The fight raged on, a brutal symphony of clashing wills. Lezschill, a dark, churning vortex, surged towards Marichi. Again, the barrage of grotesque hands resumed, each strike a whisper of malice, black blood arcing from Marichi's dagger with every desperate parry.
Jorel continued his frantic dance of evasion against Oku's relentless attacks. A fleeting breath of opportunity presented itself----a momentary lapse in Oku's barrage. Jorel seized it, his legs churning as he darted towards Burtu.
He moved with a hunter's instinct, sidestepping around Burtu, then pressing in behind him. Jorel's hands locked around Burtu's wrists, pinning them firmly. He simply stood there, an unyielding anchor in the chaos.
"Hey! What're you doing?!" Burtu roared, thrashing wildly, trying to tear free, but Jorel's grip held fast.
"Just wait!" Jorel grunted, nudging Burtu's body forward. He felt a chilling breeze slice diagonally across his skin, a cold premonition.
Here it comes.
He braced, tightening his hold on Burtu.
In the next instant, a sharp, searing slash tore across Burtu's exposed torso. The blow ripped through flesh and bone, unleashing a geyser of scarlet blood that erupted into the air.
Marichi, still locked in his desperate defense against Lezschill's hands, watched it all unfold, a grim, stunned spectator.
From everything that's happened…
This should work.
Jorel thought, his grip unyielding on Burtu's rapidly bleeding, almost lifeless form.
But then, a grotesque transformation began. A black, viscous liquid sloshed upwards from Burtu's gaping wounds, coiling and spreading over the ravaged skin. It articulated with his flesh, mirroring its contours, then darkened, swiftly taking on the hue of healthy skin.
Burtu convulsed, a guttural grunt tearing from his throat. His eyes, blazing crimson, darted wildly around the cavern. He was alive, agitated.
"What the…?" He rasped, lifting his head. Awareness solidified as he felt Jorel's iron grip. He twisted his head back, seeing Jorel.
"Hey! What're you doing?!" He bellowed.
"Let me go!" Burtu strained, his struggles renewed with desperate fury.
Would you look at that…
Marichi's stunned gaze was broken by a jarring impact.
One of Lezschill's hands, imbued with dark force, slammed against his face. Pain flared as claw-like marks scored his skin, a grim crimson bloom. He stumbled back, shaking off the impact, but managed to keep his footing.
"Eyes on me." Lezschill's voice, deceptively soft, seemed to fill Marichi's mind as his hands prepared to flay flesh from bone. But Marichi bent low, a swift blur of motion, weaving past the predatory hands. He made a desperate beeline straight for Jorel and Burtu.
So Burtu can't actually die!
A euphoric, desperate realization surged through Marichi's brain. He can be our only option for surviving this! He sprinted, a blood-crazed Lezschill clawing at the air just behind him.
"Jorel!" Marichi bellowed, his voice echoing through the cavern. Jorel turned, a flicker of irritation crossing his face.
What does this filth want?
He thought, still grappling with the thrashing Burtu.
WHACK!
Burtu slammed the back of his head against Jorel's with sickening force. Jorel's grip dissolved, his head reeling. He staggered back, a thin trickle of blood escaping his nose.
This rat…
Jorel groaned, clutching his throbbing nose. Just then, Marichi flashed past him.
Their eyes met for a fleeting second before Marichi continued his charge, kicking Jorel out of his path. Lezschill, ignoring Jorel entirely, followed Marichi like a predator on a scent.
"Where do you think you're running?!" Lezschill snarled, his hands raking the air.
Marichi abruptly halted, snatching Burtu by the arm and yanking him closer.
"Oh, I'm not running," Marichi answered, a chilling calm in his voice.
"I even think all the running would soon come to an end." He turned his head to face Lezschill, then brutally shoved Burtu directly into his path.
"You damn kid! Let go of me!" Burtu shrieked, his protests abruptly choked off as he felt his body hurtling forward.
"Don't worry, I've let you go." Marichi's words were laced with a sinister satisfaction as he watched Burtu fall.
Lezschill pounced, a whirlwind of hands eager to dig into flesh. But his claws found no purchase on Marichi. Instead, they plunged deep into a screaming Burtu. Blood gushed, a fountain of life and death, as Lezschill's hands sank deeper still.
Burtu tried to scream in pain, but his cries were drowned by the torrent of blood erupting from his mouth. Lezschill attempted to retract his hands, but they were perfectly, horrifyingly lodged in Burtu's body.
Marichi, not wasting a single precious second, lunged forward, his dagger a dark gleam in his hand. He plunged the blade into Lezschill's throat, black blood spewing, as he twisted the dagger deeper with all his might.
I don't like this…
I don't like… using people like this…
In fact, using them in general!
But as long as he's not getting harmed… and there's no other option…
I'm sorry, Burtu.
Marichi strained, his body trembling with effort, while Jorel watched, a silent, stunned observer from behind.
But Marichi's grim luck soon fractured. One of Lezschill's hands, impossibly, tore free from Burtu's impaled form. It elongated like a serpentine limb, darting out, its fingertips digging into the surface of Marichi's gut.
Surprised and shocked, Marichi ripped his dagger free and instantly darted back, clamping a hand over the bleeding wound, applying desperate pressure.
"That was pretty smart of you…" Lezschill chuckled, withdrawing his remaining hands from Burtu's ruined body. His hand, painted with a grotesque mix of his own black and Burtu's scarlet blood, dripped onto the ground.
"Using the seedling's body." He walked slowly, an unhurried menace, towards Marichi, tossing Burtu's hole-riddled corpse aside like discarded refuse.
Seedling?
What does that…
No…
Whatever it means. It's our only means of stopping him!
Marichi didn't falter. Instead, he twisted and flicked his dagger, cleansing it of Lezschill's ichor, his eyes fierce and resolute.
I just have to think of a way to be able to cut his neck…
And I need to do it fast.
His focus then shifted behind Lezschill, to Jorel.
Lezschill leaped forward, kicking Burtu's corpse out of his path as he opened his mouth, his fingers splayed, ready to strike. But Marichi quickly sidestepped and ran head-on, not at Lezschill, but past him.
"Jorel!" Marichi roared.
"What?!" Jorel roared back.
Shouting my name like I'm his mother! And to top it all off, he's bringing that thing towards me.
Jorel grunted, and he too began to run.
---The end of chapter 35---