Leng Yue didn't look back. Her blade was already slashing toward the first guardian's throat, its cracked porcelain mask reflecting her silhouette in the blood-red glow. But the creature twisted with unnatural fluidity, raising a spiked limb to intercept.
~CLANG~
Metal rang against bone-like armor. Sparks flew. "Its core is protected by the runes," she said sharply, ducking beneath a counter-blow. "We must sever them before the mask can shatter." A fighter's intuition was just as vital as their strength, in the face of an opponent capable of withstanding brutal punishment, reason was required.
Li Wei landed beside her in a crouch, breathing shallow, sweat slicking his brow. "Then we don't fight the body…" he raised his gaze, "we dispel the runes." The young man blasted a qi blast at a section of runes covering the torso of one of the guardians.
