

“What, They’ve reached the capital?!” Then it seems those replacements had failed… Some part of him was glad they were likely out of the way permanently, but this development brought with it other issues. Zeta rushed past the demon, and rushed out of the sanctum, shouting outward.

“All capable, Come with me, we move to defend the Capitol!” Something which stopped the activities in the area. Defend the Capital? Had those humans somehow gotten that far? How was that possible? Among those who were not directly involved in Malegan’s forces, questioning chatters began. But those who were only went to follow Zeta as he shot off into the sky, through one of the many holes built to allow the light from the sky above to leak in.

In the southwest. Where a more relatively humid plain, one with sparse trees and tall grasses, something reminiscent of a savanna on earth, buildings of packed earth and stone formed a village, which itself, had taken on a circular shape. This itself, being the site of General Xi’s keep. Though the normally jovial mood in the tavern, where the Vashyr sat, with his head down, had seemingly disappeared, such wasn’t a surprise with the death of the demon’s mate. Which was still fresh in his head. The final wish she’d stated to him, the very last time he’d seen her…

His reminiscence wouldn’t be allowed to continue for long, however, making his way into the now empty tavern, was one of Xi’s closest advisors, Though even he tried to avoid getting close to the man in the state he was in, this wasn’t exactly something he could ignore. Perhaps, this news could even be what motivated his General to get up, and battle. A chance to strike back at the humans, he doubted that he wouldn’t take that.

“General… Zylsis is under the threat of human Incursion.” Something which made him stop bowing his head, gaze shooting toward the advisor.

“They’ve made it to Zysis?!” The chair he was formerly sitting in was thrown onto the ground as he got up. If he could smile, he certainly could. Something noted with the intensity of his demonic energy. His presence almost seemed to be reborn…

Zylsis

It hadn’t been long since the tides and their allies made their way into the city of Zylsis. By now, the battle had progressed enough that the demonic legions had made it over the first wall, and were beginning to press into the city. But whether they would be able to hold that position, let alone advance further into the city was put into question. ambushes, and attacks from the higher floors of the buildings, even from tunnels underneath the city’s streets. It seemed the one who designed Zylsis was not completely unprepared for a future invasion. Multiple hardpoints across the city blocked their advance, and facilitated troop movements. A squad of demons themselves, however, had managed to snake their way around the defenses, and attempted to find the right place, the right time to attack from. Certainly a departure from the battle tactics they would have used at the start of this campaign.

They were a seasoned fighting force now, that was for sure. The Terran 7, along with Hyperion, floated in the skies above Zylsis, observing the battle taking place.

“Should we intervene?” Jirou questioned, causing Hyperion to shake his head.

“No… You all won’t be here forever, it's best that they get to know the ins and outs of this type of combat now. We don’t know what’s on the other continents…” That was a fact. Among them, however, Junko had a wide-eyed expression on her face. Her eyes focused onto the keep that housed the demonic emperor himself. His presence alone was… Oppressing, to say the least. To the level of Ardam, perhaps not, but that wasn't saying much, especially with what they needed to kill that one.

“So THIS is Maleggan? His demonic energy dwarfs anyone we’ve seen before. But I guess nobody becomes a lord in Demon Realm without power.” Hyperion’s eyes focused upon the keep as well, as a question began to come to his head. The being could very clearly sense them all, so why was he in his castle doing nothing? While the idea of beginning an attack preemptively did come to his head, the Vashyr was not able to begin carrying this plan out. As his gaze shot to the left, right, behind, and in front of them respectively, rapidly approaching sources of demonic energy became clear. Something not unique to them. As the various troops on the ground seemed to have their combat slow, even if a bit. Stolas temporarily stopped tearing through the enemy, as his gaze moved to the sky.

“Looks like the Generals have made it here… Seems they found out quickly.” A wave of air pressure burst between the circle of fighters, splitting them up within moments. And the source arrived quickly as well, Zeta was on a crash course for Alarick clearly intending to slam a foot into his gut. But the demon didn't get far before he was launched away, courtesy of Liang’s Azure dragon. In a short time, ready to punish the failed attack, came Hyperion, his blade raised above his head, and ready to cleave the general in half. But hjs strike hit air, as zeta moved out of the way. And he himself was thrown back, by a shoulder charge, by General Deltus.

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“A late report… We should’ve been informed of this invasion much earlier… What were those fools in the garrison doing to allow a force like this to get anywhere near close?!”

“That will be the least of your concern!” Coming down upon him from above, was Arctaius Corde, who slammed a fist into his toros, one which shook the general’s large frame, but ultimately, left him mostly undamaged. He would return the favor soon after. As he clasped his two hands together, and fired outa pressurized stream of blood, one which Arctaius just managed to duck under, before diving into his range once more, and firing off stream of attacks, one which the general returned with fists of his own. This continued until another came to join him in his battle against Deltus, Gilga, who slammed the blunt end of Enkidu into the demon, knocking him off balance enough for a strike from Arctaius to land true. Coming to join them as well, was Miyamoto, who forged a javelin of energy in her hand, and leaped down upon him from above. But she did not make it far before another came to halt her advance. An explosion of pressure, courtesy of Zeta, forced her away. Though she ultimately stopped herself, it was something she felt for sure. And it seemed another was coming to take advantage of her somewhat distracted state.

“You will not reach victory, Severance Storm!”

Miyamoto’s eyes shot over to the source of the words, Xi. It was then that she saw a mass of energy forged blades, much like her own, appearing in the hundreds, and descending upon her. And she knew she had to act quickly, weaving through the sky, spinning and thrusting her javelin, knocking away any blades she could before they could do any real damage. And it seemed that she wouldn't have to do this alone, as a red-cloaked planetoid flew toward Xi, slamming into him like a train, and carrying him away…

“What the hell?!” As confusion brewed within his mind, the source of the technique, Kazimir, floated to Miyamoto’s side, and the two looked at eachother. The nod being all the communication they needed as they shot off to follow him. Zeta prepared to break the two up, readying a charge for that very purpose, but the rapidly changing battlefield stopped him, As the white haired yakuza, Jirou, came down upon him with a reeled-back fist. Which flew forward into the General’s cheeks, sending him crashing into the ground below, and demolishing everything, and everyone, unlucky enough to be in the vicinity. And a sense of pride bubbled within him, as he remembered this same general’s words at the end of their battle in Southern Shima, where that scar was left upon Honshu. A smirk rose as he looked down upon him.

“How’s that for a Weakling?” But his celebration did not last long, as a rapid rush of air from his left notified him to something quickly approaching. The only warning he got. As the blindingly fast- barely perceptible object slammed into him, and nearly felt as if it demolished his body… Cracks and Squelches filled his eardrums, as his thoughts came to a quick halt. And before he knew it, the city of Zylsis, its walls, and his allies, rapidly turned smaller, and smaller, and the landscape around him had changed…. By the time he was finally able to come to a stop, he was in a grass covered valley. But he was not alone, it seemed. In front of him, a demon came to a stop in front of him. A stark white quadruped. Which almost seemed like a… Strange, non-mammalian horse.

“I’ve studied what we learned about you humans beforehand… And I am more than aware of your strength, Hashimoto Jirou…. I will be your opponent.”

Across the City of Zylsis, it seemed as if this process was beginning to happen all across. What was at first, a chaotic fray, had begun to turn into separate battles, as each side began to divy up their enemies. As Deltus was launched away by Arctaius, Alarick flew to follow him, giving his ally a nod as he passed by. And quickly following him, was Hyperion, who gave the man an acknowledging nod as well. While Zeta found himself pursued by Zhao and Gilga. And Xi, the Junko-Kazimir Duo.

Part B

The one he was dealing with was by no means a weakling, as Jirou looked down upon his body, and began to feel for any breaks, or punctures, he tsked.

“That amount of damage from just one hit? I need to think of something quick…” This thought began to trail off, as he began thinking of just that. But before there was much time to think about this new plan, he found that the demon had slammed into him once more. Knocking him into the ground. The earth gave way under him, sending rocks careening into the air, and nearly sending him underneath. But a cushion of gravitons stopped this just in time… A rapidly expanding bubble of gravity caused the already destroyed ground to once more be torn asunder, while the Yakuza himself lifted himself up, and began to shoot off into the sky, decidedly hiding himself among the rubble.

But Epsilon’s watchful eyes took note of this, and he hurled himself forth once more, very violently ousting the Yakuza from his hiding spot, imprinting his head into his torso, and making freckles of his opponent’s blood appear upon it, as well as his chin. But Jirou was quick to try to take advantage of this opportunity given. Grabbing hold of the spines upon the creature’s head, and spinning like a wheel, revolving faster, and faster, until he flung the demon into the ground. The creature looked on in surprise, this hadn’t exactly been a tactic used on him before. But a strategy was already coming to his head, just before he slammed into the ground, a quick tap of his feet launched him back into the sky, rebounding toward his opponent, nearly slamming into him once more. But the attempted resurge didn’t go as planned, as the Yakuza threw his arms out, and shouted out.

“G-Press, Formula 70!”

The general was slammed into the ground once more… And it seemed as if this time, he couldn’t get airbourne nearly as readily. Something which he wasn’t exactly happy with… It was quite clear that he could end this quickly, but if his opponent knew this as well, then he would try to delay him. Being slowed down was never something he enjoyed, less so on the battlefield… But that simply meant he would need to push harder. The red luminance, the demonic energy which was his implement, cloaked his body, as he began to bend the legs holding his body up, before shooting off into the sky, breaking through which once held him in place.

Something that Jirou noted almost immediately, and he began his attempts to flash out of the way, But it did not take long for the distance between them to be closed, and for the Yakuza to be striked once more. But the general did not make the same mistake, instead, drawing himself back, and flying upward. The missing presence was noted immediately, and Jirou’s gaze began to shift rapidly, searching for it. But before he could do so, his body was struck from below, causing his body to lean backward midair. Before he knew it, a Squelch and a crack sounded once more, as his body was flipped the opposite way, now, looking to the ground, courtesy of a strike from above. All the while, the source of the attack rotated his body, and prepared to strike once more.

“It will take more than that to stop me, Human… Squall Barrage!” The glow around the demon intensified, as epsilon began bounding around, repeatedly striking the human time and time again, and moving past very soon returning for another one. A pattern which began to take its toll, Though he could tolerate pain well, Jirou knew this well. As his bones shattered, and blood flowed like a river, perhaps he would have to use that earlier than he expected.

“I don’t like giving my enemies a read on what I'm capable of this easily, but in this case, it seems I don’t have a choice!”

“Sanctuary!” A rapidly spinning sphere of gravitons began to grow to surround the proto-human, one which was enough to stop the demon in his tracks, and make his attempted attack go wide. Something which placed surprise onto his features.

“What?!”

His gaze flew back to the human as he halted his charge… Things didn’t look different, visibly, at least… But there was now a question left unanswered, what just happened? Simply floating there wasn’t going to help. He charged in once more, but found his path barred by rapidly approaching chunks of stone. Apparently created to bar his path…. Did he truly think these were going to work on him? More of his demonic energy flowed through him, causing more of an ignition, so to speak, as he shot forward once more, Demolishing the attempted defense with practiced ease, and coming to a crash course with his opponent. Each stared the other in the eye, silently daring the other to make their move. As the distance was closed, a rushing wave of gravitons threw the demon off of his previous course.

“This will be simple enough to rectify. I’ll just need to learn how he’s diverting me, and get a-” His thoughts were interrupted, as a gravity enhanced fist slammed into the top of his head, a strike he certainly felt. As the general barreled toward the ground, he got one last glimpse at his opponent, who watched as he did so… The battle had truly begun in earnest.

TO BE CONTINUED

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