Exovaryn Haruke: Unbiased War Monger

{Narration} Battle of the Red Prairie
For over a decade, Brighthold has maintained its presence within the territory of Danarium, beginning roughly eleven years ago when Jerudiel Melym conquered a battered tower of three hundred Glacium Knights with his power alone. Since that day, the man has been declared an enemy of the western powers, along with all those that would dare pledge their sword to his cause. Thousands have died in the decade passed, the steel of those that were once Danarite brothers often crossing along the borders of the tense Wychwood. A decisive battle will write itself in the history books today. The Rosengards, rulers of the west, a House of power founded by Empress Athena Rosengard in defiance of the corruption and supernatural evils that had taken ahold of Valmasia. Her daughter, Queen Rhiannon Rosengard went on to further stabilize and empower the city of Danarium, even defeating the half-angel scourge Naberius once and for all. Her children, Bastet and Sebastian, fight to retain control over what they consider rightfully theirs. The Melyms, a dynasty of High Kings that maintained prosperity over the entire country for close to three centuries. Jerudiel Melym is a direct descendant of the founder, Seraphiel Melym I, claiming lineage to Ouriel Melym through one of the king's many partners. Since the founding of Brighthold, many prestigious magi have sworn their allegiance to his claim over the west. What once was wreckage and poverty is now Brighthold, the rebels known for their might- having already fended off a lesser attack from the north. Either side's cause can be justified... but the reasons are irrelevant on the battlefield. All that matters is the skill of the warrior on this day. Death on the battlefield shall come regardless of class, honor, or cause: the losers will die. In just a week, Danarium and Frostvale's commanders have been swift in assembling a force of five thousand men, armed and trained, ready to move in formation to take the settlement of Brighthold. Too quickly for any claims of support from Alexandra Eldor over Jerudiel Melym's claim. Too powerful for the Danarite allies of Byson to worry over another defeat with an army of thousands ready to crush the rebels. Brighthold's forces are just under two thousand, with lesser gear, training, and organization amongst them. Many are simple villagers or mercanies bought with gold or the promise of plunder. It is without a doubt that the stronger side moves from the north, the march of their mounted men causing the shaking ground to be felt within the household of every Brighthold family. If Brighthold's magi are unable to hold off against such a powerful forces, the village will be conquered. Needless to say, regardless of the outcome of today's battle, flame and ash will compliment the corpses that gather throughout the small village. You stand among the ranks of either side. You face down the enemy. You will not have a minute to spare as arrow or sword will often pursue you from all four directions. You are a magi, a deciding factor. Look forward now and sense the enemy's forces for one of your own-- one who can stand against you in a duel of magic and steel. You will decide the outcome of this battle.

It had finally come...
The day of the War. He didn't care whom it was against, so long as he was able to participate. If battling against Brightholdians and risking their lives in his onslaught granted him the opportunity such as this? To augment his power through the absorption of dozens of non-magus warriors? Maybe even a magi or two... It was well worth it.

He didn't have a cause, nor selfless reason to partake, which could jeer the queries of those on his side, though he wouldn't badger himself to acknowledge it all. "At long last..." The curse casted upon his vessel had initiated with the closed proximity to the Bastet, albeit Jerudiel's workings on the hex had left it tolerable-- Granting him resistance at the very least.

" My promise is furfilled... Hopefully, this is not a disappointment." He babbled, arms crossed over his armored pectorials- His person airborne to gaze over the advancing numbers. The sight alone blessed him with a rush upon his pained heart, hastened to assume nigh pelpetations: Excitement pestered both himself and the parasitical symbiote within, daring to protrude from his backside to arch over his shoulderline, tripled upon with replicant appendages spawned from the spinal region. They snaked about his abdomen, barbs lost as to a certain target...

" Where do I even start..." He spoke in descending tone through his breathe, succumbing to the urge to chortle.
(Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke)

The maddening laughter of a hungered Harukean sounded off for miles, echoing above the roar of hundreds charging into war. Countless bodies were flailed callously into the air at the mercy of penetrating tendrils, weaving through their armor to indulge in their flesh. The vermillion touch of their barbs siphoned the very mana and vitality from their physiques. One by one, two by two... Evolved into dozens, soon to threaten to startling quantities..

Though, he did not fight on any particular side, as clearly percieved. Brightholdians, Glacium, Nivis, they were all indiscriminatively butchered by the symbiotic tentacles of Lyperion Utovex.

"Yessss... YESSSS! This is what I've longed for, for so long! Endless buffet upon you human scoundrels without a single obstacle in my way!" A tree of airborne roots entangled platoons in his grasp, suspended high above his person. Soon enough, the slaughterfest would trail further north, breaching the perimeter of Wychwood, where those attempting guerrila tactics would fall victimized to the gluttonous monstrosity.

An abnormality by all accords, ebonic pupils frantically soughting out whom would fall next to his ravenous consumption. All he had to do was stand still, those whom charged for him would be intercepted by Lyperion Utovex, and he'd simply feed on yet another more-- Furthering his power and reserve...

What was there to stop him here?
No Brightholdian would be able to catch on throughout all of this chaos, and there were there any Glacium nor Nivis magi intercepting him just yet...

" Heheheh... Nothing will stop my ascension now. You humans will be the fodder I need to absolution. Be honored..."
(Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke)
As they'd both feared, the chaos of the battle had almost immediately separated him from Demeter.  Caught up in the rush of purple and red suits, Hibiki growled, searching for that blonde-brown head and seeing nothing.  There was little he could do but keep pushing onward and looking, though.

The young man found himself charging through the Wychwood, where the battle had spilled into -  as a stark contrast to his soon to be opponent, he dealt with any Brighthold soldier who came his way with a swift disarming kick, skilled enough to knock out any run of the mill fighter nonlethally without puttnig himself at risk.

Then Hibiki came to a halt in a clearing, skidding short.  There was some crazy looking guy up ahead, going nuts on some of the nearby soldiers.  Moreover, he was right smack in Hibiki's path.

With a grimace, he dashed forward, calling out a challenge to distract the occultist from those less able to defend themselves.  Such was simply his way.  "Hey!  Nothing personal, guy, but I'm gonna have to stop you now."

Hibiki threw up his fists, aura flaring.  It was about time to get this show on the road.
(Hibiki)

Perhaps the elder magi had the advantage of experience over Hibiki, but there was one thing he could not match him in.  The young martial artist KNEW these lands.  The wychwood was his home in every sense of the word, and he knew it like he knew his own body.  Where to dive for reprieve, where the thickets were dense enough to allow ambush.  Where was safe to retreat.

All of this and more, Hibiki knew.  His style of fighting was curious - directly manipulating the elements and pure mana with his hands and feet to strike at melee range.  Spellpower and martial arts mixed into one.  Unafraid to pummel at the Haruke in spite of the raging darkness and crushing gravity about him, Hibiki spun in midair, dealing a powerful, flaming kick to the other's jaw, strong enough to launch him back yards.

Landing, the young boy panted, exhertion beginning to show.  "Hey...Watch it.  You're gonna damage the forest if this keeps up."

"And moreover - Why are you doing this?  These people have families to go back to, and they can't stand up to you like I can.  Don't you have the slightest bit of sympathy for them?"  His voice was rough and accusing, blazing eyes indicating that this strange child truly did not understand why Exovaryn might seek the death of another.
(Hibiki)
The Harukean seemed to have been on the losing end of this endeavor, though... Something was off. Throughout the scuffle, not once did he seem truly worried- more off focused. This didn't mean he didn't accumulate damage throughout the bout, though with attention paid to detail it was fairly evident that his open wounds were.... Sealing?
Slowly, before the child's very eyes, Exovaryn condoned to the regeneration process, chuckling althroughout.

" Damage the forest? Are you worried about the trees? The foliage? The wildlife? ... You're worried about the humans? The non-magi about us? Child, I could care less about you Valmasians and your Humanity... And you? You should be less worried about them, and more concerned of what is going to happen with you." He warned. In that instant, the bodies suspended above were relinquished, allowed to drop for the grounds below, raining down upon the battlefield crafed of their conjured magics, threatening to beat the child down should he fail to evade, and perhaps discourage his Glacium aid from charging once more.

" I think I'm done playing games with you... I'm going to end it." He stated bluntly. "The rest of the soldiers here? Will all conjoin with my circuit... And you? You will follow, as another to merge with my essence." He started a callous advance, slow albeit resonating a dreadful aura of his festered malice.
The black eyes of this mutated character beamed upon this kid not akin to a man... But cattle.

" Though, you do have one chance to survive... Renounce your loyalties to your faction, and abandon your faith... There is only the Goddess of Fate, and become a Seer of Destiny..." He demanded; the sludge of his anatomy boiled over into his aura, empowering him further and intensifying his telekinetic prowess to allott explicitly easy levitation.

"Otherwise, you and your ilk can indulge in the fate of damnation."
(Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke)
Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke: It's about time, I stopped holding back... Prepare yourself, Valmasian.
Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke: Many will die today... It's only fate.

A man found himself embracing the slender barb of the harukean's serpent, boring further through his armor and flesh to lift him for the skies...
Another impaled through the esophagus, victimized to its snaking descend down his gullet to drink from him akin to a tavern's mug. All the while, Voss engaged in flight that skimmered across the forest canopy, shattering tinder and bark alike in his savage pursuit of Hibiki.

" Run, child... Ruuun...." Exovaryn reached his arm out for the magi, grasping him within the remote telekinetic clutches of his cognitive influence, swiping his arm in reverence to launch him further into Wychwood, combusting the girth of trees abroad the explode in fireworks of wooden glory.
The sludge swathed his right arm, replicating a hybrid's blade, allowing him to effortlessly hack apart at those whom would loom too close, chopping maniacly into chestal plates, splattering their lungs into bite sized chunklets of gore that'd paint his visage.

The acuminous teeth barred upon his exposed maws were shined at the teen, attempting to impose fear into his youthful figure. " There is no hope of victory for you..." He stopped outright, leaving the remaining soldiers to close in on him with their charge, his eyes only geared for the mage behind them all.
"Now watch... As they all die for your callous hopes of defeating me." At the first swing of a blade, he rocketed up, evading the slash entirely to hovering meters above.

A risen arm extended over his vessel, birthing an amalgamation of Cosmogonic Occultism, concentrated through the gravitational arcane, condensing it to fit within his clenching palm. The mauve gleam, emanated for Hibiki to see, regardless of his distance-- Perhaps for all within the forest to ogle upon.
"Every, single... One of them..."
He lowered his arm to drop the blast for the unknowing populace below, sentencing them to the explosive impact it'd pact in its eruption, engulfing all nigh in the hemisphere of lavander hue, outright vaporizing what he could've called another snake.

The gales generated from the blast tilted at nearby trees, shredding at their roots and buffetting at Hibiki should he be unprepared... All whilst Exovaryn simply hovered there, allowing his own explosion to swallow him, omitted of its damage... As it cleared, all that'd remain, would be a crater, with remnants of their armor laden within.

"... Humans... Expendable... Now, if you would consider my offer, you will not be deemed to a similar fate."
(Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke)
It was a game of pursuit on both ends, with both fleeing when their advantage ran dry...But Hibiki was finding himself severely outgunned by the full power of the elder occultist.  Gritting his teeth, he felt himself launched backward, smashing through one of the trees and coughing out a wad of blood.

Not good...!

Flipping over in midair, he skidded to a halt, staring upward at his opponent - Watching with horror on his face as the men by his side were devoured, one after another, hand stretched forward and a shout on his lips.  "No!  You bastard..."

The sight didn't seem to rattle him - Hibiki seemed used to bloodshed one way or another.  Interesting.  But his fury was rising as he stood, fear suppressed by this anger.  Even as his limbs trembled with knowledge of the power at the Haruke's hands, he adopted his fighting stance once again, bloodied as he was.

He wasn't broken yet.  It was in his eyes - if Exovaryn wanted this one as a slave, he would need to defeat him fully first.  Until then, his teeth were bared and his spirit soared onward and upward, body still swayed with an aura of power.

The only chance I've got is to hit him with *that* move...
(Hibiki)

Domes of Cosmic induced occultism protruded from the forestry, doubling, tripling-- Even forging quartets betwixt trees, bending them against their will and eating away at their girth to cripple their stability. Exovaryn had flown high above the forest canopy, scanning through the trees for signs of movement:
Yokai, Glacium, Brightholdian, Nivis-- Even those whom passed by with the misfortune of current events.

No one was exempt from this Death From Above... It was all in expectation of obliterating his surroundings and uncovering the magi within the woods.

"Come out, come out where ever you are... Kid. You can't hide forever.." To his dismay, he couldn't sense out mana signatures, so finding Hibiki would prove aggravating, even from an aerial perspective.

Ebonic optics sifted over to his right, spotting movement due east towards Danarium. The sound of scuffling only but confirmed presence there, which turned an open palm in said direction, effortlessly conjuring a spheroid of malignant energies in the general direction.

The blasts seemed to have altered from those he started with to conserve energy, bombarding at increased speed via the implementation of gravitational influence, hypercompressing for up-to a radius of a dozen feet...

Only to find the skeletal remains of a insectoid: Yokai-class, instantly vanquished... " Sooner or later, you're going to slip up..." switching gaze swapped sights for that of an opening, apparently catching sight of Hibiki nearby!

"There you are..."
A blast was fired for his person, rapidly declining to burst into a violent dome of energy, likely to propel him dozens of yards from the impact site should he have attempted to avoid, leaving him scathed though concealed once more.
Exovaryn lowered himself down to the crater he created, slowly hovering through the woods with hungering eyes. "I grow impatient... Sooner or later, I'll simply deem you more worthy of consumption rather than cohort."
He had lost him... But he was here... Somewhere... He knew it...

A chortle eased past his lips, happening to stand by a bush where he believed he had sent Hibiki hurdling prior...
But how could he ever be sure? Hunting this boy proved to be a nuisance, his patience withering... And thus, he went silent... Waiting... Attempting to pick up the slightest twitch, heavy breathing, straining himself to condone to such...
But could he hear the boy?
Could he really smell his fear?
Would he find him...
(Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke)
He had given his all.  He faced a nigh-relentless barrage of occultic power, coupled with the irresistable tug of gravity.  Yet for every blow he took, the young man seemed to return it in kind, with scorching flame, striking lightning, glowing mana.  Incanting the names of the techniques passed down upon these very grounds.

The flying menace, however, had his number.  And after blow upon blow, Hibiki realized with a gut wrenching jolt that he simply could not win.  Exovaryn was damaged - He was possibly even close to defeat, but the simple truth was that the martial artist could feel his bones crying out for relief.  Dark burns seared his very skin, bandages burnt to a crisp and revealing the scores of horrific lightning scars that marred his entire left arm.

He had been the prey of occultists before, clearly.

No lightning, but otherwise this scenario was hauntingly familiar.  After skidding to a halt from the attack that had launched him what seemed like miles, Hibiki shook his head rapidly, eyes flickering about for his pursuer.  With a sudden jolt to the side, Hibiki teleported himself into a thicket, panting with breath, skin soaked in blood, dirt, and sweat.  His hand trembled...Fear was overwhelming him now.  The fear of death.  The fear of capture, and further torment at the hands of yet another who found joy in the pain of their fellow man.

Unbidden, Nyx's mocking laughter ran through his ears.  His sharpened teeth bit down, hard, drawing blood from his mouth.

I may be weak now...but somebody needs to stop these people.  And if no one else will, it might as well be me.  I have many battles yet to fight...!

With a tremor, Hibiki soared up into the air off one mighty leap - almost face to face with Exovaryn.  Hands cupped, a glowing white-blue nexus growing within it, his snarls came in response.

"You can't intimidate someone...who's already seen hell!"

The ensuing beam of energy not only knocked the Haruke backward, perhaps even right out of the air, it propelled Hibiki in the exact opposite direction.  Though Exovaryn was the clear victor of this fight, his opponent had not been easy prey...nor had he submitted his will.

Perhaps this would be settled another day.
(Hibiki)

{NARRATION} Deep into the Battle of the Red Prairie, a mess of corpses scatter the fertile land of Brighthold. The wooden watch towers burn away, lighting up the warzone below as the sun gradually sets. Many hundred died on this spring day, with even moreso injured or captured by the enemy.

But the casualities on either side have a drastic difference, with Brighthold's forces suffering defeat. The difference in quality between the settlement's warriors and the five thousand trained knights is clear to see. The commanders of Brighthold have ordered the remaining forces to scatter and surrender once it was obvious there was no coming back.

Victory on this day is Danarium and Frostvale's, with the chants of their forces echoing throughout the blood stained battlefield...

"King Sebastiel defeated the usurper's heir in single combat!"
"We've won, we've victorious... Glory is ours!"
"Jerudiel is DEAD! Slain by Lady Rhiannon and Queen Regina!" --But where is Rhiannon?

As the battle had met its climax, he noticed a party retreating... That, which was supposedly his own. Perhaps, he should've followed suit and fled as well? He wasn't dawning Brighthold armor however, why should he truly care? Perhaps, Queen Bastet would come to notice of his presence? Perhaps, she'd try to take advantage of Jerudiel's failure to rid him of the curse? Maybe he could've taken it upon himself to confide in what he once considered his irritants... Maybe... They could be allies...

The concept of such was answered with a charged orbical manifestation at the sound of one proclaiming news to his ears, gratifying words. The very man that had the audacity to nigh execute him was dead. The same people that assaulted him, attempted to kill him were scattering, if not executed on the field of war...

He was free of their control...
And rather than flee from Danarium, the harbinged conjuration of cosmogonic powered occultism was unleashed as prelude to a volley of his capacity upon the scattering numbers of Brighthold, defecting from their numbers in a heartbeat. He broke out in laughter, maddeningly ecstatic in the wake of the news, joyful in punishing those he felt briefly oppressed by.

All of that time spent 'bonding', wasted... For what, potential alliance with those he'd deem inferior? Those he'd deem asinine to his visions? It was well worth it all... All that mattered now, was if Danarium's forces would bother to recognize this discontent for Brighthold's numbers...
An inadvertent gesture for treat of sorts betwixt himself and said party, even if momentary.
(Exovaryn "Voss" Haruke)