(ooc: Kanshisha, there's no problem. You don't have to post anything for Kanshisha. He's currently suspended in the Warp Lord's domain, but not under any sort of attack that requires a response from you. I basically can't just let people escape from the Warp Lord that easily. Anyway, if something happens that DOES require some sort of post from you, I'll do a simple God-mod.)

ooc:

Well, I'm sorry to say this, but I've discovered we have a problem. Unfortunately, some members of the boards will be completely absent from 21st December until the 26th on holiday-related stuff. The climax of the storyline was just looming, but I can't really start it when people are missing. Similarly, I can't drag out the current situation that long either.

I want to apologise profusely to everyone, but the only way I can see of handling this problem is to propose an Intermission which will last until the end of the 25th.

During that time, the thread will remain open and you can post if you really want... but I won't post to advance the story.

I will do my best to make the post-intermission post a real cracker - as I had intended my next post to be. I hope it makes up for this.

If you have any comments or suggestions or complaints, please let me know. You can e-mail me at soul_reaver@board-battles.com

Anyway, until the 26th...

The cloud of decay from Damien wraps around the Warp Lord, but like all the other assaults hurled at him, it leaves him cold. The smoke simply dissipates the moment it touches his aura, even as the ground outside the aura sizzles and blackens. Blackrend ignores the pest completely for now.

As Clutchfiend continues running, the black figures behind him leap to their feet again. Their arms ripple like liquid, forming large scythe-like weapons in place of their fists… they appear behind him, intending to sever his legs to prevent him from walking any further…

Meanwhile, Kitharsis appears in the chamber, having conquered his assault. Of course, the whole assault was merely Blackrend softening him up for his final attack. The Warp Lord simply gives a small grin at his arrival.

Soul Reaver in the meantime is hissing for breath through gritted teeth, as he desperately attempts to pry the tendrils from his throat with his remaining good arm. Blood runs down the sides of his throat where the steel-like tendrils cut into him. The Warp Lord looks on in amusement.

Stavarus Revenard, the Daemon-Hunter, his eyes closed, his head bowed, has his thoughts in turmoil. With his blind arrogance and pride stripped from him, he sees things so much more clearly. Finally, he sees things as they really are.

(ooc: Cue the second theme song again, “Castlevania Bloody Tears Remix”, Stavarus’ theme.)

Stavarus raises his head. His eyes begin to glow crimson.

Stavarus’ body writhes as muscles shift and twist beneath his skin. He screams as talons rip from his fingers, as horns burst from his forehead, as his jaw elongates and his teeth turn to fangs. His screams become roars, while his skin turns ashen grey and his hair grows white. His sinewy body bulks up with muscle. His back bulges unnaturally, until finally two pairs of massive bat wings burst from his flesh. He spreads them wide as he gets to his feet.

With a loud flap of his wings, Stavarus rises above the ground.

The Warp Lord’s self-assured grin suddenly disappears from his face as he turns to see Stavarus. He sees a new determination radiating from his progeny.

Stavarus’ face is twisted into a mask of pure fury as he roars, unleashing his own aura. Hot air whooshes outwards from him as the black sphere pulses forth. Lightning fast, Stavarus hurls himself headlong through the air at Blackrend, talons outstretched, his wings flattened behind him.

The moment Stavarus’ aura smashes into that of Blackrend, an eardrum-shattering sonic boom fills the room. A shockwave strong enough to throw everyone to the ground blasts from the point where the two spheres have met. Negative Warp-lightning sheathes over their surfaces with loud crackling sounds.

The sudden impact causes Blackrend to momentarily lose focus… the blackness around the still-trapped companions fades away, the creatures, fears, and daemons evaporating back into the raw Warp Energy they are composed of. Everyone reappears in the chamber, the damage they have suffered still quite real… but their bonds removed.

Soul Reaver falls to the ground with a gasp as the tendrils around him relax their grip.

Stavarus, his Daemonic eyes narrowed, still pushing with all his might against Blackrend’s aura, hisses through his gritted fangs. Blackrend’s voice booms out in fury.

”Foolish child! Do you not see that you cannot defeat me?! You are but a spark of my power in that puny finite flesh!!!”

Stavarus is thrown back as Blackrend’s aura pulses with more corrupt energy. Yet in a split second, Stavarus smashes back into the Warp Lord’s aura from another direction. He recoils off, but strikes again and again. The air in the chamber blows around madly as the two Daemonic entities clash. Though Stavarus is but a fourth the size of Blackrend, he shows no fear or hesitation, striking with unbelievable fury.

As the spheres lock and crackle once again, it is obvious the assaults are taking a toll on both Stavarus and Blackrend. Their muscles are taut, rippling beneath shining skin, as both strain against the pressure exerted by their opponent.

”How could you be so foolish as to fight against your very nature!? If you deny this, you deny everything you might have had!!”

Blackrend throws his six arms wide, hurling Stavarus back once more. Stavarus is blasted backwards through a pillar – even this Warp-matter disintegrates immediately on contact with his aura. The remainder of the pillar crashes down in a mass of dust.

Before Stavarus strikes again, Blackrend projects a wave of his aura forwards. Stavarus meets the attack with a projected wave of his own, and the two meet with another thunderous explosion. The ground around where the two attacks collide ruptures from the reflected shockwave, rocks disintegrating or blasting outwards in sharp shards.

Stavarus hurtles forwards through the cloud of dust, slamming back into Blackrend. Lightning crackles over his aura once more as he pushes against Blackrend’s power. His eyes are burning slits of red, like the fires of Inferno themselves.

The two creatures continue to struggle, Blackrend forced to take some steps back from the assault. Massive amounts of energy are projected outwards from the spheres, which rip through the chamber randomly… one arc barely misses Soul Reaver’s legs, ripping past him and exploding a pillar into gravel.

To Blackrend’s horror, he can see cracks begin running through the two spheres. Stavarus’ growling face is unchanged by the sight.

”This is IMPOSSIBLE! I gave you only a fraction of my own power! How could you possibly even begin to harm me?!”

Stavarus sneers at Blackrend through the jerking, shivering, cracking surfaces of the spheres.

“I am more than what you forced upon me, Blackrend! I have come to see that now! My fate is not governed by the vile ichor that now flows through my veins, or the dire energies that pulse through my being! I have a will and a soul of my own, and I finally realise that I can draw strength through them as well!

You are not my life! You are not my future!! My destiny lies in my hands alone!!!”

Suddenly, there is the sound of a massive explosion, mixed with the sound of a thousand panes of glass all shattering simultaneously. Both Stavarus’ and Blackrend’s auras burst into shards of sparkling, scintillating blackness that disintegrate in the air of the chamber.

Blackrend covers his face with two of his forearms and he is forced to brace his feet against the massive burst of power. Stavarus is hurled backwards against the far wall, which he hits at great speed with a bone-crushing thump.

Leaving behind a trail of blood, Stavarus slides down to the ground and lies still in a crumpled heap. Smoke rises from the body as he lies completely still.

Perhaps Stavarus has freed himself at last…