Blood spluttered, crimson leaking from Sinus's mouth and chest. Blindfold's blade had gone through his heart. The blind swordsman, certain the extent of Sinus's power, knew their best chance at winning was a killing blow delivered with surprise.
"You-Uhh," Sinus coughed up blood, his eyes glancing at the swordsman as his hands twitched. Then, materializing from thin air, ice spikes appeared above Blindfold before promptly raining down where he stood, only for them to impale the floor beneath. The blind swordsman was no longer present—he moved.
He now stood at the other side of Sinus, his blade coming down for another decisive swing, only to be met with a deafening clang as it bounced off the magic barrier that now protected the Arcane.
"Tch," The swordsman blurred away.
Blindfold's frustration was evident as he now stood beside the elf. He glanced at his arm, the blood running down from it indicating he had been grazed by a spike.
"How isn't he dead?"
The elf asked the obvious question. For a person who had just been stabbed through the heart, Sinus should not have been standing, yet he was, and seemed to still have some fight in him. As Blindfold took a closer look, he realized—Sinus was actively using healing magic, indicated by the blue glow around him.
Now he was significantly wounded, all they needed to do was overwhelm him, render him unable to use any spell—however, the barrier made that much more difficult. They would have to capitalize on his fatal wound the best they could, while finding a way through the barrier if they wanted to stand a chance. And the best way to do that was to use his own power against him.
"Make him attack you!" Blindfold instructed Asari, who replied with a sharp, "I know!" Clearly not wanting to be given orders by him.
Asari, just like the swordsman, had swiftly gotten rid of her weapon before losing consciousness when the mist had first enveloped them, making sure there was no way for it to be taken off her. Then, with an unnerving swiftness, Asari materialized the artifact back in her palm while simultaneously unsheathing it's blade.
The katana sang as it cut through the air. Asari launched towards Sinus. In response, the Arcane raised his hand, and arrows of flame formed before him. They burned a glowing orange, their heat quickly spreading across the room.
The intense flames illuminated the arcane's face as the arrows burnt brighter. The crackling of the flaming projectiles almost drowned out by the screams of total agony produced by Aldric, who rolled across the floor, wallowing in inconceivable pain—unaware of the current battle.
"Die!" Sinus released the arrows towards Asari, his lost contempt slowly creeping back onto his face. Only to die again just as quickly—the arrows vanished, and seconds later, they were hurtling back at Sinus.
Then, with a sickening burst of fire, they made impact.
Flames raged with smoke as Sinus screamed in pain. His shield was made inactive by him as he didn't expect his attack to be reflected. He bellowed in pain, one far louder than Aldric's scream, which had turned to muffled grunts. As they watched the smoke clear, it looked as if Sinus had swiftly deactivated the spell, but albeit, he wasn't quick enough.
Although he wasn't completely impaled by the arrows, they had still made contact before he deactivated them, causing his entire form to be a mess of burnt clothes and sizzling flesh.
Sinus fell to the floor, painful cries escaping his lips. Every breath he took was only possible through the healing spell that was yet to cease.
Blindfold and Asari, sensing their chance, rushed at Sinus, ready to finish him off. However, their blades simply bounced off the magic barrier the Arcane had re-activated. They swung at it repeatedly with their swords, but the barrier proved impenetrable.
"Hmph," Blindfold lowered his blade as he stared down at the battered form of sinus. "Let's leave him, he's bound to die soon anyway."
Asari gazed down at the Arcane, watching as he coughed up blood. Then, she shifted her eyes to Aldric who lay on the floor not too far away, all his muscles tensed and his veins bulging as if they'd explode. Time to time, grunts of agony would escape his mouth, which dripped with saliva.
"Him as well," Blindfold added, noticing Asari glance at Aldric. "His sacrifice helped us take down one of the Lost Men. He will not be forgotten."
In response, Asari simply remained silent, staring at Aldric. Then, noticing she might need a moment, Blindfold turned away and gestured for the rest to follow, leaving only Asari and Muscles in the room, staring down at Aldric, while Sinus slowly dies at the side.
"I'm sure you know," Muscles began, a sadness in his voice, more calculated than it was genuine, "if what he drank is truly from the Agradeian Reaper, he's going to die. There's nothing we can do."
In response, Asari, again, remained silent.
Muscles stared at her for a moment, a slight tension in the room, then he spoke:
"Look—"
"Go," Asari cut Muscle's words off, before turning to him. "I'll be right behind you."
Muscles held his gaze with Asari a moment, then with a nod, he turned away and left the room. Asari stared a while, before suddenly a knife materialized in her hand.
She walked closer to Aldric, then bent down and put the knife in his trembling hands. She pulled closer to him and whispered in a low voice.
"I don't know how, but I'm sure you'll survive this. So when you do... return this back to me."
Then she stood, looking at Aldric a final time before turning away and leaving. Immediately Sinus saw her do so, he deactivated the shield, then began crawling towards a desk at the side of the room. He pulled open a drawer and reached for a tiny flask—a potion of sorts.
He cocked open the bottle and just as he placed it to his lips, his hands froze, he was only able to let out dry breaths as the cold blade pierced through his throat. He dropped the bottle, causing it to break and spill onto the floor.
As Sinus choked on his own blood, Aldric watched him with trembling hands gripping the knife that passed through the Arcane's throat.