The Fate of Reim

The elite force from Zou and the prisoners they had gathered had planned on teleporting inside of Reim's imperial palace, however the intervention of a young Zouen wolf-girl had caused several deviations from this plan. The wound inflicted upon the magic transfer circle creature had caused it to send various groups of this invasion force all around the city.



As the man shouted his commands, the other soldiers that had arrived here would begin dropping piles of weapons off of their flying carpets. Swords, spears, hammers, and other weapons of war were given out to the prisoners. Each one was of C-tier quality and would not be taken from the prisoners after the fighting was done.

The elite soldiers landed their carpets around the prisoners and began engaging the Reim offensive line to give the men time to arm themselves before returning to the air and taking on a more supporting role in combat. The Zou troops would allow the prisoners and mercenaries to meet Reim's soldiers head on while reserving their strength for the palace by only entering the fray where it seemed like their side was struggling. A few carpets full of elite men in their dark armor would swoop down and turn the tide in that area before retreating back to safety.




The Bastard prince Zhi and a few others would find themselves in the center of a large domed room with stairs leading upwards and out of the chamber. The platform everyone would be standing on was floating in a pool of water and would still be shining brightly left over from the transfer magic long enough for everyone to notice before fading away into black grooves carved into the floor. These grooves extend outwards through the large room and to the rest of the compound forming a large magic circle.

"Good evening, Prince Zhi. I see that this insurance policy I prepared was put to good use..."


There, seated in a chair with a warm cup of tea in hand would be a man known to some as "The Contractor" waiting for the group to arrive. Zhi would look around and then glare at the top-hat wearing madman before demanding an explanation, "You told me the magic transfer eye had impeccable accuracy. This does not look like the Palace of Kings to me." The usurper was not pleased with the results and had not been looking to see the attack on the eye that had been the cause of the plans failure.

"Something must have interrupted the transfer sequence. I suspected the prisoners might give you trouble and acquired this building ahead of time It has a magic circle built into it which I was able to use as a tether to draw you and those close to you here. Alas, I did not have the power to bring everyone. There is no telling where the others wound up, but they should all still be in Reim."

The prince would seem to calm himself upon hearing this news and took a moment of silence for himself to think allowing the Contractor to notice anyone else who had been dragged along.

OOC: Sorry, I'm writing a lot of 'ifs' in this post. Forgive me.
BIC:

Garret found himself in a different place with a slight sense of Vertigo. He had recovered himself and took a look at his surroundings and who was there with him. After taking in the people he could see, he looked at where they were. They were on a floating object in the middle of a pool of water. It seemed to be a dome-like room that he had found himself in. There was a man dressed in a top-hat there.

The man spoke to Zhi about how he had anticipated this turn of events.

If Kinala had been teleported to the room with them, Garret would speak up. "It seems she is the cause of the mess we are now in..." Throughout his subsequent actions, he would constantly keep tabs on her whereabouts.

If Kinala had not been teleported to the room with them, Garret would speak up. "It seems the strange girl who was with us before you activated the circle was the cause of this."

At this point, Akamine Rin would whistle. "Impressive. If it were the Emperor, that child wouldn't have been left free to do as she pleased. In fact, at least one of us would be dead and all of us would be guarded by at least three men... But hey, you've got subordinates who are forward thinking enough to pick up your blunders. Good eye on your recruitment process. My compliments to you, sir...?" She trailed off that last part pointedly, as if waiting for him to respond. Her tone was conversational, yet her words were obviously barbed and confrontational.

Should Zhi make a move to threaten her, Rin would not fight back. If he threatened to kill her, she would make the remark "Now that's thinking like the Emperor. You must be his son. I applaud you; surely he will recognize you the closer you come to resemble him." and still she would not defend herself.

If, instead, he chose to harm her, she would speak something slightly different. In such a case, Rin would say "Yes, I can see your resemblance to the Emperor. I wonder how long until you, too, will be on his level?"


At this point, were she still living, Garret would speak up. "Rin! Hold your tongue! Here, you're just a messenger." He would turn to Zhi and apologize for the woman's rudeness, though he was not there to take responsibility for it. He was not, after all, her superior. "My previous offer still stands, should you change your mind due to the current situation. Of course, this man here likely already has a plan of attack in the event that we had to come through this way, seeing as he had anticipated this far ahead..."

If Rin were dead, however, Garret would not make comment in regards to her actions, though he would still offer his assistance.

"Now, the other thing we must determine is what course of action to take in regards to the reason for this chaos." Had Kinala been ported in with them, he would pointedly look at her. Had she not, it would have been a question aimed for a general answer. The response he expected was standard; kill the traitor. But there was a chain of command here, and he would not make that decision.

Azix blinked as his vision returned to normal, thinking that if he had known of the bright light, he would have taken proper measures to prevent the temporary vision loss. A small smile curled at the corners of his mouth as he realized where he was. He was in Barsatos' former compound, which was now clear thanks to Zafar and him. He noticed Zhi talking to someone and when he looked to see who it was, the smile on his face dropped. He should have known The Contractor would be part of this plan. When The Contractor finished explaining his backup plans in case something went wrong, Azix stepped forward. He kept a neutral mask on his face as he bowed, "It's good to see that with my assistance you were able to bring us here, Contractor."

He noticed he was still clutching his staff tightly in his fist and remembered Kinala. He looked around for her, not as eager to kill her now that he knew he was fine, but still anxious to get some payback for hindering the plans. It seemed like there were quite a few people who hadn't been teleported to this location, but at least Garret was here in case something went wrong.

Kinala coughed as she landed on her back on a hard, stone floor. The flash of light had teleported her to some kind of strange building clearly having once been used for some kind of magical purpose. She shook her head to clear her vision of the spots from her eyes. This was a good sign though, she was still alive and that meant she had succeeded in disrupting the process of teleportation that Zhi had been planning on using to bring his army to Reim. Still, she would have to deal with the consequences of her actions, which meant it was a good thing she still held her staff in her hand. She stood up and dusted herself off as she took note that the main contenders of the previous situation where still in the same building. "Well, it would seem I am indeed the traitor today, but what does that mean for the lambs who go astray." She raised her staff with a smile. "I should say this before you make a move, I won't go down easily as I'm sure you will not approve. You're welcome to try and punish me, but I swear on my life you will not harm the people here or I'm not feeling gutsy." She raised her fist and clenched it tight.

As Kinala was pointed out as the culprit, Zhi would turn to look at the young girl somewhat in disbelief. His jaw would drop agape ever so slightly as he tried to find words for the occasion. However an insolent tongue would soon grasp the man's attention as Rin went a bit too far with her words only to be chastised by her comrade whom quickly tried to save her from punishment by changing the subject to how their support could be offered. Zhi simply sighed deeply and brought his finger and thumb to his face in order to massage the space between his eyes. "Ugh...A foolish girl who knows nothing of the world, a rude woman without eyes or a heart to tell if they are lying, and a man with no shame to suppress his ambitions." His tone was almost that of a weary parent complaining about how troublesome their children were.

While Zhi dealt with this mess, the Contractor would have turned his attention to Azix whom so boldly made an effort to lay some fragment of claim upon the success that carried them here. "I see you're still alive, "Xenos" it is good to see that you manage to make it this far. When I heard you had left the city I was concerned you would miss our little party. But it seems you found an invitation on your own." There was a cheshire grin on the hatted man's face as he made a slight bow and kept an ambiguously polite manner about his body language and voice. "If the good prince allows it, I would like to ask another job of you. But he seems to have his hands full, doesn't he?" A soft chuckle would proceed the words before the Contractor looked to watch what the usurper decided upon.

After taking a moment, Zhi would finally turn and address each of the three whom had been the source of his irritation, starting with Kinala. "Ignorant girl, your actions have stopped nothing and will only lead to more needless deaths. Don't you understand what it will mean if we fail here? A war will break out between two of the worlds most powerful nations. Reim will not likely take Zou's efforts here without retaliation and the number of innocent people who will suffer in a war of that size is immeasurable." The Prince seemed less concerned about the fact that Kinala had hindered them and more concerned about WHY she had done so. The next to receive a verbal lashing would be Rin, "As for you, pray to whatever god you worship and give thanks that I am not my father. You seem to know quite well how he rules as emperor which means you know how quickly your head would be on a pike for speaking that way." Zhi would close his eyes briefly and then nod to Garret before admitting, "I may need your help with something now that the plan has deviated...But not yet. There is something Rin was terribly mistaken about. This man is not my servant, he is my partner."

The top hat wearing magician who was listening in would see that as his cue to gather everyone's attention was a single clap of his hands. "Wonderful, you all see to be done playing word games. Should I assume this means we're ready to proceed?" The man was keeping an eye on Kinala in case she tried to cause any more trouble or escape. But for now, no immediate harm would fall upon the young wolf eared maiden. "The Brotherhood of Ash has already taken control of the roads everywhere in Reim save for the inner city. The Imperial army seems to be holding that area even against the magic tools I provided our fodder in black. I suggest we head there to get a handle on the situation and regroup with the rest of your men as I can't imagine them heading anywhere else upon arrival." Zhi did not seem pleased with this course of action, however there was little else they could do until more information was obtained.

"We don't have much choice...We shall head to the Inner City and try to take back control of the situation. If the Brotherhood was managing so far then the arrival of our men should turn the tide."

Now was the time for people to speak up if they had any questions or concerns as Zhi appeared to be ready to move out from this compound and begin making his way to the main conflict.

Garret listened to the discussion as it was, and was surprised to see that Kinala was not sentenced to death. Shortly after, that Rin's own transgressions did not give her a swift death sent a lesser shock to Garret. The man had a loose sense of rigidity. Other than a brief moment, he did not allow the surprise to show much on his face. If those were the decisions made, he would follow it.

Rin, on the other hand, kept up her mask of indifference until she believed only Garret was looking her way. A smug look of satisfaction crossed her face as she winked his way, and a quick flash of a smile appeared.
  

Garret shook his head, listening to the complaints of Zhi as he spoke of Kinala, Rin and, what he had thought, Azix after the man's mention of his contribution to their current situation. Garret had no showing of emotional recognition that Zhi was talking about him during any part of his speech until he addressed him directly. Garret bowed his acknowledgement towards the man who said he would have something that he would need done later down the line.

Rin was hard to deal with even when she wasn't actively provoking others. As for Azix, it seemed to Garret as if he were already familiar with this individual who was awaiting them. How they knew each other, Garret wasn't sure, but it was apparent that if this man was not working for Zhi, then he was an outside resource. Garret would have to ask about that later, when time permitted.

"Any order of movement? Did you want to assign any traditional posts to any of us?" Garret asked, keeping an eye on Kinala as he did so. Garret was beginning to get a feel for the man's leadership style; it was very laid back. Garret believed that Zhi would not have any particular orders, and would have them all simply follow him and provide him support where they were best at doing so. Acius had once told him that most soldiers greatly respected a commander with those qualities, however such qualities came with a risk of insubordination and other conflicts within the chain of command, not to mention a lack of discipline.

Garret filed those thoughts away as he listened to everything said within the room.

It appeared that The Contractor not only had plans for Azix, but had been snooping on him as well. Azix wondered what all the top hat Magician had learned and what he had missed the past few months while he had been gone. If The Contractor knew his code name, Xenos, did he know about the Grumptoes as well? The strange Magician posed a threat and Azix planned to keep a close eye on him. A smile curled at his lips and he nodded, "Ah, have you grown impressed with my particular talents?" He asked the question with a friendly tone.

His attention turned towards Zhi, listening to his comments towards Kinala, Rin, and Garret. Azix was surprised to see that Kinala's actions were being dismissed with parting wisdom and a warning. Zhi's leadership style fascinated Azix, Zhi's men were loyal with a lax leader. Azix paid attention to Kinala's reaction to Zhi's words, interested to see how they would affect the white-haired girl.

The Contractor clapped his hands and explained the plan, to assist a group called the Brotherhood of Ash. Garret asked about the roles they should take before Azix could, the man was always on top of things. Azix gave a wink and a thumbs up to the blue Magician, feeling pumped to be involved with such a high level operation. "This should be fun, Gary." He would whisper quietly so only Garret would hear him.

Kinala lowered her staff slightly as she looked back at Zhi with a darkened gaze. It wasn't that she had been pushed over the edge, no that line had been crossed long ago, but that she had finally had enough of the pompous Zouen who thought he knew more about the world than herself. She was plenty wise, and as far as she could tell she was much wiser than the man that stood before her. She stood taller than before and her tail puffed up like an angered animal. "Don't think that I am at fault for any deaths today, it is you who have wrought this grey. Peace is something that isn't quickly attained, but at least I fight for it though I am strained. I did not bring this death, it was your doing that caused these last breaths. You will have been the cause of this war should it occur, I will have simply been the saboteur. Don't blame me for your mistake, I am simply the one who takes the cake."

Zhi was most displeased with the way Kinala retorted. To his eyes, the poor child was deluded by a fantasy of morals that would simply lead to greater tragedy in the end. But now was not the time to be disciplining children. This was rather a time of great importance that would likely determine whether Zhi would die as a bastard or one day live as emperor and he needed more information. But the young cub needed a lecture and the Prince would ensure she got one by keeping her close. As the contractor began to guide them out of the compound, Zhi would make eye contact with Garret before speaking. "Please make sure the girl does not get in our way again. But do not kill her as her ignorance was likely inflicted upon her from a very young age. I shall like to perform an..."experiment" later to see if it is possible to re-educate her."

Despite the fact that Kinala was present the entire time he spoke, Zhi would not make any efforts lower his voice or hide his plans from her. In fact, his eyes moved to stare at her filled with annoyance as soon as he had obtained the magician's attention.

"It's possible~" The contractor chimed in over his shoulder as he led the way. "I was once much like the child." The words took all of Zhi's attention as he turned his head in surprise and seemed enthralled by any hints towards the enigmatic man's past. "Truly? You've taught me much since I was young. I find it hard to imagine that you were ever once one of the deceived." The Contractor then let out a chuckle and waved the issue away.

This exchange showed that the two men shared a past, but also clearly demonstrated ones mastery over the other. The irritation the prince had been showing was now gone and his focus had shifted entirely to a more forward thinking mindset. The Contractor smirked and kept Zhi's curiosity at bay before redirecting his sights towards their ultimate goal here. "I shall tell you once we have you sitting in the Palace of Kings as Reim's new emperor. There will be some time before we will be able to begin rebuilding the city from the ground up."

As the reached the exit, and began heading down the street the sound of an owl would resonate through the night air. The first alley they would pass would have a pair of young eyes peeking out through the shadows to watch the group. Azix's Grumptoes were signaling each other as they observed the strangers leaving the building, but none had recognized the benefactor and leader of their "organization" among the strangers who were leaving.

Azix had approached Garret and told him that he enjoying the moment before using one of their old, predetermined code names. The man has always shown a strong sense of enjoyment from his work... With a mental sigh, Garret wondered exactly how much the man had done before getting to the Prison and releasing him. "No need to use operative names here and blow their cover, Azix. No matter how unlikely it is that somebody heard.." He was whispering back to the man when Zhi turned his attention back to Garret.

Garret listened to the instructions. "Of course," he said, bowing to Zhi once more and accepting the orders. Garret listened to the exchange between the Contractor and Zhi, and only wondered further on their connection and Zhi's actual goals in this assault. He wasn't surprised that Zhi didn't have orders for everyone, though the fact that he had any kind of guard on Kinala was something that redeemed his discipline, in Garret's eyes, even if only ever so slightly.

He made his way to Kinala and equipped the Hex Gauntlet that he had re-purposed from the military stock earlier. He kept seventy percent of his attention on Kinala, and the rest upon his surroundings. Rin approached the two and cut in front of them, forming a chain between Zhi, herself, Kinala and then Garret.

She seemed to be humming happily. She's fallen into her bad habit again. Hopefully nothing more comes of this... "Well, time to move out. You heard the orders." He spoke to Kinala, though not roughly. In fact, his tone was fairly detached as he returned to the familiar role, albeit strange circumstances, of an operation.

A smirk stretched along the corners of Azix's mouth as he watched Kinala's reaction. Her tail puffed up as she pushed the blame back onto the Usurper, defending her actions. Kinala did have a point that because of Zhi's original actions, many would die, but Azix wondered how many would die along the journey to the royal family. His eyebrow raised at the mention of an experiment Zhi wanted to perform on the tailed girl. If that was not curious enough, the conversation between the Usurper and the Contractor intrigued Azix even more. The Contractor seemed to be an adept puppeteer from the glimpses he had seen so far.

Garret seemed to be in a serious mood, so Azix waved his comments off with a smile. The group made their way out of the compound and down a street. Azix looked around as he heard the sound of an owl, remembering the signal from a previous mission. He spotted some kids looking out from the shadows, staring at them as they passed by. He didn't recognize them, but even if he had, there was no point in reacting. He didn't want to reveal his true appearance to the Grumptoes, nor did he want any of the people in the present group to know of the Grumptoes and his connection. He planned to meet up with Lavicus sometime after this operation, the boys were being far too obvious.

Kinala hissed at the very thought of being restrained, that wasn't in the cards for this little venture. She could stand being ignored and mistreated, but the slaughter of the people of the city was something she would not allow. She moved as quickly as her legs would carry her, the soft leather of her sandals plodding against the ground as she darted past her captors. "I won't be holding still so easily, I have a family to warn so I must be off breezily." She was a nimble little scamp, no doubt the grown folk in attendance wouldn't be able to get a grip on her thanks to her diminutive stature and all around child-like size. She rushed out of the door of the warehouse and continued her mad dash down the street, if she was going to make it to the royal palace in time she would need to be quicker than she had ever been before. Still, evading her captors could be a problem if they decided to pursue her, but she could go places they could not and thus she did have a good advantage on her side. The plus of the order for her not to be killed also made things plenty more easy on herself, but harmed wasn't killed so she still had to keep her guard up.

Garret saw movement from the small meta-human he was paying close attention to. She began to make a dash for it, and Garret attempted to grab at her. However, her small frame and agile movements surprised him, and she managed to slip away from his immediate first reaction.

That surprised him, and in his mind he immediately re-evaluated Kinala's threat level. Garret had just left prison not too long ago, and was used to speeds and slippery movements due to the particular style Old Man Hasan taught.

Narrowing his eyes, Garret focused as he took a step  forward. His muscles tensed, and he burst forward with the Raging Currents technique, moving at 20m/s.

Fast fast~:

Those on the stairs that he bypassed, closest to him, wouldn't realize Garret had gone by until a moment after he had already passed; that was just how fast he was moving. He passed by Kinala, keeping his head faced in her direction with his eyes focused on her, and began pivoting on his right foot a little less than a meter in front of her. Using the movement of that burst of speed and the centrifugal motion, a left chop from 4'11"ft off of the ground Kinala was standing on came at a diagonal angle from Kinala's right at 20 m/s, towards her neck. The true intent of this attack was to break her Borg, if she hadn't lost it at some time prior to this. Garret knew she was a magician just as he was. If she had lost the Borg earlier, well, it would serve as a painful distraction for his follow up.

As part of the same motion, though after the chop ran the course of its attack, Garret performed a spinning back kick aimed at the center of her chest with the intent to knock her down to the ground and, perhaps, down the stairs while causing a bit of damage.


OOC:
This attack can actually only do a maximum of C tier damage. If only one of the attacks bypasses your Borg, it will only do D tier damage. This is due to my Hex Gauntlet's Ruler Gem, Lizzy's Sapphire, which lowers all attack damage by 1 tier to and from the user.

Raging Current:

Kinala's outburst caught Azix's attention and he turned to see her start to run away. As usual, Garret reacted in a heartbeat, moving to chase her down as she tried to escape. Azix followed suit, though no where near the speed of Garret. With his staff already in his hand, he raised it towards the girl, making sure his comrade was clear. Five Fragments of Light formed above Azix's Staff of Refraction as the Rukh followed his whispered commands. He aimed each shot to hit a different part of the girl, one for the back of the neck, two for the back of her knees, and two towards her ankles. They would fly towards the girl at ten meters per second over ten meters and deliver small scratches to the girl.

He didn't want to seriously wound the girl, he planned on either breaking her Borg or using the force to knock her off balance. Kinala was an odd girl, but her passion to help her fellow man struck a chord with him. Azix couldn't betray the temporary alliance with Zhi, he wouldn't forfeit his life, but he could put forth the effort of attempting to stop her without over exerting himself.

Spoiler:

Kinala didn't even backtrack a step when she saw one of the men drawing up behind her, Garret she believed she had heard he was called. Deadly sort he seemed considering he was moving faster than anyone Kinala had ever seen before. Still, where she had a will she could find a way, and now that she had the attention of her foes she would have to think quickly. And then the idea came along, and it was indeed such a marvelous idea. The young pup kept running when Garret ran ahead, and as he turned to strike she ducked right under his shot. Her small frame was perfect for the acrobatic maneuver, and thanks to her speed she managed to slide right through his legs. Oh but she wasn't quite finished with her assailants, she had a surprise for them. For as she had slid between the legs of her would be foe she had seemingly left behind a part of her staff between his legs, and as surprising as it would see the wood grew into the shape of the very wizard who had placed it there. Should Garret have decided to stand bewildered at her movement he would receive quite the shock when the clone burst forth with a punch to his chin. Even if that was not the case Kinala could still use the distraction and continued to run down the road.

130/150 Magoi:

[Do another round of posting because it's hard for me to judge the outcome based on these posts. I will say to Kinala that you would not be outside of the compound and on the road yet since you chose to run before actually reaching the exit and Garret pursued you immediately afterwards.]

Garret was honestly surprised that the small meta-human was so fast. Just as she dodged his downward chop, a beam of light from Azix struck Garret's Borg and was absorbed. A second beam had just barely missed him as he attempted to follow through with his spinning back kick as part of his attack, however the young meta-human managed to dodge that as well, though not before her Borg broke; when she ducked to dodge his chop, she didn't realize Azix had shot a spell at her legs and her arms.

As the stairs were slanted in an upward motion, Garret's body was tilted to balance in such a way that his body was actually close to the stairs above in order to perform his spinning back kick from before. It was due to this that he could feel Kinala crawling from underneath him after having dodged his speedy technique, even though her ducking underneath his legs temporarily put her in a blind spot of his until he looked beneath him.

Making a quick decision, Garret decided instead of attacking her directly he would go straight for her goal; the only escape this room offered through mundane means.

Garret used Water Falls in Reverse, a River Styx style technique he had learned from Hasan in prison not too long back, and jumped up the stairs and over Kinala at 15 m/s.

He was unaware of the effects of the spell Kinala had cast, as he didn't really have the time to look at what she had done. He had reacted as soon as he felt her crawling beneath him.

Garret would reach the door first, and he held the handle firmly with his right hand, not allowing it to be moved while surveying the scene before him and standing ready for Kinala, or her creation, to approach.

OOC:

200/250 Magoi/Stamina
1 D Tier damage to Borg

Water Falls in Reverse:

The white tailed girl was quick, Azix had to give her that. She dodged Garret's attacks, by sliding between his legs, but not before Azix's Fragments of Light disposed of her Borg. It was unfortunate that Garret took one, but his Borg, being stronger, absorbed the meter long light beam. Azix thought she had dropped her staff behind, but it began to grow into a clone of the purple magician.

Seeing as Garret moved to block Kinala from leaving, Azix handled the wooden clone. With a flourish, Azix unsheathed his Deviant with his free hand. He dealt a horizontal slash towards the clone, aiming towards the middle of its back.

Spoiler:

Kinala tracked off and tried to keep climbing the stairs that surrounded her, but she her captors were simply to overpowering on her. Garret had made the move towards the door to keep her within the confined space of the building, while the other had opted to handle her creation in place of stopping her. It would require greater cunning than Kinala had originally planned on in order to finish the goal she had in mind. She quickly climbed the stairs and made for the door and as she neared it she aimed a high kick right at Garret's arm in order to remove his barring of the door. Her clone on the other hand simply fell apart without her visual connection, a sad waste of magic but she would have to go on. Her borg was destroyed and there was no longer any way for her to defend against any form of attack, she would have to try her best to avoid the men at all costs.

[The other threads need to progress a bit more before this one can really move forward anyways. So go ahead and keep doing rounds of posting without me until you guys resolve the conflict. If anyone feels like they need a staff decision on something then just pm Yakuroro. P.S. Kinala, you've been a bit godmody with your dodging of attacks. Keep in mind that both of these men are just as fast as you and even faster when using abilities. You should have taken some damage by now between Azix's spells and Garret's attacks.]

Kinala approached Garret while he was guarding the door from her. She was quite determined to make her escape, which made little sense to the man; she was in the room, surrounded by people who developed their skills for warfare, fighting and espionage. Judging by the defensive power of her Borg he believed that, unless she had encountered some other fight on those desolate mountains, she was fairly young in her development of strength.

Her strange speed earlier, and her agile movements, certainly betrayed a decent combat sense and nearly inhuman reactions, but Garret also believed that this was, in part, a fluke. He was able to fight Hasan fairly well not only because Hasan was holding back, but because he was used to Hasan's movements. He was, after all, still new to close combat and hadn't the experience of fighting others in hand-to-hand.

But by now, he had seen how Kinala moved. She continued to charge him. She moved close towards him, within fighting range. Yet still, Garret waited. She took another step, stepping within striking range. Garret took a calm breath inwards, through his nose. He still waited, watching the entirety unfold. She took another step, now standing in front of him. Her leg tensed, and her untrained body had shown a 'tell', projecting her intention. This was confirmed not a moment later as the leg lifted off the ground and shot upwards toward his arm.

Garret knew he had an advantage in reach, here, as he was taller than the strange tribe girl. With practiced precision, his arm shot out at 20 m/s.  His technique would take into account her attempt to dodge, and follow the leg, however unlikely that would be; he aimed at it as it was halfway in the air. Setting the leg back down at that point before his technique landed, or jumping out of the way before the technique landed, would be incredibly difficult if not outright impossible.

After the first strike landed, 3 more strikes would occur, for a total of 4 strikes. The second strike would go from the leg she had raised to her stomach and, from her stomach, to her other leg. From there, Garret would attempt to strike at the arm that held the staff.

Garret had used River Styx Style: Sealing the Magoi Meridians. Each limb he struck would be paralyzed for some time.


OOC:
170/250 Magoi/Stamina

The paralyze effect lasts for 3 posts.

Sealing the Magoi Meridians:

As Azix swung his sword towards the wooden clone, it came undone in front of him. Deviant whistled as it passed through the air, not hitting anything. He was momentarily confused, but shook it off and turned his attention to Kinala and Garret further in front of him. It appeared she had abandoned keeping them both distracted in order to solely focus on escaping. Kinala was a tricky magician and Azix realized with a bemused expression on his face that while she was clearly not in the same ballpark as they were in terms of power, she was holding her own fairly well. She had not managed to inflict serious damage, but kept them chasing after her, unable to deal serious damage to her as well.

Azix trusted Garret's ability to handle her if he put his all into it, but he still approached the two to lend his assistance should an opportunity present itself. While he had no intentions of harming the girl, she could pose a serious hindrance to their plans if she got away. While he walked he gave a soft chuckle and clapped his hands. "Simply marvelous~" he directed his words to the girl, while she was dealing with Garret, she should still hear him. "I admire your determination, but I find your current plan foolish. It would be wiser if you quit resisting and refocused your efforts at another time. I'm warning you now, if you continue, I won't hesitate to give you my full attention." He said the last words with his staff pointed towards her feet, ready to react during his speech if she attempted anything.

Kinala's air left her lungs as Garret's strikes jammed into her body. They were quite painful, and she knew where he had struck as well. She collapsed onto the ground in a heap and struggled in vain to even move a single finger. It was of no use, she couldn't move a single muscle; the paralysis was complete. She made no more attempts to flee, how could she? No, she had failed the people of Reim and now even more men and women would die because of her failure. She despised the compliment of the second man, it unnerved her to no end. She spat back in a loud tone, "I don't want your praise nor your words, for this has been nothing but the fancy flight of birds. I've wasted my energy and thus yours as well, but it will not be enough to stop the coming hell. So I ask you to cease these actions you take, to leave these people in peace for all our sakes. Please, let this bloodshed end now, don't allow the hearts of more stop on this vow." With that she fell silent and spoke not a word, she had done all she could and now she would see what became of it.

Zhi and the Contractor simply stood by and watched as the escape attempt played out. The bastard prince from Zou stepped forward when the ordeal had first begun, but an outstretched hand from the Contractor stayed his impatience, "Do not waste your strength Zhi, you need to save your magoi until that moment or else the plan could fail." The prince would not like the idea of letting Kinala escape, however he resigned himself to entrusting her recapture to the men who had been capable enough to earn ones freedom from that accursed mountain prison. Thankfully, he would not have to wait long to see these agents successfully shatter the wolf girl's plans to egress from Zhi's company. Once she was captured and spoke her displeasure, Zhi made his way up the steps to her side and placed a surprisingly warm hand on her head before ruffling Kinala's hair playfully. "You just can't see the hell that was already around us. Don't worry, few will die and once I am emperor I shall end all suffering in this land. Twisted practices on men filled with greed and avarice will be cleansed from Reim like the cancers they are. Slavery and that barbaric coliseum will be things of the past...So behave like a good girl, and you may see the peace you want just yet."

As Zhi spoke to Kinala, The Contractor followed behind him and thanked the two magician's for their efforts. "Well done, albeit a bit sloppy. Thank you for handling that situation. We can't afford to have Zhi wasting his strength and time chasing down children who don't know any better. Shall we proceed to the inner city now?" Zhi would be sure to express his thanks as well before the group was led outside the compound and onto the city streets.

As they left the compound, the hooting of an owl sounded as a signal through the night air as young child operatives let each other know that a group had left the building. The Contractor stopped and turned to look down the closest alleyway where the sound had come from to find himself locking eyes with those of a young boy. "There is a boy in that alley who saw us and gave some kind of signal..." A sadistic smile played across The Contractor's lips as he turned his head meeting Azix's eyes at a glance before resting his gaze onto Garret. The magician politely made a request of him in order to test the loyalties of both men, "Go make sure that we are not followed." Despite the words, The Contractor made a motion with his thumb across his own neck to suggest that he wanted Garret to kill the child, just to be sure.