Cullen vs Juliette in war

[21:49:39] The war had been quite the carnage, death being the norm in the field. Bodies of fallen warriors crowded the once lush grass, and the forests she had once used as playground were now reeking of death and war.

And yet, that did not stop Juliette.

With slow, deliberate steps, the oscuri walked amidst the fallen, the large blade she carried stained with blood, and upon noticing a writhing body, of either faction, a single swipe fell upon them, putting them out of their misery, while her expression showed no emotions.

Even so, whenever it was a valmasian that she took care off, a small prayer was made, and a gauntlet-clad hand moved to close their eyes after the final strike, in a small, yet evident sign of respect for the dead.

And so the female went! One by one, taking care of the corpses, as such was her divine duty.
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[21:53:04] Cull-- Paladin walks through the battlefield, clad in white mythril armor. The right side of his torso is covered in a single piece of mythril all the way to his hands, to which he holds tightly to the Nyeshk claymore-like sword that he wields, coarse holy energy traveling through the metal. The left side, however, is reminiscent of the old Cullen, still being covered by a single black drape, remnant of Cullen's cloak after being burned down, as well as his old steel gauntlet.

A white mythril bucket helmet covers his face and expression completely, as he digs through the battlefield, tending to the wounded non-magi from both sides. Those that could be saved, he had made sure to bring them to a safe spot where they could be healed later. Those that could not, he brought to a small spot on either side of battle, to ease the corpses to being brought back.

And each time that he found upon himself to bury them, Cullen picked up a simple cross of wood, planting it down on the ground before sealing the body with holy marble, shining a deep yellow tone for a few seconds.

And so he went. Burying and saving the wounded.
(Paladin)
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[21:56:28] "YOU!" The loud voice of the oscuri boomed as she noticed the armored man, his appearance not recognized as an ally, and as such, seen as an enemy.

"By the name of Azrael, heretic, I'll give you the choice."

Glimmers of rieka were visible across her form, as the woman made no attempt to hide her heritage, and the frown on her face was evident.

"Surrender, and convert to the true faith, or die by my hand."

A simple choice, but Juliette was already in her stance, as if she could tell what the answer could be.

"This war does not need more death, but the world doesn't need more heretics either!"
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[22:02:27] Paladin was tending to a corpse, planting it down in consecrated ground and planting the wooden cross as Juliette interrupted him. Kneeled down to the ground, the man lifted his head up, a smile opening to his face as he heard a familiar voice in a long while. Even if it was on this situation, that simple sound helped him cheer up.

He stood up as she continued speaking. Holy energy gleamed from his body, and the man inside the mythril armor took a deep breath. As much as rieka glimmered across her form, holy energy did on him. From inside the armor, his voice was sound with serenity, probably striking a familiar resemblance for the Oscuri.

"I merely wish to honor the dead and help the wounded, Juliette." The Paladin spoke. His tone was, as always, calm and gentle. Her position to fight was not replicated by him, the claymore-like sword still resting on his back. "Those from all nations deserve this. Those far too maimed to be seen by their family, I bury here. Those wounded, I carry to the backlines.
(Paladin)
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[22:08:25] "... You." Her first word repeats itself as the voice she hears brings back memories she had tried so hard to keep away.

And perhaps surprisingly, she does not seem to calm down.

"Traitor! Heretic!"

The rieka in her form increases in intensity, and soon enough, Juliette as a whole is glowing green, with the occasional change in color.

"Don't you dare touch the living with your hands! You're infected with lies, treason and death!" A step is taken towards the Paladin, her scowl more than simply evident. "A painless death is preferable to you!"

There was anger in her voice, mixed with perhaps a hint of sadness, and the look on her eyes burned as passionately as it did all those years ago, if not more so.

"I'm going to stop you, right now, Cullen!" She takes her stance away, ready to charge forth.

"I won't let you... I won't let you harm anyone else...!"
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[22:16:06] He didn't want her to react to him like that. But, at least, it was his promise. He did say that if he ever wanted to die, he'd want to die in Valmasian soil, killed by someone that he cherished and loved. Of all people in Valmasia, probably the one that he'd prefer doing it would be Juliette.

"I saved Sonnas. I saved Remington. I did my best to save and recover Selene's body, until Ausar stopped me from doing so." His gaze averted to Juliette. Probably, this close, she could see the hazel irises of the Paladin shining underneath his armor, surrounded by cracks of holy light.

"I said I'm sorry, Juliette. Being kept as a slave for years does things." There was, much more evident than in her voice, a hint of sadness, although overwhelmed by the pleasant sensations caused by the holy energy that exited the Valmasian's body.

"I've done my best to keep the harm away from the innocents. All the harm I've caused... I'm sorry, Juliette. I really am. For causing you such harm." Cullen let out a sigh. Even if she was going to charge at him, he made no effort to defend. A tackle, or anything, would probably be met blankly until he was forced to wield his own weapon against her.

It was clear, at least, that he didn't want to harm her in any way.
(Paladin)
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[22:21:13] "You went and got caught yourself! You betrayed Valmasia, Azrael..." The fact that he did not seem to be even withdrawing his blade only made her angrier, and she started to charge towards him.

"YOU BETRAYED ME!"

Rather than using her blade, an armored fist would make its way towards Cullen's also armored jaw, but not like the friendly, sparring punches of yore...

The impact alone was probably enough to crack most armor, at least one without runic markings, or of poor material, and there was more than simple playfulness behind the attack.

"Don't you DARE..." Unless he moved, another punch would go forth, and another one, and so on.

"Don't you dare look down on me and just apologizing..."

Grabbing her blade's hilt with both hands, she raised the weapon, preparing to slash it downwards, with enough force to probably maim a man quite badly.

"IF YOU CARE SO MUCH, THEN SHOWIT!"

Unless he wanted to feel the force of a heavy blade of nyeshk being swung by an angry oscuri, he would have to use his own weapon.
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[22:29:45] Cullen took the hit to his jaw, barely avoiding it enough to prevent it from shattering his jawbone. The following punches, he acted the same, taking them but preventing it from actually hurting him permanently, or breaking a bone.

At least, Mythril was good enough to pack the punch enough to not shatter. Even if it was not on his intent to fight back at any moment, he simply muttered at each hit: "I'm sorry".

He did not understand how women worked, for sure. Apologizing was bound to make things worse, and yet, he kept doing it, parrying whatever hits he felt that would hurt him too badly to keep on. And then, she pulled on the blade's hilt.

"I wanted to save them all, Juliette!" The Paladin let out slightly higher than the rest of his speech. With a quick movement, he tried to parry her blade just enough to keep himself from getting killed there andnow.
(Paladin)
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[22:34:52] "STOP APOLOGIZING!"

The more he spoke, the angrier she grew, even if for a brief moment, at the end of her sentence, her voice seemed to grow a bit weaker.

"You betrayed us all, to save a few, you made even more suffer! Are you proud?"

Even if he parried, she would start to strike again with her blade, swinging it with fury, not with the sort of finesse of a warrior that wanted a duel, but with the brutal efficiency of an executioner, albeit without as much killing intent, at least for now.

"If you have any remain of self-respect, or respect for anything..."

The attacks stopped, and she stared at the man before her with burning eyes.

"Take out your blade, and fight! Or did your time in Gehenna turn you into a rat?"

"Show me that there's still a man that can be saved, and not just a pathetic HUSK!"

And she charged in again, this time, without the intent to simply test the waters.
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[22:40:00] The Paladin looked straight at her after parrying every blow in sequence. After all, even if he was stuck in Gehenna for about a year now, he was still extremely close to her level. At least, he hoped, decent enough to give her a fight.

Sword in hand, Cullen took a step backwards as she continued taunting him. "I do not wish to harm you any more, Juliette! I do not wish to harm ANYONE anymore." He said in a growl. As she spoke that there was something that could still be saved...

He took it personally. Both hands landing upon the Zweihander, he finally took his own stance. It was the same, defensive stance as before, as he looked at the charging Oscuri. However, the way that he wielded the two-handed sword... It was the same way that Juliette taught him.

"Show me the might of Azrael, Juliette." He let out, preparing to parry her next strike.
(Paladin)
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[22:49:23] Her swings were brutal, efficient, but it was evident that the oscuri had outgrown her wild side. There was evident discipline in her motions, and her stance, while absolutely offensive, was far from defenseless, Cullen's own strikes finding themselves dodged or blocked by the sheer size of her blade, and the stalwart firmness of her stance.

Even so! The man proved to be a much closer match than what they had been so many years ago, bringing out blood and sweat from the oscuri.

The battle could go both ways, up until something changed...

The girl's rieka began to change, and soon, no longer was it green, but instead it shifted between the colors of the rainbow! A rather pretty sight, would it not be by the fact it was an angry, bleeding oscuri what carried it.

And even less so, considering that as she moved, the bodies closer to her would seemingly wither away slightly, their lifeforce itself taken away by some mean, and fueling up the Oscuri, whose movements and attacks seemed to only grow more and more intense.

She had became unstoppable.

Charging in again, the pommel of her blade would find its way upon Cullen's jaw, striking at it with enough force to stun him for a few moments, during which he would find himself being pushed away with enormous force.

"You... Someone like you..." She muttered, catching her breath as she took her stance again.

"Can't even hurt me."

She stood tall. And while there were wounds and bruises on her visible skin, they were not bleeding, nor did they seem to affect her much.

"I don't need to show you the might of Azrael, Cullen..." Fists were clenched, holding the hilt of her weapon tightly.

"I AM THE MIGHT OF AZRAEL!"
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[23:02:11] The Paladin was not comfortable with this fight. Definitely, he disliked the idea of challenging Juliette, and even more so of engaging actually mortal combat with her. The mighty warrior, once a simple proud bulwark, was now a match to the Oscuri.

As the pommel of her blade hit against his jaw, the holy energy surrounding him stopped himself from being overly wounded. It protected him, stopping what could be a potentially bone-breaking blow.

As he was pushed away, Cullen put the sword down to the ground, stopping himself from being pushed even further. Marble formed around his feet as he took the steps back, deep breathings coming from him. Deep down, he felt it.

That familiar tingle on the back of his neck, that tingle of menace. The same way a prey feels when they know their predator is nearby. Cullen felt that whenever he was exposed to those attached to Chaos. To those who exaggerated their pride. Right now, she was like a scissor running through a blackboardin the middle of a morbid symphony that was the lifestream during the war.

He let out a groan of pain as his hazel irises faced her once again. At the sight of blood, he smirked, although his expression was barely visible because of the helmet. "Kraus protects me, Juliette. No harm shall come to me as long as I stand here."

The very brief teachings of Caprise and Tazlee resonated at his mind. He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, allowing his blood to settle down. Calmness exuded from his being, and he once again took a stance against Juliette.

"I do not wish to harm you, Juliette." The paladin said once again. This time, his blood-ridden form and the armor full of notches formed into a far more aggressive stance.

He had no intention of losing, or at the very least, of not putting up a good fight.
(Paladin)
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[23:17:32] ** Juliette Harrengate has inflicted an injury upon Paladin. ("Crushed Arm.", "Cullen's whole right arm has been crushed into pieces by an extreme amount of force. While essentially many fractures, even after healing, marks of the wound would remain evident on his limb.", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[23:26:56] Again, the oscuri charges in, ferocity evident in every strike, her swings seeking to crush, to destroy, reaching even the bodies that littered the field, destroying everything at her path.

The rainbow nature of her rieka remained, and any attacks Cullen managed to land would be seemingly, even if partially, fixed rather quickly, turning the oscuri into a war machine.

One that was very angry at Cullen.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THE NAME OF THAT HERETIC GOD?!" His mention of Kraus, needless to say, was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Wings of rainbow energy sprouted from the woman's back, and she charged forth at an immense speed, swing with the flat side of her blade and with as much power as possible, creating not a cutting slice that could be deflected, but instead, a crushingly heavy blunt attack, that struck over Cullen's right arm, breaking his bones on several, painful spots.

Such attack was followed by another strike to his gut, and to his leg, making him fall.

"You dare swing that arm in the name of a false god..." Her rage was too great, too furious to even care about the best course of action, and instead, she simply started to stomp upon his arm, breaking the already hurt bone even further.

"This is how much Kraus protects you, Cullen... He doesn't care about you..." Her voice seems to grow weaker as she speaks... And finally, she falls to her knees, the anger in her eyes slowly fading away, giving place to sadness...

"Tell me... Tell me that you're weak, or cowardly, and that's why you're like this now, why you ran away..." She stares at him, scowling, but saddened. "You can still be saved... I don't want to kill you..."

A deep breath, and she slowly gets up on her feet.

"I... I will give you this last chance, Cullen. In the name of... Of what we used to be." She had alreadypulverized his arm, though. "Meditate on your faith... And come back to us. Let me help you..."

With slow, almost hesitating steps, she would begin to head off.

"If not... Next time we meet, there won't be a third."
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[23:47:24] Cullen kept fighting against her, his best behavior in mind. He felt himself as the judge of Kraus, the executor of his will, the blade that would cut the Oscuri. However, he still stopped himself. He still kept himself back, afraid of hurting the person that made him be whomever he was now.

The holy energy on his body flared as he attacked Juliette again and again. His hits were hard, the holy energy stinging as it touched her pale skin. As he struck against her a few more times, he let out the simplistic warcry that would be his own demise, to cause her to finally rage upon him.

"I am the might of Kraus, Juliette!" This was the Paladin's duty, and these were his words that would mark the Oscuri's demise. If, and only if, she didn't react first.

Unaware of her intent, Cullen felt the strong hit of the flat side of her blade on his arm, the bones breaking along with his armor, splinters of mythril being sent carving into his skin. The Krausite that almost had the upper hand, suddenly lost it to her.

A yell of pain came from him, being interrupted by the strike to the gut, and soon enough, the fact that he fell down brought his helmet flying away. Holy energy encompassed his arm, protecting it from being completely torn away or broken to an irreparable state.

And at the end, he let out nothing but groans of pain as the holy energy cut off all sensation from his arm, numbing almost all pain that he could feel. It was a very useful use of it, at least, preventing him from going into shock.

As soon as she falls to her knees right in front of him, she might be able to pay attention to Cullen's expression. He was not in rage. He was not angry at her at all, and instead... It seemed like the sad expression to which she almost mustered, was completely there for him.

"Julie, I--" He fell short on words. Cullen's gaze averted away from her, as he looked for something in the scenery. Using his other arm, he slowly climbed his own way up, the wounded arm limp and almost flattened by his side.

He would have offered her a hug. His expression said it, as he looked at her with utter desperation to stop the suffering that she felt, and more importantly, the hurt that he felt deep within his heart. "I just wanted to protect them all, Juliette. All those worthy of it. I... I almost came back a year ago, but I was practically kicked back to Gehenna."

His gaze averted down to the ground, as she stood up. He was now with both knees on the ground, the sword having landed a few meters away. "I need you to promise something for me, Juliette." His tone was serious. He knew that this was too much to ask, but he was going to anyways. "Don't let anyone else kill me. I know that the next time I appear on Avalon, I'll be dead in minutes, but... If anything, I'd wish the one to end my life to be you."

A sigh came from the Paladin. His watery eyes gave away the sadness that he felt as he looked at her, almost begging for the Oscuri to look back at him one last time. "I can't go back, Juliette. I'm a kill on sight now, am I not?"
(Paladin)
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[23:54:14] "I don't want to kill anyone, Cullen. Not you, not anyone else." She stood still, her back given to the kneeling man as she held her blade tightly with both hands, by her shoulder.

"I don't know why you decided to follow that fake god... But Azrael wants to protect everyone more than anyone else, and I'm an instrument of his will..."

At his last words, her head turned around, and her own sadness became evident.

"I said I would change the system, Cullen. Even without your help, and with your broken promises... I did it." The look on her eyes is firm, no attempt made to hide her sadness, nor the burning fire on her gaze.

It was her pride, after all.

"If you are willing to put this behind you, to redeem yourself and help us protect the faithful from being sacrificed by these gehennans..."

She frowns slightly, and finally turns her gaze away.

"I can ensure you'll stay alive."

With slow steps, she begins her march back, not closely as energetic as she had been when they met each other in the field.

"Think about it..." And a weaker word is spoken, barely audible, but clearly there...

"Please..."
(Juliette Harrengate)
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[00:07:02] Cullen closes his eyes upon hearing her offer. It was one that he could barely believe that was there, and the way that she ended it... It was obvious that it shattered his heart to pieces. The glorious Paladin of Kraus was still there, gazing at the noise in the middle of the symphony that she was.

She was everything opposite to him. He was the new self-claimed Paladin of Kraus, a force to yield justice and judgement to all those who opposed his will. She was the self-claimed instrument of Azrael's will, the bane of Krausites... And yet, he felt himself so dangerously drawn to her offer. Maybe in a desperate attempt to relive all that he had lived years before while they were still together, promising eternal partnership to one another. One promise that he was the one to break.

As she told him to think about it, the Paladin's mind raced to think of an answer. Deep down his guts, he wanted to be happy again. He wanted to feel the emotions of Avalon, to see his own people thriving, but he knew that the whole place reeked of corruption. He knew that there was many things that were wrong.

He muttered only a few more words. "Sorry." A hushed, almost crying voice echoed through the battlefield as he finally spoke to the Oscuri.

Forcing himself to stand up, marble coming to his aid as to support his body, Cullen finally voiced his intents. Or, at least, his most immediate ones. "I am going to make sure the ones that are there aren't sacrificed, so they get a chance to escape like Sonnas did. Then... I'll consider going back, Juliette. But please."

He pleaded for her. "Please, do not follow my steps. Please, keep the promise I asked you."

It was, if not any more than obvious, that he wished for nothing but to not die in Gehennan soil. Or, at least, to be buried in Valmasian soil. "At least, when I die... I want you to be one of the people that bury me."

And the Paladin proceeded to retrieve his sword and prepare to leave to Gehenna. He was intended on saving everyone, but... He could not do that back in Valmasia.
(Paladin)
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