Given a chance of respite, the first thing he did when he got back on his own 2 feet was dash straight for the nearest medical bag. Taking out clean bandages, he wrapped it around his neck before finally taking a breather.
He didn't allow himself to rest for long though.
"It's not just us whose been given a chance to recover, she's probably tending to her own wounds too."
Preferably she might've retreated, but he doubted it. That marine seemed dead set on taking them out personally, so he didn't count on her leaving any time soon.
'Things weren't supposed to be like this damnit!'
He was unbelievably angry, both at her and his own failure. But he didn't let himself dwell on it. He had to keep thinking rationally and logically.
First he needed to reconvene with the others. Standing back up, he returned to where the battle took place. He hadn't noticed it before, but the deck had taken more damage than he thought.. even the battle against Rowell's crew didn't result in that much tear, and this battle hadn't even lasted that long.
By the time he made it back to where Hugo was resting, he saw that he was unusually pale. A clear sign of incoming essence exhaustion. The nameless awakened was sitting on the opposite side from him too. Of course, she was as stoic as ever.
"Hugo, she almost took my head off!"
"Yeah yeah, I didn't expect her to be that fast either. Sorry."
He seemingly didn't look apologetic at all though.
Despite how absent he seemed, it wasn't like Hugo wasn't doing anything during then. The only reason they could last that long was because of him.
At the start of the fight he sent out his crow, and right away the entire deck had fallen in the range of his aspect. By observing them from both his eyes on the deck and in the sky, he could keep track of the whole fight while interfering when needed with his awakened ability. He was their insurance.
Azdin and the nameless meanwhile, were in charge of head-on combat. They could fight as risk free as they wanted while Hugo watched them both.
This was the battle strategy they had come up with in the last week.
'It had barely been three minutes and I already almost died like twice..'
Her immense speed, that brutish strength.. the tenacity to keep fighting even when wounded like that, those things didn't belong to an Awakened.
This marine they were fighting, she was Ascended.
'No wonder she was confident in taking us all on.'
Since his awakening on that beach, Azdin had fought only a handful of awakened, and only one creature. But now, he was already going up a against an Ascended, someone who had treaded further on the path of ascension than himself.
She was stronger than him in every respect. Even the memories he had created till now were almost useless against her. As it stood there was nothing he could do on his own.
'Except I'm not alone.'
He had allies. While she was alone, he had people he could rely on. As long as he was with them he was sure everything would work out somehow.
Hugo declared.
"Alright, we need to think of something before she comes back."
Using his aspect ability, he could teleport the two of them almost as freely as he could teleport himself, but when it came to enemies, he faced some difficulty. And when that enemy was a fierce Ascendent who was far stronger than himself, the cost in soul essence was greater than he anticipated.
Stealing her weapon from her arms was even easier than teleporting himself as it was inanimate, but teleporting her off the ship almost took everything out of him.
Azdin asked with some concern,
"How many more swaps can you perform?"
Contemplating it for a second, he answered,
"If it's just you two then it's a couple more times, but if we throw that pain in the ass into the mix then maybe only twice. And it won't be that far either, maybe just a couple meters."
'So we have two opportunities left to take her out.'
The situation wasn't looking too good. And he was sure Lotte was having a tough time calming the people down below too. They had to resolve this fast.
Azdin considered trying to talk to her again, but after what he did to her leg he didn't count on her calming down. He was able to move the captives with his words because they all longed for freedom, but this marine only longed for their deaths. Talking to her would be impossible.
While he and Hugo began to discuss a new plan of action, the nameless Awakened just watched in silence.
Eventually, she spoke up.
"You shielded me."
It had been a while since he last heard her voice, so he was almost surprised by how soft it was. Even then there was an authority and fierceness in it.
"Out of the two of us I'm the only one wearing actual armour. I would've taken the hit better is all."
She looked at him up and down.
The armour in question wasn't really that advanced. The memory was a rugged suit of brown leather, with a pair of pauldrons for each of his shoulders, and a single metal plate that covered his chest.
It gave him lots of mobility for flexible movement, while providing a decent amount of protection to his heart. But if it came to taking a blow from an Ascendent...
"That outfit is hardly armour. Most of your other vital organs are still exposed, on top of that your joints are vulnerable, even a baby from the empire could kill you wearing that."
He could've sworn he heard Hugo holding back a laugh too.
'Being selfless is hard.'
If he were being honest, he wasn't really sure why he did what he did either. He just knew was that it was him or her, so he did what he could.
"I'm still better off than you!"
Thinking on it now, she took a full punch from her before all that happened! She should've been in a even worse state than him!
But when he took a proper look at her again.. she seemed somewhat fine on the outside. He could tell she was trying to hide her more subtle injuries, but she held up surprisingly well.
"I don't need protection from pillow fists."
Hearing that, he let out a disappointed sigh.
Once again, he took a look at his own armour, whatever excitement he felt from it having since disappeared.
'Seriously, why's she so strong anyway? We're supposed to be the same rank!'
Thinking about it now, everyone that stood out on this ship was weird in their own way. Hugo was the only wielder of an Aspect among them and had Awakened at a young age, Lotte had her own bizarre powers, the awakened who was too lazy to even reveal her own name was a physical powerhouse contrary to how she acted, while Azdin himself..
Similar to Hugo he Awakened from an even younger age, he also had this sorcery of which it's source he was almost certain of, but his true talent lay somewhere else.
He wasn't too keen on using it though.
"Still, you'd need some serious guts to do something like that on the spot. I haven't seen many throw their lives away for someone they barely know."
Hugo nodded.
"I agree, you'd have to be a real idiot to do that."
'Why does everyone on this ship enjoy making fun of me! I'm the captain goddamnit!'
Clearing her throat, the nameless Awakened spoke,
"Back to the topic at hand, I need you two to provide an opportunity for me."
Hugo looked at her weirdly. This was the first time she had given a suggestion about practically anything, so he was extra attentive.
"Can you do it?"
The way she phrased it made one think she could handle their enemy.
"I have no doubt in myself. The only issue is whether or not you have faith in me."
He didn't even take a moment to think, replying with a blunt,
"I don't."
The truth was he barely knew her, and that was her own fault. They fought together only once, but other then that she was a total stranger.
Azdin on the other hand, thought differently.
"She's proven to be plenty capable I think."
Her punches were able to affect the Ascendent, so there must've been something special about her. She didn't wield any weapons either, so that could only mean she had something to make her that confident in herself.
"Hmmm."
Hugo thought about it a bit longer this time.
"Alright then. If you die, just don't curse me."