Halls of Power (Mod)

[Akira Nakajima]

The boy entered the structure as he had on every outing for. . . a while now. Missions and occasional beckonings aside, Akira seldom visited other areas as of late. It wasn't that there wasn't a need. Not by any means, no. It was simply that he felt more comfortable pushing at the greater expanses before him. The others could go through the same trial by fire that he had- fighting and growing stronger on the weaker Shadows. Eventually, they'd be there with him, on the front lines. They couldn't leave the forefront of the war left untended. Even if everybody else pulled back to go elsewhere, the boy was going to strive onwards until he was sure nothing of note was there.

That was why, with a few Heat Risers, the boy sprinted on, exploring.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

Beware! Death approaches!

The Reaper

• Heaven's Blade
• God's Hand
• Primal Force
• Ragnarok
• Niflheim
• Panta Rhei
• Charming Bolt
• Hell's Judgment
• Heaven's Judgment
• Black Viper
• Mind Charge
• Power Charge
• Unshaken Will

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: None

Upon defeating The Reaper, you may receive any one item you want in return!

[Akira Nakajima]

Despite the fact that the boy was easily powerful enough to walk over any of the garden-variety level Shadows that would have appeared in the castle, and the fact that Heat Riser easily amplified that to encompass the “special” enemies lingering around, his insides quivered. It was a primal reaction to the sensation of power near him. What approached was exceedingly powerful. Others might have fled. The boy would not have really blamed them, should that event have come to pass. However, Akira was not particularly interested in turning tail and fleeing. No, he was driven a bit differently than that. It might have been the battle high that Heat Riser inspired. It might have simply been the desire to stand against the challenge that approached. Hell, it might have simply been a whim. Whatever the case, the boy decided to tackle the approaching enemy head on.

And he was excited.

Chains rattled. The sound of a revolving chamber reached the boy's ears. What appeared was questionably outside of the boundaries of a typical Shadow. Hell, it might have been something that transcended Shadows entirely. Whatever the case, it oozed with power. Grim Squeaker had been a wannabe Grim Reaper. This guy? This guy wasn't exactly what he was looking for when someone mentioned a that phrase, but he believed that this was as close to the phrase as anything he would encounter could be. The Reaper floated forward, coming to a stop once it had a chance to observe and analyze the crossdresser and his Persona. Then, without a word or hesitation, it aimed one of two ridiculously long-barreled revolvers at him. The following shot acted as the signal for the beginning. The boy and the succubus went to either side to quickly avoid, then surged forward to attack.

Heat Riser amplified the boy's overall combat abilities, so he had little doubt that he could at least match his opponent's overall power. His first line of business would be cutting his opponent off from any magical abilities it might have had. Sound Splitter made not a sound in his hand as it sliced through the air. No, the shears sliced through the air and the sound, consuming the latter. The boy used both arms to send his massive scissors upwards at the Reaper. The blow connected safely, but there was no apparent effect in regards to the weapon's secondary modification. A failure, or did this guy resist it? Two more attempts, and he'd go with the latter. On the other end, Alma Elma opened with a volley of fireballs, pelting the Reaper and everything around it with vicious flames. The boy hopped along out of the way, even if it would have had no effect on him. While the Reaper seemed to be effected, it wasn't by any extraordinary amount- it was neutral. Neither Slash nor Fire was especially effective. Shame, but it would have ruined the impact of the battle, had either been any special.

The Reaper shot at the boy, whirling as it tried to smash the crossdresser with the revolver's barrel. The blow missed entirely due to Akira's enhanced speed, but it was close enough that the boy felt the force from the blow. Even with maxed buffs, the blow would likely hurt. And effectively piss him off. Once he had steadied his posture, the boy gave the Reaper a second slash. Still the same general result. One more, and he would completely exclude the chances of the “Silence” that Sound Splitter brought from his plans. Behind the Reaper, Alma Elma lifted her tail, pointing it to the ceiling, before firing a mass of what looked to be metal. Without warning, the ball exploded, and a hail of nail-like arrows shot down, driving into the stone floor with little difficulty and burying themselves into the Reaper. Another neutral-damage attribute, it seemed. No weakness so far, but no nullifications, either. The plus and the negative came together for a neutral zero. Oh well.

The Reaper took a moment to observe the field before holstering one of its two revolvers. Then, gripping its chains, it pulled a length free and swung it at the boy. The links had sharp edges. Painfully sharp. The blow connected, and the force behind it sent the boy back and off of his feet. He rolled, eventually stopping on one knee. The whole time, he calculated the situation. The blow was powerful, but it had also gotten lucky. In other words, it was more effective than it should have been. With that in mind, even with that “enhanced” blow he could safely take one more before needing to heal. Therefore, focusing instead on maintaining his offensive, the boy slowly rose and leveled his scissors. Neither of Alma Elma's offensive skills were lessened, but neither showed any benefits, either. Similarly, this would be his third strike with his scissors with roughly the same results. All in all, he had nothing to complain about. He shot in, feinting to the left, then, twirling around, he slashed across the Reaper's front. Third time proved to not be the charm. Similar to the boy, the Reaper seemed to nullify unnecessary and bothersome side effects of attacks. Hopping away, the boy watched as another rain of nails fell upon the Reaper. That was six strong, buffed attacks this thing took, and it was still going steady. He could praise it for its endurance, sure, but Akira was fairly confident in his ability to keep going, as well.

Seeming to swap gears, the Reaper shifted away from the two. It then proceeded to level its revolver, which produced a bright red flame. Had it decided that physical attacks weren't worth the risk? Whatever the case, the boy charged forward with zero concern, charging through the blast of fire as it was launched at him. Following that, he sent a powerful downward strike with his scissors. The sound of the area was distorted, even the burning of the flames sounded off. The blow connected, and the boy shifted to the side as a volley fell upon the Reaper, nailing it repeatedly with those terrible tools of destruction. This guy refused to go down, and Akira felt more and more excited. At some point, his battle high had grown even further. Was it the fact that the aura wasn't just for show? Not just a bark lacking bite? Whatever the case, the crossdresser laughed.

Following the attack of flames, the Reaper's revolver began to glow with an azure hue. The boy already figured that would come. The moment magic began to be used, he was expectant that his own weakness would come. As a result, when the frigid pulse was shot, he shifted out of the way, straightening his legs following the wild evasion. Then, charging inward, he performed a three-way slash. Diagonally up and the left, right to left, and, finally, down and to the left, the boy performed his own special attack before Alma followed up with another volley of spires. Akira put just enough distance between himself and his opponent to give himself the chance to avoid while staying close enough to surge in for a quick strike. That, however, proved useless as an effort.

The Reaper's gun began to glow like a divine jade. Then, with another shot, a vicious torrent of wind plowed into the boy! It reminded him of his mission with Luka- the battle against the plants. Just like then, he was blown off of his feet and half-slid, half-rolled back. For the first time in a long time, the boy found himself prone of the ground, on his belly. Well, it was refreshing in its own way, at least. Slowly standing, he willed for healing, and a Mediarahan washed over him, refreshing his body. His limbs were good to go, and the injuries from the chains and wind were gone. By all means, just like his opponent seemed to be, he was good to go.

Sparks crackled this time. The Reaper again tried to distance itself from the boy, an effort that proved to have some degree of effectiveness if only because the last attack had sent the youth back. Then, like a torrent of lightning sent by the gods of the very same element, the revolver spit a vicious beam of electric energy. The boy, however, was still enhanced by Heat Riser. Lowering his body, then diving forward and slightly to the side, he avoided the attack, closing the distance while letting Alma Elma pelt the thing with arrows again. Using that attack as a distraction, he managed to close the distance completely, rewarding himself with another nasty slash on the Reaper. The fight didn't seem like it would end any time soon. That was all well and good, though. The boy still had plenty of energy.

Pretty much as the crossdresser expected, the Reaper swapped the to Light-Dark selection. As if the barrel of the revolver had turned into a high-powered flashlight, it produced a ridiculous amount of light before a blast shot forward. Akira twirled to the side to avoid it, slashing his opponent in the same motion. Alma Elma, on the opposite side of the enemy, just launched the exploding ball of nails at the Reaper. The boy used his enemy as a shield, allowing him to remain close enough to continue attacking while still being safe from the assault of nails. Not missing a beat, the Reaper followed up with a blast of darkness. The multi-purpose revolver was neat, sure, but with his enhancements, Akira didn't expect too much trouble, even if the Reaper had other tricks up its sleeve. Avoiding and slashing once more, the boy only put distance between himself and the enemy when it began to reach for its other revolver again. Naturally, Alma still pelted the thing with nails.

The Reaper gripped both revolvers. No signs of immediate attack, despite the boy's caution. Something, like a beast's instinct warning them of impending doom, clicked inside the boy. Then he realized that the Reaper was charging itself. Well, that was just wonderful, wasn't it? If it was using both revolvers this time, it was likely not an elemental attack, but something that transcended those boundaries. He remembered the Almighty-class attacks that Shadows, Vice, and others had used. That was likely what was coming. Call it a gut feeling, instinct, “girl's” intuition, or Murphy's Law. Whatever the case, it was coming, and the boy was entirely sure that that would be the course coming. So, naturally, he rushed to try to end it sooner as opposed to later. The boy shot back in, slashing diagonally down and to the left, then continued with a twirl as he slashed diagonally up and to the left. Alma, of course, followed up with a blast of nails.

And then it began. The Reaper leveled both of its revolvers, pointing them at the boy. They emitted a dull purple light. Slowly, the purple became bright, developing as it reached the ends of the barrels. Then, upon being fired, the two pulses of purple coiled together, merging into an entirely different energy. The purple turned black and spiraled at the boy, slamming into him with tremendous force. He was blown back, as could be expected. At the time the blow connected, he already willed for healing. That was the second time in this engagement that he had healed himself. When was the last real fight he had to heal himself in? One that didn't involve a small army of Users? Probably turtle-man, and that guy was a special kind of annoying. The boy rose to his feet, taking a deep breath as his injuries healed. That was likely among its most powerful attacks, and it had been enhanced. His own strength, his buffs, and his armor all melded together to help him survive that one blow. In other words, he wouldn't lose. That thing's most powerful attack failed to kill him in one shot. The course of the battle was all but determined. The boy just had to see it through to the end.

The Reaper slowly drifted closer to the boy. It also charged itself again. Perhaps it thought that, if that attack failed, another charged one, up close, would do the boy in? The wear of being continuously attacked by the boy and his succubus did show, though. The boy could only smile. The same feelings that had welled up when the fight had first started had returned. He leveled his scissors, staring onward. Then, charging in, he dropped a heavy downward slash, followed by Alma Elma's pelting of arrows. The two-way assault pushed the entity back very slightly, or it drifted back of its own accord, before it focused on the boy. It seemed that the next attack was coming. All the same, the boy would meet it and prevail!

And then something a little disappointing occurred. The next attack that came included the revolvers functioning normally. Sure, the attack was powerful. Sure, the attack was enhanced. However, the boy was strong on his own. He was buffed, on top of that, and he even had armor. What else could help? Well, he resisted Pierce, for another little nitty gritty detail that'd tilt the odds in his favor. Though he had to plant his feet in the ground to prevent himself from being blown away, the boy did remain standing, and immediately pressed onward, after the forceful blast. However, he wasn't going to give the opponent another chance to attack. He had already resolved that this assault would be the last, and it would persist until the end of the Reaper's presence there. With a low growl, more fitting for a boy than the girl he was crossdressing as, he slashed from the right to the left, willing for Alma Elma to pelt the Reaper with fireballs. He was going to continue attacking, so worrying about avoiding his Persona's attacks was a pain. Swapping back to Maragidyne would serve his needs. Down, to the left. Up. To the right. Left. Right. Down. A flurry of slashes continued to push the Reaper back as the boy continued his battle cry. His battle-high had reached new heights. Whether the heat that washed over him was in his imagination, a result of his Heat Riser usage, or just the gentle flames from Alma was beyond him. All the same, the two-way assault continued. Fire and blades worked down on the weakened Reaper until the attacks began to receive a bit less resistance. Eventually, that resistance faded to nothing, despite the enemy's apparent presence there. Eventually, even the visual signs of the enemy faded. The lingering “energy” that he had sensed persisted only for a few moments before the boy was certain he was alone.

And there he was. With the walls and floor painted black in soot, flames still crackling and leaping all around, and with needles buried into the floor, walls, and ceiling; with shell casings littering the areas where the Reaper had floated, and with damage to his own clothing, blood lightly decorating the ripped edges of his clothes, the battle was over. The scent? Burnt and fiery. Smelled good.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

Reaper defeated.

You may have any one item you so desire!

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira took a moment to relax himself. The battle was good and done, but his body was still going through the battle-high. The ruinous destruction and still-living flames around him didn't help, either. Well, in any case, the battle was good and over. He felt satisfied. He had found an opponent that was seemingly naturally-occurring, one that he had absolutely zero qualms with fighting, and overcome it on his own strength. Not only was it an effective test of strength, but it was also fairly fun and challenging. The crossdresser let out a laugh. It was a girlish laugh, more fitting for his appearance than the earlier battle cry. Giving the surroundings a good look over finally, the boy noticed something and began to head for it. It was time for the loot.

Declared Reward: Legendary Armor/L6 Armor