[b]Alignment:[/b] “Thanks a bunch, KoKo. I’ll leave the citizens in your care. Stay alert, and good luck. Wouldn’t want to lose anyone else.”
[i]He begins to head towards the battlefield with his new equipment.[/i]
English
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Upon reaching the garden, you find Rho's soldiers patrolling the perimeter. In the center of the garden the vinestalk had gotten worse; now composed entirely of glowing blue veins. Several of Rho's soldiers immediately unleashed a hail of gunfire upon it, but it hardly put more than a scratch into it. "Damn it, how do you break this thing..?" Rho muttered under her breath.
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[b]Alignment:[/b] “Heya, Rho. You look like you’re in a pickle. Where’d Aifos go?”
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“He was here for a while yesterday, but I guess Kokonoe needed him to help get that stupid mermaid to mass produce those dumb jackets, and I haven’t seen him since. Probably back up in the Observation Deck. Not that hecwas having any better luck than I am.”
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[b]Alignment:[/b] “Yeah, but I got something that’ll help.” [i]He pulls out one of the grenades.[/i] [b]Alignment:[/b] “During my time at SAYU-Mart, I was able to figure out that these acid grenades are effective against these new vines. I couldn’t make them strong enough to completely eat through the blue stuff, but they will weaken the vines significantly for you to bust through them yourself. From the looks of it, those blue veins are what’s making these vines so strong, and these grenades are perfect to get rid of them. Before we can throw them, you might wanna step back. It can still eat through us easily.”
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"I guess anything's worth a try at this point." She signals her men to stand back, and makes a halfhearted gesture for you to toss the thing.
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[b]Alignment:[/b] “That’s the spirit!” [i]He throws the grenade at the Vinestalk as hard as he can.[/i] [b]Alignment:[/b] “Try firing at it!”
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"Oh, no need to go through all that trouble..” Venus’ voice said from some unseen source. “You’re all welcome inside!” Suddenly the vinestalk bursts out, sending several tendrils shooting out into the room. Rho and her soldiers tried to fight them off, but within only a moment each one of them was grabbed, and dragged into the vinestalk. "God d*mn it, not again!" Rho yelled, as she and the others disappeared from sight. Now you were in the room alone, everyone else having been dragged in. While the veins didn't seem to target you, now there was a clear opening in the vinestalk, sitting open, and inviting you in.
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[b]Alignment:[/b] “Hey, why am I not getting the same treatment as them? Not that I’m asking for it...” [i]He cautiously walks into the Vinestalk with his grenades in tow.[/i]
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“Because I have something special in store for you..” Venus said with a malicious chuckle. As soon as you enter the vinestalk, the entrance closes behind you, and you find yourself in a room, that--unsurprisingly--is made up entirely of the same glowing blue veins that make up the vinestalk itself. You can see hints of something else forming, too, though. Small black stones, either inside the veins, or poking out through their sides. Only a few steps in, and the veins in front of you begin to shift, forming vaguely humanoid figures made of veins. They didn't have any legs, instead having veins making up something of a thick skirt connecting them to the ground. On their head were two black stones that vaguely resembled horns. If you were observant enough, you may have caught a brief glance at the large glowing eyes on the backs of their heads. One of them dove their arm into the ground, and pulled up a heavy slab of black stone that seemed to resemble a sword, but it didn't attack just yet. Seems you get the first move.
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Edited by HiddenAlignment: 11/17/2021 5:03:30 PM[b]Alignment:[/b] “I take my eyes off you for a moment and you’ve already given your plants another makeover. Choose a style and stick with it!” [i]He uses his strings to quickly take out a grenade and swings it towards the sword creature.[/i]
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“Oh, this is the style I’ve been aiming for the whole time, darling. It just took a little while to grow is all.” You swing the grenade around, and it strikes the beast cleanly in the side. As the acid hits its skin, it begins writhing around in pain, turning its back to you as it did, revealing the eye on the back of its head more clearly. The other one wasn’t hit, however, and lets out a loud roar, before lunging its extendable arms towards you for a long-range punch.
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[i]Alignment tries to swing another grenade at the creature’s arm and follow up with a slash from his sword configuration to sever it.[/i]
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Your plan works, and you sever the arm that was heading your way, though severing the arm so quickly seemed to have kept the acid from dealing too much damage. The bladed one recovered from his stun, and began charging towards you, dragging its blade along the ground, for an upwards swing.
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[i]Alignment tries to move to the side and strike the area he hit with the grenade.[/i]
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Your strike seemed to be fairky effective, as the creature stumbled to the side, causing the blade tp miss. As it realized the veins had been eaten away, fresh ones began to grow in their place, to fix the damage—seems the grenades were best used for stunning. With the beast behind you now, you got a clear look at the eye on the back if its head—it was just like the one on the other creature you had fought earlier—likely a weak point! The one with the stretchy arms wasn’t about to let you capitalize on the opening easily, however, rwaching its arms out and slashing at you as its friend was recovering.
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[i]Alignment tries to use his strings to redirect the attack to the other vine creature and use the weapon he took from the cultists at SAYU-Mart to fire at the eye.[/i]
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Edited by The First Aifos: 11/18/2021 9:12:58 PMRedirecting the claw swipes, you manage to lodge them into the other creature, before polling out the pistol, and firing a bolt of light into the eye. As it’s eye is hit, the creature’s body begins to sink into the ground. The claws getting stuck in the other creature afforded you time to counterattack, before it could untangle its arms.
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[i]Alignment tries to find a similar weak spot on the creature and fire at it as well.[/i]
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You could only barely see it from here, but the shape of the other one's head was a bit misshapen. It seemed like there was a hole in the back. Given the one you just took down had a similar hole containing the eye, that's likely where it was on the remaining creature, too. However, that meant you had to get behind it, and at the moment it was facing towards you, a good distance away; there was no way to fire at its eye from here. You still had a moment to attack before it did, however.
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[i]Determined, Alignment chucks a grenade over the head of the creature and tries to shoot it when it’s right above it.[/i]
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Your plan works, and the acid splashes into the eye, dissolving it, causing its body to sink into the ground. “Congratulations.” Venus’s voice said, sarcastically. “You defeated the weakest of the horde. But we aren’t done yet.” Some of the veins parted ways, allowing you forwards.
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[b]Alignment:[/b] “I still don’t get what the black stones are for. Do they even have a purpose or are they just cosmetics?” [i]He cautiously advances forwards.[/i]
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As you pass through the opening, the gravity around you begins to shift, and you find yourself in freefall, plummeting towards a circular slab of black stone on the ground below you. Venus didn't address your question, though it may occur to you that most of the stones you've seen have been rather sharp. They might be used for an edge.
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[i]Alignment tosses one of his balls in the air to suspend it and uses his strings to anchor himself to it. [/i]
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Your strings manage to catch you, but something still pulls you downwards. Still, it's much more of a gentle fall this time, and you land safely on your feet. Almost immediately, however, one of the vein creatures is upon you, ready to strike, though it promptly takes a bullet in the back of the head, and sinks into the ground. "You need to be more careful than that." Rho said. You find her, and her soldiers, all gathered up in this room. They've constructed a makeshift barricade, though who knows where they found the materials, and seemed to be holding their position. "These things are relentless."