[Endgame: rise or DROWN]

[warpweft]

[How long have you been exploring Nessa's palace now? You've met her family, viewed her memories, learned how to fight as a witch and tried to find the source of her power and the Treasure of her palace: the Voidheart. And along the way, you've tired your best, with mixed success, to avoid the incarnation of her eldest cousin and the representation of her trauma and fear, the Nightmare of Esmau.]

[Wherever you are in the Palace right now, you feel the ground briefly shake under your feet. Little shakes here and there haven't been out of the ordinary - Esmau is trying to blow the place down to the studs, after all. But that felt different. That felt....worse.]

[Your phone beeps as you receive a message.]

Comments

[messianic]

[ Minato is still listing a little, but he's back up on his feet.

With a hand still pressed to his shoulder, he reaches for his Evoker. He'll summon Beelzebub for a Mamudoon--

Which he follows up with a double Balmung because if he uses more of his HP he'll be in trouble from everyone. ]

[voidhearts]

[The Prince of Flies appears and casts his Dark spell on Esmau. It doesn't instantly kill her, but it does significant damage, with the Volatile Sparks on Esmau crackling and detonating repeatedly, it inflicts 14 damage.

The two Balmung strikes afterwards add insult to injury for 6 damage and 9 damage.]

ROUND 9

[voidhearts]

[Esmau stumbles back....she just had attacks rained down on her and then some. She clearly didn't hurt expect that you all were that powerful and she is equally clearly hurting now. You broke through all of her barriers and made her bleed....but...

That might've just made her even more dangerous.]

[Invokes:
Minato: Judgment is 57 damage away from being charged
Sprezzatura: Void Fissure is 31 damage away from being charged
Akira: Rebellion is active for one more turn
Tsumugi: Re-Writes is 107 damage away from being charged.]

[Esmau is:
Volatile x3 (inflict damage to detonate Volatile, inflict damage)
Psyshocked x5 (allows certain Harmony spells to inflict critical damage)]

BOSS ACTION

[voidhearts]

[Esmau lets out a battlecry that echoes throughout the temple. She's hurt, but every time she's hurt just seems to make her re-double her efforts to hurt you back.

ENRAGE IS NEAR!

For now, she unleashed a Savage Strike on Minato and Akira. Then, regardless of the result, her eyes stay firmly locked on Akira. She raises her glaive up and lunges at him with a Final Rush, barely waiting to see if she got him, before she brings her hands up and releases a Void Eruption at Akira, Tsumugi and Sprezzatura.]

REACTION

[voidhearts]

[Savage Strike (@ Akira and Minato):
'A reaction attack Esmau releases on any opponents who get within melee range of her. The attack is lightning quick, its speed makes it extremely difficult to dodge or parry.'
Tsumugi and Akira can:
Guard: Take guaranteed, but reduced damage.
Dodge: Attempt to dodge by reducing Esmau's roll to hit.
Parry: Immediately roll against Esmau's roll to hit. If you win, take no damage and attack Esmau back for free. If you fail, take full damage.

Final Rush (@ Akira):
'Esmau selects one opponent and rushes at them with her glaive at full speed for devastating damage.'
Minato can:
Guard: Take guaranteed, but reduced damage.
Dodge: Attempt to dodge by reducing Esmau's roll to hit.
Parry: Immediately roll against Esmau's roll to hit. If you win, take no damage and attack Esmau back for free. If you fail, take full damage.

Void Eruption (@ Akira, Tsumugi and Sprezzatura)
'Esmau opens up three gates into the Void and fires Void blasts at three random opponents.'
Tsumugi, Sprezzatura and Minato can:
Guard: Take guaranteed, but reduced damage.
Dodge: Attempt to dodge by reducing Esmau's roll to hit.]

[cosplayed_out]

[Junko Enoshima... Tsumugi... guards the attack]

[voidhearts]

[The blast is slightly mitigated by your guard for 8 damage.

Tsumugi: 92/100 HP]

Re: REACTION

[messianic]

[ Parry! This time, for sure...! ]

Re: REACTION

[voidhearts]

[Parry roll:
Minato: 9
Esmau: 9, tie!

Minato quickly reverses his grip on Balmung to a reverse grip and tries to block Esmau's kick. The blade holds against Esmau's strike. He can't counterattack, but he takes no damage.]

[survivaltricks]

[lmao]

[Akira reacts as quickly as he can, cursing under his breath as he dodges x 3. that's too many attacks for him to parry each one, sweats]

[voidhearts]

[Threshold to hit (all attacks): 10

Roll 1d20 to hit (Savage Strike): 12-4=8, miss

Akira manages to bend into a backflip and handspring away from the Savage Strike, but he lands on the ground just for...

Roll 1d20 to hit (Final Rush): 17-4=13, hit

Esmau to launch herself at him and drive her glaive into his stomach with enough force to pierce him, then fling him across the temple for 25 damage. He manages to catch himself and nothing but pure adrenaline gets him up in time to...

Roll 1d20 to hit (Void Eruption): Natural 1, miss

Roll out of the way of the incoming Void Blast.

Could've been better.....could've been a lot worse, too.

Akira: 75/100 HP]

Re: REACTION

[velluminous]

[ she's so close. she's so close—she just needs to take the hit.

she'll guard, though she's already bracing herself for the pain. ]

Re: REACTION

[voidhearts]

[The savage strike and the void blast are both slightly mitigated by your guard for 8 damage each.

Sprezzatura: 84/100 HP]

DISCUSS

[voidhearts]

[cosplayed_out]

So... hypothetically, who'd hate it if I were to, say, help Minato get enough pain to charge his whatever attack that does whatever damage?

[survivaltricks]

[he's still bleeding but--]

-- what?!

[EXCUSE??]

[messianic]

[ Minato is probably still like, crouched with Akira, so he's startled to hear his name.



It makes sense though.

For Armageddon... ]

... Fine. Do it. We need to finish this.

[velluminous]

[ AAAAAAAAAA CHANGE OF PLAN I GUESS ]

PLAYER ACTION

[voidhearts]

NELL

[voidhearts]

[Nell is at 50 HP.
Nell is currently visible.
Nell's Invoke will be charged in 120 damage.

You can command Nell to Gather Intel, Heal, Go Invisible or Attack. If you do not command her, she will make her own decision.]

Re: PLAYER ACTION

[velluminous]

[ out of the corner of her eye, now Akira goes flying. she can barely hear anything but her own heart. ]

Enough!!

[ ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING. by now, the motions of these spells are coming second-nature to her: a Harmony Magic Missile, then a Harmony Void Bolt, the heal on Akira, the Psyshock, the charge that she puts into another Phantasmal Killer—whatever Esmau saw, she wants her to see it again. and a Shield on Akira, too.

she is still in melee. in fact if she's the ONLY one still in melee, she's moving to stand between Esmau and the others. ]

Look at me.

Re: PLAYER ACTION

[voidhearts]

[The Harmony-aligned Magic Missile and Void Bolt hit for 9 damage and 10 damage respectively. Afterwards, Akira is healed for (1d5+1: 5+1=6) 6 HP and Esmau has 2 more Psyshock applied.

Akira: 81/100 HP
Esmau: 7 Psyshock

Then, the Phantasmal Killer strikes again and...

Psyshock threshold: 15-7=8
Roll 1d20: 11, success

Esmau throws her head back and shrieks in agony. The Psyshock curse detonates, inflicting extreme psychic damage to her. Whatever she's seeing in her own mind, this time, it got its claws into her and she does not like it. The psychic assault also triggers the last Volatile Spark still remaining on Esmau for, all told, 35 damage.]

[cosplayed_out]

...All right. You know what? Real talk. I'm not getting the due I deserve.

[she strikes a pose]

I am a Goddess of Despair! Not getting to watch you suffer enough under my attacks is an obscenity!

[Tsumugi is going to do a rule change... Tsumugi deals additional damage. The peasant Minato Arisato can just absorb the punishment and hope. ...Or despair, as it were.

And for her next attack, a more traditional monokuma springs forth as a cosplay weapon.]

[messianic]

[ Well...!! First, Minato's starting with a Void from Blood to charge up Akira so he can use his healing spell.

And then--

Balmung, followed by Evoker: this time, for Agidyne from Asura.

Here we go! ]

[survivaltricks]

[with Minato's charge, Akira is going to use Well of Life, and then once he's healed. . .]

[with Rebellion still active, he leaps into action again. another Gravity Strike to Quick Strike to Gravity Strike combo is incoming!]