Of all the battles Emma had fought since the apocalypse arrived, this was perhaps the most undignified. She was in her homunculus body, wearing only the burnt rags that remained of her clothing, their remnants barely sufficient to preserve her modesty. Her sudden charge had knocked Magus Austere to the ground, letting her pin him to the floor with the Qilin Horn. Meanwhile, the withered old man struggled against her, one hand holding his oxygen in place while the other tried to push her away. To add insult to injury, Emma was pretty sure that his heart wasn't where it normally would be, because the flow of blood thus far was only a trickle, and Magus Austere's struggles were still far too violent for a dying man. All told, the situation resembled an uncouth joke in a B-list comedy.
"It's all wrong, this is all wrong!"
Emma took a palm to the face as the man twisted in place, jostling her nose and bringing with it an aching pain, exactly where it had been broken by a kitchen door days ago. Annoyed, Emma spared one hand from the Qilin Horn and retaliated in kind: she didn't manage to reach his nose, but did knock away his oxygen mask. Immediately, Magus Austere began to wheeze, his limbs losing a fraction of their desperate strength.
[Asthma? No, the sound is wrong. Emphysema then. Are you incompetent? Refusing life extension is one thing, but why would a Magus not repair the damage caused by smoking?]
"Don't you understand? This is the end of everything!"
Emma didn't understand, beyond the acknowledgement that stabbing didn't work with him. Both arms went up, grasping the Magus by the throat as she began to throttle him. She accepted a handful of blows in return, to little effect; the man was weakening by the second, a lack of air compounding his existing infirmities, and it didn't take long until he fell limp in her grasp. Now that he no longer resisted, Emma took a firmer grasp and, with some effort, managed to snap his neck.
[Magus Austere defeated.
Well that was pathetic. Still, he was over twenty levels higher than you, which counts for something.
500 EXP gained.]
Emma retrieved the Qilin Horn from the corpse, before curiosity made her take a second stab, this time opposite the first point of contact.
[Magus Austere's Oxygen Mask stored.
FILTER (AETHEROSPHERE) APPLIED.]
That prompted Emma to double check her inventory, only to find that it was mostly as she'd left it. The mask was a new addition, but everything else looked to be in order: the Qilin Horn was safely stored away, undamaged from its brief use as a weapon, while her homunculus was likewise inside, and Emma herself clad in armour once more.
[WARNING: This Dungeon is unstable, and will collapse if unbeaten in 10 hours, 30 minutes.]
"Attention, citizen! This is private property of the Flux Society, trespassers will not be tolerated!"
The other difference was that Emma was no longer alone in front of the Hall of Beginning. An android painted blue and yellow stood at her side, waving a stun baton at her in an attempt to intimidate.
[Security Droid - Level 15]
Naturally, Emma replied by summoning Epitaph and cutting the offender in half.
[Security Droid defeated.
50 EXP gained.
WARNING: You have committed a crime against Arcadia. You are now marked for death.]