Nico's forearm flew off several meters into the distance.
Cleanly severed, the flat stump wept rivers of viscous, sparkling blue blood. The sudden spray splattered across Nico's breastplate and helmet, and he bit back an agonized scream.
Nephis didn't wait for him to collect himself, though, and twisted her flame-wreathed body to perform a sideways slash aimed to take his leg.
Before it could land, Shaman, barely using the dregs of its essence and their tenuous connection, managed to momentarily usurp control of Nico's limbs. Flowing alongside the backwards momentum, he leaned onto his back leg, and the white blade just barely skimmed past before he kicked the aggressive young woman away from him.
Gasping, the reeling young man took a few steps back and clutched air where his hand used to be. Due to his newfound control of essence, he managed to manually stem the bleeding, then cast a glance back at the limb that had once been attached, now separated from his body.
'She… just cut through my armor.'
Either it had been weakened severely enough by the past fight to be incapable of resisting, or her flames held much more destructive power than he had prior assumed.
Turning back to the two Sleepers, one draped in furious light, the other conniving shadows, he glared through his visor and spoke cruelly, unable to keep his Spirit's wrath from leaking into his voice:
"The tower's function was clear to me, but I must have overlooked it. To lose my concentration like this…"
His morning star finally materialized, glinting in his hand as his grip tightened. Changing Star's expression remained aloof, every muscle tensed as she assumed her battle stance once more. For some reason, she refused to wear her helmet and had her pristine features on display. Long, silver hair cascaded down her torn armor and back. Two gun-metal eyes sparked angrily with white flames.
Sunless, however, was subtly unnerved. He had just now assumed position next to her, having watched with wide eyes the entire interaction beforehand. His light armor was drenched in blood and mapped with wounds. It made all too much sense. Even for someone like him, he wanted no part in purposefully damning Nico to death.
Both Sleepers silently encircled him. Nephis quietly said:
"Stay here, or we'll force you to."
Nico's tone dropped several octaves, and his eyes spun wildly, rampant with azure, crystalline waves. "You can't stop me."
He stole a step forward.
His two opponents lunged, working in perfect synchronicity to attempt trapping him. Changing Star's entire body shimmered with rampant flames, and she thrust her longsword at his shoulder. Sunless, behind Nico, slashed down to his leg with his tachi.
Nico, however, wasn't an easy person to trap. Able to fully realize his explosive mace's enchantment, he would make it anything but easy for them.
Neither would get within striking range of him as he flexed and slammed his mace into the ground, releasing the stored essence.
Sunless backed away and shouted.
"Neph, dodge!"
The mace hit the floor. White flames rolled outwards in a wave. Saturated with an Awakened's essence, they easily split the coral, fissuring a wide chasm that Nico dropped down into. Searing heat crashed into his armor, stinging his wounds.
Landing on the coral below in a roll, Nico found himself temporarily unable to move as his legs and body ached from the pressure. Not long after, he stood up and began running to the stairwell.
Sunless appeared from the shadows to thrust angrily towards him.
'How did he drop so fast?'
Some sort of shroud was now on the stygian boy's back.
However, even in a situation like this, Sunless was too slow. With only a single core, and lacking the power of Awakening, Sunless had to watch as Nico simply slapped the flat of the weapon away with his mace. Bursting a step closer, he also delivered an empowered punch to Sunless' cheek with his bloody stump.
The boy stumbled backward in a daze, managing to lash out with a sudden blade that mysteriously manifested into his open hand. Nico barely kept it from stabbing his eye out, instead garnering a small scratch on his already burned cheek.
He could hardly press the attack on his dazed opponent, though, as Nephis had dropped down after them, her armor further destroyed, the skin beneath rapidly healing gruesome burns. Her longsword lashed out towards him, and he was forced to dodge backwards, using his essence and three augmentations to keep himself away from her swift attacks.
Nico almost seemed to glide across the floor, dodging, blocking, and continuing to move while maintaining a breakneck speed. Sunless struggled to catch up with their movements, and eventually Nico reached the main shaft, dropping down to a coral root that led towards the gateway.
'It's so many floors down…'
He tilted his head and used an explosion to throw Nephis back, dodging an impossible stab before dropping down to the level below in one long fall that almost made his knees buckle even after a well-timed roll.
His voice was sluggish in his own mind as he asked:
'Can you muster enough strength for one mental attack on Changing Star, Shaman?'
The Spirit's thoughts were worried and frantic. It ultimately felt like a yes, although not for long. The injuries it had sustained were plentiful. The fact the Crimson Terror hadn't relieved it of at least one Soul Core was a lucky happening, but it fretted more about how Nico would deal with Sunless in the meantime.
Nico just shook his head.
'His strength is nowhere near mine. Not like Nephis. That will be long enough.'
Looking back up, Nico noted both the vicious Sleepers descending down after him. They fell all the way from the floor above, but their bodies didn't crash at that speed. The capes along their backs flared to life, buzzing wildly to slow their bodies. They chased after him after a smooth landing.
'Irritable…'
He opted to take the staircase of coral down instead of attempting another jump.
Before long, both Sleepers were upon him, springing off the walls and lashing out with their weapons.
As Nico dashed alongside a downward spiraling root, he dived behind an odd coral protrusion to avoid Sunless' strike, the dark blade grinding against the coagulated substance with a grating screech. Then, he jumped into the air from behind his cover and threw his explosive mace. Nephis deflected the attack with her sword, but the mace exploded mid-air, and the residual knockback sent her careening away from him.
Imbuing his armor with one soul root, he dropped a half-dozen meters before impacting a large protrusion of the path that angled downwards like a stalactite. Scraping coral as he slid, he kicked off and landed on the pathway below, then dodged out of the way of Sunless' second strike. Watching the treacherous boy reach for his bleached helmet plume through his soul sense, he dismissed the armor and let him grasp nothing but sparks.
His long, damp brown hair fluttered behind him. His blood-stained face, marked with a long cut and cheek burn, was marred further by furrowed brows and a straight face that hid the fact he was exhausted.
He sprinted down the twisted path. Changing Star flew down to block his path forward, and Sunless was following down after him, but Nico simply vaulted off the path's side — already halfway down to the level — and landed in a roll without any strain on the floor below.
Nico panted heavily. He could feel the two hounds behind him growing more desperate. Because Shaman was conserving its power and not wasting it on a mental hex, that emotion, through [Empath], became his.