Centros: The Metal Army [Archive]

[Mizagium]

Magnus didn't wait to see if his attack had landed. He was diverting his attention to twenty different things at once. The defenses were holding about as well as they had been designed to; they were pretty much destroyed. The townsfolk were starting to man the artillery that was still working, sending mortars roaring into the enemy that was beginning to clog the streets. Fortunately, the numerical superiority of the metal army was proving to be a bit of the liability in the narrow streets of Heroes' Refuge. The destroyed bodies of the metal men were starting to obstruct their own troops from advancing further into the city, which meant that they were being forced to use side roads and alleys. Which meant Magnus could set off more of the wards he'd lines along the alleys.

Magnus heard -and felt- a satisfying boom as explosions began to work their way through the advancing army. 'Though at this rate, there might not be much of a town left after all this...' he though. Oh well, the Magisters hadn't specified how intact they'd wanted the town, so he'd leave little mess ofr them to clean up.

With that, he turned his attention back to the artillery. Those mortars would need protection. Magnus began chanting, and the air around him shimmered as elemental atronachs were summoned. The summoned creatures took their places in defense of the artillery placements and promptly began lobbing fireballs and ice spikes at the enemy.

Confident that the defense had been handled, Magnus turned his attention to the fight going on between Mortlock and Fury...yeah he was just gonna leave that one alone.

Magnus ducked into a side alley and, seeing a line of metal men marching towards him, promptly charged up a spell. Electricity coursed along his fingers as he held his hand up and sent a blast of lightning down the alley, frying the troops. Magnus stepped over the bodies and out the other side of the alley to find...a very large number of metal men gathering to try and flank the defenders' main placement.

With a sigh Magnus began chanting again, this time conjuring more of his blue flames -a bit of an embellishment on his part, mostly to annoy the other Magisters witht he melodrama of it- and began raining fire down on the troops. Magnus grinned as the flames washed over the metal men. Looks like fire still worked on them, at least to some effect.

The grin was quickly wiped off his face when he felt it. A very large source of magic being gathered in one place. Magnus couldn't believe he hadn't sensed it sooner. With a curse he quickly dashed back down the alley to the source of the main fighting. He scanned the chaos, looking for the source. His eyes stopped on the source, a spellcaster in black clothing. Growling, Magnus once more drew upon his mana, but instead of chanting or casting in, he simply released it, drawing the raw mana into existence.

Many assumed that magic was a fairly simple thing, a mage simply using mana to fuel spells. The reality was a bit more complicated. For magic to work, a mage needed both sufficient mana control and mental willpower. It wasn't enough to simply use mana, the mage had to will it into the shape he needed it to be, a desire to alter the reality of a situation as well as the mental focus to actually realize that desire. In truth, spell incantations were really nothing more than a way for mages to focus themselves and center their minds on the task of creating spells. Mana itself wasn't a substance that could naturally exist outside of a human being as a substance. Which made what Magnus was about to do, entirely impossible.

As a Magister of Northyros, Magnus had been widely respected -at least to his face- and even more so, feared by his fellow Magisters. Not for the way he acted (though many would debate that), nor his level of influence or overall power. But for the fact that he'd achieved something no mage in history had ever done.

Magnus willed his mana into existence around him. His body glowed blue for a moment as he released it, then grabbed hold of it as a physical substance. With a deep breath, Magnus controlled his mana, forming it and molding it into shape. The magic separated and sharpened until Magnus was surrounded by a swarm of floating swords. Without a word, Magnus sent the rain of weapons howling at Perish.

[Mizagium]

When the dust finally cleared, Chase was surprised to find the mysterious man was nowhere in sight. Ironically, his blast had vaporized the majority of a tiny cottage.

He didn't even consider me a major threat...

Surveying the field, he was amazed/saddened at the carnage. His brother's being killed like cattle at slaughter. He had read that in a book once.

I least I think I did...

Charging his cannon as he turned, Chase relocated his target. The mysterious man...

Mage?

Magician?

Whatever....

Noticing the rather large assortment of weaponry The Mage was firing towards Perish, Chase ran towards them both, finally jumping forward and firing.

The blast arched forward, connecting with the bladed weaponry, diverting them from their path.

Landing and rolling next to the very foxy vixen Perish, Chase stood up taunting.

"We have..." he paused, pointing his cannon at the Mage "Uh...unfinished business."

[Mizagium]

From his lofty perch, the Mechanist King frowned. Things were most certainly not going as planned. His army was supposed to steamroll over the defenders of Heroes' Refuge. But that was clearly not happening. No, indeed, the defenders seemed to be faring marginally better than his forces.

Doubt flooded his mind. No, he definitely didn't have the capacity to replenish his losses without pulling from the Generals. But the greater a distance he kept between him and Salma...the better. No doubt she had the other generals wrapped around her...finger. Yes. That.

What was there left? But he didn't to ask that question. He knew what he had buried beneath the Chromium Tower. And he feared it. But what other choice was there?

Confident that, at the very least, his forces would hold, he turned and flew back to the Tower. He left it at the base level and marched in. Rurik was waiting for him.

"My lord, I think I know what you're doing - and I highly advice against it."

"I have no choice, Rurik. It must be unleashed."

Desperation flooded the Commander-General, but he made no move to stop the Mechanist King. "You sealed that...that thing for a reason. It's savagery and mindlessness were too much, even for you and the Generals combined."

"I'm well aware of the consequences, Rurik. I was there when it tore the factory apart." He flexed his mechanical limbs, souvenirs from that incident. "And yet, I must call upon it's aid."

"It will not aid you, your majesty. It will only carve a swath of absolute destruction across your lands, newly won as they are. It...we went too far with that experiment, my lord. The thing still haunts my dreams to this day."

"Sometimes," the Mechanist King confessed, "I can still feel it's teeth gnawing away at my limbs...tearing at my flesh and bones. The terrible grinding of gears cogs..." He shuddered at the tactile memory.

Rurik was silent the rest of the way. After a seemingly endless descent, they arrived at a large set of thick, metal doors, several stories high. Although they were several feet thick, a low growling and whirring could be heard from the other side, as well as claws scraping against the metal.

"Open," the Mechanist King commanded. A primal fear filled his body as the doors inched their way forward. What lay down here was a terrible monster he had created - and failed to control. He would carry the scars of that mistake forever. He wondered if he would receive any new ones this day.

A great, terrible beats lumbered forward. It was massive, almost as tall and wide as the doors. It was hexapedal, vaguely resembling a monstrous lion, except the entire thing was made of glistening platinum and steel. Heavy, oil-laded breath filled the chamber. Gears within the beast clanged and whirred in a deafening cacophony.

The Clanker was released.

"I have a task for you," the Mechanist King declared, determined to stand his ground. IT seemed, this time, that the Clanker respected that. "Go to the place called Heroes' Refuge, to the north of here. Destroy the ones who defend the town. Spare the metal army, if you can."

Suddenly, the beast lunged forward, skidding to a halt a mere half-foot from the Mechanist King, who refused to flinch. Madness and fury seethed within the beast's eyes. But the king refused to back down.

"I am your master! Obey me. Obey me!"

The Clanker's eyes studied him a moment, flicked away - and the beast disappeared down the tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, it opened into the mountains north of Heroes' Refuge, dangerously close to Northyros.

"It will do as I have bidden.

~~~~~

Twenty minutes later, the Clanker emerged into sunlight and roared a terrible, bone-crunching roar. Downhill, it saw the battle around Heroes' Refuge and it bristled. Glee filled the machine beast. It hungered for the flesh of organic life. It ached for destruction.

So it ran forward, tearing up earth as it descended upon the unsuspecting towns.

[Mizagium]

Magnus let out a grunt of annoyance as his attack was redirected. "I suppose we do." he replied to Chase, outstretching his right arm towards the hovering swam of blades. "But unfortunately for you, now you're in my way. You'll die quickly." With that, Magnus pointed his arm at Chase, and the swarm of swords jerked in the air and twisted around, now flying towards the robot.

Whatever form that it was in, those blades were still made of his mana. Which meant he had complete control over their movement. Quite a handy trick for taking someone by surprise. The floating weapons were soon surrounding Chase completely, circling him like a dome of blades. "I'm curious to see if that cannon of yours can fire in multiple directions at once." Magnus held his hand towards Chase. "You'd better hope so." His hand clenched into a fist and the swords sped inward towards their target.

[Mizagium]

Fury looked up just in time to see the catwalk break from its moorings and begin to fall. Thinking quickly, he raised his shotgun, put a round of buckshot through the thin mesh of the deck. Because guns work as the plot demands, it created a large hole, just big enough for Fury to pass through as the enormous hunk of metal fell to the floor with a crash. Fury was unscathed. He smirked at Mortlock.

"Ya dahn't wun an axe, den Ah dahn't wun a gun," Fury said. He laid down his shotgun on the floor next to him, as well as his machete. "We'll finish up like men."

No sooner had he said that when Fury broke into a run towards the lumberjack. Just in front of Mortlock he jumped into the air, letting his momentum carry him into a two-legged dropkick that landed squarely in Mortlock's chest.

[Mizagium]

Phases entire strategy up to this point had been simple, effective and exceedingly boring. Slash. Step. Repeat. The one good thing about being surounded and swarmed with enemies was that, no matter which way you attacked, you'd always hit something, and when you have an ungodly huge sword, anything that gets hit goes down.

"Man, this is boring me to death, man," Phase lamented. "All I've seen so far have been these mookish little robots, I mean, I've broken dozens of them already."

Break,wasn't too far away. Sitting on the barricades, she picked away at whatever was unfortunate enough to stray to close to her. Overhearing Phase's complaining, she retorted.

"You do realize that, there's so many of those that we are still losing?" An ominous tremor shook the battlefield. "Do you actually want things to get worse?" she added.

Phase turned his attention to Break. "Nah man, I just want something interesting to happen," he said. "You know, shake things up a little."

As soon as those words were uttered, the earth began to shake under the footsteps of the incoming Clanker, the mere whirring of it's gears practically drowning out all other sounds on the battlefield. It's teeth made Phase's sword of infinite overcompensation look like a toothpick.

Looking at the massive mechanical monster before him, he couldn't help but grin a little. "That'll do," he muttered to himself as he charged straight ahead at the beast. With careful timing, he jumped onto one of The Clankers six legs and began to climb his way onto the head.

"I hate you so very much, Phase," Break muttered under her breath, and absconded the hell away from it.

[Mizagium]

"All right, let's settle it with a good ol' fashioned fist.. -AUGH!

Samson was interrupted by Fury's two feet slamming into his chest. He staggered backwards, coughing heavily. Getting his bearings again, he raised his fists and bent pugnaciously at the knees. This gunman was no clean fighter, and wouldn't hesitate to take any opportunity Samson gave him, just or unjust, fair or unfair. But he had dropped his gun, the only thing Samson was wary of.

"You want a fistfight? I'll give ya a damn fistfight." he said, snarling like an animal.

With that he charged forwards, launching a wild right hook to the lawman's jaw, followed by a short left uppercut. Unfortunately, his momentum of the charge continued forwards, ramming him into Fury and crashing both men through the railing behind Fury, and the two tumbled down, landing heavily on the lower level of the factory. Samson rolled quickly to the side just as a spinning saw shot upwards from beneath him. Dragging himself back to his feet, Samson noted the numerous whirring buzz-saws that rose and fell from seemingly random spots on the ground. Why would those even be here? It wasn't even practical. He would have to keep an eye on his footing.

[Mizagium]

Considering the casting time of charging up this ritual, Perish had ample time to wonder if she should reconsider as she could quite likely get destroyed in the ensuing mayhem, which was never pleasant.
But nothing was ever certain and part of Perish wanted to see what would happen.

Though she had second thoughts when she noticed a mage land nearby and commence attacking her with strange floating swords. Finishing the ritual would be a bit awkward with several swords stuck in her...
But apparently the little blue robot had come to the rescue in a way, as he did mention a vague tactic about guarding Perish while she casted.

With little more than a shrug, Perish continued her ritual and power continued to build up until the very air seemed to waver and ripple, and the trembling in the ground had doubled in quantity.
Perish paused for a moment as the last line of the incantation came up, taking a moment to concentrate before thrusting her hands skyward and calling out the last few words.

The trembling in the ground exploded upward through the ritual circle, and a river of skeletal anatomy poured forth, all clashing together at a point above Perish. The pieces seemed to join together like some enormous three-dimensional puzzle and rapidly construct a titanic serpent of bones that had arcs of black energy racing through it.
And the serpent continuing flying upward, being constructed and ascending at the same time until the stream of bones ended in the bone serpent began slithering about in three dimensions like gravity didn't work on it. The serpent then proceeded to crash into and bite everything it could reach.

"You know..." Perish began philosophically as she watched the serpent, "After casting that again, I think I finally understand why you can't control it. It's a funny kind of necromantic entropy..."
She was pretty much ignoring any danger this current situation presented.

[Mizagium]

"Auuugh! Dis is incredibly dangerous!" Fury yelled as one of the surprise buzzsaws nearly took off his foot. "Why are dese even here? Dis place was designed with no regard to anyone's safety!"

He spread his legs wide, fairly certain no more rotating blades were about to come out and bisect him, and squared off against his towering foe. Fury hated to admit it, but Mortlock was definitely carrying the fight so far. Fury was unwilling to simply draw a gun and shoot, as he had decided that his feud against this man he met ten minutes ago was deeply personal and needed to be settled in a manly fashion. But the only way he could get ahead was to fight dirty.

Fury leaned back as a giant sharp hook dangling from a chain passed by on a rail overhead. Idly wondering what practical purpose it served, Fury grabbed the hook and swung it as hard as he could towards Mortlock. The hook swung in a circle, and Fury was annoyed to see the lumberjack nimbly duck under it.

The hook caught on a valve clearly labeled "SEWER ACCESS" and turned it as Fury watched. A gate off to their side opened, letting out a trickle of brackish, stinking water, as well as. . .

Oh, God, it couldn't be.

"SEWER GATOR!" Fury screamed in a panic as the massive reptile charged out and slammed into both men.

[Mizagium]

Like the others, Jeff heard the thunderous approach of the Clanker minutes before it reached the town. Like a murderous thunderstorm it was, a even more insane tornado, some other weather-related death analogy. That bad.

And he saw Phase climbing his way up one of the beast's legs. And something inside him burned.

There is more power within you than you realize, Jeffrey Valentine.

"Who said that?"

You cannot see me, but I have seen you. You are here on my behest.

"You...brought me here?"

You have no time to stand about blathering to yourself, my boy. There is a battle going on around you, and a terrible beast appears.

"I see it." He gripped the key-sword with both hands. "I'm not letting Phase show me up again."

Then wield the sword's power like a true hero! You aren't here by accident, you know! I chose you from all the endless multiverse for your latent abilities. Now go! Take down that horrible beast!

Jeffrey charged, feeling a power well up inside him. It quickened his movement and buffed his arms, making the blade feel next to nothing in weight. The air seemed to part before the key-sword and he ran forward.

The Clanker was bigger than he thought, but against his better judgement, he swung at the right foreleg. The amplified key-sword bit deep into the metallic limb, and the Clanker howled in pain, scarcely noticing Phase's ascent.

Perhaps all was not lost.

[Mizagium]

The trembling had become full on tremors as Perish's spell took shape. The massive dark energy tentacle crashed down towards the Mage, launching a tidal wave like ripple into the ground, forcing everything that wasn't bolted down into the air. Including Chase.

Reacting with only seconds to spare, Chase fired his charge shot up as he was propelled to the sky...and the blades above. The shot cleared an opening in the dome of swords, allowing Chase a brief reprieve. Redirecting himself midair, he charged and fired down at the dome, knocking the blades aside, clearing a landing path.

Upon landing, Chase made a mad dash forward...it would only be a matter of time before he sent the barrage after him again. The Mage had clearly noticed his escape, but was preoccupied with the giant death tentacles creating mass destruction and such.

Dodging said tentacles, Chase sheathed his cannon and closed in on the Mage.

Only one chance....

Closing the gap and dodging an energy blast, Chase lept forward, grabbing the Mage's arm. It was all he needed.

-

Firmware update: v1.4.2.5

Updates include:

- New and Increased Magical Capabilities.

- A Cape. (For Dramatic Flair)

- A New color scheme. (Purple)

-

Chase's power took effect, apparent to all by the new color scheme on his armor. Still at point blank range, Chase crossed his hands, and after chanting some quick unintelligible words, pushed forward. The push was followed by a massive sonic like blast, shoving the Mage several feet back and deafening nearby townsfolk and robot alike.

Now on equal footing, Chase and Magnus meet eye to eye. Indeed Chase had realized that the Clanker was loose, but this was more important. This man alone posed more of a threat to his King than the entire town put together.

Chase's logic circuit's were firing off the charts. An obvious side effect to his copying ability.

"Magnus, my good sir" he stated "I believe you now have a challenge on your hands."

Charging his fists with ethereal energy, Chase charged forward, intent on Magnus's destruction.

[Mizagium]

The gargantuan reptile landed on top of the lumberjack, pinning him to the floor with it's massive weight. Samson wrapped both arms around its snapping jaws, as the sewer water gushed in from the open gate. The murky water was slowly filling up the bottom level of the factory. Samson shoved the beast back with one hand, and cracked an uppercut into its jaw with the other.

"C'mon then ya big bastard! I've fought cockroaches bigger than you!"

The reptile dived backwards into the water, kicking its tail violently.

By now, the filthy water was as high as the shoulders of both men, and the surface was terrifyingly tranquil.

"Brilliant." Samson mumbled. "Who the hell puts a sewer entrance there anyway?!"

Samson felt a scaly hide brush against his leg. In shock, Samson clenched both fists and.... ripped a powerful fart into the murky depths. As the bubbles rose from behind him, he saw the outline of the alligator turn and swim quickly away from the stench of the bubbles. Samson turned back to Fury.

"Find a way outta here before we drown! I'll keep 'Toothy' here off your back."

With that Samson turned his attention back to the waters, and began splashing his arms and firing off farts as he herded the alligator towards the sewer gate.

[Mizagium]

Magnus sneered, again summoning his hovering blades around him. He grabbed two out of the air and wielded them like...well swords, while the others floated around him ominously.

"I've had just about enough of you, slave of the King." he growled, charging to meet Chase head on. He met his opponent with a furious blur of stabs and slashed -while desperately trying to remember all those swordsmanship lessons he'd been taught as a kid- ducking under Chase's guard and stabbing upward towards the robot's throat.

His attack was halted abruptly by two things. One, he finally noticed the walking monstrosity that was the Clanker charge into town. The second thing he noticed was the giant necromantic serpent that Perish had successfully sumoned....right as it smashed him into a wall with its tail.

Magnus groaned as he pried himself from the rubble. He glared furiously up at the summon, applying a quick healing spell to mend his newly borken arm. "Okay, that does it." he muttered. He waved a hand in Chase's direction and sent the remaining swords to engage Chase. That should keep him on his toes for a bit. "Time to do something about this..."

He walked towards the giant skeletal snake. He recognized the magic used to create it. Necromancy fused with entropy. It was a chaotic mixture, one that wouldn't be easy. But Magnus hadn't been a Magister of the Northyros Imperium for nothing. Necromancy was a favorite study for many mages, despite the obvious moral implications (something that was often lacking in magisters).

Magnus growled as he stretched his will towards the beast. He felt his mind touch the fragmented and angry one of the summon, and sent a surge of magic through the link. His hands began to glow green, as did his eye. "I am assuming direct control!"

[Mizagium]

Fury pointed. "Dere's a ladder!" he exclaimed, pointing towards the wall. The water was getting deeper, the buzzsaw blades barely crested the surface.

Fury started for the ladder, careful not to step on any blades, when suddenly the alligator came out of the water directly in front of him. Fury reacted instinctively, launching a vicious right hook that stunned the monster reptile. Fury ducked down, grabbed the thing by the end of the tail, began swinging it as hard as he could over his head.

He reached the ladder, climbed with one hand as he dragged the struggling alligator up by tail with the other.

[Mizagium]

Samson followed eagerly up the ladder, dodging and ducking the snapping jaws of the alligator that Fury carried behind him. When they reached the top, the rising water seemed to level out conveniently just below them.

Samson stood there opposite Mitch Fury, catching his breath. Then the realization dropped on him. They were locked in mortal combat, mano y mano. Snatching the reptile from Fury's grasp, Samson whipped his makeshift weapon back over his head, and slapped the alligator across Fury's face. Fury was knocked over the railing into the deep waters, and Samson idly tossed the alligator in on top of him.

But Samson was itching for a fight, and watching Fury fight an alligator would soon bore him.

"Cannonball!!"

The lumberjack ran forwards, and dived ungracefully on top of Fury, tackling him further down into the dark depths of the water. Both men now several feet below the surface, Samson began to club and bludgeon at Fury with two fists. The alligator swept in and out of the fight, thrashing and smashing into the two.

[Mizagium]

Esfir heard a rumbling sound and looked to see some giant mechanical monstrosity. Comrade Jeff and Comrade Phase were attacking the beast. It was... Heartbreaking in a way. Such a lovely machine... But we must win! She decided to assist in attacking the beast. Running towards it, and blowing up robots as she went, she shouted "I shall help you Comrades!"

She stopped around 30 yards away from the creature and observed it. All machines have weak point... What could it be? Glancing to Phase, who was climbing up the monster, and Jeff, who had put a decent sized gash in its leg, she decided that for the moment, she would use long-range weapons to help. That way she could observe and fight.

Esfir pulled out her gun and started firing at the joints. Those were usually the weakest areas. While doing so, she looked for any visible gears, wires, and seems in the metal on the machine. Such an amazing creation... I hate to tear it apart.

[Mizagium]

The Clanker howled in pain. Not much pain, but more of a furious kind of pain. Surprise and anger filled up the hollow metallic shell that was the beast. One paw rose and fell, creating a crater in the earth, although it put no more effort into it than a man swatting at a fly.

Jeff evaded the paw, but staggered back. Six legs...wait...was that...four eyes? Indeed it was. Six eyes allow it a full 360 degress of vision with the slightest turn of its monstrous head. And it locked all four of them on Jeffrey. For the first time, he saw the Clanker open it's mouth all the way - a terrifying Glasgow smile full of razor-sharp knives, three rows deep.

But it didn't chew, he realized. The rows of teeth rotated independently of each other, around the entire mouth.

"Seriously? Who BUILDS something like this?" HE readied the sword. "PHASE YOU BETTER HAVE SOMETHING GOOD UP YOUR SLEEVE!"

[Mizagium]

Magnus had clearly proven that his swordsmanship was shoddy at best, which still didn't prevent him from nearly cleaving Chase's head clean off his robotic shoulders.

It was even more of an annoyance when Magnus sent the barrage of swords in his direction, once again.

"I tire of this!" he yelled out, casting out a magical orb.

The orb collided with the blades, morphing and forming into a energy-like box around them, stopping them in their tracks.

With the blades out of the way for the moment, Chase turned his attention to Magnus, who seemed to be trying to control Perish's entropy beast.

Great...not exactly what we need to happen.

Then again, I'm not sure what's supposed to happen.

Uh.

Oh yeah.

Maybe I can interrupt it.

Chase fired a volley of magical energy towards Magnus, only to have him swat it away.

Or not.

[Mizagium]

Phase noticed his allies had begun attacking and immediately hastened his ascent. They meant well, but haphazardly attacking the monster would actually make his job harder by setting it off and getting it angry. Attacking it from the ground meant they'd be underfoot and not far from the really dangerous parts. If he didn't hurry...

The Clanker thrashed around, lifting it's paws and striking the ground. Taking advantage of the momentum when it lifted it's legs, Phase leaped onto it's back, driving his blade deep into it's body as he landed. It would hurt it a little, but it really wouldn't be enough damage to slow it down. The whole thing looked like a massive, constantly moving plate of armor, with most of the very few gaps in the armor around the neck, he noted. And even those covered in spikes and periodically spewed boiling steam. Whoever designed it made sure to cover the weak points as best as possible.

But figuring out how to beat it was best saved for a bit later. He heard the kid calling out to him over the sound of gears. He left his sword behind, and ran full speed towards the head. He figured he could get it back later. He dropped right in front of one the creatures four eyes, and put all his strength behind a single punch. His fist smacked against the glass lens of eye, tiny cracks radiating from the point of impact. The sheer force pushed him away from the The Clanker, and he landed a couple meters away from Jeff, on his back. From there, he had front row seats to see the monsters mouth full of seemingly endless teeth. His stunt had probably granted a full two or three seconds of calm while the monster processed what had just happened.

Rapidly getting back on his feet, he noted the gash on the leg caused by Jeff's sword. "No, I've got a plan," he said, just loudly enough to be heard over the noise. He Grabbed the kid by the arms, and before he could let him complain, tossed him on top of The Clankers head as it began to charge.

"Maybe it wasn't a good one," he muttered under his breath.

[Mizagium]

Magnus felt his body groan from the strain of trying to maintain control of the summoned beast. It was proving to be more difficult than he had expected. Added to the fact that he was offhandedly having to deflect Chase's attacks, he was beginning to tire a bit.

With a growl Magnus sent more mana through the mind link. Normally controlling a summon would be as simple as establishing a mana link with the summon. But with entropy magic it was different. Entropy was chaotic and corrosive, and there was no solid way to rein in entropic magic. So alternative methods were used. Instead of using the mind link to leash the summon with his mana, he had to "suggest" to the summon, subtly influencing the beast to do certain things, using mana to make sure that his mind was the stronger suggestion of the two.

"Damn it.." he muttered. He could hear the battle going on around him. The arrival of that mechanical monstrosity and...a sewer gator?

Magnus guided the skeletal serpent until it ceased its random flailing and violence, instead simply sitting thee in confused complacence. Then it turned and looked at Chase and Perish. Magnus grinned. The entropy snake lunged, capturing Chase in its mouth and beginning to crush.