PITCH BLACK〔M〕「Hoef & Hannelorian」

[Dire Hoef]

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Briefly enshrouded by a cloud of thick building dust, Hachi casted [Levitate] to hoist himself vertically into the air. A trail of said dust followed him up for several feet before tapering off, and left him floating twenty-or-so feet in the air. He examined his path from this vantage point, and could see the darklings flooding into the museum like water.

And so to clear it, he poured an obscene amount of arkonic energy into his person calling forth several [Fireballs] that shot down like meteorites. Their detonations were equal to that of an artillery shell. They spewed magma and fire as if they were shrapnel in a twenty-foot sphere. Even punching craters into the very foundation of the building. It lit anything that was flammable ablaze, and tore anything that was soft asunder.

He then clapped his hands together, and when he separated them, electricity filled in the space between. After which, he sends several bolts of lightning down upon the masses of those wretched things. [Lightning Bolts] chain through their ranks, and evaporated them instantly.

Thus, with the pathway finally cleared, he began his race to the center of the museum once more, eyeing the larger Citycrawler who began its own assault.

What it did was take a piece of the building and chucked it at Nora while it crawled its way through the halls down into the same area as Hachi.

Hachi, having felt the building heave at the monster's destruction, kept himself up right with [Mage Hands] and had an [Arcane Eye] out behind him as the center came into view.

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[Hannelorian]

The battle was on, the city crawler cast stones in Nora's way but she could only smile as she raised a single hand to stop the massive chunk of the building in mid air, and with a delicate push of her palm she sent it hurling back toward the creature. Nora simply watched as the piece impaled itself near the creature's spine, causing it roar out in pain. Even if that pain was simply an irritation. Unlike Hachi, Nora took her time as she walked toward the creature, confident in Hachi's ability to keep himself alive and in fighting shape. Even something like this would be no match for the two of them.

As Nora moved she noted other creatures beginning to pour their way into the building, or what was left of it. Her fingertips moving deftly, she cast them aside, sending them into or through the remains of the walls as though they were a mere nuisance. No, it was the large Citycrawler that she was after. The corners of her mouth upturned into a smile as she pressed forward. They were in a sort of pincer formation. Hachi coming dead on to the dead, Nora from behind. The sounds of Hachi's powerful magic unleashing were music to Nora's ears. He was like the conductor of a symphony, and the fact that he was the singular source of power made Nora even more in awe of him.

Raising both of her hands, Nora closed her eyes and unleashed her own power, a burst of telekinetic energy sprang forth and with all of her energy, she grabbed ahold of the crawler and arrested it's momentum, holding it in place. It was her own mental fortitude which enabled this, and she ignored the pain that rang through her head like a bullet as she exerted more power than she had ever done before.

"Give it everything you have, Hachi. Nora's wishes directly downloaded into Hachi's mind, as she struggled against the creature. She could feel it's massive body attempting to move, to wriggle and writhe and break free but she did not let it go. She held on tight, close for as long as she possibly could.

[Dire Hoef]

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With the piece firmly lodge into its being, the Citycrawler ignored the mage and turned its attention to the psychic. And as a result, proceeded to charge her without a second thought. It cleared the distance in a matter of seconds, its cry rallying the smaller nuisances to assault her position. But with it grappled psionically, the creature was unable to connect its attack.

This, and Nora's encouragement, was enough to propel the man forward expeditiously.

He came to flying stop just inches from the museum center. He looked around and used his mage hands to pull as many objects towards him as possible. He used all the rubble he could to arrange a magik circle that encompassed the entirety of the space. All the while, he beamed anything that got close with [Magic Missile].

Eventually, when the debris was finally organized, he immediately discharged an immense amount of magik. This came in the from of a sudden shockwave that swept through the area. After which, a torrent of wind flowed out in all directions. The unyielding wind blew anything that wasn't nailed down. But it did not end here.

Hachi brought his right hand up to his face, palm facing out.

"Nora. Brace." The thought stung her like a blade, cold and merciless.

Only two words were uttered in these next few moments. Their utterance shook the air, and vibrated it with intensity. They lit his eyes up like searchlights, and splashed his entire body in cascading light. All that stood was a form of pure light.

"Killing Flares"

The entire region from the inner city to the farthest fields, was awash with light. Anything that wasn't directly exposed to the four, massive, orbs casted shadows over everything. Where the infinite darkness had plunged the world into an eternal night, [Killing Flares] lifted the region back into the daylight.

As for the smaller creatures, who were on the verge of collapsing upon Hachi, they were reduced to nothing. The Citycrawler, who had sought fit to force Nora to her brink, aslo turned to ash the second the light touched it. For the first time, but the last time, the day had returned for that brief moment and it was a death knell for the darkness. And what remained, after the blazing light subsided, was an empty city filled with silence. Not a voice nor cry were heard.

Hachi, exhausted and bruised, collapsed onto a small wall; resting his back up against it. He took a breath and glanced around, before looking up at the dissipating lights. He then stared directly at some gargantuan being that was standing far outside the periphery of the city. He said nothing, and took this small amount of downtime to relax.

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[Hannelorian]

Every last bit of her energy was focused on stilling the citycrawling giant. Nora didn't even flinch when it had charged at her before she managed to halt it. AS the smaller creatures approach, Nora was forced to push herself even further, deflecting them away, each time she did so sending waves of pain throughout her head. The citycrawler was determined to move, to escape from her hold, she could feel it wiggle and writhe but she gave it no quarter. The sounds of the magick missiles detonating were a sort of symphony, a kind of music to Nora's ears, it meant Hachi was hard at work. But even she could not fathom what would come next.

A mighty gust of wind threatened to break Nora's hold, but the Nora and the Citycrawler were connected, and the two remained firmly where they stood, Nora not daring to let go, not even for a second as Hachi completed the preparation for his spell. And then the simple command for her to brace. The sting in her head almost too much to bare. But what followed was one of the most magnificent sights Nora had ever seen. A bright and pure light illuminated everything around them. The world was bright as day, as though the light of the sun and the heavens had pierced through the darkness for a single brief moment.

And in that brilliant flash of light Nora felt the immediate release of her hold as the monolithic creature was reduced to naught by ash. Nora let out an immediate gasp of relief as she remained standing for a moment further, until the light had passed and only then did she finally collapse to the floor. This was a kind of power that had never been seen before. The kind of power that Nora and her colleagues once thought was entirely impossible, no single human could have such potential, advancement had to made through material research and technology. Nora had indeed been very wrong. There was an incredibly admiration for Hachi, he had saved her life once again.

Yet there was also a sense of frustration, that Nora should have been able to do more to help, to have pushed herself beyond what she had accomplished. Perhaps she was still tired, spent from the mental battle with Nemesis. No matter what, Nora would strive to do better. Slowly but surely Nora pulled her body up into a seated position, her eyes glancing around the remains of the room. Hachi was just on the other side, leaning against a wall for support.

We did it. Nora's words were soft in Hachi's head, delicate and warm. She wondered if she had the strength left to pull herself over to him. You did it. That was extraordinary. A small smile crept upon her face as she struggled against her own body to be able to stand until she forced herself to do it, and then slowly she trudged her way across the room, her back hitting the wall, she slid down it to sit beside him.