The beast's frightening limb slammed against the blade, a laceration appearing where the sword landed.
'I planned to kill it in one blow; it seems that I must enhance my blade with my mist to cut through it…' evaluating the risk of such an action, Ira decided against it—at least as of that moment.
Two slashes quickly flew past Ira from behind her, striking the Strayed Demon along its torso and head.
Ira knew who had done this, 'Bariealla…' It only made plausible sense for it to be her doing. 'Bariealla had explained previously that her echo ability could send slashes out to completely restrict the flow of Realm Thread between two areas.'
In theory, it did not seem too incredible, but in battles of endurance it would be formidable.
'It could limit the use of echo abilities, the most important thing awakened have in their arsenal; without it, we are just stronger humans.' Ira thought to herself.
A blow slammed against her shoulder, sending her tumbling back a couple of meters.
Gritting her teeth, she frowned; "I need to focus on the battle..!'
Pushing herself with all her might towards the abomination. She dragged the blade against the ground, with her entire being she intended to deliver a vertical slash.
The blade was completely and utterly physically mundane in the young girl's hands, yet it carried an undeniably sharpness that it was not meant to have, something otherworldly.
When she had finally swung the sword upwards, it ripped itself from the ground and into the air; the Strayed Demon was entirely capable of avoiding the attack or blocking it, yet both would still result in damage.
Defensively covering its face up with both of its arms, the slash landed.
Skin tore, muscle split, bone shattered, and a single hand was left on the ground—the Strayed Demon's, of course.
The slash was physically no different from the previous, yet it accomplished something Ira deemed impossible without the enhancement of her mist.
The abomination bellowed out from the depths of its soul, attempting to swat Ira away with its one remaining hand.
Cold and calculated, she blocked the attack with extreme difficulty—pain ringing through her entire body, yet she stubbornly ignored it as she pressed forward, emptiness marking her pristine face.
She had promised to cut this abomination down, and that is what she would accomplish.
The abomination held no Will, so it had to rely on its physical might and cunning intelligence to overcome Ira—yet no matter what it did, it could not land a fatal blow or even outwit her.
Only Awakened (along with their corrupted counterparts) and higher had access to Will—the intangible force that allowed them to shape or break the world under their whim.
The beast struck again with its claws, a laceration appearing on Ira's abdomen—sweat and fear mixing together at the thought of being gutted again.
Another slash ripped at her shoulder, forcing the young girl to her knees, the beast looming over her.
Glaring at the abomination, Ira pushed herself to her feet with some resistance. 'I will not kneel to the likes of you... The world will fall before I do that!'
Pushing forward despite the injury on her abdomen, she readied her body for the potential counter-attack, she lunged her blade forward in a thrust aimed at the abomination's heart.
Adrenaline coursed through her blood, time itself seemed to slow in her vision. She could see the Strayed Demon prepare for the blow, its arms raising defensively, its feet planting deeper into the ground to steadied itself, its eyes tracking her every movement with lethal precision.
Ira knew this attack would come at a cost, but the more damage she delivered as quickly as she could, the higher her chances of succeeding would become.
The sword pierced through the abomination's arms and into its chest, 'Please hit something important!'
The beast's arms were pierced against its chest—if it wanted to counter attack, it would need to rip its flesh from the blade to do so; something no sane being would do.
One thing Purge Beasts were not known for, was sanity. It ripped at its own flesh as it tore it from the blade, black blood spilling from its self-inflicted wound.
Ira did not have time to yank the blade from the abomination's chest, so she had to endure the blow from the abomination with all of her might.
Its fist slammed into her chest, ribs shattered under the force as she was blown away, blade still luckily in hand.
Ira violently coughed, blood spilling from her mouth as she did.
A hand landed on her unharmed shoulder, all of her wounds instantaneously disappearing from her body.
"Try not to get hurt, 'kay? Healing is taxing, you know!" Kaines yelled out.
Checking her body for a moment, she sighed in relief. 'All my injuries have disappeared?! Amazing!'
Her mental celebration was cut short by the Strayed Demon lunging on top of her in a gluttonous frenzy.
"Kaine! You bastard" frustration filled her previously empty face, blaming Kaine for her mental distraction.
The beast bit down on the sword, gripping it with its hands too with enough pressure to shatter it.
'Just my luck..! This situation could not possibly get any worse!'
In the next moment the iron sword cracked, and then inevitably shattered under the might of the beast.
The fragments reflected light into Ira's eyes in a spectacle of dim colors, her mouth agape from shock.
Quickly, rage consumed her soul. 'I will not die here!' Gritting her teeth even harder as the beast's maw closed in, the young girl plunged the broken sword into the abomination's eye. Roaring out in pain, Ira kicked it off herself.
'Maybe I should have enhanced the sword while it was still useful. It does not matter anymore, now; I can not change the past—only the future!'
That was her goal—to break fate, and that is what she would do; no matter the cost.
The young girl remarks how the situation feels similar to when she had battled the Sand Dweller, yet remarkably different. 'I had a weapon then, but I do not have one now. I am not in a desert, rather I am in a barren wasteland. I am not in a Trial, but rather a random situation. A lot of differences if I do say so myself.' Hardening herself to assault the beast, she clenched her hands into fists.
Beast and human both lunged forward, a thunderous punch slammed into the abomination, sending it rocking backwards.
Realizing its disadvantage, it screamed.
'What a cry-baby!.. I am such an edge-lord…' Ira internally felt embarrassed, but now was not the time for such emotions; a new foe joined the battle against her—a Strayed Monster.
'Just my luck.. this situation keeps getting worse and worse! And I thought Bariealla and Cammie were holding them back!?'
Glancing around the barren wasteland they were fighting on, Ira noticed the severity of the situation.
Strayed Beasts, Monsters, and even Fiends banding together in an attempt to overwhelm the two.
In a gruesome display of power, Cammie struck a Strayed Monster in the head, sending it flying off its shoulders—a menacing grin painted across her face.
Bariealla did not showcase an overwhelming power like Cammie's—rather she showed a phenomenal amount of thought and strategy. Every single one of her actions had a purpose to slay her foe—two Strayed Fiends; with a quick thrust of her Soul-Bound weapon, a riding sword, she punctured one of the Beasts' hearts, its corpse going limp against her blade. 'Only one left.' Her voice was cold and calculated, as if her soul held no emotions.
Rolling her eyes, Ira focused her mind on the battle before her. She exhaled sharply, gritting her teeth in frustration. "It seems both of you will lose your heads. I wonder, which of you will grant me my first fragment?"