C148: On the loose
Alt Title Teaser: Citizens
Overall Word count = 1945 on 10/11/2024.
With Gaia itself rising up, Axel also has to get moving out of the dungeon. He could teleport out through various ways but this is a good chance to test his physical powers since until he does so, he can't properly suppress his own strength for simpler things like opening a door.
As the walls break around him, the only thing that remains stable is the ground under his feet as this is already the last floor of the dungeon and the only thing that remains lower is bedrock. Sure parts of the wall closer to where Gaia was sealed are crumbling but Axel easily makes distance from there as he takes to observing his surroundings for the best way to escape.
He soon finds the best path forward and begins to run up and jump upon a falling rock. It's vertically slanted so he has to run up it's side before he jumps to the next rock with a backflip. But he has to quickly jump again before he gets caught up by another rock on a collision course with the one he had just landed on.
With his current jump, he now has to initiate a bit of sideways wall running to fall upon a rock that is quite flat and nice. If this was any other situation, he would have sat down and had a nice cup of coffee or something. It's so nice that he just can't resist such an idea.
Yoinketh
The rock disappears and Axel begins to fall but with not a single sign of his panic as he extends his hand. A thread of mana shoots out from his hand and latches onto another random rock nearby and pulls it towards him. He lands on it before continuing his ascent.
POV change-Citizen / general View:
The past few hours of this day, for the people of Orario, can not be summed up in a single word but they can at least try: Crazy, Insanity. Many others might match the situation but only those words truly fit into the current scheme of the city and its ongoings.
What they are witnessing now is a moment for the history books. Granted those few who envisioned the future of now would have not expected the situation.
"The city is rising" A child calls out as they point towards Orario.
The city had already been destroyed during the metallic golem attack but now very little remains of it as its once glorious walls that held off many monster and Rakia invasions, now toppled over in tatters.
Meanwhile the land that was previously their home now rises along with the rest of the ground atop some sort of living mountain. Many citizens offer prayers to their saviors who had evacuated them. The immortals and Saints choose to cast off their chains as the city is now no more and their vows along with it. Though what they noticed during their rescues is the total lack of both Ouranos and Alaya. They can only hope that they aren't still in the city.
Bell and his group along with the Ganesha familia have set up the camp quite a long distance away from the city that they are starting to worry for nothing or at least that was their thoughts until they saw the city rise up. They decided to create more space from it. They continued moving the people on the carts and wagons while the few Ganesha people stopped setting up tents and instead carried the half ready tents further along. They would have stored it away if they knew that Bell wanted to move them on a journey for a whole nother hour.
To the north, Lily and the Loki familia had reunited with Finn Deimne and along with Axel's doppelgangers had evacuated the citizens. The reverence to both 'Fianna' and 'Dim' made them both quite tired after a while but they persisted in their tasks.
Lily held off the various robots they encountered while Finn led the civilian rescue operation. While a few of the older generations refused , they were simply knocked out instead to save their lives. They had made the least travel progress away from the city but with the powers of both Fianna and Dim, they erected a barrier to save everyone from the falling rubble and shockwaves caused by Axel's vertical ascent.
In the south, the 'lost' members of the Freya Familia gathered together as they try to coordinate with Shuten Douji, Serenity, and Ibaraki Douji to help the citizens stay calm or move them further south of former city so they don't get affected more by what may come next. Serenity works hard wearing thick clothes to prevent any direct contact with her skin as she assists people forward and away from the city
To the East, the spirit of the trees, huwawa/Han had unleashed his magical power to directly move plenty of homes over the walls and outside the city. It is only then did the 3 immortals of the Knight group start rescuing those still asleep while receiving the help of the Pallum 'secret' sanctuary.
They were informed that Lily and Finn were in the north but that their help was needed here. Their drunkenness disappeared as they rushed to evacuate everyone. With the sleeping mist clearing and no longer viable. The people were able to make a hasty retreat as Artoria and Morgan held off the oncoming rubble.
Artoria shot out spear blasts while Morgan set up a simple sequence of magic projectiles that would strike at any bit of debris from afar. Han would summon stone pillars and trees to block any debris that made it through their efforts. He was the final line of defense against the falling rocks and stones that would have crushed the civilians.
Mordred instead got the 'boring' job of escorting the people and directing the Pallum warriors to ensure that anybody that did get hurt was properly healed. Yet she soon changed her mind about the job as she encountered a traveler in their path. The aura radiating from the person informed her that the person in front of them is another immortal. But what their purpose in dressing up in such heavy robes is beyond her as the weather is still quite nice.
"Who are you?" Mordred questions as she draws her sword to defend the people.
Yet what she didn't expect was for a commanding feminine voice to be unleashed to all who can hear. "Continue moving, I have set up camp at a nearby cave. I'll tend to the wounded there. Not a single person will be allowed to die under my watch" The cloaked immortal turns away from the group and proceeds to lead them to the cave that the traveling healer had set up. Han soon sets up a giant dome around the cave for anyone that was not able to enter it. But he soon exhausts himself and has to rest while Morgan and Artoria keep watch.
Mordred keeps watch over this mysterious healer only to pause in shock over actually knowing who it is when she sees the stranger take off their robes to reveal a dull red outfit that has reached such a state from the hundreds of years of service she has given to healing others and finding cures to many diseases in this world. Pure white gloves and boots with stockings that are a testament to the good natured work she does. Granted the bandages wrapped around her body are a testament to the injuries she had obtained before her ascent as an immortal through faith. A faith that remains unbroken like her will.
"Florence, what are you doing here?" Mordred questions as it had been some time since they last met. She heard the traveling healer had gone somewhere to the North last she heard.
"After my travels to the north, I moved around until I ended up in the East after that massive earthquake. I gave aid there with the 'kings' discretion. He then directed me here once I finished. Lo and Behold, the city is crumbling, people are injured and my job is not done." Florence Nightingale gives a rundown of her 'recent' actions and calls in the first set of injured people while she stops talking and gets to work. Mordred nods and asks as a guard to her old friend.
"Your mothers haven't been trying to get each other pregnant again have they?" Florence suddenly quips at Mordred as if it's their fault that the city is breaking apart.
"Shut up." The knight yells with a blush on her face as she can offer no real reply as supposedly to give birth to her, they did create a noteworthy valley much to the south that acts as a barrier to the southern continents.
BOOOM
The people spread out across the various makeshift camps have to soon cover their ears as they lay witness to the sight and sound of someone creating sonic booms as said person continues climbing up the rubble that is falling around the gradually straightening body of the 3 x mountain-sized earth golem.
Seeing this sight, the camps momentarily looked away or looked for doctors if they could find one for the ear injuries they got. But those that did saw that the various Axels' located in seemingly random locations disappear one by one as they returned to the main body.
While the citizens still try to understand what is happening, they soon find that a part of the giant's leg exploded in a small section but it only appears small because they are so far away now. But the immortals can better understand the size of the damages down a they spot a trail being made, leading up the leg.
POV = Axel
"Kratos had it fucking easy. Everything was in his damned favor when he fought the Titans of his world. But me, I have to run up its entire god's damned leg" The overpowered slime man grumbles to himself as he drags the chain blades he created along the leg as he ran up to where it's head is.
The Gaia here does not have a weak spot per se as it is quite literally the first living god of the world and thus perpetually synced with the very earth around them. Not like its arms are connected by tree-like tendrils or it having a pulsating heart in its chest like a human.
Axel is still making good progress as he travels at mach level speeds thanks to his agility, he is only minorly slowed down by the chain swords but they are essential as he is wounding the titans leg. By doing this, he slightly weakens it as it has to divert a part of it's seemingly boundless energy to heal itself. That means less power in it's attacks.
Axel has to hop a bit as a row of spikes are formed under his feet as he runs.
"Kneecap" He yells to himself for fun as he retracts the blades only to accumulate some power before lashing out at said kneecap.
BOOM a powerful shockwave is felt by the civilians quite a distance away as they witness the goliath before them lower it's head a bit from being knock off balance as Axel nearly severs it.
Axel did this attack on purpose instead of a simple vendetta.
But I'm/you're gonna find out that purpose next time around.
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Alt Title: Escape From The Lesser Dungeon, Citizens View, Odious comparisons