Maribel Hearn Quest - ACT I: Part 2

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Okay, give me some time to investigate, then we'll resume with the plan."

>"Alright. Please be careful, Merry."

>Start trying to open the border.

>You fly closer to the dust cloud, ending up right next to the orb.
>The orb is silvery, like one of Uriel's orbs. However it seems incomplete. The upper eighth of it is transparent and appears to be the boundary you saw. Inside, you can see the figure of a girl who looks similar to Renko. For a second you swear you see the figure of another person flicker over the girl before returning to normal.
>The silvery part is some sort of shell, and it seems to be growing across the surface of the boundary, covering more of the orb as each dust particle settles, The shell is growing rapidly, and will probably completely seal over the boundary in a few minutes...

>You begin to make a tear in the boundary. It seems to be resisting you, but you've managed to create a very small one...
>_

[Monarda]

>"Renko ! It's her ! I'll handle the tear, once it's big enough, try to pull her out quickly, because we still have to help Sariel."
>Keep working on the tear, making it big enough for the girl to fit through so we can pull her out.
>Focus all of our spare energy onto this task, close our eyes if that helps maintain focus.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Renko ! It's her ! I'll handle the tear, once it's big enough, try to pull her out quickly, because we still have to help Sariel."

>"Huh!?! Really!?! O-Okay, I'll be right there." Renko shouts back before beginning to make her way over to you.

>Keep working on the tear, making it big enough for the girl to fit through so we can pull her out.
>Focus all of our spare energy onto this task, close our eyes if that helps maintain focus.

>You focus on widening the tear. You keep making it larger as the boundary resists you until...
>CRACK!
>The shell has stopped advancing, and massive cracks have formed all over it, the orb continues to crack until the boundary shatters, and the orb breaks apart, dissipating the rotating dust in a large shockwave.
>The girl is floating in front of you, unconscious.

>Renko is still making her way over to you. The sounds of battle have stopped.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Observe the battleground.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Observe the battleground.

>Uriel and Sariel seemed to have stopped fighting, in fact, the front of Uriel's platform is now facing you, Sariel is floating above and behind him, you think you see a look of disbelief on her face, but it's hard to tell at this distance.

>"S-Sumireko!" Renko exclaims as she finally reaches you, rushing over to the girl's side.
>"My god... I-It's like she hasn't aged a day..." tears begin welling up in Renko's eyes.

>There is no response from Sumireko.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Block Renko and Sumireko.
>"R-Renko, I think I screwed up. I-It's after us now. W-We need to do something."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Block Renko and Sumireko.

>You put yourself between Uriel and the Usamis.

>"R-Renko, I think I screwed up. I-It's after us now. W-We need to do something."

>"W-What should we do?" Renko asks.

>All of Uriel's orbs begin glowing red.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"T-The dagger!"

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"T-The dagger!"

>"O-Oh right!" Renko takes out the box containing dagger from her satchel and retrieves it. The blade glistens in her hands.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Is Renko close enough to stab Uriel?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Is Renko close enough to stab Uriel?

>She is not. Uriel is at least 50 meters away.

>Uriel's orbs begin firing tons of projectiles your way. There are a few spread shots, as well as some faster, aimed shots, with a spiral pattern overlayed on top of them.

>Sariel raises her staff.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"Renko, you still have to kill him. Go when there's a chance. I-I think Sariel is trying to create one."

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"Renko, you still have to kill him. Go when there's a chance. I-I think Sariel is trying to create one."

>"D-Do you think I can do it? What if I fail...?" Renko asks.

>The projectiles are getting closer.

>Sariel fires a ton of lasers at one of Uriel's orbs, catching him off guard and cracking it. There is a roar of pain as the platform swivels to face Sariel in an eldritch manner.
>Something appears to be budding off from the walls.
>_

[Neovereign]

>"You can do it. Sariel said you were destined to. Now's your opportunity. I'll try to keep your sister safe."
>Grab Sumireko and try to get to a safer spot.

[Serela]

>What's happening with the walls?

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>"You can do it. Sariel said you were destined to. Now's your opportunity. I'll try to keep your sister safe."

>"O-Ok..." Renko begins flying towards Uriel. However it seems she isn't as fast as you were when you were dragging her along. Hopefully she can dodge the incoming projectiles alright...

>Grab Sumireko and try to get to a safer spot.

>You grab Sumireko, and position yourself in a spot where you can easily dodge the projectiles when they reach you.

>What's happening with the walls?

>You examine the walls.
>Odd constructs resembling a mesh of pulsating red blood vessels in a roughly spherical shape are budding from the wall in countless numbers. None of them have fully detached yet.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Just focus on keeping Sumireko safe until Renko can finish Uriel off. Or at least until the next prompt

[Monarda]

>Examine Sumireko.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Just focus on keeping Sumireko safe until Renko can finish Uriel off. Or at least until the next prompt

>You focus on protecting Sumireko from harm.

>Examine Sumireko.

>You examine Sumireko.
>She looks similar to Renko, however, unlike her sister, she's wearing glasses. She's dressed in a purple plaid skirt and matching sleeveless top, over a white blouse. Over that is a black cape with the inside red and covered with runes. On her head is a hat similar to Renko's. It's a miracle it hasn't fallen off by now.

>Perhaps the most peculiar thing is that she actually looks a couple of years younger than Renko. You'd expect her to look older.


>Renko is at the wave of projectiles, and seems to be having a difficult time dodging fast enough. It looks like she may get hit at any second...
>The blood vessel orbs have detached, and are slowly making their way towards both you and Renko. Another wave of them is beginning to bud from the walls...
>Uriel fires several lasers at Sariel. Two of them score a direct hit on her.
>_

[Neovereign]

>Fire at the blood vessel-like orbs.

[Monarda]

>With danmaku of course.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Fire at the blood vessel-like orbs.

>With danmaku of course.

>You fire at the red blood vessel orbs with danmaku. And your shots harmlessly dissipate once they make contact.

>"AAAAH!" You hear Renko scream.
>_

[Monarda]

>Turn around to look at Renko !
>"Renko !!!"

[Neovereign]

>Fly over with Sumireko if it's safe enough.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Turn around to look at Renko !
>"Renko !!!"

>Renko is spinning in the void, clutching her right arm. The knife is floating away in a different direction. You think she got hit.
>There's another projectile heading right for her.

>Fly over with Sumireko if it's safe enough.

>You grab Sumireko and begin flying towards Renko, but you're unsure if you'll make it in time...

>_

[Monarda]

>Fire a danmaku bullet of our own, aim it so that it intercepts the projectile heading towards her and make it the same size too.
>"I'm coming Renko !"
>Keep going towards her.

[AzyWng]

>How far away are we from Renko?

I'd shout "Watch out!" or something similar, but that would seem... almost too cliche...
Of course, since I'm using the below cliche, that's kind of hypocritical of me...
>If we're close enough, dive on her to stop her from being hit.

[Evil_Nazgul0616]

>Fire a danmaku bullet of our own, aim it so that it intercepts the projectile heading towards her and make it the same size too.

>You fire a shot of danmaku. It's aimed correctly, but it seems like it's too slow to intercept in time.

>"I'm coming Renko !"
>Keep going towards her.

>You continue moving towards Renko.
>You notice Sariel appear in a swirl of blackness between Uriel and Renko. She looks injured, but her body seems to be glowing.

>How far away are we from Renko?

>You are about 20 meters away and closing.

>The orbs are still closing, but they're moving slow and are still quite far away.
>_

[Neovereign]

>How far is the dagger?

[Monarda]

>"Sariel ! What are these red orbs ?"
>Keep going after Renko.