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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 25, 2023 22:50:46 GMT
The spy sighed as Camille crashed into the water, a pathetic end for someone Xir had wanted dead so badly, but so be it. He couldn't go back to drag her out of the water, not that he could if he tired. She would drown, and that would be the end of it. Perhaps achieving his mission and taking out this target as a bonus would be enough to have paid his debts and free his soul from this monster's control.
But Camille didn't drown, instead a new and improved version of her erupted from the water and wrapped herself around his boat.
"What the fu..." he began, and then he plunged into the water as his boat was constricted in half and he crashed to the surface
The spy looked at Camille under the water as she mouthed that he wouldn't escape so easily.
<No... I suppose not. What happens next isn't my fault child. Remember that> he said back, but Camille would notice instantly he hadn't spoken the words, no... this was the telepathy of monsters! How was he?
And then he began changing. His body enlarged to become more muscular as his skin turned dark blue, gills appeared on his neck, fins sprouted from his back and arms... it looked agonizing, not like monster evolution, his body changing was deeply unnatural, and his face was locked in a grimace as he transformed into a merfolk-like being
<hell of a trick huh? Xir has been... experimenting. No matter what he did he couldn't make a monster take a human form. So he decided why not go in reverse? You were his first experiment on that front.> the man said <You lucked out, his later experiments were more effective, but far crueler. They do come with some serious perks though...>
The man became a blur as he shot past Camille, his fins acting like blades as he sliced into part of her snake half's body and left a painful gash. He was fast now, and the corruption in him was clear as day now. Camille may have evolved... but she wasn't in for an easy fight by any means.
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 25, 2023 23:07:58 GMT
Camille's eyes widen as the man speaks to her telepathically. This man was a monster the whole time?
The truth, however, was far more terrifying. Turning people into monsters... The closest thing she had ever heard of was that one Harbinger she read about in old history that allegedly raised people as zombies. This is unprecedented. What further terrors would Xir unleash upon the world if left unchecked?
She isn't given time to ponder on this further when the man zooms past her and slices a gash open on her side, eliciting a soundless gasp of pain. Even through her armoured scales? This enemy means business. She swiftly whirls in the water to coil up, albeit in a three-dimensional manner. It was hard to tell where her body even ended at with the full length constantly winding around itself. Though blood trailed in the water, she refocused onto the man and began glowing with her radiant light. She fires a blast at him, but she is shocked to see that the attack is moving noticeably slower in the water than in the air. That's troublesome, she'll have to lead her shots effectively.
<It's a heavy burden losing your humanity. I'm sorry he's done this to you> She telepaths back.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 25, 2023 23:14:56 GMT
<Don't pity me too much. I wasn't much of a human before this. You've probably noticed by now what my profession once was. This is the karmic punishment for all I've done. But I don't relish in serving a monster, inhuman I may have been, but I at least took no pleasure in the deaths of my targets> the man said as he leveled his gun at Camille... surely it couldn't fire underwater right? At least not effectively...
<I will not enjoy yours either... but it will come> he said, then fired, and Camille would realize that the opposite was true, the bullets were even faster and more powerful now, a bolt of mystic energy slamming into her coiling body and drawing blood despite her armored scales. It also reeked of corruption, clearly Xir's power was fueling the man's underwater capabilities.
The man would gracefully swim to the side of the incoming light blast as well, then began swimming towards her, blade like fin at the ready and gun in one hand.
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 25, 2023 23:38:20 GMT
<You're talking to a former corrupt noble, I was plenty immoral in my ways too. Karma or no, there is humanity in you that has been subverted by that fiend. I will not patronize you with something like pity, but you are not so beyond absolution as you might think> She responds.
Camille doesn't take any chances as he raises his gun at her again, hardening herself and swerving so the bullets don't hit her upper body. They still manage to pierce her armoured scales, but not as deeply as before. The sensation of corruption makes Camille wince and in response she begins to channel her own pale energy, surrounding herself in an aura of purifying power that would hurt the tainted man if he entered. She doesn't stop there as she cleaves in an arc to fire a blade of light that travels faster in the water than her previous light blast. She briefly wonders why the principles of aero— err, aquadynamics were applying to her pure light, but she supposed sometimes mystic energy works in mysterious ways. It's moments like this where she wished she had a weapon... Wait.
She glances up to the wreckage of the ship and notices several sharp chunks of metal that broke off the ship. She grabs one and with a grunt of exertion bends it to vaguely resemble an axe. Readying her new improvised weapon she surges forward to engage the man.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 25, 2023 23:43:32 GMT
The man grunted as the pale aura singed his skin, and then narrowly dodged the arcing blade of light that followed, flipping backwards in the water as the blade passed within inches of his face. He righted himself quickly, only for a swing of the makeshift axe from Camille to be hastily blocked by his blade fin.
<A piece of scrap metal like that... won't best me!> he snarled as his blade fin pulsed with dark energy and grew sharper, cleaving a chunk out of the makeshift axe and pushing it aside as he swam in closer and spun to slash at Camille's neck this time. The pale aura around her was still searing his skin, but it wasn't enough to stop him from attacking entirely.
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 26, 2023 0:08:20 GMT
Camille smiles as he goes straight for her human half instead of the rest of her body. A crucial error.
As he goes to slash her neck she reaches and firmly grabs his arm, stopping it in its tracks with her raw strength. <You'd best not fight fair with a monster that dwarfs you in size> She scolds coyly and follows it up with a harsh punch to his face with her other hand hard enough to knock him back, letting go of him and charging her radiance to fire a flurry of light blasts at the hopefully disoriented former-human.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 26, 2023 0:25:48 GMT
<noted> the man replied simply as he was knocked back, then began firing his gun as it became wreathed in black energy, the shots surging forward and crashing into the light blasts, canceling each out in explosions of light and dark energy. It seemed he hadn't been disoriented at all... he was kept busy fending off her attack though, and couldn't spare the time to follow up to attack her again just yet.
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 26, 2023 0:33:49 GMT
As the shots impacted the blasts, the spy seemed to be occupied so Camille took the opportunity. Several separate sections of her body light up, the light coallescing into orbs that float up and out of the water. Several of her light orbs were now using the sunlight to mask sight of them, awaiting her command.
Camille then surges forward, swimming swiftly directly at the man in an attempt to barrel into him with her weight. She wards herself in radiance and pale energy so he can't get an easy shot at her head, all the while her orbs silently reposition around the battlefield.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 26, 2023 1:00:18 GMT
The man swam downwards to dodge the body slam, hitting the seafloor hard and kicking up silt to conceal himself, and then his presence was hidden, his spiritual signature just... vanishing. It was a sobering reminder that this man was an assassin, he wasn't about to fight fair either, even if he wasn't quite used to monster on monster combat and still relied on more of his human tendencies than Camille did.
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 26, 2023 1:16:50 GMT
Ahh, that's more like she would expect, even she can't detect him. Maybe Anderson could but he isn't here right now. Well, when in doubt...
She begins swirling around and coiling up within herself again, shining her radiance and pale aura to prepare for an attack from any direction. The orbs continue to wait diligently for her command, but she is patient. She knows that this man won't run, she's forced him into fighting her to the death or else he'd be in violation of his contract.
<Come out, come out...> She telepathically pings, continuing with her playful tone. This was a dangerous and serious situation but Camille just felt compelled to be coy about it. Perhaps that's some of her lamia instincts shining through.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 26, 2023 1:25:57 GMT
The silt cloud would spread across the whole seafloor around them, then begin rising... that wasn't natural... it should've settled by now, it seemed the man had gained new abilities from his monstrous form, and those abilities were closing in.
Suddenly a shot would shoot out from the silt cloud, traveling faster than the ones he'd used to counter her light orbs, meant to use the unpredictable origin point and speed to score easy hits.
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 26, 2023 1:48:51 GMT
Ooh, the silt is still lingering. Looks like he's got more tricks up his sleeve. A shot rings out and strikes her armoured hide faster than she can react, giving her more stinging pain. She quells that pain however and begins charging her radiance. Concealing herself in her coils for defense she prepares one of her beams, and after a few moments (And no doubt a few more injuries sustained) she peers out and releases it with a potent THUUUUUUUUUUUM
She sweeps the beam across the ground, boiling water in its wake and clearing away a large swath of the kicked up silt. She then dives down and with her radiance still charged swirls along the ocean floor, spreading the light all along her extensive serpentine body to continue clearing away the debris with her intense heat. One thing she notices is that while she's channeling her aura and swimming through the water she's generating quite a current. Perhaps she can make use of that later.
<You can hide, but you can't run~> She continues to taunt. The bullet impacts were definitely going to add up, but she is large enough that it will take a significant amount of damage before she is in danger of bleeding out.
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Post by cmd1095 on Jun 26, 2023 2:00:54 GMT
The silt that hadn't been burned away began swirling around Camille as she dove down low to push it back with her radiance. It wasn't able to close in past a certain point due to her radiating power, but it was now surrounding her. More shots rang out, each coming from a different location. It was likely that with the man's speed he was swimming around her in the silt, hiding his presence, settling for chip damage instead of a straight assassination like he could've managed if the silt had enveloped her
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Post by giantfiredog on Jun 26, 2023 2:11:04 GMT
As the silt started to close in on Camille she smiles. Though he is hidden within the silt, he is reducing the total number of possible places he could be. Now is the time.
The concealed orbs light up and then— FLASH-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH The sky seems to rain shards of light as the orbs begin sweeping the entire area in a barrage of light blasts. Some of the blasts struck Camille's own large body but similar to how Daniel is immune to his fire, Camille is (mostly) immune to the damage of her own Radiant attacks beyond a stinging sensation. After this attack she would need to set up more orbs again which required going back to near the surface and using up precious time, but this attack would be extremely hard for even a very nimble fighter to completely dodge without a single hit.
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Post by cmd1095 on Apr 6, 2024 23:39:38 GMT
The remainder of the silt cloud was burned away but the carpetbombing of light blasts, revealing the man as he desperately slashed with his blade fins and fired his gun to counter many of the attacks, but some were still getting through, non-lethal hits all as he expertly defended his vitals, but they were adding up. With a desperate grunt, his entire body became wreathed in corrupted energy, bursting out from him in a pulse that sent shockwaves through the water and dispersed the remaining blasts. Still as the water settled down, it was clear her gambit had done a lot of damage.
<tch... you're a lot tougher than you seem, you sure you were a noble? Fuck... Well, even so, all I need to do is... AGH" the man said as he turned to simply try and use his speed to make a break for it, only to suddenly begin writhing in pain, his body bulging and twisting as masses of flesh and corrupt energy mutated him, crashing to the bay floor and screeching in agony.
"what a pity, seems this experiment was a failure as well" a familiar voice echoed out, as a shadowy figure manifested in the water next to the writhing mass of flesh that had once been Camille's foe "and you showed such promise too, but that level of output was enough to break you hm?"
It was Xir, he was here... but not quite... it was more like a shadow of a shadow of him. She could feel his malice, recognize his voice, and that corrupt energy was unmistakable... but he wasn't actually here.
"but I must say, little snake, that you are a disappointment as well. Champion of that pitiful pale one, and all your newfound training, and you struggled so mightily against just one of my little toys" Xir said, turning a ephemeral shadowy head towards her "for a moment I was actually looking forward to the challenge you and your allies could provide... but alas."
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