Ainsworth's gaze immediately navigated towards the group behind him. While the White Roses had already sprung into action alongside their leader, the Blue Roses still hesitated in their movements. It was clear that such a situation was far too much for them to grasp!
Still, in their large number, it might still be accomplishable to move in a group.
Ainsworth glanced over towards Dietrich Reiche, who, while a bit more composed than the Blue Roses, still had his feet stuck in the mud below, failing to act immediately.
"Wake up, Mr. Reiche! There's work to be done. Move with your group together and take the Nameless out one by one! We'll delay the Named until Mr. Selaphiel arrives!"
Ainsworth's tone of voice seemed to immediately snap Dietrich out of his daze, turning his gaze towards the Blue Roses. "Right, got it!" Rather than oppose Ainsworth in such a situation, it seemed he was at least good in judging that his pride was worth less than his and other's lives.
He drew his sword, yelling at each of the Blue Roses to move into position as they joined the White Roses in fighting against the Nameless who had been moving various wares in carts.
This allowed Ainsworth to focus completely on the figure ahead, whose fury seemed to seethe within its gaze. His eyes contained sets of eyes, like the rings of a beheaded tree, constantly dilating and pulsating as if they would burst at any moment. It was clear that the ritual, rather a transformation instead of a descent ritual, had brought about many changes in his appearance.
Large multi-sectioned legs, quite like a bugs, containing carapaces along their writhing lengths, had protruded from the side of his face through the opening in his jaw. What purpose they served, if any, was unclear. Still, it was quite unnerving. Even though Ainsworth had seen so much, he still felt a little shaken by such inhuman and mystical things.
When he glanced over towards Lumière, his eyes widened. There wasn't the same apprehensive expression on his face. Ainsworth had expected, based on their previous interactions with a Named, that Lumière would be the first to be scared or terrified. He had fought face-to-face with Asmodeus, and so he should know just how dangerous of a situation it was.
So why was Lumière grinning?
"Let's go." Ainsworth turned his attention back towards the Named. Whether Lumière was excited or not didn't matter. He already knew that the magician was a strange individual, he always had been. All that mattered right now was delaying.
Lumière immediately pulled the trigger, firing a bullet directly towards Mammons's head. It cascaded through his jaw, causing the bone to visibly splinter and shoot its fragments outwards in all directions. The Named recoiled, grasping at the side of his face as the bug legs began to twitch, as if desperately searching for direction. They didn't waste the moment when the powerful being was stunned, however. In an instant, the two had appeared beside him, leaping into the air before swinging their swords towards his neck. If they could behead him and separate his head far away from his body, it was possible that they could severely disorient him, therefore buying enough time for Selaphiel to arrive!
'DAMN IT, STRIKE!' Ainsworth's mind raced as the two made contact with Mammon's neck. The blades cut cleanly through the flesh of his neck, causing blackish-red miasma to spill in all directions, his head separating from his body.
Mammon's hands shot out, dropping his own blade to the ground as he grabbed a hold of Lumière and Ainsworth's heads, holding them suspended in midair. Their own swords dropped to the ground as they grasped at his massive fingers, struggling in midair. Through the gaps in his fingers, they could see the expression of his falling head. It wasn't surprise, nor was it anger. It was… apathy.
"Bugs… poor, insignificant bugs…" he glared towards Ainsworth, and then Lumière, who stared at him with inconsolable hatred, true fury. It was like Lumière had been overtaken by immense bloodlust.
"You fucking idiot." Lumière spat through the holes in Mammon's grasp. "I manually reloaded my gun."
He raised Cerces towards Mammon's wrist, the runic engravings on the pistol's side glowing as the rune enchantment was triggered, reloading his gun automatically, the minute timer having triggered. Because he had manually reloaded before the timer had ended, he had always anticipated having another shot ready soon after! Pulling the trigger, the iron-black bullet cascaded through the tendon-bound flesh of his hand, severing it completely and causing Lumière to fall from the ground. He immediately reached down and grabbed his blade before swing it towards Mammon's other hand, severing it slightly and causing his grasp on Ainsworth to falter.
Now freed, the two immediately dashed away from the beast, scowling as they continued along with their plan.
Lumière grasped at the hair of Mammon's large disembodied head, turning around and running away from his body with all of the strength that remained in his legs. All parts of his body ached fiercely, but he remained determined. Glancing backwards, he realised that Mammon's body had begun to bulge outwards, growing ten times in size at a rapid pace, his flesh renewing as it burst out towards the two Roses. All of the other Heaven's Roses had become obscured by the horrific view, unsure as to whether they were still fighting the remaining Nameless or not. In the moment, it was only Lumière and Ainsworth against the horrifying Godspawn.
"Go, Lumière! Delay as long as possible!" Ainsworth yelled out as he stopped in his tracks, pivoting his heel as he turned to face the rapidly-growing beast.
Lumière grimaced, turning his head away as he continued running in the opposite direction. It wasn't that he was abandoning his lifelong friend, it was that he trusted in Ainsworth's strength. He wouldn't stop and sacrifice his own life! No… he wasn't someone to do something like that!
As soon as Lumière had run a fair distance away, Ainsworth grinned and brandished a knife pulled from his boot, cutting into the flesh of Mammon that rapidly grew around him, enshrouding his form. Lines were meticulously slashed into the black-and-red miasma, filled with an immense amount of starlight, and allowed to rush past him as Mammon continued expanding. He continued this process for another thirty seconds, allowing the miasma to engulf him as he grasped at his pocket for the deck of starlight-infused cards, pressing it as he allowed it to be carried away from him in the sea of flesh.
"Go and die, asshole."
A second passed, and then another, and then suddenly the eighteenth-floor was lit with a bright, dazzling white light, as if the sun had emerged in the darkness. Sound ceased completely on the eighteenth floor, as if the concept had never existed at all. Even though it was only the afternoon, the sky outside seemed much brighter, as if it were exactly midday. The Roses who had been fighting the Nameless had to avert their eyes, and the Nameless who had shed their eyelids immediately went blind as they stared directly at the raging light.
Then, the light ceased. Darkness returned to the eighteenth floor of Etten-Leur, and everyone's eyes rapidly adjusted to the shady atmosphere. The already-destroyed rubble around them had collapsed even further, and the environment around them had become covered in a ceaseless sea of liquid flesh, burst apart by thousands of explosions which left shallow craters in the stone. They looked over towards the center of the occurrence, at the figure who stood in tattered clothes, staring blankly up at the ceiling with a grin on his face.
The culprit of the sudden explosion that mimicked the sun was the Red Rose, Ainsworth!
Lumière glanced hurriedly at the disembodied head he had been carrying, surprised by the strength of Ainsworth's attack. He certainly knew that his friend had a plan, but he didn't think its effectiveness would be this great! Could it be that it had killed the Named creature completely? At what level of strength was Ainsworth really at?
However, unlike what Lumière had anticipated, the flesh that clung to the skull in Lumière's hands had vanished, leaving only the bone behind. Mammon's brain had gone missing! He hurriedly glanced around him, activating his blood tracing ability in order to more effectively track it, but it was to no avail. With the sea of flesh around him, it was impossible to pinpoint Mammon's brain. And in such an environment, the eighteenth floor had effectively become Mammon's body! As long as the brain attached itself to the large sea of flesh, he could reform himself once more and use his now gigantic size to take them out all at once!
Their plan had backfired due to Lumière's carelessness once more!
Lumière glanced towards Ainsworth and the Heaven's Roses that had finished off the remaining Nameless, calling out to them with an exasperated, fearful tone. "It's no use! We have to run!"
However, there was no response from Ainsworth.
As soon as the White Roses had reached his childhood friend, he collapsed into their arms. The Priest from the Monastery on Cobblers Street had fallen.
Around them, the sea of flesh began to churn, hundreds of miasmic tentacles writhing on the surface, thrashing about like giant squid. Their slaps against the stone rang like waves of thunder through the eighteenth floor, causing massive reverberation to echo and stun all those around them. Lumière, who had experienced such disorientation before, only faltered slightly, dashing towards the White Roses hurriedly.
'What can I do!? If I use 'Despair', I can certainly take out Mammon! I can call Thomas as well, and perhaps even utilise 'Gluttony'! But if everyone here witnesses that, I will be captured and killed! What do I value more, the lives of my comrades, or my own life!? Can I even escape by myself!? What about Nicole? If word of his death gets out, and my survival remains visible to the Mythos Garden, they will wonder why 'Ophelia' didn't assist his subordinate in a time of trouble! They'll lose whatever trust they have that I will work in their interest! All my lies will collapse regardless of what I do! How can I call myself a master of life's performance if I can't set up my own victory!?'
"Two Named in such a short period of time? What is that Blasphemer Goddess planning?"
This sentence suddenly rang out from behind the Roses, causing their heads to turn towards the emergence of a man in a long white robe gilded in gold. Lumière's gaze shook, his heart filled with a mixture of regret, anger, and satisfaction. The Archangel had finally arrived!
Selaphiel looked straight towards the sea of Mammon in the distance, biting his lip as he scowled.
"Sorry, but I have many things to attend to, so let's finish this quickly."