Alvah: Demon of Attrition (Jefferson Shindig)

Again. She approached, the Shinigami with a mouth that could cut through an orphanage. Her speed is delicious, a true combatant who knows her strengths and weaknesses. However, Alvah knowing them too would prove her downfall. With his blade returned to its owner, he would know it for only a moment until he finds it propelled from his grip due to her shenanigans. The next second, he feels her hand digging into his side, his heart and lungs seized. Blood splattered from between his lips as he felt his heart and lungs expunge themselves of blood through the only opening available.

“Amazing, but you dare approach me so carelessly, Shinigami! I shall use you for now.”

Showing a great deal of endurance through his pain, Alvah’s open palm shot downwards, using the absence of his blade as an excuse to grip the top of her head aggressively. Would she prove capable enough to dodge him? If not, her head would not pop or feel any fatal pressure as his other arm would fly and move to grip her side. Suddenly, she would feel a metaphysical connection form between the two of them, as if he had tethered her with demonic magic to his being.

“I shall relay a secret unto this foolish black wooled lamb. My blade is one that cannot be rendered useless so easily.”

In his grip, trapped by his hands, she would hear the whistling of the blade she had just knocked away sailing through the air, moments before it would enter through his back and out his chest into her own. Blood, coughed out of the demon’s mouth, would splatter on her face as her hand would feel itself pushed from his side as his body began restoring itself. However, he has no time to lament in his evildoing as another appeared behind him.

Calypso, Mana’s pesky brat. He would waste no time planting his hand onto Yugiri’s face, tossing her from his blade like she was a worn out sheathe as he turned, the sword slicing through him and intercepting the scythe. His hand would then grab hold of the blade, the wound he caused himself closing following.

“That bloodlust! Truly, your mother’s child, Calypso. A shame, you fight for peasants who care not for your existence. I shall have you watch as they are all ripped asunder, and have you pray for your mother’s bosom!”

He went on the attack, showing a horrifying display of swordsmanship, making child’s play of Calypso’s attempts to challenge him. However, he did not seem encouraged to land a blow against her, finding it all too amusing to dance with her and listen to her lousy retorts be quenched by her need to take the high ground.

Over on the side of the Hollow versus the rest of the lousy bunch, it continued to fire off ceros into the area, scattering dust and leaving many praying it does not accidentally hit them. It did not seem to care much for the oncoming threats that neared and began ripping into its black flesh, tearing it to pieces. However, what comes next is rather heartbreaking.

From afar, another cero sailed from outside the crater. It would crash into the dying Gillian and the creatures hitting it before being joined by another cero and another. Off in the distance, the Gillians from before that had appeared as the barrier have come closer, their presence looming over the battlefield as each one began to charge a cero and point them down at into the city. The next seconds are following by the collective destruction of the city being lit by the Gillians, pointless destruction as the giant black creatures continued to lumber closer to the group.

Hovering now just off the ground, flaming wings beating out a quiet rhythm, Alastair could see the truth of the carnage that had been wrought upon the city and his squad members. An orange halo began to slowly materialise atop his head, more a flaming crown than an angelic symbol, and as it did he steeled his grip upon a recovering Falke.

"From what I have seen you thrive in area control, right, Yaksha? If that is still true of your current form then start disrupting the Gillian. Others have the brute occupied, for now, so we best make good on that opportunity to take down his lackey."

The Quincy did not turn to look up at the Hollow, his gaze instead tracking the approach of another as he sensed Saisei approach from the Brave 1 reinforcements. Alastair forced the echo of a smile to cross his features as the recruit addressed him, a show of quiet confidence rather than pleasure.

"The Gillian kicks up a smokescreen, the demon dives in and picks us off in the confusion. The sword appears to be stimulating his regeneration, even affecting other beings, so watch out for it. Sweep the wreckage for survivors, there may still be some buried underneath the rubble but be ready to evade another cero or two. If you can, get them as far away from here as possible."

Almost on cue, he felt the rush of energy as the first cero sailed over his head. Surprisingly it came from a distance and struck the first Gillian, causing him to throw his head back over his shoulder as he saw the approaching wall of black.

"Change of plans, Yaksha, do what you can to deal with those Gillian and I will aid you. They will reduce this whole place to ash and dust if we can not halt their barrage."

His commands given, to the best of his limited knowledge, Alastair took to the skies with a rush of heat. He knew that he could not hold this form for long, especially after he had been thrown into the ground only seconds before, but there was power enough still surging through his veins as his Arterie was still in effect. He scarcely even needed to think about it as Falke shifted from the sword form into bow within his grasp. Taking his time to focus now, he began to fire Heilig Pfeil after Heilig Pfeil into the encroaching Gillian, trying to target those that were about to unleash a cero in an effort to at least hamper their aim or get them to flinch.