Pride Cometh before the Fall.

[23:11] Gritted teeth. Between the attacks of Mr. Glass, and Proteus, more and more wounds would have accumulated on the noble. But, taunting as his words were, he was correct. The sound of the manor being attacked wasn't small, it was large, a battle that would surely draw more and more ears the longer it lingered. The leader of the Syndicate would shake their head.

"Next time you will not slip away so luckily, Pelleaux. Your blood will mark the plants yet. And you may call me a peasant, but I am one who will take down the knights yet."

"And I won't be confused or swayed by your words. I won't be swayed after what you did." A glare at last thrown towards the noble, before plants and sand would erupt towards the manor. An attack of vandalism, messing up the walls and leaving a massive hole.

'The Syndicate was here' made into the very stones as the sand became a sand storm, and Meter began to walk through it.

"If any of you want a last swing, take it. But after, we need to move."

Steps forwards and away from the manor.
(Meter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:11] Lucian Valintine says, "I'm good on that.."
[23:11] Lydia Fields says, ".. Good bye hooded strangers."
[23:12] Lydia Fields says, "I won't stick around after his words."
[23:22] This fight was as vicious as the last, the darting in of the two different swordsman being something that was surely a sight to behold for those witnessing it. Yet, it was a battle he just wasn't able to keep up with.

Even with the cosmic rush he was starting to feel himself wear down. The whips and tendrils of water proving to much for him to overcome. The battle ending narrowly against him as he was thrown into a tree with a resounding thud.

On the ground the nobleman spit up a handful of blood. The vision of it blurring for a moment as he did so. The words of his assailants echoed in his ears hazy.

Yet, he was not so deaf as to hear the words being spoken to him. Taunts, insults? He'd shift his crosier to the ground. Pressing against it the battered Nobleman rose form the ground.

"A life of service seems to have stolen my edge. What a whetstone you people are."

His stance turned towards the leader of the group. This was the man who the rest followed here. Cameo Orn Ocatarius. A criminal, a terrorist, and worse, a peasant.

The Pelleaux amber hues narrowed upon Cameo, looking past those nearby, their forms starting to blurr at the corner of his vision. A fresh wash of celestial power started to encapsulate the man as he brought up his Crosier.

"I said, it's Lord Pelleaux. Now, don't think you'll walk out of my home without a scratch." As soon as he spoke his crosier shot forwards! As he did so the very figure of the nobleman shifted away.

From above he rematerialized, coming down fast against the Nature magi. Descending like a meteor earthwards, his very form blurring in the burst of magic.
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:23] Sarasha Fenrir whispers something.
[23:27] "Aaaaaaaand what a fool you are."

The sand had risen up, making it difficult to get a beat on the Syndicate leader. But Meter was not a person who ran. A leisurely pace towards the exit, before the sudden raising yet again of the man's weapon, the shifting of the Crosier. This would be met by tendrils of plant matter rising from the ground.

"You're wounded already. Aaaaaand you're still coming at me? It's dumb. I've fought Radiants. I've fought Exarchs. I won't call you Lord, Pelleaux. I'll call you what you are."

"You are my target. You are a representation of what is wrong with this world. You are the worst kind of noble, one who plays with the lives of those I care about. In life, you served the service."

"But in this? By death, you will serve as a representation that the nobles are not untouchable. In death, You're one step closer to me severing the chains."

Claude rematerialized above, and earth itself rose to meet him as the air grew cold and artic.
(Meter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:33] ** Meter has inflicted an injury upon Claude vey Pelleaux. ("Permanent Injury", "Permanent Injury", "Permanent", "Severity: MODERATE (-10 Vit)") **
[23:33] Sarasha Fenrir says, "Magnificent..."
[23:38] Sajid whispers something.
[23:38] Aki Kurokaiyo whispers something.
[23:38] Proteus whispers something.
[23:38] Sajid whispers something.
[23:38] Sajid whispers something.
[23:38] Proteus whispers something.
[23:38] Aki Kurokaiyo whispers something.
[23:38] Sajid whispers something.
[23:38] Sajid whispers something.
[23:40] Lucian Valintine whispers something.
[23:40] Lucian Valintine whispers something.
[23:40] Proteus whispers something.
[23:41] Sajid goes to check, but there was no borger.
(Sajid)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:41] Sajid whispers something.
[23:41] Sajid whispers something.
[23:47] "You called me a whetstone."

The battle was by no means easy or perfectly won. The power of the light and the blade would rapidly make marks on Meter's visage, blood pouring more heavily from the Syndicate boss as the battle went on and on. Plants grew with the frigid coldness surrounding them, sands tore through the air, slicing and Pelleuax over and over.

But definitely no easy foe. Orbs of light collided with Meter, the blade caught his skin, prisms of light directly harmed him. And yet.. Strike after strike, blood after blood, the vines burried into Meter. Lightly, he healed as he moved forwards.

"I disagree. You're the wetstone, Claude. You are the thing that all my hatred has shined towards. You are the person who I saw tear appart the slums the most, separate families. You may have built it up as a mayor, but you also tear too much apart."

"I will never forgive you for Charlotte." It was personal, but also professional. Every hit both because of who Claude was, but also because it was a noble. Because the man who was in front of him.. Was one of the people who he saw as the worst in the world.

"Not without a scratch? That's fine. You won't walk out of here. You should have let me pass, so you can't blame me, for impaling yourself right? You can't blame winter for coming when you dive into it unprepared."

Vines wiggled, writhed. They ran aflurry from inside of Meter's arms, flinging to Claude. A slice. Another. Again, and again, slice after thorny slice being made onto Claude's body. At first, they met metal, but as they cut more and more, they went deeper and deeper into the flesh. It managled. It cut.

One in particular went upwards, bashing the side of Claude's head. Slicing close to his face, an ear would go flying off, caught only by a vine close by, before the slices on the chest resumed, leaving the region bloody and heavily bleeding out.

"You're not leaving here, Claude. I'm not letting you go. Astor, Pelleaux, Grimmoire. I'm going after them all. You just happen to be the first."

"This world will fall. This chain will break."

Another gash, before leaving him a moment, letting Claude slump to the ground. He would take a minute to breathe, just letting Claude bleed out onto the grass below. Blood would feed nature in his own cruel way.
(Meter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[23:53] Sajid whispers something.
[23:53] Sarasha Fenrir whispers something.
[23:53] Sajid whispers something.
[23:53] Sarasha Fenrir whispers something.
[23:54] Sajid whispers something.
[23:59] The ground was a place he'd never spent much of his life on. It was a thing he found disgusting, filled with the failures of the world. He'd always looked to the stars instead, there was a plan up in those twinkling lights. A purpose for the world to follow. That's what mattered to him, the purpose he played in the great plan.

Perhaps that's why he was who he was. The pain felt like a fire, he'd fought not one magi after the next and when they sought to leave he'd kept up the aggression. That's what he was, tenacious, proud.

His hand came up to cover his face, the blood was coming now. He could hear the world hazy as he slid back to touch the ear he'd lost. It was a marring on his features, one that he'd worry about if he didn't know what he was facing.

Yet, he heard enough. His gaze shifted upwards as he pushed himself out of dirt. It was getting harder to breath, and his vision was marred by blood. He sp Order to move against it's enemies?

No, he knew they'd continue to hide inside the walls with all there wonderous powers and do nothing. The Pellaux's eyes close as he turned his gaze towards the sky. He didn't need them to see what he wished to.

Far within the sky was the constellation of Opiuchus and within it his star. Rasalhague, the place where his soul would rest.
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[00:12] Claude was here. He was in Meter's hands. He could kill him. Right now, the thought crossed over the Syndicate Boss' mind over, and over and over again. He could take the life. It wasn't his first kill. The Order would know what he had done. But.. Was it perfect?

So, as the blood would leak from Claude, one last strike.

"Charlotte is one reason. The Pelleuax family looking down is another. The nobility has to fall if we want to break chains. People have to die. It's the way that it is."

"It's the only way to break the chains, to weaken the First Light, to show the world exactly how little the Order can do."

And yet.. There was that nagging feeling just at the back of Meter's head. Was there a better way to use this?

. . .

"I will show how weak the First Light is. I'll show how little they can accomplish."

The vine, a sudden blow, to the side of Claude's head. Instead of killing the noble, he would just be knocked out, and the blue vines would be wrapped around the noble.

"The world will know. We'll announce it. Claude Vey Pelleaux has been captured by the Syndicate. The Order will come, try to save him. And they will fail. And then, he will die."

A step forward, choice made. A hand moved to the weapon of the Pelleaux, taking it, before starting to drag him off.

"Let's return."
(Meter)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[00:12] Claude vey Pelleaux's Serpent's Crosier was stolen by Meter.
[00:18] The Greater Nobleman didn't speak as he gazed towards the stars above. He'd witnessed the single-minded actions of the Syndicate underbosses time and time again. It was nothing if not admirable in it's fanaticism.

Yet, still he was to die, he would do so with decorum. He heard the last sentence, it was a real shame he'd lost most of his influence in the First Light. Though, if it was to come he'd push his muscles further.

He was kneeling, but his posture was as rigid as he could make it. The perfect posture for a tea ceremony, his mind darting back to the years of business with Kirai. A smile settled upon his features as he did so.

He was going to meet those who came before. That was when he felt the blow landing and land it did. Smoting the Pelleaux into the dirt with such force that his head bounced off the ground.

A flicker of cosmic energy fluttered before fading and the man went still.
(Claude vey Pelleaux)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------