The experimental branti must to some degree understand the disadvantage of its position as it tries to rush me. That's not too bad of a strategy…
If it succeeds in locking me in close quarters combat I'll have a hard time attacking its upper head without showing an opening. And against a much larger opponent with a strong natural armor, my daggers won't be able to quickly deal fatal damage unless I attack its heads.
"Oraoraora!"
Suddenly, a barrage of punches hits the experimental branti's side and makes it stop its charge as it's almost knocked over. Pascal is not holding back and while the chitin armor may dissipate a lot of the force of her punches, the sheer number of hits more than makes up for that.
The experimental branti struggles to keep its balance, the punching force beginning to lift its right side into the air. With its tail otherwise busy, it's really quite defenseless when faced with more than one opponent from different directions.
"Oi, don't just stand there and spectate! Help me flip this thing. It's way heavier than it looks and my hands are starting to go numb."
Pascal has a point. Observations and questions can come later.
While the experimental branti is fervently trying to wave its claws to shift weight to its right side, I gather mana and inject a boatload into the ground, sending it to emerge below the experimental branti's right side as one large ground spike.
The ground spike violently impacts the chitin armor on the experimental branti's underside and makes it lose the battle of balance. Pascal disengages when it becomes clear the monster will tip over and steps back to avoid the crash.
"Got to hand it to you. Didn't think anyone beside me would be able to move in this situation. How do you keep yourself from having your heart stopped?"
My what now?
"Pascal, the carrion servant isn't real. It's all a skill used by the experimental branti. Think about it, could something so weak summon something so strong into the dungeon without repercussions? And would such a monster really not attack?"
"It's not real? But I can see it? And my life sense skill clearly tells me it's there!"
An angry squawk interrupts my attempt to persuade Pascal. The experimental branti that we had both written off as flipped and done has recovered from the crash. And only now do I notice that the upper head is still held high and screaming continuously.
Under our disbelieving eyes, the experimental branti simply rotates its lower head head and its limbs. It's not helplessly flipped over anymore. At most it might have some difficulty using its claws since they are now on a different height compared to before the flipping.
"You unholy piece of **** staining the walls of the ugliest hellhole defiled by every **** there ever was! How dare you, ****er, ***, *****, **********! I'm going to kill you! I'll rip your soul to shreds! I'll shove you down into hell myself and then throw hell off a cliff along with a ****ing nuke so you get buried in a nuclear winter rock fall and no one will ever find you!"
That is some very colorful language coming from Maribelle. Hearing a slew of swear words from someone who usually seems quite concerned with remaining proper means she must be very angry.
Just then, my instructing skill suddenly acts up violently. I have no clue what is happening to it but I can tell it's connected to Maribelle. Images flash before my eyes. A different floor of this dungeon, other branti and Maribelle, plowing through them like a drill.
The flashing visions fade right as the enraged Maribelle begins to spin like in the vision, she releases her pressurized water breath and then accelerates towards the experimental branti like a rocket.
The experimental branti barely has time to react before the pressurized water drill rocket crashes into its side and while it does slow her down, the chitin armor is rapidly worn away by Maribelle's furious drilling. The chitin armor soon breaks and Maribelle accelerates again as she tears through the experimental branti's insides. The chitin armor on the other side only holds for a second before Maribells breaks through and leaves the experimental branti with a large hole through its midsection.
The damage done is catastrophic. My combat medic assessment tells me that multiple organs were pierced or ripped apart and that the wound is definitely fatal.
For the experimental branti, the realization seems to take a few seconds as the shock of what has happened needs to sink in. The cries from the upper head suddenly cease to echo across the chamber and the tail it is mounted on turns stiff before dropping to the ground like a felled tree.
The lower head's eyes turn bloodshot and it tries to release another squawk but the sound dies inside its throat. I stop watching the morbid spectacle as the experimental branti's legs give out and go to check on Maribelle who is listlessly floating a distance away.
"Maribelle? Are you alright?"
"Do I LOOK alright to you?"
"You're a fish girl? How do alright fishes look different from not alright ones? Guy asked why you freaked out like that so spill! Gotta be a reason for you to curse like that."
Not the best way to approach this, Pascal. Not the best way. But hey, Maribelle doesn't respond by attacking or exploding so that's good. She just releases a long sigh and begins to explain.