Irwin channeled the last remnants of his magical energy into the Angel Sword, the blade glowing with a blinding solar radiance. With a fierce cry, he swung the sword in a wide arc, unleashing a devastating Solar Slash that cut through Nima's paper cloths and scorched the surrounding air. The searing energy struck Nima head-on, forcing her back as the intense heat singed her skin and sent her reeling.
Her shrieking filled the halls as the devastating attack forced everyone a few steps back. When the attack had finished, Irwin felt his body bereft of energy, which was quickly negated by the Mana potion, working overtime to feel up the emptiness within.
"What was that?" As Šuzianna's voice lingered in the air, thick with astonishment and dread, the tension in the room reached a boiling point.
Ninda, with her eyes still glowing a furious crimson, launched an assault on an unsuspecting Irwin. A snarl echoed through the halls as a wolves spirit appeared a foot away from Irwin and leapt for an attack.
Fortunately, Ellen was there to barely fend off the attack. Although the ghost wolf normally had unmatched speed and precision, Ellen knew that Irwin had killed enough of them that she would survive the attack.
Ninda looked worriedly at her sister, rushing towards her to check on her condition.
Blood trickled down Nima's body. Her clothing had been burned to ashes and had revealed the singed cloth binding her chest. What bare skin she had on her torso was blackened, if not smoldering, from the Solar Slash.
"Sister." Ninda tried to touch her sister, but Nima shook her head.
"W-we can-can s-till fight." Nima declared, more to herself than to her allies.
"You don't have to die here," Irwin said, his voice steady despite the fatigue. "Leave now, and I'll let you go."
The sisters exchanged a glance, their crimson eyes flickering with uncertainty. But before they could respond, Šuzianna's laughter filled the room, cold and sharp.
"Don't be foolish, my dear sisters," she chided. "We are bound by blood, in the honor of the Great Matron. There is no retreat."
Nima and Ninda regrouped, standing side by side as they faced off against Irwin and Ellen. Nima's movements had become more guarded, the severe injury preventing her from utilizing the full extent of her capability. The sisters were formidable, but Irwin could sense their growing desperation. They had expected an easy victory, but now they were locked in a battle they couldn't easily win.
Irwin gazed at Ellen, noticing the wounds on her forearms and the puddle of sweat lingering on her skin. "Listen to me. We will both die, even if your group achieves what–"
"And their deaths will fuel the rising of the Great Matron." Šuzianna glared at the sisters, motioning for them to attack. "Remember your duty. Know that your sacrifices will not be in vain."
With a final, shared glance, the sisters let out a battle cry and charged forward. Irwin and Ellen braced themselves, knowing this would be the last clash.
The room seemed to shrink around them as they fought, the air thick with the scent of blood and sweat. Irwin's limbs felt heavy, and his vision began to blur at the edges. But he couldn't give up. Not now. Not when they were so close.
Ellen, sensing Irwin's fatigue, took the lead, her Angel Blades a blur of motion as she drove Nima back. Although she was but a normal human being, the danger behind her blades caused both pagan gods to hinder their movements.
It appeared to Irwin that even with Šuzianna's words; they were still scared of their eventual death. Irwin focused on Ninda, who was matching him blow for blow despite her injuries.
It was a brutal, grueling fight, but finally, with a well-placed strike, Ellen disarmed Nima, sending her weapon clattering to the ground. Ninda, seeing her sister's momentary defeat, hesitated for a fraction of a second—just long enough for Irwin to plunge the Angel Sword into her right thigh.
Ninda gasped, her crimson eyes wide with shock. She stumbled back, blood pouring from the wound, and fell to her knees. The various spirit animals beside her disappeared with the loss of her concentration.
Irwin staggered, barely able to keep himself upright, reversed his grip on the sword and pushed its blade upwards. Having torn off Ninda's right leg, he pushed through her waist and kicked her body away from him.
Nima roared, worry for her sister evident in her anguished expression. The paper cloths around her wrists flared with dark energy, multiplying and expanding until they filled the hallway with a writhing mass of enchanted parchment, blinding Irwin in the thick of it all. He would normally worry that two pagan gods were out of his sight, but that became moot the moment he focused on his newly acquired mini-map.
Three red dots, one blue, and one red dot appeared in his peripheral with one of the red dots moving towards the green one with swiftness. He rolled back just as a bundle of enchanted paper hammered his previous position, turning the carpeted floor into smithereens.
Ellen rushed to his side, supporting him as Nima broke out of the flurry of parchments. Her crazed expression did not sway Ellen as she sacrificed her leg to block Nima's initial attack, visibly breaking her femur in the process of stabbing her Angel Blades into Nima's shoulders.
They tumbled away from Irwin, neither gaining an upper hand. Nima, who was physically and magically stronger, was unable to prevent the Angel Blades from sapping the strength out of her arms as it bled profusely.
"I've wrestled a dozen monsters into submission," Ellen mocked as she held onto the Angel Blades with a vise–like grip. "A bitch ain't worth thinking about."
Countless tendrils of parchment soared through the flurry and aimed for Ellen's back, but all were burned to ashes by Irwin's Flaming Whip. Having drank his second Mana potion of the night, Irwin jumped into the fray and sent a decisive blow.
"Move. Solar Slash!"
He concentrated the blade of light into Nima's upper torso, draining the last of his regained Stamina and cast True Strike along with the spell. He struck true and decapitated Nima, melting off a part of her jaw along with her upper chest cavity.
The Solar Slash continued on its journey, melting and burning five inches into the floor before sizzling off with a smolder. Irwin didn't stop, however, knowing that hesitation would be his greatest failure, and took out an Angel Blade, which he stabbed into the temple of Nima.
Having staked her head into the floor, Irwin slumped against the wall, his body finally giving in to the exhaustion. Ellen knelt beside him, her expression grim. "We need to get out of here," she said, her voice firm despite the weariness in her eyes.
Šuzianna clapped her hands, her fearful sneer replaced by a smug smile. "I underestimated you, Thorn of Grey," she spat. "Any of the Šassūrātu was not, by any means, weak, yet you have killed three of them in the last hour."
Irwin nodded, too tired to speak. He had vainly hoped that someone would save in the last second, but knew that the chances of that were slim to none. Yet he did not panic, instead looking on to the pagan goddess with curiosity.
'She hasn't killed us yet when she can do so in the snap of her fingers. She has an agenda and she needs us. That or she's playing with her food. Yeah, 50-50.'
"What do you want? Just kill us, then." Ellen spat out, reaching for the snub-nosed revolver in her socks.
Šuzianna tilted her head, confusion in her eyes. "Why would I kill you? You have so much to live for. Your daughter would be… unhappy if I end your life."
Her words brought fear into Ellen as the hunter pulled out her gun and fired off all its cylinders. Four deafening bangs erupted in the halls as each bullet hit near and at Šuzianna's heart. Ellen's coupling was a testament to her accuracy, but all futile in the face of an immortal deity.
"Shit." She cursed aloud, dropping the gun.
Šuzianna chuckled at Ellen's fear before turning her attention towards Irwin. "You, on the other hand, I can kill. In fact, I cannot wait to rip your face apart." She sucks her teeth in. "But I have a promise to keep. As such, I will give you four an hour to rest, leave, or kill yourself before the rest of my sisters descend upon this floor and decimate you."
With a final wink, she disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Irwin and Ellen alone with the fallen sisters.
Irwin opened his mouth, which was dry as the Sahara. "Fuck!"