Worthy Core

"Hells!" Prince Thaddeus curses as his head is removed from his shoulders. It's the third time he's been killed in the past ten minutes, and it doesn't get much easier to watch.

The demonic curses uttered by the red-skinned swordsman as he spots another Prince Thaddeus charging in his direction indicate that he's not much happier about the situation.

"Are you sure you don't want to actually fight that guy? My illusions can give him a scratch or two but I can't compete with a damn Supreme-tier, y'know!?"

Thaddeus grins in the direction of his invisible wife before shouting out orders to a nearby group of Challengers. As they rush off to block a group of enemy soldiers, he takes a moment to respond. "While I give myself good odds of beating that fellow, I also give myself good odds of failing. Either way I can't fight him and keep command of the situation at the same time, so delaying him is just as good." He narrows his eyes at his sort-of opponent. "It can be hard to tell the difference between types of demons, but I think that man is an arcane demon?"

"So?" Tizzy thinks about that for a moment before it sinks in. "...Oooohh. If arcane demons are all about learning shit, and he picked swordfighting..."

"Then he's no minor concern. In fact, let's not get within range of the man at all, shall we? Amber leader!"

A group of Rabbit Mages turns to face him, and the long-eared woman in charge gives him a salute. "Yes, prince?"

"Fire on that demon - even if you can't hit, make sure he doesn't get into melee range with anybody! I saw him take an arm and a head the moment he reached this level! If you can, blast him back down!"

"On it!" The squad is quick to follow orders - with the enemy at this range, the time for slow-charging siege spells is past. Their focus now is on rapid area-denial spells, working to keep the Domain soldiers from exploiting the gaps in the dungeon's defenses, but it's a task that becomes increasingly more impossible with every minute. For one, because there's now fewer pieces of wall left standing than ones that have been in one way or another turned to rubble. And two, because half of the monstrous mage squads are already dead. Even as he turns to examine the rest of the battlefield Thaddeus witnesses half of Green squad get blasted by some sort of acid spray, giving the dungeon creations a grisly end.

He can hear the grimace in Tizzy's voice. "This mage battle is fucked. I saw a kobold yell 'the ten claws of destiny' or some shit and tear open a ranger who was twenty feet away. I don't think anyone else even turned to look, that's how fucked this battle is. Meanwhile I'm distracting Supremes with some expendable illusions and tossing up the occasional barrier spell. If I wasn't invisible, I'd have gotten the fuck outta here already."

"Believe me, should this all go sideways, you absolutely have my permission to head for the escape portals. But you are having a real effect on this fight, don't discount yourself."

The imp sighs. "I know, I know - I'm sure as hells not leaving without you, anyhow. Just...keep an eye on the escape route yourself, yeah?"

"Trust me, I'm keeping that very much in mind..." As Thaddeus's hand clenches around the hilt of his blade, he keeps observing the entire front. One particular part of it has his greatest attention, however...

---

"How! Are! You! Still! Standing!?" Every punch Grim throws is punctuated by another shouted question, not to mention the ringing clang of his heavy gauntlets against the shield of the kobold in front of him. In response, the soldier just laughs.

"Hahaha, is this for real? Your hits are enhanced with quake energy?" Grenwald shakes his head in disbelief, although the minotaur facing him can't see what's so amusing.

"You recognize the earth mana? What of it? My blows have shattered foes ten times your size!"

"Because of this, horn-head!" Grenwald stomps his foot and a wave of ripples flow through the ground in front of him...only to fade out as they reach the minotaur's boots, just as he expected. As he glances at his feet, Grim realizes what their mutual problem is.

"...You are also a Supreme-tier earth warrior?"

"Stone Stalwart. You?"

Grim pauses before answering. "...Mountain Crusher."

Grenwald laughs again. "Earth mana defense against offense! Hells, we could be standing here all day. What do you say to finding some new dance partners, eh?"

A growl grows in the Challenger's throat. "I am not letting you pass to hazard my allies. If we must stand here until the dungeon crumbles around us, then so be it. Should it come to it, I am more than ready to wager my endurance against your own."

Grenwald eyes the muscular warrior. "...Yeah, maybe. Fortunately, I think I've got more allies than you. Tiffany! Get this meathead out of my way!"

The demon sighs as she turns away from her current task of making the climb up the cliffs a little more straightforward, literally. "What, you need me to hold your hand, too? Fine." The blonde turns her attention towards the Mountain Crusher and fires a blast of spatial energy in his direction...only to stare with a dropped jaw as Grim blocks the attack.

"Did...did you just punch a spatial spell?"

"You can punch most anything, if you set your mind to it. Behold!" With that declaration Grim punches his next target, which turns out to be the ground in front of him. Grass and stone fly apart as a small crevice opens up between himself and the demon, although the effect does fade out a bit as it passes Grenwald and his own aura of stability. It's still enough of a disturbance to force Tiffany into taking to the air, and there's a cry of surprise from behind her as her magically-cleared path up the cliff suddenly reverts to its previous treacherous state.

"Dammit! Well, whatever - if you just wanna get around the lug, I can slow him down for you. So get moving!"

"Thanks, Tiff!" Grenwalf tosses her a salute as she fires a new spatial spell between him and his opponent, effectively increasing the distance between them. The kobold takes the chance to go off running to the side, and Grim roars as he finds himself too slow to intercept. The magical energy of his charged gauntlets tears apart the spell between them every time he swings his fists, but by time he looks back even the demon is gone, having flown off to another fight.

He does find a new opponent, however, as an incubus in a flamboyant outfit finishes climbing up the cliff. "Whew! Not enough of a climb to grow wings for, but enough to be a pain in the tail, eh? Hrmm, you look like a stressed fellow there - how about I distract you from your worries by giving you some new ones, ahah!" The man flicks his fingers at Grim, an action which causes the massive man to groan in pain...but the suffering only lasts for a moment before he blinks in surprise, his torture suddenly ended. Pretty Thing is equally confused, flicking his fingers a few more times, then looking at his hands as if they'd run out of ammunition.

The reason for his problems becomes clear as a lizardkin of brown and green scales steps forward. "Direct creation of pain? I daresay that's cheating."

The incubus frowns at the interloper. "Cheating? All's fair in love and sadism, as they say."

Referee shakes his head. "Spells which completely avoid virtually all defenses? Not to mention it borders dangerously close on mind magic, which most of the good gods abhor. A single individual should not so easily be able to bring Supremes to their knees." After waving a staff about for a bit, the lizardkin slams its base into the ground with a shout. "In the name of Dice, I declare a Temporary House Rule: No Effect Without a Cause! If you wish to cause pain, you'll have to do it the old fashioned way!"

Pretty groans as he realizes the nature of his opponent. "Gods save me. A rules lawyer. Fine! Fine. Don't think me disarmed just because you've taken my favorite toy. I only studied the art for hundreds of years, perfecting my knowledge of the anatomy and psychology of over a dozen species of sapients, but yes! I am the one who is being unfair. Taste my steel in a fair fight then, I promise to barely cheat at all."

The incubus draws his blade, but Referee just smiles as steps back. "I think I've played my part in this match. Grim, you may continue."

"With pleasure!"

The minotaur charges forward, and Referee takes his leave to check on his other teammates. Unfortunately, they seem to be in even more trouble than Grim. The demon and kobold had made their way over towards where Bandages was doing his best to heal the wounded, and only their gnollish Horizon Hunter and a few monstrous shades stand by to hold them back. It's a terrible matchup - Referee had seen Grinner hit Dire Bats from two miles away, and yet she finds herself unable to strike the demon currently hovering a mere thirty feet in the air. Every time she fires a shot, the arrow simply slides about as if it was picking a new favorite direction to soar in. Worse, the demon seems to be able to make the arrows fly towards their own allies.

Well, that just won't do. "Grinner missing this many shots in a row? Inconceivable! The odds have been toyed with! Blessing of the Streakbreaker: Pity for the Pathetic! Try it now!"

Grinner sighs. "I hate the name of that blessing, yes..." Whining aside, the archer lines up one more arrow, and this time the demon gasps in shock as the projectile ends up buried in her guts.

"Right through my shell? That's...impossible! Damnation!" The woman flies off to apply a healing potion in safety, leaving Grenwald to turn on Referee with a foul look.

"Damn god-botherers! We'll see how you cast a blessing with a broken jaw, eh!?" The Stalwart charges forward, weapon swinging, and in the heat of the moment Referee does something that anyone can do - even a Supreme.

He makes a mistake.

"Judgment of the Goddess: Critical Fail!" The lizardkin casts a curse upon his foe, one which only lasts for a single attack, but which is highly potent. A luck-based curse. The moment the words escape his lips the man's eyes widen, realizing his mistake. "Wait. Fu-"

He doesn't get to finish his more mundane curse before a mace slams into the side of his skull, and to the horror of Referee's teammates they're fairly certain they see a bit of gray matter making its escape into the open air. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that a Supreme-tier healer is standing not ten feet away the lizardkin's instantaneous death would be all but assured. Even as it is, it takes one of the Rector of Restoration's most powerful spells to grab hold of the biological mass and slam it back into the skull of his fellow cleric. The move disables them both for a moment, which is a problem as the Streakbreaker's House Rule blessing fades away along with his own brief interruption of life.

It's a fact which Pretty takes advantage of immediately, giving Grim the sensation of having two snapped kneecaps. Turning towards the more distant group, the incubus quickly examines the situation. "A godly healer, eh? Very good at healing the body, I'm sure. How much so the mind?" He focuses his magic on the human cleric, and the already-disoriented man collapses to the ground with a cut-off cry. Watching from nearby, Grinner decides she's had enough - losing combatants is one thing, but seeing their healer go down means that further losses may not be recoverable.

"Grim! Numbers turn against us, yes? I am taking Bandages, can you - can you take Referee? Will find Yellowbelly, yes."

With a literally Supreme level of willpower, Grim ignores the sensation of his broken bones and rushes his way over to his fallen companions. "Yes - we've had our blood, and they've had theirs. It is enough for one day. Scarlet Eagles, fall back!"

"Hold on now, you can't imagine we'll end this play date that easily, hrmm? Maybe if I turn off the balance of your inner ears - ah!?" Before Pretty can finalize his next spell, he finds himself swarmed by a group of nearly suicidal shades. The man is wearing enough protective gear to save him from immediate harm, but to his frustration the formless ghosts truly are immune to his tricks and it's only with Grenwald's assistance that he's able to fight them off in a reasonable timeframe. Still not quickly enough, though - by time the last monster fades out with a shriek, their immediate opponents are gone.

In fact, as they examine the rest of the battlefield they find all of the dungeon's mortal defenders to be fading away - literally. Right before their eyes, the armored warrior who slew Fidelia turns invisible, and any attempts to flush out the fleeing Challengers are foiled by monsters who spend their lives to buy a moment of distraction. Within thirty seconds the battle turns from a chaotic mass of spells and shouts to a quiet field of scorched earth, ruined walls, and bleeding corpses.

Grenwald narrows his eyes at the destruction. "So that's it, then? We've got the floor?"

Pretty sighs, quickly expelling the frustration of having lost his quarry. "There will still be the Floor Guardian, some traps, perhaps some remaining beasties. But they'll be a technicality after this, especially once we take some time to recover. But all in all, indeed! We have had ourselves a success!"

The kobold begins counting remains, or in some cases, isolated limbs. "We lost Supremes for this success - including Fidelia. We can't take five more floors at this rate."

"Ah, but neither can they, my friend. Neither can they..."