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1[LoM | Solo] The Monster of the Marshes Empty [LoM | Solo] The Monster of the Marshes Mon May 06, 2019 5:58 pm

Laïs Crowly

Laïs Crowly


C-rank
[LoM | Solo] The Monster of the Marshes Latest?cb=20150723212419

Land of Marshes

The Land of Demons once her birthplace, Home was not far off. But with getting closer, the stress within the Jugo's head was building up. Long flights, persistent fatigue, gnawing hunger and lack of meditation was throwing her senjutsu chakra out of control. The nightmares became intenser as memories of the past unearthed themselves and troubled her mind. The spirits trapped within the nearby swamps surfaced to wail at her in their desperation to find solace from a doomed eternity. Her vision was blurred as twilight settled, most sound doused by the thrum of an upcoming fever and a real pest of a headache. Something akin to a village came in sight as the giant black bird neared it and sought to land safely into the streets. A couple of houses tucked between grass, reed and water.

Lais landed rather clumsily as she willed her avian form into humanoid and was promptly greeted with an arrow hitting her back rather hard. Hard enough for her to tumble forward and onto her knees. Blood trickled out of the wound but her body registered no pain. Her senses had numbed since quite some time by now, her experiments with undeath having brought her closer to Death itself. Were it not for the sheer force of the arrow's impact, Lais might never have felt it pierce the flesh in her back. And exactly because of that impact, the Jugo pulled the hood of her Ryujin cloak over her head as she gritted her teeth. Time was trickling to a slow pace. Every throb in her head seemingly bringing an unexpected calm despite the pain. Chakra bleeding out to cover her skin in a slate grey. Footstep in the back, followed by mumbling. Giant sword-like claws growing out of her elbows and arms. Vision blurring to a darkness without conscience. Words were uttered as presences stepped into the Sage's sensory. Then... all went quiet.



"I hate you!", the girl screamed at the top of her lungs. The desire to kill, to ravage, to destroy overwhelming all reason. She ran up to the adult before her with blind rage, nails having grown to claws under the influence of his chemicals. Viciously sharp. They'd rake over his arm, tearing his shirt to pieces effortlessly. Digging into flesh like butter. Blood splattered about, the wound tainted by specks of necrosis. Claret eyes revealed the eyes of a snake or cat, the pupils slit as if to represent a primal instinct. A second sweep would rip open his shirt and chest. A third slash barely missed him, but did not mean the end. The fourth one scraped his left hand as he tried to block her vicious assault. Then the fifth, though blocked, forced him to stumble into the ground. There was no counting any longer. Sixth, seventh, tenth, twelve. Fury and claw would shred the body to ribbons. Flesh, tendons, muscles. Blood, bone, gore. The beast ravaged and raged, feeling no desire to relent. Until another one showed up. A woman. She shrieked in agony. Drawing the attention of Wrath itself, who instantly accepted the invitation by leaving the mauled man.

With blinding speed she rushed towards the woman and leapt through the air. Her shred missed, and she was punished for it with a solid strike against the chin. It angered her even more. Riled up by the pain, she returned the favour. Claws would connect with the face, tearing open the cheek. Deep enough to leave scars. Deep enough for necrosis to find a feast. A good kick to the guts would send the Beast reeling, but the brief knockdown only gave her the momentum for a second jump. Feet into the ground, adrenaline rushing, senjutsu boosting. A bloodcurdling roar followed as the child's full weight rammed into the woman's stomach and forced the air out of her. Knocked her down. Helpless now against the coming onslaught. The coming onslaught.




Onslaught.


The Jugo's Combat Form was no match for the civilians. A blur of black and grey violence shred through the first man with both of its blades and ripped him to pieces as it pulled free. Under a rain of blood it roared its challenge before dashing forward to the next man, who tumbled backward in terror. The frenzying Jugo moved in a blur, arriving at its prey before it had the chance to escape. Blade would slice off an arm. Then the impact force of a portable harpoon followed. It'd tumble over the floor, shake its head as it recovered its senses and remorselessly pull out the projectile out of her flank. Blood gushed out, but there was no pain. No pain to revel in or swim in. Unfazed by the counter-offensive, it locked eyes with the one who had dared to interrupt its brutal feast. Shocked by the monster's unfathomable resilience, he'd hurry to load a next projectile. Watch how the Jugo became partial translucent as it stumbled on its feet and ran across the field with a piercing cry. The second harpoon would be aimed. And released. Connecting with the shoulder. And passing through. Insufficiently damaging the slate-grey skinned girl. He paid the price of failure with his life as blades ran him through and mauled him with maddening passion.

The war cries of the mad Jugo and the cries of terror of her victims had roused the attention of the other civilians. Fear glimmered in their eyes as they looked at what transpired in the distance. The most valiant would take up arms and step outside. Meet the Jugo who had picked up their smell in the air.

Then it began all over again...



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Last edited by Laïs Crowly on Sat May 11, 2019 4:26 am; edited 1 time in total

Laïs Crowly

Laïs Crowly


C-rank
The Shadow of Ill Omens moved swiftly to close the gap between her and the next group of defenders, but way before she had reached the incoming troops, Einherjar was called upon. The ethereal spear flew through the air at the whim of her raging strength, and drilled itself into the chest of one of the armed men to pin him unhappily to the ground. For a brief moment, his allies looked in sheer terror before despair and survival instinct drove them to move on, leaving their friend to fend for himself. Gasping for air, clutching his chest and the spear in an attempt to somehow break free out of his inescapable predicament, he'd find a painful and helpless death while his friends met with the raging Jugo. Blades clashed with Jugo transformation, their martial prowess untrained to deal with a rampaging monster. Weapons were pushed aside effortlessly as Lais proved to hold greater strength, and limbs soon were severed as a consequence. Blood sprayed about, colouring the Jugo and the ground a wet crimson.

Not satisfied yet, the berserking beast ran into the village, pulling loose Einherjar from the ground and out of the dead man's chest in its search for more life. The first of buildings, where the men had come out from, was crashed into. Effortlessly she unhinged the door as she kicked it in, finding herself in a simple house. Table, stools, furniture were all thrown around as the Jugo made its displeasure known about the lack of lives to vent its fury on. In a matter of moment, the building was sacked and the girl ran back out. Catching the sound of screams, her ears brought her to a new home where she'd be greeted with a deadly trust in her direction. A solid spear of good quality, backed by the advantage of surprise. Unfortunately for the civilian, the Valkyrie Sage never came unprepared even when her Jugo nature forced her into a rampage - the tip of the spear collided with Hakana, her heavy armour and was promptly deflected. The claret eyes of the beast fixated themselves upon the man who understood he had just come to forfeit his life with his failed assault, only to be followed by brutal retaliation as the sword of her battleform gutted him on the spot. Woman and child cried in terror. Not for long. Defenceless or not, the frenzy made no exception in age, gender or colour. Death did not discriminate in the slightest.

One more house ruined. What little life it harboured extinguished by the blaze of fury.

Laïs rampage continued until half the village was destroyed. Plumes of darkness betrayed the village's peril, beckoning the brave to bring her to a halt. Messaging others the area was under attack. News would spread like a wildfire, but the worst of the Monster's assault was yet to come. Where the Jugo frenzy drove her to bloodshed and destruction, the cold calculative mind of the woman in control was possibly even worse to deal with. Having come out of her frenzy, the occultist drained the lingering entropy from nearby corpses and added to her own. Flesh restored as the 'absence of health' was undone by unholy power. A moment of powerless sadness dwelled within the mind of Lais as she perceived the damage she had done during her rampage, feeling a hint of remorse for its unnecessary violence and her failure to keep control over herself. As Lamya had expected her to do.

"I have failed you, mistress...", she whispered mostly to herself. "Still I succumb to madness. To wanton destruction without cause."

She ran her hand through her hand in an attempt to reconcile herself with reality, but knew there would be no means to prevent her rampage in any way. The destruction was done; her regret not being one of life's destruction - it only furthered her goals towards Yomi - but one of having lost potential resources. But the dead could serve her, still. As warriors arrived to execute rightful vengeance, the valkyrie's eyes observed the presence of the three.

"D-Did you do this?!"
"I believe so, yes. If you are here to stop me, I'm afraid you're a little too late."

The only words they needed to hear; her salty tone adding insult to injury. The three raised their weapons and denounced her in the name of some local lord she didn't care about. Lais knew the Land of Demons and thus by extension the Land of Marshes. She was not that far from home, where she intended to reclaim an old heritage which was rightfully hers. A goal delayed by her rampage, and now by the local justice force.

Retorting to the three that since this was how it went, she'd claim the Lands of Marshes for her mistress and the Ryujin, black iridescent chakra scales covered her armour and cloth to reinforce her claim - the Surplice of the Serpent invoked. With Einherjar and the Ouroboros at her side, she had made new goals clear. As they charged, her chakram was thrown out to meet them. None got caught in her attack, reaching melee range with the war-mongering Jugo. Spear would greet weapons in a dance of strikes and deflections, Einherjar moving as if it had its own life. Snaking through the air in an attempt to eat hostile steel. Their focus on gaining the upper hand distracted them from the chakra-infused chakram, which swiftly returned and struck down the first of warriors as it sliced open his unprotected neck. The man dropped his sword, clenched his neck and tumbled out of the fight as he gasped for air.

"Numbers mean nothing without skill. I am the ash crow. Harken the flap of my wings and hear my cry.", she sneered, allowing unholy chakra to infuse nearby corpses. Bringing them to life at her command. Shambling corpses closed in on the two fierce warriors, the third one warning them from unexpected allies. Quickly they'd be surrounded by the undead, their numbers evened out in a matter of seconds. Their skill non lesser than the Valkyrie before them. The carrion crows had come; Death would soon follow. Driven by the need to survive, the men fought fiercer than a moment ago. To no avail. Surrounded, it would not be possible for them to deal with a single undead. As they were occupied by one, working in perfect tandem, another undead retaliated to make use of exposed vulnerabilities. Then, when the undead had pulled their attention, the Valkyrie's spear punished them. One blow at a time, the heroes felt their hope of victory being crushed until their life too had been claimed.



1131
Total: 2088

Laïs Crowly

Laïs Crowly


C-rank
[LoM | Solo] The Monster of the Marshes Scene_10



Twilight heralded Night's arrival. The sky darkened by ominous clouds and black smoke alike. Half the city laid dead and destroyed, the other half would soon fall under the unholy powers of the occultist. One part belonging to the dead. One part in hands of the living. Yomi would find its tribute to night. There was no way back now for the Jugo. All that remained was seeing her desolation through to the end. Soaking her hands in the crimson-coloured ground where her undead had slain three brave men, entropic energies were absorbed. Proceeding to close her eyes, the Valkyrie sage allowed her Yin-attuned chakra to pour out and cover the area. Allowed it to search new hosts.

"Rise, my children. Rise! Tonight, we dine in Yomi."

Everywhere in the dead section of the village, corpses of men, women and children tasted the Yin-chakra of the occultist and rose up as their bodies were bound to the occultist's will like puppets to the puppeteer. Kinjutsu. Powerful in its own right even at this rank, but unrefined still as Lais sought to improve upon her own 'Black Medicine'-techniques. A bleak comparison to the legendary 'Impure World Reincarnation', as the souls did not inhabit their former shells yet. Merely a mimicry where the terror of mere DNA replications were to be used as a weapon in itself.

But rising they did.

Crawling closer to their 'mother', the shambling corpses heed the call of the valkyrie. 'Chosen' to serve the divine once more. A dead divine, considering Lamya was no more, but a divine nonetheless. Einherjar would be trusted into the ground, the seals of her occult ritual burning brightly in the process. The wails of the trapped souls would yammer and screech as they felt the languishing darkness fester like a wound upon the lands of the living. The stench of death pervaded the area, the colour of the deceased dominated the village, the chilling whispers of Yomi's presence. The Valkyrie sent out her tethered corpses, grabbed her spear and lead them in the next rampant phase. Full conscious, the Jugo had banished all sense of guilt at this point. Numbed. Like her own dying flesh as she unravelled the secrets of immortality with every new phase of the moon. Soon. Soon she would be like her own creations.

The small army of undead quickly arrived at the untouched area within the village where they spread out to slay what little remained alive. They were not many, but even a small dozen of weaker undead was more than sufficient to threaten the lives of civilians. The few fighters whom remained to evacuate the citizens were eventually forced to commit their attention to the shambling horde, sending off the last of the fleeing civilians of whom they knew they'd succeed in their escape by themselves before they prepared themselves for a small scale skirmish in their last attempt to preserve what little remained of the village before the path towards its heart - and its seat of power - laid bare and unprotected before the Jugo.

It was a lost cause. Hesitation struck when they recognised their former community members, terror gnawed at the back of their mind when the scent of decay and the apathy of death did not back down against flashing steel. The dead suffered no pain; every blow against them as useless as the next. The dead did not relent; one by one the defenders fell under the apathy of former friends. Those who succeeded at striking down the shamblers, had their life and soul stolen by Einherjar. There was no stopping the undead tide.

By the end of that night, all light died out.

The Land of Marshes had fallen.




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Total: 2716

Laïs Crowly

Laïs Crowly


C-rank
Land of Marsh - Seat of Power

Ah. Right. The stone building surrounding an ancient legend. Setting foot within the emptied palace, Lais remembered the rumours about this place. If lore was to be believed, the shrine within this temple-palace lead to an underground cave in which once the soul of a demon had been sealed. Moving forward, Laïs considered it irony that only those bearing the name 'Yomi' were able to open the seal towards the demon's soul, as the Jugo herself sought to unleash the like-named world of the dead upon the living. Fitting. But that old lore was just that: old lore. Like the echoes created by her footsteps touching the stone floor, the whispers about the demon-soul were just empty reminders of a history few cared or dared to remember. But an ideal place to continue her research after she reclaimed the journals she had forgotten back home, for that matter.

The 'throne', if one could call it such, was just a privileged seat. Elevated a couple of steps above the level of visitors, the seat of power had preserved its temple-like appearance and had it only slightly transformed to match a more political oriented inclination. A mixture between honouring the past and bringing in the new. Not quite what Lais was used to ever since she had been living under Lamya's tutelage but any seat was a good seat for the time being. The Jugo would walk up the few steps and flop down on the ground, spreading arms and legs as she allowed the cold touch of the stone to embrace her. She closed her eyes with intent to rest, hearing the failure of the doton chakra infused within her undead minions as they crumbled to heaps of ash, and drifted away in well-deserved victory. If one could even call the wanton destruction of a village as such.


Images of a nearby past floated to the surface of her mind. Trembling fingers, bewildered mind. Corpses around. She instinctively knew what had happened but her mind needed time to make it clear to her conscious. Once again, all control was lost. It was not just a destroyed wall or a terrorised kid like the first time. Not even a destroyed room or a hospitalised civilians. This time, she had lost more than that. Her mother, her father. Both had died by her clawed hands as the Jugo's frenzy had held a solid grip over her. The room was ruined. Books and vials littering the place. Making it a total mess. Furniture shattered and broken. Even the window had not been spared. Lais' mind swirled as the neauseating reality imposed itself upon her mind with the subtlety of a thrown brick. She just had to sit down, tears rolling over her cheek. Cries of agony and desperation forcing their way out of her mouth. But no one would understand the hell she was going through. No one to tell her everything would be alright in the end.


The gnawing hunger woke her up from a restless slumber. The first rays of light touched the forlorn village, its dead civilisation numb to the warmth of the life-source itself. Rising to her feet, the realisation of a certain sluggishness set in even though she didn't register the complaints of her overexerted muscles. Amethyst eyes would scan her body for wounds, and find none as the entropic energies within her had already restored what little damage she had suffered. No, such strain was the result of her berserking state and no iryo-jutsu could alleviate the natural fatigue that came with it. The same counted for the gnawing hunger, a biological need which could only be remedied with actual sustenance. Feeble dependencies of mortality, if anything, and one of the first limitations Lais would seek to remove on her path towards undead ascension. For now, such grand dreams were only that: dreams. Her body required food and so she was compelled to abide by its wishes. Exploring the building was paramount, for certainly the centre of the community's power had to have had some servants taking care of such basic necessities.

"Dissssapointing, as usual.", Lamya's pet snake suddenly hissed from the shadows, body writhing into visibility.
"Shut it, Uraeus."
"Is this the self-control you promised the great Snake Sage?"
"I didn't ask to be like this, so keep your forked tongue to yourself."
"Ah yessss... To think Lamya took such interest in you, while all you do is go on a rampage with that pristine senjutsu chakra of yours."
"I'm warning you, I'm hungry. I'm not shy of eating a snake if it quiets my hunger."
"Such an undignified approach. Unlike you, I'm beyond petty threats. It is why I still keep an eye out on you. In memory of Lamya, of course. Why, I even discovered something that might be of interest to you..."
"Let me guess... the demon soul?"
"Oh my. So you are not completely ignorant after all."
"I was born in the Land of Demons, handbag."
"Well then, since you already know... I believe I do not need to stand your insufferable brutality any longer. Just consider yourself lucky Lamya's no longer around, after this little scene here."

Uraeus slunk back into the shadows, disappearing from sight as easily as he had appeared before her even with that massive size of his. Lais knew he was right but being told where she had failed Lamya was the last thing she needed to hear at this point. She was an apprentice, and as far as she was concerned, Lamya had never told her otherwise - the road towards mastery had not been achieved out of the blue with the death of the Snake Sage. In fact, to the Jugo, the opposite was true as the loss of her mistress meant a great blow to her accessible knowledge and insights. Now she had to figure it all out by herself while her pest of a pet remained to antagonise her.

Well, at least she had discovered the kitchen. A small sense of hope in this god-forsaken village. From the stagnant dishes and the open door towards the stock room, the kitchen had been occupied during her assault and hastily abandoned as evacuations took place. The thought that sooner or later better-trained troops might return to get rid of her gnawed in the back of her mind, but were quickly classified as insignificant for the time being by the starved woman. The first thing on today's agenda was regaining her strength. The rest were sorrows for tomorrow.



1120
Total: 3836

Laïs Crowly

Laïs Crowly


C-rank
Amethyst eyes sourly took in the scenery of death and decay that revealed itself in front of the seat of power. Her mind wandered to all the times she had tried to preserve or build up something good for herself or others, only to see it destroyed either by her own Jugo lineage or the meddling of others. Her home. Sunagakure. Now this. Life around her declined with every passing day. Relations withering away as flowers to age. First Lamya who died, then Yosei who left to execute his own plans, and Daremo whose presence was as fleeting as the plagues he carried with him. Leaning upon her spear, the Ryujin took slow, measured breaths as she thought about the future. Where did she go from here on out, other than to pick up forgotten journals? Yomi had laid claims to this land, and there was no point in ruling over a dead place. There wasn't much left to investigate other than the source of an old legend and what little was left of civilisation had escaped to safer regions. No targets to continue her research with. The only option was moving forward until she would once again be met with the same situation as she woke up to today.

"So this is my heritage. Emptiness and silence as far as my eyes can see."

But was there something else to be expected, then? Would anything change once Yomi had swallowed the world whole? An eternity of damnation where only the strongest remained. Life extinguished, death eternal. There would be no end to things, every situation stuck in a loop until power shifted from one entity to another. A world filled with emptiness and silence. At least everything would be equal. No more complaints about loss of cherished ones, all of them reunited in Yomi's embrace. A forlorn but happy existence.

Change didn't come by itself, however. Even if the future was bleak within the troubled mind of the Jugo, she still had to set things into motion. Allowing Einherjar to vanish, the woman shifted into her trusted form of the black bird and left this place for what it was. Perhaps she'd return once she had reclaimed the journals of her father. Perhaps not. Only time would tell.



[EXIT]

383
Total: 4'219
- 4'200 wc preserved

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