Scene #4550: The Dead Harvest

Owner	Pose
Sigrun Stem	Upstate New York is a lovely area, well... aside from the part of it currently blighted by undead at least. The meeting point arranged for by Sigrun, sent to Union and Syndicate contacts, as well as other message boards, is an old tavern a the border of Syracuse. Syracuse has a lot of old architecture, and lacks the sheer number of magically-supported spires that New York City and especially Manhattan is known for, but it's still a fairly urban place, and the streets are bustling with animated carriages. Sigrun has rented an animated carriage for the job, providing transport for any who didn't bring their own. It's a fairly big one, with plenty room to sit. She's got herself up in the drivers seat, holding on to reins that are attached to nothing, the ends floating in mid-air.
Karian Icefang	Karian had met up at the arranged area, geared up with his bolter and plenty of ammo, as well as what might as well amount to a one-handed greatsword. Opting to leave his wolf home, he boarded the carriage. With the undead swarming, it was a great time for the old space wolf to let loose a bit and, hopefully, carve a path for his allies.
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca didn't have transportation at this time, so she opted to ride along with Sigrun. Sitting inside this unique carriage is an experience in itself. Nothing is pulling it, it's almost as if it's riding on air or something. However, Rebecca has no time to be enjoying this ride, as she knows there's undead to be dealt with and she has to get herself ready. She takes out her Beretta and checks the laser sighting on it before loading a clip into it. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Rebecca smiles and says, "This is my Beretta. There are none others like it, as this one was made for S.T.A.R.S.!"
Stygian Mirror	A promise to handle a job was made weeks ago, and that's why Mirror is here. Still unused to modern cities like New York, the sight of so much magic at least is familiar, and allows the fox-eared, cat-tailed and lizard-eyed young woman to feel a bit less at ease. She won't be comfortable until they get to the place of death in question, but that's just something you get used to when your body fuels on inverted Essence. She'd not changed her usual clothing, coming in that reinforced tunic with the bony gauntlets and high boots, jagged black Soulsteel blade hanging off her waist. She'd not brought any transportation, and so will take the ride in the carriage gladly. She addresses the driver, seeking useful information. "Has the situation changed in the last while? Any spreading of the taint, or a concentrated direction to it?"
Emiya Shirou	When one thinks 'New York City,' 'magical spires' aren't really waht comes to mind. Even for someone who practices magic from Japan. But this world is not what Emiya SHirou had been expecting - he's a bit delayed in reaching the meeting point because things are a biiiiiit different and distracting... He does eventually reach the carriage... and ends up boggling at it in disbelief. Floating reins. Uhhhh. "Are the horses invisible?" He mumbles bewilderedly even as he climbs in...
Sigrun Stem	"We have been able to contain it, and I've finally managed to wrangle New York State in giving me more funds to address this." Sigrun answers Stygian Mirror, as she gets the vehicle moving. It speeds up quickly, and as it leaves the city the carriage enters a wide, cobblestone six-lane road. "An air elemental has been bound to the vehicle. The reins aren't really necessary it's just that it was more convenient to keep using reins rather than figure out some new way to drive." She explains for Shriou's benefit. Not too long after, Sigrun pulls off at an intersection, and ignores the red flame that lights up at the crossroads that follows, earning her some angry cursing from someone who has to move aside to dodge them. Where the blight begins is easy to tell, the crops have died away, leaving only whithered plants that rot but have not been removed. Walking corpses of man and animal alike shamble through the rows of rotten plants, and Sigrun parks the carriage. "From here on, we walk. It's about a mile until we get where our magical moons have told us the root of the corruption is at. Prepare to face resistance." Sigrun explains, and as to accentuate her warning, a rotting pair of bulls starts charging at the group.
Karian Icefang	Karian nods towards Sigrun, and then spots the boars. Without a word, he lets his bolter roar out it's greeting of high caliber, high explosive shells. "Won't be a problem. Any idea's on what caused the infestation?" he asks, his mind already working to undo the situation and prepare for other ambushes.
Rebecca Chambers	As Rebecca gets out of the carriage, her expression is one of genuine seriousness and ready for action of any kind. "I am ready for just about anything," Rebecca replies to Sigrun. Then she spots the incoming bulls and she narrows her eyes while drawing her Beretta, before Karian takes care of things himself. "Thanks," She says to Karian in a non-sarcastic manner. Then she looks back to Sigrun. "Lead the way, please!"
Stygian Mirror	"At least it wasn't left unchecked," Mirror nods. She didn't expect Sigrun to have very much information; after all whatever this is sounds like it's beyond the usual scope of magic in her world. Documentation mustn't be common, and there's no way to predict behavior based on prior happenings. Unless Sigrun didn't tell her everything, anyway. The carriage stops and the Abyssal hops out, casually; she takes a deep breath in, as if expecting the air here to smell or at least feel better than elsewhere. Unlikely, for everyone else gathered, given the immediate appearance of rotting bulls. For them it's more likely to smell awful here, or perhaps the air is stagnant. For Mirror, it's home, and it feels much better than New York did. It'll likely only get better as they head deeper, too. "I take it the undead are predisposed to violence without purpose? Or have people who wandered too close noticed a pattern in whom they attack and how?" They might be guarding something, after all. Or they might just be jerks, as the undead tend to be when without direction. Rather than anything fancy, Mirror hurls a throwing knife at one of the incoming bulls, suffused with black, purple and grey Essence. It's unnaturally deadly, and being an Abyssal means Mirror can treat the undead as though they were mortals, when it comes to using her deadlier Charms. All in all it makes her very suited to quelling undead problems.
Emiya Shirou	Weird. Air elemental-powered cars. Now Shirou's seen everything? Well, maybe not. ZOMBIE BOVINES await, after all! And they're worth a stammery stare for a split-second. "Trace on!" Is the next thing to pass his lips though. A black metamaterial bow of japanese design materializes in his grasp... and in the other hand, a freakish-looking, irregular crimson blade. Nero's Aestus Estus, for those who know it! But the weapon glows, twists up and straightens into a streamlined arrow shape quickly enough. Shirou then raises the arrow high over the bow and brings it down, drawing it back Kyudo style. With a single, natural motion the arrow's let fly! ... Straight for one of the bull heads... "If this is all that's out there we should be fine!"
Sigrun Stem	Between the gathered champions, the bulls fall like leaves. Sigrun starts to push her way forward, a see through red parchment appearing in air next to her, displaying a map of the area and their destination. She then sends out a handful of glowing red orbs that fly deeper into the area, marked on the parchment map as blinking dots. Quickly, non-blinking black marks appear on the map. Sigrun doesn't explain what they are, but whatever they are, the concentration increases heavily in the direction the group progresses in. "That was just a taste of what this blight has to offer. If you're alive and in here, they will try to make sure you're no longer alive." And as they reach one large clump of black dots, it's shown what Sigrun means with just a taste of what's to come. Twenty human zombies, armed with bows and pitchforks stampede towards them along with at least a hundred cows and pigs. Sigrun quickly ducks behind Stygian Mirror. For those who know her, it's notable that she carries neither bow nor quiver with her.
Rebecca Chambers	As soon as the zombies come forth, Rebecca draws her Beretta again, and this time she opens fire on the incoming undead horde. "You've picked the wrong girl to mess with!" She calls out as she fires. "I've dealt with your cousins many times, so you have no chance against me!"
Karian Icefang	"Things are never that simple." Karian says to Emiya as the bulls fall. To make the point, the Space Wolf draws his massive sword. He tilts his head at the orbs, but realizes they were likely beacons or scanners. As for the zombies, he utters a low growl in his throat. "Back to your rest, undead." He says, running at the horde with bolter firing, and sword prepped to be swung.
Stygian Mirror	"So anything alive is their prey?" Mirror hrms, considering. Even a Shadowland is a BIT more friendly than that, at least during the day. Sure, there's angry spirits and the restless dead, and they'll attack on sight without purpose or reason, especially at night or within the Underworld, but... "Remains to be seen if they've been ordered to do that, or if they're mindless. Someone or something has to be behind this, Sigrun-- if it's a natural phenomenon, though..." Well, one, she can think of some people who'd love to know how to make this happen naturally and on its own. But two it's probably the precursor of worse. Twenty zombies and over a hundred pigs and cows. Must have been farmland, before the corruption took hold. She'd dive in, normally, but Sigrun takes cover behind her. The Abyssal takes her sword, the black Soulsteel almost moaning in the presence of so many walking dead. The occasional white shapes on the blade reminds onlookers of the trapped souls within. It pulses, bright purple and red, and with a swing Mirror sends a shockwave of death Essence, like a slash, towards the incoming horde, not intent to let them reach melee range without some pruning of their numbers.
Emiya Shirou	Shirou carries on, choosing not to voice how unimpressive a handful of zombies are... he doesn't want to jinx the group, after all. Or provoke thousands from nowhere or something.... THAT would be a serious problem! "So what sorts of things CAN cause a plague like this?!" He decides to ask instead... only to come to a halt... and clench his teeth. HUMAN zombies this time.. that's something else. Farmers, by the look of it. Shirou's stomach sinks. But he slings the bow around his body... and drops into a deeper stance. Kanshou and Bakuya appear in his grasp almost instantly and he simply FLINGs both hands outwards, releasing the weapons with expert timing. They swoop around in arcs and cut towards the flanks of the zombie group, likely to carve up a good handful of them before the weapons slam into each other and shatter!
Sigrun Stem	It's a little rougher this time, the numbers are impressive even though individually the zombies are weak. Rebecca pumps lead into the horde, and animal and human corpses alike fall down under the weight of her firepower. Karian, likewise, destroys a good number as he charges in. Mirror's wave of death sends many of their number falling, and Shirou's twin swords take out yet more, beheading some as they fly past. And yet it's not enough, though the numbers are fading, there's still more, and they are angry. The handful of humans who still stand are the ones with bows, and they fire their weapons, their arrows are clad in death as they fly, a sickening magic that drains energy upon contact. Of the living present, the only one not targeted is Sigrun, and that's only because she's in cover. The horns, hooves and teeth of the stampeding lifestock are similarly clad in death, there's only a dozen that remain, but they've gotten into melee range, and are intend on doing what they can to kill. "Yeah, that's what we've been trying to figure out. Is it some kind of freak natural occurence, or is something behind it. Our magical moons couldn't tell, so we have to go in on foot." Sigrun answers Mirror's question, "That's the second reason we're trying to reach the source. Without knowledge, we can do nothing."
Rebecca Chambers	While ducking for cover to avoid the arrows, Rebecca loads another clip into her Beretta. "Whatever's causing this has to be stopped!" She comments as she pops back into view and resumes firing at the human zombies. "I don't care what the cause is, we're gonna find it and put an end to it!"
Karian Icefang	Karian grimmaces as a horn manages to nick a weak spot in his armor. He feels his energy being sapped, but fights through it. "I highly doubt this plague is anything natural..." He says. He gives a look towards Emiya, partly out of concern. He wanted to tell the boy not to ask questions he didn't want to hear the answers to, but was more focused on cutting down the undead livestock.
Stygian Mirror	Mirror's sword, with a click, separates into two. A tether of grey and purple Essence connects the two halves of the black blade, not unlike a swordwhip or a similar weapon. With a swing, it whirls about in the air, a black torando of wind working to deflect and block incoming arrows from striking herself or Sigrun, as well as to smack away the cows and pigs that've closed the distance. It's not perfect by any stretch; an arrow nicks one of her shoulders, a pig bites her armored leg. It's odd, being on the other end of that sort of death-infused attack. At the same time it's familiar. And she's not likely to suffer infection from the wounds, unlike the living. "How many expeditions have been attempted?" It could be useful to know. They might run into the animated bodies of former adventurers or people who got too curious for their own good. Since the others have guns, she lets them handle the archers. Her blade shimmers with red Essence; it snaps back into one solid piece, and without moving and depriving Sigrun of her cover, she thrusts the jagged Soulsteel weapon towards one of the cows. Now in melee, her weapon has the same draining effect, trying to sap magic from the victims. Then the attack multiplies. To onlookers it might certainly seem like the Abyssal is in multiple places at once, striking many of the cows and pigs with the same thrust. On her forehead, a black mark, a circle with eight sunrays around it, appears, dim, glowing only barely.
Emiya Shirou	"Zombies that are smart enough to use bows?!" This can't be right... this can't be right at ALL! Shiorou's heard of RUNNING zombies and climbing ones, but ones that can use weapons with real skill?! This just got MUCH more dangerous! "My body is made of swords." Intones the redhead fiercely, extending a hand... even as an arrow slams into his shoulder. A dozen blades of all shapes and sizes appear in a flash of magical energy right above his head... and they rocket off for the archerzombies! But as another cow gets close to him he's forced to dive to the side... and takes an arrow to his left thigh! "Hhggghrrgh!!" Not that it stops him. He rises, swinging a weapon he didn't carry a moment ago... and kanshou cleaves vertically through the noggin of the bull that's come after him! "This is getting ridiculous fast!"
Sigrun Stem	"That's why we're here, to put a stop to this." Sigrun confirms Rebecca's words as the zombies fall to this combined onslaught, there weren't that many left. But now, the group has been bloodied. Not much, by all accounts, but some. And the map Sigrun has conjured shows a worrying sign. All the little black dots spread over the region are converging, abandoning the borders of the blighter area. Not even to withdraw to the heart of the blight, no, they're not convergin there. They're converging on the group. "Not a lot, and none that haven't come back. Monster Exterminators may have a rough job, but you don't last long in this business by being suicidal. And only veterans have even been allowed to investigate." Sigrun answers Mirror's question, which might be a relief, although she adds, "It's possible someone snuck in illegally, of course." "I don't know if they're zombies, Shirou. But zombies are the closest thing to them that I know. Mindless, singularly focused, and infused with death." There's a brief respite as they march onwards, but soon enough the horizon confirms what the map is saying. Countless undead, human and animal alike, have converged upon them. Encircled the group. There's no direction in which there aren't thousands of walking corpses.
Karian Icefang	Karian looks around, and grips his sword with both hands, after stowing his bolter. "If you've got a plan, now's the time." He says. He holds his ground at the moment, ready to slash down anything that got close.
Rebecca Chambers	Nodding to Sigrun, Rebecca asks, "Do we have any idea what exactly caused this? Like biological or spiritual?" She keeps her Beretta at the ready, not wanting to be caught off-guard by any zombies. Unfortunately, that doesn't prove to work as they're soon surrounded by undead. "I think the only option here is to fight our way out!" She yells to the others.
Stygian Mirror	"How odd to think of it as an organized thing," Mirror answers Sigrun, at the idea adventurers and investigators would be stopped by such a thing as laws and common sense. "And if these aren't walking dead they're close enough the distiction is probably pointless," she also answers Shirou, and Sigrun to some degree. These things FEEL dead, and the land feels dead too. If it looks like a dog, walks like a dog and barks like a dog, and all that. Soon enough they come across more of them, though; and many more than they just fought for that matter. Mirror frowns, but doesn't seem intimidated by the incoming army. "We don't need a plan. We just need to kill them all. If we can't sunder the armies then we'll sunder the land they walk on." When in doubt, always consider Creation-Slaying Holocaust Blade a solution to your problem. A massive blade of Essence overlaps with Mirror's sword, easily doubling the weapon's size just from the glow. It radiates killing power, but it doesn't thirst for blood. It thirsts for earth and stone, for the land itself, to destroy Creation and the worlds beyond. Mirror jams the sword into the ground, and it sends blast outward into the ground and ahead, towards their destination. The land scars, the attack hyperspecialized in dealing damage to the scenery and structures. She's trying to rip open a fissure into the groud, to ripple and spread ahead, to eat a chunk of the incoming army and to divide it in two, lest they can fly. It should halve their problems, at least as long as nobody tries crossing the fissure.
Emiya Shirou	"Not good..." At the news that everything's converging... and that these aren't necesarily zombies... Shirou wonders. Can these people be saved? No, they're kind of rotting... but if they're not zombies, then what? "This wouldn't be a problem if I had more mana..." He mutters irritably. But there's no time to waste complaining. Instead... At this point all Shirou can really do is arm himself. Kanshou and Bakuya appear in his grasp... as beads of sweat roll down his face. "This is looking bad!"
Sigrun Stem	"Thing is, it's hard to adventure while dead or incarcerated." Sigrun idly notes, and then Stygian Mirror pulls out the big guns, and she kind of gulps as the land is torn and half the zombies are left on the other side. "That'll help, thank you." She considers, lightly, the other questions she's been asked, "My plan is fairly simple, get to the source, fix things there, and get out." "... I don't understand what you mean, biological or spiritual? The two are the same thing." She concentrates on something, and sends a beam of red magic up to the sky, and beyond the sky into space. For whatever it does. "We need to push onwards. We're close, zombies or no zombies. We can't back down." Sigrun reiterates the plan, right as the zombies charge. Fortunately, there's very few of them with any kind of ranged weaponry. This limits the amount that can face the group at once by the sheer nature of physical space. It's still a sea of rotten flesh stampeding towards them.
Rebecca Chambers	Rebecca opens her mouth to explain, but closes it, realizing that this is not the time or place for a science lecture. Sighing inwardly, she opens fire on the incoming zombies coming at her. "I think our top priority is getting out of this mess alive!" Rebecca comments as she ejects another clip and reloads her Beretta again.
Karian Icefang	"Then we go forward!" Karian shouts. With a roar of beastial fury, the space wolf runs forward. The blade sweeps out to slash apart anything in the way, or that thinks to stand in front of the Son of Russ.
Stygian Mirror	"Just follow the fissure. It puts our backs up against it but unless you have plans to fall down we'll be fine. It's the furthest point from the majority of approaching zombies and safe from the half stuck on the other side." Safe-ish, anyway. She saw a rare few ranged weapons in there, they'll have to dodge arrows and crossbow bolts again, it seems. Mirror starts running ahead, ensuring Sigrun isn't far behind. Her blade flashes, no longer powered by that momentary burst of scenery-slaying. Actually, it's not glowing at all, so maybe she's conserving some Essence for whatever risks being ahead. This does mean the slashes, as she wades into the army ahead to carve a way past it the old fashioned way, are a bit more lackluster than previously, and so the zombies have more opportunity to reach her. Claws, weapons and teeth make marks in her armor and even draw blood once, but Sigrun'll find herself mostly safe sticking with the Abyssal, and even without incredible Charms to back her up that blade isn't for show, and her speed is pretty impressive.
Emiya Shirou	Given the lack of ranged weaponry, and the group sticking together, Shirou's choice of the twin weapons may not have been so bad after all! He becomes a whirling dervish of slash slash slash, aiming to take off heads and cleave bodies in two with strikes that his build simply doesn't appear to have the power to pull off.... but it sure can do it! It's a messy proceeding, and he's going to be covered in stinky yuck afterwards... but it's better than getting bitten by these things! "So you said this could be a NATURAL phenomena?!"
Sigrun Stem	By sticking close to the gap, the group manages to make it to a hill, as the walking dead fall around them under the bladework of Stygian Mirror, the dervish-like movement of Emiya Shirou, the fury of Karian Icefang and the bullets of Rebecca Chambers. It clears a path, but it does not slow the onslaught of claw, fang, hoof and horn. Not to mentiod blade and pitchfork. And with all that, the onslaught of death. That is, until they reach the facility on the other side of the hill. A building made out of stone, with a massive black crystal at the core. Anyone with even the faintest familiarity with magic ought to be able to tell that is a font of power, and that its power is called Death. "... That's... something has corrupted a Leyline Extractor." Sigrun seems shocked by the very possibility of this. "That explains so much." She seems angry, despite her lack of curses, despite her face-covering mask. There's a palpable tensing, her fingers digging into her palms. "We're going to have to either cleanse it or destroy it." The waves of undead stay clear of the facility. There's an open path there, and they do not follow the group past the hill.
Karian Icefang	"A what?" Karian asks. For all his advanced technology, magic was very much a taboo thing akin to heresy in his world. He remained by the door, instincts screaming for him to secure the door and ensure nothing got in. "This is more your area then mine. I'll make sure we aren't disturbed."
Rebecca Chambers	"Whatever that is," Rebecca comments, "We have to do something about it!" She looks to Sigrun and asks, "What does cleansing it mean? Because it doesn't sound like something I could handle." She pauses to double-check her ammo count, just in case there's any more surprises waiting.
Emiya Shirou	FINALLY they arrive at... What the heck is that thing anyways? Shirou ends up blinking questioningly at it... even though he can FEEl the thrum of power here, it's the sort that makes his Magic Circuits tingle and burn like they're being lightly doused in acid. "Might be able to destroy it if I really tried... but purify it? HOW do you do that?!" Speaking or purifying, he could really, really use a shower. There's more blood and yuck visible when one looks at him than, well, him... Wading through zombies really sucks.
Stygian Mirror	"A Leyline Extractor?" Mirror asks, the same as the others, out of curiosity. She can make a good guess on what it does, but it's best to ask. "And destroy it? What if it were removed from your world instead? I can think of a few uses for it, and it'd be out of your hair." Of course, nothing good could come from handing that crystal to an Abyssal, so she wouldn't be surprised if Sigrun, or someone else, had an objection. Still, she walks towards it with the others, without pause. She wonders if she can even touch that crystal safely, for that matter.
Sigrun Stem	"Leylines are the natural currents of magic, like the bloodstream of the planet, there's a lot of power in them, and we extract their power to use for our own purposes." Sigrun explains what they are, and as they approach, "I'm not sure how to cleanse them. I hoped some of you had ideas because, uh... being near a Leyline extractor when it's destroyed is something I wouldn't recommend to anyone. And that's for one that hasn't been corrupted." As they get closer, it does seem there's one last obstacle before they can get any further. Not a zombie, worse. A tall man, with horns sprouting from his forehead, and legs like those of goats. The figure is also dead like the others, but unlike them his body is in perfect shape. "... what happened to you, nature spirit?" She asks, concerned. It responds not with words, by tapping upon the leyline extractor to send a wave of death at the group, it's the same energy that fueled the walking dead, that infused their attacks, but it's not diluted. It's pure, and powerful, and it knocks Sigrun out in one go.
Karian Icefang	Karian growls and thinks quickly. The pure wave made him weaker, but he was a stubborn sort. "Will explosives work? I have a few I could set." He offers. His sword, however, swings down towards the tall, goat horned man.
Rebecca Chambers	Even with a kevlar vest on, the wave does hit Rebecca, despite attempting to dodge. She is caught and is knocked down to the ground. Although she is not unconscious, she is struggling to stay awake all the same. She grits her teeth and attempts to try to push herself back up, but the energy is only barely flowing through her right now...
Emiya Shirou	The wave of death SLAMS into Emiya Shirou just as it did Sigrun, and his Magic Circuits SCREAM in protest along with most of his biology. He's blown backwards and goes tumbling... ending up kneeling awkwardly, trying to rise... "If that building goes off, it might take out everything in a kilometer radius...! We've got to back off and deal with this from afar...!!" But... with that spirit angry, and more of the dead out there... can they even retreat...? He bounds over to Sigrun's side and stands over her protectively, but doesn't look too confident. "It looks like we're counting on you two..." He glances at Karian and Stygian Mirror alike. The meaning's pretty clear. He's got to keep Sigrun safe!
Stygian Mirror	Death strikes at Mirror. It's a bit less debilitating to her than the others; after all, she's by a lot of definitions dead herself. Or at least, something between life and death. It's a very strange metaphysical situation that doesn't map out to an easy answer. Still, it hurts. The goat-man earns a spiteful glance from the young woman, who likens him to a fallen wood elemental or a god-blooded of some nature. She's wrong, of course, but that's what she'd say he is, if asked. "I'm not interested in finding out what she meant by not recommending we be nearby when it blows. And since we don't know how far we'd need to run," she says, glancing at the now unconscious Sigrun, "and isn't likely to answer, I propose we kill that spirit and remove the crystal. We'll see what happens after that." Blood oozes from one of Mirror's earlier wounds, the arrow still stuck in one of her shoulders, barely through the armored tunic. It flows to the young woman's hands, forming into a replica of the mundane bow wielded by the dead farmer, made of blood and Essence. The bow is used immediatly, firing a barrage of bloody arrows towards the spirit. Each is corrosive, but not to the flesh. To magic. Each of the dozen arrows can burn significant amounts of magic, and Mirror's hoping it'll weaken the being if she can hit.
Sigrun Stem	Kyrian draws blood from the corrupted nature spirit, if the oozing green liquid that spills forth from his wounded shoulder can be called blood. Mirror's bloody arrows have a similar effect, but the creature is undeterred, and walks forward, growing taller and more powerful as he pulls the energy of the leyline extractor into him. When he does that, bright spots appear in the large crystal, as though there's a limit to the amount of death in there. "You shall not stop me." He boasts, and pulls a tree root out of the ground, fashioning it into a scythe as he rushes forward, slicing at Rebecca Chambers, because she looks vulnerable, and Emiya Shirou because he's protecting someone no longer awake, that scythe blade is not merely made of death, it's made of oblivion. "Hel's blessing upon you!" He says that like it's a curse.
Rebecca Chambers	Struggling as best as she can, Rebecca grabs an adrenaline shot from her sidepack. It hurts a bit, but she manages to get it and is able to administer the shot. The effects come in quickly, and she quickly gets back onto her feet. This is why she's able to avoid the creature as she jumps out of the way, rolling a good distance while drawing her Beretta once again. "You think we won't stop you? Think again!" She fires a single shot.
Karian Icefang	Hel was something Karian was familiar with, at least. He knew it as a place where unworthy go, or those who are damned. With renewed vigor, the marine moves to slash through the scythe with his adamantium blade, and then twist it up towards the beasts head. "The only one going to Hel is you, monster! "
Stygian Mirror	The fallen spirit goes for Shirou and Rebecca. Karian is on him almost immediatly, Rebecca has a gun, and she saw Shirou produce swords out of thin air. They'll be fine, Mirror surmises. No, she saw enough already. As she thought, the spirit is siphoning the corrupt energy out of the extractor. She could keep draining its magic, hoping this cleanses the crystal sooner or later, but that's a gambit, and she doesn't feel like pitting up her own Essence pools using Charms to drain against the extractor's capacity to drain the land. She'd probably lose. Instead, Mirror speeds for the extractor, now that the spirit is functionally ignoring her in favor of easy prey. Plan: touch the thing you shouldn't touch and remove it from the setup entirely, see if it helps anything.
Emiya Shirou	That weapon... THAT WEAPON! Shirou can tell its nature the instant it's formed... and it sends a chill down his spine. Can he match that thing? Can he even COUNTER it with the methods available to him?! No, parrying it is out of the question. Dodging it will expose Sigrun! Which means... Power sizzles in the redhead's palm. He extends a hand towards the rushing spirit... "Rho AIAS!!" A slip of pinkish light forms a foot from his palm, then rapidly BLOSSOMS OPEN at the last moment. A lopsided, filmy shape of four uneven, ragged phantom petals appears and traps the blade, which doubtless will suffer some insane rebound from hitting what feels like a solid wall of dense granite. Further layers of the shield appear in sequence, pushing the defense outwards into a more curved shape. Three layers and the core! "Hurry and take this guy out if that's our plan!"
Sigrun Stem	The scythe cuts right through the first layer of Rho Aias, right before Karian's blade is caught by one of the spirit's horns, cutting it clean off and pushing slightly into its head, drawing more of that oozing green liquid that passes for blood. "I was talking about the queen of the dead, Hel. Not Helheim, you fool." As the second layer falls, he gets staggered by the bullets shot by Rebecca Chambers, and has to take a moment to focus, sending a wave of death-like energy towards Karian in an attempt to give him space. Soon after, the third layer is shattered. Stygian Mirror touches the Leyline Extractor's Core Crystal, the scene around them warps, energies of death flicker everywhere, and nowhere. Destabilizing the entire environment. The core of Rho Aias falls. And then, rather than push onwards, the death energy is re-aligned, no longer coursing to power the nature spirit, who falls into rotten leaves that scatter everywhere, his weapon fading away with him aside from a shard of oblivion that rests ominously on the ground. Instead, that energy is directed to Stygian Mirror, who'll find it familiar but alien at the same time. It's death aspected magic, but it is not essence, and it's incompatible with the magics of the exalted. Were she to try to hold onto it, it may empower her for a time, but it may also do severe and lasting damage and will maintain the corruption. She may also choose to allow it to dissipate, spreading into the already wounded environment, but clearing out the corruption at the source and giving it a chance to heal.
Karian Icefang	"Is there a difference? Between the queen of death and the realm of death?" Karian asks, sounding a bit like someone with the knowledge of such a trip. As the scythe fades, he opts to take a more neutral, but ready stance.
Rebecca Chambers	Meanwhile, Rebecca checks to make sure there's no other surprises for the time being. "So now what do we do? Are there any other threats?" She asks. "Because I'm thinking our best course of action is to deal with this 'facility' and get out of here as soon as possible."
Stygian Mirror	Luckily, Mirror is not a power-obsessed madwoman. She has no interest in the crystal's current virtues, and can recognize the risks to her person. It's a cool toy, but it belongs in the hands of someone competent and more scientifically-aligned, not hers. On the bright side the nature spirit isn't being powered anymore? Oh, he toppled over dead. Okay. That solves that problem. She doesn't want that thing to blow up, because she's within the explosion's range, for all she knows. So she'll do the next best thing and, feeling out the strange magic flowing through her, try to direct it outward. All of it. But not into the land, into the sky instead. Assuming it even matters. Leylines are weird and don't usually obey rules like 'being underground' so much as 'being in a specific area'.
Emiya Shirou	The more damage that Rho Aias suffers, the more frantic Shirou's expression gets! Perspiration rolls down his head in ever-increasing amounts as he forces what little prana he has into maintaining the shield! If it falters, he and possibly Sigrun are goners! Furious determination shines in his eyes, but it's not enough... Chunks of the shield keep faltering and shattering as his image fails to hold up to the original. Or well, even the ripoff he was basing it off to begin with... it's complicated, seriously. But then... just as all hope seems lost and Shirou's scrambling to project the twin swords... Down goes the nature spirit into a pile of leaves! "What?" THUMP. Without an enemy to fight, Shirou's legs give out and he topples to the ground shuddering...
Sigrun Stem	And as Stygian Mirror allows the energy to dissipate into the skies, the army of the dead collapses. The area remains sick and dead, and will likely remain such for at least a while longer, but the wound no longer festers. Healing can now begin. Sigrun is still not awake, and won't be for a while longer. Whatever made her so vulnerable here, whatever caused her not to even try to bring weapons along to fight, perhaps it did a number on her. Perhaps something to ask when she wakes up, perhaps best to take those unconscious somewhere less filled with death first.