The Angel lets loose a scream in pain.
The combined might of the Slayer's attacks worked.
But the mist was now the problem.
Yin's face was lightly grazed by the Angel's blades.
Adrenaline made him ignore the stinging pain on his cheeks.
"S-Suna, what's happening? Did we get it?"
He asked as Suna carefully carried him with his hands on her shoulders.
"We're getting picked off. One by one. It's adapting to the situation. The Angel's eyes can see a lot better than a normal human's. It's betting on that fact now. The fact that we are completely blind."
"Everyone, fall back!"
Yin ordered them.
It was far too late now.
What needed to be done?
What could they have done differently?
This was a foe far too much for them. Everybody knew that.
Yin closed his eyes and focused.
Time seemed to stop all around him.
Cries of hysteria.
The scenery of Slayers running for their lives.
Blood that was shed on the floor after an Angel decapitates someone's silhouette.
What could they have done?
That's when the idea hit Yin.
"I have a plan! Everyone, run as far away as you can southwards!"
But that was already what they were doing, was this Yin's idea?
Or was it some sort of sick joke?
The remaining Slayers had thought.
"Wind Slayers! Stay behind and cast spells in the opposite direction."
Suna's face contorted in dread.
"W-what are you doing, Yin?"
Her voice trembled.
"Are you planning to sacrifice the Wind Slayers?"
"No. I'm staying behind to help them."
He said with a stalwart expression befitting that of a leader.
Suna knew she could not say anything to dissuade him from doing this.
"The spells that you cast will allow us to get our visibility back! Don't hold anything back! We can get a clear view of the enemy again while hitting it with Gust or Wind spells while the others stay back and regroup."
"Are you with me?"
There were only about five Wind Slayers left alive.
All of them were prepared to go with the plan at first.
Except one guy.
He had black, golden skin.
This man was muscular, roughly the same height as the Commander.
He had a clean buzz cut, coupled with some piercings.
"Are you trying to get us killed? Do you think we're worth less than every single person running right there? That we're worth less than about fifteen of those fools?'
He said as he points to the ragtag group of Slayers running for their lives down south.
"Tell me, why should we stay behind and cover their retreat?"
He approaches Yin and stares at him dead in the eyes.
Suna was about to get in the middle of this scuffle.
Yin motioned her to stay back.
"Because you're Slayers, aren't you? The only ones who can deal with the mist right now, is you. It's not a matter of who's lives weigh more than whose, there are just some things that require particular sets of skills to do effectively. And you, Wind Slayers, are the only ones who can do this. Don't worry, I'm staying behind as well. If the Angel lays a hand on you guys, I'll rot it away."
Yin uttered with clear conviction in his voice.
"I can respect that."
The opposing Wind Slayer extends his hand to shake Yin's.
It was a sign of mutual respect.
Two soldiers who knew it all came down to their actions, if they were meant to stand a chance against this holy beast.
As they both shook hands, every non-wind Slayer except Suna successfully regrouped at the back lines.
The five Wind Slayers, as well as Yin and Suna formed a wall.
Wind Slayers cast incantations after they took out their respective grimoires.
Yin called on Black Lightning to empower him.
The Sky began to shudder in darkness as a lone bolt made its way below towards him.
Suna unsheathed her black sword in preparation for combat.
In just a split second, the Angel lunged forward.
With an unholy screech seemingly coming out from such a holy creature, it prepared to stab Yin with its dual blades.
"Now!"
To which Yin and Suna jumped both ways respectively to dodge the Gust spells of the Wind Slayers.
The Angel was now shielding itself from the intensity of the barrage.
Human-sized tornadoes were spammed every second. It pinned the Angel down, it had no choice but to move forward while covering its upper body, albeit slowly.
As the Angel shielded each attack, the wind slowly eliminated the mist from behind it.
"We're almost at our limit!"
Exclaimed the Wind Slayers.
Yin signaled them to retreat and rejoin the back lines, which they did.
The Angel which had its arms badly damaged from the barrage earlier, now looked straight towards Suna's direction.
It was badly beaten up, but it was still stronger than all of them in the battlefield combined.
Suna preemptively blocked the attack, if she waited even a second, it was going to be the end of her.
The Angel rushed and struck her with a piercing motion from its katana. She guessed correctly, blocking the attack with her sword.
Yin clenched his fist in the air and prepared to clobber at it. But what he forgot to realize was that its reflexes were as quick as his, even faster.
While applying pressure to the blade blocking Suna, it extended its leg to do a side ward kick.
The kick was a direct hit to Yin's sides.
But he knew this.
He had himself hit on purpose.
A couple of his ribs cracked; the sound was heard all throughout the area.
Blood splurged out of Yin's mouth.
Vinny and the others were about to jump in, when the Wind Slayer from earlier stopped them.
"You're only going to slow them down."
Everyone watched in anger at their own powerlessness.
But wait, something was going on which they did not understand.
Yin. Yin was smiling?
"Say goodbye to your left leg."
With both hands, he held the Angel's leg with tremendous force.
Yin knew he lacked the physical strength to crush it.
He had an ace up his sleeves though, his powers.
Yin could only manifest decay in five seconds at most.
So, he made sure to use at the perfect time and place.
"Take this!"
With the combined might of the black lightning and his superhuman decay, he held the leg with all his might.
Two seconds have passed, the Angel's left leg was now crumbling, it looked as if it fast forwarded for about a hundred years time.
Five seconds. All he needed was five seconds.
After what seemed forever.
Yin succeeded.
The ashes of what used to be its limb were now one with the air.
It did its best to balance its whole body with only one leg, it was adapting.
Only half of the total Slayers from before were still alive.
They were on the verge of tears, clapping at Yin's feat.
"It's not over yet. Now we can join the fight! Don't let Yin's efforts go to waste. Close quarters combatants, on me!"
Shouted the Slayer with the buzz cut.
For what seemed to last forever, Suna overpowered the Angel's hand.
She let go of her sword and proceeded to charge at it.
A flurry of punches and flails aimed at the Angel forced it to move backwards whilst blocking.
Suna saw about half of the group were now approaching to help.
"Get Yin to safety!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Some of them dragged Yin away from the fight and tended to his wounds.
He was coughing up blood.
The damage to his ribs were far too much to handle.
The other five charged straight at the Angel.
Another Slayer hacked away at the Angel's remaining leg.
The Angel writhed in pain.
Five of the Slayers were led by Vinny then worked side by side to strike at it from both sides.
"No! Don't!"
Suna warned them.
But her warnings fell on deaf ears.
They were letting their emotions get to them.
"This is for Maya!"
"I'll avenge you, Ponzu!"
"You bastard, you killed my friend!"
"Isabelle, your brother's about to die!"
Gavin shouted at her.
"Please give us authorization to join the conquest below! I can save still make it in time to save your brother!"
Gavin shouted again, with more ferocity.
The emissary shed a single tear.
No matter the cost, she was not going to disobey her orders.
Even if it meant letting Vinny die.
Luken watched in a deadpan expression.
He could have sworn he heard Isabelle whimper in pain.
After a solid minute of the group trying to beat down the Angel, it finally mustered enough strength to make its move.
It spun around with only one leg.
This pivoting motion was being done while it extended both arms still wielding the katanas.
It was reminiscent of the Wind Slayer's tornadoes from earlier.
Except this time, the Slayers were on the receiving end of it.
It was a spinning motion of impending doom.
The Angel turned around so many times with its blades still raised.
It had become a whirling tornado of death.
Whomever approached it was diced into mincemeat.
The five of them got flayed in half.
Blood splattered on the ground and on Suna's face.
Yin could do nothing as he was battling in and out of consciousness.
The Angel had painted the entire battlefield red.
Stench of blood riddled the place.
Luken, Gavin, and the emissary looked on in anger.
Was this the outcome the High Council wanted?
To send a bunch of children to their deaths?