Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

"The moment I got close enough to inspect the mace resting upon the altar, Bal sprung his trap, and I found myself imprisoned within a cage of spikes. It was admittedly one of the few times in my life that I've ever felt so helpless..." Viserys says, taking a deep breath. "After gloating about how foolish I was to think that he'd 'reward' me so easily, Bal spoke of his rival, the Daedric Prince Boethiah, and how she'd tasked one of her priests with desecrating his altar."

"I told him in no uncertain terms that I would not help him exact his petty revenge, fully expecting him to strike me down then and there. Instead, Bal released me from the cage before mentioning that Boethiah's priest had been captured. Once I was free, I ran straight out of that accursed place and never looked back."

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Nov 18th 2019 at 12:34:54 PM

"Good on you," Tanjiro replies. "I had sprung that trap by mistake when I first investigated this place and had to cut myself out. I suppose the lack of any voice speaking to me in that time confirms it: Molag Bal isn't here."

The 'song' of the Old Everwyrm echoes out, audible even in the Abandoned House.

Tanjiro shudders a little as he hears it. "That haunting cry again..."

Edited by KiriK on Nov 18th 2019 at 2:38:08 PM

"Thank the Divines... the last thing this place needs is the likes of Molag Bal or Boethiah running amok and wreaking havoc."

Viserys' ears then perk up at the sound of the Old Everwyrm's 'song'.

"You've... heard that sound before?"

Tanjiro nods. "Indeed. After the first time I heard it, I asked Reyna-san about it. Supposedly, it's the cries of an Elder Dragon called the Old Everwyrm. Nobody actually knows what it is, but as it begins to rise from a dormant state, it causes all sorts of problems in other monsters. It was believed to be the ice-wielding Velkhana, but Reyna-san and some other fighters slew Velkhana and the sounds didn't stop. I would investigate it, but... demons, Nezuko and I can handle. Dragons, I would need a lot more help."

He looks aside forlornly.

Viserys places a hand upon Tanjiro's shoulder.

"Then perhaps... Awkeff and I could help you investigate this beast, if you'll have us."

The young demon slayer's expression brightens. "You would? That's terrific! Thank you very much."

Viserys cracks a slight smile as he tousles Tanjiro's hair.

"Heh, think nothing of it, Tanjiro. And... thank you for listening to my story just now."

Tanjiro answers with a good-natured smile. "You're welcome."

His own slight smile now a full-on grin, Viserys rises from the table before offering Tanjiro a hand up.

"Well, we should probably return home and let Awkeff know about this Old Everwyrm before we begin our investigation. If Reyna hasn't already informed her, that is."

Tanjiro takes the hand as he rises. "Understood!"

Some time later...

Fort Dawnguard

Hunter!Reyna's set up her makeshift war room again. The difference is, this time the Dragonborn and Tanjiro are here.

"Alright, everyone!" Reyna announces. "There have been two unexpected Elder Dragon attacks since the defeat of Velkhana. This is a sign that things are getting worse, but! I have a lead." She points to a map of Solstheim.

"Far south of Solstheim is an island. Given that this island is not marked anywhere on any maps, I do not believe it was a part of the original environment the Arena is seeking to replicate. Furthermore, this island is devoid of life and undergoes frequent seismic activity."

Reyna now turns directly to Viserys. "Sound familiar?"

So why don't we just roll out together and kill this thing? asks Gangrel. It's always two or three of us to take on some gigantic nightmare of an animal.

Fort Dawnguard

Viserys nods to Reyna in response.

"It's like the clash with Xeno'jiiva all over again."

Reyna does finger-guns at Viserys. "Bingo! So!" She paces about like a military commander.

"Lucina and Samsara. Your weapons are specially attuned for the slaying of dragons. Viserys, Awkeff, the two of you are just... really damn powerful. The five of us will go to the island and investigate."

"I... I want to help, too."

"Sorry, Tanjiro. Smaller numbers attract less danger. Also, Gangrel, you're useless for anything that isn't fighting. If we need backup, I'll shoot a flare into the sky."

"I understand."

Awkeff simply says, "Time is of the essence, right? Then let's move."

insert transitional music here

Origin Isle, After Some Investigation

The Dark Spell

"There's one place left to go." Reyna gestures to a path edged by strange, spiky rock formations, followed by a sheer drop down to a conspicuously fighting-arena-shaped landmass.

As she leads the way to the edge of the path, something climbs its way up onto the battleground below from... further below. Something big, black, winged, and very spiky.◊

"... That is not the Old Everwyrm. That's a Nergigante. However, Nergigante prey upon other Elder Dragons, so if one is here, there's definitely something worth its attention also here."

Edited by KiriK on Jul 16th 2021 at 11:35:39 AM

... hmmm, it does look gnarly but manageable.

Lucina simply steel herself.

Edited by Bolded1 on Nov 18th 2019 at 10:55:18 AM

"I can only assume that its presence here means we're on the right path," Viserys comments, waiting to see if the Old Everwyrm would reveal itself soon.

Lake of Souls - Hell

Through the darkness that now plagued the dimension with Krampus's defeat, an ethereal blue light shone from within the lake. With no one left to control the blank dimension, the souls of millions of the dead begin to rise into the air. But 4 stand out.

Origin Isle, Cliffside Battleground

A spartan bursts onto the scene, carrying his Gauss cannon on his back. Enter Joshua, Spartan B-203.

Origin Isle - To the Guided, a Paean

Ruiner Nergigante sees the hapless armored supersoldier who dared stumble into its line of sight and unleashes a deep, bellowing roar, unlike the rather medium-high pitched cries of previous Elder Dragons. It promptly leaps directly at Joshua-B203 with a downward slam of its forelimb.

World's End - Arch Tempered Nergigante

Reyna watches, appalled, from above. "... Guess we're never allowed to just wait and watch, are we?" she mutters before performing a Jump, landing glaive-end-first down on the Cliffside Battleground.

"Not in a million years." Awkeff draws Tenebrae before sprinting to the edge of the cliff and jumping off with a falling slash, hoping to land a sneak attack before Ruiner Nergigante sees her.

Edited by KiriK on Jul 16th 2021 at 11:36:04 AM

Lucina and Samsara go in as well, with Lucina attempts to open it with a sneaky Shield Breaker, and Samsara luckily activates a crit!

"Shor's bones..."

After taking a moment to summon Arvak, Viserys climbs onto the undead horse's back and draws the Infinity Blade. His skeletal steed rears up on his hind legs, whinnies at the sky, and leaps into the Battleground before charging towards the Nergigante, whereupon the Nord rider slashes at the beast with his fiery blade.

The spartan rolled out of the way, barely managing to get out of the way from the beast's forearm. Joshua was a tank more than anything, he certainly wasn't as fast as some of his cohorts. He pulled the Gauss cannon from his back, blasting once at the beast's throat.

"Eat this fat ass!"

Ruiner Nergigante is battered by the attacks from front, back, sides, and above. One would almost feel sorry for it, if it weren't a hyper-aggressive asshole and also easily capable of tanking the punishment.

It pulls forward and swipes a claw at Viserys, then quickly whips around, lashing its tail at the Shepherds and Reyna.

Reyna gets swatted like a mosquito.

Awkeff backs away. She takes a deep breath, then unleashes a good ol' "Fus... Ro Dah!"

If it's really a big threat, she figures, it won't have any problem standing its ground against Unrelenting Force.

The Spartan cursed under his breath, this wouldn't be good. He rose his cannon once more, aiming at the dragon but having not fired quite yet. He planted his feet and started to charge a stronger shot, the barrel glowing with a bright blue light.

"Dot, I need a scan."

With that, his hud lit up. His artificial companion attempted a scan for any particular weak points on the drake.

"On it."

Both women are swift enough to dodge, and attack with their weapons once more.

Thinking quickly, Viserys brings out Spellbreaker in time to shield himself from the Nergigante's claw, though the blow damn near knocks him right off his horse. After maintaining his balance, he unleashes Wyvernrend at the beast with a Shout of "Ro... Sil Lein!" before gesturing for Awkeff to hop onto Arvak's back with him.

Unrelenting Force and Wyvernrend have the same result: making Ruiner Nergigante flinch.

Wyvernrend also slows the growth of the spikes all over its body, but since those spikes have yet to make themselves known as a threat, the significance of this might not be apparent.

Anyway, due to the flinching Shouts, Ruiner Nergi is kept in place long enough for Joshua's AI to analyze it. It looks something like this.◊

Awkeff jumps aboard Arvak. "There's something I've been meaning to try if I get the chance," she mentions.

Reyna recovers and unsheathes her weapon of choice for this battle: the Dante's Devil Sword charge blade. Starting off in sword-and-shield form, she attempts to simply slice-and-dice at Ruiner Nergi with a series of basic slashes.

Edited by KiriK on Nov 18th 2019 at 4:55:57 AM