#erankposting

He looks down upon you. Holy shit this guy is intimidating and who the hell even is this?

[Hijikata.] Gun or sword, Saigou, your choice. [This would probably be more intimidating if he wasn’t loudly chewing.]

You could probably spit the takuan on him and he’d explode at this point.

“.... Gun?”

As promised, it is a little bit past sundown once the Rayshift is complete. And the surroundings seem peaceful enough: a wide-open rolling field, with sparse trees and a few signs of civilization - dirt roads, cut tree stumps, the occasional broken wagon wheel left to rot on the side of the road. No enemies in sight or in sensory perception. It’s about as safe a location as one could hope for. 

To the far west, there’s a glimmer on the horizon, likely the last rays of the sun reaching over the end of the world: it silhouettes a great fortress, behind whose walls there rises a castle that could give the Tower of Babel a run for its money. And to the far east, there’s a different kind of glimmer - bright lights glimmering like the stars in the sky, but artificially. Not the glow of torches or lanterns, but something clearly indicative of electricity. An odd mix of opposing technological levels.

With a little effort, the Crystal Exarch erects a miniature version of his Crystal Tower, big enough to provide both physical and magical shelter, as well as an escape from the nippy breeze of late autumn in Britain’s cool, damp climate.

Whew...that was kind of dicey... Thanks for backing me up.

He takes one look at the form that you have assumed.

His silence speaks volumes.

As does the fact that his walking stick morphs into a baleful blade - one that perhaps has a passing familiarity to Memeko.

“Enough of this.”

He is in front of you within moments, as if he’d never been anywhere else at all.

The blade comes down with tremendous force.

And wangs you right on your incorporeal noggin.

“Ereshkigal. I’m only going to phrase it like this once, for clarity. And may Allah forgive me for it.”

“Lighten the fuck up.”

Surely he jests, and yet aside from a splitting migraine, something impossible has occurred.

That strike severed your obligations to the Three Goddess Alliance.

No....

It did far more than that.

It. Unbound. You.

Although your authority it still recognized here. This feeling you have.... if you wanted to, you could....

You could go.