Calrex

"...unfortunately I have no clue where Oscar disappeared to..."

Darkness was what mostly filled his vision as the Ultramarine Knight lowered his stance, battle axe drawn back as his eyes strained to get a bead on the faint forms of movement that seemed to fade in and out of the pitch black background of their battleground. His ears faintly picked up on the hopelessness talk the boss continued to spout, but with each breath he took any feelings of concern of hesitation vanished within the burning focus he continued to maintain, "Continue to fight, that's all we can do..."

The Grand Legionbane burned bright blue once again as he rushed across the area, leaping as he came crashing down on another cluster of four shadowlings. One managed to evade the reach of his <<Explode Catapult>> as the cleave axehead struck across the ground, hacking through two of the small minions effortlessly while one was knocked to the side, barely clinging onto the last bits of its health points, "Tch...this darkness really is making it difficult to keep locked onto these scampering things though...

"At the least my Battle Healing is keeping pace, along with the healing being given by the others. Zan hopefully shouldn't have any problems with clearing out another four, which would only leave a handful left....wonder if there's a point where the spawning is gonna let up..."

"Thanks for the heads u-"

Before The Ultramarine Knight could turn his head to strike the incoming Shadowling, his eyes saw one of his teammates had already cleaved the creature in two. It seemed they were in a good spot, but Calrex felt himself be on edge, as if something in his instincts were telling otherwise, "This...seems like preparation for something...not sure what it might be, but best be prepared. I might not know what comes next, but it can't be something that's too divergent from what Cardinal's thrown at us through all the twenty four raid battles up to this point..."

Bringing his massive two-handed axe in front of him the blue-armored player gave a calm breath, the weapon glowing briefly before a circular aura surrounded his form, his <<Parry>> skill activating. Resting the weapon against his shoulder again he gave a quick glance around in the darkness, "Tch...it's times like this I really regret getting rid of Night Vision so long ago, but can't be helped now.

The battlefield had shifted once again, Calrex's eyes slowly watching as the entire boss room became engulfed in darkness. It reminded him vaguely of one of the event boss fights from more recent times. A steel, echoy breath escaped his helm while scanning around, "What's coming next..."

From the edges of the darkness, his eyes were met with the familiar forms of people he knew both alive and dead within the game. As their outlines filled his vision, his breathing remained calm, but his fists tightened slightly, the sound of metal scraping against itself softly screeching through the white noise, "Of course Cardinal would pull this stuff again. I really shouldn't be surprised at this point anymore."

The familiar faces slowly faded, turning into twisted abominations, the sight almost making the Ultramarine Knight breath a sigh of relief. Something tangible was there to work towards, to fight against. That was what he needed. Anything else he let his trust into his teammates, in his guild, in the entire raid party.

"Looks like it's time to switch things up. Guess this is where the cleanup crew comes in, heh."

His right arm burned bright blue as he took a few steps before opening his hand, coming across his body and swinging to the side to trigger his <<Quick Change>>. The Grand Gauntlets exploded off of his him into faint shining blue lights, slowly condensing together into a longer and longer shape until the familiar form of his two-handed battleaxe, the Grand Legionbane, solidified, already ready to go. Grasping onto the weapon with both hands Calrex rushed forward, readying <<Explode Catapult>> before launching himself into the fray, "It's gonna be tough to get a clean hit on these things, but even if I get a couple that'll be less to deal with later."

Aiming towards a side of the battlefield more out of the way than where he expected his teammates to start attacking he brought his axe head down, making wide swings. Twice he felt resistance before his attack ended, taking a few steps back while moving to rest his weapon against his shoulder.

"So we can't run huh?"

He heard Orgoth's words, giving a small laugh beneath his helm, "Misses happen, even on the frontlines. It's not the first time it's happened to anyone, nor is it likely to ever be the last. Still, I need to get the aggro off of Ariel in order for her to fully focus on attack..."

"Whelp, it's like they say about a cornered animal...that's when you need to be the most careful. Guess this was going to happen eventually. If there's no way out but forward, then we're really got no choice but to push forward with all we've got."

He gave a small smirk at Ariel's quip as she charged forward, dealing a good chunk of damage to the floor boss, "Don't worry, no need to tell me twice! Go ahead and go wild, I'll keep things covered for now!"

Extending his arms to the side the deep blue armored knight clenched his hands into fists, bright blue energy gathering around his gauntlets like swirling trails, growing more and more intense with each moment until it almost seemed like Calrex had two small tornados for forearms. A metallic breath escaped beheath his helm, the Ultramarine Knight's eyes locking onto their coordinated target before slamming his arms together, the energy being unleashed in a reverberating sound blast from where he was standing, <<Focused Howl>> echoing for a brief moment before fading off. With Ariel's attack completing, he gave a small sigh of relief to have successfully taken the lead on aggro for their team.

"No need to switch to full defensive gear for now. If anything I'll need to stick with single-target damage for now. Let's just hope the buffs offsetting Achilles' weakness keeps up."

A sense of caution sweeped over the Ultramarine Knight as he witnessed the battle's progression. After so many times in these raid battles, certain shifts in the tide would be hinted at, and this was no different. It seemed that the other frontliners were feeling the same, some yelling to get ready for a potential large-scale attack. His mind immediately traced back to the Leviathan battle, when the creature used a massive tidal wave. Luckily enough there was the opportunity to prepare for it, and to his luck a single Safeguard potion was enough to completely mitigate the damage. This...could potentially be something different.

Looking over at his team most of the group were topped up on their health, but Ariel, who had been doing majority of the tanking, had taken some hard hits, "Best to try and get the heat off of her first."

Lowering his stance the blue-armored player gave a calming breath, charging forward soon after as he readied <<All Might>>. However, as he was about to leap his eye caught a glimpse of one of the players from the first party, who was using what appeared to be a purification ability. The moment threw off his in-game targeting, resulting in his built up Sword Art energy fading from his fist. Sliding to a stop at the wasted opportunity Calrex cursed under his breath before reaching back and producing one of the group healing crystals he was given before the battle, "If I can't switch out, then best be at least ready for what comes next."

Tossing the crystal upwards he performed a quick horizontal chop, shattering it while the item activated, sending the healing energy across his teammates.

"Geeze...I wasn't prepared for a freaking rollercoaster of a ship ride..."

As he got to his feet Calrex took a moment to shake his head, righting his vision while taking in their new surroundings. Giving a nod to Baldur as the western samurai passed by the blue armored player got to his feet, the metal of the Grand Chariot III echoing through the vast expanse, "Guessing this is the realm of the dead huh? Well, thematic would be putting it lightly in this case. Still, we'll have to keep pushing on to get out of here, it seems..."

Adjusting his gauntlets to sit a bit better on his arms, the Ultramarine Knight gave a small sigh, following the others into the throne room, where they were greeted with the goddess of death herself, Hel, "...Wasn't there a game involving her and psychosis that came out a few years back? Meh, insignificant point now."

He lowered his stance, ready to strike, but not before his attention was drawn towards the three ghost soldiers that were chained. Seeing majority of his teammates focused on attacking, Calrex gave a small shake of his head, "...and that's what dedicated DPS are best at. There might be more to these soldiers, better see what's up."

Quickly moving over to the closest one, he noticed that one of the other players, that seemingly went without introduction, was also taking the moment to try and free the man. A quick dagger slice seemed to scratch the chains, but the overall durability didn't seem to have reduced by much, "Here, let me see if I can help..."

Focusing his aim on the small scratch Calrex pulled his arm back before slamming it onto the chain link like a hammer. As he raised his fist back up, it revealed a dent, which combined with the already existing damage to form a slight bend. With some more strikes, it looked like they could probably break the link and free the soldier.

Empty words that carried no weight seemed to follow after the barrage of attacks the frontliners sent at Orgoth, a common response from floor bosses the Ultramarine Knight had said before. What he may have, at some point, seen that a intelligent method to try and pick apart a player's psyche, the bluenette now saw as a cheap gimmick to try and buy more time, while prompting seemingly witty responses from the players. There was maybe one, two, or maybe three phrases that could apply to many, if not all of the participants in this fight. These vague observations made those words mean even less in his opinion.

No supposedly cunning responses came from him, something he might have done back in the past few raids. But he had grown from then, and found such exchanges as a waste of time and focus. What could be used as time to come up with a response was better off used to remain on alert. The only determining factor in this "debate" came down to who was left standing at the end of this conflict. "A dog with so much bark..."

His right fist pulled back as <<All Might>> burned in his hand one again, Calrex leaping forward as he was guided by the assisted system, slamming his punch into the same place it connected as before. With Zandra's banner used on his team, it almost felt like he had used Charge once again due to the attack boost received. Leaping back a small breath escaped his lips as he remained concentrated, ready to strike again when the moment presented itself.

"...and so it begins..."

Time seemed to slip by as the bluenette gave a small sigh, his vision being filled with the battlefield before him. Standing against them was their for, Orgoth, whom the first two teams already took to engaging. What seemed like a chaotic scene, after years of experience revealed to him familiar patterns. The frontline battle started like clockwork, something he had witnessed many times before. Eyes locked onto the target, his mind steeled as a metallic breath faintly hung in the air, his exhale reflecting off the surface of his helm, "Now it comes down to the strategists...Shield, Bal, everyone...I'm leaving it up to you..."

"Roc, you're already there right?"

A blue glint hovered overhead as his blue peregrine falcon familiar circled over the battle, already following the Ultramarine Knight's mental command. His Accuracy shot up as the bird-shaped marking appeared just below where his right eye would normally be. Pulling both of his arms back, Calrex leaned his body forward, shifting most of his weight forward while digging the balls of his feet into the ground. A burst of air remained where he was standing as <<Charge>> activated, his heavily armored form propelling across the battlefield. Bright blue light gathered both in and around his right gauntlet, shining brightly before starting to shoot out of the upper opening like a jet turbine.

Rapidly closing the distance to Orgaoth the blue armored player drew his powered arm back, extending his left arm forward to focus his strike. Moments later his <<All Might>> powered hook crashed into the minotaur's face as a single bright red number flew by, the signifier of a critical hit. Pushing back off Calrex backpedaled back into position, readying himself once again, "Heh, sorry Ariel, didn't mean to catch up on aggro that fast."

As Shield began to speak Calrex gave a moment as he closed his eyes, centering himself once again. Lifting the Grand Chariot III's helmet over his head he gently slid if over his head, affixing it in place before reopening his eyes, the light blue slits on the outside of the armor piece lighting up to reflect this. He felt Baldur's hand on his shoulder briefly, before the man walked past and his eyes also met Ariel's form, giving a smile and a nod before facing forward towards the entrance to the battle area. "After being through so many battles, as much as this is a momentous occasion, there is no reason for me to be hesitant. After all, with the amount of time being in the raids, there's more than enough experience under my belt that I should be prepared as much as I can. Zanshin, Mushin, all the things that were taught to me. Even if we don't know exactly what may come, we are all about as ready as we can possibly be. The rest we will have to roll with the punches as they come."

An audible smirk could be heard from the Ultramarine Knight as Shield finished speaking, his forearms swirling with bright blue energy before Calrex crossed them and pulled apart, the bright blue barrier of <<Parry>> surrounding his frame for a brief second before turning transparent, "Same as any other raid then right? You got it, let's bust through this landmark of a floor boss and see what awaits on the other side."

"Safeguard, Antidote, Antioxidants, Parry, Achilles...there's already so many more layers of protection compared to the Leviathan fight. Maybe this time I really can do what my training has prepared me to perform. After all, I always was training to be something like a lightning bruiser, heh."

Only a small breath escaped from beneath his helm before Calrex shook his head, "Its been a while, maybe I'm getting a little shaken up. Gotta catch my breath for a moment."

Placing both hands on the sides of his helmet a small sliding noise could be heard before the bluenette revealed his face beneath, pulling his protection off for a moment. He closed his eyes and gave a sight, only to open them and see that suddenly there was a person in front of him, swiping furiously on his inventory, "Eh...can I help yo..."

Moments later a metric pile of items hovered in the air in front of him, causing a bead of sweat to form against his head while lifting his arms to receive the feast items and healing crystal, "T-Thank you...this means a lo..."

"...and he's already moved on to another person. Well...nonetheless this should help..."

Finding a spot to sit down he picked up each of the feast items and began to munch them down, seeing the various reflective icons appear beneath his energy bars at the edge of his vision, "Good...maybe this will help after all. Great to know everyone's done their best to cover for all the participants. Maybe I can put a little more confidence into how this battle might turn out..."

Looking over at @Macradon as he bit into his own Peep feat, the bluenette felt a queasiness in his stomach from the traumatic memory, before looking down and seeing that the last thing he had to consume was also from the same event, "Ugh...you've gotta be kidding me."

Glancing over at his two compatriots, Mac and @Mari , for a brief moment, Calrex gave a small sigh, then lifted up his part of the feast, "Well...down the hatch..."

The yellow sugary bird disappeared into his mouth, and the Ultramarine Knight had to stifle a gag for a brief period while swallowing the feast before he gave a sigh of relief, "Alright, that's the last of it. As long as it doesn't decide to come jumping out of my gullet for whatever reason..."

Feast Tracking:

"Hm...I guess this is the place?"

As he made his way over, the bluenette looked left and right, until he finally saw the place he was looking over, "Huh, first time in a while I've visited a shop like this."

Pushing the door open he gave a calm breath before approaching the counter, "Hey there, I heard that you were crafting feasts for the raid, and were in need of some more of the Easter dungeon rewards. Here's the one I got."

Swiping on his inventory for a few moments the Big Peep was sent over before Calrex gave a nod, "Hopefully that's of some help. Best luck, and hope to see you there."

With that he gave a wave and made his way back out of the door.

Stats:

HP: 2030/2030 | EN: 176/176 | DMG: 19 | MIT: 141 | ACC: 6 |  EVA: 4 | TNT: 1 | LD: 3 | ACH: 0.5 | BH: 90 | Stonewall | Safeguard | Antidote: 3/3 | PBC: 9 | Antioxidant

As he arrived with the rest of Jacob's Ladder, Calrex gave a small sigh, the air ringing metallic against the helm of the Grand Chariot III. Prior to arrival he had already taken the two things he knew to be useful for the start of the battles. The first was a Safeguard potion from his stores, which were slowly but surely running dry. The second was the new antidote salve he had ordered from Zandra, which would at least for a few turns protect him from the amplified negative status effects as a result of his unique skill, "I'll definitely need to make sure I keep that up, depending on how long this fight drags out. I can't exactly be dropping one of these ever few moments or so or else I'd be lowering my damage output, and from what I understand from what the strategy was so far, I'll ned to be switching between AoE and single target damage if needed, depending on what comes in this fight..."

Adjusting the Grand Gauntlets III he steadied his mind while thinking of what else he could possibly do. With Achille's main problems gone for now his tanking abilities were more or less back to how they were before the sudden patch right before Leviathan, but it would only last for so long. In addition, with all of the discussions and rumors about the difficulty of this fight, the Ultramarine Knight himself almost felt coming prepared was equivalent to being underprepared. A small sigh escaped his lips, "Well there's not much I can do now..."

"Hey @Baldur, you've still got some spare healing crystals right? I've got a spare battle ready slot, so I can keep those on hand for the party I'll be in. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to grab any other buffs before the fight, but at the least I managed to get a hold of a good stock of antidotes, so if things go right I shouldn't be in a similar state to how I was during the last raid."

Seeing both Mari and Macradon reel from the stench that was produced by the egg, Calrex felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head, "Well I guess I'm glad my armor seems to prevent the..."

It was that moment when the smell finally filled his nose and the bluenette felt the already present queasiness from the Peep fight come back in force, "Nevermind...let's get out of here."

"For an Easter themed dungeon, this feels more like torture. Are we sure the Cardinal system didn't mess up and put April Fools together with Easter on this? I'm glad that at least I don't have to hurl right now...how in the world would that even work in the game?"

As for the loot, it decided to come to Calrex in another form. As he slowly began to walk away, a looming shadow formed over him. Looking up the armored knight watched as a giant chocolate egg formed and immediately flattened him before bursting open, revealing an unidentified demonic weapon, trinket, and armor. These items were added to his inventory before the egg vanished, the bluenette giving a small sigh, "Just...why..."

Rewards:

Calrex gave a nod as everyone made their introductions, looking forward at the pink-haired player who addressed themselves as Yuki, "Nice to meet you. A frontliner tank huh? Then I'll leave my protection in your hands, but if at any point you need to switch feel free to call out. I actually also normally serve as a tank during the raids, so between the two of us we should be able to take the hits."

With everyone prepared to start the bluenette placed the Grand Chariot III's helmet on, the light blue slits indicating his eyes becoming visible as it secured to the base of the armor. The other two individuals outside of Crow and Yuki he would have to try and learn more about later on. With the raid approaching, it was clear no one wanted to waste any time with getting as prepared as possible. Boarding onto the boat he gave a small sigh while adjusting the gauntlets on his arms, "Front guard, got it."

Baldur initiated the first battle against their Norse-inspired foe, cleaving a powerful strike before Hidden, Crow, and Night also took their opportunities to deal a significant amount of damage to Hyrm, seeing the boss monster's health drop by almost half, "Geezes we really are going all in huh? Got it, I'll handle smaller mobs should they show up in time."

Clenching his right hand into a fist his arm began to shine with a bright blue aura of light while the Ultramarine Knight lowered his stance, giving a calming breath as he focused, his eyes locked onto the target's form. Tightening his legs he prepared them to spring forward, activating <<Charge>> before he felt the assisted system take over, jerking his entire body forward as he rocketed towards Hyrm like he was being drawn by a powerful magnet. As he drew closer he was pulled upwards towards the creature's face before <<All Might>> triggered, the powerful right hook slamming into the side of the boss' face before the repulsive force sent the blue armored player back to the deck, sliding to a stop.

"Oh no...just...why..."

As Sebastian took a moment to drop an egg, Calrex wasn't sure if he should be horrified, or grateful that he wasn't viewing it from a clearer angle. Either way he felt a shiver run up his spine at the moment, "So...after this is done let's take a quick poll. Which was worse, the Peeps or what just happened..."

As Mari and Macradon ripped through another massive chunk of the boss' health the bluenette watched as its health bar dropped further and further and further, until only a sliver remained. Then it stopped, "So...this thing is basically gonna fall over if we were to breath on it."

With Mari's previous double effects still in play, he gave a small sigh, then relaxed his fighting posture before standing back up straight, "So this thing is going to explode momentarily, no real need to put more force behind that nail in the coffin."

"Eugh...don't go reminding me just yet. Let's save the Peeps Anonymous chatting for later, possibly after we get rid of thing!"

With a calming Breath he focused once again, right arm shining with bright blue energy as he readied <<All Might>> once again."We definitely are ripping through this thing rather quick. Maybe the initial concern was for nothing, but I'll keep it in the back of my mind for now until this thing dies."

Rushing forward Calrex pulled his striking limb back. Moments later his strike slammed into the same spot on the bunny once again, and this time the bluenette swore he saw some chunks of its candied form go flying away, "Geeze it's like the dragon floor boss again when I knocked a tooth out of it."

Taking a few quick backsteps the Ultramarine Knight gave a small sigh before sliding to a stop, "Almost there, and with that double status effect still in play I think we should be wrapping this up in a few more moments."

"Follow?"

The bluenette was scanning the area around the teleportation plaza when he heard Baldur speak, looking over as the western samurai started walking. Taking a couple of quick steps to catch up his gaze oriented forward to see who they were following. From what he could tell, it might have been the well armored player with vividly pink hair, making her stand clearly from the other heads in the crowd. "Guess that's one of the other people we're supposed to be meeting up with?"

As moments passed the Ultramarine Knight saw the Stygian river come into view, "Geeze this floor never fails to have the creepy vibe going for it, although I don't believe I've been by this river that often in the past..."

Watching Baldur start sprinting down the bank he felt a bead of sweat form on the side of his head before giving a small sigh, moving into a jogging pace so that he didn't lose sight of the man. It wasn't long after that he saw a familiar face come into view as Crozeph's form became more clear. "Is this where we're supposed to be meeting up then?"

"Heh, don't forgot who you're working with Mari!"

The bluenette gave a laugh as he charged up his next attack. Macradon had already dealt another strong blow to the final boss of the labyrinth, but there was something that didn't feel right, and the bluenette didn't want to give the bunny enough time to unleash whatever he was suspecting. <<All Might>> fully charged he shot forward again, his fist striking the exact same area he did the last time with powerful force, enough that he surprisingly felt his strike hit harder than before. Red numbers flew by signifying a critical hit as he ave a small sigh of relief.

"Almost done, let's get this done!"

Lowering his stance he gave a calming breath, readying himself for the next opportunity to strike. It may have been skill and experience, or maybe sheer luck, but they were ripping into this supposed labyrinth boss rather quickly, even faster than the previous two battles. That seemed to not fall in line with how mos of the conventional battles would be, and that was what was keeping him on edge.

"Heh, I'm not exactly the main damage dealer of this trio right now, so don't worry about me. If need be I can switch to full tank and use that as an opportunity to heal up."

As the last battle approached from afar, the bluenette gave a small exasperated sigh at the sight of the massive bunny, "First it's four, now it's one massive one. If we ever get out of here I don't think I'm going to be able to look at chocolate bunnies or marshmallow Peeps for quite a while."

As Mari took a moment to fully regenerate her energy, Calrex watched as Macradon vanished from his current position, taking the opportunity to ready for a powerful attack. The Ultramarine Knight looked forward, eyes locked on the creature. It appeared to be a but more mobile than their previous foe, meaning that there was a higher chance of a miss, "Better make sure this thing doesn't move so that Mac has a chance to really hit it hard."

Clenching his right arm into a fist the gaunlet burned bright blue with his <<Martial Arts>> energy before he rushed forward, his legs briefly flashing bright as he triggered his <<Charge>> skill to add more power behind the strike. Eyes remained fixed on his target until his punch slammed into the side of the bunny's face. Sliding to a stop the familiar lightning bolt marker of the Stun effect appeared.

"Same, wonder what happened that made him have to head out so urgently."

"It has still been some time since we got caught up. He was gone for so long, and with the Grand Forge now in a more remote location there's less foot traffic passing through to carry rumors around. Maybe something happened before Shield, Baldur, and I found him again..."

Glancing down at his fist he gave a calming breath while opening and closing it, "With Teayre and Oikawa both having been out of public view for so long, that really for the most part only leaves me as the remaining active player of the original Spectrum trio. Kind of weird to think about, especially when we first started out with bigger plans to get each other out of this death game."

Placing his hands behind his hips he leaned back, giving a small stretch, "Guess for now then, that means I'll have to carry that weight for the three of us."

Calrex entered into the frontliner tank's shop, giving a soft knock on the door followed by a casual wave, "Sorry for the delay on this one Shield, it completely slipped my mind."

Walking over to the front desk he swiped on his menu before producing the Easter Bunny's Favor he had purchased so long ago back during the Easter event, setting it on the table, "I believe this was what you needed right?"

Confirming everything was set he gave a nod, "Boss battle's coming up soon, so I'll see you there."

"This is another big raid though, hopefully we're ready."

Giving:

"Hm?"

His usual day and schedule seemed to have taken a quick change as the bluenette had received a message out of the blue from Zandra. With a few swipes he opened the message and was able to determine the message, "Huh, Zandra's getting married, neat. Wait...is this the third...meh I won't think more on it. Probably will be a good chance thing to see, especially since it's been a while since there was some kind of formal occasion like this."

Getting to his feet from the small room he was resting in at Baldur's estate, he made his way over to the teleportation plaza to reach the destination, flashes of light briefly covering his form as he changed out of his normal clothing.

It wasn't long afterwards that he found himself at the entrance to the wedding, with only a few people so far in attendance. Giving a small sigh he put his hands into his dress slack pockets. His formal attire for the event was a black suit blazer with similar colored slacks, although underneath he was wearing a dark blue button up and a black tie. "Certainly been a while since I had been to one of these things. The last one I can really recall was Tristan's, and that feels like forever and a half ago now."

With Mac dealing the final blow to the Giant Peep, the battle was finally over. It wasn't necessary a difficult one in terms of game mechanics, but it certainly was taxing on his constitution. Calrex gave a sigh, the breath reverberating against the metal helm of his armor, "Well thank goodness that's over and done with."

Glancing at his energy the bluenette watched it climb a sliver, his passive recovery kicking in. It was still well below half, and it would take some time before it was replenished, "I should still be ok for another fight, but I'll have to be more sparing with my attacks, or else I'll be spent before the battle is over. Geeze that hasn't happened since my old straight sword days."

Stretching his arms he looked upwards for a moment before resting them at his sides, glancing down as his rewards list popped up, "Big Peep huh? Geezes it grants Overhealth four times? Not a bad thing to be keeping around. I'll need to be sure to have that in case, maybe for the floor raid coming up."

@Mari

Stats:

"Once I find a new training outfit that feels better than my current one I'll be sure to do so."

The bluenette gave a small laugh as Baldur poked fun at his topless form. Even though the outfit itself had a open cloak attached by game logic to his shoulders, it did still show a good amount of skin, especially when they were in combat. Calrex stretched his arms before heading over to the wooden sword rack, gently and almost ceremoniously resting his own bokken in the empty space just below the top slot. Swiping on his menu his form was encapsulated with bright light, obscuring his figure before dimming, revealing him equipped with his raid armor, the Grand Chariot III.

Attached over the hands and forearms of the heavy armor were the Grand Gauntlets III, his amplifier for the Martial Arts technique he would utilize. However, he still kept his alternative forms of attack in his battle ready inventory, namely the massive axe-sword the Grand Legionbane, which he would use when contributing area of effect damage. To complete the third part of his "weapons triangle" was his defensive array, the Grand Skypiercer spear and Grand Guard III. "That being said, showing off isn't really my style. Besides, it's not like my particular tactics are really noteworthy."

Even though he was the supposed strongest player in Aincrad, the Ultramarine Knight was more than aware there were people that were coming close to or even had surpassed him in specific aspects. His all-rounder design could easily be overtaken by specialists: Shield being a great example for tanking, and any frontliner who had focused on damage dealing for his other points. Comparatively, he would have considered himself closer to a foundation that other players in his part could build on, someone who could provide a strong baseline when in battle.

Time slipped by as the two made their way to Yomi, the familiar dim cavern setting filling his vision as he gave a small sigh, "Alright Roc, you're up..."

A glint many stories above the two could be briefly seen before his blue peregrine falcon familiar materialized, soaring overhead. With that Calrex gave a nod to Baldur, "Well, let's see what this new event has to offer."

"Ugh..."

At this point Calrex felt his stomach turn as he watched the smaller Peeps hop around with a rather squishy noise each time they made contact with the ground. The massive caps-locked message didn't even register with him as he shook his head, "Okay, what developer thought this was a good idea, and if it wasn't...who the heck is messing with the Cardinal System?"

"Well one thing's for sure, none of us are going to be putting these things into our mouths. Better just use this time to get ready."

With a calming breath he crossed his arms, swirling light blue energy gathering around his gauntlets as he prepared the <<Parry>> skill. He had just healed back up to full health from the past battle, and he had no intention of giving that up again so willingly. Pulling his arms apart the energy burst outwards, the faint outline of a barrier reflecting off his form before becoming fully transparent.