Lucaen felt dread swallow him at the sight beneath. He was still, his limbs locked, everything felt heavy. As if an unknown entity had pushed his shoulders down to plead to a higher being. Pray that it was some kind of error in his sight. Perhaps, a mirage.
Aurelius crashed right into it. The static ruins came covering Aurelius mercilessly. The mist enveloped his unmoving body with an insulting balm.
"Aurelius..?" It was a whisper, muted by the whirls of the wind.
The helminth flew higher, mocking the supposed predator. Its body swerved, facing Lucaen, save for the sounds of flapping wings. Irritating to be heard. Lucaen twitched at the sight of it. A vast difference in reaction from Aurelius' wings.
The talons were raised again, and it rose higher before targeting Lucaen's chest. He stood still, his left leg shifted slightly to the back. It let out a screech, a battle screech, one might think.
Colorless strings lengthened from the base of Lucaen's palm. He swatted it to wrap his fist. The string was pure white, and it was anything but pure.
As it dove, closing the distance, Lucaen swung the string to the air, meeting it mid-flight. With a fist of his other hand, the string tightened around the helminth. Immobilizing it.
A distorted grunt was heard, mutating itself to liquidify out of the string's grip. Lucaen pulled it to his range with a growl. Following with a swift jab of his tensed fist. He delivered a heavy blow to its abdomen. The sound of his knuckles meeting the ruptured organs, broke the stillness of the vast desert.
The impact caused it to shoot back into the air, and flailed aimlessly before hitting the ground near Aurelius' crash site. Lucaen chased by jumping below, leveling himself to it. The landing was loud with his tanked exo. His string dangled, leaving a trail behind him on the sand. A subtle reminder of what he could do.
The blow did nothing. Lucaen knows that. To kill a helminth is to destroy it completely. Surpassing their generating skill. But this helminth? Mutates as well. Even a helminth's a bad match with Lucaen. A coreless creature that is the very opposite of what Lucaen's skills are for.
The helminth rose from the sand. To nobody's surprise, its body thickened, denser. It had merged its hideous wings to create a thicker flesh covering itself.
For a brief moment, Lucaen glanced at the rubble just behind it.
His body tensed slightly. Aurelius buried. To kill this helminth, is to find him. However,
Only a fool would be taken down by a mindless fool.
What does that make you, General Aurelius, the second in command of the generals?
The string structured inwardly, responding to the sudden strength of its grip.
A humiliation that knows no bounds.
His tail slashed the sand underneath him. It was agitating, the sand on his feet, the very rhythm, the daring entity. If he could, he would have submerged and cleansed all Echolon.
"Stand up." Lucaen seethed, loud enough for the helminth to howl back at him.
[Rhythm Report: G. Aurelius]
[RR: Critically Unstable]
[Operational Prowess Noted]
Lucaen's eyes shifted back to the Helminth.
[Operating On Ten Percent]
The helminth burst through at a rapid speed towards Lucaen. Its feet were mutating in real time, its body leaned to the front.
Lucaen narrowed on it. His string faded.
"You and Aurelius are no different."
"Annoying."
Lucaen crouched, then exploded forward under its swinging arm. His fist met its face from the side. He had a goal in mind. His feet were covered in the sand, yet everything was deliberately ignored.
The helminth shrieked, clawing the ground as its head was smashed through sandstone beneath the sand. It quickly went on all fours, pivoting-- chasing him.
Lucaen glimpsed the shadow beside his. Noting the helminth behavior and with a collection of his mana, he summoned the jackals. A sharp whistle cuts through the air as Scarred formed in the wind, its limbs landing on the helminth.
[RR: Dissonant]
"A Burden."
Lucaen degraded as he came to a stop, right on the ruins.
[Warning: Low Mana]
A sharp pain pounded in his core. A sign his summons-- Scarred had died. The helminth probably devoured it. It had a sole purpose after all. Disrupt all rhythms close to it. Lucaen clenched his chest, unknowingly digging and scratching his own armor out of the stabbing pain. It felt like his rhythm was taken and reversed with every Scarred's death. But despite all of this, his sight never wandered away from his goal.
With an efficient disposal of his mana, Scarred revived, biting the helminth's leg. In turn, the helminth changed its arm to a point to stab right through Scarred's ribs. The ruins were filled with agonizing sounds. The tearing of flesh, the shrieks of the helminth, the painful whimper of his own jackal unalive behind him.
Died again.
Revived again.
[Warning: Critical Mana]
"You owe me my insignia." Lucaen summoned Blinded.
In a swift move, Blinded jumped to a pile. Biting the stones, throwing them away with its jaw. Its tail stilled. Its paws were digging the cracks of the piles.
"Give it back, Aurelius." Lucaen demanded.
The helminth wailed; it was getting closer. Scarred had helped slow it down with every death.
The shadow showed the fight. Scarred's on the air, jumped from the ground to bite its face. Scarred's fangs bit through its flesh, shaking its head aggressively to shreds. The helminth stood still, its hand grabbed Scarred's muzzle and crushed it in a second.
Another death.
Blinded dashed from one angle to another. The low operational prowess of Aurelius was harder to track, more so with the instability of his own rhythm. Blinded was getting erratic with every false pile, his own jaw crushing the debris. Its claws chipped.
[Warning: Insufficient Mana]
[Resurrection Cancelled]
With a soft whimper, Blinded stooped low before a pile. Its body was fading away. Blinded couldn't regenerate itself. It was bleeding, painting the bricks below him. Its once sharp fangs are now dulled.
Blinded had failed to serve its purpose.
[Summons Retracted]
[Skills Locked]
Lucaen felt the jackals seep through his senses; nothing was on his mind. Everything happened so fast he couldn't recalibrate. The helminth was closing in by the length of its shadow. For a moment, there was a brief silence.
A sudden luxury.
Lucaen was detached from all his senses. His rhythms felt flat. His touch, hearing, numbed.
Despite that, he had one constant thing on his mind. Consequences be damned.
[Mana Depleted]
[REpORT: Operations Hal1eD]
The helminth had its eyes on Lucaen's back-- his core. An instinctive finishing blow for all helminths. The very thing that can erase an exo, the core of the suit. The core of the rhythm.
Its right talons closed, ready to become a sharp penetration.
They are cruel.. are they not, Aurelius?
Lucaen knew the helminth was behind him. Waiting for its right moment to deliver the killing blow. He could feel the cold organic metal directed to his core.
But what can he do.. in this moment?
At last, Aurelius was right. To the very last of their symphonies, he won't be alone.
For one last time, he could've just.., given him back his insignia before leaving him.
With a solemn admittance, Lucaen clenched his fists. Prepared, always. Even if it's death that greets him.