The Three Swords: Into the Depths of Darkness

Previous summary
-Dragon and Jiino meet Kirov
-They are sent to North Myre, along with DXD
-They are split up, Kirov/DXD and Jiino/Dragon
-They meet Gunter and Maribo respectively
-They dispatch the band of thieves residing in North Myre outskirts
-Haven is killed by DXD
-Hameln is rid of its mysterious piper
-anything else?
http://promenade.omgforum.net/t805-the-three-swords

Deep inside a cave, Agarem the witch was painting her nails. She looked up to see a rogue walk towards her. "Ah, Elymira, have you heard the reports?" Agarem asked as she returned to her nails. "Yes, looks like some intruders are coming down by using the elevator. I'm planning on paying them a visit." Elymira turned to the door, "And I thought I told you to call me Ely." Agarem smiled, "It slips my mind time to time, dear. Now, go do your thing." "As always" and Ely vanished into the darkness.

On the elevator, DXD leaned over the rail and looked down, "Damn this is deep. We aren't there yet?" Gunter checked his gun, "Patience, we will get there soon enough. Although I am surprised that we aren't being attacked. They should know by now that the elevator is moving." As if on cue, a group of theives dropped from above and landed on the elevator. "You had to say it." Kirov groaned and picked up his Gram.

The fight didn't take long, although it was harder than what it normally was. "Hmmm...strange." Kirov speculated. "What is it?" Gunter looked where Kirov was looking. "These thieves...something is not right." Kirov pointed. "What is...oh! They're...undead???" Gunter noticed. "Seems so." Kirov stood back up. "So, someone revived dead thieves in the area, and bewitched them to attack us, is what I'm guessing. Nice, dark magic involved, just what we need." DXD slapped his forehead. He then turned around to Bloodlust a bandit who happened to hop down late. "I suppose this is all?" DXD sat down. Then something big fell on the elevator.

In the desert, Jiino's group weren't exactly too happy with their current situation. But then. walking in blazing heat and being attacked by large insects wouldn't make anyone happy. "Why are we here again?" Jiino spoke loudly, casually slashing aside an attacking giant bee. "Cuz we get paid to do this." Dragon replied as he ducked under a stinger attack, "It's the sand. They can hide in it, and sense when we approach. We basically have to be on guard wherever we go." Maribo was, as usual, keeping her zone with various devices. "I don't recall seeing these critters last time I was here." Maribo scratched her head. "Yeah? Well, apparently the transfer of Direzie has something to do with it." Jiino grumbled, walking solemnly deeper into the desert.

Farther up, the group came across a bunch of "stuff" which appeared to be hives. "So, this is where the bees come from. At least I think we can get rid of one enemy." Jiino prepared to cut the hives down. "That would be easy, if it weren't for what looks like the queen bee." Dragon rolled his eyes. "Queen bee?" Jiino looked around, then up, and saw a bigger bee jet dive at him with a spear. Jiino dodged just in time. "Gawd, they never make it easy. Maribo, destroy the hives. Me and Dragon will kill this little bitch." Jiino nodded at Dragon, and the two lunged at the insect...

DXD looked sideways too see the new enemy, and jumped up, "What in hell's name is that thing?" Gunter pointed his guns at the creature, "Seems like a cyclops, a one-eyed giant." Kirov mused, "Interesting, never thought I'd ever see one of these." DXD activated Frenzy, "Cyclops or cyclone, whatever it is, let's kill!!" and he slammed down at the creature with a Mountainous wheel. Gunter threw his Double Gunhawks at the cyclops, while Kirov swung wide with a Draw Sword. The creature was definitely battered, but not finished. It slammed down at the group, but it was too slow. "Take this!!" Kirov stabbed at it with an Ashen Fork, while DXD shot a Gore Cross at it. The cyclops was knocked back, and Jingle caught it in a BBQ, "Adios, amigo." and the cyclops dropped over the side. Then the elevator stopped, its doors opening. As the group started to walk out, another figure dropped from behind and landed on the elevator.

"Hmm?" DXD heard the sound of someone dropping on the elevator and turned around, "AMBUSH!" Gunter also turned around, holding his guns up. But the new figure was too fast. With a quick punch, the figure knocked away DXD's sword, and ducked around to grab Gunter's guns, "Now, now, someone could get hurt with those, you know." said a female voice. Kirov turned around and his eyes widened, "Sis??" "HUH??" The other two also were surprised. They stared at Kirov's sister, clad in an emerald green dress, with black wings sprouting from her back, her long pink ponytail flowing down behind her.



Jiino and Dragon were doing fine, that is, comparatively. Maribo had summoned a furnace and simply burned down the hives, but the queen bee is not a stationary object. It flew around jabbing at Jiino and Dragon with its spear. Jiino and Dragon tried to hack at it, but it flew back at every attempt. "There has to be a way!" Jiino shouted to Dragon. "Like growing wings?" Dragon returned with a sarcastic reply." "Hmm, how about this?" Jiino raised his eyebrows, and whispered his plan to Dragon. Dragon's eyebrows also rose.

Jiino and Dragon stood back to back. Jiino lowered his weapon, and the queen bee struck at this open spot. At that moment, Dragon Triple Slashed in front of Jiino and caught the shaft of the queen bee's spear. Jiino followed this with an Illusion Sword Dance, and the queen bee was cut to bits. "So easy for so much trouble." Dragon dusted his hands. "Talk about it." Jiino agreed. "Gosh, I wondered when you were going to finish." Maribo yawned.

"Yes, she is my sister, Kiro." Kirov intoduced the group to Kiro. The four were sitting down on the now stopped elevator. "She is a striker, and an undead." "Undead???" DXD and Gunter's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets, then noticed her pale gray skin. "Well, more like vampire, but it's a long story." Kiro shrugged. "What brings you here, anyways?" Kirov asked his sister, cutting the awkward silence. "Oh, just checking on whether you are getting into any trouble. Something always happens wherever you go." Kiro was now laying down on the elevator. "Well, we have to get moving, so follow if you wish." Kirov said curtly, and with that he beckoned the other two to follow, and the three went into the cave beyond the elevator doors. "This will be fun." Kiro also got up, and flew 2 feet into the air, following the three...

Jiino's group were annoyed even more when they were attacked by moths. "First bees, now moths. There always is something attacking from the air." Jiino grumbled. Dragon shrugged, "I guess thats how things are." after dispatching 5 or so waves, they came across wide circular area. On the other side of this circle were a bunch of cylinders that looked like cocoons. "Those must be the cocoons that contain moths-to-be." Maribo said, getting ready to go over there and burn them. "Weeeeeell, looks like we gotta fend off another wave first." Dragon pointed to another swarm of moths, and reactivated his saber.

The fight was, as with all previous waves, annoying. As they were halfway through the swarm, the cocoons ahead of them quivered, and hatched. Jiino sunk his face into his palm, "Why now?" Maribo stepped back a few steps, "There is too many!" Dragon pointed to a lone cocoon, "Look, that isn't hatched. Do you think..." "Huh? No way that's possible!" Jiino shook his head as he hacked away at an attacking moth. "Its this or that!" and before Jiino could stop him, Dragon Triple Slashed towards the remaining cocoon, and cut it open. What fell out of the cocoon was what seemed to be a male fighter, still breathing. A yellow aura implied mastery in the arts of nen. "I was right." Dragon turned around to protect the unconscious fighter from the moths, "Jiino! Get over here and try to wake this guy up!"

Kiro hovered a bit over the other three, watching in amusement as the group fought their way deeper into the cave. "Not bad" Kiro mused. Kirov grumbled, "You could've helped." "Nah, watching is more fun. But interesting...where are the villagers...and what are these witch fiends?" Kiro pondered sincerely. Gunter answered, "My assumption is that, by the same dark magic that reanimated the dead thieves, the villagers were turned into these vile things. It sounds a bit far off, but with magic involved, you can't be too sure." and Headshotted a stray witch. DXD grumbled aloud, "Undead bandits, villagers turned into fiends, what next, a medusa?" DXD's complaints aside, the group entered a wide area. filled with statues of what seemed to be adventurers. Kirov touched a nearby statue, "Interesting...it seems as if..." At that precise moment, a half-snake figure with snake hair dropped from the ceiling.

"You had to say it." Gunter groaned as he choked DXD. "I'm..gargh...sorry." DXD spoke between breaths. Gunter dropped DXD and turned away from the creature's sight. Kiro had flown up to the ceiling and hung upside down from it, "This will be interesting, have fun. I'll be watching." Kirov ordered the others, "Okay, no point in fighted a foe we cannot see. So lets just run out of the exit, since that creature seems to move fairly slow." Indeed the medusa was a slow mover. It was trying to meet the eyes of each member, but they all turned away in time. as Kirov ran and reached the exit, a new figured blocked the path, leaning against the stone wall, "Not so fast, swordsman." and Ely raised a brightly polished dagger, reflecting medusa's gaze, who happened to be looking at the exit, following Kirov. Needless to say, Kirov was turned to stone right on the spot.

Ely withdrew her dagger, pushing Kirov's stoned body, tipping it over and making it shatter, "One down." Kiro, seeing the commotion below, was enraged at the apparent death of her brother. She dropped down in front of Ely yelling, "You bitch!!" Ely had her daggers already raised, but Kiro was faster. With a swift Neck Snap, Kiro slapped the daggers away, and followed with a One-Inch punch, blowing the wind out of her. Kiro kicked Ely with a Lightning Dance, knocking her out, and bounced over to medusa. Before their eyes met, Kiro turned medusa around with another Neck Snap, and pummeled at the unfortunate creature with a flurry of kicks and punches, yelling, "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!" Medusa was killed some time in the middle of the beating, her waist snapped in two by a One-Inch punch that hit her spine.

"That was quick." Gunter winced. "Tell me about it." DXD agreed.

Jiino, having crossed over to where dragon was, took out a bottle of water, and fed it to the unconscious fighter. He then poured another good portion of water on the fighter's face. "You had to do that." Dragon rolled his eyes. "Well, you told me to wake him up in any way possible." They turned to the fighter, who was now coughing and starting to move. "Did we do it?" Jiino looked at Dragon. "I think we did." Dragon looked back. "Uh, guys? I'm tiring out here?" Maribo was fending off the swarm of insects as much as possible, while Jiino and Dragon tended to the fighter. "I'll go and aid her, you stay here and make sure he wakes." and Jiino hopped to where Maribo was.

"Where am I?" was the fighter's first question. "In the desert. You were trapped in a cocoon, for how long god knows. And we just saved you minutes ago." Dragon explained quickly, "I wish we had time to talk, but that can be done later, when we are safe." "I see." the fighter got to his feet, and looked around. "Well, I'll introduce myself and thank you later. For now, I see enemies to kill. TIGER FLASH!!" he cast energies of nen on his hands and feet, and hopped over to where the moths were attacking Jiino and Maribo, casting a Nen Guard as he landed. "Finally, some decent help." Jiino sighed in relief. Dragon also re-joined the fight. With a constant Nen Guard protecting them from attacks, the group managed to dispatch the attacking swarm before the sun set.

Kiro was holding her shattered brother's head, staring into it as if he could be revived by staring. DXD tied up the still unconscious Ely, and walked over to Gunter. Neithor one spoke. Finally, Kiro got up, gently setting the stone head on the ground. "Alright, I haven't got much time before I have to go, but I will destroy this place as much as possible before I do." Kiro announced with vengeance dripping from her voice. DXD and Gunter looked at Kiro, her red eyes glaring in the dim cavern, then looked at each other and shrugged. Kiro trudged to the exit of the wide circle. The other two followed in silence.

The continuing journey into the cave was easy. DXD and Gunter just walked in silence, while Kiro marched ahead, pummeling and blowing away any unfortunate foe who happened to attack them. Occasionally Kiro would blow a hole or two in the cave wall, but no cave-in's occured. Soon, they entered another wide area. In its middle, was a witch that seemed exactly like the ones they fought, except for the fact that she had white hair, and was slightly taller. "Welcome, intruders. I am Namak, the High Witch. I canno..." she started to speak, but was cut off, as Kiro had already knocked her aside, gaining momentum with Crushing fist and connecting it with a Mountain pusher. Namak was knocked down, and Kiro slammed down on her with a poweful Seismic Punch, smashing her head and finishing the fight as soon as it started. Gunter and DXD winced.

Jiino's group, now sitting around a fireplace, introduced themselves to the new member. The fighter introduced himself as Tri, a Nen Master. "Anyways, we need to sleep, but I doubt we are safe in the open. So one of us stays up, and we take turns standing watch." Dragon suggested. "No need, Maribo will set up some traps that will alert us when we are attacks." Jiino looked at Maribo. Maribo nodded back. "Hmm. So be it. Tri, have you got provisions?" Dragon asked the new member. "I did, but not now. I'd say they are lost somewhere in the desert. Might as well look for them on the way." Tri shrugged. "Oh, well, then you can have my spare sleeping bag." Dragon handed over a bag to Tri. "Thanks." Tri recieved the bag, went into it, and fell asleep. An ant watching them from far away skittered away, to a distant part of the desert, and came before another giant moth.

"What brings you here, little one?" the moth asked the ant. The and chittered, and the message was delivered in whatever tounge insects speak. "Ah, the intruders. They will appear before me not before long, but when they do, I, Mothqueen, shall be ready." and with those parting words, Mothqueen flew into the night sky.

Kiro, rising from the dead witch's body, dusted her clothes and turned to DXD and Gunter. "I have to go now, for there is another business to tend to. I have no bag, so I will ask you to gather my brother's pieces and bury him well." and Kiro flew up, heading for the entrance, and flying out of sight. DXD was the first to open his mouth, "Well, I guess that's another problem easily cleared. She was kind to take this bitch out. We didn't even have the time to say good-bye." Gunter tucked his chin in his hands, "She seemed to be in a hurry. Well, I doubt that's the end of this place." "Oh, well, one way to find out." and DXD, cynical as usual, ran to the other end of the wide area, deeper into the cave. Gunter shrugged, and followed.

Kiro reached the elevator, and flew upwards, soon back into the night sky. She landed on the desert sand, and stretched. A voice from behind her asked with a silent voice, "So, did it go well?" "My brother died." Kiro replied without looking back. "You must be in despair." The voice said in a somewhat consoling voice. "I am, but our plan cannot be hindered by this. We, the Blood Battalion, must succeed." Kiro stated firmly. "Indeed, we must. So this means we jump over to the next phase?" The voice asked. "Of course. You know this is all for Lord Cain. Don't you, Sherlok?" Kiro asked back, finally facing the voice. "Of course." the Soul Bender answered, staring at the moon...

The desert was by no means small, but the group somehow found the energy to keep walking and fighting. The problem was, they were quickly running out of water. "Fuck that, let's go back." Jiino dropped to the ground, arms sprawled out carelessly. "Hmmm, you seem to have a case of im-a-wuss. I diagnose you with a touch of man-the-fuck-up." Dragon knelt beside Jiino and commented sarcastically. "Thank you, doc. Any idea where we have to go anyways?" Jiino retorted. "I heard rumors of a queen moth who rules over these sands. Kill her, and we won't be bothered any more." Tri answered for Dragon. "That would solve one of our problems. But what about provisions?" Maribo joined in the discussion. The three males looked at each other, and a moment of silence passed. Dragon opened his mouth first, "Tri said his bag should be in the desert somewhere. That means someone humanoid took it after Tri was cocooned. seeing when Tri was cocooned, he, or she, couldn't have gone far. So we find that person first, then the moth bitch." "Sounds like a plan." Jiino stood back up, "Let's get moving then. We have a bag to find."

Far away, a tall figure was observing the group. "Hmm, so I am not alone in this place after all. Seems like I'll be able to have some fun." and the figure deactivated his Neil Sniping System, and stood back up. He checked his musket to see if it was in good condition and holstered it again. "Let's see how fast they catch up, shall I? The mighty Zext does not like to be kept waiting." and the figure slung a rather large bag over his shoulders and kept walking the way he was going. As he walked, he whistled a rather merry tune. Of course, that wasn't to say that he moved on without doing anything. He left a Flash Mine on the spot where he observed Jiino's group, a gift of welcome.



After a good night's sleep of what seemed to be a remote area in the cave, DXD and Gunter were somewhat dumbfounded. Not only did the cave seem to have no end, but enemy assaults were also constantly slowing down, making them wonder if they were going the right way. "Don't worry." assured Gunter, "The more we kill, that means the less they are. They're all normally the villagers here, who have been transformed by dark magic. There can't be a too large number of people living in a mining town like this. We are going the right way." But DXD wasn't too assured, "Its not the path that worries me. Its my senses. I smell something not good. There is bad blood in the air." Gunter did not reply. He couldn't. Finally, Gunter spoke up. "Well, we can only hope for the best." he then saw a bright opening not too far ahead. "Look, something that seems to be an exit." Gunter pointed. DXD grunted, and kept walking.

When they reached the "opening" they were rather disappointed. It wasn't an exit that lead outside, but rather a doorway that lead to a room that was more brightly lit than any other area. They went in and looked around. "Interesting. Now, why would this room be lit brighter than any other place." Gunter mused. "Perhaps it is the where the caster of this dark magic resides. All bosses like special treatment." DXD muttered. "Like my room?" said a voice from the doorway. Gunter and DXD turned to face the voice, and there was a female leaning against the doorway, her long black hair nearly reaching the floor. "I heard you treated my kiddies quite roughly, and for that, I shall punish you back." she kept speaking. DXD pointed his blade at the enemy in sight, "You turned the villagers into these fiendish things?" "Fiendish things? By god, no! All I did was release them from their grueling lives. Call me mistress Agarem, and I may provide such services to you for free of charge." Agarem cackled. "Well, then, mistress Agarem, let's see how many bullets you can eat." Gunter drew his revolvers and leaped into the air.

Kiro held Sherlok and flew into the air. "Hey, be careful! I don't like shaky flights, you know." Sherlok warned Kiro. "C'mon, you've rode worse." Kiro laughed. "Damn it, you can't take a joke, can you?" Sherlok muttered loudly. "I'm not one to joke, you should've already learned that. Where is Zext anyways?" Kiro asked as she lowered the altitude. "He said he will be somewhere in the desert. Might as well search for him while flying." Sherlok shrugged. "I think I won't. He is a vampire like me, he can take care of himself. But I sure will be searching for him when he doesn't come to the rendezvous point at the designated time. And he won't like that" Kiro growled. "So, then, where do we go?" Sherlok asked sincerely. "We still have 2 days until rendezvous, so let's go pick up Yung from Ghent. I heard he completed his mission there." and Kiro turned her flight direction to West Coast. "Ah, yes, Yung. I do wonder if he actually did succeed in infiltrating the Ghent headquarters. The information he had to obtain, or rather, steal, is top secret, you know. He better not be spewing horse dung, for all that matters to him." Sherlok mused...

As he headed for the doorway, Yung looked back at the frozen authorities, making sure they stayed where they were. Some scorched corpses lay sprawled on the ground. "So much for top secret. I had better hassles with my pet." Yung turned around and walked out briskly, some rolls of rolled up parchment in his hands. As he exited the Ghent HQ building, he suddenly stopped as a squadron of Ghent soldiers surrounded him. Zeldine, in the lead, ordered, "Drop those documents, and we might let you live! Fight back, and we cannot assure your life!" Yung scoffed, "Me? killed by you little wimps? I may not be able to see what you look like, but my mind's eye certainly does not sense any danger." Zeldine winced, and ordered the troops, "Fire when I give the order." But Yung was faster. Before the soldiers could react, he launched a Spirit Crescent to the left, a Ghost Orb to the right, and a Lava Wave in front. Needless to say, the squadron was not capable of further combat. Zeldine, not incapacitated, stood up, ripped off a burning sleeve, and aimed her cannon at Yung. Yung cept on walking, only to stop when the cannon was point blank range. "Good bye." and Yung released a Wave Radiation, sending Zeldine crashing into a wall. When the squadron had gathered itself again, Yung was well on his way back down to Arad.



Jiino's group was moving. Definitely slow, but moving. Only when things proved too tiring, did Maribo use her last MP potion and summon her Ice Drill. But before a good 30 minutes had passed, the drill ran over something bumpy. This something reacted by blowing up, destroying the drill in the process. "Flash Mine!!" Tri exclaimed right before the mine blew up, alerting the others and all jumping off just in time. "That was my last MP potion!!" Maribo fretted madly. "Pipe down. Save your fumes for the one who planted that mine." Dragon calmed Maribo. "At least one thing is certain: there is someone else in this desert, a Spitfire." Jiino speculated, looking ahead. "What do you think the mine means, 'go away' or 'catch me if you can'?" Maribo asked as she dug her bag to check for hidden provisions. "I'm not sure, but I certainly ain't running away. Let's catch the madman who has the nerve to blow up our drill." and Dragon beckoned the others to start moving again.

Not before long, they came across an oasis. Jiino was the first to point it out, and they all ran to it. They were about to take a nice long drink, when something blew a big hole in a nearby tree. "Sniper!!" Dragon yelled, and they all took shelter. The hidden sniper blew a hole in all the trees at the oasis, then revealed himself. Dragon and the group watched from their shelters as the black-clad figure walked towards them, his long silver hair blowing in the desert winds. Zext loaded Blazing Bullets and fired randomly at the oasis, causing explosions here and there and making the group duck again. Jiino was the first to regain composure, and he jumped into the air, yelling, "No one messes with Jiino and lives!!" Zext looked towards Jiino, tilted his head, took aim at Jiino, and fired.

DXD and Gunter were in a very difficult situation. Gunter had used SKud Genocide, only for the bullets to be whapped away by Agarem's hair. DXD also attempted a few slashes at Agarem, but in turn, was wrapped up by the hair and flung against the wall. DXD got back up, and slammed down with a Mountainous Wheel, while Gunter used Moving Shot from the side. But Agarem simply sidestepped from the Mountainous Wheel, and blocked the bullets with her hair. "You disappoint me. You came this far, with this much skill?" Agarem mocked the pair. Neithor responded, and instead kept their distance. "Well, I guess its my turn to attack? Let me show you, the power of true magic." Agarem took out three orbs from a pocket, a green, blue, and red one. She took the green one, and smashed it on the ground.

Back in Ghent, a figure was tracking Yung as he walked to the Magata which was soon to depart for Arad. SMW drew his Steyr Bazooka, thought for a moment, then put it back in, "Now isn't the time. First I have to know what he's up to. Looks like it's another trip down to Arad for me." A few minutes after Yung went on the Magata, SMW also went on, just as the vehicle was about to depart...