672 Rise before the fall

Geralt "You're a disgusting tyrant, you won't touch her." he states as if it were a fact.

Emhyr shakes his head, "I've had enough of your drivel Witcher." he says, giving a small gesture towards Geralt which causes a platoon of men to start approaching, heavy ornate black armour and large two-handed swords.

Geralt draws Winter's Blade and drops into a stance in the entrance of the Chapel, "Come." he says, glaring daggers at the men.

The first steps forwards, attempting to bisect Geralt with his blade, only to have it deflected and another sword piece his throat. The confrontation lasted all but a second, but the man drops to the floor holding his throat, gurgling as blood filled his lungs.

Geralt spits at the man on the floor and turns his eyes to the rest who looks at each other, as if they were daring them to go next.

Three more step forth, this time hoping to overwhelm the Witcher, Geralt casts a Yrden which surrounds him, the guards approaching are slowed as the enter it, causing their movements to look even more sluggish than before to Geralt.

Without wasting any time he dashes in between the men, their two-handed swords not being able to be used at full effectiveness in such close range. He ducks a punch and jams the tip of his blade into their kneecap where a weakpoint in the armour was located. The man stumbles just as his friend was attempting a lower slash, accidentally cutting his ally across the neck, killing him.

Geralt then sends a heavy kick to the stomach of another, causing them to back away unstable, eventually falling over the side of the Chapel. As he watches them fall he mentally notes to thank Talem for the lessons.

The last man backs away, having just killed his ally and witnessing Geralt's ferocity... The Soldier glances back at the small army gathered, imploring them to help with his eyes, but Emhyr doesn't make a move, simply watching. His silent pleading is interrupted when the world starts turning... The soldier doesn't realise his head had been cut off before his world goes black.

Emhyr "Haven't lost your touch, Witcher... Let's see how you fare against my mages." he says, gesturing to the side was a few robed individuals begin chanting, particles gathering in the air.

Geralt growls, retrieving a Dimeritium bomb and throwing it into the group, it exploding and preventing the mages from using magic temporarily. The only problem now is, that was his last bomb of that type... He looks back at Ciri and sees she's still struggling on her knees, trying to get her composure to help Geralt, but the pain is too great.

Geralt can see the Dimertium smoke is dissipating, it being his only protection against the barrage of spells that're about to be cast at him... He clutches the Titanite shard hanging neck to his Wolf's Head Medallion, not wishing to summon Reima here due what it would mean for Ichor and Nilfgaard...

"HUUURRGGH!!"

Shouts of pain from the mages cause everyone to turn towards it, seeing claws explode from one of their chests before being torn apart, leaving Regis standing there in his vampiric form, covered in blood.

Geralt "Regis..." he mutters, not having expected his friend to intervene in a battle he was clearly losing.

Emhyr "Kill the monster." he states, backing away to prevent himself becoming another casualty.

The guards all surround Regis with a few mages attempting to cast spells at him, but he was too close to them, a flash of claws killing them easily, their robes not providing any protection against him.

More mages appear from behind the small army, casting spells at him as he approaches the soldiers, disappearing into red mist before reappearing behind an unfortunate soldier who has his spine torn out.

A fireball strikes Regis in the chest, forcing him to remember his fight against Vilgefortz, he winces and a soldiers blade cut into his shoulder, only giving a shallow cut due to it being steel. He backs away and turns his focus to Emhyr, knowing that if he cut the head off of the snake it'd all be over... Again, he vanishes, striking down at Emhyr as the emperor attempts to dodge... Claws pass but Regis doesn't feel any resistance...

Regis "Must've missed." he remarks to himself, dodging a sword strike and backing towards Geralt. "It's never boring around you, is it my friend?"

Geralt shakes his head "No... But we can talk later, I feel as if I have no choices left now..." he says as Emhyr commands the army to storm them, "Capture my daughter alive." he states.

Regis "I don't suppose you've got a plan?" he asks, clashing his claws against each other to create sparks.

Geralt sighs, channelling magic through the Titanite shard. "You can only blame yourselves."

Elsewhere :

Reima was meditating atop the Chaos Temple, attempting to have his aura cover only certain points of his body... He'd managed to cover only his hands, though it didn't really mean much as the temperature of them alone would burn and scorch anything near, making his effort in isolating it basically useless.

His eyes suddenly open, anger filling his eyes as he feels the shard he'd given to Geralt being powered. His cat-like eyes contract as he stands, wings exploding from his back as his aura is released, causing his body to burst into flames. He takes a single step and disappears in a turquoise flash, promising death to whoever had forced Geralt's hand.