King of the Monsters
A counterattack?!
Luxord is blown back by the counter.
"Very well, then." He creates a giant card and sends it toppling down onto the human.
"He's gearing up for war."
The human gets hit, but still seems to be doing fine.
The dice roll!
Luxord gets 98.
The human gets 62.
"A total of -36 in difference. The magic won't work this turn."
The human then charges for Luxord and attempts to just land a punch. If the attack misses, Luxord will not receive any damage this turn.
If the punch does connect, the punch will deal 18 in damage to Luxord.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 20th 2021 at 11:28:16 AM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
Spooky Scary Boneheaded Man
Blackreach
Resonance of Seething Corruption
Warframe Soundtrack, "Old Gods" - Keith Powers
Mortalkind shall never learn, will it? I am not meant a thing meant to be perceived by your limited eyes.
Lambert's vision would return a suggestion of a wormlike form, albeit massive, vile, and wrong in ways beyond the obvious ones. This vague suggestion of a thing burned itself into the back of his vision, like his mind was refusing to process the true scope of being before him. In fact, it almost seemed like there was a hole where this being's physical form was, filled with stars and glowing, soul-piercing eyes. It hurt to gaze upon, but, perhaps, if Lambert was the sort with the mental fortitude for it, then he would be able to continue doing so — albeit, with great discomfort.
I am older than songs, older than sight — younger than stone, younger than night. I am not of the realms of flesh and matter, but the dark and the cold where the stars have scattered. I am the strife drinker, the pale speaker, the dread lurker, the strength seeker.
The being's voice became centralized, emanating from physical space, as it spoke. The annelid-esque thing's massive, betentacled, mandible-bearing face warped through the rocks, coiling back in the ceiling against in a grand loop. This continued for several cycles, as this... alarmingly-large eldritch nightmare-worm anchored itself between the rocky earth and the stony sky.
"You wish to know my name? I... am... Wormwood."
Wormwood's many eyes gazed out over Blackreach, each pupilless red orb seemingly gazing in a different direction, peering at a different individual. Some seemingly stared at nothing at all...
I SEE YOU
Edited by OmegaShadowcry on Mar 20th 2021 at 6:33:18 AM
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalous
King of the Monsters
Luxord calmly dodges the punch.
He uses another trick card, this one conjuring forth Lexaeus' BFS, the tomahawk Skysplitter,
◊ and does a big sweep with it at the human.
Divine Burden
Lady Maria slowly blinks as she receives Wormwood's speech, offering no reaction at all, though she gripes her weapon and steadies herself slowly, as if anticipating a fight. After a long wait, she decides to raise her head.
..... And I.... She speaks, with a thin accent. There's certainly elegance to her words, and she doesn't sound harsh, but nonetheless the edge in her voice indicate that she'll do something soon.
Hunt you. She pull out her firearm, and fire a Quicksilver Bullet at one of the eyes.
Fallout 2? More like Fallout 2 bad.
As Luxord's attack connects, the dice roll!
Luxord gets a 74.
The human gets a 75.
"... well, that is not even worth reflecting at this point.", the being says, making the human (currently being flung to the side from the sweeping slash) dissipate after being struck.
"You won, so you will only lose one tick."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
Zamba
Blackreach
Gregoria and her teammates feels how the piercing looks of the Wormwood's eyes stay over them.
Well, Wormwood, that doesn't answer our question: are you our ally or our foe?
In this moment, they saw how the bullet of Lady MarÃa pierces one of the eyes of the worm. The Insect Ladies prepares for fighting... Altough them doesn't want to fight it.
Edited by BombonBombin on Mar 20th 2021 at 4:49:38 AM
Rumors about my death were greatly exaggerated... Yet.
King of the Monsters
"Cheeky."
Luxord's Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
"This next one is a remix of my first challenge. Your time gauge will not tick down - instead, you will have to focus more on defense or evasion than speed."
Luxord disappears into the cards again, only this time instead of decreasing in number, they increase, becoming four concentric rings. Each time the dark being finds Luxord's card, one ring is dispelled... and the cards from that ring proceed to barrage him.
"He's gearing up for war."
[PASIO]
"Ya sound like a rotten ol' Judgement if a've ever heard one. S'lotta nothin' meanin'."
He shivers involuntarily - while intellectually, he isn't particularly perturbed, his instincts as a mortal man betray him.
"Ya some dang Fluke parasite? Din't know them could get sick."
/＼｡｡/＼
"Hm..."
The being seems to be distracted again before picking a card.
???'s Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
King of the Monsters
It's not the Luxord card. That ring does not disappear, but the card that the dark being took turns into a portal and a barrage of projectile cards fly out, then that card is removed from the ring.
The Luxord cards have the same visual cue as last time...
"He's gearing up for war."
"!!!"
The being suddenly flips the golden coin Luxord had to give him in a previous challenge.
"Heads."
Time freezes for a moment as the coin is in the air, starting back up again when the coin lands. It lands on heads, and the being is suddenly surrounded by a protective aura.
The projectiles hit the aura, which fully blocks them, protecting the being from any harm (and his gauge from losing any ticks).
"I should take my observing more seriously.", he mutters. He looks around again, now much more carefully, then picks another card.
???'s Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 20th 2021 at 12:05:10 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
King of the Monsters
Luxord is found, dispelling that card, but the other cards fly at the dark being while Luxord jumps into one of the cards of the next ring.
Rings left: 3
Edited by KiriK on Mar 20th 2021 at 6:04:13 AM
"He's gearing up for war."
The being, once more, slides around, seemingly without actually moving his feet. ... does he even have feet?
Two cards manage to hit him on their way.
The being focuses even more now, choosing another card from Luxord's ring of cards.
???'s Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
"Wormwood..." the girl repeats, seemingly mulling over the name. An unpleasant name, reeking of filth. Simply speaking it leaves a foul taste of corruption on her tongue. "You have told us many things, yet your purpose remains unclear. Why have you come here, you whose very existence is an insult to the laws of time and space?" Her hand moves to the bow on her back, but she does not make a move yet.
King of the Monsters
Another ring down, another wave of cards.
Luxord's voice echoes out from within the next ring. "Live dangerously..."
But that also gives away which card he's in immediately.
Rings left: 2
Edited by KiriK on Mar 20th 2021 at 6:11:49 AM
"He's gearing up for war."
His dodging seems to improve, as this time only a single card gets him.
Then, hearing Luxord's voice, he chooses the card it came from.
???'s Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
King of the Monsters
More cards. Only one ring is left now. If the dark being gets this one first try, no cards will attack him.
"He's gearing up for war."
"... wait.", the being mutters as the cards come in, just realizing something. He then leaps up high into the air, avoiding the whole barrage, then landing.
After a brief pause, he actually facepalms due to not thinking of just doing this earlier.
With a soft groan at his own shortsightedness, he chooses his card.
???'s Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
King of the Monsters
Luxord's challenge is finally over. That took a while... out-of-universe, at least.
"I hope I didn't bore you with the repetition."
"He's gearing up for war."
"I rarely bore during a game.", the being says.
"Now, onto the next challenge."
He glows a bit, then projects a screen of a cardgame.
"This is a now no-longer played cardgame called Joustus. The main objective of the game is to claim more gems than your opponent, by finding ways to push cards to gems. To start the game you have to pick a card from your selected deck. Each card has one or more arrows pointing in a certain direction; the arrows indicate where you can push another card towards. The game has two end conditions. The game will end if no more valid moves can be made, or if all the open squares are full."
The being chuckles.
"The rules are simple. You can't put a card on a gem, you have to push one to the gem. You can't place a card on graveyard squares, but you can push one there. And you can't push a card against a card with an opposing arrow more or equal to the card you're pushing with. Did you get all that? Once you do, I will tell you what your specific challenge will be."
Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 20th 2021 at 12:42:54 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
King of the Monsters
"I see... I am ready."
"He's gearing up for war."
"Excellent."
He gestures to the image.
"The cards on the board and in the faux-golden knight's hand are set in such a way that it is possible to win this particular set with a single move. You have to tell me which move the knight has to make to do so. Telling me a wrong move will result in you losing an extra tick this turn. However, no matter how long you need to think things through, for this challenge itself you will only lose one tick. So if you get it right from the first try, one tick is all you'll lose."
He stops gesturing.
"Commence."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
King of the Monsters
Luxord thinks. He thinks, and he thinks, and he thinks.
He tries the zombie card - no, wrong, that doesn't work here. He considers the beetle card, but it can't do anything, so he leaves it alone.
Brute-force approach it is. He tries three different combinations with the dragon card until he gets the one that works, pushing the horse knight upwards so as to block the movement of all other cards on the board - any new one being placed would be unable to push any others. Since he already has one gem, and the opponent can't get any more gems, he wins.
Luxord's Time Gauge: ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚
"I am ashamed of myself for resorting to such tactics..."
Edited by KiriK on Mar 20th 2021 at 7:04:41 AM
"He's gearing up for war."
The cards strike the human and the being throws the dice.
The dice roll!
Luxord gets a 53.
The human gets a 59.
"A total of 12 in difference.", he notes, despite the difference only being 6. But the meaning of this may become more clear the moment after.
The human suddenly glows, and a medium-sized burst of magic is fired back at Luxord with insane speed.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.