A Final Dance: The Large Castle Assault - Open Conquest!

Just as he was about to chase after Kon, a sudden pain emerges from Derry's neck, and he clasps his hand over the now sudden gaping wound at his neck. Somehow Erebos managed to pierce right through the gorget of his armor with one sword toss, and blood was beginning to trickle out quite profusely. The pink armored president turns back around towards Erebos, the little bastard smirking at what he had done. If the demon really wants a fight, he's asking for the fight of his life. The runt doesn't even seem to care about reason and was simply out looking for a fight from Derry, and he will certainly provide just that to him. What few security members were still around began drawing their weapons and fired right at Erebos, though considering the fact that they're regular old bullets, it's doubtful that they would have any effect on the demon.

Derry removes his helmet, releasing his flaming eyes and hair from underneath the armor as he glares at Erebos, demanding, "I've always taken you for a brat, Erebos, but never a complete fool. Now you've proven that I was mistaken. You don't even realize the full scope of what you have done, striking the president of Earth. But don't you worry, I'll be sure to drive the message into that thick skull of yours." The president releases the helmet from his grasp, the armor piece dissipating in a flash of pink flames before hitting the ground before he begins slowly floating towards the demon, all the while the little runt continues taunting him.

"You've costed me the opportunity to snap a colleague of mine out of someone else's control, and you've taken a jab at me. I don't need a judge or jury to know what your sentence is," Derry utters before suddenly picking up the pace, flying right towards Erebos and attempting to dish out a flurry of punches and kicks aimed right at his chest, looking to finish the brief combo with an uppercut to his jaw. "Perhaps I need to spell it out for you by force." 

Derry watched on as Erebos effortlessly tore up the bullets that all of the men fired right at him before sending the shrapnel back at the men. Thankfully, the pieces only managed to fly right back at the guns, resulting in them being completely broken. With their weapons disabled, all they could do is retreat and call for more reinforcements and some heavy weaponry, but that would take quite some time. He wasn't going to lie about the fact that it was entertaining seeing how far the demon would go just to have another fight with him, even if it was going to be a suicidal mission. 

Yet again Erebos mocks Derry, making all sorts of disturbed images of previous men and women who were distraught at his previous actions, almost as if this was just another thing he did for fun. It's only now that Derry had realized that the demon was quite a bit more sadistic than he had realized before, which only proves that he's a great danger to him. He didn't even bother responding to Erebos' inquiry as he rushes in to try and bring the demon down, only for him to easily dodge just about everything he threw right at him. Just how in the hell was this guy so fast?

Derry couldn't help but grin a bit when his fist makes contact with Erebos' chin, only for him to realize that he had merely struck an afterimage, and that the demon was still completely untouched. Erebos takes the opportunity to land a serious gut punch, taking the air out of Derry's lungs as he begins questioning whether or not it was Derry who actually had control over Kon. "You... stupid bastard..." Derry responds back in a raspy voice, still recovering from the punch, "You don't know a damn thing about who I really am... and you sure as hell don't know a damn thing about Kon!" Derry shouts as he moves forward towards Erebos, using his gauntlets to deflect the blows from the demon's sword as he closed the distance.

The armor on Derry's right leg begins to burn brightly as he attempts to swing it right at Erebos' side, looking to break something or at least set him aflame with a simple kick. "She was someone who I could rely on, someone who I could trust would bring results, someone who I've cared for for months now. Tonight might've been my one chance at freeing her from whatever the hell Kowlin did to her, and yet here you are getting in the way of her freedom!"

WC: 463
Active PL: 350,000

HP:  ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 188%

KP: 5/6

MP: 5/6

OOC Notes/Items Used: Derry attacks Erebos with Flame Geyser, dealing a potential 20% (70,000) damage.

It really is surprising just how many ways Erebos could manage to piss Derry of within the span of just a few minutes. Surely it must be a marvel that needs to be studied. Internal jokes aside, the president's patience was starting to run thin as he attempts to strike the demon with his flaming leg, only for Erebos to do the same and clash against him with his own leg, resulting in a stalemate between the two attacks. He continues taunting the crime boss, mocking the very idea of a shinjin having a powerful way to take over another individual's mind that that it'll likely fail soon. "You don't even know what has taken her over. I don't even know what has taken her over. How the hell could you make such bold assumptions?"

The demon backs away and makes some space between the two, all while tossing several small shadow darts right at Derry. The president holds his gauntlets up in front to block each incoming projectile with ease, though they only manage to anger Derry even more. After another joke in relation to a potential rise in Derry's approval ratings, the president moves one of his hands behind his back and begins creating a somewhat large pink fireball.

"Oh they'll soar alright once you're dead!" he shouts before firing off the single projectile right at Erebos, the ball slowly morphing into the shape of a mortar shot. The moment he releases it, Derry begins charging at the demon once more, waiting for the fire to hit before going in for another attempted combo aimed at his gut this time.

WC: 309
Active PL: 350,000

HP:  ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 188%

KP: 3/6

MP: 3/6

OOC Notes/Items Used: Derry attacks Erebos with Scorch Shot with a 2MP Power Boost, dealing a potential 50% (175,000) damage against him.

It felt good finally burning that demon for what it's worth. Derry smirked a bit at the successful attack against Erebos, though it did make him curious as to why he just decided to take the blow instead of even trying to avoid it. Derry knows that the guy is capable of being able to avoid this sort of stuff with ease, but he was still curious as to why Erebos would just sit there, at least he was wondering until he figured what exactly he was planning: He was conserving energy.

Derry's eyes narrow as he carefully studies Erebos' movements, looking to see if he could figure out just what exactly he has in store for him, or at least that's what he would've been doing if Erebos was still planted inside of a wall. Instead the demon seems to have disappeared from sight once again, the president's eyes darting left and right to see if he can spot where the hell he went. A sudden voice from behind him rings out, announcing Erebos' location to Derry. He turns around and attempts to fire a single fireball right at the demon as he leads with his sword, uselessly bouncing away from the immediate slash.

The attack left behind a massive gaping wound on his chest and destroyed the plate armor there, blood leaking profusely out from the spot. He yells out in sharp pain as he tries to calm himself down, looking to see if he could possibly use this as an opportunity to get back at him. His eyes only fueled with even more rage than before, Derry's chest begins glowing a bright pink as something begins building up inside, climbing all the way from his gut to his lungs all the way up to his throat. Aiming his head right at Erebos, Derry releases a torrent of spiraling pink flames right from his mouth, intending on burning the demon right then and there. 

Afterwards, Derry begins slowly floating down towards the ground, breathing heavily from not just the gaping chest wound, but also from how he felt so much weaker after such an attack. He must've done something to his body with that strike, but what? "Gah... Hah... Will you just... Die already?" Derry mutters through his tired breath, "There is no... Victory to be found here... You're just on a suicide mission..." 

As much as Derry was annoyed by Erebos' incessent taunting and big mouth, it at least provided him with one major way to exploit him: Occasional distractions. That's basically what happened between him and the demon as Derry launches the spiraling beam of flames right at Erebos, burning him severely and keeping him burning for a long while. Derry could only smirk once more, except this time it would seem to stay for much longer as both of them were currently running on fumes and need some time to recharge.

Unfortunately, Erebos began opening his mouth once more, jokingly wondering who exactly he's referring to when he brought up how this was a suicide mission. "Even if I'm not the one to bring you down, there are far more out there willing to put someone like you in your place. Whether it's one of my own men or for those who seek justice, they will come for you, Erebos, and you will burn for your actions. At the end of the day, you may be free to do whatever you want... But it won't be for long."

Even in his weakened state, Derry slowly stands back up from the ground, his legs still shaking from whatever the hell Erebos did to him. Strangely enough he doesn't seem to bring his sword back out, making the president wonder if the demon is wounded to the point of being unable to bring it out. "A grudge would imply that you would be alive once this is over. No... No I don't plan on keeping you alive. You're beyond the point of being spared." The two of them were practically at a stand-off with each other, Derry waiting for Erebos to make a move or for whatever was afflicting him to finally wear off. 

WC: 328
Active PL: 350,000 (280,000 for this post)

HP:  ▰▰▰▰ 89%

KP: 3/6

MP: 1/6

OOC Notes/Items Used: The waiting game begins.

The sheer audacity this demon possesses is just stunning to Derry. Not that big of a deal? He does realize that he's attacking the president of Earth, yes? "You're currently assaulting the leader of Earth, I hope you know that. You know, the one that's been put in charge of this entire planet? I figure that might raise your status to 'big bad demon.' Hell, not even a week ago I was attacked by an arcosian, and his face is plastered just about everywhere." Perhaps one day he'll exact his vengeance against Blizzard, but right now he'll need to focus on what's right in front of him.

Erebos was certainly having trouble manifesting the blades, now seemingly out of shape and almost transparent at this point. He begins threatening the president once more, thinking about taking off one of his arms to 'make him look good.' "Right, not some 'big bad demon,' got it," Derry mutters mockingly as the demon tosses the sword right at him while conjuring up a second one. He tries to push the blades right out of the way, but his armor had little effect as it manages to pierce the gauntlet and stab him right in his forearm, the president yelling in pain. On the bright side, he was finally starting to feel less groggy, and he could feel like he could move once more. Whatever Erebos did to him earlier seems to be finally wearing off.

The second sword stabs him right below his right shoulder blade, yet again piercing the armor and leaving behind a nasty wound. He merely grunts this time, already experiencing so much pain already that the adrenaline in his body is kicking in overtime. At the very least Erebos was still wasting energy, which might give Derry ample enough time to gather some more energy. He can't bear to leave himself vulnerable for too long, not when he's already taken so much damage beforehand. Derry needs to try to take this nice and slow, else he gets caught out.