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And lo stained were they by the sin of Sloth. Glacier blue eyes watched from the dark, wrapped in a dirty coat that he'd found so that he blended in just a bit more. Dantalion had been here a few days, he enjoyed the traveling, the hunting that this new world brought to him. No one questioned him walking around with a weapon, after all monsters and demons roamed the land. Very few people ever questioned what blood stained them, they thought the best of each other, it was honestly kind of cute. This group he had been observing for a while now, they seemed content to sit and do nothing, they didn't really further any goals, they didn't really try going out and dealing with the monsters. He'd hoped that by leading the goblins to them they'd prove themselves virtuous, worthy of at least a temporary alliance but only one had really done so and they were too wounded now from the goblins to be of use.
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He had considered making this the day to try something more drastic, were any of their classes powerful enough to deal with him if he decided to bring purification? That thought had been belayed however when someone new came to the fold, someone that was definitely an outsider and one that actually seemed like they had a purpose, they wanted to do something. Dantalion cocked his head slightly as he listened in to the stranger's words. A gate to Europe? Now that interested Dantalion. He hadn't been able to get home in some time and he wasn't sure if any of his family in Purity had also been enlisted to help cleanse the world. This might be a fruitful endeavour and as he thought that and Nikolas finished his talk, the same mission screen popped up before him.
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He looked at it for a moment before standing up and shrugging the coat off. He turned to Nikolas and rolled his shoulders for a moment before giving him a smile, though it didn't quite make it to his eyes. "If you're looking for any assistance I'll be willing to lend my weapons to your cause. I wouldn't mind finding a way back to Europe myself, got some... Family there I want to see, if they're still around that is." His voice was strangely musical with a very hard to place accent. "I don't know the tunnels too well but I'm decent at orienteering and there should still be some maps down here somewhere, shouldn't be too hard to find a way through." He thought about the monsters but those he could deal with, especially with an ally.
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"Don't need to go right now of course, get yourself in order. I'm Dantalion by the way, Apocalypse Knight if class matters to you, though class seems pretty important in this new world we're living in, eh?" He gave a wicked grin and started to perform some preliminary stretches. He'd been sitting down for far too long and he could feel himself getting stiff, definitely wouldn't do to get a sprain or pull a ligament in the middle of a battle for his life, that would definitely be an embarrassing way to fail in his holy cause.

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dantalion

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Black and white, an amusing dynamic considering Dantalion knew who the true sinner was. He stared at the little screen that had appeared after he had accepted the party invite from Nikolas. Light Bearer? Immediately old teachings popped into his head warning him not to heed the false shepherd, that not all light was pure and even the most glorious of lights could fall and turn dark. At the very least he hadn't called his class Morning Star, that would have been a bit too on the nose. Dantalion smiled and nodded, dismissing the pop up and flicking his hand to bring the other text box around in front of him.[break][break]
This one was simultaneously more interesting and also more worrying. Veneration, a dangerous term, especially for a sinner to be spouting. He narrowed his eyes slightly and took a deep breath. His mind was focused, if this had any downsides he would definitely detect them and besides, he hadn't done anything to seem threatening, was there a chance that Nikolas already knew? He reached up and selected MAGI for the enhancement, specifically feeling Despair resonate with the enhancement in his inventory, that was good. With that done he jogged after the other man and followed him into the dark of the tunnels.[break][break]
"Might want to be careful with that light, it's going to make us very obvious to anything skulking around in the dark. I'll take the lead, I think I'm a bit more suited to melee combat than you are." He chuckled softly and sped up a bit to take a couple of feet of lead, turning his back to this creature of false light sent a shiver down his spine but trust was more important right now, they were heading into enemy territory after all. Though perhaps the beasts in the shadows would weaken him enough to make for a good opportunity... Dantalion shook that thought out of his head, treachery was a vile sin and though he would eventually be absolved, it was best to delay the slide into corruption. "You had any combat experience prior to... All of this? My family put me through boot camp when I was younger." He murmured, wanting to at least break any awkwardness and if the light was going to give them away, a bit of talking wouldn't make it much worse, would it?

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dantalion

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The darkness closed in around him like a blanket, faint sensations and feelings becoming heightened as he lost a primary sense. He shifted his movements in the dark, letting his feet slide forwards, nudging against any loose objects or rocks and gently nudging them aside rather than kicking them down, reducing the amount of noise he was making. Crouched in the dark as he was, he was barely a shade, a slight flicker of movement that could only barely be seen. "There is always a worth to art, beauty is an intrinsic part of the human soul and to express it is to highlight your humanity. Our light only ever pales compared to the Sun and Moon, aspects of the Light Above that we should never strive to usurp or move beyond." His voice grew softer so that it wouldn't travel so far down the tunnels they were moving through.
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As Nikolas asked about his boot camp he frowned slightly, thankful it was hidden by the shadows. How could he really explain what he had been through? The constant training, learning the scriptures, the rites of exorcism, he could strip, clean and reassemble a rifle before he had reached ten years of age. He took a deep breath and then gave a shrug. "My parents were strict, they wanted me to be able to survive anything that this cruel world threw my way, if that meant I had to know how to hunt, how to kill, how to skulk then so be it, I was to survive to the end, that was their wish for me. Just as it had been my grandparent's wishes for them and so on back several generations now. It's hard to explain without a similar perspective, I am glad for it though, when the world collapsed I was in a prime position to make myself useful." He stopped moving and closed his eyes for a moment to let the silence settle, waiting to see if he could hear anything. When no sounds were forthcoming he started moving once more.
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"A scouting item would be good. I would suggest you wait until we hear something off, once we do you can use it to make sure we're alone and then we can move on. These creatures are likely to be accustomed to the dark anyway so we're just trying to get as close as possible before we get spotted anyway." His foot hit something and he reached down to feel a loose plank of wood that had fallen across the tunnel floor and he gently moved it to the side. "What are your parents like though, Nikolas? Are they who you're looking for?"

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nikolas

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Dantalion decided not to mention that if Nikolas' parents were still around then they had been condemned to the clutches of evil, it wasn't a very tactful statement to make. He thought for few moments about what to say in return to the other guy before he was tapped and pointed towards a light towards the tunnel, he'd been so focused on moving silently and listening for threats that he hadn't really been paying attention to his sense of sight. He stopped and looked down the tunnel for a few moments before nodding. "There's definitely something there, probably goblins, might be something else, I don't think there are any survivors this far down or we would probably be hearing talking." He whispered in return and decided now it was time to bring out his weapon.
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He tapped into his powers and drew forth Despair. Glowing, pale corpselight grew in Dantalion's right eye and a large, ancient looking scythe dropped into his hand and rested on his shoulder. Even in the very faint light filtering back from the fire, the glitter of its wicked sharp edge could be seen, the haft seemed bulk and the top extended up and opened into a large rifle barrel. "I will move forwards into a better position and let you do the same. I'll give you the go word, when you want me to open fire, use your scouting item to make sure we aren't dealing with any additional threats." He turned and gave Nikolas a thumbs up before prowling back through the dark.
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A few moments later he found himself snuggled in beside some rubble looking straight down at a small communal fire. It was indeed Goblins, a small group of them dancing around the fire and being overwatched by some kind of shaman wearing a necklace of bones and a large ornate headdress while carrying a staff, it was chanting something to the dancing goblins but Dantalion had no idea what it was saying. He couched Despair and aimed down the sight at the shaman specifically and settled in, breathing slowing, waiting for Nikolas to decide it was time to kill.

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nikolas

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A strange calm took over Dantalion, determination and a promise of higher purpose slowing his heart rate and heightening his focus. For most the seconds leading up to the go word would be tense, senses dialled to the max, nerves on a hair trigger and muscles wound like tightened springs. For Dantalion it was serene. He had already lined up his sight with the shaman's upper body and when the pop up appeared in the corner of his vision he reached out and enhanced his Magi once more. His finger slowly tightened on the worn trigger of Despair, barely a hair away from actually firing the giant rifle built into the snaith of the Scythe.
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Then there was a flash of golden light and a golden raven flew into view. Immediately Dantalion pulled the trigger and a sound like a mourning bell filled the tunnel as a gleaming bullet of pale green-white ghostlight flashed down and slammed into the Shaman as it stood looking somewhat confused at the glowing bird. The bullet struck like a hammer blow and most of goblin's head and neck vanished in a spray of brackish blood, spraying across the wall. The goblins shrieked in surprise and turned to where the bullet had came from before another had a hole blown in it by a golden light and dropped to the floor.
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Dantalion smiled from his position and reached up, cocking the rifle and ejecting a shell casing from the rifle that wailed like a damned soul before loading the second shot in. He still needed to take aim but he had time. The remaining Goblins knew they needed to do something and in a fit of rage two of them ran straight towards Dantalion's position causing him to frown slightly but continue lining up his shot. The other one turned and ran to where the Raven had came from, drawing a pair of rusty but still dangerous looking machetes and roaring out its best war cry. It didn't know Nikolas' actual location but it was pretty sure it'd be able to find him if it got close enough and if it managed to find him it would immediately leap in and attempt to carve him up with both of its weapons.

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nikolas

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It was annoying to have to draw this out already but it was better than letting every beast in the tunnels know that they were here. Seeing the two Goblins running towards him, Dantalion put the fingers of his left hand to his mouth and gave a short, sharp whistle before making a circle in the air with the same hand. From the shadows behind him a horse flew out, pale, dessicated skin hidden by voluminous black cloth that covered the horse's entire body even acting as a mask over its face. The only thing visible was the mist snorting out of its nose and the glowing corpselight that existed within empty eye sockets in its head.
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With a snap of his fingers, Dantalion sent Tombstone, as he had now dubbed the horse, forwards. As it ran spectral copies appeared either side of it and they trampled the Goblins, crushing them under hoof easily before continuing on a fair distance and fading away, Tombstone disappearing with one last snort. Dantalion could tell instinctively that the ability was on Cooldown now and he wouldn't be able to resummon the horse for some time but that was fine. He then turned and snapped his aim to the last Goblin as it scrambled to its feet, chest burning from Nikolas' attack and it turned to run deeper into the tunnel. Another howling ghost bullet took it in the spine however and dropped it to the ground. Tali nodded and pulled his scythe up onto his shoulder before jogging over to Nik.
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"That's all of them for now, none of them got away. You done well there." He gave Nikolas a nod and a smile, it was nice to have someone that didn't freak out in battle. "We can rest for a moment if you want or we can head in deeper now, I'm happy with either." He looked deeper into the tunnel and narrowed his eyes, making sure to keep a lookout in case anything tried to close in on them but it seemed empty for now. He was more than happy to let Nikolas take the lead if he wanted but he also knew he'd have to reload Despair soon, there was only one round left in the magazine.

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nikolas

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A pit, how fitting it was, monsters and demons across the world and here he was staring into an abyss. He spent only a few moments staring at the hole before turning to Nikolas and giving him a nod. He searched around for a few seconds and found a decent sized piece of rubble to use as a seat that he pulled over and sat down on, keeping a bit farther away from the fire. He was already too warm in this place and if someone were to make that explode he didn't want to be in the firing line. With that done he pulled Despair around and turned it, resting the outside edge gently on the floor and smacking the snaith with the palm of his hand. A slot opened up and he started loading rounds into it.
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"The Voice of the World gave me what I needed to fulfill my goal. That means being able to slaughter the various evils that now crawl across the surface of this earth. It's... Liberating in a way to know that all of my training wasn't for nothing, though there is a part of me that wished I could have passed it on to another generation to make an even greater warrior. I'll have to do though, at least until I can meet up with the rest of the Bastion." He chuckled softly and looked around, nothing seemed to be shifting just now and that was good so he went back to maintaining his scythe. "Are you happy with what you got, Nikolas? Or were you hoping for more?" He looked up, that strange ghostlight still within his right eye.
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He held the eye contact for only a moment before glancing at the hole and shrugging. "The quest isn't complete, if we must walk into the beast's lair then it will be done. If you'd like, I can hang back and let you use your ability first, if there's no ally in front of you then the area of effect will hardly matter. I can support from the back with Despair here." He gave a wan smile and started to mutter some soft hyms to himself as he went back to preparing himself and his weapon.

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nikolas