The two apex predators of the caverns collided with a loud bang.
Moments before impact, the 'rhino's neck shrank pulling in on itself until it was less than a foot long. Lucent Guardian had no need for preparations, its two weaker arms already fit neatly into its flawless exoskeleton. Its smooth surface offered next to no openings, the only openings the 'rhino' would be able to use against Lucent Guardian were the ones it created.
Lauri was unsure of what he should do. Resting against the wall, he still needed time to gather himself, fortunate that Lucent Guardian had taken all of his stalker's attention, he was able to deal with the headache that had come with his blood loss. As Lauri rested his head on the wall, he cast a glance at the eggs surrounding the edges of the room. Looking at a bunch that sat close to him. Lauri's brow furrowed.
'It doesn't make sense, if the bugs come from these eggs there should be so, so many of them. Just in the Lucent Drone Swarm, I doubt I'd have the patience to count each and everyone, but why haven't I seen anything that even resembled these bugs.' Lauri frowned, remembering the Lucent that Fingers In The Dark had eaten. 'Could it be that this cave is far more dangerous than I give it credit? How many monsters would I have seen if I hadn't been washed away by the river?'
There was one more thing Lauri realised as he stared at the eggs. However, they seem to be made out of the same material as Lucent Guardian's exoskeleton, the beetle that had been eaten and supposedly the Lucent Drone Swarm. There was one tiny but vast difference. The eggs were not glowing. The surface of the protective shell was dark, Lauri felt cold staring at the eggs.
A feeling of wrongness pervaded Lauri's senses.
Another strange facet of these eggs is that they were all situated away from the statue. 'For what reason? Fear? Respect?' Turning his attention back to the giant statue, Lauri frowned. It seemed oddly familiar, but at the same time completely different. 'A statue holding a ball towards the sky… Just like the statue in the village.'
A loud bang shocked Lauri out of his thoughts. Whilst Lauri was lost in his thoughts, the fight between Lucent Guardian and the 'rhino' persisted.
It had barely been two minutes, but the two fighters were already damaged. One of Lucent Guardians' lower limbs had been torn from their supposedly safe spaces, luminescent blood poured from the wound, not to say Lucent Guardian hadn't dealt any damage. Unlike Lucent Guardian, the 'rhino' benefitted from no exoskeleton. Its skin was covered in terrible claw marks. Yet it continued seemingly with little regard for its own well-being.
The loud bang that had shocked Lauri to his senses came from the 'rhino's tail. It had just managed to successfully land its wrecking ball-like tail on Lucent Guardian. Able to block in time, Lucent Guardian raised its arm shielding its body. The impact caused Lucent Guardian to slide back a few feet, an achievement in and of itself due to Lucent Guardian's weight. Lauri's eyes travelled to Lucent Guardian's arm, he frowned. The exoskeleton where the 'rhino's tail had hit was fractured revealing the beetle's pale flesh beneath.
Taking another step back, Lucent Guardian observed its injury. An inhuman roar escaped its mandibles; it sounded like nothing in particular – although to Lauri it reminded him of listening to Laurence sighing after Lauri messed up a basic instruction.
The two fighters backed away from one another. Reaching a favourable distance, the 'rhino' extended its neck to check on the status of its body. As the 'rhino' did this, Lucent Guardian tended to its own wounds. It's one small limb that was left moved free from its slot in the exoskeleton, grabbing the stump where Lucent Guardian's other limb used to be. A warm light shone for a few seconds before stopping. Pulling its arm back, the blood had stopped, now the stump ended in pale skin instead of glowing blood.
After their inspections, the two beasts returned their attention back to each other. Silence hung in the air.
Whatever was happening, Lauri knew he could not intervene – mainly because he could offer nothing in a head-to-head fight – Lauri could feel something as he watched Lucent Guardian—emotion boiled in his chest: Wrath, vengeance.
'It makes sense. Lucent Guardian roams these caves protecting those of its own kind, and the 'rhino' roams these caves killing Lucent beetles and feeding on their light to power his weird eye thingie, who knows how many 'rhino' has killed over its life, and now it had the audacity to intrude on Lucent Guardian's home.' Lauri dryly chuckled, suppressing a slight pain that poked at something inside him. 'I imagine I'd want vengeance if my family was killed.'
The brief moment of reprieve was over. The fight continued. The two beasts charged, practically jumping towards each other. The 'rhino' brought its powerful forelegs, Lucent Guardian raised its equally powerful upper arms. Crashing another bang resounded around the cave.
Lauri watched on in silence.
Unfurling its lower arm, the fingers on Lucent Guardian's lower limb began to glow. A moment later a beam of light shot from its fingers stabbing into the 'rhino's underbelly.
Lauri leant slightly forward as he saw this, 'That's, wow. So it can use the light its lower arms make for both healing and offence.'
Whilst the sound the 'rhino' made upon being hit by the light was loud. The damage the light dealt to the 'rhino' was actually fairly minimal. The wound it inflicted was less than that of the wounds inflicted by the claws of its upper arms. About to question the purpose of the attack, Lauri watched in awe as more beams of light shot out of its palm.
This time, the 'rhino's roar was filled with pain. On its own, the single beam of light was only an irritant to the 'rhino', it's equal in power – Lauri was sure these things were both on the same level – stronger than Finger's In The Dark weaker than Laurence.
'These two beasts have to be of the same rank, how else could they clash so evenly.' Lauri's eyes reflected the light of the sun, sparkling as he watched the clash. 'They're both Awakened… Is it different for Fiends?'
Unable to escape from Lucent Guardian's grip, the 'rhino' was forced to take the barrage of light-based attacks. Barring its teeth, the 'rhino' swung its head down. Its neck extending, the Fiend's head shot forward. Catching Lucent Guardian's lower limb in its mouth, it pushed the arm down, stopping the barrage of attacks. At the same time, the 'rhino' bit down hard, its row of dull teeth biting into the soft flesh of Lucent Guardian's lower limb. Glowing blood flowed like a small stream from the wound, as the 'rhino' bit down harder, its teeth sent cracks running across the armoured side of the lower limb.
Bellowing, light flowed around the hand of the lower limb. Lucent Guardian grabbed the side of the 'rhino's head, light surged into the 'rhino's skin. A moment later, a pained noise escaped the behemoth's maw, smoke beginning to float upwards from its sizzling skin.
Pulling its head back, the 'rhino' changed targets. Darting forward, the 'rhino's teeth slammed into Lucent Guardian's shoulder. Now Lucent Guardian was the one struggling in their clash, unable to pull its arms back for worry that the 'rhino' would immediately follow up with an attack. But also unable to prevent the 'rhino' from shattering its shoulder.
Lauri grew pale, any expression he had beforehand was replaced with an expression of intense worry. Seeing Lucent Guardian's lower limb weakly flex trying to raise itself. 'No, no, no. It can't lose, you, you can't lose.' With his back to the wall, Lauri propped himself up. 'Because if you lose, then I lose.' In his right hand, the Awakened soul core was still tightly squeezed, drawing what remained of his knife with his left hand. Lauri glanced down at it. Most of the blade had been broken, thrown to god's know-where. But a single slither of silver met Lauri's eye.
'That will be enough, it has to be.'
Taking a deep breath, Lauri ran towards the conflict.
A crack resounded around the room coming from Lucent Guardian's shoulder, the 'rhino's teeth slowly made their way through its armour.
'One last hurrah then... Ugh, bastard.