With the battle won and the center of the Garden of Serenity claimed by the forces of hell. The Ninth Knot rests. Reluctant to climb the towering flight of one thousand stairs to the imposing Cathedral of Mitra-Made-Manifest.
Licking their wounds, the Ninth rests and tries to figure out how to recover their lost animals. The Nightmare will likely plane-shift on it's own and make a long journey back to Sanctum. The two Nessian Warhounds, one banished by Holy Word, the other lost in the maze prove a more complicated matter.
Still, the Ninth is not without resources, and allies.
Yvianne casts Planer Ally to bring back the Contract Devil who got them the Hounds in the first place, Dessiter. And the Ninth was surprised to see the Devil brought with him the missing hound. "I believe my great masters that you lost this?" The Devil looks up at the towering majesty of Mitra's mighty Cathedral and quickly gives a low bow to the Ninth before quickly leaving.
Having recovered one of their hounds, they decide to leave the clearing & return into the winding maze. Still, before they go, they hurl the bodies of the fallen into the burning flame and then extinguish it with unholy water. The Ninth rejoices as the heavens turn blood red, the earth shakes and off in the distance, the sound of shattered glass is heard. Hell's influence has crept further into the domain of Mitra.
The Ninth recover in Sanctum before returning to the Gardens, this time with more candles & blindfolds for the Nessian Warhounds.
Reaching the top of the one thousand steps, the Knot arrives at the cathedral of Mitra. Seeing nothing, the Knot advances toward the large double doors, but Wasyli decides to pause & cast See Invisibility. That's when the three invisible Movanic Deva struck.
Unleashing a relentless barrage of Holy Smites they managed to keep Yvainne, Wasyli and the Warhounds blinded & injured. Emmerick and Quell rushed forward, but were unable to get at the angels from the ground. Brother Summit however had another idea. Climbing up the side of the cathedral, he then hurled himself out into a free fall, grabbing at one of the angels has he went. He managed to grab hold of the celestial creature & drag it down into the waiting embrace of the other Knot members. One of the other angels tried to come to it's comrades rescue, only to have it's sword sundered by Emmerick and his adamantine mace. The fight quickly turned to the Knots favor. One angel disarmed, another pinned into submission. It was a simple mop-up effort from there before the Knot stood triumphant at the doors of the Cathedral.
Quell quickly searched the door for traps and finding one, quickly disarmed it. Only to then be foiled by the door being barred from the other side.
Brother Summit shrugged & climbed up the side of the Cathedral and tried to pear in through one of the windows, only to find the stained glass to hard to see through. Giving a shrug, he simply smashed a pane and looked through. Seeing six surprised Legion Archons look up, he rushed through the hole, controlled falling down the inside of the cathedral shouting out that combat was at hand. Landing at the doors only a moment later, he yanked up the bar on one of the doors. Only to have the other door burst, shattering into a thousand pieces from the arcane might of Wasyli.
As battle was joined, the Legion Archons rushed forward toward their doom. Then something happened that surprised them. A side door burst open and a radiant looking blond woman emerged, wielding a glowing greatsword. One of the Arcons shouted in celestial, "This fight doesn't concern you Emissary. Flee!"
Flee, thought the Knot. They couldn't have that. So before the apparent "Emissary" could respond, Brother Summit rushed past the fiery swords of the Archons & grabbed hold of the woman. Forcing the issue. She slipped free & cast Freedom of Movement, only to have Wasyli dispel it and Brother Summit grab hold again. Again forced into a bind, she shed her human form and turned into a glowing orb of energy. Wasyli and Mardus were both stumped as to what creature this was.
The fight ragged on. The Legion Archons proved to be nothing more than an annoyance to the Ninth. The Emissary proved the real fight. The Ninth struggled to contain her, Wasyli relying on dispel magic to try to counter her powerful spells while the others struggled to hit her incorporeal form.
With her major arcane offence stymied, the Ninth slowly bur surely whittling away her health and all the Legion Archons dead, she gives a sigh before sinking into the ground and disappearing.
The Ninth wait for her to return. Poised to strike, but she never does.
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