Ira was left writhing in pain at the loss of her fingers—tears beginning to form as she attempted to stifle any screams from leaving her mouth.
The young girl was forced to watch the parasites beginning to settle in her open wound; already devouring her Dormant flesh.
She could not hold it back any longer as the horrid sight continued to unfold, Ira let out a blood-curdling scream.
In a moment of irrationality, she contemplated cutting her fingers off fully to prevent the parasites from spreading even further.
'No.. I need to aid Astheneia somehow. I can either die to these disgusting parasites, or I can die to that abomination titled the Dune Lord.. but if I succeed, I will not be forced into the clutches of death—if I succeed in killing the Dune Lord, I can continue my journey to shatter fate, and reclaim my freedom!'
◇
Astheneia had managed to block the lethal attack from the Dune Lord, its horrendous-smelling breath filling her nostrils; causing her to grow weak because of it.
"You damn Beast.. I will kill you for the hell you put me through!"
Astheneia's Divine Restriction had already relinquished its hold on her formidable power, causing the giant brunette to smile insidiously.
Redirecting the abomination's maw away from her, she rolled across her own blade; in an instant, she slashed at the creature with her rapier, two cuts appearing.
"The next will be five, and then ten, then nineteen, on the fifth strike it will be thirty-six, and finally sixty-nine.. After all, you will not see the seventh strike—you'll be dead long before that!"
She slammed her rapier downwards towards one of the Dune Lord's milky white eyes, cutting it in half—not like the Dune Lord relied on its eyes; but it did cause a great deal of pain regardless of how useful it was to the abomination.
Two more cuts appeared on the beast due to the second slash, for a total of five.
"You see, Beast, my Echo ability allows me to gain information at a glance—whether it is for objects, people, or creatures of the Gods such as yourself; do you know what that means? It means I know everything you're gonna do before you do it!"
Astheneia began to laugh maniacally, contrasting her previous state of being which had seemed to lack any emotional depth at all.
"I will slit your throat and watch the blood pour from it. You will die here, Beast! My will is absolute over the creatures of the Gods!"
Astheneia seemed to have reached a balance between insanity and corruption, a fine line being formed that Astheneia could not cross; if she did, corruption would take hold of her body, mind, and soul—dooming Ira and the two others if they were still even alive.
Slashing at the creature again, it narrowly managed to avoid the powerful blow.
It screamed out from the bottom of its monstrous soul—its Will beginning to clash with Astheneia's in a ferocious battle of power.
At the same time, Ira called forth her mist, demanding it to encompass Astheneia; the benefit caused by the increase of power would be minuscule compared to an Awakened, but in a battle as equal as this one, even a small advantage could tilt the scales of the battle entirely.
The Dune Lord sent one of its eight fists plummeting down at Astheneia's smaller body.
The speed at which she managed to dodge was completely and utterly impossible for anything of the Aberrant rank to comprehend; the sand where Astheneia had once been had exploded, leaving a relatively small crater.
In the next moment, the crater stirred as the Dune Lord demanded the sand to blind Astheneia; before it could finish the command, the giant brunette slammed her fist into its jaw, sending it to the ground.
"I am Astheneia, Tyrant Of Weakness, you are only a pitiful Demon; what gives you any right to stare down at someone obviously greater than yourself?! Learn some manners, Beast." She spoke, her tone full of disgust and superiority.
Another strike was sent towards the beast's leg joints; it was unavoidable, and thus, it landed.
Ten slashes landed directly on the beast's joint—nearly severing it completely.
Falling to its knees, Astheneia could now see what was beyond its massive body.
"This position suits a Beast like you much more, do you not agree?"
In the next moment however, the sand around the Dune Lord began to sway gently—only for a moment it was, in the next, it was as destructive as a sand storm.
Blinded by the sand, the Dune Lord sent a devastating punch to Astheneia's ribs—shattering the few that had not been broken, and mangling the ones which had even further.
Coughing up both blood and saliva, Astheneia laughed quietly.
"If you had known any better, you would have aimed for my head!"
Lunging forward, Astheneia sliced off two of the abomination's fingers, once again yelling out to the beast before her:
"That is for Ira, Bastard!"
◇
A plan for survival was what Ira needed.
What could they do to live?
What could they do..
It was simple really; glancing around, she yelled out for the two other soldiers. No one responded back.
Thoroughly examining the sand, Ira saw it—their mangled corpses; they had seemingly not survived the initial lunge from the Dune Lord.
'That does not matter, I need their sword!'
Quickly running over, the silver-haired girl yanked the sword off the corpse; grabbing her last remaining pouch of alcohol, Ira ripped a piece of her clothes off. Dousing the fabric in alcohol she yelled out to Astheneia:
"Get that damned abomination to open its mouth!"
Smiling horrifically, Astheneia went back to clashing with the Dune Lord. A fifth strike landed on the beast, thirty-six new cuts appearing on the abomination's body.
"One more!"
Sadly, she would not get to deliver that sixth strike, as in the next moment her rapier was sent flying.
Laughing even more maniacally, she lunged forward anyway.
"Do you think I need a weapon to kill a mere Aberrant Demon!? Haha, you will die here and now, Beast!"
Clenching her fist together while also sending her rapier back into her soul, she had thrust her fist forward, colliding with the abomination's thick and rough hide.
Punching Astheneia in her head, the beast let out yet another scream.
Blood began to pour from her head, but that did not bother her.
Each blow sent Astheneia reeling in pain—but she continued to press on. She would not die here today; she would live—live on for her fallen comrades to accomplish their dreams.
Time seemed to slow under their barrage of attacks, each one sending blood pouring from their mouths—with chunks of flesh occasionally falling off.
Plunging its finger into one of Astheneia's eyes, it ripped it from its socket, only to be met with the same fate.
Ripping Dune Lord's remaining healthy eye out, the giant brunette crushed it in her only hand left.
"How does it feel? Not so great, huh!? Maybe I should rip your damn heart out next!"
The battle was nearly impossible for Ira to follow, but she was not worried about it; she had her own mission to complete.
Exchanging blow after blow, the giant brunette finally managed to pry its mouth open, screaming for Ira to do whatever the hell she was planning to do as quickly as possible.