The beast's obsidian, sharp claws were swung down at Ira—unavoidable, lethal, and all-powerful they seemed to the silver-haired girl.
Only one certainty was apparent to Ira—sparing even a single fraction of a moment would send her into the clutches of her death—sparing even a single ounce of mercy or hesitation would be the death of her.
There was only one way to live..
'I must adopt the desire of pure destruction..'
Quickly, her mind began to change under the influence of destruction—a pseudo version of it at least.
She had begun to be driven by a pure desire for destruction, a force that steadily rewrote her thoughts. As it took hold, Judgement thinned, emotions were sent into a frenzy, and hesitation vanished. What remained was a violent contortion of desires and a broken mind, with the singular intent to kill the Strayed Fiend before her.
In a bestial lunge of raw power, Ira tackled the abomination before it could send her to the clutches of death; her nails digging into the creature's thick hide, her dagger plunging between the collarbone of the abomination—only to be halted halfway by the monstrosity's thick skin.
But that did not stop her; clenching her hand into a fist, Ira drove it into the Strayed Fiend—it too, sent a powerful slash down at her.
The young girl's bestial mind had no reason behind its movements, only instincts—and thus, Ira slammed her fist into one of the creature's four, arms, shattering it.
She did not attempt to avoid the blow that was coming down at her from above; rather, she kept up her persistence in dealing as much damage as quickly as possible.
When the blow had landed, a numbing pain erupted from her left shoulder—luckily no flesh was exposed for the parasites to fester on; and thus, with no reason to stop, she began her assault on the abomination once more.
Astheneia, too, was busy with her own problems. She had to keep an eye on Adonis while battling an Aberrant Monster by her lonesome.
She would receive no aid from her comrades, as they, too, were busy with battling their own separate monstrosities.
Her rapier had already slashed the creature thrice, ten deep cuts appearing on the abomination due to Divine Restriction no longer hindering Astheneia.
With another strike, nineteen cuts appeared on the abomination, centered around its arm—cutting it cleanly off.
"Is that all you have, Beast? Is my strength too mighty for you? Watch closely, Beast.. Watch how you die!" Astheneia said, her voice filled with unfiltered rage.
With a final lunge, she dealt the fifth, and final attack to the beast. There was no resistance, only death for the monstrosity—its head falling cleanly from its shoulders, rolling onto the sand as obsidian black blood spilled out.
Glancing over to check on Ira, Astheneia was left in shock. Their battle was ferocious, sand exploding under their feet.
"Going toe-to-toe with a Strayed Fiend as only a Dormant Beast? I knew she was talented, but this is.. something else."
Astheneia had no words to speak, so she did the only thing she could do—plunge her rapier into Adonis's heart.
Glancing back, the Fallen Beast yelled out.
"What the hell are you doing, Astheneia!?"
A dark chuckle escaped her lips, a horrific smile appearing on her face; Astheneia began to speak in a rough, serious tone:
"Surviving with your heart pierced tells me everything I need to know.. No human of the awakened rank could survive this—then again, you are not human, are you, Fallen Beast?"
A chuckle resounded out, the corrupted man gripping her rapier with the strength of a mountain, cracks beginning to form.
"This quickly? I did not think it was possible for humans to see the soul of Purge Beasts."
Astheneia laughed back, "Do you think I was the one to find you out? No, it was a mere Dormant Beast that had done it! How laughable is that, Beast?"
Astheneia relinquished the Soul-Bound weapon to avoid its destruction, sending it back into her soul.
Grabbing the Corrupted's arm, the giant brunette lifted him up and slammed him into the golden sand of the desert.
Blood pouring out of the Fallen Beast's mouth.
"I heard this desert gives prophecies. Tell me, if it were to do so now, would it show you crumbling to the ground or me taking our last breaths!?"
With all her Awakened might, Astheneia attempted to rip the arm off of Adonis.
"I will not die today, Beast."
Suddenly, the giant brunette collapsed to her knees, her mind reeling in pain.
"What-! What did you do!"
Glancing down, Astheneia saw her bare bones protruding from her skin.
The Beast stood up, cracking its neck—a sigh of relief leaving the Corrupted's mouth.
"I thought we were taking turns delivering blows, and you cheated by attempting to go twice.. So I punished you."
Astheneia glanced up with a furious expression, sweat falling from her face. It had shattered the giant brunette's femur with a single blow in a fraction of a moment.
Soon, it began to speak again, "You know, if only you had not favored that mere Dormant, he would still be here, battling against me rather than you. Oh, and that attack you delivered to my heart was laughable! Did you not know I can only die if it is ripped out? This battle would have been over if you had thought, you lowly filth!"
The revelation of such information made Astheneia's heart ache in pain—a pain far greater than the one in her femur.. She had caused the death of two of her comrades due to her actions..
"L-liar.. I will not believe your lies, abomination!"
The whispers that besieged Astheneia's mind grew worse, she could feel the hope that burned inside her heart beginning to be snuffed out—corruption slowly creeping in.
Her femur rubbed against the inside of her skin painfully as she shifted. Breath hitching, she summoned her rapier.
"Come," her hands shaky and her mind weak. "I am not done just yet, Beast.. I will crush your heart if it is the last thing I do!"'
Her Awakened Will clashed with the Fallen Beast's, the Corrupted having the clear advantage—but that did not matter to Astheneia.
The giant brunette lunged forward, her movements equivalent to that of a dancer—each move calculated and with reason.
A slash landed on the Abomination, and then a second one on its neck.
It laughed while it gurgled on its blood. "M-my.. Turn!"
With incomprehensible speed, it ripped a chunk of flesh from Astheneia's shoulder.
The giant brunette chuckled in pain, "Is that all you can muster, Beast? I expected more from an abomination of the Fallen rank."
Astheneia steadied her breath, taking a stance. "You will die with this next strike, Beast..!"
◇
Their furious exchange of blows continued as they were thrown into the air—Ira screamed in furious rage that encompassed her entire being; the Strayed Fiend did the same.
Their clash was powerful yet pitiful compared to the battle Astheneia and Adonis were having—but that did not matter to Ira, nothing did except for her desire to destroy the monstrosity before her.
Her movements were bestial and without reason—contrary to Astheneia's beautiful and calculated motions.
Pushing the Strayed Fiend before her down, Ira plunged her dagger into the body of the monstrosity's mandible, splitting it into two, forcing its mouth permanently open.
Ira was not done just yet—quickly, she ripped her dagger away, using it to slit the abomination's throat wide open.
It would not die from such a blow just yet, but it gave Ira a critical advantage over it.
Another crushing blow slammed into Ira's side, sending her flying into the golden sand—just as quickly as the blow happened, the silver-haired girl had pounced back onto the Strayed Fiend, her fury of blows continuing.
A single scratch was lethal to her, yet she miraculously managed to avoid getting cut—sure, her ribs were broken, and her left shoulder was dislocated—but she was not dead just yet.
Finally, the silver-haired girl went for the killing blow—her speed and brutality rivaling that of even a being which had been consumed by beastly power, paired with the insatiable desire of destruction.
Striking her dagger down, she pierced the abomination's heart; it was no Fallen Beast, giving it no guarantee to survive, and thus, it perished.
[You Have Slain Illusionary Strayed Fiend, Sand Dweller.]
Hearing the voice of Resonance, Ira snapped out of her bestial frenzy—rationality and logic hitting her like a tidal wave.
"The Fallen Beast!"
Glancing around the battlefield, her eyes locked onto Astheneia and Adonis. Astheneia was in a much worse state than Adonis—but that did not matter, as in the next moment, Astheneia's rapier was blasted away.
Without a weapon, she would surely die; Soul-Bound weapons took a fraction of a moment to return back to one's soul, and another fraction of a moment to appear again—a long time for such a powerful clash between two inhumanly powerful beings.
Yelling out to Astheneia, Ira threw her dagger—at the same time, she transferred all her mist to it.
Splitting the air as it spun, Astheneia caught it with one hand—the only hand she had left; a furious scream erupting from the depths of her soul—a final clash of her strength had begun.
Ira, too, was prepared to ambush Adonis—the flesh-eating parasites finally reaching his pierced heart, weakening him even further.
A moment of falter was enough to end the battle, and in the next moment, Astheneia brought the dagger down on Adonis's arm, slicing it off before it could reach her; in the process, she shattered the dagger.
That was alright though, as enough time had passed for Astheneia's rapier to materialize in her remaining hand.
Ira fused back with her mist, her enhanced body shoved Adonis as hard as she could muster—bringing him to his knees.
"Enough!" Adonis screamed out.,
A crushing blow narrowly avoided her almost entirely, the mere graze that landed had knocked her unconscious.
The battle was not over just yet. Adonis finally used his Echo ability, which granted him the capability to speed objects up; using it to his advantage, he threw a handful of sand at Astheneia—each grain melting from the speed.
Astheneia swatted it away, he would die here and now.
The giant brunette took the opportunity to strike while he was recovering from such violent movements, slicing off his other arm, while also kicking him onto his back.
"Y-you will not kill me! I will not die to a mere Awakened Beast!"
Astheneia, not giving Adonis any time to recover, thrust with all her might into Adonis's chest, grabbing at his heart.
In a futile attempt, Adonis tried to use his stubs to push her away.
"You are wrong, Adonis. You will not die to just an Awakened Beast; You will die to both an Awakened Beast and a Dormant beast. Goodbye, old friend."
The battle came to a close with Astheneia crushing his parasite-infested heart.