Stringing along[Althea]

[Althea]

She knew what a barrier WAS, obviously, but it had been a long time she she'd had one. Or maybe never? It was hard to remember. At least as far as she could recall she didn't think she recognized it for crap but then her body was kinda sorta gone and so were most of her memories, so who knew, really? The basics were pretty self explanatory though. Magic skin make bad guys not hurt so much. Ereshkigal had her doubts as to whether or not it would actually stop a full on hit from a bug that big, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless.

That said, planning had admittedly never been her thing, nor preparation. She just... did stuff, and other people could come along for the ride if they wanted. THAT much definitely hadn't changed. Still, his last comment did catch her attention, drawing a bit of a giggle from the existence of magic inhabiting Althea's body. "Speaking from experience it sounds like, eh. I'll keep that in mind. If it's just the big one, though, this should be over fast."

Because after all, that was the one truth she know for sure. The bigger something was, the harder it fell. And a creature that big, even if Baels were as far as she remembered pretty damn spry for their size - it still wasn't gonna be teleporting around. And she did have a certain propensity for larger scale magic as it happened. So it really wasn't just mindless egotistical braggartry, but from her perspective a statement of fact.

As gravity began to warp around the pulsing orb of liquefied Nether, Ereshkigal took a decisive step forward, abandoning herself to the flow of battle and moving with the tempo of the beat - throwing the pulsing orb of destruction forward like an oversized softball, a lazy arc that ended on impact on the rampaging creature in a brilliant detonation of unrelenting darkness; space distorting and crumbling between the blackened nova of magical force that spread outward in every direction, pushing the unprepared monstrosity downward, into and through the house it had been already destroying, consuming wood and plaster and glass within the sphere of the black hole of destruction.

[Remus]

Thyrus flashed brightly before a small veil enveloped him as well. The glisten of defensive arcane magics engulfed him in the external barrier that caused his skin to take on a faint sheen as if slick with water. The swirling essence imbued around him fairly similar to the barrier he'd put upon Ereskigal. The priest turned to look back to the pale haired dark wielding maiden.

Remus chuckled quietly despite the tone of their environment at her accurate assessment. How well he could remember feeling safe behind his barriers only to be instantly obliterated by a single strong hit. Though the hit itself was nullified it was still a shocking sensation. Though he was proficient enough at barriers that he'd managed to survive a few fatal encounters. Like the murder explosions in Vinland's giant murder temple. The lapis haired Etrurian flashed a bright smile though as his disposition remained steadfast in face of the colossal devastatingly lethal monster spider near him. "Really it is ahah, I can say just how useful it is but if you don't understand the limits of it then it can be even more dangerous. I'd say..two good hits from that thing would be the limit."


He couldn't help but marvel at her power. Truly for this to be the first time he witnessed Elder Magic wielded offensively, it was a heavy first impression to see it with such might. It sent chills down his spine and he felt his hairs stand on end along the back of his neck and arm-okay he wasn't that masculine. However he didn't think it was wise to let her handle it alone. Maybe it was enough but, Remus knew that it was better to be sure than to be dead or helpless. The priest lifted his hand as his skin lit up with holy magic. A faint quartet of light bolts peppering the bael. It...was far less effective. He hadn't the time to imbue it with much decisive power but at the same time he couldn't let it begin to rampage in berserk agony, so if he could draw its focus to the magic duo he'd like to do that and keep innocent lives out of it. Remus spoke quietly with amazement a moment later.

"I've never seen Elder Magic brandished like that! Though er..I've...never seen it wielded in combat at all but..even by magical standards your...really strong."

[Althea]

The gigantic spider screeched, a horrible keening wail that threatened to burst her eardrums and shatter glass (maybe), as it writhed in the ruins of the house. It was, er, rather clear that it had been heavily discomfited, but it also didn't seem to be missing a lot of legs, or say half of its body, as she had been kinda hoping. This whole 'control' thing was tough, man. Finding that nice happy little medium between 'obliterate village' and 'blatantly rip off Drei's little shadow puppet stuff' was easy for Althea... not so much for her. At least not now. She wasn't even using her own BODY, dammit! This one had like, no friggin' magic circuits to speak of even after what she'd done to fix it up. And it actually got damaged when you used too much magic! Absolutely ridiculous. Ereshkigal had no idea how humans even cast magic at all.

Well... she WAS, kinda sorta, technically, human-ish now. Soooooo she was gonna have to get used to it. At least she hadn't blown herself, or uh Altheaself, or whatever, up in that last attack. And at least Remus was impressed. She was a lot less so, but it WAS fun to be able to use magic again without having to fuel it with her own soul or anything. And, well, she was about as deep as the average puddle when it came to being praised. "It's okay to praise me more, you know~" The grin breaking onto her face was quite genuine as the priestess puffed up with pride, more than ready to show off again, but uh there was the minor issue that the house was kinda-sorta obscuring her vision and she didn't want to go TOO large scale considering that there were people still in the general vicinity.

Hm.

Man, this would be a lot easier if she didn't have a conscience.

Tendrils of tenebrous shadow wreathed her right arm, the beginnings of another spell, but at least this time Ereshkigal had the sense to not immediately start throwing high powered dark magic out at random in hopes of hitting the big ass spider. Between the random screams in the general vicinity she wasn't ACTUALLY sure there was no one else in the line of fire. But more than that, what stopped her was the realization that she could hear... something... in her peripheral hearing, not quite sure how to identify it but there was definitely something coming.

"Uh, Remus, do you hear something?"

[Remus]

Remus laughed once more in face of their situation. Not that the prospect of fallen innocence or injured people was not taken seriously, but the jovial nature at which Ereshkigal received his praise and attempted to coerce more from him was simply amusing. The words were so Nayru to him, if he hadn't seen that long pale snowy hair he might've confused them for ones spoken by the sable haired dragoness herself. No doubt however, she was not Nayru. Though she did brandish a severe level of power that evoked the image of Nayru, and Remus would not deny her that. The presented problem was not one to suffer his lack of absolute attention and focus though, and when the flailing colossal Bael fell it was not for long and not a silent graceful tumble. The thunderous crash and ruckus as it rose gave way to the skittering crawling as the sound of motion drew his notice. His shadow wielding comrade seemed to notice it first.

"I do. Though I don't quite think I've heard anything like it bef-...Oh dear."

The sound had grown louder until it came into view. It was enough to make his skin crawl. It certainly felt like it, and right now he'd have loved to think of anything associated with NOT crawling. The priests hands gripping his staff in an attempt to resolute and steel himself, he found it a bit trying. A veritable army of smaller baels came scurrying around the corner to the defense of what was no doubt their elder. Far far smaller than the large beast they battled currently but in legion. Perhaps the beasts brood? They rared small front limbs and hissed as they hopped about and began to approach like a wave of angry mandibles slathered in juices that looked most nefarious, though simple saliva or something far worse unknown to him. No doubt the worse of the two outcomes, knowing his luck. The priest looked to his void wielding partner for a moment.

"Their the size of my mothers dog! Yet they look no older than freshly hatched. They'd likely eat my mothers dog as well..."

[Althea]

As much as she had tried to impress Remus with her intimate knowledge of Bael hunting earlier, Ereshkigal had, ah, conveniently forgotten to mention that it had been in a fairly structured environment. No one would have ever let her near an ACTUAL Bael nest of course, nothing actually dangerous for their dear little priestess, so she had... never actually seen more than one or two Baels at a time. Reasonably large ones of course, her strength was not in question, OBVIOUSLY, but she had never really understood why it was that big of a deal. More targets didn't really matter when you just blew up everything in the area anyways.

Watching the skittering tide of crimson approaching, Ereshkigal started to get some idea of why.

"Oh my god EW that's gross!"

Her face contorting in disgust, Ereshkigal almost stepped back from the wave of weirdness approaching before her ire took the best of her momentary fear. She was ERESHKIGAL, dammit, a bunch of midget spiders... all of them bigger than her head... where had she been going with that? Something about murder. Or extermination. Exterminate. EXTERMINATE.

She had already been gathering black magic for a time, but as her bullshit tolerance peaked and simultaneously shattered, she took a step forward instead, tendrils of shadow rapidly wreathing her left arm as well as the tide of darkness rapidly grew. Completely engulfing both arms in the all too familiar liquefied blackness that was her birthright. Just because she had to watch the scale of her attacks here didn't mean she couldn't bring any power at all to bear. And while it was a bit of a gamble to use any kind of area magic with people around, they were either already dead or well out of the way as far as she was concerned. This street at least was hers to command. She would be... otherwise occupied for a moment though, and despite her pride Ereshkigal was starting to become serious. She wasn't a complete idiot after all, merely... not especially deep thinking at times. She was without her true guardian. But she had a makeshift one here. Her voice chilled of emotion as she spoke. "Remus. Protect me."

And then, bringing both arms up as the Nether dripped from them in a thin stream, she brought both open palms forward, at about sixty degree angles from each other, as twin jets of screaming shadow erupted outward in barely controlled torrents of acidic magic that cut through glass and flesh equally. Sweeping both streams towards each other as they raked the main Bael approach, carving through and obliterating anything in their path - but the skittering monstrosities were not simply inanimate objects, nor complete fools, and while many were boxed in on both sides by the overwhelming attack many more were able to escape to the sides, climbing ruined houses and leaping across rooftops as they approached the duo far more quickly and far less predictably. For her part, Ereshkigal was far too focused on her attack to even register their existence much less track them.

[Remus]

Gross was certainly a good word to use for it. Remus hadn't ever particularly been fond of spiders per-say, but given an alternative to say...an approaching army of angry puppies, he might've preferred the puppies. It'd be far easier to endure a wave of nibbling small canines than a murderous frenzied assault of colossal punctures induced from alarmingly angry arachnids. Though he did find a modicum of humor in Ereskigal's sudden shift in emotion and tone. Though the way she abruptly spoke after with a far more intense weight behind her words. How could someone experience such a shift? Had her voice sounded different entirely? he couldn't be sure. His musings were halted as the thunderous gathering of immensely powerful void infused magic sundered the veil of reality and reduced the small bodies of a large number of unfortunate baels to aetherial ash. Which he probably would've felt horrible for baels butttttt...


"Nooooooo you don't!"

With a palm extended, a hail of thin bolts flew from the priests palm as it illuminated with holy incandescence that scorched the air as the round darts of divine essence pelted the hopping baels that tried to skitter about. By steadily guiding his palm along the left side, and right side a moment later the spray of light bolts was able to pelt them backwards. It seemed to leave indicated marks hinting at a fairly descent damage dealt to their bodies, but Remus wasn't trying to kill them specifically. He was going with a "Hose that area down in fire and hope you knock them back" method. To this extent he was sweeping his hand and alternating from roof to roof with brief pauses in the harrying fire to deny them from advancing as some began to skitter as if to hide. Which still counted as halted progression! Win for him! A few far more unfortunate ones fell into the stream of murder magic Ereskigal was unleashing. To this point Remus was invested in attempting to keep his dark magic brandishing new friend safe so he couldn't afford to focus on non-lethal, even if they were baby animal/monsters.

[Althea]

Lost in her attempts to direct and control the twin jets of Nether magic raking through the remnants of the horde that had been too slow or too stupid to avoid her attack, Ereshkigal failed to notice those clambering across roof and wall, a sea of skittering spiders that crested and crashed down upon them - upon Remus's barrier - rending her concentration as she realized what was going on far too late to have done a great deal about it had the priest's barrier not been there to stem the rush. The left stream buckled and dimmed as the right exploded outwards like a solid blast of consuming magic, bereft of the finer control of a moment before; a black lance of magic that carved through walls and wood through what she belatedly hoped were empty houses before she regained control and the blast flickered and faded entirely.

Ereshkigal was admittedly beginning to realize that her limited experience in fighting adult Baels was... not entirely useful in terms of dealing with large numbers of smaller ones, but mama didn't raise no quitter, and, well, blissfully unaware of the irony of the situation she was actually pretty mad at them for not having the decency to roll over and play dead the way a proper fight should go.

None of which, ah, changed the fact that they had gone from 'ranged firepower' to 'rapidly becoming surrounded' in VERY short order, and while Remus's rapid firepower was certainly a lot more effective at keeping small numbers of the creatures off of them the numbers were rapidly intensifying as the baels she had scattered early began to regroup. Ereshkigal was... not a tactician. She had very little actual combat experience and limited access to Althea's psyche or intellect. She did, unfortunately, have a GREAT deal of pride than ensured she didn't do the smart thing of trying to figure out a solution or ask Remus for help, instead opting to bring both arms forward, upward, as endless darkness rose from the earth and crested, crushing, collapsing half a dozen meters away from her onto the street, leaving nothing behind of those unfortunate enough to be caught in its path - but there were MANY more baels coming from other directions.

[Remus]

Remus felt his body begin to flood with a slightly dimmed warmth. It spread through not just his limbs but what felt like his veins, as bolts fled his fingertips with a constant flurry like barrage. Each one hummed angrily through the air and the spray assailed outwards, the smaller spider-lings caught in his path subject to the deluge of raw burning light that seared their smaller bodies. Most wriggling or writhing in hiss filled agony before falling lifeless. This did little to stem the tide though and he felt like his attack simply stopped more from advancing from a very specific spot. There was a faint whine like higher pitched shrill tone as the energy flow from the priests palm increased, and the output flowed faster before he took a glance around him. The situation was certainly looking exceptionally dour, and now the spiders had formed around his small segment of murder. His mind raced, and his pulse quickened at a rate to match.

He couldn't take time to dwell on it in that moment, but he was able to at-least mentally note with a small token of amazement just how much his endurance brandishing light magic had increased. He recalled how often when he'd first stumbled on light magic he'd grow winded after a few concentrated strikes. Now however, to perpetually sustain a flow of magic at even this level, though likely smaller in margin to a more trained practitioner of the holy magics, felt like a fairly trivial effort. Though it did not compare to the bombastic magics commanded by the pale haired woman who was seemingly warping reality with her darker magics which sent chills down his spine far deeper than the presence of the spiders had, and with far more devastation to the unlucky within its reach at that. Impressive though it was however, the crawling of his skin that it inspired did not seem to be enough to deter the endless (or so it felt) hordes of smaller baels. Remus cut his flow of magic after the shadow wielding maiden's own burst of darkness detonated, and inhaled sharply before focusing inwards.

The blinding radiance from his palm gave way to a softer warm blue aura that exuded from his staff as he quietly began to channel. His mind grew calm and he steadied the turbulence inside himself, as he lifted Thyrus higher into the air. Robes slowly beginning to stir with prospective rustlings as the current of supportive magics flowed from prompt of thought and guided by prior experience. He kept himself spatially aware. The buildings around them. The path behind. The horde ahead. The female beside him. How everything was drawn together in proportion of one another. The magic climbed in concentration, and Remus spoke to the woman besides him. At-least attempting to maintain communication of what he was doing, so she could adjust as needed. His tone was exceptionally leveled and reserved despite the increasingly dire odds that were perpetually stacked against them. "If you can buy me just a bit of time, I can get us some real distance from them. If only for a few moments."

It wasn't a way to do anything other than get them to a better position and location but given the circumstances, he'd take what he could get.

[Althea]

The turbulent tsunami of emotion smashing through her body reverbated throughout the entirety of her corporeal form and spirit alike; Ereshkigal felt little in moderation, but in the heat of the moment, all semblance of control of her feelings washed away by the power flowing through her and her own fractured psyche. The joy of absolute, unrelenting, irrevocable freedom. The sense of - she didn't really know - friendship or cameradie or something, togetherness, with Remus that she was able to share this experience WITH someone for the first time. The frozen flame of the Nether burning bright within her, around her, a barely contained inferno that consumed her whole and gave back tenfold.

And throughout it all, the rising tide of molten rage that ever threatened to consume her - held in check by Althea's control, but Althea wasn't here now, was she? It was just her, herself, and me. So she was gonna live a little. And besides. As long as she didn't get TOO carried away, who cared what happened to some dumpy old buildings?

The Nether heeded her call, as it always had. Seduced by the turbulent emotions that comprised the core of her essence. Always taking, but it could not match her. Engorged, drunk on Herself, it became hers in name and truth alike. As harmless as a loyal pet. And as unrelenting as the earth itself as her guardian. Smiling radiantly with innocent fury, she met the first of the leaping beasts with a blast of consuming darkness that rent it apart on scales smaller than the eye could see, flakes of the creature disintegrating into nothing as its momentum carried it helplessly to the jaws of death.

Even the pain turned to pleasure in her blood, the constricting tendrils of black magic snaking across her body, under her dress, mostly invisible for now but the acrid sensation they brought fed into the trance. She had heard Remus's plea, and she would act on it, but right now she didn't know if she was capable of speech, or exactly what she would say. And this moment was too beautiful to waste, anyways. All she had to do was keep him safe for a bit, right? She was going to do it anyways. So why not have a little fun in the process?

[Remus]

This was his chance. While the void flew around them and snuffed out countless winks of life(if baels counted?) the priest turned inwards. He had no choice but to assume that she was going to be able to keep him safe. Remus lifted Thyrus higher as the gem began to shift between shades of red and blue for a few moments before a steady violet essence blossomed outwards. Though it enveloped them both in a soft warm light, nothing happened. Remus could attempt now, but they might get a foot or two at best. So instead, he channeled. He wove the magic within and used it to prepare. For he would sculpt and alter the fabrics of reality with the magic that would displace them from one location to another. Shifting two living things from one location to another in that instant, though it would take concentration and effort. He dared not imagine what would happen might he fail. It was hard, initially, to tune out the colossal blasts and torrents of energy. So he clutched his staff with both hands one atop the other and began to simply tune.

The woman had great power at her command. That scared him as much as it reassured him. He felt uneasy, and a small presence lingering within even felt unsafe because of her. He dismissed it though and continued his efforts to prepare his spell. Something like this, he'd never performed before. So he knew that he'd have to get it right. Better to be safe than sorry. So the energy grew brighter. The ground around them lighting up as if a circle had been transcribed and the energy between them filled the entirety of that space. Still he prepared and yet again, shockingly, Remus placed his life with absolute trust, or almost absolute in this case, in the hands of another.

[Althea]

Fire burned hot in her chest, a pounding pulse of pyrokinetic plasma that felt as though it would burn her away entirely. Pleasurable pain that reminded her she was alive, real, HERE - and what was at stake; Althea's body, her host, Remus's life, those here. Rather than fear or concern, the self-assured spirit felt a wildly variant mix of other emotions. Hope, potential, optimism - that she could do something useful. Something GOOD. Wield her power in service of something that would bring light to the world, even if she had to drown some of it in shadow first. Responsibility. The idea that her actions, her failure, could have consequences that daddy dearest couldn't immunize her from.

It was anger, though, that truly filled her. At herself, for her past failure to see what she should have seen. At these worthless squirming vermin who dared to stand against her. At how pitiful she was now. At how little she accounted for in the grand scheme of things - a worthless nobody who had given up their hopes and dreams long ago, skewered on a sacrificial knife, bleeding blood and magic and shreds of her very soul to the magic that had consumed her.

And above all, the thought of the one who had done that to her. Taken everything from her. All she owned. All she knew. Everything she was. Everything she ever had been. And beyond even that, her future. It was her weakness, but it was also her weapon. The overwhelming emotion that had lured the Nether to her, bent it to her will, resonating with the ever thirsting mass. It hungered for emotion, and there were none who could match her in feeding it. Now or ever.

Bringing her right arm upwards, fingers cradling a tiny spark of shadow that flickered in her palm, Ereshkigal swept her left hand regally before her, a tide of corrosive shadow scything through the nearest Baels and disintegrating them as they skittered and scrambled worthlessly within the deadly gale. It wasn't nearly enough. Only a few of the abominable creatures. They ALL had to die. Suffer before they died. Fear her. The human - she couldn't remember his name - he was doing something with his own magic, she could feel it in her being even if she did not understand what, she vaguely remembered that she was supposed to protect him, but these damnable monsters were not giving her the time to think, to act, to do ANYTHING, and as her anger grew the spark grew brighter - darker - a pulsing flicker that seemed to warp the air around her hand, playing havoc with the perspective of its dimensions.

Losing focus entirely for a moment, Ereshkigal screamed as she brought her right hand forward, downward, kneeling into the strike as the black spark approached the earth - exploding into a sphere of screaming shadow consuming the wind for a moment as it engorged itself - and as it struck the ground a nova of unrelenting energy detonated with an exclusive burst of concussive force and harshly keening sound, a wall of shadow that grew in a semicircular dome before them, nearly instantly obliterating Baels and walls alike as it pressed outwards, momentarily forcing the monstrous tide as they faced something that even their tiny brains recognized as an absolute territory of destruction within which there could be no future, no past, no possibility.

[Remus]

The air rippled. Magic tearing and ripping at the fabrics of reality. Had he not been so extremely focused on his spell, he would've likely been completely blown away, though not as much so as the tiny baels ,by the prowess that this pale haired maiden commanded the unrelenting forces of darkness. Then again, he'd not seen dark magic brandished often so to see it in such a caliber would likely distort his perception of what the average dark magic user was capable of. The priest's magic was almost done. The series of encircled magics building around them as if a large rune had taken form. The Priest lifted his staff, about to cast the spell when a sudden hiss caught his attention. Amidst the churning tides of destroyed baels, flailing and broken and mutilated corpses, the horde continued. These tens of hisses were not that which drew his attention though. Roused Ire of the colossal flailing Bael that crashed into the side wall of a small wooden home was the focus of his attention now. The creature reared its front legs as pain and rage drove it. The ground shook with tremors from the weight of it throwing itself wildly around while trying to center itself.

Remus's already pale complexion grew more so at the sight of the creature. When with Nayru they'd faced worse threats no doubt, but he fought with the confidence that Nayru was at his side. Her presence almost like an assurance to him. Without that, he could only rely on the blind faith of a strange so far before his logic and sense of self preservation tried to overide. Unfortunately for his bodily sense of survival however he was not one to abandon someone. If fight or flight kicked in, it was a good thing he had no wings because he'd have ignored them anyway. The Priest lifted Thyrus into the air higher and muttered in a panicked tone. "Yes. Yes now we must be going. Now is a good time to get some space!"

The sigil pulsed once and light of blinding hue ensnared and enveloped them in a flood of warmth before they were displaced through spacial magic. In an instant, where they "are" became where they "were" and where they were not became where they "are". About thirty feet behind where they had been another rune had instantly flared up as they arrived in that space. The Priest noting the instant dip in his magical reserve of power. His gaze shifting as the space between them began to once again close with the advancing horde. Though slowed, certainly not deterred. And that larger one began to approach with thundering wrath and thrashing form. Unfortunately, it seemed that there was no preserving the houses it rampaged through. Luckily though if they fought on they could yet preserve more lives. The Priest wasn't panting, but his breaths had grown a bit deeper and his nostrils had flared slightly as if to ensure he inhaled as much as possible. The Priest speaking after a moment or two.

"I er..don't think this was enough space. Hopefully it buys us more time but we have to try a more permanent solution!"

[Althea]

Ereshkigal couldn't tell if being teleported was actually that disorienting or if there was something else clouding her thoughts in the immediate wake of Remus's gambit, her body not quite hers to control as she rose unsteadily - motion sickness? - but as her vision cleared to some degree she realized they had been moved some small distance away from the initial fight - though unfortunately(?) not far enough away that in its wake she too heard the thrashing of the greater Bael as it rose from its temporary defeat. Or... had it been feigned, awaiting the arrival of its brood? She didn't know much about the big creepy crawlies. Althea probably would have been, like, totally psyched to know. Ereshkigal, personally, was ok with just blowing them all the hell up and asking questions later.

"A permanent-" She broke off, the act of speaking harder than she had expected; she hadn't realized she was - out of breath? This human thing was harder than she realized. Oddly enough the rush of emotion a moment before had subsided to a degree - Althea's influence perhaps - but it didn't quite seem like anything was working right and Ereshkigal didn't have the faintest idea why.

A solution... a final solution to their problem. Hm. Althea couldn't bitch TOO much if she did it for a good cause, right? "...I will need more space," she managed, noting again the strange soreness in her throat and chest that seemed suspiciously like being out of breath but good lord even Althea couldn't be THIS out of shape... could she? Something about it left Ereshkigal a little uneasy, but she couldn't quite place it. Further reinforcing this fragile body with tendrils of grasping Nether than snaked across her arms and neck and face, pouring much needed magic into her frame. "And time. An alpha strike at the titan may disperse the horde."

-But she wouldn't be able to cast while charging the larger attack. Dammit. Where was Althea when you needed a good idea for once?

[Remus]

It wasn't enough. Atleast that tiny hop hadn't been. He was proud that he'd successfully relocated two separate entities using his magic to an entirely other location. However, that simply wasn't enough . It was like an endless wave. Small spiders progressing forwards, sometimes climbing over one another. His gaze flickering to the pale haired woman. The rise and fall of her chest in such a manner combined with the sudden influx of magic? He had always heard that elder magic bore with it a terrible weight upon the soul. That it cost great and weighed heavy in its toll. In that context, seeing what he did now he could only imagine the strain that the magic had taken upon his pale haired comrade. He could try to slow it, if only enough for them to get a greater distance. The horde advanced, but slow. The lapis haired priest took a few steps forward with a silent nod before he lifted his left hand upwards. Thyrus pulsed within his right palm, resonating to his silent resolve. It drew his note for a moment. No shift, no sudden surge of power. Nothing but what felt like a shudder from the length of the shaft.

His left hand ignited into a brilliant burning radiance that swiftly turned into a rippling incandescence bathing his own visage in pure tides. The priests mind shifting into the ironclad resolve required when he commanded magic of the soul. He was very well aware that his own magic could operate only within certain limits. His diversity in offensive powers ranging from only fairly ineffective individual bolts en mass, and exuberantly overly draining pillars of divine eradication. He'd not yet learned the beauty of moderation. The sapphire robes of his faith which he was often clad began to billow in the churning torrent born from the sudden surge of magical essence. The priest lifted his palm until it was just far enough away from his nose that it was not touching, fist balled after a few moments as he condensed the energy. The priest's eyes shut while he focused inwards further. His voice rigid, laden with a tone somewhat foreign to his own ears as he tried to take that first step towards a more proactive solution that didn't amount to "Run away!" A torrent of emotions fueled that resolve of his.

"Let me stall them. I'll give you a moment to breath."

A statement, more than a question. Now he had it. He had that which he'd longed for. Power to make a difference. Power to stand between danger and others. To stave off that danger. It was his. No longer would he cower behind larger friends, or not as often, waiting to be wounded to near fatality the moment they could no longer support the burden of his weight. If he was correct, dark magic took time to prepare. At-least to larger calibers. Such was always what he'd been instructed or read. No doubt there were exceptions as with any magical application, but for power, time was always necessary. The collective hissing and screeches and clicking of the spiders became almost deafening as he engulfed himself in the one thing more overpowering in that moment. His resolve to help everyone. To help them with every ounce of his being. Mixed from a fear of worthlessness should he fall short by even the smallest margin, and a fire stoked nearly a year ago in smaller embers.

Remus extended his palm outwards and the air rippled. All that brief accrual of energy built up only to be discharged in a sudden wave as the priest held his palm straight outwards. The light from his palm was like a mass, an origin point and from it a spiral of fat burning bolts of searing electricity sailed outwards like a sprayed cone of retribution. The gained distance allowed the priests energy bolts to gain some distance from another while Remus swept his palm from the center to the left. The bolts crashing into spiders, or sometimes the ground and burnt a fair lengths worth of wooden shop wall and sign before sweeping his palm to the side once more. The energy output in volume to maintained wasn't the difficult part though for him. It was maintaining the intensity. The constant barrage at that level while he tried to lay down as effective a suppression as he could. Remus maintained that spray of divine judgment for a few solid seconds, fueling it before he abruptly halted the magic flow and tried to step back. Taking a moment back to Ereshkigal's side while he lifted his staff upwards and quickly clutched it with both hands. This time instead funneling energy into it.

The familiar indications of his teleportation magic began to ignite. Taking no time to observe how much his efforts had realistically slowed the hordes advance, the priest instead began pouring all his efforts into that magic. It would take time and he had to capitalize. The Priest hoping his comrade could pick up on his plan. So much so that Remus began to quietly murmur a memorized line of prayer. Something to focus him. "By her hand, grant clarity. By her will, grant us the divine. By her spirit, grant us Succor. Guide with light and drive with will. Accept my cries unto thee. " Only to repeat it a moment later while he further enhanced. He would have to entrust his safety once again to the darkness brandishing maiden.

[Althea]

She was... starting to understand why Father and her retainers had always... steered her away from having too much fun with monster hunts. Hitting a Bael or two was easy enough. But this many skittering horrors was more than she could handle alone, at least as she was now. That probably bothered her more than everything else in the fight so far. And Althea's body was straight up pathetic, so she couldn't even fight properly. She didn't KNOW strategy. She didn't know how to protect Remus and kill all the spiders and keep herself alive at the same time. But she had to do... something.

While the cleric's teleportation magic had given them some space, the animal-sized arachnids were already closing the gaps in inconsistent waves, less of a single tidal wave after the massive bursts of magic she had used earlier and more small groups approaching at multiple angles. Almost as if they were smarter than her... something she tried not to think too hard about. Besides, thinking never really got her anyways. Instinct was much more useful. Instinct could have kept her alive, too, if she had just listened to it.

Channeling the sudden burst of molten fury that bubbled up within her breast at the thought, Ereshkigal stepped forward, bringing her left arm up with a sphere of bubbling pitch that arced outward, detonating near a mass of rushing spiders several meters away and washing over them with crushing force that cratered the ground and left no sign of where they had been. Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention, to the right, and she swept her right arm sideways towards it, a grand gesture that brought a seething tide of shadow up from the ground, cresting over most of them and hurling some of the others back, though they felt as though they were reacting faster and less clumped together than before. It was only instinct that kept the creature leaping through the air behind her from ripping her apart on the spot as the possessed magus spun around, bringing her left arm up once more - this time catching the bulbous creature with a grip far too strong for Althea's underwhelming frame.

Rather than magic blowing it away, though, the creature screeched a keening wail and scrabbled helplessly as tendrils of inky shadow began erupting from its every orifice, sending spiderweb fractures across its abdomen as the magic was ripped from its body and drawn into her. An act she immediately regretted as some of the foul sorcery entered her mouth, with all the horrible aftertaste she really should have expected, but the life force was useful nonetheless, and she dropped the dessicated creature to the ground without further ado as its legs shriveled and curled closed.

"...Can you get us a good shot at the big one? We need to make this count." Her words, laced with imperial command, nonetheless revealed the breathy exhaustion of a body that had never been meant to conduct that amount of elder magic, the blackened brambles of Nether energy coursing across Althea's body and creeping up her neck and face helping channel the load but themselves only marginally less dangerous to the human mage. "I cannot - maintain this body - much longer," she managed after a moment and a blast of coruscating purple-black energy from her open palm at the nearest group as more of the creatures closed in on them.