07-16-2017, 07:19 AM
It was with great reluctance that Celestia turned away from Ash. It would never sit well with her to abandon a companion, but...well even if it wasn't the only option, it was arguably the best one. Yu Kanda was right, that the judge was at the centre of all of this. If he could be dealt with permanently dealt with, the situation would be infinitely more manageable, if not resolved completely. She needed to make a hard choice. “We'll just need to have faith in our friend.” She spoke aloud, although the comment was directed at no one in particular. She was as much assuring herself as convincing anyone else. “He is capable, I am sure he can survive this too.” Her voice was more confident now. “We must take this chance to strike at the source!” She began to gallop down the hall and deeper into the castle, and Yu Kanda followed suit, keeping pace with her.
“The upper chambers!” Celestia called out to Yu Kanda as she ran. “Given that this plane denies us flight, the upper levels of the castle would both be more secure and give a vantage point. That is where our foe is most likely to be!” And if he could not be found there, the upper levels would give a better view of the rest of the castle, which would help them find any other hiding places. She turned on spotting a staircase, and moved toward and up it.
Revan turned back, and ran toward Ash. Maybe not the optimal choice, but one she could certainly understand. As they temporarily parted ways, Celestia called out, “Remember, it's strength can be turned to our advantage!” And then she was out of earshot, scrambling through the corridors once again.
The corridors themselves had a sparse population of darklings. It seemed a little odd that the castle would have so few defenders, but then they had already seen that this realm had dangers other than masses of weaker minions. Undoubtedly the most dangerous defences would be those that were less obvious. From a practical standpoint however, the scattered enemies proved limited as obstacles. Celestia took down a few with carefully aimed jets of fire, but most she didn't even both to finish off. She bowled over several simply by bringing up her shield and charging through them. She and Yu Kanda had moved on ahead by the time they recovered. He was the more effective of the two of them in these tight corridors, cutting down several of the darklings in their way without ever breaking stride.
It was just as well that Celestia's available skills weren't suited for corridors, even as she ran her focus was elsewhere. Judgeman was easy enough to track to the fortress, but once inside he was on his home ground, and somewhere deep within the maze-like corridors. Presumably the judge would be in the most secure place, either to make his stand or protect something that was maintaining the corrupted space they were now in. But what would the most secure place be?
“The upper chambers!” Celestia called out to Yu Kanda as she ran. “Given that this plane denies us flight, the upper levels of the castle would both be more secure and give a vantage point. That is where our foe is most likely to be!” And if he could not be found there, the upper levels would give a better view of the rest of the castle, which would help them find any other hiding places. She turned on spotting a staircase, and moved toward and up it.
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