Katsumi's target was the healer guard. As long as Katsumi could take him out, the others wouldn't be able to heal and Katsumi would finally be able to permanently damage them.
Of course, this was easier said than done. These were trained guards after all. The barrier user immediately drew his barrier back to guard himself and the healer. However, that move failed.
A slime unit fell from the tree canopy, landing on the barrier user's head, engulfing his face and suffocating him. The healer immediately attacked the slime and smashed the core, but the damage was done. The barrier momentarily flickered. That was all the time Katsumi needed. A tendril of mist snaked its way into the guard's armor and devoured his flesh and bones.
The yellow light disappeared. The sword and bow users bared their fangs towards Katsumi, and a full power [Water Jet] fired at him, but Katsumi was on the offensive this time, and he was prepared for these attacks.
Four thick shields formed from hardened slime blocked all the attacks, and in the next moment Katsumi had grappled himself back into the canopy, where the guards couldn't pursue him.
Katsumi had also managed to confirm the cutting power of the [Water Jet]. In half a second, it had managed to drill a hole several centimetres deep into his hardened slime. Truly immense cutting power, but definitely blockable.
Just as Katsumi was congratulating himself on his hit-and-run, he heard Mari yelp. Instinctively, he twisted his body.
A [Water Jet] shot through Katsumi's abdomen from the side. It left a hole the thickness of a pencil.
Katsumi's vision blurred. How?
"You brat! How dare you kill my men! You think you can run just by going higher? [Water Jet] isn't just an attack, it's a movement tool as well!"
Out of the corner of his eye, Katsumi could faintly see Rand hovering, using his [Water Jet] in both hands as propulsion.
Katsumi fell.
Just before impact, Katsumi managed to cushion his fall somewhat with his slimes, but it wasn't a clean landing. He had taken much of the blow in order to protect Mari. He felt something snap in his left arm.
He could see Rand landing on the ground before raising his gauntlet to fire one last [Water Jet] as an execution move.
Katsumi was seeing double at this point due to the sheer amount of blood he had lost at point, but he still managed to will Purple to form a shield in front of him.
Mari was yelling for something. Food? Katsumi was on the verge of collapsing, but he reflexively summoned a small chunk of meat from the Shock Hog. It just felt like the right thing to do.
Rand fired his [Water Jet]. It bored into Katsumi's shield. He made the shield spin to spread out the damage, and resisted the urge to pass out even though he was starting to cough up blood.
"You shouldn't have picked a fight with us, kid! David, I'll ;et you do the honours.
The sword user, who had just arrived with the rest of the squad, began advancing. He was visibly furious, probably because of the death of his comrade.
Katsumi nearly gave up at that moment. But something stopped that thought in its tracks.
A slice of raw meat, poking against the corner of his mouth. A piece of meat that Mari was telling him to eat. In that moment, Katsumi felt nothing but relief. That someone cared about him.
He bit down.
He could feel something happening to his body.
The sword user was getting closer.
Katsumi's vision began to refocus. The sense of hearing, originally drowned out by an incessant whining sound, was slowly coming back. He could finally hear Mari's frantic yells. She was telling him to win.
The sword user stepped forward once more.
Right into range.
Katsumi shot a tendril at him. Of course, the sword user had been prepared for that. But he wasn't prepared for what came next.
An entire barrage of tendrils and tentacles charged at him.
He chanted something, and a burst of red fire came out of his sword, blasting away most of the tendrils, but the tentacles emerged unscathed. They had been hardened to the maximum, and had sharpened points.
They ran the sword user through.
"Hirai-kun! Eat this next!"
Katsumi didn't hesitate and bit right down. This time, his vision became ever clearer. He looked down for a moment. The rate at which blood was coming out of the holes in his abdomen was slowing down.
"I imbued the meat with regeneration, strength and speed status effects! You can do this, Hirai-kun!"
"Uh, thanks for the support, I guess. I owe you, Kimoto-san!"
Katsumi dodged out of the way of the [Water Jet] and lunged at the the guards, then fired off several tentacles at Rand and the remaining two guards, who were still reeling from shock at Katsumi's sudden recovery.
Of course, the barrier user managed to block all of the attacks, and the bow user fired off several shots.
However, despite everything, Katsumi smiled.
At that moment, black mist burst out from under the guards.
Katsumi had realized just as he was dying that the soil in the forest was incredibly loose. That meant that he could attack from underground as long as he weaved his mist among the soil. He just had to get in range, which he just did.
Three screams rang out, but were almost immediately cut short.
As the mist receded towards Katsumi, there were some clangs as three sets of empty armor fell onto the forest floor.
With that, Katsumi too sank to his knees and passed out. The hardened slime he had been using to staunch his wounds all softened and oozed off, before being slowly absorbed by Pocket as everything faded to darkness.