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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 21, 2017 21:38:35 GMT
Despite how much training took out of him, Malik could not stand staying on Maximillion's estate 24-7. He couldn't stand to rely on the man's hospitality for his every need. He had to make sure he payed it all back somehow.
That's why he'd ventured into Delmarsh, to run errands for the servants, to make himself useful, and give back as much as he could in his current conditions.
Most of the available work was at the pier. Once he'd convinced the men there to let the foreigner work, he had no shortage of things he could do.
This also gave him a first hand seat to witness the slow approach of a landmass on the horizon.
Over the course of the days, it increasingly became more visible. At first the seafaring men of Delmarsh claimed not to see it, but soon it was visible to the naked human eye, the barest mass on the edge of the sea
Malik swore that he could see more than that. It shouldn't even be physical possible for him to see that far and yet, there was no mistake. That was sanctuary.
The fishermen didn't believe him when he said that that landmass was full of highly advanced technology, and that magic was not welcome whatsoever. They said he was addled, and suggested that he head out early.
Well it was a little more than a mere suggestion. They seemed just as close minded as the bulk of sanctuary.
Maximillion was out on a trip. There was little hurry to get back to the estate. Malik's feet carried him on a meandering course, roughly oriented towards Ben's tavern. The barkeeper seemed to be in the know about sanctuary already. He could offer some advice about the situation if anyone could.
"worried about the sanctuary across the sea aren't you?"
The woman was uncannily shady, with colorless skin and bloodshot eyes. All but for her hands and face were concealed by thick layers of dark fabric so definition lacking that she may as well have been cloaked in shadow. The alleyway seemed stretched to fit her rather than squeezing her in laced with refuse covered with the smell of strong perfume. She seemed like part of the woodwork, a swirling crystal set in her lap.
She seemed like part of the remains of the city's corrupt underbelly, Of which Maximillion's hired hands had expunged many. Better judgement told him to ignore her and walk away. Some supernatural things could only ever be up to no good and this seemed like one of those.
"I'm talking to you angel spawn, you who left a ghost obsessed human boy to the dark."
He paused and turned. He had not told anyone here about that one. No one should know. "what do you want?"
The old lady chuckled. "That's the wrong question. It's what do you want? you could attain anything in the universe."
He turned away. He had no desire to entertain such thoughts. Ambition could be toxic.
"Even get your family back from the beyond?"
When he turned back to face her, there was also the ghostly image of a small lady who should be very much dead in a machine-sewn dress, and chocolate milk skin. He closed off his mind as much as he knew how, but the image remained. "do not withdraw the dead from their graves." He warned, tempted even to attack if it would cast away a image that should have remained in photographs and memories. Only a thread of will held such action back.
The lady brushed the image aside."you're right. She's the unimportant one. The other one matters so much more."
Malik turned to walk away. As much as this lady was starting to get at his curiosity, the situation seemed to be getting more and more dangerous by the second. The lady was beginning to look too inhuman for it to be seen as some mere trick of the light.
While his back was turned, the demon struck, abandoning its shell, and taking the form of a monster.
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Post by 0 on Sept 21, 2017 22:52:36 GMT
Tall, dark ears twitched.
Yellow-orange eyes were drawn to an alley, a man looking in, treading closer, hesitant.
Something seemed off.
He drew himself aside, stepping against a pile of crates, ears held tight to listen, pointed nose searching the air for signs of spite.
A short, starved red fox, bushy tail torn in half and left in tattered threads, neck enshrouded by a mane of white, and tiger stripes that wove across his spine.
His fur began to bristle at the words he was hearing, eyes darting from the man in question to the dark city corridor.
He'd heard enough, yet still he steeled his limbs from carrying him forward.
Hold tight...eyes up!
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 24, 2017 22:41:00 GMT
Taloned fingers caressed the crystal in anticipation. It was getting increasingly more difficult to sit still and wait, especially since the boy kept trying to walk away, and didn't come close enough to grab without moving.
Annoying him with a necromanced memory of his mother had been a good call. She could see it under the surface, a swirl of juicy emotions ripe for the picking.
If only he would get closer, but the second sight proved that he wouldn't. Too wary, too resigned to keep his distance. The odds of success were getting worse as moments went on.
So the demon lunged forward, shredding the elderly puppet body as it poured out from the alley. It closed the distance with the speed of a striking snake, a hideous insectoid head with just enough humanity to be mistaken for a face, followed hundreds of exoskeleton guarded needle legged segments the several pairs of legs closest to the head were practically scythes like preying mantis arms.
It closed in, bringing the saw-like edges of these arms down on the boy, hoping to see the fear on his face before it struck.
There was a flash of light.
The sense of forewarning, knowing what was going to happen came moments before the attack. It was a demonic, inhuman presence, and it was attacking with sharp edges. It was not as foreboding as Maximillion, but the malice, carried an intent to kill.
Knowing this, he hoped to end it quickly. He let his light surge to his shoulders, turning into a blades to slice off the monster's head.
The first few segments of the giant insect cut with little resistance, splitting in two, and detaching from the main body.
Even before they hit the ground out spilled over 20 oversized insectoid demons. Some flew, carrying sharp proboscis and oversized stingers. Some bounced like rubber balls before uncurling and moving speedily out towards the rest of the town.
And the centipede itself, under the broken segments it grew a other head, its pincers elongating to press the attack.
This wasn't what it had planned. This was better.
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Post by 0 on Sept 24, 2017 23:41:32 GMT
What happened was almost too fast to see.
Something dark and plated rushed out of the alley, the human in an instant poised to defend himself.
Light flashed and very soon there were too many enormous bugs to count, surging out in all directions to flood the town.
The fox braced himself as an oversized pill bug rolled his way, vaulting himself over its body as it uncurled and lashed out, an acidic saliva eating through the crates he'd been hiding behind.
The muscles around his muzzle wrinkled, but he hadn't time to retaliate as more and more insects poured in around him.
At least many didn't seem to notice anything but what was right in front of them, leaving him with only a few in a row to dodge before, at last, the flood was too busy with the rest of the town, leaving only the giant centipede and a few smaller, though still sizeable, ones to deal with in their immediate vicinity.
Bounding right into the face of a bouncing baby demonic mosquito, the fox flipped himself high into the air, forelimbs wrapping around its bulging abdomen as he bit into the spot just behind its head.
The mosquito buzzed noisily, swung frantically about, and then exploded, and the canine yelped as oodles of boiling, burning fluids splashed him across the chest, face, and neck, limbs splaying in an awkward attempt to catch his body as it dropped suddenly to the ground.
At least one monster was down.
Only a few dozen more to go.
Through the pained cry, he couldn't help but chide the human, turning his muzzle around to squint at him through tearing eyes.
"Nice work, moron!"
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 25, 2017 23:25:45 GMT
After having cut the oversized centipede, Malik expected the carcass to fall, most likely on top of him. He dropped and rolled out of the way as much as possible, hopping back on his feet in a moment to avoid what didn't turn out to be a dead insect but a living one, as the massive centipede struck and pulled back, its talons leaving gashes on the ground. (not a very impressive feat as the ground was made of softer stuff)
He saw the multi-sectioned insect rub its raptorial legs together, while emitting a angry, somewhat human hiss which almost possessed words. It was as if he had not harmed it, for it to have survived the strike he'd pulled on it. The living moving insect didn't even possess any scars. It was still shiny black brown.
He saw bits of exoskeleton carcass lying open and exposed upon the ground, empty but for a nasty glue like goo, that slowly steamed from the broken shell. It was proof he had attacked and cut the thing, proof that his actions had had an effect.
He saw giant insects, mostly out of the corner of his eye as they scattered and fled towards the rest of the city. He didn't know their nature any more than he had known the centipede to be a shell for more demons.
oh shit.
It was his fault in a way. he didn't want to let them get very far.
Malik heard the ugly squelch and hiss of burning flesh and canine bark of pain. He winced, and turned quickly.
He was still bathed in light. It was too clear the fight was not over yet, and those insects, too nasty to not try and minimize how many reached the rest of the town.
Bullets were the only word he had to describe the small fast energy projectiles he formed. He struggled to fine tune their shape, and could not do anything about their trajectory once he released them, but it was a far better trick to get foes from a distance from the messy light blobs that had been all that he had once been able to wield.
He fired them out towards the escaping insects, hoping to take some out before they got out into the town.
the fox had killed one with a bite. hopefully that meant that the other bugs would not multiply if his attacks hit. He didn't feel like there was time for him to respond to its words until the bugs were out of the way.
A few of the energy bullets hit their marks, exploding the insects into puddles of shell and heated bile. Those that missed did just as much damage to the edges of buildings, and crates, while the targets escaped.
That elicited a frown. Damn it. He had to be more careful.
And the centipede was still looming. Of course it was. He was moving fast enough.
"wonderfulll" it chortled in a voice which was nearly multiple.
If it broke into more when he cut it, how was he supposed to actually fight the thing?
Malik wasn't sure.
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Post by 0 on Sept 25, 2017 23:54:50 GMT
The fox's legs shook as he pulled himself higher, rubbing at his face, ears twitching at the sound of skittering legs.
He could at least be thankful that most of his upper body was covered in denser, longer fur, the thick strands having blocked most of the boiling fluid before it could singe his skin, although the scent of burned hair was notably strong.
One eye had only a few drops spray into it (which hurt like the dickens), and the bright light the human was emitting only agitated it worse, so he was quick to look away.
Another ear rang from the booming pop that had occurred right next to it, which was taking its sweet time in receding.
He wasn't able to catch the bug next to him until it tackled him to the ground, the dust flying as he writhed around, biting and scratching, feeling a sharp pain accompanied by a burning sensation when the monster bit into his shoulder.
The fox practically yowled like a cat.
A shimmer of coppery light began to form, stretching out from behind him; a ghostly tail flung itself out from the tattered remains of his fuzzy behind, then curled over and pierced the insect through its exoskeleton.
It screeched and wriggled, more of the burning blood spraying across his thinly furred limbs.
The fox cursed loudly in a vulpine tongue as he yanked the bug off of him with the phantom tail, throwing it flat against a nearby wall.
As it slid down the wall, something like a tiny ball of golden light hit it, squashing what remained.
The fox pulled himself back to his feet, danced on his toes as he cast his eyes quickly about, rubbing them again to rid at least his good one of the tears that blurred his vision.
He could see clearly that the chaos didn't pause while he was down.
There were too many of the bugs for him to chase down on his own.
His gaze drew over to the biggest of them all, the source; it was keen on grabbing that glowing human, it seemed.
And if that guy was forced to continue protecting himself, would he end up causing yet more of the insects to spill out?
Who knew how those bugs got in there--it could be spawning them from its gastric acid, for all he knew.
The fox's tail swung about in a circle in the air, drawing something out of its coppery light.
Something like a mirror or a shield took form, hovering into place above the fox's back; round with a carved surface in the greenish hue of antique bronze, the underside a reflective, if dusty, glass, and the edges blazing with small bronze-and-copper flames.
Snarling, the fox leapt towards the monstrous centipede, the reflector held forward in his pounce.
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 26, 2017 1:39:35 GMT
"Wonderfullll"
The centipede was all well and pleased with itself, and the results of its acidic nesting doll bugs. It clacked and clicked in a way that sounded like insectoid speech, daring either to attack.
It was the fox that moved, charging in with a shield of some sort. How much damage could it do? did it matter? Unlike with the boy, the second sight was clouded on the matters of this new opponent.
However, it had some ideas of how to handle this.
It spat out a stream of hot pressurized acidic fluid with enough force to tear holes in the wood nailed on the buildings, and push the debris it hit down the street. It splattered off the shield, droplets eating their way into anything they touched.
Malik hissed as a few of the corrosive droplets hit his skin. Quickly he put up a shield of his own, a bright orange, barrier dotted with star like points of light, and connected to the nearest ones by straight lines to form triangular shapes.
That kept the droplets from him, but it didn't protect anything else as they pockmarked the street and buildings with holes.
The places where the droplets had hit his skin, or burned through his clothing hurt like crazy. The pain just seemed to dig deeper even while his body was working to speedily mend the damage.
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Post by 0 on Sept 26, 2017 3:28:23 GMT
He could hear the creak as the centipede drew itself higher, the hiss and the pop as it spat out the corrosive saliva.
Watching closely, the reflector was hastily spun around to shield him, its surface resisting the pressurized acid, droplets bouncing off it like pebbles on still water, although this did stop the fox in his tracks.
His paws skid on the dirt as he drew himself closer to the shield, whose flames took a momentary flare, casting away the drops.
Phantom tail curling over his back for additional protection, the ground around him quickly grew pockmarked, although with the loss of momentum after rebounding off the shield, at least many were smaller than they could have been.
The rest of his surroundings were not so lucky, and the fox resisted the urge to cast a quick glance behind him to see what had happened with the human; he didn't want to turn his back to the monster before him, but moreover the stranger's light would more than likely blind him again if he tried.
Instead he pressed forward, closing in on what he hoped might be an opening for an attack.
The fox's claws dug into the ground as he slammed his body upwards, the reflector swung about; its fiery edges were as sharp as a purified glaive, and he aimed to relinquish the centipede of at least one of those bladed mantis arms.
As he struck, his eyes searched the insect for some manner of vital weak point that he might exploit.
Much as he might blame this on the glowing human, he technically didn't have much of a clue himself how to beat this monstrosity; he most certainly didn't want to try cutting it into pieces, risking spilling out yet more of its internal horde, only to have the whole thing regrow, good as new.
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 26, 2017 14:52:17 GMT
The limb was removed easily. In fact nearly as soon as it had begun being severed it was practically blown off by the pressure of the gaseous miasma that spilled from the cut with a terrible high pitched hiss. It was as acidic as the fluids that the insect had used before, and would be hard to not breathe in.
As the miasma forced its way out the shell of that segment began to crack into sharp glass like splinters, spilling sharp edges everywhere. Until the miasma became diluted enough by the surrounding air to be come a nonissue, it would make breathing harder as it lacerated the lungs.
Fortunately there was a breeze off the sea. Unfortunately this meant the miasma too would get into the rest of the town before dispersing enough to not do harm.
The new face of the monster looked down at the destruction with intelligent bird like eyes for a moment. It could hear footsteps. The town was beginning to spin into action, brining their weapons and spell weavers while mechanical creaks indicated more mechani-magical weapons being primed.
Figures they wouldn't sit still once they'd begun finding the escaped insects, and noticing something was up.
The centipede slipped over a corroded building, deciding to quit hoping on its original prey, and see about instead working the chaos.
It had a pandora's box of tricks hiding in its shell.
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Post by 0 on Sept 26, 2017 16:34:50 GMT
With his nose so close to the miasma-spewing limb, the fox's small lungs were affected immediately.
Coughing and hacking, he fell back quickly, pulling reflector and tail alike back around him should the centipede attempt another forward attack.
Staring blearily into his muggy reflection upon the shield's mirrored underside, he could witness a spot of blood as it spattered outwards onto the glass.
Shit.
Thankfully, the centipede's mind seemed to drift to something else, and in a hurry it scurried off across a building.
The fox's limbs shook, jaws opening in a wide-mouthed pant as he allowed himself to hack louder, followed by more specks of blood, and a few shards of what looked to be very thin slices of glass.
The pain in his lungs, at least, was more of an irritant than the bite across his shoulder, which, with the adrenaline rushing fast out of his veins, was becoming more and more apparent.
He sat back, on the one hand glad that the monster was leaving, on the other frustrated that it was getting away, that he was losing.
He was sure he'd be getting an earful about this.
He lifted his ears, the ringing in the one finally almost gone, and listened to the sounds of the town as it began to rally.
Perhaps they'd have more luck than him.
Hell, the glowing human--whom he now gave a swift glance back towards--who'd been at the forefront the whole time seemed to be doing better, although it was a little hard to tell through all that bright light.
Turning his head around, he nosed the wounded shoulder; the coppery tail was draped over it, and in a shower of light the phantom limb disappeared, sealing up the wound with a hiss from the fox, and mitigating some of the pain.
The reflector remained, hovering above his back, as he stood himself back up, shaking the dirt and the dust from his orange fur.
With all the bugs still flying about, he wasn't ready to let it go just yet.
Squinting his eyes and turning his nose sidelong, the fox took a few steps towards the glowing human, should he still be around.
"How you doin'?" he asked, glancing around at the corroded surroundings, and finally noticing the cloud of miasma descending over the town.
"Aw, fuck."
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 27, 2017 3:52:43 GMT
It was a good thing that Malik kept the shield up. Otherwise he would have been harmed with lacerations from the obsidian glass like exoskeleton shards. the patches of skin where the searing liquid had splattered still burned, even though on the surface the damage looked healed.
The young man pulled down the barrier and toned down the glowing. It wasn't very useful to be so bright when he was not weaponizing the light, and he knew he could be very hard to look at, more than blinding.
"I'll be alright." He hoped at least. The centipede seemed capable of causing lasting harm. "Going after it." He planned to at the very least. He wanted to trust that the town's natives could hold their own, but didn't trust their competence much more than he trusted his own, which wasn't that high most of the time. "you?" He asked, referring to both the fox's status and his plans to proceed. He hated taking this time just to talk but..
The fox might be an ally, might know more than him.
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Post by 0 on Sept 27, 2017 19:52:19 GMT
The fox's eyes turned more on the human as his light seemed to be toned down.
His ears folded back briefly, and he emitted a low-breathed sigh as the human mentioned he was going after the centipede.
The fox could still feel some shards in his lungs, and he turned his head for a moment to forcefully hack up another set of the obsidian glass.
"I'm fine," he said, eyeing the new specks of blood on the ground.
His body would work through it soon enough...or eventually.
He struggled with answering the second question hidden in there; however, the more time he took, the farther away that centipede was going to get.
He had to answer on impulse, and it came as his legs started to carry him away.
"Guess so."
Muscles tensing, the fox began to leap across the corroded buildings in pursuit of the monster.
As he made the jumps, the stripes across his back began to glow and shift, even peel off his fur and spread apart like the bare, bony fingers of a bat wing.
His butt-strands began to spark, the phantom tail struggling to reform after being used to heal his shoulder wound.
At least he got a breather, no matter how brief.
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 30, 2017 0:49:48 GMT
Even if it were physically possible for him, Malik dare not jump from building to building. There were still a few inhibitions that deterred him from trying such superhuman feats of agility.
Instead he jogged around buildings thankful he knew the streets well enough to plot an efficient course.
It was hard to lose track of the centipede. The sound of chaos ahead and occasional glimpses of it over the rooftops gave clear indication of where it had crawled off to.
The surviving smaller giant insects were wrecking their share of havoc, gnawing through buildings, biting living beings, with apparent mindless fervor. The fighters of the city had already dispatched with many of them. The carcasses lay strewn about, some occasionally twitching but clearly on the way out.
The miasma lingered heavily, but had already dispersed significantly. Some people were easily spotted in the midst of coughing fits but it was also clear that the people who were fighting had devised means of protecting their breathing, that although rudimentary in appearance proved effective at sorting out clean air from the damaging particles.
The men had found out the hard way that the centipede created new dangers when split. The centipede was not the only foe to be seen by the time Malik reached the scene.
There were hellish creatures now. Demons of the traditional sort, humanoid and repulsive kept city militia busy while canid shadows that ambushed their prey by moving through the traditional shadows cast by the sun.
The centipede was lassoed by a few magical ropes, limiting its movement as it pulled against the restraints, yet still it laughed, with the voice of a little girl.
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Post by 0 on Sept 30, 2017 1:15:24 GMT
The fox was quick to avoid and dodge any further monsters as best it could, and its resolve to do so only strengthened when it realized that yet more monstrosities had spilled out from the centipede.
Still, he was impressed by the haste and strength of this town; many more of the minions had been cut down already.
But that wouldn't matter if the source wasn't dealt with, leaving the denizens up to a rousing game of whose endurance and stamina would outlast whose.
When he finally arrived on the scene where the centipede stood, roped in by some of the residents, his eyes shot around for the glowing human.
An idea had come to mind while he was chasing after the enormous bug, and he needed the human's light for it.
Witnessing the other's arrival, he quickly bounded his way over to the human before the other could engage.
"I have an idea!" he said quickly, tongue lolling in a pant; his phantom tail still had yet to reform.
The fox pulled his reflector aside, revealing the mirrored half that constituted its bottom surface.
"Think you could focus a beam of light against it?"
Who knew how long those ropes would hold, whether the centipede would hold still just right.
He didn't have time to wait for an answer, and so, as soon as he had suggested it, the fox was slipping away, pulling himself up onto the roof of a building not only so that the human could easily see the glass and blast his way, but so that he could make sure that the beam would not hit one of the others below.
He checked the position of both human and centipede, and would carefully angle the mirror to make sure it would hit.
Obviously, this would be hard to do if the centipede didn't remain in one place, so he hoped the glowing human would make haste.
That was, of course, assuming he even could, and whether his light was even the right sort for this task.
His hope was that it would burn the centipede to a crisp, unable to regenerate from whatever ashes it made.
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Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
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Post by Loner。 on Sept 30, 2017 14:57:03 GMT
Any idea was worth a try at this point.
Malik took a breath, focusing the flow of the power within him. Conceptually he understood what he ought to do. He just wasn't convinced that he had the control to make it work.
There was nothing to do but try.
He was used to using his light as a physical weapon, with strict boundaries regarding its reach and flow. That had to be dismantled. The radiant light he tended to emit as runoff, light that acted like light, thats what he needed to use.
He put his hands together, as if he was pushing something away.
The beam began wide and diffuse. He nearly dropped out of the plan right there as residue harmed unintended targets. It did plenty of work burning up the demonic shadows, but it also seared the eyes of and blinded those who were fighting in the field when they happened to be looking to much towards him. He slowly rained it in, crafting a brighter, stronger beam as he brought it into focus.
He winced.
It was beginning to hurt even his eyes. Hopefully people were smart enough to not look by now. He knew this could be permanently blinding if not worse to a fully mortal being.
Malik even had to close his eyes.
But not before he focused his light at the reflector in a powerful focused beam.
The centipede stopped laughing and began to squirm.
The light seared through its shell Burning the contents within. It seemed to be working but the centipede had no intentions of expiring yet. Ruined sections dropped off, leaving black tarish blobs where they revealed the contents inside. As soon as enough sections got burned, it was free of the ropes.
The next section to break spat out a dark substance which began giving the light a hard time where it coated the centipede's body.
The insect was significantly shorter by now. That came from having had so many sections removed from its body. Growing new legs, it launched itself at the fox, trying to run its razor sharp legs through both it and the mirror.
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