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Forum of the Elder Gods (Grave;Cross)


Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Not through words, but emotions did Grave feel his mother respond. Immediately she showed anger at his decision via a rush of fury he'd feel coursing through his body. Her emotions became his own for that instant. Impossible to know her exact reason for being angry, in her current state, she could only send a vague message to him. The only thing being clear to him was her dissatisfaction with him.

And as he would take steps further away from the girl he was walking away from yet again, the emotions grew more intolerant, until Cynder quite nearly, of no doing of his own, felt like punching something, anything. Even the hard rock that threatened to break his knuckles in retaliation. She was fuming at him, to be sure. Though he showed respect to the arachne, claimed he'd come back later, his mother did not approve of it.
 
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Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave stopped when the emotion threatened to overtake him. He tried to settle down and go on - a futile effort. With such a strong feeling in his soul, Cynder couldn't bring himself to leave. He concluded that his mother was angry, and that there were two possible reasons: either because he was leaving Valencia or because the spiders treated the ruins as home. The young man picked the former as the most likely cause, remembering that his mother was displeased by the fact he left her earlier. And besides, would he really have a chance to return later? As he turned around, Grave kept telling himself that he was going to regret it. However, he was also determined to get this done - anything to get rid of the feeling of guilt his mother set off with her tantrum.

"You know... I really don't wanna hurt anyone here. Including her." Cynder nodded, pointing at Valencia and braced himself for a fight, knowing how this will most likely end. "But the thing is, right now I'm repeating the same mistake I just made a while ago. I am going to take the girl back with me. I promise that your eggs will be safe and they'll return to you as soon as possible - I'll see to it personally. But I can't bring myself to leaving the situation as it is, whether I like it or not."
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

"You seem to have mood swings every few minutes," the arachne giggled, seeming a little surprised to see him speak to her for a third time, "But, and I hate to tell you this... You are no longer in a bargaining position..." she informed him. Soon after, he'd feel the rage from his mother reach a peak, a sudden jolt in reaction to the emotion revealing that his legs were stuck to the ground due to a set of freshly made webbing placed there.

That's when, perhaps, it would occur to him. His mother wasn't trying to make him do the right thing, she was trying to warn him of the arachne's trickery! Now with his legs sealed to the ground, a single, lone arachne lowered herself from above, hands grabbing at his shoulders just as he'd make the realization that arachne most certainly were not honorable creatures. They were still monsters.

"How nice of you to step into my web..." the malicious arachne chuckled, "I'm sorry if you feel betrayed, but we can't deny our instincts when fresh meat wonders so willingly into our midst~"
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave bared his teeth. Now he was getting angry. Really angry. If there was something he hated, it was being fooled. He realized she shouldn't have trusted the creatures. Whatever compassion he had for them instantly went out of the window, replaced by fury. "Sorry if I respond in kind!" Cynder tried a desperate gambit - to duck under the spider's arms for a moment, hoping to avoid her grab for long enough to draw his sword, then give the treacherous monster a good taste of his blade. It occured to him he should have helped Valencia - it'd be easier to fight with an ally on his side. He also made a mental note to attack without thinking next time his mother got angry. Grave just hoped he could get out of this somehow... If he managed to fend off the closest one, perhaps he could come up with an illusion that would give him a brief advantage. As long as he managed to free himself, that is.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

His blade would cut along the human side of the monster's torso, spilling her blood in a wide arch as the monster retracts in pain, holding her wounded belly, wincing in pain as she escaped before she could be hit again.

In the next moment, her sisters all began to fall from the ceiling, gracefully flipping right side up as they hit the ground, surrounding the grounded Grave in a rough circle. Each of them were grinning with delight, rather than anger, their wounded sister obviously not an immediate concern.

"I love it when they fight!" one arachne cheered with malicious glee, licking her lips as if Cynder were a delicacy.

"I knew he'd struggle! The blood is making me so horny!" another Arachne cackled.

"Don't worry about feeling guilty," a calmer looking Arachne told him, "Our venom will make you forget all about whether or not you should have saved her, ha, ha, ha!" she mocked him.

They were approaching, and with his mother's growing emotions in the back of his mind, they time to act was clearly right now, lest he end up suffering a similar fate he allowed Valencia to suffer.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave knew this was a very bad situation. Not only he was surrounded, he was also incapable of moving his feet. This made him an easy target - his back was one huge weakpoint he couldn't cover and he would be unable to dodge a tackle. Any of these monsters could pin him down now, and he had to avoid their poison at all costs. Cynder regretted his carelessness and lack of preparation. Right now, he had to keep the monsters at bay. Hopefully, he would come up with a plan.

The first step was, of course, creating a diversion. Grave decided that the best way to do this would be to surround himself with something intimidating enough to scare away the spiders. He recalled the illusion of fire he used earlier - it worked once, maybe it'll work again? For now, he focused on creating a ring of fire around himself - a circle of white, bright, roaring inferno that hopefully would blind the spiders and halt their advance. Afterwards, untangling himself from the web would be the first thing Cynder wished to attempt.

However, at this point he didn't seem to have any chances of doing that, unless he somehow managed to gather enough strenght to tear himself off the floor. Cutting the threads wouldn't do much good - he was standing on them, after all. The best way would be to melt them - Grave once played with a spider's net and a candle in childhood and knew how things worked - but to achieve this, he'd need real fire. The young man wished he had something to charge his sword - at least he'd have a way to shoot the spiders by waving his sword. Then he remembered something. Cynthia told him the blade was capable of absorbing any kind of magic directed at it. Perhaps it'd absorb Cynder's own power as well. Maybe - just maybe - if he tried to control the weapon as an extension of himself like earlier, when he sent the energy to the statue, he'd be able to charge it on his own. If that didn't work, he could try to make it absorb an illusion of something - sparks, lights, whatever. Anything would be good.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Quickly summoning the magic within him, weaving the picture of flames in his head, with his dire concentration, he managed to erupt a bright circle of false flames around him. The light alone was enough to make the arachne panic, and back away from the threat of fire. But it wasn't long before one of them wordlessly realized that it was just an illusion, feeling no heat to speak of, and alerted her sisters to this by passing through the fire unharmed.

But his next step was already prepared. Pouring his magic into the blade, his blade was illuminated with the essence of his soul. The boldest of the arachne quickly came at him, and just in time, he'd be able to direct the blade at her, and release a full blast of pure energy into her abdomen. The beam slammed into her, sending her flying back, burning into her skin a little before slamming her into the wall, where she fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.

Gathering Valencia in her arms and front legs, the arachne that impregnated her quickly went about trying to escape the scene with her egg-filled captive.

"Make your escape!" one of the arachne surrounding Grave shouted. But midway to the exit, she looked back at her circle of sisters with concern. "It can't be helped! He must not harm our children."

With signs of hesitance, the hostage holding arachne quickly made her way out, careful about any attack Cynder would make to stop her, while one of her sisters actively stood ready to use her own body to stop any attack he'd make. And while Grave would be occupied looking somewhere else, one of the arachne from behind tried to discreetly sneak up, and grapple him to try and remove that strange sword of his.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave smirked. It wasn't a particularly nice smirk. It was an expression of a person who just discovered exactly how dangerous he might be to his surroundings - and liked that. He quickly dropped the illusion of fire - it was no longer useful. The spiders already knew that the flames were fake. They also knew that Cynder could bite pretty hard. In fact, they were scared. This would mean they'd be less eager to attack head on.

Unfortunately, it also meant that they wouldn't risk leaving Valencia - and their eggs - anywhere close to Grave. And the others were willing to take shots for her just to make sure she's safe. This was a consequence of using his new power that he didn't foresee - mainly because he was worried about other outcomes. In particular, attacks delivered to his blind spots. Cynder was afraid that an arachne would take advantage of the fact that he was glued to the floor. As tried to take a quick look around and count the remaining foes, he kept his sword in front of him and focused on recharging the blade for another assault. The young man maintained a glowing aura to make sure he could see in the dark.

At that point, Grave felt the touch of an arachne attempting to grapple him. His eyes widened in terror, but he quickly employed a counter-strategy. He attempted to quickly cast an extremely bright light behind him in an attempt to blind his foe. If it worked, it could buy him a few seconds, perhaps. Cynder felt that changing his grip and stabbing towards the back would be too difficult and time-consuming. Instead, he tried to turn his body to the left and press the edge of his sword against the spider's arm near the armpit, pressing his left elbow against the hilt to help him put some good pressure on it, then attempted to quickly withdraw his left arm and slash the axillary artery (or at least the vein) by pulling the sword as if he drew it out of the scabbard, hoping he won't cut himself in the process. Perhaps the blood loss would discourage the pesky spider.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Releasing his bright light, the arachne behind him grunted, shutting her eyes. And as he brought his blade around to try and cut her, she barely managed to squint an eye open, before reaching her hand up, and catching the blade in her armored hand, sharp nails screeching along the material as she made a grip around the weapon, the carapace that covered the ends of her upper limbs protecting her from wounds.

All was not lost, however. As she tried to maintain a grip on him, she ended up pulling on him as she drew back, ripping his feet from the webbing that held him. Arching her arachnid body, Grave was lifted into the air, with a pair of her front legs holding him to her body. Swinging to the right, then quickly to the left, she threw him to the wall as he fought to get his sword free, and cut her. The control of the sword went from both their hands, but did not land far from Cynder as his back slammed against the wall, hurting a little, and knocking the breath out of him, but otherwise not causing any memorable damage.

The arachne, not wanting to waste time, were quick to arch the ends of their bodies, directing their ass ends towards where Grave landed, and squirting their webbing at him. If he did not move that instant, he would be imprisoned, and likely raped by the surviving arachne.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

As Grave struggled against the arachne who tried to disarm him, he managed to confirm a few facts. First, the spider's carapace was harder than he had assumed. Earlier, he believed he could cut through it with his sword without problems, but it seemed that the monster girls were well protected. This carapace was as tough as well-made armor, and the spider's arms were natural gauntlets. Altough this kind of weapon gave no extra reach, it allowed the arachne to grab Cynder's blade and attempt to wrestle it away from him.

Fortunately, the monster grew impatient with it's victim and tossed Grave at the wall in an attempt to separate him from the sword. Altough he lost his grip on the weapon, so did the arachne. Cynder hit the wall, air escaping his lungs along with a nasty curse, and immediately slid down into a crouching position before lunging. His back hurt, but at least he seemed unharmed and his weapon was fairly close too. The sword was Grave's first objective - he intended to reach it, pick it up and resume his attack. He had to neutralize all enemies before escaping, otherwise he'd be at a disadvantage while rescuing Valencia.

Cynder intended to target the arachne that released him first, mainly because she was separated from the others. Altough the spiders seemed to possess a lot of physical strenght, they had a smaller reach and probably little training. Grave planned to use a feint - in case he managed to re-arm himself and reach his opponent, the young man would pretend to perform a vertical blow from above aimed at the spider's face. The human-like parts of the girl's body were the only places he could strike, and most humans guarded their face on instinct while confronted by danger. He intended to force the arachne to attempt to block, then spin around and channel his momentum into a low horizontal (or diagonal) cut aimed at the stomach.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

A useful technique, granted to Grave from his adopted father, was executed flawlessly. The arachne took the bait of the feint, raising her armored arms to stop, and possibly snare the blade. And as Cynder came back around, tan sword gleaming from the slightest reflection of light, his blade made it's way to her stomach.

Suddenly, the blade clinked against a familiar feel of armor. When Cynder would realize a moment later that the arachne rose her front legs in defense as well, he'd quickly realize that he should have thrusted, instead of slashed. This mistake of choice allowed the arachne to smack his weapon away, and descend upon him, knocking him on his back, quickly crawling on top of him a millisecond later, pressing her body weight down on him.

"We'll rape you until you break!" she announced to him angrily, her dozen red eyes narrowing at him, "You'll remain a toy for the rest of your life, before joining the dead mates we've had, hanging from the ceiling!"
 
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Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave was suprised when he felt that his blade was stopped. And when he saw the arachne defending herself with her legs, he realized that he made a fatal mistake. He couldn't stop the spider from disarming him or avoid landing on the ground, pinned down by the monster. Cynder forgot about one important thing - his opponents weren't human. He wasn't fully prepared to fight monsters, and failed to remember that the girls had more than one pair of limbs they could use to protect themselves. He was used to human opponents - and that doomed him.

"Like Hell, parasite!" Grave didn't intend to go out without a fight, especially not now. Blinding the spider wouldn't work now, they knew that trick. He was pinned down, and unable to crawl away - the spider's weight was too big to throw her off him. Beating her with bare hands wouldn't work either - Cynder couldn't inflict enough damage before she'd restrain him completely. There was only one option he could think of - magic. But what spell should he cast?

Grave knew he could pretend to summon a powerful blast spell to force the arachne off him. However, this tactic had several weaknesses. The spiders knew he couldn't create real fire, or at least suspected that. They knew he had access to illusions, and they wouldn't fall for cheap tricks so easily. The arachnes also probably wouldn't think he'd put himself at a risk of being hit by his own attack, which would be possible at this range. And finally, Cynder had to give her some time to allow her to release him - the problem was, the creature was pissed off. She'd probably attempt to crush the air out of him rather than escape. And if she didn't escape, she'd soon realize that he was just bluffing.

The other option was just as risky. Cynthia infused Grave not only with the power to make illusions, but with the power to make tangible objects as well - so far, his attempts to use it weren't very successful. It was still better than the other option - if he could create a weapon and inflict enough damage, perhaps he'd force the monster to get off him. Cynder focused. He imagined a weapon - a long dagger. He put all the strenght and will he had into creating the blade, this time focusing on all aspects he could think of - size, color, texture, mass, weight, composition among them - and put all of his might into bringing the weapon into existence. Once it appeared, Grave would focus on driving the thing into the arachne's body, aiming for her vulnerable human parts in an attempt to thrust the dagger into her belly and cut it open.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Trying to shape such a blade in his hand, the image he tried to shape was jagged, and thought with haste. When trying to slice open her belly, the weapon only managed to cut the outer layer of her skin as he swung from where she held him. She did bleed, and even reel back enough to free Grave from where she was crushing down on him.

Though she reeled back, the arachne snarled, and came slamming down with one of her front legs, seeking to slam him down once more under her limb. And all while the arachne tried to slam her legs down, and hold the human in place with a much more heavily armored part of her body, Valencia and the other arachne were constantly getting further away. A feeling coming from his mother reminded him of this, and almost as if the words were his own, spoke aloud in his mind.

A waste of time, she thought, directing towards the fight with the current arachne. All they were doing was buying more time for their sister to escape.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave was less than pleased with the result of his efforts to create a weapon, but at least it cut his opponent's skin. What's more important, it gave the young man a chance to free himself, which meant it did it's job. Cynder put all of his strenght into pushing himself away from the arachne, rolling on the ground to avoid her attempts to pin him down. He had to get away from the spider and get up as soon as possible, then reclaim his sword. He also had to re-assess his situation.

Grave had to admit that his mother was right. The monsters forced him to fight, preventing him from helping Valencia. He could not afford to waste any more time - the arachne may have reached the end of the corridor by now, perhaps. This reminded Cynder of something - he still had the key that the mimic used to lock the door leading down to the throne room. Even if the arachne carrying Valencia left the corridor, if Grave managed to outrun and lock in his opponents, the odds would become much better.

As he realized this, Cynder decided on his next course of action - get up, grab the sword, run out of here and lock the door. The sooner he ended this, the better. He made several errors today because of his bad judgement - he underestimated - and overestimated - both his opponents and his own power. Earlier, he feared that he would not defeat the spiders - and sacrificed Valencia to ensure his safety, choosing the easy way out. After he cut the first spider and blasted the second, Grave began to believe he can quickly end this by taking the remaining opponents out, but he wasn't cautious enough to avoid trouble. It was time to try a third option - and finally get his priorities straight.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Quickly skittering after him, the arachne were quick to pursue Grave after he picked himself up, and began running towards the exit to the main chamber. Both making an attempt to stop him, they would both miss their attempts to grab him, and hold him in their grasp, the latter attempt being the least wounded arachne, leaping down from above, and nearly slamming down on Cynder's body, just before he'd make it through the door, and be able to slam the key into the lock, and close the door shut tight, with several arachne on the other side angrily trying to destroy it from the other side, before leaving the stone alone, likely to attempt to find another route.

From within the 'puzzle' corridor, where Grave had previously encountered the tricky mimic, the kidnapping arachne's voice was heard, giggling in a malicious echo throughout the hall. "Couldn't handle my sisters?" she asked teasingly, "Or have you suddenly found a renewed spine?"

"We honestly thought about letting you go," she added soon after, "A coward, not at all attractive, was not within our tastes. But my sisters were so horny, the moment your tail even slightly came from your legs, retracting from the pool of self-important cowardice inside you, I knew they would want to keep you. Which brings us to where we are now..." she chuckled evilly, "I will warn you right now, you've granted yourself the freedom of escape, which I suggest you use. If you follow me, I'll kill the girl, before killing you afterwords."
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave leaned against the door, panting slightly. This was not a chase he'd like to repeat anytime soon. Still, he had something to do here. Unfortunately, the arachne was prepared, and she knew the place better than he did. Cynder considered her words, trying to locate the source of the voice. The remark about his tail puzzled him for a moment before he turned his attention to more important things.

Grave wondered what to do. He certainly had a good chance to escape - his pursuers were contained, for now, and the other arachne was occupied with Valencia. However, Cynder knew this option was out of the question. It was a coward's choice. Both his mother's influence and the arachne's poisonous remarks made him loathe that part of himself. This had to change. But Grave had to watch out - Valencia was still in the spider's grasp.

"A renewed spine, you say? Maybe I got that." Cynder stood up, casting a stronger aura of light to see better. He tightened his grip on his sword, charging it with energy like he did before. "You say you will kill me if I follow you. Why won't you try now? Though if I was so easy to deal with, I wouldn't be here, now would I? And I wonder... Can you really risk killing the girl?" Grave looked around, trying to locate the spider - or any traps she could have left, even on the ceiling or the floor. "She carries your children, after all. If a corpse suited your needs, wouldn't it be easier to kill her first, then lay the eggs?" The young man moved onward. He had to hurry.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Following the voice, Grave would hear the skittering of her arachnid legs. But she would only go so far before speaking again, as if to lure him towards her, to follow her. A sense of wariness overcame Cynder's senses, stemming from his mother. "Perhaps, though I'm not fond of killing. However, I won't hesitate to do so when threatened. And a human man who thinks he can stand up to a monster girl is threatening enough for me to make an exception."

Heading out into a hallway, Grave would just catch her shadow, before she skittered off again. Following her further, she continued to speak, leading him on to a room he hadn't been to before. "I will warn you one last time, turn back. Even if you possess the power to defeat me, the girl will still die... Though, perhaps if you lent your body to me, I'd be willing to let you both free." she giggled.

Finally reaching what seemed to be the end of the line, for both himself and the arachne, Cynder would find himself standing in a large corridor, with many pillars assorted in a unique pattern, and Echidna statues along the walls, each holding in their hands very real looking duel sided blades. And near the opposite end of the room, he would be looking directly at the arachne herself, standing upright, on the ground, just over a square pit in the ground, holding Valencia by her arm just over said pit. The purple haired treasure hunter hung limply, and would easily fall to her likely death if she were let go.

"You can test how serious I am, human. In fact, I encourage you to. If you do a single thing, even so much as take another step, or turn your head," she gestured with her arm that held Valencia, "she dies."
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

"You flatter me when you think I'm so dangerous." Grave muttered under his breath as he chased after the arachne. Still, something was wrong. It seemed as if she was trying to lure him into a trap. And that last suggestion... Was she serious? He remained on guard during the pursuit, and finally managed to corner the spider... Or did he?

This new room was peculiar. The pillars formed a unique pattern that stood out - perhaps it was significant. Cynder also noticed the statues, armed with what seemed to be real weapons. Earlier, the man saw some of the statues in this place move. Was this the trap? Guardians who would cut him to pieces if he made a wrong move? Were they designed to kill anyone? Still, the arachne made her way through the room. Even if it was a trap, avoiding it was possible.

Sadly, Grave didn't have the time to ponder this further. The monster girl was holding Valencia hostage, and there was a pretty good chance that she'd let the girl die if he made a mistake - altough she'd kill her children along with the treasure hunter. The spiders were monsters, but... Would she really go that far? Shooting her was too risky - it'd take too much time and there was a chance that Cynder could miss, or hit the wrong person. The spider claimed earlier that if he surrendered himself to her, she'd let the girl go... But he couldn't trust the creature. Using magic to block the pit was dangerous too - he wasn't very skilled at crafting solid objects, and it required constant concentration.

Grave was frustrated. Nothing today went the way he wanted it to go - granted, it was mainly because of his failures, which made it even less bearable. Now he had to deal with a hostage situation, and the only way to defuse it was to negotiate. Cynder sighed. He was never good at this. "And what if you drop her? She's the only reason why I'm not charging straight at you now. If something happens to her, you won't leave this room alive. Do you want to risk that? Especially since you don't have to?" Grave stared into the spider's eyes. An idea came to his mind. "I have a proposition. Let me take the girl and leave. I swear on my life that your children will not be harmed, and that they will be returned to you as soon as possible, on your terms. It's better than killing them by yourself, don't you think?"
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

"And how much is a human life worth?" the arachne retorted, "It's like swearing on an ordinary slab of rock. I won't be handing my children over, nor will I change my mind if you make me that offer yet another time." she tells Grave with determination. "If you won't adhere to my conditions, then I'm left with no other choice."

With that, her arm released it's grip, and Valencia began to fall down to the pit below. Her body descended out of Cynder's view, soundlessly plummeting down to what would likely be either a very sudden, or very horrible death.

Suddenly, and without warning, a flash of light came from the pit below, a second later, Valencia was seen being carried in the air by the talons of someone he'd likely find very familiar. Cynthia, her black wings flapping to hold both herself, and the weight of Valencia in the air, quickly emerged from the pit below. She did not give Grave a single look, or even a considerate glance, instead flying right over his head, and releasing her talon's grip, letting Valencia fall into the awaiting arms of Roy, who stood at the entrance where Cynder had entered.

With Cynthia looking to Roy expectantly, Roy would frown at Grave, looking at him almost knowingly. But instead of commenting on the reason for his upset look, he merely said with haste, "We'll be waiting above," before turning, and following Cynthia out of the room.

Angered, the arachne quickly stalked over to one of the statues, and grabbed ahold of one of the double sided blades they possessed, with the hilt being in the middle between a pair of blades, and ripped it from the statue's grip, breaking the stone to make the weapon her own. Turning to point it at Cynder, she looked at him with a pure rage. "DIE!" she screamed, before charging at him.
 
Re: Oval Eyes (Grave)

Grave was suprised and stunned by the sudden turn of events. The appearance of Cynthia was something completely unexpected, but for a moment, he briefly felt at ease. At least Valencia was safe. On the other hand, Roy somehow managed to fill the young man with dread. Cynder realized that the situation was more complex than he thought. The fact that Roy and Cynthia suddenly appeared together couldn't be a coincidence. And the young man slowly began to understand just what was probably happening behind the scenes.

Grave didn't have time to ponder his ideas, though. The arachne was enraged and she wouldn't let him leave this room alive. Outrunning her would be too difficult - the only option left was to defeat her. Unfortunately, she was armed. Cynder prepared to face her, focusing on charging his weapon with magic. He intended to dodge her swing by jumping out of the way, then blast the spider while she's open after her attack.

Grave couldn't help but feel shame - he failed. Again. In front of other people, no less. At the same time, he also began to feel angry at himself. Was he really so unreliable? He could have fixed the situation by himself, he realized that. But he didn't. Cynder couldn't bring himself to do the right thing. The arachne was right when she called him a coward.
 
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