The Prince of Madness Unleashed
Looking downwards at his opponents, Adimarchus slowly and methodically locked gazes with each member of the party – staring down Grimm, perhaps the most powerful of Occipitus’ would-be successors, the longest. The Bright Axes and the Prince of Madness had known each other only by reputation for what seemed like eons – and had longed for the destruction of the other just as long.
Therefore no words of introduction or braggadocio were required.
Let the battle begin.
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The demon prince made the first move by summoning five Glabrezus to serve as his vanguard. Standing at the edge of the square precipice that led to the bottom of Skullrot, the Bright Axes were suddenly surrounded by the huge dog-like demons. By fortuitousness or design one of them happened to be Nabthatoron – the very one who had nearly thwarted them in Red Gorge and had taken the lives of Alec Terceval and Ajax.
At the sight of Rusty, Tilly, and Dalthon, recognition flashed into the fiend’s cruel, soulless eyes, “I told you we would meet again mortals! What I began with Terceval I shall finish by tearing you limb from limb! NOW, my brethren, make them quake before our might.”
In one synchronous gesture, the Glabrezu’s concentrated and unleashed power word stuns that blanketed the entire area. Unfortunately for them, Byakala’s magic had already rendered the Bright Axes absolutely invulnerable to such mind-affecting magic.
Retaliating for Nabthatoron’s failed pre-emptive strike, Ike launched one of his own. Coming in at precisely the right angle, his warhammer smashed against the fiend’s femur – nearly turning it to dust under the weight of the impact. Snarling in pain, the Glabrezu dropped to one knee only to receive two more terrific blows to his spine. In desperation, he grabbed a nearby Gunther who was fumbling with a wand. However, in the end, it was Grimm’s ever-present celestial brilliance that sent the fiend careening back to the Abyss.
Kiko, realizing that fighting the four remaining Glabrezus were merely absorbing their resources, ran past them all as he masterfully dodged their attempts to intercept his course. He leapt directly off the ledge and activated his boots of flying as he fell. The monk looked up confidently at Adimarchus who remained aloof and oblivious to the melee raging around him.
Meanwhile, Tilly and Grimm focused on yet another Glabrezu. The rogue tumbled between its legs, frustrating the fiend's attempt at grappling, as his blows tore deep gashes in its hamstrings. Thus off balance, it was easy prey for the planar champion whose spiked chain ripped through its beefy body. Using the death blow as inertia, Grimm guided the trajectory of his weapon straight into Adimarchus.
To his credit, the demon prince attempted to grab the chain in mid-air with his free hand while his armored gauntlet struck it away. However even he could do little to deflect the blow and was badly gashed across his torso.
Decidedly unpleased with this development, Adimarchus spoke a single word of blasphemy.
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Ah . . . blasphemy an oldie but goody. Entropy fondly remembered the first time a demon from Lolth’s assassinations squads had tried to blaspheme her. It had not done a damn thing as she was just as black-hearted as her assassin, if not more so. Nevertheless, she remembered how incredibly irritating that spell was when she was more ethically-challenged.
The results in this case were dramatic as Tilly, Rusty, and Dalthon were in a brief daze from the evil energies unleashed upon them. Houshang and Gunther fared even worse as they fell paralyzed to the ground, their strength absolutely sapped. Only Grimm, by virtue of his smoking eye, and Kiko, out of the magic’s limited radius remained unharmed.
Taking full advantage of their master’s superb riposte, the Glabrezu’s began to go to town on Gunther and Houshang both of who were basically helpless. In their blood frenzy, the demons did not try to kill them cleanly or efficiently but rather tried to land as many deadly blows in a short a period of time as possible. Fortunately, this lack of foresight and the presence of Dalthon’s stoneskins kept the pair on the cusp of life.
The remaining Glabrezu displayed a markedly better grasp of tactics as he buffeted Grimm with a dispel magic. Seeing that the half-ogre offered the most credible threat to his master, he caused Grimm to float to the ground as his fly expired – preventing him from reaching Adimarchus. Instead both Grimm and Ike turned on the demon threatening their helpless companions, annihilating one outright and severely wounding the other.
“You will pay for your crimes, Adimarchus!!!”
Flying upwards with a spectacular spinning kick, Kiko’s Stone Giant sized leg failed to connect with Adimarchus who deftly flew aside at the last second. The power behind the maneuver left Kiko temporarily vulnerable as the demon prince spun behind him. Almost playfully, he cuffed the monk in the back of the head with his clawed gauntlet.
Though the blow itself was not extremely painful, Kiko felt a strange sensation. His lips began to purse and his cheeks soon followed. He tried to scream, but his entire face, arms, torso and legs rapidly entered his mouth. A writhing ball of flesh, he then exploded with a unceremonious pop as his remains fell messily to the bottom of Skullrot.
Watching the remains, Adimarchus turned towards the remaining Bright Axes. He smiled as he gestured at them to bring it.