KAIJU FIGHT #4

[synfluxmods]

KAIJU FIGHT #4

CONTENT WARNINGS: natural disaster, acid rain, destruction of city, blood, gore

▶ 001. BE READY.

Despite having two targets, LILITH struggles to get a trace on them. Reports of sightings come in and often follow the same trend: They always appear before heavy rain, can be spotted dipping in and out of the heavy clouds, and always disappear by the time the sun comes out. Gradually, they can paint a more accurate idea of what they’re dealing with as more witness reports start to come in.

What starts off as reports of a large serpent-like creature in Seoul and Busan evolves into definitive reports of pair of dragons. Both are reported to be blue in color before they seem to fade to a dark gray or green color into the clouds. Based on reports, LILITH believes they may be able to camouflage themselves which would explain why they have been difficult to track.

However, LILITH’s Korea branch announces that by tracking the weather patterns and tracing them with residual rift energy, they can predict when the kaiju will appear next. All agents are told to be ready to mobilize at any moment. This means practicing timed emergency drills and sleeping in shifts so they can be ready to move out at any moment.

LILITH Korea decides to save time and reduce workload, they’ll have their own military assist with civilian evacuations. They will work with LILITH Japan’s agents to track the kaiju and provide support while the “specialists” (Outsiders) take care of the main threat.

▶ 002. KAIJU FIGHT - SEOUL.

In the early morning hours, agents in Seoul will wake up to an alarm telling them that an anomaly weather pattern has been detected and a kaiju is due to appear at any moment. Because the kaiju is airborne, they will be sent to one of the highest points in the city: Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan and Lotte World Tower in the center of the city. Outsiders will be granted permission to go up to the rooftops to strike the dragon.

LILITH Korea will provide air support through nearby Incheon Airport and Seongnam Airbase. Should any Outsiders want to join in, they are welcome to if they can provide credentials… or manage to take a plane.

Eventually, the kaiju will be downed. It will crash into the city and deal heavy damage to buildings as it thrashes around on the ground at first. It will begin to run across the city at high speeds and climb whatever buildings it can. Anyone stationed at Lotte World Tower will have to evacuate quickly as it tries to bring the entire building down. However, it looks like the city is so densely packed, there’s no room for it to take off into the air.

█ █ █ MONSTER DEBRIEF SHEET
NAME: IMUGI ♂
HEIGHT: 1000 feet across, 30 feet high
WEIGHT: 2000kg
CLASS: Extremely Dangerous
LOCATION: Seoul, South Korea
ABILITIES: Control over weather conditions, including summoning of heavy storms, lightning strikes and hurricanes. Can fly up to 1000 feet. By flying amongst the clouds, Imugi releases chemicals into the atmosphere that bring about acid rain. Armored scales, sharp teeth and claws.
WEAKNESSES: Piercing it in the gaps between its impenetrable scales. There is also a particularly weak spot under its chin that will deal significant damage if pierced.
EXTRA NOTES: Despises humans and hunts them for food and sport. The scales on the male Imugi also seem to have a different color sheen to their scales, but only under a specific type of light.

* Due to its appearance in Japan, as well as Korea, it does have other names in the database.

▶ 003. KAIJU FIGHT - BUSAN.

Meanwhile, Outsiders in LILITH will have to deal with less assistance from LILITH Korea. With the railway out of commission and their air forces focused predominately in Seoul at the moment, there’s just not enough to share with Busan right now.

All seems quiet for now. Civilians and agents tune into broadcasts for updates from Seoul. As they learn more and more about the growing destruction in the capital city, everyone can’t help but wonder… There are two kaiju, right and one of them was last seen in Busan… so where is it?

Finally, around evening, the kaiju appears not in the sky but in the mountains outside Busan. It’s strange but LILITH will order the Outsiders to move out. If it’s on the ground, it may be injured so exercise caution. The mountains are difficult to travel through but eventually, they will find the Imugi.

It is extremely violent and will thrash out at anyone who gets close to it. It downs trees, spits acid, and summons lightning strikes to keep the Outsiders away. It uses it’s camouflage to escape into highway and railway tunnels. Outsiders may be able to infer that despite being unable to fly, it is trying to travel to Seoul.

To make matters worse, Outsiders may run into… traps. It looks like someone has tried to set out hunting traps out here. They drop electric nets, shoot tranquilizer barbs, and more. Is this what has been keeping the Imugi down? Who put them out here?

█ █ █ MONSTER DEBRIEF SHEET
NAME: IMUGI ♀
HEIGHT: 1000 feet across, 30 feet high
WEIGHT: 2000kg
CLASS: Extremely Dangerous
LOCATION: Busan, South Korea
ABILITIES: Control over weather conditions, including summoning of heavy storms, lightning strikes and hurricanes. Can fly up to 1000 feet. By flying amongst the clouds, Imugi releases chemicals into the atmosphere that bring about acid rain. Armored scales, sharp teeth and claws.
WEAKNESSES: Piercing it in the gaps between its impenetrable scales. There is also a particularly weak spot under its chin that will deal significant damage if pierced.
EXTRA NOTES: From its initial appearance and behavior, specialists believe that this female Imugi could be in preparation to give birth or may have recently given birth. This appearx to be the female counterpart to the kaiju in Seoul— despite them both being the same type of kaiju, likely derived from the same rift, this kaiju seems slightly more agile and openly aggressive.

▶ 004. NO TIME TO REST - SEOUL.

It’s a two-front battle in Seoul and Busan.

Finally, in the late evening hours, the Seoul Team will successfully defeat the Imugi. Lotte World Tower collapses to the ground, bringing down more buildings with it. The water systems in the city are damaged and the streets begin to flood, mixing water with kaiju blood and turning acidic. Some of the evacuation centers were attacked in the chaos so Outsiders will have to rush to evacuate them again.

While it all seems like a standard aftermath, there is no time to rest. Scavengers emerge and try to plunder goods from the destroyed stores. They go into dangerous areas to retrieve luxury goods and expensive electronics they can resell for more Kryptos later.

However, some people have come and are trying to pick the Imugi corpse. They collect blood, rip off scales, hack off claws, and try to take whatever they can get their hands on. They may try to bribe an agent for an organ or to just look away while they pick at the remains. Some agents accept the bribes and others seem to be participating for themselves.

There has always been a black market for kaiju but this is a dragon. Anything they can get will surely sell for a lot of money.

▶ 005. NO TIME TO REST - BUSAN.

Meanwhile, in Busan, since the battle started later. It is still ongoing. Fortunately for them, they don’t have to worry about buildings collapsing on them. However, around evening, something happens. Everything goes still in the mountains. The air becomes electrically charged, the clouds grow darker, and suddenly the kaiju takes off into the air.

It lets out a loud, high-pitched screech that summons a sudden heavy downpour of acid rain and the sky flashes with lightning that touches down all around the outsiders. The air becomes heavy and some Outsiders may recognize it as a Rift opening up. They may also notice that the Imugi in the sky… is growing? It grows longer and larger and it looks down on the Outsiders with glowing eyes before it disappears into the Rift.

The female kaiju has escaped.

The mountains have been heavily exposed to the Rift which means characters can fall to Rift poisoning. Exposure to the Rift can result in increased headaches, vertigo, irritability and impulsiveness. They will be ordered to retreat for their own health and safety.

▶ 006. DECISION.

With the fight in Seoul completed, and the other Imugi having escaped, all Outsiders will be prompted to return to Seoul in order to regroup. Agents in Busan will have to tend to themselves and make do with what they have until help arrives. With the rail destroyed, aircraft will arrive from Seoul to provide aid and pick up agents in Busan. They will swiftly return to Seoul. With parts of Seoul devastated by the attack, there won’t be much time to relax in leisure, especially as the higher-ups within LILITH seem to be under several discussions on their recent failure in allowing the second kaiju to escape. While it is the Outsiders who risked their lives on the front line, it isn’t to state that they’re only met with appreciation from the general public.

The branch in South Korea seems to be firm on the Outsiders and all borrowed LILITH operatives to remain in the city and help. Not only has the kaiju left ruin to a lot of the infrastructure in the city but crime has skyrocketed as a result of people trying to capitalize on the destruction. Without assistance, the entire city could fall into anarchy. On the opposing end, the Japan branch wants to prioritize tracking the kaiju while they are still able to, especially considering the Imugi's natural ability to camouflage and move stealthily from one country to another. They fear not acting swiftly will result in losing whatever trace they have.

…

A few hours after team Busan touches down in Seoul, all Outsiders will receive a message on their oculars. It will briefly explain the current situation and ask each Outsider to cast a vote on their next steps. There are two options that will be settled before them, either to: ASSIST the city of Seoul as best as they can before moving onwards, or to immediately CHASE after the recently escaped Imugi.

While that is happening, Seok Dang will have also disappeared. Considering his long history in the country, he naturally has the most connections. As a result, he is ordered to go out and seek specific pieces of information that the Japan branch isn’t privy to as a whole. While he’s firm on publicly stating he is staying around for a specific idol event (that is most definitely canceled), it’s clear he is attempting to look into the LILITH operatives that have been found dead in South Korea.

While those Outsiders in Busan were hit heaviest by the rift effects, the instability of the dual nature of two kaiju coming and going from Seoul and Busan have led to the presence of rift poisoning in Seoul as well. Because of this, Outsiders will be prompted to sit tight and await further orders while their peers recover.

▶ 007. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to fourth kaiju log!

Below will be two choices available, either to stay and ASSIST the city in its efforts to stabilize, or to CHASE after the escaped kaiju. Both results have their own pros and cons. Please keep in mind, this would be an IC decision, and so please keep that in mind before casting a vote. If you have multiple characters, you may cast a vote with each character. Additionally, while this does impact the aftermath or the following log's contents, it will not impact the general schedule. Voting will close at 12:00 AM GMT on August 22nd, to allow mods enough time to draft the next log.

As there are two kaiju, please comment below in the correct thread to get your hit in! In fairness, since only one kaiju is defeated, the final hit winner will be from Seoul, while two of the heaviest hitter will be from Busan, and one from Seoul in order to keep the numbers even.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. BE READY: The kaiju have been identified as a pair of dragons. Outsiders must participate in training drills to be ready at a moment's notice.

2. KAIJU FIGHT - SEOUL: Outsiders must take to the air or other high places to bring down Imugi (male). If they can use it, they may have access to aircraft. When the Imugi is brought down, it will take down Lotte Tower with it. The battle will proceed on the ground.

3. KAIJU FIGHT - BUSAN: Outsiders will track the Imugi (female) to the mountains outside Busan. It will not take to the air but Outsiders will run into odd traps that may deter their progress.

4. NO TIME TO REST - SEOUL: After being defeated, scavengers will try to raid the destroyed buildings and remains of the Imugi (male). Some law enforcement, including LILITH agents, seem to be involved.

5. NO TIME TO REST - BUSAN: A Rift opens and Imugi (female) escapes. Characters may be effected by Rift poisoning.

6. DECISION: Outsiders in Busan will sit tight until aid comes by air from Seoul. Busan Outsiders will be transported back. LILITH South Korea wants the Outsiders to help with recovery and keep the peace. LILITH Japan wants to pursue the Imugi (female) while they still have information.

code

Comments

Ereshkigal || Fate/Grand Order || Redemption

[queenofkur]

I/ Kaiju Fight (Seoul)

a) queen of the gallû spirits
[ Aha, her time to shine has finally come, a Kaiju Battle! First, to give her allies an advantage. Ereshkigal lifts her spear cage in a most dramatic fashion, and purple flowers appear out of thin air, swirling around her. Everyone around her receive a buff. Indeed, their natural defenses and the might of their attacks increases by a small margin. Furthermore, they will also feel revitalized and full of energy. ]

Behold the Blessing of Kûr! [Ereshkigal smiles triumphantly, and the blue little lights in her spear cage are freed, now floating around her.] This world is under the protection of Ereshkigal, Queen of Kûr and Goddess of Death!

[ And lo...! The goddess' form is engulfed by light and once things go back to normal? Her human self is replaced by a ten feet all floating semi-skeleton. A veil flows most dramatically behind her transformed form as a gigantic red spear appears in her hand. When she speaks, her voice is distorted and deeper than usual. ]

Prepare to face the wrath of the underworld, sinful beast!

[ ... S-She looks cool, right? She certainly hopes so! Hopefully her allies are awed by this and will give her plenty of praise and compliment once the battle over. She's really put in her all and unlike last time, she won't allow for anyone to be hurt and unlike last time, she won't be defeated...! ]

b) no mana left
[ As she prepares for what she hopes may be a killing blow to the beast, suddenly... Ereshkigal's transformation ends. Mere seconds ago, the kaiju had been facing a terrifying monster from Sumerian myths. Now, he's facing a human-looking blonde woman who's wide-eyed with surprise. ]

Huh...?

[ Simultaneously, the Blessing of Kûr fades from everyone who had been benefiting from it. H-Has she run out of mana already? But it feels like she was just getting started, that shouldn't be possible! Are her reserves in this world really that limited? ]

... Aaah!

[ She jumps out of the way last second as the kaiju trashing around nearly hits her. T-That's a nightmare! She's totally useless now! Why did this happen at such a bad moment? She's just a dead weight on everyone now. ]

II/ No Time To Rest (Seoul)

a) stopping the scavengers
[ That's one of humanity's worst aspect. For all the praise and love she has for humans, there are many who give reason to those who hate them. Understandably, their survival instinct kicks in and they do whatever they must to survive. But at the cost of helping each other? At the cost of empathy? ]

What shameful behavior... Taking advantage of a tragedy for personal gain!

[ She doesn't have her powers any more, but she still has her A-Rank strength! And this scavenger is getting an A-rank slap that sends him flying most dramatically against a wall. He's fine, mostly. He'll feel better after a little nap. ]

Anyone else?!

[ ... Most scavengers around dropped whatever they were holding and ran after seeing her fury. At least that means they'll be safe! And maybe they'll remember they can help each other rather than think only of themselves. ]

b) exhausted
[ Unfortunately, after her mana reserves running out, her normal human energy is what runs out next. She's exhausted and on the verge of collapse, but that doesn't stop her from trying to help the people she encounters. She knows she should stop, but after the humiliation she suffered during the kaiju battle, she can't. ]

T-There, go to your parents, okay...?

[ Ereshkigal smiles at a child she just helped. He nods and runs away... Only for the goddess to collapse on the ground as soon as he is out of sight. This is so pathetic. Hopefully no one see her like this. ]

Dammit... I can't go on like that...

III/ Decision (Network)

a) seoul
[ When everyone gathers for a reunion to speak about what to do next-- What's that? Ereshkigal's head fell on your shoulder and she's asleep? ]

Zzz... Nyuh... [She sounds deeply asleep, and yet she speaks in her sleep, weakly.] Someday... someday... my love... will come... sooomeday... nyuuh... we'll meet... at laaast... and away... from the underworld... zzzzz... we'll gooooo... to be happy... for a lifetiiiime... i knooooow...

[ ... Is she singing in her sleep? It may be worth waking her up if that's too embarrassing. Or not if you can bear it. ]

b) network (@ goddess of death)
Is everyone alright?

I know the decision to come is heavy, but please take care of yourselves first. It will do no good if you collapse from exhaustion.

3a

[peoplewatch]

[ Kabru was taking in everyone's opinion with keen ears and waiting for a good time to speak when he feels a warm body plop right against his back. They seem to be remaining right there? Carefully, he looks over his shoulder, and is rather pleasantly surprised to find a young woman in blond pigtails. She appears to be singing in her sleep, and Kabru can't help but smile at the scene, finding it rather adorable.

Not wanting to wake her, he turns slowly, letting her rest against his chest instead and stabilizing her by the shoulders. He doesn't say anything, not wanting to wake her. Instead, he's keen to keep listening to her song. ]

[queenofkur]

[ She keeps singing. Slowly, her voice very low. It's starting to look like nothing short of a kaiju attack is going to wake her. And she's most certainly not going to move from that very comfortable shoulder (now chest??) she's found. ]

Murr...Someday when freedom's heeeeeeeeeeeere... We'll find... Our loooooove... Rrr... At last...

[ Though, something may become apparent. The warmth doesn't come from her, but from the cage dangling from her hip. Contrary to it, the goddess is quite cold. ]

Nyuh... And the Gallûûûûûûû spirits will siiiing... Zzzz... The spear cages... Will riiiing...

[ ... Not just quite cold. Damn cold. Why, touching her kind of feels like touching a corpse! Surely that's normal and she's alright, right? ]

[peoplewatch]

[ It's a strange song. He doesn't think he's heard it before. What could she be dreaming about? Kabru is also starting to notice how strange her body feels. He's quite used to touch and being close with other people, so he picks up on how unnatural her body is feeling against his right away. She's much too cold to be a living and breathing human. Clammy, too, like a corpse. That's odd and a bit concerning. Does she have a sickness or is it some other reason?

As nice as it is to have someone cute leaning against his chest, she isn't comfortable here at all. He should probably find a place she can lie down. Gently, he supports her shoulder in one hand and bends a little to catch the back of her knees with the other, lifting her up and carrying her. Now he'll start looking for a softer spot she can nap on. ]

1/5

[queenofkur]

Ny... Mhrm...

[ Ereshkigal remains asleep the entire time as he gently lifts her up and starts carrying her. Based on how peaceful she looks, this must be quite the nice rest she is getting. Curiously though, she is no longer singing...

Could it be the time of her awakening is fast approaching? ]

[queenofkur]

[ And why, she's indeed waking up. Though she doesn't really want to open her eyes. She's feeling so comfortable right now...!

Ah, if only she could sleep like that every time... Her sleep feels so bad usually! It's like something keeps her from sleeping as peacefully as she can. is it the quality of the pillow and mattress, perhaps? Maybe this is it! Maybe if she had better ones - like the ones she's sleeping on right now - she could sleep better. ]

[queenofkur]

[ But alas, all good things must come to an end. And so, the goddess slowly - sleepily - opens her eyes...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ]

1a

[intertwinedfates]

[Having been chasing the kaiju for a while now, Yato's starting to feel the strain of a prolonged fight. After landing near Ereshkigal, he wipes the sweat from his brow and takes stock of the situation: they're well-armed and outnumbering the beast, but it's stronger with better defenses. What they need is something of comparable size or strength...

And it seems they just might get it thanks to Ereshkigal. For as her blessing spreads over the area, revitalizing the group and upping their abilities, Yato peers over at her curiously, astounded by what is clearly a boon from her. He shouldn't be surprised that other gods have such impressive abilities, yet it still leaves him feeling a touch jealous and definitely in awe.

Yet that's not the end of the surprises from her, oh no! Once she transforms into the skeletal creature, Yato's jaw drops and in a rare instance, he's practically speechless. Eventually though he finds his wits, and leaps enthusiastically, thrusting a fist into the air to cheer her on.]

Atta girl, Eresh! Go get em! You can do it!

[queenofkur]

...?

[ I-Is someone complimenting and praising her? It's not like she's doing that so people will tell her she's doing a great job, no no. Perish the thought! Only a shameless and dishonorable goddess would do things only so she can get people to like her. Buuuuuut it's a nice bonus, isn't it? Especially when for your entire existence, you've never been complimented for all of the work you've put into your duties!

And it's Yato! That makes it even more special. Besides Ryoji, she's never heard praises from another god. ]

T-Thank you!

[ Is the giant flying skeleton smiling and sparkling? Of course she is! Regardless of the form, she's still the same Ereshkigal. Of course, that means she is, without a doubt, far less scary than she could be. ]

You've been doing amazingly too, chasing it all that way!

[ He deserves compliments too! No effort must go unrewarded. ]

[intertwinedfates]

[Another way in which they're similar, truthfully, though Yato does deliberately go out of his way to earn praise much more readily. It's why he's so quick to give it out when he thinks someone is doing a stellar job. And truly Ereshkigal is making one hell of a splash in this battle in double the ways. That deserves not only thanks for the revitalization, but her impressive battle form as well. If they were fighting sentient creatures, they'd know to be rightly scared of an intimidating form like that.

So he keeps bouncing in place, like an overenthusiastic cheerleader. All he needs are pompoms!]

Hehe, no problem!

[Aw, look how cute she gets when pleased, even as a spooky skeleton! That's so sweet that Yato can't help grinning all the more at her. Scary or no, he's still impressed.]

Aw, thanks! Now we should be able to really get serious between the two of us! Ready to serve up some serpent today?

[With sword in hand he leaps up to land on her shoulder, crouching there with a laugh. What a pair they make: the Goddess of Death and a God of Calamity. This thing's gonna wish it was never born!]

2b

[curingidiocy]

[ Unfortunately, the one who sees her in her exhausted state is none other than Ratio. And he is not one to let disagreements get in the way of assisting people in need of aid. He strides over to her without hesitation and holds a hand out to her. ]

Allow me to assist you.

[queenofkur]

[ What's more embarrassing? That she's pushed herself so much she needs help, or that the one offering the help is the man she burned so brutally a mere half of a month prior? Not that she holds any grudge against him, she just found his social skills really terrible!

But still... ]

T-Thank you... [She takes his hands to help pull herself up— She's prideful, but not so much so she's going to refuse his help.] My apologies. It appears I have overexerted myself.

[curingidiocy]

[ It's fine. Ratio is quite used to criticism about every aspect of himself, from his work, to his behaviour, down to the way he dresses. It's easy to shrug it off once you realize most are just aiming to spew negativity because they have nothing else better to do. She's not the first to criticize his admittedly lacking social skills, nor will she be the last.

He offers her a subtle look of disapproval in lieu of a scolding. ]

Even gods have their limits, I see.

[ He doesn't let go of her hand, and will reach out to further support her if it looks like she'll fall over again. ]

Let us return to our encampment. You will not be of any use out here as you are.

1b

[cranekin]

(He's never seen a Gashadokuro before. That's how he decides to rationalize the giant skeletal being he sees in front of him. So this is one of Ereshikgal's forms? How surprising. He won't dwell on it for too long, though. He'll focus on attacking the Imugi, taking advantage of being blessed and aided by a goddess.

However, when he notices a sudden shift in the space around him. He sees that the great skeleton is gone and instead--

Ereshikgal may feel the air around her become light and warm. There's a floral scent in the air followed by a few white petals glowing bright with small amounts of divine energy. Next, Tsurumaru is behind her, supporting her with his sword drawn in front of them,)

You look surprised, Eresh-chan.

[queenofkur]

[ O-Oh, thank goodness it's Tsuru! It's still very embarrassing, but less so than it could be. She feels more comfortable around him than she does around most people. With them sharing a job and how alike their thoughts are on so many important things, this is no surprise!

She even feels safe... Which is not something she thought would be possible when her powers are all essentially unavailable to her. All that's left to her is basic human strength. ]

I didn't appraise correctly how drastically lacking my mana reserves are in this world.

[ She probably could have kept the Blessing of Kûr on her allies for the entirety of the fight, and maybe even for a bit beyond that. Likewise, she could probably have remained transformed till the kaiju is dealt a final blow. But both at once? Not with the mana this vessel is capable of producing on its own.

It would be a different story if she contracted with someone and established a Master-Servant relationship. But... ]

I-I'm sorry, I'm little more than a dead weight... [She can still handle her spear with ease, but that's not going to so much as scratch the kaiju.] Don't worry about me, I'll try to stay out of the way.

[ ... Okay now maybe it's actually getting far more embarrassing, because he actually thinks positively of her, and there's no way he's not going to be extremely disappointed. What a failure of a goddess she is. ]

[cranekin]

Hah! You feel alive to me!

(So definitely not deadweight to him. Maybe he's trying to make her feel better but he sounds genuine when he says it.)

It's dangerous to be alone right now. Can you move on your own still? Stay with me.

(He can definitely take care of both of them until they work something out.)

1b

[30storieshigh]

[ Fighting alongside the skeletal being the same size as him is exhilarating. She provides an odd energy to her allies, he doesn't have to worry about them getting underfoot or wandering into the path of fire, and she holds her own just fine. Until she doesn't. One second there's a skeleton, then the extra energy in his body vanishes as a confused looking very squishy, very hesitant person is left behind.

Godzilla doesn't hesitate. He breaks off from attacking the Imugi to protect Ereshkigal in the most direct way possible, lunging to the side to pick her up and carry her out of immediate danger. the Imugi takes a swipe at him before he can turn his dorsal spines to it. The good news is his bulk keeps Ereshkigal safe, the bad news is claws rake across Godzilla's side causing him to roar in pain. He doesn't stop to answer the attack, instead focusing on dashing to the side and plopping his rescue down in the shelter between two buildings a few feet away, keeping his back to the enemy so his spines will discourage any sneak attacks. ]

You are uninjured?

[queenofkur]

[ Ereshkigal had noticed the presence of someone else her size during the battle, but hadn't been able to focus on who or what they are. Dividing your attention is usually the best way to lose a battle. A shame that she didn't realize in time that dividing her powers was also a really bad idea. She should have focused on the transformation or the blessings, not both at once. Not without a Master to provide her mana, anyway.

And then— ]

... ... ... ...?

[ Is she being carried to safety in the arms of the one who had been fighting alongside her? S-Shocking! This is a turn of event now even someone with Clairvoyance EX could have seen coming! She's like a princess who's just been rescued from a dangerous predicament by a brave and fearless hero...

Except she's supposed to be a powerful and mighty goddess, so that's totally super embarrassing! ]

T-thank you, er... [Wait... It's just dawning on her. The way he looks, his size-] You-You are the kaiju allied to us...! [The plot twists are coming in so quickly! But this isn't even the climax of this story, it's only a mid-chapter! What's going to happen next?] Are you hurt?

[30storieshigh]

[ He really shouldn't let his ego get the better of him in the middle of battle, he can't help it. Being looked at with shock and awe, being appreciated for the protector and fighter he is, he'll never get tired of it. The friendly kaiju pulls back his lips to show his teeth in his odd mimicry of grinning. ]

A wound on the scales, nothing more. You should be more careful, this enemy is-

[ Godzilla almost doesn't notice the Imugi looming behind him to take advantage and attack. Almost. Before it can Ereshkigal gets herself scooped up like a princess again, Godzilla grabbing her and stepping to the side as a blast of lightning strikes where they were both standing moments ago. ]

The Tiamat-kin is nearly as vexing as she was. Yet smaller, he shall be an easier kill. [ He snorts and slams his tail against the ground to show how little he's impressed. Whatever else can be said about Godzilla though he's a gentle giant where it counts, once more lowering Ereshkigal to her feet. ] Are you fit to continue the fight, Golden Furred One?

3A

[the_fourteenth]

[Honestly? At first, Raidou doesn't even notice someone is asleep on his shoulder either, completely spent on energy himself. After needing to be dragged back from the battlefield for looking for any unfortunate souls caught in the wreckage, Raidou was plopped down in a chair and instructed to wait his turn to be examined by LILITH doctors.
No sooner is his sitting than he's asleep. That is until Ereshkigal starts singing in her sleep.

His eyes flutter open, and is a little shocked to find someone there, leaned against him, and he hadn't noticed. He used to be quite a touch-averse person, but things sure have changed in the last several months.]

Ah...

[Should he wake her up? That can't possibly be restful.]

Um. Ereshkigal-san.

[At least it's a soft, gentle voice trying to wake her up.]

[queenofkur]

[ The goddess stops singing when he calls her out gently. But alas... This doesn't wake her up, not yet at least. Instead, it appears as though Ereshkigal starts merely speaking in her sleep. As gods do, obviously. ]

Ehe... Ehehehe... [Without realizing him, she locks her arm with his in her sleep.] Holding... Zzz... Hands... Mnrr... How scaaaaaaandalous...!

[ What is she dreaming about?
Does he even want to know?

Regardless, his efforts to wake her up are unsuccessful so far. ]

[the_fourteenth]

[Oh. Dear. She's really out, isn't she. Should he disturb her? The arm around his is a little much, but... she's resting?

No. If he was in her shoes, he'd want to be woken up, he thinks.]

Ereshkigal-san...

[A hand on her shoulder now, a gentle touch for attention, not wanting to startle her.]

IIb

[newphew]

[ no one can see her like this......... except for hunter, who has randomly ran into her in one of her weakest moments. he's looking pretty run-down and injured himself, burns on his arms and eyebags more prominent than ever. but he pauses when he sees her -- makes his way over ]

[ offers her a bottle of water. that's all he's got ]

I can take you back.

[ if she needs a break. he looks halfway to collapsing himself, though ]

[queenofkur]

[ Noooooooo! Why does this keep happening? He keeps finding her when she's at her weakest! At least h-he hasn't spoken of this to anyone before, right?

The water is appreciated... But she can't accept! He looks even worse off than her in some respect. She manages to sit down and- ]

N-No, you should reserve your strengths for yourself.

[newphew]

[ just to ruin her life, to be quite honest. he shoves the water at her when she hesitates, determined to make her drink it. hydrate or diedrate, eresh! ]

I've got plenty of strength left. [ he grumbles.... but it's a little strained ] Don't overdo it.

[ not that he cares, b-baka, etc ]