There's no way that this is going to end well unless you intervene right now. Those two men have no idea what exactly they are getting themselves into, and you have no doubt that if they continue in their current course of action, their lives will soon be considered forfeit.

So, with a great sigh, you get out of your chair and make your way over to Sophia and the two men. "-show you a real good time." catching the end of a crude pick-up line as you do.

If not for Sophia's ability to compose herself not allowing her emotions to show, there would definitely be a snarl of hatred adorning her face right now, yet as things are, her hand merely clenches tighter. "Excuse me, you two, but she obviously doesn't have any intention of going with you. Now please, leave us be." It's the best you can do to try to dissuade the two of them from taking any further actions.

"Or what?" One of the men, the bigger one of the two, responds rather aggressively to your peaceful attempt at negotiation, and seems to begin pumping himself up to look intimidating.

You don't flinch at the man's display. After what you've seen in the past few days, such an attempt to intimidate you is something more humorous than it is menacing. You wonder for a moment what the effect of punching somebody less durable than a vampire while Mistral is reinforcing your physical ability would be. Would it break their arm? Or would it punch straight through their body? Such morbid thoughts ought to be locked away for now, there's no doubt that the night would be ruined were you to engage in a potentially lethal fight with one of the patrons of the restaurant.

"Come on Joe, this shit ain't worth it." The other man, the smaller one of the duo, starts trying to convince his friend against getting into a fight over such a minor thing.

"Agh goddammit, you're right." As he turns around, the larger man does something so foolish that you can hardly believe your eyes upon seeing it, his hand reaches towards Sophia, in an attempt to grab her dress in a vain effort to grope the flesh underneath.

Of course, Sophia easily dodges out of the way of the attempted grope. Yet that hasn't stopped the sheer undiluted rage you can now almost feel emanating from her like a tangible force.

"H-huh?" The man is obviously confused by what he just saw, the girl he just attempted to grope now standing a meter away from where she was just an instant ago, having moved the very moment his hand made contact with the fabric of her dress.

"Such... insolent repugnant scum" Her voice is a whisper, full of cold anger. "How... How dare you? Insects like you should know their place!" She raises her voice now.

The two men, though they should definitely be running, simply stand and look at the vampire they have managed to enrage, confused expressions plastered clearly on their faces. All they respond to Sophia's angry outburst with are dumb grunts of surprise.

"I would normally have dealt with you where you stood, but I suppose this will do instead, given the circumstances." She draws a quick sequence of wards or runes in the air, as she faces the two men. "Now, if I might give you two insects a suggestion? Run." As she tells them to flee, you notice something strange start to occur, spiders crawl out of cracks in the ceiling and drop down on the two men alone, slowly at first, then more and more start to fall, and the men soon get the message to flee.

The rest of the restaurant hasn't seemed to notice at all, did Sophia do something to hide her actions? You can't help but ask what though. "So... what was that you just did? I'm surprised you didn't kill them immediately."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, they don't deserve the mercy of a quick death, instead I cursed the two of them." She gives a satisfied smile as she watches the two men flee from terror from the growing swarm of arachnids and insects pursuing them, there are even a few rats mixed in with the swarm

"A curse? How so?" You ask for some more information, you must admit, you are interested in magic

"Oh, I simply made it so the two of them will be ceaselessly pursued by any pests near them, which will then attempt to consume them." The smile she has as she explains the effect of her curse isn't one you'll forget any time soon. "Don't worry about anyone noticing, I made sure to hypnotize the rest of the restaurant. They won't notice a thing." Well, that's one weight off your shoulders, you suppose? You weren't expecting the two of them to be surviving after what they did anyway.

There's nothing to be done now, thankfully, the two are far enough away that their screams are barely audible anymore. "Well, I apologize that you had to experience that." Really, had you known what they were going to attempt to do, it would've been a mercy for you to have simply knocked the two of them out. No use crying over the world losing two lowly thugs though.

"Oh, don't worry about it Arthur, I'm just glad that you decided to intervene on my behalf. But enough of speaking of those two, by the end of the day, I doubt there will be a single speck of meat that hasn't been gnawed from their bones... So, shall we take our seats and order then?" She changes the topic so easily you almost forget the murderous tone of the conversation just moments prior.

"Oh, right. Of course." There's no other response you can give.

The two of you take your seats, the only two spare would either put you in between Coller and Anna or between Holly and Effi. After a few moments consideration, you choose to sit next to to Holly and Effi, Holly has been through a truly awful experience today, so you really just want to make sure she's alright.

That being said, there isn't much of a conversation going as you return to the table, as everyone seems mostly pre-occupied with reading through the menu. After reading through the menu yourself you order...

>(Write-in meal choice.)
>>Choose what you would like to do during the meal
>Try to spark up a conversation between everyone (About what?)
>Focus on speaking with one person in particular (Who?)
>Simply observe the group as the night goes on and don't try to initiate any conversation.
>Write-in...

>>4242429
>Focus on speaking with one person in particular (Effi)
I want the doppel imouto.

>>4242429
I hardly know any Italian. Let me rephrase I don't know any Italian. A fetteccine something or other? That's some kinda noodles right? Can't go wrong with noodles. Maybe some chicken? I dunno. Get some cannoli.

>Focus on speaking with one person in particular (Who?)
We should really try to figure out Coller. Maybe start by asking her how she feels. Like literally, does she have a tactile sense or is it just math in her head? I guess we can ask her how she feels emotionally, too.

>>4242456
What about ravioli?

>>4242458
I could be down for some ravioli. They're like Mediterranean dumplings.

>>4242429
Frutti di mare is my go-to for Italian; being on a ship, seafood seems especially appropriate.
>Focus on speaking with one person in particular (Who?)
Sophia. I want to know more about her life before capture, and about her hopes for the future.

>>4242429
backing >>4242456 regarding speaking to Coller
backing >>4242482 regarding frutti di mare as the dish choice

>>4242429
>>Focus on speaking with one person in particular (Who?)
Mistral

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Looks like Coller is currently winning the vote to focus on getting to know better.
And I'm not sure if there's a draw on "ravioli" vs frutti di mare going on or what.

While I wait to see if that slight draw is going to be resolved, here's a picture of the woman that Sophia hates most in the world.

>>4243338
Just do the fruity die horse thing.

>>4243388
It means fruit of the sea. To simplify the dish, it's essentially shellfish pasta in an arrabiata sauce. The specific shellfish usually depends on the location and time of year, but mussels and clams are the most frequent features.

The frutti di mare, it's only fitting that you eat seafood at least once on a cruise. Really, it feels like it would be a waste to not actually eat seafood while you were actually sailing across the ocean. As you decide, you can see that Alura and Effi seem to having difficulty picking. An odd thought crosses your mind as you stare at Alura. Does she consider eating meat to be the same as humans eating plant-life? It's a strange thought to have, but an amusing one, nonetheless.

Everyone else seems to be having an easier time with the menu, even Coller quickly comes to a decision after rapidly scanning through it. Does she have a preference for food then? Or is she simply picking at random. You find yourself becoming more and more intrigued by the robotic girl as time goes on, and with what little you know of her, you think that now would be as good a time as any to actually get to know her a little better.

As a waitress comes around and takes everyone's order, Effi finally decides on a pizza, and Alura in a stroke of unoriginality, simply repeats the order of the doppelgänger girl for herself. Everyone else has a much easier time choosing, ordering pasta of some variety.

Though after ordering, there's an uneasy silence, nobody at the table really wanting to be the one to initiate conversation, so it looks like it's down to you. "So, Coller. Why don't you tell me some more about yourself? I hardly know anything about you, after all."

Coller turns her head to you and tilts it. "What is it that you would like to know, Lord Bernhard?"

"Well, for one thing, just how machine are you? When you touch things, do you actually feel them? Or is it all just a calculation going on in your head?

"My sense of touch? That seems an odd question, but I have one, and it works in much the same way your own ability to touch things works, at least, that's what my stored data on humans suggests." Interesting... so she does have the basic sense of touch after all?

"Then what about your other senses? It's quite obvious you can see and hear, but what about smell and taste?"

"I am capable of experiencing any sense a human might experience, though I have the capacity to shut any sense down, should it be required." All of the senses? But why would anyone construct a machine with a sense of taste?

"You appear confused by this information. Allow me to elaborate. I am not a machine, nor am I a golem. In truth, I am actually the result of dozens of years of research to create true artificial life. You should recall the homunculi in the sub-levels of the Alchemy institute. I, unlike my brother, was created in much the same way they were. With the exception that the basic component of my physiology was not human flesh, but magically reinforced steel." So... Coller isn't a machine at all? "However, my original creator wasn't satisfied with merely giving life to me, and shaping life from metal. He made no less than two-thousand-three-hundred and ninety-eight modifications to me to improve my functionality." Coller reveals the extent of the modifications done to her with a voice that barely houses any emotion but the faintest hint of sadness.

Anna speaks now "And what's more, one of those 'modifications to improve functionality' was an automatic memory wipe that occurred every twenty four hours, in addition to dozens of other modifications done to her brain to make her more obedient and effective. Also, before you ask me, yes, I did disable the automatic memory wipe. It was actually put in place in order to prevent her from growing too much as a person, as it only erases whatever she learned about the world not defined in her 'Stored memory'. Oh, and I also made sure that all of the responses that were forcibly commanded she carry out were deleted. Now, she's mostly free to act and think as she likes, with only the order that she has to follow our orders should we give her any, though it's more as a safety net than anything else. I just didn't have the heart to treat her like a tool to be used like her previous master." Anna reveals a surprising compassion for the robot-like girl. Though after hearing a story like that, you suppose it is quite difficult not to feel at least something for the poor girl.

Then in that case... "So, you mean to say that her overly lethal response to the police was-?"

"Yes. A result of her carrying out the command to 'respond to all attempts made to destroy or damage you by non-administrators with lethal force.' She was used mostly to assassinate people that stood in the way of Johannes' goals. Though I don't really know too much else about her, there's only so much information I can get from her, after all."

Effi seems happy at hearing Coller's rather tragic backstory, and turns to the artificial girl. "So, with how they've treated you, you must hate humans too, right?" Ever eager to get more allies in her crusade against humanity, it seems.

Coller simply frowns in turn. "I... I don't really know. I feel like I should be angry, but even after all Lady Anna has done for me, I still barely ever feel anything at all..." There's a hint of longing in her voice. An emotionless lament.

It clears up the truth about Coller quite well though, and to think, you had basically assumed this entire time that the girl was actually just a machine in the form of a girl. Instead it turns out that the opposite is more true than that original assumption. A girl grown in a giant test tube and then modified and forced to act more like a machine. It's really quite sickening, and a part of you is glad that their headquarters was wiped out, and another darker part of you is glad that you tore Johannes' head from his shoulders.

After you broke the ice by questioning Coller about herself, the rest of the table begins to converse with each other more freely, though the conversations rarely involve you, those that do are brief, though you do enjoy regaling Effi with your previous adventure in the mansion, and the rest of the table happily listens to your telling of the story. If anything, it's at least got everyone up to scratch with what's happened so far. Though for whatever reason, when you mention Theresia, for a fraction of a second, Sophia looks somewhat shocked before she recovers an instant later.

Eventually though, everyone has finished with their meal, your own choice of frutti di mare was quite delicious, though not so delicious that it was distracting, but as you all finish eating the conversation naturally begins to slow.

>Order desserts (Write-in Dessert Choice)
>Leave the restaurant and go somewhere else with the group...
>>An arcade
>>A bar
>>A club
>>Somewhere else (Write-in)
>Write-in...

>>4243989
>order the cannoli
Effi must learn the wonders of pastries and their myriad classifications.

>she wasn't an android after all
Looks like fisting's back on the menu, boys. But hey now we have to teach her how to feel again. And more importantly not get too crazy with said feelings. All of our other companions have dubious self-control after all. Or even more twisted morals than our own.

>>4244004
>>she wasn't an android after all
You did find her hidden away in the place full of homunculi.
Her being an actual robot wouldn't have made much sense really.

>>4244469
My man I just wanted to make a non-fisto the gynoid reference. She may as well have been a robot the way they managed her. Seriously why grow a person just to take away what makes people so useful?

>>4243989
>order the cannoli like >>4244004 said
>now we have to teach her how to feel again
What's best for that? Fingering!

>>4243989
>>>An arcade
Let's go kick everyone's ass at Gyruss.

>>4243989
>go to Arcade
Slot machines are in Arcades right?

>>4245082
Normally I'd say that's dumb but I've never been on a cruise ship so I don't know where they'd keep their slot machines if they had any. But normally arcades don't have slot machines. Yadda yadda gambling licenses and child-oriented entertainment.

>>4243989
>Leave the restaurant and go somewhere else with the group...
>>A bar
I'd much rather get a drink over playing shitty on-rail shooters and doodle jump.

>>4243989
>Order cannoli
And an espresso.

>>4243989
>>An arcade
Doodle jump.

Looks like we're tied again. You really have made a habit of doing this.
I'll wait an hour for a resolution or else I'll roll.

>>4245978
Well then let's eat cannoli. Anything but House of the Dead 2 and Doodle Jump

Why does everyone want lasagna for dessert.

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233 KB JPG

>>4246002
Leave the gun. Take this.

>>4246002
Shut up, Garfield.

>>4246024
What have they done to that egg?
Damn Italians.
I knew we should've gone for German or French food.
>>4246029
Make me, John.

"How about we order dessert then, everyone?" There's no point in leaving just yet, and you're sure that your allies will all appreciate the sweetness of dessert. Even Coller, much to your surprise, ought to be able to actually enjoy such things, hopefully her lack of emotional grounding isn't too much of a detriment to her own sense of taste.

As for everyone else, you were more engrossed in Coller's story and retelling your own to really take much note of their own reactions to the food, though thankfully, nobody seems to have been dissatisfied, as everyone did eat the majority of the food they were served. You pick up a dessert menu and begin perusing it.

"Dessert?" Sophia looks happy at your suggestion "In truth, sweet foods are one of the few human things I still enjoy. So that sounds like an excellent idea to me."

You turn to the rest of the table and it seems there's a unanimous agreement over ordering dessert. Well, for everyone but Alura, at least. "Honestly, I prefer blood. This human food is hardly nutritious, you know." She doesn't seem all too impressed by the idea of eating more food, even if she did end up eating all of the pasta she ordered.

She earns a laugh from Sophia at her stubborn refusal. "Oh of course you would have no ability to act refined, would you? Well, nobody is stopping you from going out and sating yourself on some passing human." Sophia smirks at Alura as she tries to get a rise out of the Une woman.

"Oh, is that what you've been doing while you weren't busy bothering Arthur?" Alura's response is barbed. "Whatever. Fine, I'll also order dessert" She then turns to you. "So, Arthur, what will you be ordering?" You had hardly even finished looking through the dessert menu by the time her brief spat was over with Sophia. You wonder if it would've been better had you actually intervened, though perhaps not. You aren't always going to be nearby to smooth things out, so letting this just play out naturally is probably the best course of action you can take.

"Oh, I was thinking of having the cannoli. It's been a while since I've had it, after all." Hopefully, the chefs here will be able to prepare the dish to a satisfactory level, though after the fairly high quality main, you don't really think you have much to worry about.

"Oh well in that case, I suppose I'll also order the cannoli." Alura smirks in Sophia's direction, who simply gives a faint shrug in response.

One by one, everyone at the table orders the cannoli, with the exception of Coller, who decides to order a tiramisu. When it's Effi's time to order, she first attempts to order another pizza, but after some correction, simply goes along with the tide of people ordering the cannoli.

After everyone has made their order, an uncomfortable silence falls on the table, only ended when Anna turns to Sophia and begins speaking "So, Sophia, did you ever serve under Dracula himself? Or were you more independent of the previous Dark Lord?"

"Oh? That's quite a personal question you've asked there, I'm not sure if you've earned the right for it to be answered..." She smiles at the botanist as she withholds information that you would like to know the answer to yourself. "But... I suppose it can't hurt to let you know some more about me. In truth, I only served in Dracula's legions a single time. About... 200 years ago now? Give or take a few decades." She sighs. "I was only a fledgling vampire back then, not unlike Holly over there." She gestures toward her erstwhile servant. "Let's just say that what I saw of this so called army Dracula was supposed to be leading left such an imprint on me that ever since I always resisted the call to join Dracula whenever he was resurrected."

Anna seems shocked. "Really? You managed to ignore the command of the Dark Lord himself?"

"Not quite, it was more a seductive call to the dark that lesser willed monsters and spirits were easily corrupted by. A direct order from Dracula would still be quite the absolute command on any creature of the night. Well, with the exception of any vampires that rival him in power, but as far as I'm aware, no such vampires exist. Or at least exist anymore. Ah! The desserts have arrived." Sophia cuts her story short as everyone begins focusing on their dessert. Really, while the waiting staff may have been put off from approaching by the odd manners of a few of your allies, the service has been exceptionally quick.

The cannoli is almost perfect, the pastry wrapped around them is delicate and the filling has just the right sweetness and texture. It seems that your own sentiments on the food are reflected in their own expressions, even Effi seems happier with the cannoli then you recall seeing her with the pizza she had been given. Even Alura, despite her previous bad-mouthing of human food, is having a hard time hiding her appreciation of the sweet dessert. Much to the vindicated amusement of the vampire smirking at her.

The only person who isn't clearly happy with their food is Coller, who simply silently eats her tiramisu with a barely visible smile gently adorning her face, though it's impossible to tell if the smile is from the food or if she's merely amused by the reactions of the rest of the table.

All good things must eventually come to an end, and the moment of silent bonding your allies seemed to have experienced over a shared liking of Italian desserts eventually ends as Sophia is the last person to finish eating.

Then the bill arrives. You're not really all that surprised by the price of the food, with the bill calling for 780 dollars, but with your currently limited funds, it does propose something of a problem.

>Pay the bill by yourself.
>Ask the people at the table who actually might be carrying money to split the bill with you.
>Ask Sophia to see if she can brainwash the restaurant staff into thinking you paid.
>Write-in...
>Also if you choose to pay, would you like to pay a tip? If so, how much?

>>4246339
>Pay the bill by yourself.
>20% tip.

>>4246339
>>4246341
This. Service was pretty good considering. And besides it's not like we're going to actually need much money down the line. And we can always get more. Both legally and less so.

>>4246339
>>4246341
Sure.
If we really need money in the future we can just go to a casino.

>>4246513
Just have Effi walk into a bank as the branch manager. Or have Alura sell a once in a lifetime flower to some botanist or pharmaceutical entity. Or Sophia can literally just ask a guy for money. 9/10 it works.

>>4246341
Support.
Arthur Bernhard is no cheapskate.
>>4246527
we could also just hunt down a millionaire or billionaire and have Effi consume their brain.
I wonder if we could do the same with leaders of a country. Between Effi's memory theft and Alura's attempted pod people, we could replace entire governments.
Though that's not even taking into account Sophia and her practically unlimited repertoire of spells.
Coller is pretty strong but I don't know what use we can have for her. If she's made of magically reinforced steel, does that mean she's like a mini iron golem? Outside the PoD, she should be basically invulnerable then.
Grigori can be used for assassination. Holly hasn't really got a defined use. Nor does Anna.
World Domination has never been so easy. You can't stop us now, Alucard, you broody faggot!

>>4246339
This >>4246341 why not?

What if we end up needing our money later on though? Is it really wise to just spend half our cash on some Italian food? Also Alura needs to chill out.
It's only a matter of time before Alucard will inevitably catch us. That's game over right?

Looks fairly unanimous to pay it all by yourself, including a twenty percent (156 dollar) tip.
How very gentlemanly of you.

And I won't be able to write an update tonight.
Potentially not for the next few days actually.

I'm really sorry for this.
Soon we'll be moving on to the next big arc though. So that's something for you to look forward to.

While the bill is quite the expense for your current funds, and will wipe out almost half of your current savings, you just don't feel comfortable asking for assistance paying for the bill. Besides, with the talents of the people following you, getting more money should be an incredibly simple matter. Besides, if your luck really is as supernatural as Sophia seems to believe, you could always try to win some money back by gambling.

Still, it isn't pleasant knowing that nearly half of your money will be going towards this single meal for the group. Then again, it's not like you really ought to have much of a need for money when you reach Europe anyway. It does however occur to you that your dollars won't serve you very well. Luckily, there should be an exchange service somewhere aboard the ship to convert the remainder of your funds into euros for your departure.

As you begin picking the notes from your wallet, Anna notices your silent intention to pay all by yourself as she goes for her own purse. "There's no need for you to pay for everyone, Arthur. I don't know about everyone else here, but I at least brought money with me." She pauses for a moment as she looks about the table. "That is to say, I don't really suppose anyone else really had an opportunity to bring money with them... or if they have any money on them at all." At that comment, most of the table looks distinctly uncomfortable, with the exception of Effi, everyone seems at least a little disappointed with themselves about not actually having any money on them. Even Coller, strangely enough, seems to react to the comment.

"Don't worry about it, Anna. I've already made up my mind about paying it all anyway." You wouldn't really be much of a leader if you needed her assistance on something so simple as providing a meal for your followers.

"If you insist..." She doesn't look particularly bothered about things, but she does seem a little concerned about just how expensive the bill was. Honestly though, if you actually had the support that your family ought to have been giving you, such a sum would be a trifling amount to part with. Though they too will answer to you in time.

"Well, I personally don't even know why we're even bothering with paying these humans at all." Sophia, after her brief showing of embarrassment about not having any money to pay for her meal, begins speaking. "You saw what your enemies did to that town, didn't you? What makes you think they'll treat this ship any differently? You might as well start treating these passengers like the dead men walking they all are. Their fates have already been sealed by their apparent protectors." It's a harsh truth you hadn't yet considered.

"But why would they put so much effort into keeping the existence of the supernatural secret? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to warn the world of their enemies? Not that I'm complaining." It is quite odd that they would go to such an effort.

"You would think that, but even centuries ago, only the most morally upstanding men could ever think of opposing Dracula, if there is even a fraction of evil dwelling within a man's heart, he or one of his lieutenants could twist them to evil. Now, what do you think would happen if this world, as it is right now, found out about such things? It is a hedonistic parody of what once was. Should this world find out about the supernatural world actually being a truth of reality, then not only would every country be crippled by riots, but millions would begin to seek to join the Dark Lord on their own." Sophia's explanation does make sense, you suppose. The world would probably collapse in on itself if such a revelation was made worldwide.

"But how have they managed to keep a lid on things for so long?" Though that doesn't solve the matter of just how they've managed to accomplish such a thing, especially not in the era of technology. Though it would be foolish to expect Sophia to have any answers here.

Thankfully, Anna is there to explain the decades that Sophia spent imprisoned. "Simple, mind wipes and cover-ups, with the occasional false flag to keep the world preoccupied. Though they make sure to kill whatever tried to end their whole facade keeping the world unaware too. After a while, both man and monster got the message not to make a scene, or death would be the only thing they could expect." Once again, your enemies have shown themselves to be quite the ruthless bunch.

Regardless of what might happen to the people you're paying after you leave the ship behind, that doesn't mean you're going to just skip out on paying them after they did their jobs admirably. With that thought, you put $950 dollars on top of the bill and with that, get up to leave the restaurant. The girls following after you as you do.

You check the time on a large clock hanging on a wall in the plaza you exit the restaurant into. It's only half past eight, and the night is still young, but you did get up exceptionally early, and fatigue has started to set in...

>Go back to your cabin to sleep.
>Go somewhere, there's no need to call the night to an end just yet.
>>Arcade
>>Bar
>>Club
>>Casino
>Write-in...

>>4250135
>>>Casino
Oh hey, you did post again.

>>4250167
Yeah I managed to get an update done, crisis somewhat averted.
I probably won't have to hiatus now at least.

>>4250135
>Bar

open your mouth wide QM, I must cum

>>4250135
>Go somewhere, there's no need to call the night to an end just yet.
>>Casino

>>4250135
>>>Club
There is a 600% increase in your chances of finding a creature of the night in a club. And the music is usually so loud you can't even hear the sound of your crippling depression.

>>4250135
>Go somewhere, there's no need to call the night to an end just yet.
>Club
what's the theme playing there?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmJt1SrbTXI
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBF2IZHjrAs
or maybe perhaps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG9BcQEApoI

>>4250135
>>Casino

Thinking for a moment, it occurs to you that there's actually a way for you to not only continue this night, but also to recuperate the funds you spent paying for the meal. If your luck holds up, you might even be able to earn some more money from the endeavor than you started the night with.

The rest of the group looks to you for instruction on just what the next destination will be. Though that being said, if you're going into a casino, then Effi's current appearance will be something of a hindrance to you. You doubt they'll let a child into a casino, at any rate. Luckily, with Effi being what she is, it is very much a non-issue.

"We'll be heading to a casino next. I'm curious to see just how well Sophia's theory about my luck holds up, after all. If she's right, that means we'll never run into money problems in our travels." You'd not really given it much thought yourself, but the idea of having such luck does give you create cause to actually put the theory to the test. After all, there's no real harm in attempting to confirm your luck, is there? It's not impossible that you just had a lucky streak against Sophia. "Oh, but Effi, I'm going to need to ask you to make yourself look about... ten years older."

She quickly gives you a nod. "Understood! Though I'd prefer doing it while nobody was watching..." It's an understandable request.

"Why? With my barrier in place, these humans won't bat an eye at even the strangest things going on in front of them. It's a spell I'm really quite proud of, you should know. I didn't even need to make any corrections upon it! The theory worked perfectly." There's a hint of smugness in Sophia's voice, her own confidence in her abilities soaring high. She really does project an aura that makes her seem undefeatable sometimes. Between her incredible physical prowess that you've only been given glimpses of, and the terrifyingly wide array of magical effects at her fingertips, you can't imagine the sort of strength that somebody would need to defeat her.

"It's... a habit, Ok? I don't feel comfortable changing when so many humans can see me." She looks about the plaza, noting the fairly large number of people wandering about at night. You get the feeling that the number would be far larger had the ship not had so many... accidents and lost passengers. Sophia seems to understand though, and doesn't push the issue.

"If I recall correctly, I think the casino on the ship is on this deck." You try to remember the brief glance you gave to a map on your trip to the restaurant.

Effi however, suddenly begins to speak. "Mmhmm, it's at the far end of this deck, in fact, in that direction." She points to the opposite side of the ship You are suddenly reminded that she does in fact have a perfect memory, and that even one solid glance of the map would allow her to recall any of the locations on it she wanted to. That particular trait will definitely end up coming in useful

A fair distance from where you currently are, but no matter. "Come on then everyone, let's see just how lucky I actually am, shall we?"

"I'm interested in seeing this too, I think I'll be able to take my loss far easier if you truly do have this unnatural good luck on your side." Sophia sounds happy with the idea, except... "Well, as long as this casino you intend for us to visit is suitable high-class. I wouldn't want to run into anybody like those two insects from earlier." An understandable desire, even if she dealt with those two men extremely harshly, and ensured the two of them painful deaths, you really don't feel any pity for the two of them. They had their chance to walk away and yet they squandered it.

Despite the fairly lengthy walk, it doesn't feel like it takes very long at all to reach the casino. A very upmarket looking interior greets you, and the doorman lets everyone in your group through. Effy having changed at some point after she ducked into an unseen corner of the ship through a door to rapidly alter her height and body. He does eye Sophia for a fairly long time before deciding that she's old enough to enter. To be fair on the man though, she does look like she's the youngest member of your current group. A small burden of being made immortal while you're still young, you suppose.

Eventually though, all of you are allowed into the casino proper, all sorts of casino games sprawled out before you. Roulette tables, blackjack, and more than a few poker tables as well. Of course, there's always the slot machines too.

Approaching the exchange counter, you...

>Exchange how much of your money for chips?
>>Play roulette
>>Play blackjack
>>Play poker
>>Play the slot-machines.
>Write-in...

>>4252131
>Exchange how much of your money for chips?
All of it.
>>Play roulette
Bet everything on 17.

>>4252145
Is that for making the maximum bet on 17 continuously or just the once?

>>4252163
Put it all on 17 the first time. After we collect the payout from that, divide our chips equally between 5, 17, and 23. After that, divide our chips between 6, 18, and 24, and so on, reinvesting everything and moving up a point each time.
The idea is that it looks like a poorly thought-out "system", so people won't think we're actually cheating; just getting ridiculously lucky with something that shouldn't work.

Not much interest in the casino, I suppose.

>>4252131
>Exchange how much of your money for chips?
All of it.
>>Play roulette
Keep it random, that's where Arthur's luck shines.

>>4252726
For me it's more like I don't go to casinos, so I'm not overly familiar with the best ways to make money or have fun there.

>>4252131
This >>4252145 >>4252172

>>4252131
>>Exchange how much of your money for chips?
All of it
>>>Play roulette
Bet everything on the ball being launched out of the wheel, bouncing off the ceiling fan and landing in the third cup to the left on the drink vendor's cart where it is carelessly drank by the person at the slot machine closest to the stairs.

>>4252786
>making a bet and placing it on something that wouldn't be accepted as a valid choice
I mean if you want to just get told "no".

>>4252131
>>Exchange how much of your money for chips?
All, we got plenty of money in gold anyways
>>Play roulette

>>4252131
>Exchange all cash for chips
>Roulette
I wonder if we should use this money to give our followers an allowance.
Maybe even pay icy boy.
I'd feel more secure in believing he's not about to ice shiv us if we actually paid him something.

>>4252131
Wait, why aren't we playing the slots? It's easy money.

>>Play the slot-machines.
Granted we could only do it a couple of times, across separate machines.

>>4253323
But those odds are harder to guess, aren't they?

>>4253327
That doesn't matter, only if they can't be calculated by a human brain.

This is why our abilities should be hidden to players.

>>4253323
Slots are rigged though.

>>4253342
What do you mean by this?

>>4253349
Even if something is rigged, so long as the chance isn't 0 Arthur should be able to pull it off.

>>4253323
Because roulette is equally easy money, and also more fun.

You end up exchanging all of your remaining money into casino chips. After all, there's nothing stopping you from changing it back after you've won, is there? Well, depending on how far this luck you apparently have takes you, the casino might have a problem, but that's their problem. God help them if they get confident enough to try to refuse paying you, while you would be able to control your temper, somehow you doubt it will end up going well for them.

But what to play? The slot machines are always a tempting offering, if your luck is really as great as you've been led to believe, you really ought to go for the machines that work solely on random luck. That is... if the machines do actually work on chance. You remember reading somewhere that a lot of slot machines are programmed to only cash out after receiving a certain amount of money. Hardly a matter of luck if there's no chance of winning at all.

Poker then? While it would certainly be entertaining, you don't really want to have to resort to simply relying on literal blind luck to win against your opponents. Even now, you feel just a little cheap for resorting to such a tactic against a more skilled opponent, though maybe it was for the best. There's no telling just what Sophia would've done with those favors.

Finally, it's down to blackjack or roulette, while both are games heavily based on luck, not only is Blackjack slightly more skill oriented, but the payouts aren't nearly as large either. So that leaves only roulette, a game of pure chance.

You walk towards the table, and for a moment are disappointed when you see that there's a max bet on a single option of $1000 dollars on every spin. Well, expecting them to accommodate true high rollers on board a cruise ship was a little bit of a stretch anyway. As you look at the ball spin round the board, you take a glance at a few of the other people playing at the table. None really remarkable, mostly made up of the more well-off passengers aboard the ship, judging by the quality of their clothing.

You then get involved in the next round of betting, and after a brief moments consideration, decide to really push your luck. Putting ten hundred dollar chips on the 17, a few of the men around the table seem a little put-off by your sudden decision to bet so much on something with such poor odds of paying off for you like that. Guess they aren't that well off, then.

As the ball spins about the side of the wheel, there's a slight doubt that begins gnawing at you. What if Sophia was incorrect in her hypothesis of your luck? You may have just squandered the last of your money merely for the sake of having that theory disproven.

However, to the disbelief of everyone at the table, the casino employee especially... "17 Black." There's a short silence as you're given your payout, thirty-five thousand dollar chips. Well... seems that Sophia might've been accurate after all. As you're given your chips, you hear somebody grumble about beginners luck. An odd thing to say, given the game is based entirely on luck, and skill doesn't factor into things at all.

In the next round, you switch things up a little, instead betting 1000 dollars worth of chips on 5, 17 and 23. Sure enough, the ball lands on 23. After this second win, the other players begin to copy your next bet on 6, 18 and 24, not putting nearly the same amount of money on them as you are though. Seems that they are curious to see if your lucky streak is going to continue. Of course, it does, and the attendant is forced to pay out a hefty sum to over half of the table. After that spin is when the rest of the players on the table are all sheparded away by men in suits. Doesn't look like the management wants them to get a free ride. There's disappointment in their voices as they are escorted off, but you can hear a few of them thank you. One even mentions something about how you saved his marriage before he's taken out of earshot.

Then it's just you alone with the roulette wheel. Though the rest of your group are still watching you, most with admiration in their eyes, one with an unreadable expression that you might've otherwise mistaken for boredom and one with a smile that can only be representative of vindication. Your streak doesn't end there, nor does it show any sign of stopping.

Finally, when your chips equal over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, nearing four hundred thousand, a man in a rather expensive looking suit approaches you and offers to shake your hand. He must be the man in charge of the casino then "Hi, I'm Phillip Jameson, the manager of the Sea's Bounty. I just wanted to come over to congratulate you on your lucky streak, and also to invite you to join the Royale group VIP club." As he says that, he offers you a silver and white card. Ah, so that's what this is. The casino wants to keep you gambling at their establishments under the illusion that eventually, your luck will run out and they'll earn it all back. While in a normal case, this might've been a wise move, they might find it a mistake.

"Sure, why not?" You take the card from the man's hand and put it in your inside pocket, only when you try put it in your pocket, You are made to remember that Mistral is still within it. She's apparently awake, as she is actively pushing against the card, preventing you from putting it within the pocket. This ends up forcing you to awkwardly slip the card into one of your other pockets, instead, but the man doesn't seem to notice your moment of difficulty with Mistral. You don't know what could've caused her to be a nuisance like that though.

"Fantastic, we have establishments in many cities... Berlin, London, Paris, as well as our largest establishment, the Siren, in Las Vegas. You'll be treated like royalty in any of our casino's though, that much I can guarantee." The man pauses for a moment. "Though I should tell you that this establishment can only exchange up to three hundred thousand dollars of chips to a single guest, due to our limited size. It's company policy for our cruise line casinos. However, your chips can be exchanged and used at any of our other branches, should you visit them." Three hundred thousand is the limit, huh? Well, you suppose that's fine. You were originally only really planning to earn enough so that you didn't have to worry about running out from expenses like visiting restaurants. But now you've become something of a high roller. Even being invited to some sort of exclusive club. Looks like they are in reality just trying to direct you to a higher stakes casino, where you can take more of their ill-gotten gains at once. There's something that feels so refreshing about being able to beat the greed of a multinational group of casinos with nothing but good luck. Extraordinarily good luck. You are once again glad for the hidden nature of magic. You can only imagine how much scrutiny this run of good luck would be under if it were common knowledge.

"Well, that being said, it is getting rather late... So I think I'll be cashing in my chips now and heading to bed. I'll definitely make sure to visit those other casinos of yours though. I can't just keep these chips forever" You can't really tell if the man is actually telling the truth about the exchange situation, nor do you really care. Three hundred thousand is more than enough. The man seems relieved to hear you say you intend to come back to the casinos at least, and doesn't bother you further. All in all, you spent just over an hour gambling, and came away with 387375 dollars worth of chips, or 87375 dollars worth of chips and 300000 dollars, by the time you finally exchange your money for currency. They don't seem happy with you requesting it be in physical currency, but they don't want to upset you either.

Eventually, you are handed a metal briefcase bearing the logo of the casino on it, and containing your prize within. You don't feel the slightest bit of guilt at abusing your apparently supernatural luck on the casino.

As you walk outside of the casino, impeccably smug smile on your face, you think that it might be a good idea to call the night to an end. But before you can state your intentions, Anna begins to speak. "Remind me to never play you at any game of chance ever please, Arthur. That was just... unreal." She's clearly still shocked by the reality defying luck you seem to have.

Sophia meanwhile, has a different approach towards her theories confirmation "While I might echo her sentiment of not wanting to play against you at any game where there's an element of luck involved, perhaps you might want to try your hand against me at chess? I will warn you though, I'm very good at it." She boasts of her own skill. Though if her skill in Chess is anywhere close to her skill at card games, you don't want to think of how easily she would defeat you. After all, she must've had years of practice playing chess.

Effi doesn't really make much of an effort to congratulate you, other than her initial shock at your continued run of good luck, and instead yawns quite openly. Her actions somewhat betraying her adult form's appearance, though upon noticing the rest of the group staring at her, she turns red "I... I am getting quite tired, you know. I'm not used to staying up for so long."

"Very well then. Why don't you all stay in my mansion tonight? I can promise that you'll find it far more comfortable than the drab rooms you've been provided, I'm sure." She turns to you first, almost as if she thinks your response will heavily influence everyone else's.

>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."
>"No thank you, Sophia."
>Write-in...

>>4254075
>>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."
Oh boy, can't wait until the mafia comes after us for their money or something.

>>4254075
>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."

>$300k
Yeah, we'll never have money troubles again.
Now we gotta improve Arthur's strategic capabilities.

>>4254075
>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."
Training our strategic thinking ability by playing chess with Sophia sounds good, actually. Of course she'll have the edge by a wide margin, but I'm sure she won't mind acting as a bit of a mentor.

>>4254075
>>"No thank you, Sophia."
All of our eggs in one basket? You're just asking for a problem.

>>4254075
Actually, I'm going to change: >>4254099 to:
>"No thank you, Sophia."

>>4254143
You make a good point, I don't want Alucard to come by and collapse the pocket dimension while all our allies are inside.

>>4254075
>"No thank you, Sophia."

>>4254075
>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."

>>4254143
Random as fuck paranoia over here

>>4254242
>Random as fuck paranoia over here
Or maybe I don't want to spend the night with her. She's indecent. I bet she dreams of holding hands with Arthur. Fokkin thot.

>>4254075
>>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."

>>4254249
Nah nothing gross like that, probably something tame like riding his cock all night long with her room temperature pussy. Totally non indecent. She's a Lady after all.

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>>4254875

>>4254875
>that ID
Truly perfection.

>>4254075
>>"No thank you, Sophia."

>>4254075
>"Very well. I'll take you up on that offer."
Time for vampire handholding!
Muhahahaha!

>>4255123
You really wanted that 5-5 tie, huh.

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3.46 MB GIF

>>4255123
>tying the vote when WhatIs was probably about to tupe

>>4255137
>>4255146
I don't see a tie.

YES
>>4255123
>>4254254
>>4254242
>>4254117
>>4254096

NO
>>4254143
>>4254236
>>4254238
>>4255020

>>4255162
Huh.
Not sure why I thought there was a tie.

>>4255174
Clearly my vote counts for two because I'm a big fat loser.

Calling it and writing now.

"Very well, I'll take you up on that offer, Sophia." While you certainly don't really mind the cabin you've been sleeping in the past few days, the extension of the offer to rest in Sophia's luxurious pocket dimension is one that you aren't going to allow to pass you by. In addition, you don't doubt that Sophia will have enough rooms in her mansion to allow everyone to have their own room. As it is, Effi is sleeping on the sofa and Alura has elected to sleep in the same room as you.

"Excellent. I take it there's no complaints from the rest of you then?" Sophia sweeps her gaze across the other members of your group, and as she expected, there's no real complaint raised. Though there is one quite unexpected question.

"Do you... have a television?" Effi's single question turns the smirk formed on Sophia's face into something more resembling a frown.

"...No, Effi. I do not." Sophia takes a moment to answer the question, obviously not expecting anybody to have made such a mundane question. She also clearly doesn't look amused by Effi's downcast reaction, the implication that a television makes a comparatively tiny cabin somehow superior to her pocket dimension containing an entire mansion.

Effi looks visibly disappointed by the lack of a television, thankfully though, Holly makes her way into the conversation. "D-don't worry Effi. I have a laptop with a few... uhm. Movies and TV shows downloaded onto it! If you want, we can watch some things together!" Holly is making an effort to be nice to Effi after her actions in the early hours of the morning, clearly.

Effi regards the recently turned vampire with a suspicious eye as she silently decides whether or not she's worth trusting. Eventually, she gives Holly a nod. "Alright then, but don't think this means I've forgiven you for what happened!"

Holly looks a little relieved at the chance she's been given to try to make things up to the Doppelgänger. Effi was very harsh on Holly, after all. You wonder what actually occured when Holly was overcome by her darker side, did the two actually fight or did Effi simply avoid the fight entirely by protecting herself with that stone form?

Sophia coughs to get the attention of the group. "Now that question is... resolved, why don't we head to my mansion? Don't worry about a change of clothing, I'll have my maid fetch your belongings from your cabins." That was clearly more directed towards Holly and Anna than it was towards the other members of your merry group.

Nobody has any objections or questions this time, and so you all begin making your way to Sophia's cabin. Or cabin door, would perhaps be a better term. You wonder just what's behind the door she usurped to use as her own. Can it still be opened from the opposite side? What would happen to the pocket dimension if it were? Would it collapse? It's a concerning thought, but you think Sophia would've already thought of something like that. If nothing has happened to the place in the days you've already been aboard the ship, it's unlikely anything will happen now.

One by one, everyone is shown to their room. Curiously, it is Holly who decides to show everyone to their rooms instead of Sophia's new demon maid. Must just be a force of habit. She did work in a hotel once after all, didn't she? Though it is odd how Holly seems to know exactly what room is meant for who. Was this planned? Eventually though, Holly retires to her room, and without telling you where your room is either. You're left wandering the hall with Sophia now taking the lead.

"A question for you, Arthur." Sophia speaks as you follow her. "Are you up for a game of chess? I was being quite serious earlier about the challenge. I figured that after your run of luck in the other games you've played today, you might fancy a true challenge, in a game that puts skill against skill." There's a smile as she finishes saying that, it seems mostly friendly, but there is a slight hint of a decidedly more sinister emotion at her seemingly friendly offer to play you at chess.

>While Sophia might be expecting an easy victory, it's not like you've never played chess before, you barely ever lost to your cousins after all. Accept her challenge.
>Suggest playing some other skill based game. (What?)
>While Sophia might not actually feel the need to sleep, you do. Politely decline the challenge for now.
>Write-in...

Oh brilliant. My ID changed.

>>4255704
>While Sophia might be expecting an easy victory, it's not like you've never played chess before, you barely ever lost to your cousins after all. Accept her challenge.
Refer to my earlier comment about training our strategic thinking skills. Let's just hope Arthur doesn't get too broken up about the smackdown we're about to be handed.

Alternatively...
>Suggest playing some other skill based game. (Risk)
If anyone wants to support this, I get a kick out of the idea. Two players might be a bit few for it though.

>>4255704
>While Sophia might be expecting an easy victory, it's not like you've never played chess before, you barely ever lost to your cousins after all. Accept her challenge.
>>4255747
Honestly even 3 players isn't that fun in risk. Gotta have 4 or 5.

>>4255704
>While Sophia might not actually feel the need to sleep, you do. Politely decline the challenge for now.

>>4255704
>While Sophia might be expecting an easy victory, it's not like you've never played chess before, you barely ever lost to your cousins after all. Accept her challenge.

>>4255704
>While Sophia might be expecting an easy victory, it's not like you've never played chess before, you barely ever lost to your cousins after all. Accept her challenge.

>>4255747
>Risk
YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT ELSE IS RISKY?! HANDHOLDING IN BED

"Alright Sophia. I'll take that challenge. Don't expect that I'll be an easy opponent though, I'm actually quite skilled at chess myself." You give the vampire a confident smirk. How good could she be, really?

She gives you a smile in return. "I'm glad to hear it. It's been decades since I've had somebody to play against, after all." If she's at all affected by hearing your own proclamation of skill, she doesn't show it. In fact, the tone in her voice is indicative of somebody who knows that their victory is just about guaranteed.

"Checkmate." Then you proceed to lose in seventeen moves. Every move you make having been apparently planned for and worked into Sophia's own plan to win. As you are checkmated, you quickly begin to realize just how wide the skill gap is between the two of you, more a ravine than a simple gap, actually.

You're completely crestfallen by the ease of which you were handled. Sophia quickly realises your disappointment at your own performance, and is quick to reassure you. "You needn't feel too bad, Arthur. You really did do quite well. There's nothing to be upset about in your loss to me. Just that you lasted more than six moves is really a testament that you aren't a novice."

"I suppose you're right. Even though I know it might be foolish, I was hoping that I would've been able to defeat you regardless, though you've really shown me just how much better you are than me when it comes to chess." There's really nothing you can do but acknowledge her superiority in this regard. For all your attempted strategy and planning during the match, Sophia didn't really even seem that bothered by any moves you made, the perfect response coming to her almost like it was second nature.

"If you feel so strongly about it, why don't I tutor you a little? With your current level of skill, I'll have you be a master of the game in no time!" Sophia's assessment of your abilities makes you feel a little better about your loss, and you can see that her offer of a game wasn't actually one made entirely out of some sort of need for avenging her loss in poker. She does genuinely seem to want to have you become a proper challenge for her, and for such a request, you can hardly bring yourself to turn her down.

"If you're actually offering then, I'll happily accept the chance to learn the game from a true master." There's literally no real reason for you to decline her here, especially not after what you would've called a humiliating loss, had anyone else been around to see it.

"Oh wonderful! Well, let's get started now then, shall we?" You aren't even given the option to refuse her as Sophia launches into an explanation about chess strategy and tactics. It feels like she talks for hours before she starts giving you a demonstration on the best responses to make to the moves you attempted to use. She seems really happy to teach you something, at least.

Eventually though, the lesson on chess strategy ends, and you are finally free to go to bed after being directed to your room by Sophia. If everything proceeds according to schedule, the ship should hopefully be arriving at Europe tomorrow. You make a note to get your money exchanged tomorrow. There's no point in having hundreds of thousands of dollars if nobody is actually going to accept your money, is there?

You open the door to your room, noticing that it seems to unlock simply from you touching the door and collapse onto the bed tiredly. You hardly even take note of the lavishly decorated room, idly noting that the room would be fit for royalty before you drift off to sleep.

Your eyes open and you find yourself standing on a large stairway and staring directly at the shining rift that leads to Chaos' domain. Though it's roughly thirty steps away, it seems to be inviting you somehow. It seems that tonight you've been granted an opportunity to once again visit the world in your dreams.

>Descend the steps and visit Chaos.
>Ascend the steps and visit the wraith of Dracula.
>Look around the dream world.
>Simply sit on the steps and wait to wake up.
>Write-in...

>>4257369
>>Look around the dream world.

there's gotta be some mouth you can cum into around here somewhere

>>4257369
Are all these options mutually exclusive? If not...
>Look around the dream world
Then
>Descend the steps and visit Chaos
If so, then simply
>Descend the steps and visit Chaos
Time for BEST GIRL. I wonder if at some point, she will proposition for lewd sexytimes?

>>4257369
>Descend the steps and visit Chaos.

>>4257369
>Look around the dream world.
I want to go exploring.

>>4257369
>>Ascend the steps and visit the wraith of Dracula.
Eyyyy big D man how you been?

Also holy shit I think Sophia was a NEET for decades before she got caught. All she did was play games and read ye olde smut.

>>4257369
>Descend the steps and visit Chaos.
Let's go see second-best girl.

>>4257369
>Descend the steps and visit Chaos.

You sure you guys want to risk getting spirited away when we're just about to make landfall?

>>4257702
Doesn't matter my man. Buncha dorks with that loli lust n shit. You know how it be.

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>>4257716
If their memories are failing, then perhaps a reminder would help:
>"It's been THREE days since you disappeared Arthur." Wait, what was that? "According to Alura, you just disappeared from your bed during the night without warning! I tried to have Coller investigate her story, yet there was simply no indication as to where you could've gone. Even that vampire wouldn't have been able to have spirited you away with Alura in the room. Of course, there was a brief... argument, where I may have blamed her for your disappearance, but that doesn't matter now does it?" She ends her sentence with a question, but you still aren't sure what's going on. THREE days? How could you have disappeared for THREE days?

>>4257723
They do not care. For they are blinded by their base instincts. Little more than beasts.

Or they expect free shit as if it's owed to us every time we see her. As opposed to Dracula who hasn't given us a magical whatsit.

Loot or lust there is no greater force amongst the teeming throngs of murderhobos and degenerates.

Then again I'm only voting for Dracula because he is the ultimate HAMlord and I want to hear him say some awesomely goofy shit.

>>4257369
>>Descend the steps and visit Chaos.
She'll probably be amused when we tell her what Hilde thinks of her.

>>4257369
>>Ascend the steps and visit the wraith of Dracula.

>>4257369
>Descend the steps and visit Chaos

You keep looking at the rift at the bottom of the stairs. Though it might be foolish to go and visit Chaos just when the ship is about to arrive, you really can't help yourself from wanting to meet her again. The opportunity to speak to the second most powerful being to ever exist is one that is just too much to resist. It really does help that Chaos, or at least this form of Chaos, is so personable. Her appearance being that of an angel, even if it is a chained angel, her face could really only be described as perfect. Though you're letting your thoughts get the better of you, you might as well go and visit your benefactor instead of simply thinking about her.

With that thought, you begin to walk down the steps until you arrive once again at the portal, you place your left arm upon it's surface and allow yourself to be dragged through to the Chaotic Realm... curiously though, you swear you can feel another hand try to tug you back as you are dragged through, it's too weak to actually accomplish anything other than to make you remark at how gentle it feels.

Then the pull of the force attempting to prevent you from entering the realm of Chaos vanishes, and you find yourself overwhelmed by an all-encompassing brightness filling your vision before the world around you begins to make itself clear. You aren't in the chaotic world of madness from when you first came to Chaos' realm, instead you're in the throne room, staring at an empty throne. That's strange... shouldn't Chaos be sitting on that chair? You were under the impression that those chains of hers weren't just for show. They aren't really much of a fashion accessory, after all.

That's when you feel a hard poke in your back, causing you to first startle in surprise before you turn around and look down to take note of two things. First, you're back to wearing that strange regal black ensemble, and secondly, Chaos was standing right behind you. Ever present are her chains, but that doesn't really explain how she got behind you, she couldn't possibly move about with those restrains.

"I've been waiting for you to come back, Arthur... Especially after our last meeting was cut short so..." Her voice is fairly sad, though the sadness in her voice suddenly drops away to be replaced with a serious tone. "And so shall this meeting be. We don't have much time to talk at all, and I do have something that requires your immediate attention."

"Ah. Right. What exactly do you need to tell me?" You can't help but feel a little bit apprehensive about what her response is going to be. There's a hint of worry behind the seriousness in her tone, and you don't like the idea of anything that can cause a being like Chaos to genuinely worry.

"It's about what's going to happen tomorrow." She says, with determination in her voice.

"What exactly do you mean? You know what's going to happen tomorrow?" Doesn't that kind of undermine the fact that she's supposed to be some sort of being that is empowered by chaos and free will?

She sighs. "I do. It's a destined event. One that no amount of human free will can prevent." She pauses for a moment "Tomorrow, Arthur Bernhard. Is the day that you die." She finishes her sentence quietly.

"Pardon?" You ask her, she couldn't possibly have been serious, could she? You wait for her to burst out laughing, hoping for it to be some sort of cruel prank she's playing. Alas, she does not. When you realize just how serious things actually are, you quickly take a serious tone to match that of Chaos' own. "So... you mean to say that there's nothing that I can do to stop it? Are you just telling me of my own destiny so that I can wait for the end!? That my efforts up till now have been for naught?!"

"Of course not. While it might be impossible for a human alone to overcome the destiny laid out for him... it's not so impossible for me. That is to say... It's not so impossible for you, the wielder of the Power of Destruction to defy your own destiny and forge a new one." With that, the surroundings begin to grow fuzzy, and Chaos, the only entity that remains clear to you, frowns sadly at your departure beginning all too suddenly. It's not much, but you still feel like your body is capable of moving, even as the world around you begins blurring out around you. Though you aren't that much of an expert at picking up on body language, You can tell that Chaos is quite worried for you.

>Thank Chaos for her warning and her help.
>Reassure the girl before you that you'll be alright.
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.
>Say nothing as the world fades out.
>Write-in...

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>>4259332
>>Try to reassure her by patting her head.
>>Maximum headpats
>>INFINITE HEADPAT WORKS!

>>4259332
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.
It's the only thing to do.

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>>4259332
>>Reassure the girl before you that you'll be alright.
Oh wow, this was surprisingly a good call. I should have known by now.

>>4259332
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.

>>4259358
Gotta go all in on the dumbest decisions anon, it's gotten Arthur this far, and will continue keeping him well along his quest.

>>4259332
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.

>>4259332
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.

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>>4259332
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.
>Smile

"In that case, not good bye but instead, 'See you soon.' "

>>4259332
>>Reassure the girl before you that you'll be alright.
That's pretty fucking gay, bro.

>>4259332
>>Try to reassure her by patting her head.

>>4259332
>Try to reassure her by patting her head.

You knew exactly what we were going to pick.

>>4259732
I would be lying if I said I didn't have an inkling.

As you look at the sad stare of the girl before you, you can't resist the urge to bring your hand up to gently pet the top of her head. As you do, you spot a faint red blush forming on the sides of her face. Her almost-glowing orange eyes wide as she looks up at you. Apparently not expecting such an audacious farewell to be made to her.

"Don't worry, Chaos. I'll be fine... thanks to you." You flash her a bright smile as the world completely disappears along with Chaos, and you soon find yourself plunging through a featureless white void. It's really unfortunate that your meetings keep having to be cut so short. You feel like Chaos is the sort of person who you could happily speak with for hours. There is one thing that causes you to almost kick yourself for not asking though. You didn't ask Chaos 'how' you were supposed to die.

October 15th - Tuesday 10:00AM

With that last thought on Chaos, you soon find your eyes opening once again, this time, you note that you don't fall any distance at all onto the bed, having almost gently been placed back where you were. Albeit completely on top of the covers and wearing your suit.

You look around the room just in time to see Sophia looking up from a book of some sort "Oh good, so you've decided not to disappear for multiple days then?" It seems that Sophia at some point during your visit with Chaos must've become curious as to your whereabouts, choosing to sit in your room to wait for you throughout however long you've been missing. "Ten hours, if you're wondering how long you had disappeared for this time... were such disappearing acts common in your youth?" She's getting a little suspicious about your visits to Chaos, it seems. Though there's no way she could tell that Chaos is the cause. Besides, you just get the feeling that keeping Chaos a secret is the wisest move you could make, at least for now. Especially as you don't really want to suddenly reveal to Sophia all of her theories on Chaos are very much wrong.

"Ten hours? Well, that's not too bad is it? I might not have slept that long under usual circumstances, but at least it's not a repeat of last time." Seems like Chaos really was keeping an eye on the time. What would have happened had you simply stayed in the Chaotic Realm and skipped the day you were supposed to die on? It's a question that could only possibly be answered by Chaos. "And no. I think I would have remembered if I started suddenly disappearing in my younger days.

"Well, I won't quiz you on whatever is going on with you too much. It's quite clear that discussing this is making you uncomfortable. But I do need to ask... you don't remember what happened for those ten hours you were missing, right?" Her question is phrased innocently, but if her skills at reading people she's shown are as sharp at picking up on spoken lies, you might just be in a spot of trouble here.

"Not... especially." Sophia raises an eyebrow at that, clearly wanting a little more information. It doesn't seem to be out of any reason other than legitimate concern either. "I remember speaking to a girl. A young girl with white hair." If telling a lie would fail you, then it seems that telling part of the truth will have to suffice.

"You do? Do you remember what you spoke to her about?" Seems she bought it. Well, of course she did. You aren't lying.

"Death. My death, mostly." Another partial truth that ought to mislead her away from discerning the truth of your disappearances. No, you just can't help but feel like telling her about Chaos here would somehow lead to your own undoing, it's a very odd feeling that you just can't place.

She frowns upon hearing that. "How strange... perhaps a powerful ghost has latched onto your soul...? This requires some research, I suppose I'll have to change the focus of my summons." She quickly turns to leave the room. "My maid ought to have have cooked you and your companions breakfast, though you might be a little late to it." She smiles at you as she leaves the room.

You look down at your suit. You really ought to stop getting so tired that you collapse before changing out of it. Also, a few changes of clothes might be nice. Maybe you should ask Alura if it would be possible for her to create other outfits like she made your suit? Though as for today, you'll definitely be wearing it once again.

You quietly eat the breakfast prepared for you by the demonic maid, noting the lack of the presence of your other allies more than the actual content of the dish itself, you can tell that the demon clearly needs more experience in the culinary arts though. Perhaps they've gone to the lounge? Honestly, them not being here right now is quite convenient. You do have a few errands to run before you actually reach land. The threat to your life could only be waiting for you there.

First off is exchanging your dollars to euros, which is far easier to do than you had first assumed it would be. It seems that your run of luck at the casino has made you quite well-known among the ship's staff, and that the exchange service was even asked to cooperate with any requests you made of them. Seems like that casino really wants to leave a good impression on you.

After getting your money transferred to 277000 Euros, you leave the exchange. Once again using the briefcase the casino had so generously provided to you, you begin journeying towards your next location. Grigori's cabin. He should really be involved when it comes to creating a plan.

Halfway through your walk to Grigori's room, you notice three bulky men in casual looking clothing standing directly in your way, a quick glance behind you reveals three more men quickly approaching behind you. You're surrounded. Could this be what is meant to claim your life? An ambush by six men? One of them reaches a hand behind his back while another begins speaking, a thick German accent slurring his words slightly. "The case, kid. Hand it over, or else you'll get hurt." You silently curse your decision to run these errands alone. Even if the men really should pose little threat to you.

>Throw the case as hard as you can at the man speaking and use the blessing Mistral granted to you to crush them in close combat.
>Draw your revolver and shoot them all.
>Take no chances and take them apart with the Power of Destruction. Literally.
>Write-in...

>>4261366
>>Take no chances and take them apart with the Power of Destruction. Literally.
I guess now is as good of a time as any to test our new limits.
Alright, we gotta prevent our own fate, no big deal. I suggest having Effi turn into our double for the remainder of the day, I don't like putting her at risk and I don't think that would be enough to evade our death but she's less squishy than us and it should take away the element of surprise from our enemies, supposing they will try a surprise attack and supposing someone will try to kill us.

>>4261366
>Take no chances and take them apart with the Power of Destruction. Literally.

>>4261417
Chaos, the being who is powered by free will, said that our death is inevitable, so I'm inclined to agree.
What I think we should do, is make our death as useful as possible, by making sure all our allies escape the ambush by Alucard alive using ourself as the sacrifice.

>>4261436
>Chaos, the being who is powered by free will, said that our death is inevitable, so I'm inclined to agree.
>What I think we should do, is make our death as useful as possible, by making sure all our allies escape the ambush by Alucard alive using ourself as the sacrifice.
Did you fucking just gloss over the part where she said that she can alter fate and by extension as our eldritch sugar mama we can alter fate too.

>>4261439
Oh is that what that meant?
I thought that it was a completely immutable event, and that she was implying we could revive somehow.
In that case plot away.

>>4261443
Yeah.
"Of course not. While it might be impossible for a human alone to overcome the destiny laid out for him... it's not so impossible for me. That is to say... It's not so impossible for you, the wielder of the Power of Destruction to defy your own destiny and forge a new one."
She straight up says that because we have the PoD and are connected to her, we can tell fate to shove it and forge our own destiny.

>>4261443
What did imply that death wouldn't be the end for us but I sure as hell don't want to find out.

I'm just saying if your plan includes dying it's a shitty plan. Even if it is guaranteed to happen. Planning to fail and all that.

>>4261515
I don't see it as planning to fail.
If there's nothing you can do about it, then at least you can use the event to its maximum potential.
Knowing you will die gives you the ability to take actions that normally you'd be cautious of, and if it's such a dangerous event, then you can turn it into a place where only you receive the majority of the misfortune.
And given that dying as a human isn't always the end in this universe, being able to turn a completely terrible situation into a null situation is really nice.

>>4261366
>Chop off the arm of the guy reaching behind his back using the PoD while meleeing the rest

Even with our dive into the PoD it's still energy intensive, if we're gonna defy fate we're gonna have to manage our resources more effectively.
Though I am not against using it to cheat in what would otherwise be a quickdraw. And our Fists are definitely faster to utilize at this moment.
>>4261417
Our Companions are the most important, I'm not for putting Effi onto the direct line of fire as a body double unless we know for certain she can handle it.

>>4261366
I'm actually going to swap >>4261436 to:
>Throw the case as hard as you can at the man speaking and use the blessing Mistral granted to you to crush them in close combat.
Because our suit can withstand bullets, and we need to conserve our energy.

>>4261366
>Throw the case as hard as you can at the man speaking and use the blessing Mistral granted to you to crush them in close combat.
Let's wait for the real threat before we put the PoD to use.

>>4261366
>"Don't say you didn't ask for it."
>Throw the case as hard as you can at the man speaking and use the blessing Mistral granted to you to crush them in close combat.

"Alright then, if you want it so much, catch!" With that as their only warning, you quickly bring your arm and launch the case of money at the German accented man. The man's eyes widen in surprise as he realizes what you've done, but the case, propelled along by a burst of air, is far too quick. By the time he's started to move out of the way, the case has already found it's mark. A corner of the case slamming hard into the side of his jaw. With a hideous cracking noise, the top of his head is carried off by the case. It disappears down the hallway along with the case of money. No matter, you doubt anyone would want to pick up a briefcase with a mutilated human head next to it.

The other men soon realize that a fight has begun, except they don't seem to have realized just how poor a condition their leader is now in. Whatever, their lack of a reaction hasn't stopped you from closing the distance between yourself and the two men standing behind the fallen speaker with a burst of air enhancing your charge. "You little shi-!" Prioritizing the man already reaching for his weapon, you drive a punch into his shoulder and cause him to join his comrade lying on the floor, his arm horribly bent out of shape and oozing blood from the shoulder joint.

As you deal with the second man, the third decides to capitalize on the opportunity, rapidly drawing a butterfly knife and attempting to stab your left arm. There's an angry snarl on the man's face as the knife makes contact. Though that's all it does. The tip of the knife doesn't penetrate the fabric of the sleeve. The man's expression quickly turns into one of terror as you bring your fist upwards to uppercut the man, feeling the rather unique sensation of flesh tearing and bone sundering as you make contact. The destroyed head splattering your suit and your face with gore as the useless lump of flesh slumps to the ground. You pluck the butterfly knife out of the dead man's hand for your own use.

The three men that were in front of you now lie dead or dying on the floor and you turn around just in time to see that two of the men that were behind you have now closed the distance themselves, both of them are holding heavy looking metal pipes. As useful as Sophia's barrier suppressing perception of the supernatural is, you can't help but feel like these men might've run away had they been allowed to see the slaughter that was taking place in front of them.

You'll never find out just what these men thought they were witnessing though, that much is made all the more certain as you dodge out of the way of a clumsy swing from one of the men and slash the blade of the butterfly knife across his throat before kicking him aside just in time for the other man to make his move on you, bringing his pipe downwards in an attempt to smash open your skull.

You quickly reach upwards with your free hand to intercept the strike, and catch the blow with a grimace of pain as the force runs down your arm. It's a reminder that as invincible as you might feel right now, you are still quite vulnerable. Nevertheless, you don't waste a single moment in dealing with the fifth of the would-be thieves, driving the knife through his eye while he's still struggling to loose his weapon from your grip. His body goes slack as you pull the blood-soaked knife from his mess of an eyesocket and discard the pipe to your side. That leaves one left.

The last man isn't moving at all. In fact he's... trembling? Though of far more concern to you right now is what he's holding, a pistol of some variety that's aimed squarely at you. "Die you fucking monster!" He fires.

Fortunately, the man either didn't go for the head or his aim was off, as the bullet simply hits your chest and is thus blocked by your suit, though the force of the bullet isn't entirely absorbed, and you almost stumble backwards. Almost reflexively, before the man can shoot again, you flick your wrist and send the butterfly knife you were holding careening through the air towards the man.

The knife ends up stabbing through the man's chest, cracking ribs and piercing through lung and heart. All he can do in response is to attempt to take in a breath before collapsing backwards.

"Monster? Hardly." You speak to nobody in particular, these men got exactly what was coming to them, and wouldn't have hesitated to kill you just for the money you were holding. Though his apparent realization as to what actually happened is quite concerning.

There's no mirror about, but you can feel the viscera and gore coating your face and hair. It's distinctly unpleasant. There's no real time to bother dealing with these bodies, you can get rid of them later now that there's no real hurry to do so. First you need to get your money back.

Thankfully, it's sitting right about where you would've expected it to be, halfway embedded into a wall with a gooey red and pink substance splattered all around it. With a sigh, you heave the case from the newly made hole in the wall and try to get some of the deceased thief off of it.

"What the f- Oh. It's you, boss." Just as you manage to get the majority of the gore off of the case, Grigori walks into sight. He looks at you for a few seconds as he tries to figure out just what could've gotten a person so soaked in blood. "Rough day?" Is eventually all he answers with.

"Just dealing with some would-be robbers who tried to steal my winnings from me." You quickly inform him. You don't want him to think you just randomly murdered a bunch of people. "What are you doing here anyway? I would've thought you'd have been in your cabin."

"I was actually in the middle of coming to visit you in your room. But I was more inclined to find out the source of the gunshot instead, and look who I found." He responds flatly. "Attempted theft aside, we need to discuss a plan of escape for once we reach the dock, if you're up against the Dorins I wouldn't put it past them to have discovered your current whereabouts already."

>"You're right, Grigori. Follow me."
>"Actually, I had something else I needed to do first..." (What?)
>Write-in...

>>4263271
>"You're right, Grigori. Follow me."

Maybe the pod people could do something?

>>4263271
>>"You're right, Grigori. Follow me."

>>4263271
>>"You're right, Grigori. Follow me."

>>4263271
>"You're right, Grigori. Follow me."
Let's keep up the pace

>>4263271
>"You're right, Grigori. Follow me."

>>4263271
>You're right Grigori. Follow me.
Edgy as fuck.
I sure do love callous murder.

Argh.
Sorry everyone, but I've been trying to write the update for the past four hours but I just cannot shake this migraine and it's not even close to done.

"You're right Grigori. Follow me." There's no point in hanging around this corridor at the very least, and now that you've found Grigori, there's really nothing you can think about that's worth looking around the ship for. The most important thing to do right now is to determine a plan of action. While you can't exactly tell the rest of the group about your prophesized death, without raising a lot of questions, you can use the possibility of the Dorin Organization tracking you to your destination as the reason. "We'll be heading to Sophia's mansion. I believe everyone still ought to be there."

"Well then, lead the way." Grigori's response is short, and you can't help but feel as if your current appearance is making things more than a little awkward for conversation. Well, while creating a plan of action is urgent, you definitely ought to wash yourself before attempting to hold any serious discussion. It's honestly just distracting, and goodness knows what the effect might be on the blood drinkers in the room. It's best you don't see what would happen, you think.

After a brisk walk back to the mansion, you find the entry hall empty. Seems that you weren't expected back yet. "Grigori, I'm going to need you to round everyone up and get them to go to the lounge. I'll need to wash myself before I do anything." Hopefully he won't have too much difficulty rounding the girls up. Their dislike of the man is quite evident, brutally so, in some cases, but hopefully they will look past that to follow your order.

"If you say so, boss." He walks off down the corridor with a parting comment, his tone resigned. You wonder where the man's loyalties lie. By all rights, with the treatment he's received so far, he should utterly loathe the lot of you. Though if he does, he's done quite a decent job of hiding it thus far. But you just don't really know if you'll ever be able to trust him. Though letting paranoia guide your hand in dealing with him just doesn't seem wise.

The assassin disappears off down the corridor as you return to your room to wash up. It seems that the blood that was splattered all over your suit is all gone, which is really quite convenient, you definitely need to ask Alura for a few more of these suits, as much as you like the current gray one, a few more styles of clothing would be very nice.

Your room luckily has an en-suite bathroom. You aren't quite sure how the shower works considering that you don't recall there being any electrical appliances in the entire house, it's probably yet another example of magic being used... Just how luxuriously could somebody with access to magic have lived even centuries ago? It's quite an odd thought to have, that such a standard for living that has now been fulfilled with technology once was only lived by the secretive few with the ability to use magic. Or even that such a standard was possible even centuries ago at all.

October 15th - Tuesday 1:25PM

It doesn't take you too long to wash yourself off and get dressed once again, and soon you find yourself making your way towards the lounge. Hopefully, Grigori didn't have too much trouble in assembling everyone.

Pushing the door open, you walk into a fairly quiet room, despite the large number of people within it. Grigori himself is leaning against one of the walls. As for the rest of them, Holly and Effi are sitting together on a two-seater and apparently watching something together on a laptop. Alura is reclining lazily in the corner of one of the chairs next to Anna, who is sitting in the middle of the sofa, with Coller to her left. Coller appears as almost the complete opposite of Alura, sitting politely in her seat with her hands on her lap.

Sophia herself stands at the door, apparently waiting for your entrance, and even Mistral takes the opportunity to fly out of your pocket to perch on the arm of one of the many sofas in the room. As you finish taking a look around the room, Sophia speaks up, bringing you out of your silent observation. "How was it, Arthur? Snuffing out that scum that tried to steal from you?"

You stare at Sophia in confusion for a moment as you parse her question. Before realizing the only thing she could really be referring to was the fight against the men from earlier. "Oh, it was a nuisance, honestly. I would've much preferred not to have been forced into having to deal with them, but I was left with no choice." Honestly, with your current strength, you don't really even know if you would've been able to spare the men even had you wanted to. The burst of power given to each of your strikes makes them terribly deadly to normal humans. Bones crumbled like twigs against your attacks. Of course, the moment that still sticks with you is how the thrown case simply decapitated the man. You were merely expecting it to knock out a few of his teeth.

"Is that all?" She sounds a little disappointed by your answer to slaughtering those criminals. You probably did the right thing in killing them though, such a group of criminals who are motivated solely by a greed and lust for money would only have ended up hurting more people. "Very well, we can discuss how you executed those pests later, for now I believe you wished to discuss a plan of action for leaving the ship, did you not?"

"That's right Sophia. Grigori here seems to think that it's a possibility that the Dorin Organization will be waiting for us as we depart the ship. So I've decided that it would be best for us to actually have some sort of plan we follow in case he's right." Of course, with the whole destiny thing weighing on your mind, you have very little doubt that the Dorin Organization won't in fact be waiting for you, and if not them, some other group seeking your end. "So, does anyone have any suggestions for this?"

Alura leans forwards from her reclined position and yawns. "If we're worried about an ambush being prepared for us, why don't we create an ambush of our own?" You arch an eyebrow at her. "Well, you remember back in the mansion, don't you? Those humans that had been infected by Une?" You nod silently. "Well, why don't I just repeat that process with a few of the humans as they prepare to leave the ship? Then, when they are spread all about, I can simply have them transform and slaughter the bystanders! Then if there any people who can fight back, we'll be able to target them!" It's a violent and brutal plan, with absolutely no regard for human life. Though there is an evil sort of logic to it.

Sophia shakes her head at the overly violent suggestion. "There's easier ways of drawing your enemies out than causing a massacre. If you want them to reveal themselves to you, why don't I summon a demon on top of the crowd? If it doesn't draw out a reaction, I'll kill it myself." She smiles as she mentions killing the demon. "Though we could simply travel as a group. I'm not about to lose to some Church dogs. Not now." Her smile quickly reverses.

Then, Effi decides to weigh in with her own plan. "Why don't we all just disguise ourselves? If we can just walk past them all, then what's the problem?" It's a terribly simple plan, likely brought about by her Doppelgänger instincts, but before you can dismiss her plan, Sophia speaks again.

"While I could place a glamor on us all, there's really no telling if it would be effective. Illusion magic doesn't tend to be very effective on people well practiced in magic, and if we are truly being pursued by the Church, I can't imagine they wouldn't have sent a witch to support their fighters." Though the idea of illusions does sound fairly appealing, that weakness makes them a terrible gamble.

"So... does anyone else have any ideas?" You look over the girls, who don't look like they've got anything else to add.

It's actually Grigori who speaks, finally weighing in on matters. "If you really expect that you're going to be ambushed as you leave the ship, what you're going to want to do is to properly position everyone so that they can have the most effect on the battle, and join a potential battle should the need arise." He pauses for a moment. "For example, I would be of far greater use providing long range support. I don't exactly relish the thought of facing off against anyone trained by the Church at close range." Grigori's plan does have it's own merits, even if it does seem partially driven by self-interest. You can't really see how much of an impact he's going to have on a battle in close quarters when the a large portion of your group are superhumanly strong. So it's quite a valid point.

With all this in mind you decide to...
>Go with Alura's plan of mass infections to spring a trap on any would be ambushers
>Go with Sophia's plan to summon a demon to try to lure your enemies into revealing themselves.
>Go with Effi's rather dubious plan of disguise, and have Sophia cast a glamor on the group in order to sneak past your enemies.
>Go with Grigori's plan of positioning everyone properly before a fight can start.
>Simply have everyone leave the ship as a single group of people.
>Write-in a plan...

>>4266944
>>Write-in a plan...
Combine Effi and Grigori's plan. Use the glamour to hopefully throw them off for abit, so we can get set up incase a fight breaks out.

>>4266961
Why not just do all the plans?
Create so much Chaos that they fragment and become easier to defeat/avoid.

>>4266944
>Effi's plan, Alura's plan, and Grigori's plan. Have Sophia cast glamours on everyone, and random glamours on various passengers who will be departing the ship. Have Alura create traps out of some of the humans on board, to ambush the ambushers. Position everyone where they would be the most useful just in case everything doesn't go well. If a large confrontation is initiated, then Sophia can summon a demon.

How does that sound?

>>4267154
Supporting.

>>4267113
Because too much chaos falls out of our hands easily. Turning people into Unes is just violence for violence's sake and there's not really a need to summon a demon.
Use the glamours to find out if they've brought a caster and the caster's location and spread out in case they want a fight. It puts us in the best situation without adding extra shit on top of it.

>>4266944
Backing >>4266961. I don't like >>4267154 and agree with >>4267334. We need to exert control over the situation at hand as much as we can.

>>4266961
Supporting

>>4267334
But why would our glamours being found by reveal the enemy witch's location?
Most likely she'd see them, immediately tell her team, and have them assassinate us.
If we cast glamours on people who are disembarking then it gives the Church boys more targets and lowers the chance of our group being picked out.
And in case you didn't read my vote, summoning the demon is a redundancy plan. If they catch us out and start a fight we summon the demon.
Even if they want to kill our group, adding another huge threat should split their attention.

>>4267410
That's kinda funny since I thought my vote put us in control of the situation.
If we have our undercover Unes out there, we can ambush the Church even if they brought many people.
And there's no reason to believe they wouldn't bring several people to get rid of us, they at the very least know about Alura, Anna, Arthur, and they can theorize that Sophia is on board as well.
If they have more than a few people out to hunt us down upon disembarking, then just having glamours over ourselves and good positioning can still get us overran by numbers.
This was a threat that made Chaos worried, and though she was worried over Arthur primarily, we can extend that worry to our monster allies who are just as liable to be killed as well.

Does nobody else have anything to say?
I want us to have the best chances of everyone making it out of this alive.

>>4268265
Honestly, it is a little odd. I had thought that there would have been more people interested in this vote, considering what's at stake.
Oh well.

Anyone?
Anything?

Came back to find this has gotten out of hand...

>>4268428
You gonna extrapolate on that?

>>4268428
We have altered the hand, pray we do not alter it further.

You think through the plans you've been given for a moment. Alura's plan is way too much for what is right now only a possibility of an ambush being set up for you. You aren't about to organize a mass slaughter of innocent people just to use them as a trap for a threat that might simply be one formed of paranoia.

Sophia's plan has it's merits, you suppose, but again, the summoning of a demon is just a little too much for this. For a moment you consider asking if Sophia has some form of remote viewing spell, but decide against it. All that would do is allow you to look at what is undoubtedly a large crowd of people at the docks. You doubt that your enemies are the sort to dress in a manner that would allow you to discern them from the rest of the crowd.

So with both Alura's and Sophia's suggestions ruled out, that leaves you Effi's suggestion of disguise, and Grigori's suggestion of getting everyone in a position that will benefit them should a fight break out. They should really only be expecting having to deal with Alura and you, potentially Sophia also, if they managed to track her movements. So that should mean that everyone else should be able to simply walk past them unopposed, no illusion necessary. Then, the three of you that actually require the glamour can follow out after them after they've all managed to find themselves good positions to launch a surprise attack, should the need arise.

"Alright, I've made a decision. We'll be utilizing both Sophia's ability to disguise us with her magic while also prioritizing getting everyone into advantageous locations." Most of the occupants of the room seem to hardly be paying attention to the prolonged discussion, not having anything of their own to add and only waiting for a decision to be made.

"The problem with that is that if they've got somebody sufficiently experienced with magic, then the game will be over before it can even begin." Grigori points out the fatal flaw in the plan, though you shake your head at him.

"I'm not finished, Grigori. While it might be the case that trying to disguise everyone magically would get us caught out almost immediately, there's really no need to do such a thing." You gesture with a hand to Holly and Effi sitting together on the sofa. "After all, there's no need to disguise people who our enemies aren't aware of, is there? They shouldn't be on the lookout for anyone other than Sophia, Alura and myself." Well, they might be aware of the existence of Anna and Holly, but the odds that they were given a full description of their appearance is simply non-existent. Holly was likely marked as a casualty in Sophia's escape, and Anna was simply one of the survivors from the mansion. Though thinking of her as a survivor of the mansion starts bringing up things that would be best kept for another time.

"That... that might work, actually." Grigori muses to himself. "So, you mean to send everyone else out first before finally revealing yourself?"

"Something like that." Your response is quick.

"Well, I don't really believe that any number of humans could pose a threat to me. Not now that I've mastered magic as I have. So, if we are to be the bait, then it will be set on a trap they will wish they never sprung." Sophia smiles faintly. "I've been looking forward to being able to do this ever since I was entombed in that accursed cell." Her voice is a melancholic echo.

"Everyone else, did you get that?" You aren't really sure how much attention that everyone has been paying to your conversation with the Russian, so reiterating it directly to them would prevent any mix-ups from occurring. "We might be entering a battle as soon as we leave this ship, so I'm going to need you to position yourselves as best you can when you leave the ship alone or in a pair. Sophia, Alura and I will be staying behind to travel as a group of three to lure any potential enemies into attacking us. I'm going to leave it up to your judgement as to when or if you should intervene." You pause for a moment, and rapidly attempt to find the words for what you want to say next... "If... If it looks like a hopeless battle that we can't win, which I doubt it will end up being. I want you to run instead of getting yourself involved." At the end of the day, if you can't avert Chaos' prophetic revelation of your own death, you don't want the others getting dragged into fight. You contemplate saying something similar to Alura and Sophia, but you doubt they will appreciate it too much.

"You really do worry too much, Arthur." Alura yawns as she reclines on her chair. "They can send all the humans they want after me, I could use the drink." Alura's overconfidence doesn't inspire you with confidence at all. You can only really hope that such arrogance in her own strength doesn't make it's way into a fight once again. You don't doubt that she was toying with Grigori for the majority of their fight, leading to her having lost an arm. Especially with how easily she ended things when she wanted to.

"Well, we'll soon see just what is in store for us on the shores of France. While I can't say I approve of taking such countermeasures for an enemy that we know next to nothing about, it's better than allowing ourselves to just be taken by surprise. Though a hopeless battle? Are you implying these humans can defeat me, Arthur?" You barely avoid reminding her that they had once before, but that would probably just devolve into a lecture about her newfound magical abilities making her invincible.

"Of course not, Sophia. But I am just wary of them using some trickery to gain the upper hand in the fight. Our enemies have already shown themselves as being willing to do anything in order to achieve their goals. So I don't expect them to fight fair at all." Well, you don't really know what counts as a fair fight in a world of magic. Just earlier today, you got yourself into a one versus six fight against armed men and you crushed the lot of them with an almost practiced ease.

Holly leans forwards now, taking her opportunity to speak. "I'm not going to abandon you if things go badly, Arthur. I don't know how I could live with myself if I did that..." She trails off as she resolves to fight with you, even if the battle looks hopeless. Such an outright declaration of loyalty almost makes you smile at the girl, despite the dire circumstances only you are truly aware of.

Anna remains silent, her mouth curved downwards and her teeth apparently grit in frustration. "I can't really help here, can I? I'd just get in the way if it comes to a fight wouldn't I?" She quickly asks to questions that everyone in the room already knows the answer to. Unfortunately for Anna, her lack of any real offensive ability really limits her in these circumstances. But you don't resent her for it.

Coller simply nods, while Effi looks at you with a confused expression. Mistral however is... less than pleased. "Hey! Could you please try to remember that we're linked together? So please don't try to get yourself killed, alright?" The fairy slumps backwards, muttering something too quietly for you to hear.

"Fine by me." Grigori's response to your comment to the entire room is one you completely expected.

"So, it seems that we're all decided on this plan?" Sophia gets up from her seat as she heads towards the door. "If we are to be using illusions, then I'm going to have to spend the hours remaining to make sure there are as few obvious flaws in the spell as possible." She smirks as she looks directly at you. "I also may have made a slight adjustment to the estimated time of the ship's arrival earlier today. We couldn't have it arriving before sunset, could we?" You hadn't thought of that, actually.

For now though, you'll spend the remaining hours aboard the ship...
>with Grigori .
>with Alura.
>with Effi and Holly.
>with Anna and Coller.
>with Mistral
>observing Sophia practice her magic.
>Write-in...

>>4268631
>>with Grigori
We haven't hung out with him yet

>>4268631
>with Anna and Coller.
I don't feel like we've really talked with Anna enough. We've been with everyone else way more.

>>4268631
Backing >>4268635. nICE guy needs some bro help after so many bitches tore into him, in more ways than one.

>>4268660
Wait until France.

>>4269021
The only thing he needs is to be pitched into the ocean.

>>4268631
>with Grigori .

>>4268635
Supporting.

>>4268631
>with Mistral
As much as I would LOVE to hang out with Grigori and follow our previous votes, we're gonna need every advantage we can get if we're gonna beat fate.
So have this contrarian vote for Mistral Social Linking.

>>4268631
>with Mistral

>>4268631
Alright, I'll swap >>4269133 to:
>with Mistral

>>4268631
If no-one else is interested in speaking with Anna, I suppose I'll switch from >>4268660 to
>with Mistral
This way we at least won't be spending any more time than we have to with Grigori.

>>4268631
>Mistral
Relinquish your blessings to me you dumb fairy.
Or we're putting you in a bottle.

Now that you think about it, despite the magical link binding the two of you together, you've hardly spent any time with Mistral, though that's more due to her constant sleeping and lazing around, honestly. So, with that in mind, maybe it would be a good idea to actually spend some proper time trying to improve your relationship with her?

"Mistral, come with me." You call to the sylph who is currently reclining on the sofa, and she slowly gets up before leaping into the air and fluttering towards you. She doesn't take long to land on your shoulder.

"Where are we going Arthur?" She quickly quizzes you as to your destination. Honestly, you hadn't really thought of one just yet. You briefly consider taking her to get some food, but you aren't hungry right now, and she's hardly capable of conversation when she's busy trying to stuff her face.

"Oh, I was just planning on taking a walk for now." She slumps slightly when she hears of your lack of a destination. She was probably expecting to be given food once again, but as far as you can tell, it's not like she actually needs to eat anyway.

"Oh... well... Ok then, just go wherever. I'll just sleep if I need to conserve energy." Mistral shrugs as she remains seated on your shoulder. Though her going to sleep would really just erase the entire point of having taken

As you turn to leave the room, Alura speaks up. "Try not to get into any fights, OK? I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to kill them with you, after all." You try not to give any indication that you heard Alura's bloodthirsty remark as you leave. It's really a wonder that she began to follow you in the first place, given this deep seated hatred of humanity she seems to have. Or maybe she simply wants the opportunity to do something together? Though it's really more likely to be the former, you think.

Mistral doesn't talk much as you make your way out of the mansion. You leave the case of money in Anna's care, so as to avoid any more attempts to steal from you, though you also take a few thousand euros with you, just in case. Most of the shops you've seen accept payment in either dollars or euros, so there shouldn't be a problem on that front.

As the door to the mansion closes, Mistral finally speaks again. "So, last night... when you disappeared... What exactly was that all about? It was really strange for me, you know? This link between us is strong. When you vanished... so did I, I was just floating in a blank void for what felt like hours!" That's news to you. But you don't remember seeing Mistral in the world of dreams nor in the Chaotic Realm, so where could she have been? "Do you have any answers for me on why I disappeared like that?"

You suppose that now that everyone else is out of earshot, it wouldn't harm to explain things to her in a little more depth. She's already aware of Chaos after all. So there's no point in trying to hide things from her. Besides, this link you've got with her might turn out to be far more powerful than you first imagined, if she was dragged into a blank world when you were dragged into Chaos' realm, what might happen if you were to die? Would she be trapped in a world of nothing forever? Or would the contract simply be ended? You don't really want to find out, and hopefully neither will she. "It's to do with... Chaos, Mistral. For some reason, whenever I speak with Chaos, my body disappears from the physical world, and it seems that the same applies to you. However it looks like in your case there's no dream world or alternative dimension."

"Well obviously! I'm a Sylph. I don't dream like you humans and other creatures do, I can only recall memories of an age long past." You consider telling her that she might find herself very bored indeed if she doesn't have some form of world to retreat to, and that she had best start trying to dream, but you hold your tongue. "The next time you decide to go visit Chaos, then I'm going with you!"

"Pardon?" The fairy says something that sounds really quite nonsensical.

"It's not impossible to enter into somebody else's dreams you know, Arthur. If you've got enough magical knowledge, you can easily enter somebodies mind while they dream. If you really want to, you can even drag other people into your dreams by force!" What an interesting sounding ability. To trap somebody within a dream. Unfortunately, before you can respond to that last comment of hers, more and more people start to fill the corridors around you, and you have no wish to be regarded as a lunatic ranting to himself about dreams.

Eventually, you reach a deck of the ship as Mistral happily whistles a tune as she sits on your shoulder, occasionally laughing at the unaware humans as you walk past them. It is quite a bizarre sight, to see something so obviously supernatural being completely ignored by the human population of the vessel.

You find an area with nobody around as the wind gently blows around the two of you. Mistral seems to appreciate the ocean breeze. "I miss it, you know." She looks up to the sky. "I might have had a lot of duties that kept me busy, but I enjoyed my life as a sylph in charge of the world's winds." She's also an existence that completely disproves humanity's apparent understanding of the world, but you don't need to remind her of that. She looks away from the sky and up at you. "Not that I'm not enjoying my time spent away from it all, I've been alive and doing the same job for... millenia now, I suppose." She smiles wistfully.

"I'm sure that you'll be able to find some more things you can enjoy doing in the human world during this break of yours, Mistral. If you've been working for millenia, don't you enjoy the opportunity to have a break?" She looks down in deep thought. Sorry for changing the subject, but I need to tell you something that's possibly going to happen when we reach land." There's no reason to delay telling her what might happen to you any longer.

"What's that Arthur? You sound concerned about something." Her voice is slightly confused by your sudden changing of the topic.

"When I met with Chaos in my dream. She told me that today was the day I was supposed to die. As ordained by destiny. So the reason I've been making so many plans towards our exit from the ship is because I know that there's something out there waiting for me." Mistral looks shocked by the revelation.

"It's not that simple to defy destiny, Arthur. For a single human to change his fate like that should be impossible!" She does sound genuinely concerned for your well-being after the revelation, and you're actually thankful that you refrained from revealing this to the rest of the group. The last thing you need is to have everyone fretting over your safety like you're some sort of fragile child that needs to be protected.

"I've got a way to change my fate, apparently. At least that's what Chaos said." You look down at your right hand. Can the Power of Destruction truly change your fate? If so, how? Is it merely the use of the ability to accomplish something, or do you need to do something more esoteric with the ability?

Mistral flutters in front of your face as she stares you dead in the eye. "I can help you a little here by the way, but you have to follow my condition if I do." She seems slightly conflicted as she speaks.

"What are you talking about Mistral?" This suddenly cryptic behavior is just confusing after her previous concern for you.

"I'll bless you further, but only on the condition that you have to do exactly what I ask for one... No! Three separate days!" She declares with conviction in her voice. So, she's offering to make you more powerful in your time of need? Though that condition isn't really something you feel you'd like to be subject to. You can only imagine what the sylph might order you to do for her.

>Accept this deal from Mistral.
>Refuse the deal.
>Write-in...

>>4270948
>Accept this deal from Mistral.
Fine with me if she feels she needs to save face with her colleagues.
Only one of her blessings was already this useful, another would be quite welcome at this point, considering we didn't plan our disembarking as thoroughly as we could've.

>>4270948
>>Accept this deal from Mistral.
>>Write-in...
No cashing it in at stupid times, no stupid requests and if you sleep through all three days, I get to laugh at you.

>>4270948
>Accept this deal from Mistral.

>>4270948
>Accept this deal from Mistral.

Caveats that if we encounter a situation that could result in our harm or that of our allies, Arthur is not bound to do as Mistral says so long as we or the others are in danger. No harming allies or putting them in harmful situations either.

So, any thoughts on how we're supposed to use the Power of Destruction to seal our safety?
I'll theorize that we have to use it to destroy our destiny, possibly materialized threads of fate or somesuch.

>>4271060
I had just assumed we were fated to be killed by an enemy who can only be overcome by the use of the Power of Destruction. (Alucard?)
You think it's more complex than that?

>>4271074
Nah it's easy we just destroy the concept of awareness and leave. I'm sure reality will unfuck itself after a tick. God's gonna be pissed though.

>>4271074
I mean Alucard's maximum powers are sealed away right now.
We should be capable of running away from him with Mistral's blessings, and all our allies, but it's our destiny to be killed today, so there's probably something else that's more dangerous for us.
Maybe an assassination spell?

>>4271060
Simple, really. We use the PoD to destroy the timeframe of our death, like cutting out frames of film.

>>4271082
Don't forget he's got the Belmont's discount girlchild with him.She probably flies or something, too.

>>4271084
That sounds really anime, so it might work.
Do you think we can destroy metaphysical things like memories or taste or sound?
Like maybe we could destroy our presence to blend perfectly in with the surroundings?

>>4271218
>Belmont
>Flying
I doubt she has a griffin's wing at this point.

>>4271234
Nah she just tool assists whip dashes and uppercuts.

"Very well then Mistral. I accept your terms and will... do whatever you want for the next three days." You don't really have a choice in the matter, and an additional power-up right now just might be what you need to help get through today without, well, dying.

"Ah-ah! Not the next three days... any three days of my choice!" She's... really milking this for all it's worth. If you weren't receiving some form of magical blessing in exchange for this, you wouldn't be able to consider it as anything but a form of blackmail. But you suppose that if this is just Mistral's way of saving face among her other sylphs. Something tells you that she shouldn't be handing out blessings like she is anyway.

"Fine. Any three days of your choice it is." She smiles happily and flits around your head as you agree to her conditions. Seems that she thinks she's managed to earn herself some sort of victory out of this exchange, at least. "So, what exactly do we have to do now then?"

"Oh, you? Nothing, just stand still while I grant you the blessing." She stops fluttering about and instead begins hovering in front of your face, arm outstretched as she closes her eyes and apparently begins concentrating heavily. As she does, you can feel an updraft of wind beggining to generate below you, blowing Mistral's hair about and making it whip around in the breeze. The intensity of the wind grows greater and soon your suit is fluttering uncontrollably in the magically created winds.

As the winds grow to an intensity that feels as if it might actually lift you off your feet, it stops, replaced with a bright white flash of light from underneath you. At the exact same moment, Mistral begins to plummet out of the air and towards the ground, forcing you to catch her within your hands. She looks fairly dazed, but otherwise conscious. "So, did it work then, Mistral?" You quiz the fairy with a small amount of excitement in your voice. Even with circumstances as dire as they are, increasing your own power does satisfy you in an odd way.

"W-what? Oh... right. The blessing..." She breathes quite heavily, apparently granting you this blessing was something of a strain on her. "Just give me a moment... that expended more of my energy than I was expecting." She isn't about to go to sleep again, is she? Thankfully, no. She gets up from lying in your cupped hands eventually, gives her wings a quick shake, and then takes to the skies once again. "It was a complete success as far as I can tell, you now have my protection in addition to the blessing of wind. I should really congratulate you on being the first human for thousands of years to actually achieve more than one of the wind blessings." She pauses in thought as she seems to recall an age long since passed. "Though it was much simpler back then..."

"I'm happy that I've managed to achieve something so impressive. But... you haven't actually told me what this blessing does. You just mentioned something about it being your protection." As much as Mistral might want to reminisce about her own past, you would much rather find out what you just got in exchange for effectively agreeing to be her servant for three days.

"Oh right. Well, it's something that really should help you... umm, not die. You can't tell right now, but there's actually an invisible layer of wind coating your entire body. Think of it like a suit of armor." A suit of armor? While that does sound quite useful, to have a permanent form of armor around you, you really need to know what the limits of it are.

"Well, if it's a suit of armor, what can it stop?" You ask the fairy for some more information on the ability she basically blackmailed you for.

"Oh? Uhmmmm.... Well, it should stop all forms of projectiles from striking you, as well as reducing the force behind your enemies strikes." That sounds incredibly useful! Once again, despite her fairly annoying demeanor, Mistral has proven her worth. "B-but it doesn't work very well against magic, magical arrows and weapons usually hit with far more force than the shield can deflect away." That's slightly disappointing to here, but not entirely unexpected. You weren't expecting to be granted something so useful anyway. "But your new blessing aside, I think that I'm going to have you do what I want for the rest of the day... I mean... if you get killed, it's not like I'll get to redeem my side of the deal..." How very opportunistic of her.

"Fine Mistral, what is it that you want?" May as well get this over with. You half expected she would do something like this anyway.

"First off, you need to let me take my wind form whenever I want in the future, and you can't complain about it." Hold on a second, that's clearly exploiting the terms of your agreement! But you suppose you can't really complain that much about it. You nod, a frown barely hidden from your face. "Good. Now then, my second command is for us to go and buy some desserts!" This is something you had expected her to ask for anyway.

"Very well, Mistral. Is there anything else you want?" Her demands haven't been that outrageous, compared to what she could have asked you to do with such an open ended agreement.

"There's one more order that I want you to do your best at." You look at the fairy with a raised eyebrow. She hesitates for a moment before turning away from you. "Don't die." It's said in a quiet voice, but you can still hear it quite clearly, the small voice carrying on the wind. There's a moment of silence between the two of you, before she begins to speak again. "Now then, I think we've wasted enough time already, I want to try as many of the desserts as I can before we leave this ship!"

Le Havre Port:
October 15th - Tuesday 6:15PM

After a long few hours of escorting Mistral around the various shops aboard the vessel, and buying her fairly expensive desserts which she would proceed to only eat a small amount of, you find yourself in the hallway outside of Sophia's mansion with everyone else, and only a few hundred euros lighter than you were before. The ship ought to be allowing the passengers off in just under 20 minutes .

"This is it then, everyone." You take charge and speak first. "In a few minutes, we'll find out if the Dorin Organization has been lying in wait for us to arrive." Everyone has a determined look on their face, either ready or in Alura and Sophia's cases, eager for combat. "This will be the last we see of each other for a short while, as I'm going to need everyone except Sophia and Alura to split away from us now and to find vantage points to overlook the port. Only get involved if you see an opportunity."

"Understood." Holly takes the lead to speak for the ones leaving you now. "S-stay safe, Arthur." With that comment, she takes her leaves, and everyone not remaining to have the glamour cast on them follow her. Though Anna shows some reluctance towards leaving you, her face conflicted for some reason. Effi doesn't seem all that happy about only the three of you getting to disguise yourselves, but raises no complaints.

Just like that, you are alone with Sophia and Alura. Easily the two most dangerous women that you've ever met. As you muse on this, Sophia snaps her fingers and a purple light surrounds the three of you, you can't really tell much of a difference from just looking at yourself, other than your now green suit. But a mirror is soon provided, showing you with green eyes and blond hair that is far longer and straighter than it normally is.

Sophia meanwhile has taken on brown hair and blue eyes, wearing what wouldn't look out of place in an office and even having grown a few inches to complete her disguise. While Alura's own disguise has given her short auburn hair and brown eyes. Her clothing, much to her clear distaste, is a pair of jeans and a hooded jumper.

"Well, now that that's over with. I believe that we ought to make our move." Sophia speaks to remind the two of you that looking at your false appearances isn't quite what you should be focusing on right now.

"Of course. Let's go."

October 15th - Tuesday 6:35PM

As you step out of the ship and onto the boarding plank, you see a bustling crowd of people heading across a long stretch of concrete towards the cruise terminals. There doesn't appear to be any suspicious looking figures in the crowd that you can see at least, no men wearing Church robes and no conspicuous looking men in suits. Yet you don't allow that to let your guard down. Amazingly, Mistral has actually stayed awake for this, and is currently peeking out of your suit, nervously looking about for threats herself. Alura is somewhere behind you, and Sophia is clearly watching the crowd very carefully.

You can't see any of the other members of your group. They must've decided that the terminal would grant them a better view on things. If anyone is waiting for you, they haven't taken the bait just yet.

>Go down the plank and head towards the terminals yourself.
>Stop Sophia and ask her if she can see anything unusual.
>Ask Mistral if she's noticed anything strange.
>Try to lure any potential attackers out of hiding by doing something (What?)
>Write-in...

>>4272911
>Stop Sophia and ask her if she can see anything unusual.
She does have the sharpest senses of any of us.

>>4272911
>Ask Mistral if she's noticed anything strange.
Maybe the perspective of an eons old goddess will notice something strange.

>>4272904
>"First off, you need to let me take my wind form whenever I want in the future, and you can't complain about it."
Cool. In the future two other days she chooses she can be a breeze. Cheeky little shit. Welcome to the monkey's paw.

>>4272911
>>Ask Mistral if she's noticed anything strange.
What do your sylph eyes see?

>>4272911
>Ask Mistral if she's noticed anything strange.
look
look with your special eyes

>>4272911
>>Ask Mistral if she's noticed anything strange.

"Mistral, have you noticed anything strange in the crowd?" Seeing as she's taking an active part in helping, you may as well ask if she's noticed anything. You're certain that Sophia would mention if she spotted anything anyway. So pestering her likely wouldn't result in much anyway.

The fairy poking out of your jacket raises a hand to her chin as she continues examining the crowd. "Well, I think that there's just something... wrong about all of this. But I can't be certain..." She says something quite unexpected, you can't see anything off at all about the crowd.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Mistral? I don't see anything unusual" Hopefully she can shed some light about just what it is that's making her feel like there's something off about the crowd. Though this effectively confirms your suspicions that you're under attack. Or at least will be shortly.

"Well, I can't really tell you why I feel like I do, it's just to do with the wind. The atmosphere here is just charged with danger, it feels like." That's no help at all! Though as you turn to Sophia to ask if she's spotted anything, you spot something yourself. A pulse of blue light comes from the center of the crowd, quickly growing to engulf the entire stretch of concrete, none of the bystanders remain outside of the rapidly growing circle of light until it quickly dissipates with seemingly no effect.

"Sophia! Do you know what that was?" You end up shouting at the vampire looking at the empty area the pulse originated from, though again before she can answer, the effect soon becomes clear, as almost simultaneously, every single one of the bystanders just collapses into a heap.

Sophia grits her teeth as the spell takes effect. "That, Arthur, was a spell designed to render normal humans unconscious. It can only mean one thing, that you were right, and the Chu-" Before she finishes speaking to you, the vampire launches herself backwards as a shining green chain appears where she was mere moments ago before retracting at an incredibly rapid pace. At the exact moment she saw the attack, Mistral disappeared back into your pocket, clearly bravery isn't one of her skills.

As the whip disappears from view, a small figure wearing hooded brown robes appears in it's place, despite standing precariously on the hand railing of the cruise ship, they show no difficulty with balancing upon it. You're braced for a fight before they cheerfully speak. Voice obviously female, and with some kind of oriental accent "You're Arthur Bernhard, right? Could you do me a favour and surrender? I don't really want to have to hurt a human, you know." Despite the girl having just attacked Sophia, there's no hint of malice in her voice.

Now however, is Alura's turn to get involved in the fight, and she's clearly not happy with the appearance of this robed assailant. As she reaches a hand out, calling open powerful vines to tear the robed girl asunder, the unthinkable happens. In the blink of an eye, her arm is severed at the elbow, the vines fall uselessly at the same time as her arm.

"Hey! I was trying to talk to them, Genya-sensei! There's no point if you're just going to sneak attack one of them like that!" She seems genuinely annoyed at the successful attack man on Alura, who is currently too stunned by the loss of her arm to react

You now see the culprit behind Alura's injury, it's a man, wearing apparel similar to the woman that conceals his face perfectly. You can only really determine that the man is slightly taller than you are from the way he is dressed. His voice is deep and disapproving as he addresses his ally. "Kokoro, if you wanted to be diplomatic, then you shouldn't have orchestrated your own sneak attack. At that moment, you mostly doomed any chance of a peaceful resolution to this." The way the presumably elder man is calmly assessing the battle implies two things. One, that the man thinks of himself as quite wise, and two, that neither of them are taking you seriously enough

You jump towards the girl who's closer to you, intending to cause her to lose her grip and tumble over the edge, but she's much too fast for that to work. She sees your attack coming and gracefully backflips through the air over you.

As she attempts her backflip though, a vine crashes loose from the floorboards and entangles around one of her ankles. She makes a noise of surprise at the unexpected assault and is slammed into the floor by the sneak attack from Alura. Who quickly uses the moment of distraction on the man's part as he helps his comrade up to make her way over to you. She scowls at the two hooded figures as the girl, Kokoro, if you heard properly, gets up to stand next to the man.

It seems that Alura despite her missing limb has mostly recovered from the attack now thankfully, but what about Sophia? She dodged the attack completely, yet hasn't rejoined the battle yet! Could there be a third enemy that's caused her to preoccupy herself? There's something of a stand off between the four of you, and it seems that both of your enemies have somehow forgotten about Sophia's presence. A few meters behind them, standing partially hidden through the cruise ship doors is Sophia, her arm outstretched and dozens of magic circles floating in the air surrounding it.

As the four of you stand there in silence, the man, Genya, addresses you. "I suppose I can do you the courtesy of offering a genuine chance for you to surrender. I can assure you that your... friends, won't be harmed if you do." You don't believe the man for a second.

>Attempt to distract and stall the man to allow Sophia to finish her spell.
>Try to use the Power of Destruction to attack the two of them.
>Draw your revolver to fire at them.
>Rush the two of them relying on Mistral's blessings.
>Write-in...

>>4273687
>>Attempt to distract and stall the man to allow Sophia to finish her spell.
Bro you cut off her arm. What if she's emotionally scarred for life? Doesn't sound unharmed to me.

>>4273687
>Attempt to distract and stall the man to allow Sophia to finish her spell.

>>4273687
>Attempt to distract and stall the man to allow Sophia to finish her spell.

>>4273687
>Attempt to distract and stall the man to allow Sophia to finish her spell.

Could it be possible to use the Power of Destruction to destroy any wounds we receive?
Or would we just injure ourselves further.

>>4273687
>Attempt to distract and stall the man to allow Sophia to finish her spell.
>>4273912
I don't think it works like All Fiction. I know we've been able to erase an area of space before, but that was at least still a physical thing in the world; Destroying abstract concepts like "a period of time" or "having been wounded" just seems like a stretch.
If we can figure out how to do that, though, it'd definitely be pretty great.

If Sophia is going to try to end this with some form of powerful spell, then it's all you can do to keep these two from noticing her while she's casting it. So there's only one thing for it. You'll simply have to talk to the two of them. "Why should I believe the two of you? You work for an organization that has manipulated me for my entire life, and what's more, the two of you have both immediately attacked my allies the moment the opportunity arose. Just what do you think makes you trustworthy here?" The older man might not fall for it, but with any luck, the girl will take the bait.

"Hey! We weren't sent here to kill you, you know!" As predicted, the girl can't resist taking the bait. "Do you... do you have any idea how dangerous that vampire actually is? Never mind the une..." It's odd, but she does sound genuinely invested in your well-being. Is she being genuine? Or is this naivety just some sort of trick to get you to lower your own guard?

"Does being a potential danger really give you the right to attack somebody out of the blue?" The question isn't really a valid one, given that neither Sophia or Alura could be classed as mere 'potential' dangers.

This time, the man speaks. "No, but their remorseless killing of humans does. Don't think of saying that you didn't know, either. I refuse to believe anybody is so foolish as to not have realized the nature of your two... traveling companions." His voice is thick with disgust directed towards the two girls, and while it looks as if Alura might lash out and attempt to attack the man again, you hold a hand out to stop her.

"But is it really so evil if they are just following their nature to survive? Both Sophia and Alura need blood to live, so why should they die just for the sake of others? Are you really of that sort of self-sacrificial belief that your own life is worth less than that of another's? Should the lion just lie down to die to spare the gazelle it's hunger?" You begin to goad the man now hoping to elicit another verbal response from him, from what you saw of his speed, he's far too fast for you to realistically take on.

The man in the robes flinches backwards, and for the first time, you catch a glimpse of his face. His mouth is curved into an angry frown. "Kokoro." His voice is cold and quiet. "You deal with the vampire. I'll deal with Mr. Bernhard and the Une." Not really the sort of reaction you were hoping for.

Though just as the hooded man takes a step forwards, he, along with the girl, is surrounded by three layers of orbs of black light arranged in a circle. More eye-catching is that there's a huge black orb suspended above the two of them. "You shouldn't have forgotten about me, you Church dogs. Now, I do hope you two enjoy being incinerated! Lines quickly form between the smaller orbs to form a cage as the larger orb seems to swell with power. "Goodbye hunters!" As Sophia finishes taunting your two trapped enemies, the energy contained in the larger orb explodes downwards in a huge beam of darkness than consumes all it touches.

The two of them barely have the time to look upwards before the beam hits them. The beam lasts just a few seconds before disappearing entirely, taking with it both the man and the girl sent to kill you and a large circular portion of the ship. Moments later, water comes crashing upwards through the newly formed hole, Sophia's attack having penetrated through the whole ship. "Those two were more powerful than I had anticipated, but in the end, they were nothing more than a simple distraction." She seems quite satisfied with herself. "Though it seems that that was more than this vessel could bear." She looks at the cavernous hole in the ship as water begins to flood upwards. "I was really expecting more of a fight from those two. But I suppose that expecting anything of a human is simply a foolish endeavor. Of course, you notwithstanding, Arthur."

"Right. Well, we should probably get off of the ship before we get flooded, and I doubt there's any reason to keep these illusions active now that we've dealt with those two." The three of you quickly descend the ramp onto the concrete below. The unconscious bodies scattered about show no signs of waking up any time soon. Alura takes this as her opportunity to lift a sleeping policeman up with her remaining arm and reduced him to a withered husk in seconds.

She tosses the husk of a body aside like a discarded juice carton, and it proceeds to break apart and coalesce into one dusty mass, before being blown away by the gentle breeze. In less than a span of 30 seconds, a person had disappeared before your very eyes. Though after seeing the instant vaporization caused by Sophia's spell, it's far less impressive. She does however rapidly regrow her missing arm with a sadistic smile. She's started to make a habit out of losing her limbs already. Hopefully it's just bad luck on her part.

Mistral upon sensing the consummation of the battle, pokes her head out of your pocket. "Wow, I guess that you were just worried for nothing, Arthur! Those guys were a bunch of pushovers!" There's a mocking laughter to her voice as she completely disregards the two defeated enemies.

As you stride across the concrete, you can see your allies slowly making their way out of their vantage points. Grigori climbing down from the roof of the terminal, while the others must've been hiding somewhere within the building, as they all appear through the automatic doors of the terminal.

You meet with the rest of your allies flocking towards you in the middle of the concrete, surrounded by unconscious bodies, the two groups are just about to meet up when a voice calls out. "So. You had more allies hidden in wait did you?" Everyone starts at the sudden speech, but Sophia is the most shaken.

"How!? How did you survive my strongest spell?!" She yells out in anger at the voice, though his current location is quite unknown to both you and Sophia. She's clearly frustrated at having been outplayed so thoroughly by a human.

"Maybe you are too over reliant on the power of your magic? Even my father wasn't so arrogant with his power, and you will never reach his level, vampire." The man's voice seems to grow far more intense. As it does, you notice something that catches you off guard, Whereas before you were surrounded by the people they knocked out, it seems like they've all somehow moved without you noticing. There isn't a single body within 50 meters of you anymore. "Elise! Now!"

"Understood!" At his command, a woman seems to appear out of nowhere, standing in the center of where the pulse of energy originated from. Could she have been the one behind that spell then? What are they planning now? It seems that the smaller figure was also unharmed by Sophia's attack. Though instead of being angered by this revelation, Sophia's eyes are... wide with shock? What's going on?

Just as you wonder that, a large cube of prismatic color appears around all of you, making it impossible to see the world outside of it. Other than your allies, there is one more figure inside the cube with you. A black haired man wearing a suit stands before you with a pocket watch in his right hand. Though his appearance quickly changes as a swarm of bats descends upon him. His hair turning a brilliant blonde and his suit being replaced by a ridiculously extravagant looking ensemble, making him look more more like a prince than his previous outfit did, which really wouldn't have looked out of place on an office worker. He locks eyes with you. "This isn't a fight any of you can win, nor can you flee. We are currently in a world sealed off from the real world. There's no escape." Every sentence the man speaks is like the verdict of a judge, filled with power and confidence.

Clearly, this is no normal human, and Sophia seems to have determined his identity too. "The son of Dracula, still working for the sake of humans? You're pathetic, Tepes." Despite her harsh words to your revealed enemy, Sophia's voice doesn't feel as confident as it was before. Though as she focuses on her enemy, it soon regains it's killer edge. "You'll pay dearly for locking yourself in here with me."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xv_zlPiRIE

Sophia leaps towards Alucard with incredible speed, turning into a simple blur of motion as she goes, though despite her unfathomable speed, her attack is gracefully stepped aside, and in a flash of steel, has gained a heavy cut over one of her eyes. Alura, sensing the seriousness of the situation, attempts to entangle the man in roots grown under his feet, and while he's stopped by momentarily by a vine that managed to catch ahold of his leg after it bursts from the ground. He immediately recovers as he is suddenly coated by an aura of flame, which not only destroys the vine binding him, but also melts away a spear of ice that had been launched at him the moment he got stuck.

Then the unthinkable happens. The dhampire's gaze focuses on Alura suddenly, and in that very same instant, he is in front of her. Bringing his sword down upon her and bisecting her diagonally from the shoulder, the colour in her eyes fades as she is struck down in but an instant.

"""No!""" You, Holly and Anna all echo the same cry of dismay at seeing the obviously fatal wound being dealt to Alura, though as your enemy begins to look for his next target, he's suddenly blown to the side by an incredibly powerful blow. Coller finally joins the battle against this unbelievably powerful enemy.

Yet despite the incredibly powerful punch he had just been launched of his feet by, he's back on them a few moments later. As he gets to his feet, Holly attempts to swipe at him with a dangerous looking clawed hand, only for the man to catch her hand and begin crushing it with his own. Though his grip is released when Holly manages to successfully scratch him accross the face with her other hand, and she gets away from him, her left hand reduced to a bloody pulp.

Then, at the same time as Alucard does, you notice Sophia is casting another spell. SHe must've decided that this foe isn't one that she, nor anyone else here, can beat with their physical power. Though whatever her plan might be, it's clear that she hoped that Alucard would be too distracted to notice what she was up to.

You only have mere moments before Alucard reaches Sophia, and in that time you...
>Call upon the Power of Destruction to erase the space between you and Sophia.
>Call upon the Power of Destruction to drag Alucard backwards by erasing the space behind him.
>Call upon the Power of Destruction in an attempt to erase the space currently occupied by Alucard.
>Unseal the power of Ruination.
>Write-in...

>>4274486
>>Call upon the Power of Destruction to drag Alucard backwards by erasing the space behind him.
You get the fuck back here so we can kick you in the face you dick.

>>4274486
>Call upon the Power of Destruction to erase the space between you and Sophia.
He'll then come after us, we can feint with the holy dagger and hit him with the power of destruction

>>4274486
>Call upon the Power of Destruction to drag Alucard backwards by erasing the space behind him.
Pull him into range. It's time to start working on our nanto suichōken.

>>4274486
>>4274505
Changing my vote here to
Erase the space directly in front of Alucard in the direction he's running and sustain it for a short time, his momentum combined with its pull will make it very hard to escape it unscathed.

>>4274486
>Call upon the Power of Destruction to erase the space between you and Sophia.
>a pocket watch in his right hand
FUCK

>>4274588
Just wait until he pulls out his crucifix. Or a ring that shoots fucking lightning. Or whatever the fuck he wants because he's a cheating bastard. Wouldn't surprise me if he's been crop dusting the ground with consecrated ashes this entire time either.

>>4274486
>Unseal the power of Ruination.
Sophia's last spell, that she considered her strongest spell, was completely no-sold.
We're stuck in a prism, but we have the power to destroy anything, so if we use the power of ruination to destroy it, we can at least give ourselves more room to fight, and take all the humans hostage.
Also if there's nay chance to rescue Alura it needs to be made immediately, and there's no readily accessible source of blood in the prism.

I'll start writing in 30 minutes or so.
If you have any last minute adjustment you would like to make to your vote of if you would like to make a write-in, now is the time.

>>4275151
>Warning of last chance to change vote
Oh no. We made the wrong choice, didn't we?
This is going to be the tragic update in which our main heroine dies and Arthur swears revenge on the forces of "good," isn't it?

>>4275154
I'm sure Chaos will be fine.

>>4275154
Alucard is just going to blink around with his stopwatch and kill everyone.
He just said there's no way to escape the place they're sealed in, but we know that's wrong due to the nature of the power of destruction.
I'm not sure what you guys are trying to accomplish by stalling the inevitable by deleting space, at least trying to delete Alucard himself makes sense.

>>4274486
Breaking the tie. Welcome to die.
>Call upon the Power of Destruction to drag Alucard backwards by erasing the space behind him.

>>4275169
Oh and there's also the possibility that we'll get tired if we use space-deletion, and that we'll suffer from exhaustion.
Alucard went for Alura first instead of us, when we're more open because he thinks we aren't a threat, and showing off a trick like that would only make him focus on us.

>>4275169
Unsealing that arm is a one-way trip to getting fucked over by our own power. If there's any way to win this fight, it'll be by using the PoD properly, not destroying ourself.

>>4275186
We didn't destroy ourself the last time we used it, and we don't get tired when we use it, in contrast to the PoD.
What is even the point of buying time for Sophia when even Alucard is like "You can't do anything to me with that level of strength, vampire."
Also, if he could be defeated by Sophia, then Chaos wouldn't have been worried at all, and probably just told us to use our vampire to kill him.
Spreading the PoD to cover the entire prism in an attempt to crush the seal, which is probably pretty powerful, when currently the PoD dissipates the thinner it's spread, makes little sense when Arthur will be too exhausted to do anything afterward even if it did work.
But ruination gives us even more strength, is invulnerable, and can ignore/ruin any work of magic, including this seal.

>>4275202
I don't know what ideas you're arguing against, but my vote was to use space deletion to pull Alucard into range for us to make a direct attack against him with the Power of Destruction.
Also, go back and re-read what happened to us the last time we used Ruination. Our body was taken over by a hostile entity, and our life was barely saved. Not a chance I want to take a second time.

>>4275249
I'm pretty much arguing against any course of action that makes no sense here, and stalling for time or dragging him into melee range seems really dumb, since he's using the stopwatch to cover more ground before we can react, if we do that he'll just stopwatch and we'll unfreeze when we're already dead.

And yeah, ruination can attempt to usurp our body, but it's our strongest weapon, and nothing else has a good chance of destroying this seal.
Going by how they reacted to all the humans in the area, if we escape and take them all hostage they'll be in a tight spot, and we need to perform emergency blood transfusion on Alura, if there's absolutely any chance of saving her at all.
The most we can do by showing off any other ability to Alucard is make him take us more seriously, and reducing the chances to do anything that would take more time, or concentration on our part.
Immediately going into a form that he can't ignore, that can also destroy the sealed space we're in, and should let us fight him with less of a disadvantage, although still at a major one, could give our allies some time to think of something, and also buy time for whatever Sophia is doing, without ourselves getting tired.

There's no time to think of doing anything else. If he reaches Sophia, then there's no hope for her survival, nor is there any hope for your own either. You aren't just going to let this bastard get away with this any longer! You call upon the power of destruction feeling it flow through your whole body, not a fraction of the power leaks from your body as you look at the distance between Alucard and Sophia. It's a distance he's shown himself capable of traversing in mere moments. Distracted as she currently is, Sophia likely won't even be able to defend herself from this assault.

You know what you need to do as. Time seems to move by at a crawl as you mentally command the power to flow out of your body and to encompass the distance between both you and Alucard. He's already began to move, and in a single bound, has covered half of the distance between him and his target, leaving you no choice but to extend the area your'e targeting with the power.

Then, when the invisible cloud of energy has caught up to the powerful half-vampire, you allow it to take effect. Deleting the space between the two of you and bringing the two of you directly next to each other.

There's a moment of surprise on the man's face at his sudden transportation backwards, but it only lasts long enough to allow you to throw a punch with your left hand, intending to follow it up with a punch from your right as you gather the Power of Destruction around it.

He steps to the side of the first punch and instead of bothering to dodge your second and far more lethal blow simply reaches into his pocket as you follow it up.

The energy that would spell his death is a single inch away from the man's face, but try as you might, you can't move a single muscle further. In fact, you can't even move your eyes or blink as the man stands in front of you. The world has gone silent, but for the quiet tick of a clock.

With an empty expression, he simply walks behind you while you can't even move your body to track his movement. Curiously, despite the total lack of noise from the world around you, you do and hear the footsteps of the man before they come to a sudden stop and then you hear the sound of something snapping somewhere behind you.

Then as noise returns to the world around you, the pain hits you. Your calf screams out in agony as you topple to the floor, completely unbalanced from the horrible wound dealt to your leg. Though before you can fall to the ground and smash against the concrete, you are caught by something. A gust of wind lowers you to the ground gently, though if this was due to her blessing or due to her direct intervention, you don't know.

You force your body to keep moving, despite the terrible wound dealt to you. The bones are broken and the tendons likely severed, but you ignore the pain to get back on your feet. Your only choice now is to rely on Mistral's blessing to propel you towards your target, you can just about stand right now.

Alucard on his part is slowly walking towards Sophia, drawing his sword as he does. But then a voice calls out to stop the man. "Alucard! No more!" It's voice of the girl he was with? But she wasn't brought in here with you, was she?

"Kokoro?" Alucard actually stops for a moment and looks around in surprise for the girl that shouldn't be there at all. Then he looks at the direction the voice came from and lays his eyes upon the short robed figure, Kokoro. "What are you doing in here?!" Then, he seems to take a closer look at the girl before his irritated expression turns into one of anger. "Oh. So it was just a doppelgänger's trick. I should have known." His attention is directed solely towards the girl now as a perfect sphere of black and red crackling magma appears in his hand, aimed directly towards 'Kokoro', who shifts back into her normal state after having been seen through so easily. Her eyes showing just how fearful she is of this man.

You are about to kick forward to tackle the man to prevent him from firing it at her, but just as you are about to, both Holly and Coller charge him and once. Holly leaps upon him not unlike a viscous animal would leap upon it's prey, while Coller attempts to tackle him from behind. He notices Holly's attack first, and brings his sword up in an arc, severing both of her legs as he ducks under her attempted assault. Then he realizes that the true purpose of Holly's attack was to serve as a distraction just a moment too late to get out of Coller's reach. He tries to dash out of the way but Coller manages to catch ahold of his ankle before he can fully leave her range.

He tries to pull his foot loose of Coller's vice grip, but soon finds it impossible to accomplish with mere brute force. He closes his eyes in focus before he is forced to jolt them open a moment later as electricity crackles through his body, the true purpose of Coller's grab not being to restrain him, but to kill him. He's clearly being caused no small amount of pain by the current being passed through him, and with a yell of pain, dissipates into mist before your very eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VdHNAG0b7I

Then a moment later, he appears next to the prone Coller and kicks her as hard as he can, sending the artificial lifeform crashing against the prismatic walls of the cage you've found yourself in. He looks towards you and begins talking. "You sure have amassed quite the group. Bernhard. I don't know what your plan was, but this is the end." He begins swirling with dark power that far surpasses the spell Sophia used earlier, and there's something about it that feels somehow close to the Power of Destruction as he does. "Demonic Me-" Before he can finish his spell, there's a flash of white, and a pillar of ice has covered him completely. But not only covering him, the concrete floor is covered by a pure white frost that has formed. The temperature having rapidly dropped to sub zero temperatures.

You turn to see the man responsible. Grigori is standing next to a wall of the cage, a pure white sword in his right hand that seems to be absorbing all of the heat in the sealed dimension you currently occupy. "What are you waiting for!? Finish him off!" Grigori calls out to you as he takes a knee, apparently exhausted by the single attack.

"Gladly." As you approach the ice and draw the power of destruction out into the form of a long whip, you notice it beginning to crack. At this rate, it will do so before you even reach him too! As you run forwards, the entire pillar begins to fall apart and dissolve as the black energy coating the man begins to slowly push outwards, even despite his being frozen.

"This isn't a battle that we can win, Arthur." Sophia's voice calls out as you approach the huge pillar, the sphere surrounding the man growing into something not unlike a shield. Then you notice that the world has begun to appear fuzzy around you, not unlike when you are dragged out of the realm of Chaos. "So I'm getting us out of here. All of us." another crack on the pillar imprisoning your foe. "You might want to hold on to somebody." With that last comment, the pillar completely shatters into nothingness.

"-giddo!" As the spell is finished, a sphere of truly all consuming darkness begins to spread out. It's something that you instinctively doubt even the Power of Destruction would be effective against. It seems to have the same nature to it, after all.

Though there's more important things to do than look at the slowly expanding sphere of death spreading out before you. The world is growing fuzzier and fuzzier, and you only have enough stamina left in you to make a single leap enhanced by Mistral's blessing. As you look around at your comrades, you decide to leap towards...

>Sophia, her features twisted by hatred and regret.
>Anna, hunched over the upper half of Alura.
>Coller, lying in a heap next to the wall.
>Holly, as she crawls towards her missing legs.
>Grigori, as he supports himself with his sword.
>Effi, who is crouched down in terror.
>Write-in...?

>>4275485
>Sophia, her features twisted by hatred and regret.

>>4275485
>>Write-in...?
Big Boobed Belmont.
Also, I just want to point out to everyone who's been shit to Grigori. Dude just saved all our asses.

>>4275526
Kokoro wasn't sealed in with you, anon.

>>4275485
>>Anna, hunched over the upper half of Alura.
Literally the only person who can't defend herself if this spell goes pear shaped and throws all of us around randomly.

Now I did want to write another update tonight, but seeing as this choice will really define the next arc of the quest, and not many people have voted so far, I suppose it might not be possible.
Also we're tied anyway.

>>4275485
>Effi, who is crouched down in terror.
If it gets no support though, I'm ok with anna and Alura.

>>4275485
>Holly, as she crawls towards her missing legs.

fuk y u do dis

>>4275485
>Anna, hunched over the upper half of Alura.

Man I wanna pick Coller because she's my girl but I also want the dread of stitching Alura's dead fucking corpse back together. I don't care if she is a plant, getting bifurcated tends to be fatal.

Also whenever we meet back up with people they're getting a hug. Doesn't matter who it is. All of em are getting hugs.

>>4275485
>>Effi, who is crouched down in terror.
Since I can't grab Kokoro, I guess I'll change >>4275526 to Effi.

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41 KB JPG

>>4276008
>tying because you can't get Kokoro
Filthy, dumb, haremfag scum.

>>4275485
>Anna, hunched over the upper half of Alura.
PLANT GIRL WON'T DIE