I dashed towards the soldier before Bismarck could land his blow, and I don't know how I did it, but in that instance, my limp feet worked perfectly well.
"Exile!"
"Aleph!"
'There's someone who could heal mutilated body parts in Skystead Keep, right?'
'Good.'
Bismarck cracked his whip forward, intending for it to hit the Vyurborne soldier, but I moved faster than him. I raised my arm to guard the winged soldier; I didn't know if this would work. It's fucking crazy. This entire thing I'm doing right now is nothing but an absolute fucking nightmare, but it did exactly what I wished for it to do, and that's all I needed to know that I made the right choice. The giant's thorny whip wrapped around my left arm, with its thorns piercing my skin like a beast chewing my muscles off. I capitalized on this opportunity! I moved backward and pulled my hand with every strength I could muster until Bismarck leaned forward enough for his hand to reach my range. But needless to say, a giant more than thrice my size would not be able to be pulled that easily.
I let out a blood-curdling scream as blood spurt out of my arms; broken tendons made me yelp in defeat, and gripped muscles sent a burning sensation in my head that brought tears in my left eye. It was so fucking agonizing as if I had just gone through an eternity of suffering, but in truth, not even five seconds have passed.
Dominion is cursing something in my head.
Times is screaming with an uncharacteristic shocked expression.
Gertrude is saying something with a horrified expression.
But my mind cannot process any of their words; I just cannot hear them. Soon enough, the only thing I could perceive is my slowly darkening surroundings and the unbearable torture I had brought upon myself.
The strength of the giant warlord was too much for me to handle, and soon enough, his whip constricted my arms so hard that its thorns were beginning to poke my bones. I could feel my skin being pulled off while my hands were slowly reddening like a cherry bomb, ready to pop.
And pop it did.
The whip tore half of my left hand, and it wasn't clean. It all happened so fast; I pulled my hands even further backward when I realized Bismarck's arm finally moving towards me. I could feel the veins and the muscles in my arms tearing off, and that's precisely what happened.
A clean-cut would have been an easier pill to swallow.
But the brutality of this giant's weapon alone is enough for my brain to collapse. My sense of time slowed down enough to fool myself into thinking that I'm swimming in a waterless sea.
The severity in which that giant's whip tore through my skin was enough for me to grit my teeth till blood spurt out of my guts.
The whip itself rotated while the thorns gripped my skin, ensuring that it would shred my muscles off.
And with one tug, Bismarck yanked my arm hard enough to drag my bones off my crunched arm.
It was scarring in more ways than one. A spine-shilling vibration pulsed through my body, and when I saw my hand in the air, spinning like a lost boomerang, that's when all my senses returned. I was screaming; I didn't know when it happened, but I was already shouting when my sense of hearing returned. I know I wasn't the one who told my brain to scream, but now that it's doing its own thing, I couldn't stop it anymore. A rush of adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream when I saw Bismarck trip forward, bringing his hands closer to my range.
"CREATE!" I called out the command, trying to speak properly even with my trembling lips. "Wooden Sword!" The sword appeared before me. I grabbed it like a dagger and lunged forward, stabbing Bismarck's hand and allowing my body to drop, grounding his hand on the spot with the weight of my body while the sword acted like a nail.
"This is what happens when you don't bring enough bodyguards." I spat on him with a smirk.
Bismarck groaned, but he immediately regained his composure. "And this is what you get for being reckless..." He raised his feet, but he was clearly not aiming at me; his feet couldn't reach me enough with how much his armor compromised his flexibility.
Instead, his feet landed on my arm, squashing it with one stomp splattering blood beneath his bare feet.
I don't know why Bismarck is acting all triumphant; he just cut my arm off.
Gertrude pounced into Bismarck, silently this time, and aimed his talons into the right side of the giant warlord's face. But Bismarck must have caught sight of Gertrude; he used his vacant hand to grab the Vyurborne lady's legs, but she wasn't done with him yet. Gertrude lacerated Bismarck's eye with a second kick. The giant warlord closed both his hands without letting go of the Vyurborne lady, but that just made him even more vulnerable to her attacks. She kicked and sliced his face till scars of random sizes and different places showered the giant warlord.
And while Gertrude was keeping Bismarck busy from above, Times, without even alerting me, had already sprung forward as silently as a calm summer breeze. The winged warlord kicked Bismarck's stomach, tearing through the giant general's overhyped violet leaf armor and impaling his body till blood gushes out of him. Oddly enough, Bismarck is still alive. A battle is happening around me, and it seems like we're winning. It looks like we're winning, at least. The smoke is slowly thinning, and the intensity of the fire earlier slowly fades.
But my consciousness is slowly failing me, and I'm too tired to assess what's happening.
The Vyurborne soldier approached me; his lips moved, but there's no sound coming out of them. No, there's nothing my ears could process at all. That annoying Vyurborne soldier looked so panicked and scared. Hahahaha... I don't even know if I would understand what he's saying if I could hear him properly. You're the only one I can listen to now, Dominion.
'What's his name again?'
'Ah, yes... Corbel. I hope I did the right thing saving him.'
As darkness took over my vision, the last thing I saw were birds. Birds flying from above, hundreds if not thousands of them descending from the air. Their shadows alone are enough for me to hope.