The creature ducked their form and lashed out before everyone could chuckle alongside Rao, killing the slightly elevated mood they'd found.
The blow, a fisted hand barrelling toward them, wasn't too quick for them to prepare for. Hisako dodged sideways, dragging Yasuda, who was caught on the back foot, with her.
She saw Rao dash away as well, and Serizawa dive into a desperate roll in the opposite direction. The glow of one of Sasaki's shields backlit them, sending long shadows to meet the approaching attack.
The blow impacted with the studier section of the wall beside the door, and Hisako's heart sank as the entire cathedral rattled. In the clamor of loose bricks falling and stone cracking, Hisako heard the shattering-glass sound of Sasaki's shield breaking.
Hisako gasped, spinning and slashing out with Toraichi instinctively. The blade slashed easily up the side of the walker's forearm, encouraging a harsh triple-scream that echoed deafeningly.
It worked, though; the arm flinched back, revealing the battered form of their teammate.
Slowly, Sasaki slumped down the wall, eyes dull and barely open.
"Serizawa!" Hisako screamed before she could even quantify all the injuries Sasaki had.
She looked broken; that's all Hisako could see.
A frightening amount of blood had splattered against the stone wall, and it was slowly pooling where Sasaki lay. Hisako couldn't see any injuries, but she saw blood dripping from Sasaki's nose and hairline.
Serizawa scrambled up from his dive and to Sasaki's side, hands flying out as quickly as he could.
Rao's clones flashed into existence, moving between the walker and Sasaki. Hisako raised her blade next to one of them, ready to cut deeply in warning.
Yasuda was stomping on her crossbow, unfolding the sturdy arms to form the heavier artillery crossbow she'd used earlier.
"Everything is broken!" Serizawa exclaimed in a panic.
"F-fix what you can!" Rao ordered.
Hisako spared a glance back and saw Serizawa focusing on Sasaki's torso and head, carefully fostering a shaky, larger healing bubble to form. Blood pulled itself off the wall to her, and up her form from the floor, but there was still so much.
After the creature had taken enough time to stare fearfully at their slashed arm, they attacked again, faces twisting in retaliatory rage.
They swung downwards with the other hand, palm open and fingers splayed, as if swatting flies. They were a fast learner, though; their other hand was going wide in a sweep that would hit after the swat.
Hisako released Toraichi and ran for Sasaki. "Run!" she shouted to Serizawa. "Run at the walker!"
His eyes widened when he noticed the attacks, and he half-stood, half-threw himself into a frantic run toward the creature.
Yasuda struggled to run with the expanded shape of her weapon, but one of Rao's clones hurried to push her forward.
Hisako had to focus on Sasaki. She scooped the smaller woman into her arms and forced them both up with her powers. She tried to run up the wall and found that while it was easier than when she'd grabbed Serizawa, it was still a daunting effort. Her free hand scrabbled against uneven brick, tearing up her fingertips and nails.
The swat came down, cracking the floor open, and then the sweep went right below them. Hisako felt the turbulence of the blow gnaw at her heel, and she let out a ragged exhale in relief.
"Rao!"
Yasuda's cry from below broke something in Hisako. She looked down, one arm cradling Sasaki's unconscious form, and the other clinging to a rusted wall sconce.
Yasuda had just avoided the sweep and was ducking under the creature's elbow. The clone that'd been with her had taken the hit and been swept all the way to the other side of the cathedral. He was lying in a broken heap with splinters of pews and part of the nest in a pile against a crumbling wall.
The other two Raos were safe, but their expressions were visibly stormy even from so far away.
Serizawa had made it and was on his hands and knees underneath the creature's ducked chest, looking up at Hisako and Sasaki.
Hisako clenched her jaw. How would she get Sasaki to Serizawa safely? The creature was so large that nowhere was safe, not even the ledge where the Doorkeepers stood, and some parts of the floor were now crumbling into the crypt below.
She looked back at the organ ledge. It was high up enough that the walker would have to stand, which left their legs more vulnerable. It would have to do.
"Serizawa-san! The organ ledge!" she shouted.
Serizawa turned around and saw the ledge, past the creature. Hisako saw him grip Stinger tighter and begin to run. The creature noticed it, but that distracted them.
Yasuda launched a massive bolt into the creature's shoulder, shocking the walker with the sudden pain and splitting the heads' attentions.
Hisako took the opportunity. She launched off the wall and carefully clung to her powers, jumping them just past the walker's other shoulder.
She couldn't make the whole jump with Sasaki, so she, in a cold sweat, landed on the walker and ran across their back.
She heard feathers rustle like dry leaves as she did, and felt the curve of wiry muscles and light bone under her boots. She looked back and saw the father's head wilting backwards to stare at her in surprise.
It unnerved her enough to jump again, just past the midsection.
She saw Stinger's kunai lodge itself in a beam above the organ. As Serizawa began to climb the wall bell, she was reaching the peak of her jump.
The organ and destroyed choir box flashed with the fire of Strömberg as the Doorkeepers disappeared again. She didn't see where they reappeared, but she didn't have the time or energy to worry about that.
Her heels touched down, and she skidded to the wall, stumbling not to drop Sasaki as she slowed them. She ducked behind the worn-out, rotting organ for cover. She laid Sasaki down carefully, ensuring she was fully concealed by the wooden body, but not in a pained position.
When she peered out to see if the father's head was still watching, she saw Serizawa claw his way over the ledge. All three heads were looking, to her horror.
"S-Serizawa-san!" she hissed.
He clambered over the edge, panting like a fat dog in the summer. He crawled a few paces before scrambling towards them on his hands and knees, Stinger trailing behind him.
The faces loomed close, eyes wide and curious, necks craning, and body starting to turn with them. Hisako stood sharply, summoning Toraichi into her grasp.
She rounded the organ, pulling Serizawa forward so they swapped positions, blade raised.
At the edge, she could see the others struggling to pull the walker's attention from them. Yasuda was putting bolts into the creature's limbs, but the heads were still fixated on the ledge.
Hisako glanced back at Serizawa, who was struggling to heal Sasaki. Hisako had no idea how long it'd been. Between the limits of Serizawa's ability and the severity of Sasaki's abilities, she made a choice.
She shouted, an animalistic sound that alarmed the creature but enticed it even further as the body finally turned around. The heads leaned in, like a pet sniffing a new house guest.
As soon as the longer-necked bird-face was close enough, she slashed out as quickly as she could, throwing her whole body into the sudden attack.
The bird, which she was starting to realize may not be a fully mature final boss, didn't react fast enough.
Toraichi slashed through both orbital cavities, cleaving the bone and meat right above the toothy beak. Eyeball viscera sprayed alongside blood, splashing Hisako.
The bird's screech was truly deafening, to the point that Hisako felt something burst, and pain shot through her head. She staggered, nearly dropping her blade, and wiped her face clean of gore, coughing.
The cathedral was utterly silent to her, save for a dull ringing in her ear, but she could feel the rumble of the building as the creature bucked and writhed, wings battering and breaking stone. The hand on the unwounded arm came up to touch the bird-head's eyes gingerly.
The other heads whirled about, scanning for the others. Below, Yasuda was reloading behind one of Rao's clones, and the original Rao was slashing at a wincing rear leg.
The mother-head, face twisted in an animalistic fury, glared at Hisako, eyes sharpening on her. Hisako lifted herself with Toraichi, stabilizing herself as her head throbbed and her vision wavered.
The hand fell away from the bird-face angrily, revealing the full extent of the wound to Hisako. She'd blinded the bird-head and greatly weakened the walker as a whole as well; the bird-head's neck was ducked as the creature cowered in pain.
The bloodied talon pulled back for an impulsive attack. Hisako stumbled to move, almost realizing too late. She quickly glanced back, nearly spinning off the side of the mezzanine in her dizziness.
Serizawa and Sasaki were still vulnerable, and she was a danger to them if she wanted to fight and draw aggro.
Her mind, jumbled in the pulsing pain and ringing silence, could only think of one thing to do: jump.
Before the strike could even begin, she changed the target; she gripped her powers tight and leaped.
When she was mid-air, just above the creature's right shoulder, the attack came.
The swipe was accurate, but Hisako twisted her direction with her ability and instead plummeted to land on the creature's back, between the shoulder blades.
The body was unsteady–the hind legs were kicking about, trying to fend Yasuda and Rao off under the father-head's guidance, and the front half of the body was twisting under the mother-head's guidance to follow Hisako.
Hisako whipped out with Toraichi, cutting at the base of the bird-head's neck. She slashed a harsh line against the spine, baring sinew but not cutting deeply enough to sever anything important. The heads, all three, screeched, and the walker bucked up, rising to a standing position. Sound was coming back to Hisako, dull but painful.
Hisako slid down. She didn't fight the fall; she'd successfully grabbed the walker's full attention and could lead it away from Sasaki and Serizawa. She slid down the walker's back, managing her speed with her ability, slicing a ribbon in their flesh as she went with Toraichi.
When her feet touched down on the crumbling floor below, Yasuda was reloading her large crossbow, and Rao had merged with his healthier clone to at least partially arm himself. The injured clone still lay meekly against the wall.
"Nice of you to join us," Yasuda panted. It sounded like she was a million paces away–Hisako could barely hear her.
Hisako eyed their work as she caught her own breath.
Large wooden bolts formed a vicious ladder up one marred, slashed-up leg. The creature wobbled on the leg, knee buckling at the pain, forcing them to waddle awkwardly as they turned to face them.
"You two seem to be doing well enough without me," Hisako teased, maybe a little too loudly.
Rao was staring up at the now-useless bird head. "And yet the walker is still standing."
"They hit like a tank, but they can take a beating like one, too. The body is thicker than I thought," Hisako hissed. "We're clearly wearing them down, though."
"But when do they fall?" Yasuda asked.
"Surely they won't survive a complete beheading," Rao said. "But my katar isn't big enough unless I hack at them like a tree."
"And my bolts don't decapitate." Yasuda shrugged. "Yet."
Yet? Hisako glanced at Yasuda, giving her a confused and a little concerned look, before turning back to both of them.
"Looks like I'll be primary DPS, then," Hisako said.
She chewed on her lip, taking the time to think as the walker fully turned to face them.
"You two will need to distract the walker. I can get up on their back to attack the necks with my ability, but without sticking my sword in them, I can't hang on, and that just pissed them off earlier," Hisako explained. "We have to be careful of Serizawa-san and Sasaki-san, though."
"And the floor," Rao said, eyes flickering across the deteriorating battlefield.
"No, no," Yasuda argued. "Instead of worrying about the floor, how about we use it to our advantage?"
"I don't think we're strong enough to break the floor," Hisako thought aloud, "but we could definitely trick the walker into smashing through parts of the floor."
"This walker acts like a child; I think that we can convince them to get a hand stuck in the floor, then we could unbalance them and opportunize," Yasuda explained.
"Easy pickings," Rao mused. "We could incapacitate them–at least partially."
The walker had finally turned around, father and mother heads glaring down at them. A splayed, scaled palm lifted into the air for another swat.
Hisako readied Toraichi. "Sounds like a plan. You call the shots, Yasuda."
Yasuda nodded. "First order of business: don't die."
Rao snorted with amusement. "Just go!"
Hisako chuckled and jumped.