"Are you fine with leaving Lulac, Gyuho? You two are friends." Bie asked as they walked down the open dreary plains, crooked trees as far as the eye could see, their cracked bark quite brittle. Gyuho shrugged, taking in the sights to see as he searched for something, most likely, their next target.
"Yeah. Reap what you sow. Should've watched his mouth. Besides, fretting won't make me stronger." His answer came off like a muscle head, though the people listening couldn't fault his logic. I mean, what was a friend if they couldn't acknowledge your wrongs, if they didn't call you out on your BS. People weren't one dimensional creatures, whose life would revolve around anyone they were amicable with. No, they had their own goals and aspirations, and who were they to judge that?
Of course, only Casmere had this complete thought. The other two had mere fragments of it, though they respected his answer all the same. Like it or not, they were already here, and going back would only waste time.
"The Unpromised Maiden is quite dangerous on her lonesome. They're the demons created by those who hoped and prayed to the tribunal gods, though their prayers remained unanswered. When they ate demon flesh, they were cast aside, their promises left unfinished."
Casmere's mouth weaved an elaborate story underneath his cloth as he walked, telling of the few forsaken people who turned up every now and then. Just as he presumed Bie as blessed, there were others that were cursed, and he drew a tentative conclusion that demons were...a lot more complicated than they came off.
"If a cursed person turns into a demon, those gods aren't too far behind, right?" Wanxi asked, Bie and Gyujo nodding along as they made that same conclusion. Casmere remained silent, though the constriction of his gaze spoke volumes about his own thoughts.
And volumes of the oncoming threat.
Like a ghost, the Unpromised Maiden flickered before them, slowly emerging behind a light green wall that appeared out of nowhere. She was a pale woman who inclined her head down upon the three, her height standing at a little above two meters. She had plump pink lips, obscured by a luminous yet colorless chrysanthemum in her mouth.
Covered by heavy black plated armor covered in notches and ridges, it became scalier the closer it got to her face, ending directly at the jawline. The upper half of her face was covered by a metallic visor that could've only been removed from the helmet the armor presumably came from and flowing from the rest of her head were rows of neon green tentacles, as if it had taken the place of her hair. In the center of her head was a thin horn, pointing towards the sky as sharp as a pinprick to an unsuspecting foot.
>Are you here...where...are...you...why...have you left me?
Whispers streamed out from the sides of the chrysanthemum, though her mouth was unmoving. She leapt into the sky with a single bound, her horn pulsing with neon green light as her tentacles whipped around, stretching from her head as they struck towards the ground with the ferocity of a snake!
"Sorry." Bie grabbed Wanxi, knowing that she was the most immobile of the crew due to her weaker physique and heavy flag. Deftly darting to the side, he set her down a couple meters from the frontline, while the demon plopped to the ground with a heavy thud.
Waiting for her was Casmere and Gyuho, the prior aiming towards the chinks in the whispering demon's armor and the other doing his best to draw the attention of the tentacles. The maiden did not fall for this though, half of her tentacles searching for the shadow stepping Gyuho and her haunches occasionally sending kicks his way while the other half accompanied frenzied punches.
"Hm. Let's see what you'll do against more opponents..." Casmere's free hand gestured towards the wheel as it rapidly rotated, conjuring five phantasms with picks clutched to their chests handle first. The sharp end of the pick was pointed at the demon's tentacles, their forms dancing as they rotated around, poking holes in the slimy neon green flesh every second they could.
"Don't worry about me!" Wanxi sent a firm nod towards Bie, before her a brilliant thunderous sound boomed from her flag as she began gesturing while chanting. The Guide nodded, content to be in the battle once again as he drew a trident from his duffel bag and hung daggers in the tears of his clothing. Operation slash em was a go!
A heavy step depressed a footstep into the stony ground as Mountain's Step increased his weight, the Bridge drinking from his Inkwell accordingly as it functioned. A footfall, another, another! Each increased weight brought out more and more strength from what some would consider a meager frame, and he glided through the air!
Three tentacles were pierced as Bie took to the sky, two more were slapped away by the shadows tracing Gyuho's bat. Booms sounded behind him as his smile widened, his lungs taking shallow breaths as the Guide relished in the havoc. His glowing yellow topaz eyes drew prominent lines in the sky as he came to float over the demon's head, and he threw his right hand embracing the trident directly towards the Unpromised Maiden.
"Make way~!" The flesh of the demon was a noisy squelch as three blades sunk itself into its tentacles, though the woman did not scream. She rolled her head back and forth as her demonic bones cracked, neon green energy rising in waves as she sent a flurry of punches!
Four phantasms diminished into green tinted mist, Casmere barely dodging under one such shot as he whirled his pick low to the ground, sticking it in the demon's leg. Gyuho was knocked to the ground and swept to the sky, though he flailed in the air with his bat as he beat the tentacles from whence they came. Wanxi's chanting resumed, and Bie was nigh on top of the demon as the thread pulled him to his clutching hand.
With the force of a small train, he collided into the Unpromised Maiden's head while emitting suctioning force with the effects of Smile, that took his Ink since the demon surprisingly had no dismay launched towards him. This kept the demon almost in midair, wanting to give way to the powerful kinetic force but held in balance by the illusory maw!
Bie held onto the top of its horn as the trident broke, pulling out the daggers he had hidden in his clothes prior and running about the demon's head as he slashed off tentacle after tentacle. As the daggers shattered, their fragments dug deep into the wounds, causing the demon great agony as waves of blood emerged from the sliced appendages atop her head.
Though the demon, with great vitality, kept on punching. Air was displaced and shockwaves were emitted from its fists, not even bothering to come closer to its targets as it burned the fumes of its life. Casmere darted low to the ground and picked up Gyuho, signaling Bie to follow as he distanced himself from it.
Because a visible, crackling milky pillar was flowing up from a third meter radius with Wanxi in the center. Bie planted his feet firmly upon the squirming demon's tentacles, using heavy weight to gain purchase and push off before using light weight to somersault backwards into the sky. This was what the War-Mer was waiting for!
A small pill shaped pearl of lightning condensed on her finger, and before she gave it a flick she added the finishing touches. A luminous magic circle with a weird pattern appeared behind her, its appearance akin to a heavily distorted pearl.
"Ram Pill." The pill shot towards the demon after receiving a flick from dainty fingers. It carried a surging torrent of magical energy that was faster than a blink, and a small hole bloomed on the demon's chest before it stopped moving.
Bie hit the ground, admiring the girl's work as she leaned on the flag. Walking up to her with a smile, he held the other side of the glaf in order to lift her up, and she gave him a tired smile.
"Well, seems we did fine. We'll stay with demons at this level for a month, alright?" Casmere got to work collecting the tentacles as he spoke, and the Guides nodded in affirmation.