They reached the food court in time, as the last gate was flung in the air like a sheet of paper, but it fell on the ground with the loudest thud Ellianor ever heard.
So heavy that it shook the ground, it was as if the gate weighed a ton. The ground continued to tremble as an abomination made its presence known.
It was as tall as twelve feet.
A mangled abomination with several legs and feet pushing its body forward, dragging a bloated insect-like abdomen filled with dark pus and excreting purple and gold substances.
There was no semblance of a face, just a mess of eyes, and mouths of varying shapes across its whole body, the sight of a horrible monster, with claws, wings, arms, and a myriad of limbs sprouting from its limbs with no sense of rhyme or reason.
Both Kissenn and Ellianor retreated careful steps as they stared at the monster. It was surprisingly quick despite its appearance and bloated mass of carcasses that made its body.
Outrunning it was not an option, even less when they took into account how many objects were there for it to throw at them.
There was no way to defeat that thing with the weapons they had at hand.
The monster's humongous size and mass made it damn sure that they lacked a form of damaging it even with ranged weaponry.
'Even that strange rib form of the sword wouldn't cut through all of its body.'
It was a lost cause to even think of fighting it head-on. 'Running aimlessly won't help either.'
The monster had more than enough projectiles and space to roam freely. "Hey, if you have any tips for help, I'm listening."
"You guys are screwed… you would need more firepower than what you currently have to defeat that. Hell, even if you guys had a plasma rifle, it wouldn't be enough."
As the guy finished speaking, the monster advanced.
With one of its many limbs, it grabbed Ellianor before he could fully react, the only response to its sudden movement was a cut made to its tentacle with Testament, but it failed to cut through the limb of goo, flesh, and bone.
The creature tossed Ellianor upwards, his back flew against the ceiling, his body crashed against metal, a crater of twisted metal formed behind him, and the sound of metal breaking alongside his back echoed through his eardrums.
The monster didn't stop on its onslaught, its limbs outstretched to attack Ellianor, using blunt limbs to force his body further and further against the ceiling, capitalizing on the damage done to make it worse.
Kissenn tried her best to stop the monster's attack, her swords thrust and slashed against its massive body, but it did nothing to the beast's corpse, too thick to be hurt by conventional swords or methods.
The monster took notice of her struggle and answered in kind, many tentacles busted out of its abdomen, all with bladed tips.
Kissenn barely had time to think as a death by a thousand cuts commenced.
The bladed tentacles of the creature cut across flesh and bone, that time it opened real wounds on her body, not just skin-deep ones.
Her red eyes widened, as she was forced back by the strength of the tentacle's unrelenting cuts.
Her heart felt like it was swelling with each cut done on her body, as Ellianor was pummeled above her, blood fell from his mouth, his limbs were broken and his form was crushed by the beast.
Kissenn was not much better as her body was cleaved and slashed by the monster's attack.
Blood came out from every wound in great quantities, her eyes started to darken, and her blades were useless to protect against the many tentacles that came out of the beast's body.
The assault was overwhelming, but Kissenn stood her ground, planted her feet, and raised her blades.
To match the beast's assault was dumb, and a worthless endeavor, but she could not stand and let herself be overwhelmed she had to fight and face that creature.
Bring it down and help Ellianor, even if Kissenn was not sure, or knew why she wanted to help him, she just had to. It was an experience, a reason engraved
Her grip was steady, and so was her determination as blades clashed, for each successful clash and block, she was hit twice by the tentacle's blades, her body wearing thin despite her best efforts.
'I won't stop until I kill this bastard!' She could hear the weak gasps and groans from above her, the proof that Ellianor was alive despite the attacks.
Her red eyes narrowed on the beast, and she took a step forward.
The damage on her body was negligible, the bleeding could be stopped, and flesh would mend one day, but death could not be reversed. She was not scared of facing demise.
Her heart clenched every time she thought of him meeting his demise. Her blood started to boil, she stepped closer to the beast, and a cherry blossom flame expanded from her chest.
A slash crossed her face again, blood spilled, and a burning pain spread through her whole body as corruption tried to take root, but all it did was fan the flames.
A golden halo formed itself inside her eyes, as the flames within her chest were spilled into a fire.
A throbbing sensation within her body, as flames flooded from the wounds, pinkish-red flames, her blades' metal overheating and glowing red from the heat, as the tentacles recoiled, afraid of the fire.
Her fiery gaze sharpened over the creature, its body turned over her, and the assault on Ellianor stopped.
Like a living flame, she moved over Ellianor, and took him in her arms, moving quickly to the other end of the food court, hiding his body against a pillar.
"Hey, rest here, and don't die." Kissenn tried to smile sweetly, even as her blood was turned into flames. Ellianor's hazy gaze stared at her.
"Okay… don't die." He repeated her words back at her with a thin smile, his barely holding back unconsciousness.