⑄ 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚠'𝚜 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 ⑄

『 Act VIII: first wave 』

low, shaky breaths rattled the harvestman's chest, blackened hands grasping tightly onto the handle of a naginata - almost for dear life. 

'kill them kill them kill them kill them kill them you are a WEAPOn kill kill them ki - I can't, I can't I -'

corpses littered the bloody, trampled grass. his siblings barely had to do any work, at this rate.

'i can't hurt them i can't hurt them no no no no no no no i can't hurt them agai -'

"Ji, you dumbass, get up - !"

the harvestman flinched upon being grabbed by the upper bicep, but didn't struggle against his older brother's grasp, instead following along - albeit, stumbling and a bit disoriented.

it seemed that the closer the group of three got to the accursed grove, the more muddled his mind became.

all he could hear was the growling and shrieking of those he used to call allies.

.

.

.

there they were, the divine trio. the god-killers and the goddess, who worked together so surprisingly well. these creatures were like mere insects to them.

at least, for now.

it seemed that the monsters had subsided for the time being. their mutilated corpses decorated the ground, twisted testaments to their wrath, bleeding eternally.

"so, Kozbi -"

"?"

" - do we have a plan?" the white wolf hummed, brushing off the sleeve of her shirt.

"somewhat, yes," replied the overseer with little to no hesitation, dismissing her spear.

"pray tell, then. I'm listening."

the faceless moved a bit to view the lantern-holder, who was busy...kicking at a former clanmate's body out of pure spite.

"Mitsuaki?"

"huh?"

"would you be so kind as to explain the plan so far."

that sounded more like a demand than a polite question..

"oh," he blinked. "uh. yeah."

he turned, dismissing the axe in his left hand.

"in the middle of Mystic Grove, there's a Core, fueled by life forces and stolen souls."

he glanced briefly to the faceless to continue. she nodded.

"the Core is basically the life force of all god-killers who were infected in this dimension. if we destroy the Core, then we can destroy...pretty much the entire god-killer population, aside from maybe a select few that were infected in other dimensions."

the wolf fell silent for a moment.

"and what will come of you guys, and Jilaiya and Daeva?"

"considering the circumstances under which we were Infected," muttered the overseer, "then we will survive. hopefully."

"...and the city? I mean," the wolf paused, "I doubt this...Core will go out without a fight."

"you know what? the thing's a literal ball of restrained magic and life force, it's probably gonna explode when 'killed'. so yeah, what happens if it explodes, O Great Overseer?" the lantern-holder huffed, crossing their arms.

the veiled being simply hummed.

"Harmony, I don't suppose you can make forcefields?"

"...I can."

"hypothetically," she muttered, "would those forcefields be able to reach about 300 miles in radius?"