>>32141485
>>Barge in
Not really seeing what else there is to do, here.

>>32141485
>Force him out

>>32141485
>Barge in
fucking pervert.

>>32141485
How much of beating can a skin-changer ( that's what Scath is right ? ) take ? Does he have any other particular power ?

>>32141656
Scath is a skin-shifter, and his durability is dependent on his current form, but always mushier than he looks. He's kind of like a cockroach, but not the martian kind. A demon that can do anything sort of okay, but doesn't specialize at all except in disease immunity.

>>32141485
Tempted to jump though the roof.

>>32141485
>Barge in

Don't do that asshole.

>>32141735
Unfortunately that would screw with continuity a bit since like the last line of last thread was walking into the brewery.

also a reminder, You have taken the deal once, and I have 45 points to play with.

Time for me to get writing though.

>>32141485
>>Barge in

We should have insisted on demanding power back from Victoria. As it stands, we took QB deal for nothing.
Besides, we will have to get it back sooner or later anyway.

>>32141762
i'm asking, since we can't take the QB deal on power struggles, do that applies to your side too ?

>>32141781
Nah. She is too much of a dead horse for now. We should get who we can then head back now that he is calmer about it.

He probably wouldn't have went off so bad if he didn't realize what the hell just happened.

>>32141823
Initially you were correct, but after your roll on GRD, I realized that it's incredibly fucking anti-climactic to get a perfect success on those, so I reserve the right to worsen your success during a power struggle.

>>32141781
Don't worry she will be our triumph card, just wait.

>>32141846
Dead horse?

You think she'll just give it back once we get all other demons? We will probably resort to intimidation again.

>>32141823
I would hope so. A failure there would be close to a permanent end to the game flat out.

>>32141781
nah
what we need to take back is her heart

>>32141879
>Intimation

Already tried that. We need to shift gears to sweet talking. She knows we won't actually hurt her because if she dies we lose it. So what we need to do is get on her good side for now.

Intimation is more or less something we should do if we have to get that power in like the next 10 minutes or die.

You can feel their vibrations through the ground, and easily locate them in the small room you had been sleeping in when not in a drunken mess. The door might have been locked, but you rip it open anyways. Cyn shouts and scrambles back against the wall, trying to cover herself with the sheet. Scath is atop her in a remarkably accurate visage of yourself.

“Oh, hey there partner. Was kinda hoping you’d give me a bit more time here,” Scath says as he gets up from on top of Cyn.

“What in the name of the Dragon is happening here?” Cyn asks, frantically looking between the two of you.

You scowl and grab Scath by the neck, ripping him from the bed and slamming him against the wall. His flesh is the usual oily mush he generates when he shifts. You’re barely even squeezing and your fingers are digging into his neck like clay. You look him up and down, a bit strange seeing yourself naked form another perspective like this, similar to a mirror but not quite.

Everything about him is slightly off, slightly more dramatized. “You thought this was me?” you ask Cyn.

“Oh give her a break, I’m very good at this you know,” Scath says, rolling his eyes enough that he may have detached the muscles.

>Explain to Cyn
>Just throw her out

>Demand your power back
>Force your power back
>Other

>>32141920
Maybe we simply need to convince that we wont sabotage her plans? She didn't want to give us the power back because she knew we would fight Matt. Aside from that she didn't seem to be that hesitant to give it back.
Or, maybe once we get other demons back she will see that it is futile to stop us and give back the last bit of power to make sure we survive.

>>32141966
>Just throw her out

"Talk later."

>Demand your power back

>>32141966
>Ignore Cyn

>Other
"You know what I'm here for. So what it will be?"

We should see what deal he wants in case it is something simple if not then we will demand it.

>>32141992
>"You know what I'm here for. So what it will be?"

Maybe it would be better to say "Will we do it the easy way or the hard way?"

>>32141968
Yeah pretty much.

>>32141966
>Just throw her out
now is not the time

>Demand your power back
let's see if we'll have to take it

File: 1339064714650.jpg (6 KB, 251x209)

6 KB JPG

>>32141992
>>32142010
>me again

Or maybe it is not that good of idea as the fire demon is fucking up our body and we need Scath's power as soon as possible.

>>32141966
>Explain to Cyn
>Demand your power back

>>32141966
>Ignore Cyn
explanation later.

>Demand your power back
>Ask
"were you following me ? why ?"

“Just get the fuck out of here Cyn,” you growl, turning your attention back to your demon.

Cyn quickly wraps the sheet around herself, nearly tripping as she jumps off the bed to run out. “I’ll finish up another ti-“ Scath tries to say before you crush his trachea in your hand.

“This is it Josh, I am done. I’m out. I want you out of my brewery and take your fucking demons with you,” Cyn says before slamming the door shut. You broke it, so it of course bounces back open, but she’s already stormed off.

Scath takes a moment to stretch out his neck, wiggling his tongue before managing to speak again. “What’s going on partner? Why the hostility?” His voice is strained and wet, his dislocated jaw making him spit with every world.

You ease up on his neck so he can speak normally. “The fuck are you doing here?”

“Well, I was doing her,” Scath says before you crush his trachea again. His eyes bug out until you relent, and he continues. “You’re fucking heartless, you know that? I’m not some fucking stress doll for you to destroy. I need these bits and pieces to look good.”

“Please, your brain is in your chest. I could rip this puppet off your shoulders and you wouldn’t even notice. Now, what were you doing here?”

“I came by to see you. It’s been a hundred and thirty years after all. Where the hell have you been?”

“Regenerating after Matt betrayed me.”

“Oh, is that what happened? I was wondering why he wouldn’t let me anywhere near this entire region. He let me have my fun though, so I wasn’t complaining,” Scath explains with a shrug. “He finally took me with him and set me loose on the city to track down Beelzy. I finished that a while ago so I came to see you.”

1/2

“Then why did you take my power away from me?”

“You didn’t seem to be using it, and look how good looking I am right now. Maybe I should use this face?” Scath asks as ripples and bumps crawl over his face until they settle a moment later in Matt’s visage. Your fist rips off the front half of Scath’s skull and he screams in pain as his internal fluids try to rebuild the hole you put in him. “The fuck was that for?” he whines through what remains of his windpipe.

“Give me my power back, now.”

“Sure, Jesus fuck. I don’t give a shit, just leave me enough to look human,” Scath responds as he delicately dabs at the remains of his face, trying to fit his eyeballs back into place as best he can.

>Done
>No, all of it
>Other

2/2

>>32142315
>>Done

eh, its probably better that he doesn't look like a demon so there are less risks of anyone killing him.

>>32142315
>>No, all of it
Fuck him. Need all the power we can get.

>>32142315
How much would he retain if we just said done?

>>32142389
this is a good question

>>32142315
it's surprislyng well mannered for a demon.

>done
no need to push botton here.
>other
"You were tracking Beelzy for Matt? Why ?"

>>32142389
Uncertain, he'd try to keep as much as he can though.

So, am I the only one who thinks that we shouldn't attack Matt or that he is even responsible for Laure's death as Josh sees it?
From the bits and pieces of memories we retrieved it seems that we agreed with Matt to attack the HQ and that she simply died in the collateral damaged that we ourself helped to make. Josh is as much to blame as Matt for her death.

I know this sounds like I'm being a moralfag here but really, if Matt wanted us dead then we would have been dead and I doubt he had made such a magnificent Keikaku* which would play out in hundred years just like he predicted.

>*TL note: Keikau means Plan

>>32142553
Tempted to say done. Check what we got and if it fails to live up to what we want kick him in the face.

>>32142562
Logically not. But Joshua here would because he is pissed.

>>32142655
Maybe if we retrieve all the memories and see the entire picture it will be possible to calm down Joshua?

Vote is for Done, give me a roll please

90 for perfect success
40 for average success

Rolled 75

>>32142685

Rolled 40

>>32142685

>>32142685
why do we need to roll when he is willing giving it back?

is it too see how much he'll hold back?

>>32142719
Precisely, this roll gave you 6%/8%

You are at 56% total power

>>32142734
Not a big loss.
Now lets go after the next demon

>>32142655
>>32142670

Or maybe someone will try to stop us and talk reason and we'll listen? Could work.

“Fine, done, release it,” you respond, dropping him back to the ground.

“Man, I was liking being at full power again. So much for that though. You still owe me you realize, I’ve never made my contractual demand, and you have no ground to stand on if you want to refuse it. Seventy years of war and now more. You owe me partner,” Scath says as he gets back to his feet. His face is still malformed, but looks like a burn victim instead of being completely headless like he was a moment ago. “Now just give me a moment to set my appearance before I hand it over. It’ll be a real pain in the ass after I lose all my juice.”

You stare at him for a moment, restraining yourself as he sculpts his face back into yours, hair and all. Finally, he cracks his neck and smiles. “Good to go.” You immediately grab his chest, putting your hand on his half of the seal. Your own seal lights up on your chest as you feel his energy come back to you. It’s not as clear as when the Dragon’s power filled you, but you can somewhat see the strands of light flying from him to you, being sucked into the darkness of your tattoos.

The strength is refreshing and welcomed by your body, but you can tell it’s not all of it. You take a deep breath, filling your lungs with air as your ribs pop and rearrange a bit. “You have a new demon in there, don’t you,” Scath says as you grab your chest and grunt. Something in your abdomen is changing, it feel like a burning auger.

>None of your business Scath, now tell me about ()
>I’m putting Alice in charge of you
>Do as you will now

>Track down Beelzebub
>Track down Victoria
>Track down the Dragon
>Track down Matt
>Other

>>32142833
Tory warned us and we didn't listen. Only Matt can bring some sense to Joshua.

but now, onward to the next demon.
Do we own an explaination to Cyn ?

>>32142890
>“You have a new demon in there, don’t you,”
"Yes, and I don't remember where I got it from"

>now tell me about ()
What he was doing all this time. How he had survived.

>Track down the closest demon

>>32142925
>Tory warned us and we didn't listen. Only Matt can bring some sense to Joshua.
Because of our choices, right?

Rolled 57

>>32142890
>Do as you will now. Just don't get your ass killed.
>>Track down Beelzebub

>>32143012
Though even meeting Matt probably wouldn't help. Just because I get the feeling he probably planned all this shit out.

>>32143057
I'm pretty sure Josh will lose his shit when he meets Matt and it would be really hard to control him.

>>32143012
I'm not blaming anyone, we stayed in character.

Just saying, the QB deal probably worsened our social links with Victoria.

>>32143093
>I'm pretty sure Josh will lose his shit when he meets Matt.

Not so sure about this. He will want to know why and he will want to know what the hell he is doing playing ruler at this time. So I would think he would talk for a bit.

>>32143057
>>32143093
yes, but Matt was still our best bro for 70 years, i hope to use that as a lever.
I can't think of anyone else.

>>32142890
You guys realize that only two of you have voted, right?

>>32143128
eh, she'll come around

>>32142890
Track down closest demon

>>32142890
>None of your business Scath, now tell me about (matt demons and current power, where is Faye? )

>Do as you will for now, just stay away from Matt and Victoria

>Track down Akab
less power, but more combat skill me think.

I'm writing Scath's memory for you right now, but I'm phoning in technical help so I can pump it out faster. What's a really stupidly hot method of burning a very large hallway? Sterilization through fire deal.

>>32143254
using white phosphorous?

>>32143281
Would that clear out fast enough that you could walk through the hallway afterwards? Rather, that Josh could

>>32143310
potentially
depends on how heat resistant josh is

>>32143310
To sterilize things in a lab you have an autoclave which uses high pressure saturated steam

>>32143254
FAE blast the shit wide open. That or superheating ruber balls and launching it into the hallway. Fucking thing can get up to 2000 F. Though this is more military. If you have all the time in the world then using radiation or the likes works best.

>>32143254
>>32143281
>>32143310
>>32143348

I don't think white phosphorus is "stupidly hot"
I mean, people survive them (with horrible burns)

>>32143371
It's for the hallway to the Dragon, it gets clogged like hell with new life and impedes movement. Most of it turns out to be poisonous as well, not to mention the fauna that will outright attack anyone they see. So, they had to set up a system that could repeatedly purge the entire hall so researchers and soldiers could still get to the Dragon.

>>32143415
What wouldn't people survive that is feasible then?

>>32143473
I don't know. I just don't think white phosphorus will cut it.
It is more of a terror weapon, I think, designed to inflict a lot of agony and maim people but not to kill them outright (it still kills people though)

>>32143423
The white phosphorus is probably not your best bet then. It might be the hottest material you can reasonably use, but it's very smoky and would probably damage the hallway in addition to the fauna, so it wouldn't be able to be used over and over.

>>32143254
huh, napalm ?

>>32143310
Maybe fast-burning thermite? Or maybe a thermobaric weapon? Though I kind of have a feeling you still want a hallway to be there afterwards.

>>32143423
Radiation sterilization then? and no it wouldn't make the hallway radioactive before anyone says anything

>>32143566
Heat radiation?

>>32143566
Isn't that more for microscopic life? That's an issue to regular humans but not super human Josh. And the fire is for the big stuff that is physically in the way of getting to the dragon.

>>32143589
What kind of big stuff?

>>32143566
This stuff isn't microscopic dude.

>>32143602
Unimaginable creatures that wouldn't survive outside of the Dragon's aura. Imagine you're cutting your way into the thick of the amazon jungle, but Cthulhu has been pissing around in it. Also, stone golems will try to kill you, but you need guns for those.

>>32143589
usually yeah, but at high enough levels radiation can pretty much kill anything

>>32143628
lower pressure, add hydrogen?
you're in for some pretty big explosions, at least

>>32143647
not immediately, unless you're reaching truly ridiculous levels, which wouldn't be practical
and he doesn't want it just dead, he wants it cleared of material

“None of your business Scath,” you say as you stumble over to the bed and sit down. Your stomach rolls, you need more food, or your body will burn itself out at this rate. “Now tell me everything you can about Matt, and what you’ve been up to this whole time. My innards are twisting on themselves, so I may as well be productive.”

“Sure, but there’s not much to say. He took over UNAAF right after the gas attack, but the military’s back was broken. Civil wars and riots followed. The Dragon Cult thing started up, and UNAAF became Naaf, with barely a third of the remaining territory. He kept a bit of a low profile in the military. But short of throwing wars and getting his men killed, there was only so much he could do before he was world famous as someone else entirely,”

“I felt it profitable to stay on his side and he was fine to have my assistance, though I never did much. Sometimes he’d have me impersonate a noble or two with Thacca. Most times I was just slumming it around, having a good time and digging for rumors for him. He definitely kept me at arms distance though. This is the first time I’ve been in Lyr,” Scath explains.

“What about Matt? What are his combat capabilities?”

“Same as always really, it’s not like he contracted another demon or something. He hasn’t fought a demon personally in decades, so I think he’s getting a bit soft. All his demons are kicking around somewhere. Faye’s riding him as always, but that should be no surprise. Anything else? Or can I go?”

>Response?

>>32143628
Napalm and thermite is the best bet. Especially if you still want the hallway intact.

Unless you want to magic up a plasma flamethrower for Johnny boy.

>>32143700
>>Response?

"Any idea why the world is in such a sorry, regressed state? I've fought a couple of demons before coming to this city and they were piss-weak compared to the old days. Humanity could bounce back if that is what we need to deal with but never did.
Or are the lands outside the Annihilation walls as bad as ever?"

>>32143628
mmm, maybe a super corrosive Alien level acid ? get a bit messy afterward.

>>32143813
>and they were piss-weak compared to the old days
I don't recall saying this.

>>32143700
ask him about their technological level, to see if the whole world is stuck with pointy sticks or if we'll get a plasma rifle to the face

>>32143848
when fighting that mind-controlling demon Josh noted how much weaker it was than whatever he normally fought.
I think same observations were made fighting those horse-things.

>>32143700
"What about the rest of my family ? they stayed in Lyr instead of Naaf. why?
And Alice? is she working for Matt too ?
Does Matt still have his sword ?"

>>32143930
Ah, right. You shouldn't extend that observation to the conditions outside.

>>32144001
Ah, okay. So the world outside is still the same hellhole as it was before, maybe even worse?

>>32144018
You haven't seen outside.

>>32143628
A FAE works then. The explosive and the Heat would reflect off the walls so whatever the hell is there would get blasted a whole fucking lot.

>>32144067
The hell is FAE and how many times could a reinforced bedrock hallway withstand it?

“Do you know why all my other demons stayed here in Lyr?”

“Nope.”

“What about Alice, do you know if she’s working with Matt?”

“Probably. Pretty much everyone is, he’s been busy and no one knew he stabbed you in the back. But you know how he is, people might be working for him but they certainly don’t know what he’s doing. I’m out then, see you around, I’ll be coming for my payment soon,” Scath says as he waves and walks out the door.

“Hey wait, what the heck is Naaf like tech wise? They still have guns, or are they as backwards as Lyr?” you ask, catching him already halfway out of the bedroom.

Scath shrugs. “Eh, Lyr is the novelty of the world. Guns are a pain in the ass to make and maintain, so they’ve fallen out of favor, but rich people still have plenty of them. Though, Matt and his sword certainly set the rumors ablaze,” he explains before continuing out.

You sit there for a moment longer thinking, and trying to calm your body. You’re sweating and shaking, but your back is burning. It’s a lot of energy that needs to be used. When you finally get up and start leaving, Alice meets you in the middle of the brewery.

“You’re going to fight Matt, aren’t you?”

>Yes
>No, I’m going to kill him
>Other

>>32144082
Fuel-Air Explosive. Don't listen to that guy, he's dumb. You don't want explosives in a underground tunnel. Napalm is probably your best bet. White Phosphorus is hotter but it might be too hot, enough to melt the walls.

>>32144082
Fast article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel-air_explosive

Pretty much using Fuel to create a explosive fireball. It works really damn well in close hallways because it will reflect off the walls and hit things multiple times. Causing some fun effects like a vacuum and ruptured organs.

Would need to be reinforced though because otherwise the place is going to go boom.

>>32144174
>No, I’m going to kill him

>>32144174
>>Yes
"but not right now"

>>32144174
>No, I’m going to kill him

>>32144174
"not yet"

>>32144196
Napalm works to to be honest. But depending on how reinforced these walls are and what the hell those monsters are blowing the shit out of everything once might also work. Though yeah this guy is right if it isn't insanely reinforced you will want Napalm.

Depending on how tough the things hanging around is anyway.

>>32144174
>Yes

>>32144174
>No, I’m going to kill him

>>32144174
>other
"he owns me my life and Lauren's, betrayed everyone, stay the hell out of this"

"im going to fight him, yes. Once i find out why he did what he did"

“No, I’m going to kill him. He owes me the life Lauren and I could have had, and I’m going to take it out on him,” you respond.

Alice slumps down. “I really wish you wouldn’t. You can’t change the past, and he’s our brother.” She’s clutching the hem of her shirt.

“Which makes it tragic, but I’m still going to do it,” you say as you kneel down next to her. “But not quite yet.”

“I was listening to your conversation, Josh. I understand how you feel, but this just isn’t going to work.”

“I’ll make it work, somehow. I always have. You have nothing to worry about Alice. Nothing is going to happen to me,” you explain to her.

“I don’t want you to die Josh!” she shouts, tears finally flowing. She quickly grabs you and buries her face in your shoulder. “You’re not going to beat him, don’t you realize that? Just give up on the fight. Lauren wanted you out of the fight and now you have that chance. Yes, she’s dead, but are you going to just throw away her wish?”

“Alice, calm down,” you try to say as she squeezes you tighter.

“Who do you think let you out from the water filtration system? It was him. He’s prepared for you, you hard headed idiot.”

>Response?

>>32144649
"Of course he is. So I'll just have to be more prepared then."

>>32144649
"He might believe he's prepared, but no one can account for everything."

>>32144649
"i know, that's why i didn't rush to him already, i have to be at my best again, or even stronger... and after that, i'll try to find peace"

>>32144649
>Who do you think let you out from the water filtration system?

"....You knew I was there the whole time?"

"would a brother betray you? would you accept it, if it was done to you?
no, what he did is unforgivable. but your right. im not going to do this stupidly. Im going to force him to confront me when im ready for it and not before. before i regain my life i will get the answers i desire"

water filtration system?

I don't think anyone ever said anything about water filtration. How does she know that

>>32144649
"Then, i must be prepared for him.
I cannot forgot he's my brother, and i cannot forgive him.
Whatever happen i'll be done fighting...forever."

>>32144748
yeah, but she was protecting Joshua.

>>32144649
Am I the only one whos fine with not killing him , but also fine with beating the shit out of him until he wished we did?
I mean, theres obviously something else going on behind this but it's barely an excuse.

Slight delay

>>32144959
I'm fine with that too

>>32144959
no me as well.

>>32144810
my guess is that
matt threw us in one of these water recycling stations, hoping the damage would be greater than our regen, and Alice set us free somehow, hoping we'd return at some point

>>32144959
i guess that'd be fine too

>>32145001
Alice seems pretty sure Mat did.

>>32144959
Absolutely, we are taking small but important steps on that direction.

>>32144969
Right. My new plan, when we find him, when we're ready, is JUST retribution, dont say anything, dont ask him anything, no why's because he'll probably just lie anyway. After we're finally satisfied with that, THEN figure out why he did it.Dont kill him. If anything we'll probably end up leaving him to regenerate like he did us for a while after we're done with him.
And thats my tentative plan for the future.

>>32145141
While my plan is to do random moves that he couldn't possibly predict we would do to fuck him up. The problem is he is smarter then Joshua so we need to do crazy shit that no one would expect to even the odds.

>>32144968
Slightly longer delay

>>32145237
The problem I see with that is that said crazy moves coul d easily backfire on us worse then him, since we dont have the support he does, and it also assumes we care about his plans, while the only thing I care about is beating him till neither of us can see straight, him because we'll probably take his eyes out.

>>32145141
not bad, i was thinking to lure him using his waifu as a bait.
In the end we should forgive him with a brofist.

>>32145237
well he spent lots of time to cover his identity, maybe we could sell this information to the elves or the queen.

>>32145391
Which he would expect. Need to do something like politely meet him not start anything and seem as calm as possible. Then jump his ass in a random place or something.

Anything that wouldn't be something he would think we would do.

>>32145421
>him using his waifu as a bait.

You know thinking on it. Couldn't we just kill one of his demons and let the corruption kill him?

Okay, I can actually start writing again.

>>32145456
You don't sense any of his demons nearby. Not even Faye. Though, you may just be numb to it.

>>32145598

How big is the area protected by the annihilation wall, btw?

>>32145456
Joshua is for a more personal approach.
And tracking them in Naaf would require time, days or week, even with the power of the Dragon to see the soul of people.

>>32145628
50 km radius circle

>>32145635
Yeah. But he would also want this fucker dead. So I think he would go for as many ways of dead as he can get.

“There are limits to what he can plan for. I am taking my time and regaining all of my power and then some. I will rain down upon him as an unstoppable force of retribution and crush whatever schemes he had to deal with me. And then there will be peace,” you say, gently putting your arms around her. “But who told you about a water filtration system?” you ask, your arms locking around her

Her body tenses up and she tries to push away from you, but her strength is a pittance against yours. “You want to fill me in a little, dear sister?” you ask, just before she tries to duck under your arms. The two of you scramble for a moment, but you’re quicker, and get her in a chokehold. You squeeze her neck till she stops kicking and loosen back up so she can talk.

“Let me go,” she commands.

“No.” Then she plants both of her feet in the ground and digs in. You only weigh so much, so the most you can do is dig your own feet in against hers. When she pushes off, you dig huge ruts through the ground before toppling backwards and smashing through the back wall of the brewery. But that took most of her energy, and barely any of yours.

You release the chokehold as you roll on top of her and pin her. “What do you know?” She glares back at you and clamps her mouth shut.

>Force her to tell you
>Just move on
>Other

>>32145650
huh, not that much

>>32145755
>Tickle her until she gives up

>>32145865
AH AH AH!!!
I vote this.

>>32145755
>Force her to tell you

>>32145812
It's hard to sustain the Annihilation Wall

>>32145755
"You have been hiding things from me. I don't want to hurt you at all so tell me what you know. So I can know why the hell you kept it from me."

I imagine he doesn't want to do anything to her.

>>32145977
I'm just surprised that there are "wars" between "countries". I mean you can traverse the diameter of the circle in two-days walk. One day if you don't rest and the conditions are great.

Conflicts between village tribes is more in tune with the area we're talking about.

>>32146071
this

forcing her is tad too much, though if she doesn't tell us, we should feel betrayed

>>32146071
The woman he loved is dead at the hands of his best friend who betrayed him to a hellish existence of constant drowning, I'm not sure how reasonable he is right now.

>>32146080
Each country only has the one city and the old infrastructure maintains more than you'd expect. And you can never stop war.

You seem to all be in relative agreement though?

>>32145977
Isn't it sustained by the Dragon ? since it 'helped' building it.

>>32146144
It's not like we are an uncontrollabe rage machine, we didn't hurt Victoria, we will not hurt our sister.
I hope.

>>32146198
how many people live inside of it now? How many in the past?

Man, Newtonian physics makes super human combat really fucking weird. It's surprisingly hard to come up with ways for you to feasibly restrain someone who can bend an I-beam with one arm.

Also, I'm cooking at the moment, so updates will be a bit slower.

>>32146239
The Dragon is not omnipotent.

>>32146260
At the peak, before the Demon War, there was a billion people in here, back when this was a single city and not half landscape. I'm currently afraid that if I give you a hard number, it'll crunch out to be positively laughable, but it's about 10 million per country by my recollection.

>>32146299

How many countries are there withing the walls?

“You’ve been hiding things from me. Things I should have known, things I need to know. I have no true issue with you, but I need to know what you’ve been keeping from me, or he may well kill me,” you say as you ease up from her a little. Her muscles relax as you release her.

“Matt’s been playing you this whole time. He let you out of the filtration system on purpose, but I don’t know why. I just know that whatever you’re going to do is going to play straight into his hand. He’s been working for over a century, and you’ve been unconscious. There’s just no way for you to compete, except by not competing at all,” she explains.

“You knew I was down there?” She nods. “Why didn’t you do something about it?” You shout. “You could have gotten me out and gotten some ambrosia in me. I could have been alive in a year, instead it took a hundred and thirty years!”

“He wouldn’t let me. He wouldn’t tell me why, but he absolutely forbid me from releasing me. He’s stronger than I am Josh, a lot stronger. And he’s stronger than you. I don’t know how, but he is. He would have killed me and put you back down there before you even woke up,” she explains.

You release her and slump over to sit against a broken support beam for the brewery. The roof is sagging down from the damage and will probably collapse. “Thanks for telling me.”

>Response?

>>32146144
He'll be pissed off yeah and if it was anyone else I think he would break both their arms and legs. But being his sister and all I don't think he would do that. I think honestly the only people he wouldn't do that too is His waifu who is dead now. Alice. Or Matthew. The last one changed after waifus death.

Victoria he just might but it would be pretty unlikely given she is one of the last things he has now. But is possible.

>>32146391
"I see. Stronger? Now that is unexpected."

>>32146391
ask exactly what position Matt's in right now and what he's been up to

get all the details on that that we can

>>32146391
Well, theres no way we're just going to let him do as he pleases. Family might not mean anything to him, but damned if we're going to let him jerk us around like toys.
We're the only ones who can possibly do anything about it, so the only question Is How, not If.
He had Scath looking for Beel for some reason, So we should start there.

>>32146471
>Scath

Highly likely he is reporting back to him anyway.

How many demons can we contract?

>>32146471
>He had Scath looking for Beel for some reason, So we should start there.
Could be a trap or a message, he used Scath for that.

>>32146530
Hypothetically, infinite. Functionally, you're already too dangerous at 8.

>>32146567
>you're already too dangerous at 8
What do you mean by that? We're unstable and in risk of something happening?

>>32146546
Almost certainly, but That doesnt mean we have to go barreling after him. We just need follow up on the lead. Think like Matt, not like Josh.

>>32146377
my bad for missing this question. There are only 3. Lyr, Naaf, and the Republic.

>>32146580
Every time you contract you take in some of their ego. If any of their ego ever wins out over you, you lose control and that portion of them gets all the power you had. And will likely rampage. The only reason you were allowed to contract your seventh was because it was the dragon, and losing to the dragon leaves humanity with an ally still.

Response seems to be discussion. I'll get on that.

>>32146581
Kind of helps he knows Mat is going to try to play him and that he seems far stronger. So it's harder to play him.

>>32146391
right

lets go retrieving our demons


Don't tell Alice anything though. She might be doing this whole thing for Matt

>>32146601
>ego
Wouldn't their ego be fighting against each other as well?

>>32146601
>Every time you contract you take in some of their ego.

So pretty much the best way to not be effected is to be like Gilgamesh? Have such an iron will that the mere thought of other egos existing doesn't exist in your mind.

bad timing on the food. sorry

>>32146699
I have a feeling that our willpower would depend on dice rolls, making the acquiring of mass souls a questionable idea.

>>32146391
Tell her that maybe she should stay with Victoria, she will protect her.

Anyway Matt send us an invitation, let's take it.
and we need food.
and we apologies with Cyn.

>>32146751
Maybe if we made the demons we already had contracted stronger instead of getting more?

>>32146784
...can demons make contracts with other demons?

>>32146819
I"m going to guess not here. Because if they could there wouldn't be many reason for Joshua's military not to get demons with deals who have deals then transfer those powers form those deals to the new pact. Wouldn't make much sense to not do that unless there was a weakness there.

>>32146858
You know, it never actually occured to me that you might be able to chain contracts, but it would come out as less powerful because of the energy needed to maintain the web.

It's certainly something the Dragon would prevent

Once again, sorry about the timing. I ended up entertaining someone wiht my cooking

>>32146929
>You know, it never actually occured to me that you might be able to chain contracts, but it would come out as less powerful because of the energy needed to maintain the web.

So, you're saying it's a possibility?

>>32147016
...

yes?

>>32146819
Im not sure if contracts would be the only way to strengthen them?

Alright guys, here's the plan, fighting our brother now would be suicidal and even if we were winning Gabriel would whip out the deal on us, so we find our demons (get our power back) we go outside the wall and we fight and find as many demons as we can and make them contract with our demons. Then we come back and kick some ass with the fury of a thousand souls.

Also, it makes you wonder where demons get their power from, it has to come from somewhere.

Ugh, finally I can continue. Wish I could tell people "Hey, I can't keep entertaining you, I have to run a quest." but yeah. Writing!

>>32147325
>"Hey, I can't keep entertaining you, I have people to entertain."

>>32147325
Well you could tell them that. There's nothing physically stopping you. You have the potential.

Unless you're a mute.

>>32146471
>He had Scath looking for Beel for some reason, So we should start there.
He just let Scath into the city for the first time to track down Beel. "A while ago" is almost certainly not before our resurrection, given that we detected Beelzebub "beneath the ghettos, somewhat near the fighting arena" in 12 (>>31826142). It's very possible that he was intentionally "feeding" Scath to us.

The only reasons I can see for bringing us back is to use us as a catspaw against another threat, or as a bogeyman to secure his own power.

“Stronger you say? Like, he contracted more demons?” you ask, scratching at the stubble on your chin.

Alice gets up off the ground and shakes her head. “Not as far as I know. Just, I’ve heard him talking about his plans. He might be looking to challenge the Dragon for some reason, and he’d only do that if he had become much, much stronger.”

“How did he do that. I’ll have to look into this as I gather up the rest of my demons. But don’t worry,” you tell her. “I don’t want you to get involved in this dispute. It’s just between me and him. Why don’t you go to the palace and stay with Victoria. If the two of you get in a tight spot, you can help each other out.”

“We won’t be in a tight spot if you don’t start anything,” she responds.

“Then I’ll just have to come get you out of that tight spot when I do. I have to get going now. My time frame with him in this city is limited,” you say as you get back to your feet.

“Just, come talk to me when you think you’re ready to face him. Okay? I know I can’t stop you from getting your strength back, and there’s nothing really wrong with that. But I want to speak with you again before you make a terrible mistake. Okay?” she asks as you dust yourself off.

You nod to her. “I will if I can. Now then.”

>Where to?

By the way, pretty soon you're going to lose me for the night since I have to study for an exam tomorrow.

>>32147506
Where is Beelzebub right now? If he's not in a public place or in some kind of prison or tunnel system or whatever, go after him.

>>32147571
>If he's not in a public place or in some kind of prison or tunnel system or whatever, go after him.
Uh, what?

He's underground in Epsilon right now

>>32147589
>Uh, what?
I'm worried that Matt set up a trap with him since Scath tracked him down for the guy.

>He's underground in Epsilon right now
Ugh. Hmm. Matt probably knows where the Dragon is too.

Track down Akab, then.

>>32147506
Well, we should probably apologize to Cyn before we leave.
No need to burn bridges, and really, that was kind of fucked up. I mean seriously.

>>32147667
yeah, need to keep as many friends as possible.

>>32147506
wait, what was tunnel Epsilon used for ?

>>32147795
Epsilon was the maintenance, infrastructure, and support level of EDEN, primarily used by drones to keep everything working and the people alive. It covers the entire region, and is below Gamma which was the slums and factories.

>I'm worried that Matt set up a trap with him since Scath tracked him down for the guy.
yes, that is heavely hinted but it could be a message or something we need to look.

So, you want to apologize to Cyn, but she's long gone by now. She got her clothes on and left.

There are some of you saying Beelzebub, others saying it's a trap. What's the verdict?

>>32147959
>trap
oh well, let's go anyway.

>>32147959
go beelze

>>32147959
>>So, you want to apologize to Cyn, but she's long gone by now
Well, Leave a note then. Something. this is kind of our fault in a round about way.

Anyway, As >>32147996 says, Go anyway. But be aware and observe from a distance where possible.

“Hey, do me a favor though. If you see Cyn, tell her I’m sorry for all this and I’ll make it up to her, somehow, when this is all over,” you say as you pick your way through the debris.

“Don’t get yourself killed Josh,” Alice commands as you leave her. You wave an okay to her and start following your intuition towards Beelzebub’s location. The locals ignore you for the most part. You can easily discern various commotions with guards and soldiers throughout the city, but the news of them is spreading slowly by word of mouth. You do notice that of the few people who see you, most shrink away.

But you don’t’ have time to find out why, so you press on till you’re standing on top of where you know Beelzebub is. You’re directly in front of the statue of the Demon Lords, and you can’t help but think the one statue looks just like Matt.

You glance around, looking for a way down to Epsilon without just destroying a path, but nothing is apparent to you. “You there!” someone shouts as you as you’re looking over the buildings for an idea of how to descend. It’s a pack of guards. “Stay where you are,” the guard commands again as another walks up to him with a piece of paper and holds it up for both of them to look at. It must be a depiction of you.

You snarl. How pointlessly troublesome.

And you lost me for the most part. I'll try to post your memory before the night is over though. Can someone else archive?

>>32148388
k
Thanks for running!

I really enjoyed this thread, there were a lot of discussion, planning and a common ground.
You all anons did very good.

By the way, you're not going to get the entire memory, the last bit of it will be cut off. It's nearly done as well. I don't have time to work on it this instant though.

Alright, who's still here?

>>32150597
I am present

>>32150639
Surely more than one of you stuck around to get the memory

>>32150742
I just leave tabs open, but I'm also here.

>>32150860
>>32150639
Well, I'm proofreading the memory right now and will post soon

The Dragon was deep below the land, deep enough to hide his influence on the land around him. The chamber was on the far side of fifty meters of bedrock and most of his energy was being shunted off to fuel the Annihilation Wall, but Josh still had to periodically turn on the furnace. The smoking lichen and smell of napalm had grown rather familiar to him over the years. The chemicals never cleared out quite fast enough, but with the fire demon’s power in tow, he didn’t even notice the burning sensation on his skin for once.

The flora around the Dragon was never the real issue, it just impeded movement a bit. Every once in a while UNAAF’d send down botanists to cultivate useful strands of the stuff. Almost the entire world’s food supply now grew from seeds initially taken from the tunnels. Made man’s invention of corn look like a joke, but it would allow even a hundred million people to survive inside the wall. As was his habit, he kept an eye out for any interesting flowers to bring back to Lauren, after checking them for poison, but he knew that he’d be coming back with something much better for her, if the Dragon complied.

The real trouble came closer to the Dragon, when the stone itself would come alive. Small things, but hard to deal with and always such a waste of ammunition. Josh unsheathed his blade as he opened the final blast door. Half a dozen of the strange animations were loitering around the walls of the tunnel. They took their bodies from the surrounding bedrock, leaving craters everywhere, and destabilizing the tunnel considerably. Originally the builders had resorted to steel reinforcement, but then the reinforcements came alive. Now, they just regularly filled the holes with soft concrete.

Josh sighed and dragged the tip of his blade along the ground, scraping and sparking in the darkness to get their attention. None of the golems looked alike, each of them chimeras of limbs and maws stumbling about in the darkness with blind eyes. Their bodies of stone were durable, but hard to move, and he easily cleaved through each of them in turn, shattering their bodies with single strokes of his blade.

“Noisy.” The Dragon’s voice filled the entire hallway, echoing from his sleeping chamber. The deep rumbling was enough to shake the ground, and he was only whispering.

Josh smashed your sword into the wall several times, ringing it like a bell. “Wake the hell up you snake,” he roared as he walked down the debris strewn slope. The chamber opened up down quickly, and was so large that even he couldn’t see the other side of it, with his physical eyes. Once there had been flood lights, but the ambient fauna had destroyed them irreparably over the years. Now there was only darkness, and the light of the Dragon.

“You’ve returned already? Tis been but a moment. Surely you have not completed your task,” the Dragon responded. Then it moved. The scales of the dragons had a pent up blaze inside each of them, and the movements sent light out just faintly. To Josh though, the dragon was ablaze with energy, illuminating the entire cavern with blinding brilliance. When he first saw the Dragon’s true form, it felt like his eyes would burn from it.

“It’s been weeks you crazy fuck,” Josh barked back at him.

“To you perhaps. Must we have the discussion on the subjectivity of time once more?” the Dragon responded as it opened one of its eyes. Josh jumped back when he saw how close the colossal red iris was to him.

“Fuck, line your body up with your soul,” he shouted as he tried to calm his heart down.

The Dragon laughed, a hearty chuckle that felt like a series of earthquakes. Loose bits of stone and flora fell off the sides of the chamber in living avalanches, only to be destroyed at the bottom and have their energy returned to the Dragon. “Tis but a bit of fun, Contractor. You act like the world is going to end.”

“My world is going to end. Lauren is terminally ill, and you need to cure her,” Josh shouted at him.

“Do I? From my perspective, the easiest way to cure her would be to have her die. It is the natural order of things after all. Everyone is reborn,” the Dragon responded as it aligned its body with its soul and moved closer so it could stare down at Josh. Its breath was sulfur and methane, a putrid mix of fire with smoke constantly dribbling up around its maw. It didn’t even breathe fire normally; its biology just incinerated everything it ate.

“We made a deal. And I know full well you rip up every soul you get and rebuild them. You’d never bring her back whole. I brought you the soul of an Alpha, just as you asked,” Josh said as he pulled his shirt up around his shoulders and turned around to expose the improvised seal.

“Impressive Contractor. You’ve freed almost a thousand souls.”

“Bullshit, this is three thousand easy.”

“I measure by personality, not by energy, Young One. By your counting, this will leave you with two thousand units,” the Dragon said. A moment later, Josh shouted in pain and fell to his knees. The seal on his back had split open, bleeding out as the souls were ripped from his body and sucked into the Dragon. “Some of these have been trapped from their very first death. I weep for those still trapped out there, but there is little I can do for them. You must go back out there, Contractor.”

“Fuck them,” Josh said as he forced the wounds on his back closed. “I have a life too. One I’m going to spend with my wife, a long and fucking happy one. I’m done, I’m out as soon as you heal her. And if you go back on our deal, I will find a way to make you pay, Snake.”

“Is this about UNAAFs petty little schemes? Or did something else happen to Lauren I was unaware of?” the Dragon asked as it loomed closer to him. His iris was the size of Joshua, and he had gotten so close that staring into the inky darkness of the eye he could see a reflection of himself, kneeling and humble. Josh was standing.

“You knew of their schemes?”

“I know most things that have already transpired, Young One, and I know what you intend to do,” the Dragon responded.

“Do you mean to stop me?” Josh asked, driving the tip of his sword through the head of a new golem between his feet.

“Stopping you would be against the natural order. It is not my place to control you humans, only help. But as this is merely a conflict between you humans, I have a condition. One that you must abide by,” the Dragon responded as it swung its head back into the depths of the chamber.

>>32151065
Damn, that was supposed to be marked Scath's memory 4/5

Alright, that's all I have for you for now, though you have my attention for the next 1-2 hours. Questions? Comments? Enjoying the new choice set up? NPC popularity poll? Shadowruns? What's up?

>>32151124
whats up with that dragon dude
is he like the strongest demon or something?
what is his purpose

>>32151154
He is the amalgam of all ambient souls on Earth, bound by a single will that is mostly a reflection of the human unconscious, and has been using his powers to manifest miracles in an attempt to save the world from human induced destruction.

He protects the natural order of life in this world, and has finally taken physical form to do so.

>>32151225
neato

>>32151324
I may have put more thought into this setting than I needed to. By like, a lot.

You also might want to stab me at a certain reveal.

>>32151385
yeah this setting is really cool
most enjoyable part of the quest for me

Apparently this quest has a lot of fair weather players.

>>32151462
not like, the plot? Or the characters? Or the actual quest stuff?

Does anyone remember Alice's description other than imouto?

>>32151580
All I remember is that I wanted to stick my dick in her.

>>32151580
>Does anyone remember Alice's description other than imouto?

Shiet, did I say somewhere? I used to have such a clear mental picture of her in my head I didn't bother to write it down. Then I watched NGNL and all I see when I try to remember her appearance is Shiro, which is entirely fucking innaccurate.

>>32151580
nope, definitely the setting
setting is awesome
if I ever run a quest inspiration and details will probably be heavily and shamelessly drawn from this one

plot and characters are good too but the setting is definitely the best


I'm pretty sure Alice was described as small and reasonably cute with blonde hair. I remember Gabriel told us her grown up form was a bombshell. That exact word, no more, no less.

>>32151692
I'm quite curious if you followed EDEN

>>32151799
never even heard of it
should I read it in the archives?

>>32151813
It'd probably be more entertaining to read the rewrite I'm kicking myself over. The quest got pretty fugged up with... stuff. It's canon with this quest though. I can send you the link if you want to peruse ~40 pages of act 1 story that I need to make more of

>>32151860
ok
it's even canon with this one?
I'll have to jump it to the top of my gigantic backlog

>>32151901
It's canon the same way Durararara! and Baccano! are canon with each other

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16yQyqDnTPBC-HrWSpcr9L22I0VfYnMJIIYqzZBbzl2A/edit?usp=sharing

This is me in full control of a story with editing, so the quality should be well above my average quest writing. If it's not, tell me to get my shit together because that'd be utterly fucking pathetic.

>>32152026
so like completely unrelated except 2 characters from EDEN might show up in this quest for like a post as a guest appearance?

but yeah thx will read sometime

>>32152084
Something like that. It takes place immediately after the end of EDEN, which I have outlined in my head, but not written.

>>32151385
that big reveal is that we're just some regular soldier about to die from hypothermia dreaming all this stuff
right?

>>32152381
Damn it, I have to come up with a new one now.

So you're in a stream...

>>32151385
>>32152381
Nope
It's that Lauren was a dude
And Victoria is a dude

>>32152450
Nah, Victoria is a futa

>>32152450
>>32152459
and matt is a gir, real name Mathilda

>>32152459
why did we ever let her go

>>32151385
Lauren isn't real
Lauren is Matt
Lauren is alive and fucking Matt
We're not really Joshua, we're his clone or some shit

Can't think of much else at the moment.

>>32152600
Alice raped us in our sleep that one night we slept together.

She's now pregnant with our baby.

>>32152600
This is going to be fun. Maybe not the good kind of fun, but a kind of fun.

>>32153043
Make it fun for us too please.

>>32153099
I do what I've done and the things are done as I will do.

Hope you like shadowrunning and teasing out the enemy's master plan, otherwise you'll have to grab hold of what you find fun. I'm in auto-QM mode, I wasn't even planning on having Alice tell you anything until she did.

>>32153249
>shadowrunning and teasing out the enemy's master plan
Not usually, but I guess it can't hurt to try.
I've picked up a pretty bad idea of shadowrunning because some people on this board go full retard with it.

>>32153274
You have in fact piqued my interest. What is your idea of shadowrunning?

>>32153579
Overly paranoid shitposting.
A real life example would be conspiracy theorists and people who unironically wear tin foil hats.

>>32153661
That was a bit of a let down. How do you feel about completely justified paranoia?

>>32153674
It's alright. Could be enjoyable if set up well and people don't go overboard.

So uh, keep it alive for discussion tomorrow? Do we have things to discuss?

>>32153249
>I wasn't even planning on having Alice tell you anything until she did.

How so? I mean her talking about water filtration system was an obvious clue that she knew something. Even Josh had no idea, he just thought we were at the bottom of the lake the entire time

That memory was really hype.
Will we get the rest soonish or we have to take more power from Scath ?

>>32155491
You'll have to get the last of your power

>>32155491
I mean I didn't want her to spill anything but she kinda did. It's not like I prewrite their dialogue for them

By the way, I'll probably run tomorrow.

>>32159731
bueno

So, did Fuck Quest break the catalog or something? what's the deal?

>>32160201
Catalog looks fine to me?

Rolled 71

>>32160201
I think no one is really starting new threads this early, so there's nothing to bump it off.

>>32160232
Never mind, I'm an idiot who forgot I sorted by replies instead of bump order

>>32159731
Hey, Frank, original smutfag here. If you haven't heard, I'm lacking easy computer access, so...sorry~

>>32160351
That is a dreadful life to live.

>>32160390
It is. I'm on my sister's right now while she's out.

>>32160406
I keep reading that as if it were some kind of incest remark.

I think you know what this means you must do.

So, we going to just keep this alive much longer than we should?

>>32163796
what for?

>>32163900
Dunno, but that's what happened last thread, people just kept bumping till the next time he ran.

We /could/ discuss things I guess

>>32164171
I have something for sage discussion

Do I update too slowly?

>>32164566
You have a decent update speed. Too slowly for me is like 3 hours a update. So you do pretty well.

>>32164566
you're update speed is decent

>>32165638
>you're

yeah, well, in my defense it is 2:30am and I'm very tired

>>32165638
>>32165665
no one even said anything

>>32165665
get sleep