Noone managed to break into Tobias's attack range. Despite one arm being useless and losing the other, he still fought back ferociously. Tobias kept the wildly fighting Noone at bay, but it was putting intense strain on his body.
Most people when they lose a limb, it completely screws with their ability to fight. Their balance and tactics all take a blow, their mind becomes slow and dulled with pain. But despite having lost both of his arms, Noone did not seem to slow down at all.
Lose one arm? Use the other. Lose both? Well I still have two legs, don't I? Tobias couldn't help but grow anxious. Even through this whole ordeal, he never lost track of their main objective. Tobias was beginning to think that they were meant to secure this being. He wasn't sure if he was able to keep it alive… all he knew was that this couldn't go on forever.
Suddenly there was the sound of the crunching of steel. Tobias had attempted to dodge to the side, but the ground under Noone's feet shattered as he leapt into the paladin, driving both knees into Tobias's chest plate. He grunted in pain as he felt the metal bend under the impact.
Bouncing back from Tobias, Noone stood a few feet away. Despite not having shown any signs of slowing, his breathing had become increasingly ragged.
The sun dropped dangerously close to the horizon, threatening to bathe them all in darkness. The battlefield had gradually lost its color. Suddenly, a flash of light caught everyone's attention. Sarah, laying on her back had a hand stretched above her head. She stared daggers at Noone as though wishing she could kill him with her gaze alone and suddenly a chain formed around her fist. It glowed white and blue, made from miracle energy.
"Summon weapon! Good spell!" Sally couldn't help but think excitedly.
Like a lightning bolt, the spell launched itself from her hand at a speed even Noone would be unable to dodge. The ball of light surrounded Noone. Gradually it dimmed down enough to show him wrapped within the glowing chains.
The chains pierced into the earth, wrapping around Noone's neck and limbs.
Without any hesitation Tobias took advantage of the spell and attacked. Noone had no chance to resist the bindings, Tobias swept his legs out from under him. Noone fell back, unable to catch himself.
With a thud he fell to the earth. Tobias didn't give him any chance to counter. He stomped his foot down on Noone's chest, forcing a stream of blood out of Noone's mouth and nose as his ribs were shattered under the weight of the paladin.
"Well… it's good to know you can be worn down." Tobias wheezed, he wanted to let the time drag on for as long as possible. Just long enough for Sally to cast her spell. "If you couldn't…. I would say you were some kind of monster." He chuckled, smiling wryly at the inhumanity of this thing in front of him.
Tobias held the axe above Noone's head, hoping it would deter the demon from doing anything stupid. With his other hand Tobias began to fish the pendant necklace from his shirt. Luckily it was undamaged beneath the chest plate.
He held it out, watching as the light from it pointed directly towards Noone.
"Well. That settles it then. Someone paid a very big favor to get ahold of you." Tobias held the necklace between his fingers as he considered what to do next.
As Tobias watched vigilantly, Noone lifted his mangled hand, fighting against the chains which bound him. The odd and malicious grin never left his face. Tobias thought Noone was just struggling. However, Sarah and Sally who were a little distance away could see what was happening.
"Tobias! Look out!" Sally couldn't move due to the spell, and Sarah was still too injured and focused on binding Noone.
Before Tobias could react, he heard the swoosh of air being cut behind him. His entire body twisted violently to the side, attempting to dodge out of the way of whatever was flying towards him.
Suddenly out of the corner of his eye he saw a golden spear piercing through the air. It shot towards him in silence, like an arrow released from a bow. If it hadn't been for Sally's warning, he probably would have never noticed in time.
He managed to twist his body out of the way just enough to avoid it. When he looked back towards Rae, he saw that she was still unconscious on the floor.
As his eyes followed the path of the spear, it rotated as if bound by a string and flashed towards him again. Without much time for consideration, Tobias made a decision. Over the next few seconds – everything changed.
He dropped the pendant onto Noone who was still bound to earth.
Despite twisting out of the way as much as he could, he was not able to dodge completely from such a short range. The sound of flesh and bone being cut rung out over the otherwise silent battlefield.
The battle axe hit the stone first, planting itself firmly into the ground by the blade. Next, a metal plated arm fell beside it. Like a fountain, blood began to spew from Tobias' arm. He grit his teeth and pain coursed through his nerves like fire. However, he did not ease off of Noone.
Suddenly, white light seemed to fall from the stars themselves.
Sarah was covered in the gentle light, the wound on her head quietly closed. Her complexion immediately looked better and her mind cleared from the pain. It became easier to focus on her weapons spell and Noone was pulled tighter into the ground.
The hole in Raelith's abdomen closed up, her organs also repaired themselves. Small cracking noises could be heard as the ribs which were shattered by Noone's kick mended together.
Feylin's complexion shifted to a healthier hue as his internal injuries were healed.
Finally, the light landed on Tobias. The bleeding stump that was his arm quickly closed itself shut. The rest of his arm still laid on the floor unusable.
As soon as his arm was healed, Tobias and Noone made eye contact. Noone's face was still plastered with a sinister grin. The pendant which Tobias dropped finally fell onto Noone, the ever-present expression on his face changed.
A scream that sent shivers down everyone's spines pierced into their minds. It evoked thoughts of torture and hell itself, all eyes fell on Noone. It lasted for only a moment, but a light unlike anything any of them had ever seen covered Noone's body. Like a cocoon it seemed to bind him, even breaking through Sarah's spell to do it.
Tobias quickly stepped off, removing himself from the range of the strange spell. A deep frown was on his face as he watched. The cocoon seemed to be made of starlight. It was black with white specks peppered across it.
It covered Noone completely sealing him away from the world. No noise or movement could be made out from inside. Tobias couldn't help but feel it looked like a coffin.
He watched for a while, making sure that whatever spell which was in the pendant would hold. Sally walked across the battlefield, checking on everyone's health and distributing healing ointments and water.
Slowly everyone gathered their wits and joined Tobias, looking down at the cocoon. Despite being healed from their physical ailments, Feylin and Sarah both felt sick to their stomachs. Their limbs shook from fear and adrenaline.
Rae looked at her spear which laid nearby, and Tobias's dismembered arm. She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
In fact, everyone felt uncomfortable when looking at it. Tobias was by far the strongest out of everyone present, stronger than the acolytes by a large margin. For him to have lost an arm…
Sarah and Feylin couldn't help but feel extremely lucky that they were alive.