Rest in peace, Evil Sorceress!

[Zacke]

Zacke stumbled backward and out of range as a short-haired girl thrust a boomerang in Adel's direction. Another unknown girl -- a blonde -- rushed in as the boomerang cycled backward and wrapped a whip around Adel's leg. She shouted for someone to amputate the limb, but Stardust -- as usual -- was all brunt and no brains and charged right in to pummel the Sorceress.

He watched in wide-eyed awe as Stardust slammed Adel with arrow after arrow, each one exploding on the Sorceress and sending clouds of smoke into the air. He could hear her screaming behind the noise and knew his pink-haired comrade was truly in her element.

Suddenly, just as Stardust withdrew, the area became somehow more quiet. He could feel the presence of something large in the vicinity behind him, and glanced over his shoulder. A hulking bearded blue dragon drifted poised in midair.

"Everyone stay back! My GF is gonna do his beam attack, don't be caught in it!" Jun shouted from nearby.

That's Jun's GF... ? Zacke quickly sidestepped away, practically tripping over himself to get out of range. The dragon dealt Adel several blinding beam attacks.

/Release me./ Iris' voice echoed in his mind.

Would you stop already?! I can barely see through the smoke as it is, I don't need your gigantic foggy arm clouding the place up even more.

/Stop being a fool. Her physical form is damaged, but she still may cast magic. I will silence and confuse her./

Zacke frowned. His GF had a point. Just as Jun's dragon faded back into her mind, Zacke released her. Go.

Dark swirling gray clouds circled near the ceiling of the tower. And despite the fact that they were enclosed in these stone wall, the sound of roiling thunder filled the tower and echoed off every surface.

Iris came swooping down like a tornado, her winds picking up dirt and pieces of the smaller debris and carrying it along with her. She was the torso of a woman, come down from the clouds head-first. She brought a long arm back and swung it out in an arch, her plagued gray winds rushing right through Adel.

Almost as soon as she had come, she was gone, withdrawn back to her clouds, which soon disappeared. The pieces of debris fell to the ground around them in her absence.

/Exhilarating./

Zacke gave a brief glance around. Her winds had actually cleared a lot of the smoke from the room. He smirked.

[raydensharpola]

Rayden gave an impressed whistle. At the rate everyone was going, Adel would be down in no time. Just as long as she gets stuck in this frozen and vulnerable stance.

"So, Adel, what's it like being main course of the day, Roasted Prime-rib Adel? I can't imagine it's comfy for you."

He grinned, blatantly oblivious to the disgusted gags Ariadnialla expressed vociferously within the confines of his brain.

He decided that blonde Opps girl, Jaime had a point. Trinity Sword was still embedded in Adel's chest from the back. They should make use of it to hurt Adel. Magic sword or not, it's still sharp enough to pierce through the Sorceress' chest. He could imagine the damage it would do if it was pushed even deeper through.

Rayden gripped his cutlery set, pressing the buttons at the end to heat them up to red hot status, suppressing the cuss bordering on his lips at the painful heat searing on his skin. He couldn't waste any time, quickly jabbing both the fork and knife into Adel's left leg, twisting and turning, slicing her flesh and bone with great sawing motions.

"COme on you worthless pieces of thrash, do you job!" He gritted his teeth, exerting yet more force as he attempted to penetrate her bone marrow, lines of gooey blood spraying his face when he severed a blood vessel. With an annoyed grunt he embedded the fork into Adel's foot, using both hands to break through Adel's remaining bone structure with much difficulty.

A clean, sharp crack finally rewarded his massive efforts, relief flooding his face followed by great alarm when Adel started falling towards him.

"Wrong direction! Someone hit her with magic! Tornado or something! Make her land on the sword!!!"

[Gemma Ridean]

Gemma watched with wide-eyes as shadow of Adel's massive form towered over her.

She was going to be crushed. She could hear shouting but the words fell upon deaf ears.

Throughout the battle, she had watched fellow teammates relentlessly attackAdel. One by one, they valiantly charged forward, battering the sorceress again and again.

And nowhere she was. SeeD no. 1047. Standing in the midst of chaos. Watching it all unfold. Paralysed by her fears.


Ultimately useless.

Finally, one of the shouts broke through the sound barrier.
"Wrong direction! Someone hit her with magic! Tornado or something! Make her land on the sword!!!"

Gemma snapped out of her reverie.

Pull yourself together, Ridean!

The fighting spirit in her had awoken just in time. Shrieking like banshee as blood spurted arteries that once attached legs, Adel was falling.

Instinct was telling her to flee. But logic told her to wait. A tornado spell is strong, but not powerful enough to push Adel to fall in the opposite direction. No, it's true power was its centripetal force--to spin.

"Hold your ground...hold your fucking ground."

It even shocked her. But somehow by saying the expletive, Gemma felt powerful. Unstoppable.

Checking her junctioning, she had six more Tornado spells drawn from Sho in the previous battle.

Crouching close to the floor, she remained motionless as the distance between her and Adel grew closer and closer. For the first time, she saw Adel's face upclose. It was hideous mess of molten flesh that seemed hallowed out by a melon bowler to hold two bloodshot eyes and gaping ruby red mouth that caged fangs.

If a tree falls in the middle of the forest and not a creature is there, does it make a sound?

Gemma smirked.

If the tree is Adel...

"TORNADO!!!"

Her veins turned a vivid shade cerulean blue as crystalline rays of magical energy blasted from her fingertips. She felt a slight breeze. Strands of chestnut were freed from confinement and they now fluttered in the wind.

For a while, it encircled her and Adel. Then, the rings of jade spun faster and faster until it grew into living entity. Sweeping up from under Adel, the whirling cyclone tossed her into the air. It was like watching a hamster run in a ball. The sorceress released piercing shrieks as the vortex flipped, turned, and spun her. Then it stopped and for a few seconds, Adel, wrenched onto her backside, laid suspended on a invisible matress of air.

Then the wind decided to go away.

Adel, screaming, clawed and scraped through the air as she fell to the floor.

3...2...1

The force of the fall shook the ground like an earthquake.
The Trinity blade resurfaced. It had also ripped through Adel's heart. From the distance, Gemma could see the tip of silver, gleaming from the center of Adel's chest.

It was like a twinkling star.

[Jax Ridean]

Jax paused to catch his breath. For the last 40 minutes, he had been firing Ravaner, non-stop. Although his Aura remained strong, using his Limit Break several times had depleted his supply of Pulse ammunition.

All of a sudden, he heard a small female voice shout out Tornado. He did not expect what happened next. The sight of Adel plucked from the floor and spat out by the vortex of wind. And little Miss Ridean at the heart of the wreck.

He grinned proudly.

That's my sister.

However, he soon realized that the tornado had also inflicted massive dammage on Rinoa. Commander Leonhart was not going to be very happy to know that they had beaten up his girlfriend a bit.

Damn...we could use a healer right about now.


"Hey, someone cast Regen on Rinoa!"

[Blaze Sanaku]

"I don't give a fuck if Rinoa dies!" Blaze shouted in Jax's face, preparing a massive firaga spell that she was preparing to competely envelop both Adel and Rinoa in.

"FIR-"

"NO!" Deo pushed Blaze's arms upward, causing her firaga spell to shoot off into the distance. "Commander Leonhart would give a fuck, wouldn't he? How'd he like to know that you were the one who helped finish his wife off?" he asked in a very cold, unDeolike manner.

Blaze glared daggers at Deo. For a moment it seemed as if she would attack him, but instead started running towards Adel's fallen body, her heart pounding in each footstep.

Dumb, useless Rinoa, always needing to be saved.

Blood was pouring out of Adel's chest and flowing freely over the Trinity sword, coloring it scarlet. Rinoa was dangling just a bit above where the sword had pierced, completely unconcious. Blaze slapped her sharply across the face and yanked her hair up so that she was face to face with Blaze.

"Wake UP!" she commanded. Rinoa's head lolled around like a rag doll. Blaze gave a grunt of fustration and unsheathed her claws.

"You're a useless bitch" Blaze said matter of factly as she began cutting through the flesh that connected Rinoa's body to Adel's. It barely helped, the flesh seemed to regenerate at Blaze tried to cut through it. Meanwhile, Adel was still breathing heavily, albeit slowly. She was still alive, but barely.

"A LITTLE HELP HERE?!" Blaze barked back at her teammates.

[Polaris Lyn]

There was nothing she could do.

True, Suthieal had infused them all with some monstrous power—Obsidian flared to dark, destructive life in her mind and demanded release, but the power had been shocking…almost terrifying. She didn’t let him out, not when he screamed and clawed into her mind, driven by the madness of battle, his voice in her head a screeching, distorted scream of agony when she watched Adel impaled upon the Trinity sword.

Let me out! Obsidian had screamed—it scared her, the way she had wanted to just let him destroy the Sorceress. It was conscience that kept her in check—Obsidian, with so much power, and with his Element of choice, would not have only attacked Adel, but the force of his Gravija would have likely crushed them all. Polaris stayed where she was, Maverik held in loose fists, amber eyes watching calmly as Stardust assaulted the Red Queen, as Gemma Ridean—the waif of a thing—delivered the killing blow.

It had been Ajax who had caught her attention after that.

“—cast Regen on Rinoa!”

Oh…yes, of course, she realized, getting to her feet, bleeding and bruised and yet more exhilarated than she had ever felt in a long time. Of course, Sorceress Rinoa was hurt. She was, after all, connected to Adel.

Her steps took her to Adel’s body, the Trinity sword gleaming like the Northern Star, and Polaris tilted her head—there was something to be said about a Sorceress’ power. Adel was still breathing. Blaze was there, trying to cut Rinoa out of the Red Sorceress like some grotesque version of a Cesarean section, and screaming.

“A LITTLE HELP HERE?!”

“Blaze,” Polaris said quietly, grabbing her best friend’s shoulder. “Stop it.” She removed her hand from Blaze’s shoulder and summoned her Healing Magic, the Regen spell glowing brightly, a small sun held in the palm of her hand. Suthieal’s enhancements were still active—she’d never cast a spell so strong before.

Rinoa’s unconscious form gleamed, but Polaris’ attention was already elsewhere. Rinoa would heal—she was a fighter, underneath all the pomp and drama queen tendencies. And apparently, so was Adel.

Polaris’ grip on Maverik tightened. Obsidian shrieked again, in her head.

LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LETMEOUTLETMEOUT—

[Hadrian D'arcell]

I know why Blaze wants Rinoa to die HAHAHAHA >DDDD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


While Hadrian was taking his sweet time summoning Corpora Quadrigemina, his teammates were all causing thunderous massive damages towards Adel. It seemed Adel was able to hit the ground like a statue afterall---so much for his unworded hypotheses. His attention was magnetized towards Blaze when she announced that she didn't give a damn about Rinoa's life.

She really is angry, huh? He watched as Blaze attempted to brutally separate Rinoa out of Adel like it would really work.

/Caution. Allowing me to manipulate the steel hull of the Galbadia airship will result to inadequate transportation means to reach lower grounds and may induce unexpected rise of blood pressure among your teammates in approximately 15 minutes./ CQ's voice echoed in his head.

"Just do it." Hadrian said. He certainly didn't have any curative spell for Rinoa, if he had then he already did, but it was a good thing they had Polaris with them.

Silently, he brought a hand to his forehead. As soon as his eyes closed, a bunch of holographic symbols appeared before him, and out of nothing, purple sleek fingers came out. The space divided and a figure of a cyber being pushed herself out. Coming to her feet the GF stood straight before Hadrian, wires and cables covered her naked body in a weird fashion.

Mechanical Armageddon!

The GF's eyes shot open and a strong wave pulsated out of her frame. The wave hit the nose of the Galbadian airship, peeling all of its steel covering out of their places. Dozens of large steel sheets separated into dozens of huge discs with deadly razor edges. By CQ's command, the discs started spinning wildly and advanced towards Adel.

"Slice her, dice her, or whatever...but miss Rinoa." Squall will most likely have them executed if they killed Rinoa even if they managed to kill Adel. He couldn't have that, of course.

The discs neatly ran through Adel over and over and over again, though oddly enough, she remained in one piece despite all that. For how long her pieces would hold, Hadrian didn't know.

He smiled CQ's way before she dispersed into thin air. "From here on out, it's overkill."



----------------------------------
Aight! For the remaining charries who haven't posted their "mary sue" posts yet, do so! HAHAHA This is the big moment, everyone should have a go at Adel the punching bag before we move the plot. >]

[Zacke]

Zacke watched Blaze's violent relentless hacking, torn between wanting to step in and break it up, and wanting to keep his distance. That was one thing about Blaze... there had been so many times he felt like someone needed to restrain her, but would he do it? No. In that enraged, bloodthirsty state, Blaze only cared about the hunt. Like a wolf, or dragon, or... some terrifying creature. If he got between things, she probably wouldn't hesitate to feed him her claws.

Despite all that Blaze was inflicting, it didn't look as if physically separating Rinoa from Adel was possible. And it didn't look as if she was really hurting Adel all that much, either.

Her flesh keeps regenerating, or something...

Another woman stepped forward and placed a hand down on Blaze's shoulder. Her hair tumbled about her in wavy curls, dark with amber highlights. She had an axe strapped to her back. Another one of the those unfamiliar faces... he thought to himself. Weird, that she could touch Blaze in that way and not earn herself a violent reaction.

Suddenly, a beam of purple light shot across the area and straight into the airship he'd crashed. It lurched and shifted loudly, the metal grinding against the loose debris beneath. Zacke's eyes followed the beam to it's source and found a strange, sort of half-android half-woman creature standing tall before Hadrian. Cables and wires covered her body. Another Guardian Force?

She was using pieces of the metal side of the airship to create blades and cut into Adel. Whoa... the hell... he thought, She can manipulate physical environment, or what? He looked back at Hadrian, suddenly gaining a new respect for the guy. How had he managed to get his hands on a GF like that? She wasn't like anything he'd ever seen.

Astonishingly, Adel wasn't affected by this attack either. He looked at the fallen Sorceress in shocked dismay as Hadrian's GF faded away. Her body just knitted itself right back together. I said 'destroy her,' why can't we DESTROY HER?!

"Alright, this is downright fucking ridiculous!!" he swore loudly, talking to no one in particular. He grasped one end of his nunchuks tightly and strode over to Adel, moving past Blaze and the other girl. He fell to his knees quickly, grabbed a fistful of the Sorceress' hair to stabilize her head, and rammed the blade extending from the end of the bar straight into the her throat. Momentarily pushing past all of his fears, he glared down at her and made a violent sawing motion with his weapon.

[Stella]

What the hell was going on?

It seemed like the entire battle from start to finish all Stella had been was confused. There was just too much action and too many people swarming around. Attack after attack, she was panting for breath looking around.

Her eyes fluttered closed as memories assaulted her stealing her with a new found fire. All Stella knew was that this bitch needed to die. With renewed vigor her eyes snapped open, her arms outstretched as she called upon all the power she had left.

"Bullet Clash" she said in a low voice the crack of the bullets flowing from her gun a song to her ears. As the hit the sorceress each shot burst into a large ball of flame. Stella watched in satisfaction as they hit each one leaving a scorch mark on the twisted body of Adel.

But still they had no effect.

All her energy seemed to drain away as Stella felt her legs give away. Slowly she started to sink to the ground her pistols falling from her hands with a metallic clatter.

~My strength is all that is left~

The voice swarmed through her head familiar and yet strange at the same time.

"No" Stella whispered hoarsely shaking her head, "I will do this on my own"

You are never alone, flower petal, never on your own

Without even realizing she was doing it Stella drew herself up the power of her Guardian Force flowing through her. She was shaking all over the sheer force of its magic almost too much for her to bear.

With a loud roar Kalistari manifested behind her, the long feathered tail of his serpentine body wrapped around Stella in an intimate embrace. The rainbow feathers of his six wings glittered as he spread them wide. Arching back with a toss of its dragon like it the GF leashed its attack on the sorceress. Thousands and thousands of tiny dagger sharp feathers fell from its wings pelting the sorceress but never hitting the prone Rinoa or any of the other SeeDs attacking her.

Stella leaned heavily against the body of her GF watching the others, waiting until she had strength enough to attack again. this battle was getting ridiculous. If they didn't figure out how to kill her soon she feared it would be the end of them all.

[Zacke]

Zacke withdrew his blade and stumbled backward frantically after Stella's first bullet exploded on Adel. Holy crap!! A torrent of them followed, hammering into the Sorceress, each with a fiery impact.

/That's what happens when you get right up in the middle of things./ Iris said snappily.

Well, maybe if we decapitate her--

/--Well, maybe if you stop being a moron and get out of the way... / she promptly cut him off.

He sighed, frustrated. Should they have wished for Adel not to be invincible, or something? His blade had gone clean through her neck, and still she lived. Most of them had exhausted their limit breaks and Guardians, and to no avail. The wish had given him hope--and Suthieal had sure granted them the power he requested--but he was starting to have serious doubts about the "destroy her" part. He watched Stella's serpentine summon rain shimmering feathers down on the prone form of Adel, cutting and slicing upon impact. It was an impressive effort, but after witnessing Adel survive every bit of Hell they had unleashed upon her already, he had no faith in those feathers.

He glanced over at Blaze, who stood a few feet to his left. Frowning, he looked back at Adel's regenerating flesh. What do we do... ? he thought dismally.

[ST]

ASDKLFAH;A AL!!!!! XDDDD *ahem* Yey ^.^
----------------------------------------------------


With an amused smile towards the SeeDs, Suthieal lowers her head. "Thy first wish hath been granted."

Sorceress Adel's statuesque body cracked in a hundred pieces. "N....No......Uuuhhhh......" She begins to twinge on the ground as she slowly starts to become mobile.

Dark bruises appear in every part of her, her skin starts to tear and bleed from bullet grazes and bullet pierces. Slashes and gashes run throughout her torso, neck, and limbs. A piercing scream rises from her as her body starts to burn.

"N...Not....Yet...." She tries to pull her weight up, swaggering, hyperventilating.

"Se....eeDs...." With her face full of fury, she extends her hand to them only to see it fall off. Unshaken by the sight, she steps forward and crashes on the ground, unaware of her missing limb. She uses her arm to pull herself forward but ends up tearing the flesh connecting her arm to her shoulder. Thick red blood spills the pavement as she keeps coughing blood in between her vengeful mumbles. On and on, chopped flesh and limbs keep falling off from the mighty red sorceress as she desperately tries every means to get her hands on the SeeDs--but to no avail.

Standing before her, all of you are glued to your spot, engaged in watching Adel dismember herself in attempt to get to all of you.

Suddenly, she stops and rests her head on the ground.

"Damned."

Her shoulders shake as if she is weeping. A wisp of smoke seeps through her burnt skin. "All...of you....Se...eDs here be....damned!" she screams from her throat, her watery eyes wide and smiling.

"I'll wait for you in hell!" The crazy look on her face remains unchanged when her ear kisses her neck and a fountain of blood burst forth from her open neck. In a few seconds, her decapitated head turns to ashes together with all of her skin, leaving her bloody garments on the floor. With that, the almighty Sorceress Adel is no more.

The half-conscious Rinoa can be seen underneath her garments. She appears to be naked.

Silence permeates the air only to be broken by a lighthearted giggle.

"Tis heartwrenching indeed." Another sister clad in greenish light speaks from beside Suthieal. "That Adel hath met her end like this." Her smile doesn't fade. "Tis saddening." Her emerald eyes slips towards the SeeDs. "I am here to grant thy second wish. Her eyes narrow. "What shall it be, my love?



----------------------------
Make a wish *looks at Opps * or help Rinoa first, do whatever XD

[Lil]

For a few seconds, Jun watched in twisted fascination as Adel¡¦s body fell out in chunks, bloody fountains spurting from her neck as if looking for a way to escape from her rapidly disintegrating figure. But still the wretched Sorceress could not go down without throwing a threat at them. An empty one. Jun thought with a grim smile. Her reaction was late, she was supposed to be whooping for joy but somehow she couldn¡¦t move, her brain taking too long to process that what they¡¦d be striving for this whole mission¡Khad finally come to an end. They had done it.

Adel, dead. Finished. The words reverberated in her mind, forcing themselves with sharp clarity then into her jumbled thoughts

¡§SHE¡¦S DEAD!¡¨ She suddenly yelled, grabbing the person next to her in a tight embrace, not caring that it was Stardust and she didn¡¦t seem to reciprocate it. She was blinded by the exhilaration coursing through her veins, finally letting go and sinking to her knees which chose this moment to give up on her.

At the second Sorceress¡¦ speech she finally got hold of her emotions, although still too weak to stand up and decided to just stay seated, cross-legged on the floor. After some pondering, she spoke up.

¡§I may be speaking out of line, but I feel the Opps should have one of those wishes. They¡¦ve fought beside us and have really asked for nothing much. I think this would be a just reward for them.¡¨ Her voice was firm and reasoned as she swept a glance at the Opps, before looking at her teammates.

Jaime looked at her in shock. She had not expected this kind of bestowment upon them at all. She stared at Van, not knowing what or how to reply.

[Zacke]

lmfao @ Adel's death.

---

Zacke winced slightly as he watched the Sorceress literally fall apart before them, growling and cursing at them all the while. It was as if her limbs were rotting and burning off of her, her whole body turning into a steaming bloody mess. As many things as he had seen during the years he'd been a SeeD, he'd never seen anything this grotesque. It was an exhilarating feeling, watching her crumble into nothing right before their very eyes. But at the same time, it sort of made him sick.

"I'll wait for you in hell!" she shrieked at them. He shifted slightly, made uncomfortable by her words. Even as she lay dying, she was still Sorceress Adel, and her words still gave him an eerie feeling.

It's over. It's really... over.

A foul smell hung in the air as the pieces of her body disintegrated. Ashes and the bloody remnants of her clothing were all that remained of her. Rinoa huddled down amidst the rank remains, completely unclothed and significantly shaken, but alive. He vaguely heard Jun give out a shrill cry of elation as he stared down at the charred and messy pile of what used to be Adel.

He had started to make a move to help Rinoa, when Ediendelle materialized, her aura casting a green glow about the musty arena. She was offering them another wish. Jun suggested that they allow some people called "the Opps" to take this one. He decided he didn't care how they dealt with the prospect of another wish, he was just relieved that they had killed Adel and come through it alive. And anyway, he had no idea what she was talking about, but he trusted Jun's judgment.

He turned and started for Rinoa again, removing his jacket as he did so. It wasn't exactly huge, but she had a petite frame, and it would work until something better was offered. He draped it around her shoulders gently, and then moved back respectfully. She was quite shaken, indeed. Is she in any pain? he wondered.

He remembered that girl that had stopped Blaze--the one with the curly hair--she had cast Regen on Rinoa earlier. He turned to find her close by, and peered up at her from his kneeling position. "Can you manage any more curative magic? I don't know if she's hurt, but I guess it's best to be safe... " he looked back at Rinoa.

He blinked, frowning slightly before passing a second glance up at the woman he had just spoken to.

[Hadrian D'arcell]

Hadrian watched, mouth gaping open, Sorceress Adel's death scene. It was truly morbid. A once great and powerful sorceress was reduced to something like this because of a wish.

"Damn, my camcorder..." he mumbled, slipping a sly glance at the one beside him.

[Diego Stanton]

hehehe I lied XD I can post today!!

---

Deo exchanged bewildered glances with Vanesse and Jaime. The seeDs were allowing them to take a wish?? He felt guilt rushing over him and he suddenly felt largely stupid and useless. Now that he thought of it, he hadn't really done anything useful in the battle against Adel since he had been out of bombs.

He was so shocked by the fact that Adel, Sorceress Adel, was dead and he had witnessed it. He had been wishing for nothing else for the past 5 years. He had been dedicating and living his life solely to see Adel dead and this was it. He had sacrificed so much for this moment, he had seen people die...

Lawric, Signe, Able....

At first, Deo had thought of the obvious wishes like asking for ridiculous amounts of money or... Deo innocently averted his eyes from Rinoa's naked body. Or world peace... or having 30 hours a day instead of 24 so he could get an extra 6 hours of sleep. But he realized that this wish had to be ones that Jaime and Vanesse could agree with as well.

"Our friends? Do you think she can bring them back?" Deo asked Van and Jaime quietly, even though he knew the rest of the seeDs were listening.

"Ediendelle.... are you able to..?" Deo stammered

"Yes, but not all three. The rules can't be bent that easily, now could they? One wish for one life, if you please." Ediendelle cut in, as if able to read Deo's thoughts.

"Fuck, so we have to choose??..... fuck." Deo scratched his head. He looked at the other two members of the Opps for an answer. He tried to telepathically send them mind waves that read, 'not Signe... not Signe. Pick Able or Lawric'

"Not Signe, then eh? You have two left to choose from then." Ediendelle said cheerily.

Deo's face flushed bright red. "er.... I didn't mean... I just... uh." he fell silent.