EX Mission: Santa Frost is Coming to Town

The duo reached the scene just in time to notice King Frost's armour repel Bastion's demon's sword attack. Nihility slid down beside her beast demon and bit her lips while trying to come up with the next attack formation. Meanwhile, Cleo and Vayu had arrived as well to subjugate the Jack Frost army which the enemy leader had sent to hinder the Vanguards.


"Tyrian, We need to do something about the King's armour."

Nodding to herself, Nihility held out her hand.

"Charge me up!"


Acknowledging the command, the demon beast lowered his head, charged his huge horns with Maga and rammed them at his Summoner's outstretched palm.

A swirling Maga barrier syphoned the attack spell into Nihility. With her eyes glowing with energy, the Vanguard brought up her steel sword and pointed the sharp tip at King Frost.

Hosting a wicked smile, Nihilityh lowered her body to reduce the drag around her and bolted towards the big boss; Tyrian, galloping right next to her.

"I'll go for his Armour, try to get in your hits whenever possible!!" She yelled at the other Vanguards.


The dashing duo, using Fury Charge, made a bee-line for King Frost. Nihility's plan was to Kamikaze at the big guy with full force. Tyrian would return to the Vanguard Gauntlet after the impact and upon King Frost's attack to counter Nihility, she would allow herself to crash into his attack as close as possible to him. Her purpose would be to release her Purple Haze to engulf the King in her acid, while she re-appears behind him with Shoggoth and both Demon and Partner begin rapidly pummelling King Frost with Noxious Orbs. She believed that the burning properties of the acid/poison would aid in eating away at the armour's durability. Bastion, on the other hand, could find an opportunity within their attack pattern to fire off his beam attacks to pierce through the weakened armour.

Zephyr Arc

While he would have liked to join in on the fight with King Frost, Zephyr realised the importance of having someone with ranged attack capabilities defending the wall. Only a few of them really did, and his crossbow too the cake on range either way. Accepting his role, he buffed himself with Boost and Overdrive and fired a volley at an incoming golem.

His arrows shot forth coated in ice and growing stronger the further they travelled... and bigger. The golem was struck by a ballista-sized ice-coated round and was quickly felled, along with the last of the three arrows landing on the one behind it. "Hmmm. Not bad. Glad I picked that spell." He commented to himself as he reloaded his bow. Noting that he really needed to modify the thing for easier loading, he took aim and fired at another golem.

He kept an eye on the rest of the team from his vantage point as he fought, in case they needed any ranged assists. Any time a golem managed to get too close, he quickly felled it with his spear and went back to shooting. The Jack Frosts fell like flies at range or up close, so he was actually a bit disappointed with the action he was seeing. The pixie on his shoulder appeared happy at the turn of events however.

Samael

Samael gasped in shock as he saw Santa frost jump towards the horde of ice golems below. As a synchronized shock appeared on both Goki and Santa's face with Goki jumping after him in an attempt to pull him back only to fly after him himself.

"What are you two doing?!" Samael yelled, losing all of his santa like demeanor as he barely reached out to touch the two of them with the tips of his fingers as a shimmering aura began to overcome them and the two shifted in appearance as the Santa like disguise fell off of Samael in response.

"Transform.." Samael called out in a confused voice with a mixture of Santa and his own, as the spell solidified. Goki turned into a Jack frost, while Santa frost transformed into one of the ice golems as the two plunged into the ice golems now blending in.

Samael had to trust in Goki to be smart enough to not engage and protect Santa frost, but for the time being he needed to defend the wall or else other vanguards would be in danger.

Samael sighed angrily as he pulled out his sword and pierced the nearest ice golem that crumbled under the blow for another 'point'.

The Jack Frosts appeared hesitant as they approached the group, and when Cleo cast his Subjugation spell, they all collapsed impotently to the ground. Vayu’s Confusion Wave further bowled them over onto their backs, all dizzy and confused.

“Hee-ho fools!” King Frost bellowed. “Useless!”

Despite his decisive action against the Jack Frosts, Vayu seemed hesitant to attack King Frost directly, hoping they could convince him to stop. Personally, Bastion was feeling diplomacy was far more unlikely with every passing minute.

“You can’t convince him, because King Frost is the hee-ho bad guy here!”

Bastion turned at the sound of the high-pitched voice to see a snow golem stagger out of the hoard and point an accusing icicle-like finger at the demon. After a moment, he disappeared in a puff, and Van Frost was in his place.

“If I gave myself up, would you retreat?” Van Frost asked.

“Hee-hah!” King Frost laughed. “If you came to grovel, you’re wasting your hee-ho time. Both you and these riff-raf will pay for daring to stand against me!”

Van Frost turned to the other Vanguards and stamped his little foot. “See? It’s no good. No good! King Frost is a tyrant! That’s why I left the other Jack Frosts in the first place,” he admitted. “But before I can be a hero to humans, I need to be a hero to my own kind!

King Frost scowled at him, but his attention was distracted by Nihility and Tyrian charging full-force in his armor. It clanged like a bell, and King Frost shuddered slightly, but it didn’t seem to make a dent. Bastion nodded to Archangel, who flew forward and unleashed a slashing wave with his sword.

“Justice!” he barked, sending the light spell directly at Nihility’s point of impact.

“Ice Wall!” he cried, blasting Nihility and her demon back and blocking the spell with the barrier of ice.

“It won’t work,” Van Frost said, shaking his head.

“Then what-“ Bastion began, but he saw it. His Revelation spell directed his attention to a point on King Frost’s armor, an odd padlock on the front of it.

“That lock,” he said to Van Frost. “Can we get it open?”

Van Frost smiled and nodded. “Way a-hee-ho-head of you!”

A Jack Frost waddled up to King Frost from off to the side, holding the scepter in his hands. Bastion gasped and took a step forward, but Van Frost held a little hand out to stop him.

“Ah, my scepter!” King Frost cried. “Bring it to me, slave!”

The Jack Frost approached, flapping his arms merrily, then stopped in front of King Frost. Then, as King Frost reached out, the Jack Frost leaped into the air and plunged the key-shaped end of the scepter into the lock on King Frost’s armor.

“No-hooooo!” King Frost cried as the armor sprang open, throwing the Jack Frost back. In a puff of smoke, he transformed back into Goki, who sailed through the air before being caught by Van Frost.

“Nice job, partner!” Van Frost said.

Everyone turned to King Frost, who’s soft white body was now exposed beneath his armor. But he pulled loose the scepter and held it aloft, a wide smile on his face.

“You’ll pay for that!” he declared. “Polarburst!”

A blueish aura surrounded him, and he pointed his scepter toward the Vanguards. “Ice Cannon!”

Everyone ducked, but the resulting blast was even stronger than before, knocking them off their feet. Aeris, farther than the others, was the only one left on her feet.

“Time to finish this,” she said. “Artemis!”

The demon appeared before her once more and aimed her arrow straight for King Frost’s heart. But before she could loose it, snow golems appeared out of the ice storm and barreled for the group. Cursing, Aeris directed Artemis around the face the hoard.

“Calamity!” she ordered, and Artemis fired the arrow up into the sky, which split and rained down on the approaching golems.

“Keep them occupied,” Aeris said to her demon before turning to King Frost. “Guess I’ll have to get my hands dirty.”

“Your dirty hee-ho hands have no place on my royal person!” King Frost bellowed, sending an ice cannon blast at her, which she nimbly dodged.

“Come on, you lot,” she ordered the rest of the Van Guard. “Let’s cut this king down to size.”

Chaldea – Wastelands
- Vayu -

“Ugh, fine! Battle it is then,” Vayu agreed. None of their attacks seemed to be working until Van Frost appeared, using the scepter to unlock King Frosts armor.

Vayu braced himself for the onslaught of ice and snow, skidding back a few feet. Thankfully the protection showed effect and he was spared most of the damage.

Well as long as the armor was still open, it would be best if they combined their efforts to hit his weak spot.

“Bastion have Archangel use his Justice spell to hit his heart. We’ll combine it with Catequil’s Thunder!” he called over and then waved his demon forward. The demon jumped up and moved quickly forward. “Catequil use Dark Vortex.”

The demon roared and readied his spear, watching the movements of Archangel.

“Everyone else, keep him distracted!” Hopefully that would buy them enough time for their attacks to connect before he could retreat back into his armor.

With a little "Oomph", Nihility plopped into the fluffy snow. She crossed her arms and pouted. After pushing herself up, the young lady jiggled her body to let the snow plop off into a pile at her side.

"Hmmph" Stopping her feet on the ground in annoyance, Nihility pumped her fighting spirit back up and readied to dash in again.

With her whip sword at her side, the energised Vanguard chased after Aeris.


"Shoggoth! let's doubly wrap up the guy inside, like a christmas present." Nihility nodded towards King Frost as she gave the order to her demon.


After absorbing the spell from her demon, the pair focused the entirety of the combined spell to root King Frost on the spot. Hopefully, this would give Aeris and Nihility the window to whip the Boss Demon into shape.

"You've been a bad boy. "It's time to take your punishment." Nihility loudly snapped her sword like a steel-whip crunching cold air in-between it's razor-sharp fangs.

Chaldea - Wastelands

Bastion nodded at Vayu, then turned to Archangel. "Archangel, you heard him."

Archangel seemed to stare down Vayu a moment before nodding at Bastion. He took to the air with a sweep of his wings, keeping Catequil in his sights to time the attack.

“Everyone else, keep him distracted!” Vayu called.

Aeris and Nihility were already in motion, racing for King Frost as Shoggoth cast her binding spell on King Frost. The fairy demon let out a squeal of pain as the spell took its mark, but still had the sense to swipe his scepter as Nihility and Aeris closed in. They leaped aside, both slashing their whips at him to keep his focus on them.

"Good enough," Bastion said. "Archangel, use Justice!"

Archangel nodded and raised his sword with a mighty cry before slashing with his sword, sending an arc of light hurtling at King Frost. Catequil saw his moment and let loose his Dark Vortex, which struck Archangel's spell and sent electricity coursing through the light wave.

"Duck!" Aeris ordered, and she and Nihility dodged as the spell flew past them, slamming into King Frost's chest. The demon cried out and sagged in his armored robe.

"Is he-?" Bastion began. But King Frost opened his eyes and glared, a pained grimace on his face.

"You'll.... pay...!" he groaned, raising his scepter. "Tyrant Glacier!"

Aeris and Nihility were at ground zero with nowhere to run or dodge. Snatching Nihility's arm, she pulled her close and shouted, "Juno!"

The demon appeared, encircling the two women in the protective dome of her body as the giant icicles erupted from the ground all around King Frost like a forest of glistening trees. Juno disappeared from sight beneath them, and the icicle raced for the rest of the Vanguard.

Bastion gasped. They had no way of blocking a spell that powerful. Archangel flew down, encircling Bastion with his wings, but-

"Hee-ho, Frost Guard go!"

Bastion blinked, staring past Archangel's wings as the troop of Jack Frosts they'd debilitated, led by Van Frost, filed in front of the Vanguards and raised their tiny hands. Their defensive spells combined to form a wall just as the icicles reached them, smashing into the barrier and dissipating on contact.

"What!" King Frost. "What's the hee-ho meaning of this?!"

"It's time for a new King Frost!" Van Frost declared. "And time for you to go down!"

He turned around to smile at the Vanguards. "Together! One more attack should do it!"

--------------------------------------------------

Chaldea - Walls

The tide might be turning against King Frost, but the ice golems were showing no signs of stopping. In fact, they seemed to be changing. Several golems stepped into each other, their forms growing even more massive and spiked. As Zephyr turned, one of the greater ice golems bellowed into his face and swiped him right off the wall, sending him plunging to the city below.

Komori cursed, trying to reach him, but the golem blocked his path and charged toward him.

"Careful!" he shouted to Ose and Samael. "They're getting bigger."

"Heh, makes no difference to me," Ose replied, though he only narrowly missed a swipe from another greater golems huge ice claws.

Samael

"This isn't the time for the game anymore, if they keep growing there's going to be too much damage."  Samael stated in a panicked look as he glanced back over at Zeyphr who had just been knocked clean off the wall by a giant ice golem who was now shifting his gaze towards him.

His fist while slow was still a major threat, as Samael quickly slid under the fist towards the edge of the wall that zeyphr had just fallen off. He only had a split second to react, so he would need to be fast with no hesitation. They needed Zeyphr and his buffs to eliminate the golems before they can do any more damage.

"Komori, Zeyphr!" Samael called out as he knew he had some kind of agility spell from the fight.  He quickly ran to the wall and held out his hand, as a blur of magic erupted from it condensing right below Zeyphr in the form of a horse.

"Spectral Steed!  Quick use your buffs, we have to isolate these golems before they merge more!"  Samael called out to Zeyphr, as he drew his sword just in time as a fist of heavy ice barreled into him.  The vanguard skid the sword across the side of the fist, but the blow from the attack threw him back a few feet as his stumbled back near the edge of the wall.

Goki

Goki wasn't there with the rest of the Jack Frost's he was missing, gone from sight.  The battle had traveled a bit since the combat the group going down hill as a giant ice light sleigh was barreling town from atop of the hill.  It was the corpse of a bunch of ice golem held together by van frost's everfrost spell lowering binding it into a make shift sleigh.

"Our plan isn't over yet!  Use your enemies weakness to your advantage!"  Goki jeered, as he sleighed down towards King frost with his club outstretched and it glowing with a blow maga light that was winding up for his spell.  Even though this probably wasn't quite what Ose meant when he said that phrase.....

"Hop on everyone!  We'll take down the tyrant together!"  Goki shouted gesturing to the other vanguards who were behind the ice wall as he began to bolt past them.

The giant icicles spread like wildfire towards them, but even before she could react, Nihility was swept off her feet into a wild hug. The vanguard melted in the other woman's warm embrace. The coldness washed away as Juno's protective dome engulfed the two woman.

"Ah, so is this what they call a sister's embrace?" Nihility tightly held on to the other woman, her cheek squashed against the soft mounds.


Unfortunately, Nihility knew this bodily heat, this warmth, wouldn't last for long. Van Frost leading his army alongside the little Oni charged at King Frost. Nihility pushed herself away from the beautiful vanguard and readied her whip to once again charge at the Evil Demon.


"Shoggoth, control the crowd and keep a path clear for us!" Nihility ordered her demon to do whatever it takes to allow the vanguards to have a clear path to King Frost.

The purple demon's smile widened and began dropping Noxioius Orbs at the enemy and firing off thick bio-rods like long bullets, to impale and break them apart.

Zephyr Arc

Caught by surprised by the golems suddenly merging into an even larger, more powerful form, Zephyr was pushed clean off the wall. He was about to used Shift to shrink himself down so Cherry could fly him back up, but Samael was a beat faster, his Spectral Steed manifesting beneath Zephyr's feet.

"As you wish!" He replied, casting Boost and Overdrive as he charged back up the side of the wall on the steed. "Komori! I can handle one more buff, will yours work?" He asked as he leapt over the head of the nearest golem, faster than the beast could react thanks to the overdrive-boosted steed. His spear rapidly extended, ripping its head and part of its torso in half before retracting, landing next to Samael.

Chaldea – Wastelands
- Vayu -

Vayu calmly returned Archangel’s stare. If it fazed him, it didn’t show on his face. The second was over too quick and the two demons jumped into action and their attack connected in one powerful blow.

However, it was still not enough. Vayu gritted his teeth. They needed more power. No, more fire. Distracted for a few moments, he looked up when Catequil called him and saw giant icicles erupting all around him and the other Vanguards.

He jumped into action, when the group of Jack Frost suddenly came to their aid, blocking the icicles.

“That was close,” Catequil murmured.

“Too close, if you ask me,” Vayu replied and watched Van Frost approach and close behind him, Goki with a makeshift sled.

Catequil suddenly grinned and nudged Vayu. “What would you have done, if they hadn’t shown up?”

Vayu sighed. He wasn’t exactly sure. “Whatever,” he said. “Go help Shoggoth with crowd control.” Not too friendly, he pushed his demon towards King Forst. Catequil shrugged and jumped into the air, using his spear to slash the icicles that were in the way.

When Catequil reached King Frost, he pointed his spear towards him. “Power Bind!” and concentrated all its energy towards King Frost. Keeping him rooted into place, should give the others an opening to focus their attack.

- Cleo -

Cleo had to admit that he was impressed with the group's tactics. They'd come a long way from the frantic mock battle with Komori, not so long ago. Unfortunately, they weren't facing a foe that was willing to hold back this time. Without Aeris to help, he wasn't sure that Nihility would have survived that attack. Then again, he'd seen the women of this group come through worse. Amira, especially, seemed particularly adept at getting herself into sticky situations.

The turning point was when the Jack Frosts seemed to turn on their king though. Without their defense, he probably would have been caught up in the demon's spell as well. Not to mention, without the need to keep them tied down, Cleo could now focus his efforts on helping the others with their attack. His attention was briefly drawn to the makeshift sled rushing down the embankment. "Kitten, with them. Show me some fireworks."

With a broad grin, she leapt aboard the sled and threw flameflicks ahead of them, carving a melting path into the forest of ice in their way. Cleo watched as the group slid through the snow, but he moved towards where Bastion stood with Archangel. "If we all attack him from the same side, he can just turn away. That armor is still thick in the back." He turned a questioning gaze at Archangel. "How would you feel about dropping me behind him?"

Chaldea - Wastelands

Bastion blinked in surprise as the sled raced past them, with Nekomata and Van Frost leaping aboard to join Goki's charge.

"I've seen everything..." he muttered, turning as Cleo approached him and Vayu with a plan. Vayu set to work casting his Powerbind on King Frost while Bastion looked to Archangel for confirmation.

However, Archangel was staring at Vayu with a chilling expression. He showed distaste for Vayu, yes, but his look toward Cleo was outright hostility.

"I will not touch-" he began, but Bastion shot him a glare.

"You pledged to serve me and protect me," he countered. "And I'm not safe till King Frost is dealt with. Fly Cleo and deliver him to the other side of King Frost."

Archangel hovered, stiff and angry, but finally gave a curt nod and snatched up Cleo.

Bastion frowned, watching him go. What was that all about?

No time to ponder now, though. King Frost aimed another Ice Cannon shot toward Vayu, and Bastion raced to get in front of him and point his spear at the projectile.

"Focus," he chanted, increasing his spellpower. Then, he opened his eyes. "Holy Horn!"

The shaft of life shot through his spear and through the snowball, blasting it apart. Harmless snow rained down on them, and Bastion spluttered as he cleared his face to see how the others were faring.

-------------------------

Nekomata's fire and Shoggoth's orbs cleared the path as through the icicle as the sled blazed its way toward King Frost. King Frost glowered at them as they approached, bringing his scepter down on the sled as it reached him. They all scattered as the sled burst apart into splinters, with Goki and Van Frost leaping toward the monarch demon. They brought their weapons down, striking King Frost with a terrible wail. But as they flipped back and lunged in once more, he gave a high-pitched laugh and rotated around, blocking their strikes with the back of his armor.

"Fools! You can never-"

But he stopped short at the sight of what I'd turned around into.

------------------------

As Juno's defenses effortlessly blocked King Frost's attacked, Aeris suddenly found the girl she'd rescued nuzzling into her.

"Ah, so is this what they call a sister's embrace?"

What the-? Before Aeris could push her off in disgust, the girl willingly detached to order her demon to help the sled of misfits heading toward King Frost. Well, they could try. She had another idea.

Racing through the forest of icicles, Aeris came around behind King Frost just as she caught sight of something overhead. She stopped short as Archangel dropped Cleo the second he could and turned away. Cleo landed on one of the icicles beside her, and she raised her eyebrows.

"I guess we're on the same wavelength," she said, turning to survey King Frost's back. "Let's make this one count."

King Frost turned away from the group assaulting him and stopped short as he stared at Cleo and Aeris now in front of him.

"Hee...?" he whimpered.

Goki

"Down with the tyrant!" Goki called out ambitiously like some sort of bloodthirsty revolutionary, as he rose his club approaching king frost. His arms were shaking with a mixture of adrenaline and fear, as they grew closer his eyes widening as King Frost rose his specter to destroy their sled.

However, with a nudge from Van Frost he was able to move out of the way this time. It wasn't going to be like the fight in the misty village he was able to get out of the way.

Goki used the momentum of the sleigh to launch him into king frost of his club slammed into the snowy figure of the creature, puffs of cloudy snow brushing in his face as he was pushed back to the ground only to have that king turn him back to him.

"You always turn your back on your subjects don't you!" Van frost yelled in a rage, as Goki and van frost ran over to king frost's feet latching onto them and slamming them onto the melted water on the ground from Nekomata's fire.

"Everfrost!" Van frost yelled, as a gush of ice merged with the water freezing king frost's feet to the ground below.

"Now!" The two yelled, waving their weapons as the jumped away from the tyrant to not get caught in the crossfire.

------
Samael

"Nice Zeyphr, guess we're starting to get this teamwork thing down." Samael commented in a strange emotionless nod, but his body was shaking in excitement just like Goki was down by King Frost.

He slowly turned his head to see Komori and Ose slaughtering the remaining golems, his mind now concered on how much lower his kill count was then their's at this point.

"Looks like the Golems are slowing down, I hope we get extra points for assists and taking down the bigger one." Samael stated with a hint of envy in his voice, as he strained his eyes to see if he could even see a hint of the others fighting king frost up ahead.

He wanted to see how Goki was doing, making sure he wasn't getting in the way too much. However, with Aeris and the others they should be fine regardless. Sure, Goki had been training with Ose however he could only get so much better as a lesser oni in such a short span of time.

"Maybe I should go and make sure Goki is okay." Samael stated, as he began to walk towards the edge of the wall.

- Cleo -

Despite Archangel's obvious discomfort with the request, the demon was swift, and that's what Cleo needed. He landed beside a clearly surprised Aeris before the sled arrived.

"I try to make every time count." Cleo quipped as he reached over his shoulder to draw his zanbato.

Aeris arched an eyebrow as he gripped the blade with both hands. "Do you even know how to use something that size?" She responded with a smirk. "I can't imagine you're familiar with such a large weapon, and we wouldn't want you hurting yourself trying to compensate."

Cleo barked out a laugh as the others finally reached their target, but he didn't have time to respond. King Frost turned towards them, and he jumped from the ice pillar, bringing the zanbato over his head with both hands.

"Artemis. Goddess Bow!" An arrow struck Cleo in the back, and his eyes widened for a moment. Rather than pain, he felt power surge through his veins. It was now or never.

"Crushing Strike!" The blade in his hands glowed as he swept it downwards.

"Heeeee.... NO!" King Frost's scepter met the strike with a loud crack. It wasn't enough to stop the attack, but it was turned aside, cleaving a jagged line in the surface of the demon's armor.

"Artemis, finish him. Huntress Arrow."

Cold air swirled behind Cleo as the demon drew back the bow. Unable to do anything more from where he was, Cleo jumped backwards, putting distance between himself and Artemis' target. Unfortunately, that meant taking pressure off of King Frost, who raised the scepter once more.

"Ice heee Wall!"

Twisting his head, Cleo sought out Artemis as the ice began to pack in behind him. Just close enough. Slipping his left hand from around the hilt of his sword, Cleo held his palm towards the demon. Ice rose to separate them, but in the familiar disorientation of his Bait and Switch spell, Cleo now stood beside Aeris.

Meaning that Artemis was now on the other side of the ice wall and well past King Frost's defenses... With a fully drawn arrow.

Nihility had kept pace with Aeris and Cleo and so continued to be in the midst of the battle.


"Shoggoth! One more time!" Nihility commanded her demon to bind King Frost.

"Heh" the purple demon bared her fangs and leapt on top of the Ice Wall.

Thrusting her arms at the giant demon, she wiggled her fingers and purple tendrils emerged from within the hollow armour of the Pale demon to wrap around and bind its limbs.


Nihility flexed her shoulders and then concentrated on firing up her own spell.

"Right, Heave-Ho indeed."

Tapping her forehead with the tips of her left-hand-fingers she mentally projected King Frost who was behind the wall and in the line of sight of her demon partner, Shoggoth. At the same time, she pointed at her demon with her right hand and then clenched it into a fist.

"Maga Transfer!!" The vanguard yelled too activate her energy transferring spell

Spoiler:

"This combo ought to give the team the final edge in their onslaught against the Enemy" Nihility spoke out loud into her surroundings.

Chaldea – Wastelands
- Vayu -

Vayu stayed back with Bastion, watching tensely. He still had a few support spells he could use, but timing would be crucial. For now, everything seemed to go more or less according to plan.

He was so focused, that the near encounter with another Ice Cannon took him by surprise. Luckily Bastion was there in time.

“Thanks, Bastion,” Vayu said and dusted the snow off his clothes. Thanks to the ability he borrowed from Catequil, the effects and damage from the ice and the cold were kept to a minimum.

“Let’s hope this works,” he could see Catequil landing near Goki and Van Frost, ready to launch another attack should King Frost turn back around.

Chaldea - Wastelands

With Shoggoth, Goki, and Van Frost's efforts, King Frost was powerless to react, even if he did have the wits about him as the squashable young Vanguard was suddenly replaced with a very powerful demon, her sights set right on him.

"Heeee!" he cried as Artemis let loose her arrow, which flew straight through the white bulk of his body and burst through the armor out the back.

The ice around King Frost vanished as the tyrant monarch sagged with a pitiful "ho..."

"I'll take that!" Van Frost cried, swiping King Frost's scepter from his hands and holding it up. "The Jack Frosts will have a new King Frost!"

The Jack Frosts gathered around, gazing up at him as the natural choice. But Van Frost shook his head and handed it off to them.

"I have a long way to go before I'm ready to lead anyone," he said.

With a chorus of delighted "Hee!"s, however, they piled onto him with hugs. Van Frost grinned, then pulled Goki into the crowd.

"And let this oni be honorarily known among us as Goki Frost!" he proclaimed, tapping his blade to Goki's club and letting the Everfrost spell do its work.

The Jack Frosts cheered once more, thanking the Vanguards before departing. But a few of them remained behind, eyeing the Vanguards with interest.

"Make us strong like Van Frost and Goki Frost!" they asked.

--------------------------------------------------

Chaldea - Wall

Ose scoffed at Samael's remark and shook his head. "Points for assists. I won't even dignify that with a response. And as for the bigger ones, they still only count as one body!"

He leaped over Samael's head and swept his blades around in a fiery arc, sending a wave of flames slashing through several golems. When he straightened up, Samael moved toward the wall, talking about going to check on Goki. Ose grabbed him by the collar and unceremoniously dropped him on his backside.

"Have more faith in your demons," he said with a piercing stare. "Especially that oni. If you can't have faith in him, how can he have faith in himself?"

"I'll echo that sentiment," Komori said. "And I'll also pass your kill count!"

Ose whipped around, dismayed, as Komori leaped for a large golem barreling toward him. Right as he swung his sword down, it suddenly collapsed into a puddle of slush. Komori gasped, misstepped on the slush, and fell onto his back with a groan.

"Heh," Ose chuckled, standing over him. "What was that about passing me?"

"That still counts!" Komori declared, reaching out a hand.

Ose scoffed but helped him up anyway. "It does not. If anything, you should lose points for that finish."

They glared at each other, hands still clenched. Then, after a moment, they shook the still-clasped hands and smirked.

"Draw."

Turning to face the wastelands beyond the wall, they saw that the army of golems had completely collapsed, and the triumphant Vanguards now stood in the midst of a joyous troop of Jack Frosts.

"They're not half bad," Ose mused.

Komori raised his eyebrows. "High praise from you, Ose."

"Don't get used to it."

Ose kicked off the wall and dropped down to the snow below. Komori barked out a laugh and winked at Samael and Zephyr.

"Coming?"

With that, he swung over the wall and raced down it before kicking off toward the ground.

--------------------------------------------------

Chaldea - Wastelands

Bastion sighed with relief as King Frost finally went down. He turned and smiled at Vayu just as Archangel returned with a surly expression. Bastion gave him a questioning look, but he returned to the gauntlet without a word.

He'd have to look into this later.

Just then, Komori, Ose, Samael, and Zephyr approached them, and they all moved to join the larger group.

"Who got the finishing blow?" Ose asked as they approached.

Aeris cast a glance at Cleo and shrugged. "It was a team effort."

"Oh?" Komori raised his eyebrows. "Never thought you'd be part of a team effort."

"Beats being snowed in with all of you," she replied, smirking and turning to leave, but not before nodding to Cleo. "Not bad, kid."

As she walked off back to the city, Van Frost trotted up to Samael with Goki in tow. He took Samael by the hand and led him up to King Frost, who seemed diminished now.

"He's going to fade soon," Van Frost said. "But he'll survive if he forms a hee-ho bond with a Vanguard. I think with the right master, he might just shape up. I think that should be you, Santa."

Van Frost turned to King Frost and peered up into his large, round face. "Do you agree?"

King Frost nodded feebly. "Hee..."

Van Frost turned back to Samael, looking expectant.

Chaldea – Wastelands
- Vayu -

The group gathered and Vayu returned to Catequil’s side after glancing at the Jack Frosts that had stayed behind.

“Good job,” he said to the demon.“Thank you.” Catequil nodded and then the demon grinned when he saw the gathering of Jack Frosts. “Oh, I see what your plan is,” he said with a smirk. “Even though you try to act tough, you’re such a softie.” His clawed hand landed on top of Vayu’s head and ruffled his hair. That couldn’t feel pleasant.

“Catequil! Stop it!” Vayu complained and squirmed away. With another grin, the demon disappeared into the gauntlet. Vayu sighed. What a hassle.

He stepped up to the group of Jack Frosts.

“Come with me,” he said calmly. “I’ll make you stronger.”

One of the Jack Frosts squealed happily and jumped into Vayu’s arms, the bells on its collar jingling softly. With a slightly irritated expression, Vayu grabbed the demon by the collar and held it at arm’s length. Then he touched it with the gauntlet, and it disappeared inside.

Suddenly he wasn’t sure if this had been such a good idea. Still thinking about his choice, he returned to the rest of the group.

The Snow Battle was finally done with. Unlike all the previous battles, this one wasn't the least bit bloody. Snow guts mixed well with snow and that gave Nihility an Idea. Nodding her head, she approached one of the Jack Frosts.

"Yes, getting strong is very important. You shall join my group, and with your help, it will become strong."

Nihility patted the head of the smiling Jack Frost who was completely clueless of its pending doom. The demon dematerialised into the Vanguard Gauntlet along with Shoggoth who was giving Nihility an approving nod.

Samael

Samael was taken aback by what Ose said and not just because he was just dropped on his back. He quickly placed his hands palm down on the ground next to him and pushed himself back up onto his feet, as his face twisted into twisted scowl.

"You better..." Samael was beginning to angrily rant, as he slowly approached Ose his right hand balled into a fist until the words of Komori agreeing with Ose hit him. All of a sudden his face shifted to a look of rage to also include embarrassment.

He felt smaller more ganged up on and it pissed him off. Why should he be chastised because he showed concern for his demon? It didn't make sense, he was weak after all and got him hit in the village, what if the same happened now?

"Fine, I'll try and show more faith. Goki has been putting in a lot of effort." Samael stated in a relenting tone, even though he was more masking and hiding his anger. Though, the topic was cut short as all the ice golems vanished, as it seemed king frost had been defeated.

"Looks like they did it!" Samael cheered with a rather forced smile, as he began maneuvering over towards the rest of the group.

---

As Samael made his wave over Goki ran up to him and Ose, as Goki looked over at Ose first his chest puffed out like a strongman. His club was his trophy that he won after winning such a grand competition!

"Van frost and I took him out! We used his own weakness against him just like you said Ose!" Goki stated with a proud smile, as he shifted his gaze towards Samael with a just as eager gaze. All of that tension, that fear of bicorn had faded... it was like he was a different demon.

"Good job. I'm sure Bicorn is shaking in his boots now." Samael remarked rather casually him giving goki a slight nod of respect, as a strange tight sensation grew in his chest when Goki spoke to Ose first. He was his master after all right? How did he become so fond with Ose of all people?!

Though no one seemed to catch onto his apprehension, as he was directed towards king frost who was beginning to fade away. A smile flickered onto Samael's face.

"Well when you ask me like that how could I say no? Welcome to the team king frost!" Samael stated with a santa like laugh, as he reached out his gauntlet to form the contract.

Zephyr Arc - Wall

As they fought, Samael abruptly decided he needed to go check on his demon and turned to leave. Before he made it very far, Ose stopped him, chastising him for having such thoughts to begin with. Komori piped up in agreement with his demon before the two went on a frenzy to see who could kill more golems. Noting Samael looked a bit... off, Zephyr decidedly kept the golem waves from reaching him. This didn't last long enough to be noticed as the golems turned into puddles not long after.

"Well, I guess that's that. Guess the others got the king?" He commented as he followed the others off the wall, jumping off and gliding down with help from a shifted Cherry. He continued to observe Samael on the way. He usually seemed like an upbeat kind of person, but seemed strangely out of it since Ose's remark.

- Wasteland

They slowly strolled up to the rest of the group. "I can see who has the upper hand in that relationship from the top of the wall." Zephyr cheekily commented to Vayu with a grin like he was asking to be hit, decidedly ignoring Nihility tricking a poor Jack Frost into what he could only presume was becoming Shoggoth's next meal.

He then watched on as the little santa-wannabe proposed Samael contract King Frost before he faded away. Once all was said and done, with the urging of the pixie on his shoulder, he walked up to him. "You doing alright? You seem a bit... down? I think?"

- Cleo -

Cleo bent at the waist in an exaggerated bow as Aeris turned to leave. A crooked grin was firmly in place when he stood back to his full height and turned to Komori. "I guess it's safe to assume she hasn't realize I'm not actually a kid? Maybe it's the babyface?"

Chuckling, he moved towards the group of Jack Frosts, who were shuffling around their fallen king. "I can't promise to make any of you royalty, but if one of you would like to go on an adventure, I can probably make that happen."

"Kingship sounds like the hee-ho pits." One of them responded with a wide smile. "I'd rather be a hee-ho knight!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that either." Cleo responded, his smile slipping a little. "But I can make you something any knight would be happy to have at his side."

The demon seemed to consider this for a moment before pressing a fist to his chest. "Then by the hee first frost of the ho season, I'll join you."

"Excellent." Cleo held out a hand, and when the demon gripped it with chilly fingers, he was pulled into the gauntlet.

Chaldea - Wastelands

Ose folded his arms and smiled down at Goki. Not that he'd admit it, but the little oni was... growing on him.

"Good to know you were listening," he said, casting a glance at Samael. Hopefully, this would mark a change in their relationship.

Komori shook his head. Never would he have expected Ose to turn into a mentor for Samael's lesser oni just from his training suggestion. Best not to brring it up, though. Ose would get incensed at the notion of becoming soft for someone else.

He turned and half-chuckled, half-sighed as Cleo asked him about Aeris.

"It's nothing to do with you physically or your actual age," he said. "It's an experience thing. To her, as a Vanguard, you're still wet behind the ears. A kid."

He hesitated, like he might start a lecture, but just shrugged and patted Cleo's shoulder. He should warn him off her - really, he should - but most likely, nothing would come of this. Cleo was too much of a flirt to focus on one woman, and Aeris was never going give him enough attention anyway.

Hopefully.

"Let's head back, everyone!" Komori called. "I'll need to make a report, but we'll convene at the Devil's Cocktail."

--------------------------------------------------

Chaldea - Devil's Cocktail

Everyone came back to the Devil's Cocktail and waited for Komori to return from his report to the Council. Ose deigned to come in and sit while Goki and Van Frost regailed him with the blow-by-blow of the battle. The young Vanguards all shared drinks together, tired but relaxed. Rory sat wide-eyed as Nena asked questions about what had happened, only too happy to keep supplying drinks and food.

Komori returned after a little while, and another round of drinks went around. During a lull in conversation, Rory suddenly piped up, then blushed when everyone's eyes turned to her.

"We never got presents from Santa, so..." She fidgeted, cheeks pink. "Maybe we could all be Santa. Give each other gifts."

Komori smiled. "I think that's a great idea."

She beamed at him as he quickly tore up a napkin and began to write on the various scraps. Grabbing up a bowl, he tossed them all in, shook it up, and held it out.

"Everyone gets a name and gets their recipient a gift. Then we'll reconvene tomorrow and open them up!"

Rory ran up first and picked out a name, and then everyone else made their way up, some eagerly and some more reluctant. When everyone had their picks, they all parted to find gifts for their chosen person.

Chaldea – Devil’s Cocktail
- Vayu -

A thoughtful Vayu returned to the Devil’s Cocktail after his visit to the Cathedral of Shadows. Just before entering, he returned Catequil to his gauntlet in the hope that Jack Frost wouldn’t come back out. He breathed a sigh of relief when it stayed quiet for now.

Finally Komori returned and Vayu went over to him and the other Vanguards. He wasn’t really listening until Rory piped up with her idea.

After a moment of irritation, he looked around at the faces of the other Vanguards. It looked like there were mixed feelings about the idea.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Vayu said. He walked up to the bowl after Rory and picked out a name. It would be nice to sit together now that things had calmed down. And it would be a good opportunity to cook that feast he promised them.

When the others had left, he returned behind the counter at the bar and finally unfolded the piece of napkin to see what name he’d gotten. Nihility. A smile tugged on his lips. Well that would be easy. For a change, he left the Devil’s Cocktail early. Tomorrow would be busy.

---------------------
Hunting for a present

Spoiler:

---------------------
Finishing touches

Spoiler:

---------------------
Preparing a feast – Devil’s Cocktail

Spoiler: