The twelfth installment of Axiomatic Anarchy has what you've been waiting for: the epic battle between Gritgut, our furious barbarian hero, and the despicable corruption of Law itself, Penance Arbiter. Need we say more?
Vengeance is a dish best served with an anchor.
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Landon heard the crowd's clamor dissipate into a hush and knew something was amiss. Still as substantial as vapor, he called upon more magic and urged the still tunnel winds to action. The wizard blasted through the last bends on the wings of gale force winds, sailing past a group of goblin guards. They shrieked at his appearance and fled down the dark passage, wailing about a wizard ghost as they went. Landon ignored their flight, the immobile kolyarut and the proud image of Gritgut had his full attention. So he is still alive...
Hearing the roaring laughter of the oltreggan then the shout of Penance, Landon abandoned the minor magics he was going to use as a signal. He drew up more power, electricity pounded in his veins, searing to the outstretched index finger of his right hand.
Gritgut glared at the falling blade, noting every inch of its descent marked his end if he did not react. But mez told ta follow de plan...
A mote of scarlet energy coursed toward the inevitable's back. The barbarian squinted and saw Landon's form in the archway and knew it had to be the sign. Penance sensed something was wrong and began turning in mid swing to view the oncoming flaming seed. Gritgut's muscles responded in a flash of instinct, spinning his favored anchor's haft in his hands as he brought the makeshift-weapon's head around to mete his own punishment on the corrupt inevitable's skull. Deflecting the falchion with a thrust of his shoulder against its flat side, Gritgut bellowed, "Plague upon ya!"
Arcane electricity unwillingly coursed from Penance as his jaw crumpled under under the punishment of the oltreggan's blow. The savage had somehow switched his bonds for his anchor, disguising it with an illusion. How could this be? Then he remembered the mage. Cursing his miscalculation, Arbiter spun around to catch the arcane red seed mid-torso. The inevitable closed its eyes, focusing on pushing energy to his defensive systems as the marble platform expanded in a blast of flame.
Gritgut twisted into a roll as the flames rushed at him, tumbling off the platform in his zeal. His anchor caught, swinging him backward under the slab of rock. The blast shuddered through the the inevitable's conveyance, causing great chunks to crumble off. Gritgut watched as the blackened and smoldering construct plummeted toward the floor below. Angry at being so far from his enemy, the oltreggan raged. "Mez want down, NOW!"
In a rush of wind, the crumbling platform shot at a slant toward Penance's prone form. It had responded, almost eagerly, to the mental impulse of the ire-filled barbarian. Veins of magic shimmered through the platform before the spearheaded slab exploded into a thousand razors. The billowing dust rasped Gritgut's throat, but only vengeance mattered as he charged into the center of the wreckage. He found Penance shoving slabs away to free itself, sparks jumping across its frame as it slowly resealed broken aspects. The kolyarut did not perceive the danger before blows hammered against its mithril frame. The anchor dented more segments, but could not pierce the more armored portions of the inevitable.
Penance counter attacked with his recovered Axiom. The adamantine blade pocked the anchor like a knife carving clay. Gritgut bellowed in anger at the damage done to his precious weapon. He poured more energy into each blow, cracking plates wherever he struck. However, the kolyarut did not slack in its defense, and soon it was pressing the savage backward.
The silt began to settle, revealing a circle of castigators standing just outside the ring of debris. Landon ran unhindered to the edge of them before leaping high into the air. He hovered above and rained caustic orbs down upon the Arbiter, each biting deeply into its metallic frame. Penance cried out across the telepathic links for support, but the castigators did not budge.
They replied with a single phrase that filled the axiomatic entity's mind with horror: We await our master's commands. Someone had commandeered their control.
A great pincer-like claw bit deeply into Penance's shoulder and squeezed, metal protested but slowly began to buckle as arcane energy flared. The inevitable turned to see a terrible visage that blended the worst aspects of a dragon and a great hound. The demon glabrezu guard. Its pelt flushed sable, its voice was like a cauldron full of bubbling and growling lava. "Your time is at an end, hail the Dark One!" The glabrezu seized the kolyarut with its other great claw arm and hurled the being upward as gravity shifted. The demon's magic sent the inevitable on an unswerving course towards the roof. Howling, the entity from the darkest planes, intent on destroying the Arbiter who had been his captor for so long, released a bit of its essence in a torrent aimed at Penance.
The inevitable hit the ceiling of the great chamber in a cloud of rock shards and bits of mithril as the gears in its knees compacted under the impact. Penance righted himself in the perverse gravity only to turn into the following anarchic blast of energy. The perfectly ordered power that fueled and maintained the inevitable reacted with the chaotic torrent. The resulting eldritch detonation ripped apart its metallic innards, rending open its chest cavity, alchemical ichor dripped and sizzled to the ceiling. Penance collapsed in a heap, but its eyes still burned with azure light.
Gritgut bellowed in frustration at his apparent stolen kill and swung his anchor against the glabrezu's side. A prong gouged the guardian's hide, forcing a demonic hiss from its lips. The beast spun to face its opponent as the blunt side of the anchor slammed into its muzzle. Bone gave under the blow and the demon staggered back, but it simply shook its head and snarled something in a black tongue. The circle of castigators began to move in sync with it, tightening the ring.
Landon reached down and touched the barbarian's shoulder while shouting, "Gritgut! Fly!" But the massive oltreggan refused to back down from the fight, no matter how hopeless.
"Gritgut!! We must LEAVE!!!" The voice, quiet and forceful, resounded inside the oltreggan's mind. Instead of hearing Landon, another seemed to speak to him - a luminous figure with green eyes...Shiny? The energetic phantom burst into a thousand sun drops, leaving a sense of clarity in the inferno of the oltreggan's rage. Eying the oncoming troop, the oltreggan leapt into the air, aiming to pounce and run. Instead, he soared over the castigator's helmet and found himself tugged toward the roof. With a moment to spare, the barbarian angled himself into a spear of muscle and iron, the anchor's prow leading the way.
Penance used some of its strength to roll over. It cast its gaze upon the circle and its inhabitants with melancholic assessment. So, this was the coupe he had anticipated, though not the method he had expected. The Cult had overthrown him with prisoners! How could a savage oltreggan and human mage accomplish so much? Only by the devilish machinations of the Grey God's acolytes. He stared at the rising image of the barbarian, his leaden instrument centered at the inevitable's chest. The kolyarut could do little, so it laughed. "I will return to the creche' forges of my home...Fool, law endures--and so shall I!"
The corrupt entity of law shattered under the immense force of Gritgut's unhindered ire, flourishing the audience with a stunning display of released arcane energy. Penance Arbiter, curator of the arena, was no more.
