Ray and the Puppet managed to bridge the distance between them in a matter of a few seconds. It seemed the guardian hadn't noticed them yet, but the charming archer in the air did, and with a satisfied smile on his face, his attacks became even more precise.
The others only noticed the two new additions to the fight, when they finally reached them, and made their first move.
While this fight was one that decided over their lives, Ray still wanted to test the Puppet's capabilities, and therefore moved slightly different to normally.
With him on the right, while the red-haired young man on the left, their attack started. Since the spire messenger was still facing towards Effie, who was on the other side of the creature, they were able to abuse the blind spot of the beast.
'Get below it, and try to get through its abdomen!' Ray ordered in his mind, hoping the echo would receive the command, and it seemed that it indeed understood the order, as it rushed below the amalgamation between bird, and whatever else there was.
As the red-haired young man rushed below the creature, Ray went for a different part; the back.
By now, the others, at least Nephis, and the Stone Saint had noticed the two of them, and seemed to slightly adjust their own approaches.
Needing to get into the air, Ray used the shaft of his halberd to push himself of the ground, something that would never have worked, without the strength of a monster.
Unfortunately, he underestimated the restless movements of the spire messenger, and was about to jump over it. Only that he managed to bring Stormpiercer, just in time, in position to use the axe part as a hook, catching the thigh of the right hind leg.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, because the blade had been barely able to draw blood, he simply continued climbing back on the back of it, something that was definitely not easy, and if they hadn't experienced the ride on the stone giant, would've made this trump the list of uncomfortable rides, by far.
Down below, the Puppet was in position, and when it was, swung the Claymore in his hands upward with as much power, as it could muster, cutting a shallow mark into the abdomen of the creature, which the messenger did not even noticed, due to one of the enchantments of the memory.
As the puppet was slicing away at the underside of the monster, drawing more blood with each swing, everyone else continued moving too. Effie, and partly the Stone Saint, were being put on the defensive, the extra appendages of the creature, posing a problem.
Nephis, and the flying rapier, continued to use any opening the creature gave them, to draw more and more blood, while Caster and Sunny were already on their way back.
Still on top of the back of the messenger, Ray noticed the wings already damaged, which definitely explained why it even remained on the ground, in the first place, and then continued just a bit further, until he was more or less, exactly where the two wing bones should've been connected.
Calling on the [Guardian's shackles] enchantment, chain erupted forth from the cuffs on his wrists, and bound he creature for a single second, holding it in place. An opening that everyone seemed to immediately notice, and use.
With the short respite, Effie was finally free of the consistent battering that had been happening for the better part of the last two minutes, and directly went to the offensive.
The stone saint also seemed to truly come alive again, if her sudden ferociousness was anything to speak of.
For Sunny and Caster that were only mere meters away, it looked like a completely different battle than the one they had turned their backs on, just a minute ago.
Kai was still in the air, shooting arrows whenever he could, but on the ground, it seemed as if the Stone Saint, and Nephis had made some kind of agreement and worked in tandem to flank the fallen creature, making full use of the second they had.
And to top it off, from their perspective, two people had suddenly joined the fight too. One of whom was literally close to cutting open the entire abdomen of the creature, while being bathed in blood doing so, and the other seemed to… ride the creature?
Eventually, the second was over, and the creature could finally move again.
Ray was seriously sweating on the back of it, holding down awakened creatures wasn't easy, but to keep this thing steady for an entire second was an achievement in its own right.
Nevertheless, even in its bloody and severely weakened state, the messenger had not given up, just yet. In a completely sudden moment, it turned its head by an entire 180 degree, looking at Ray with pure murderous malice.
Greatly shocked for a moment, his eyes went wide, but just as the creature wanted to bite down on him, with its beak, he used his dormant ability simply appearing to fall through it, "See ya."
Due to falling straight through the creature's body, he came out in the abdomen region, and noticed the carnage down there, and how close the innards seemed; to falling out of this region.
'Damn! Okay, stop attacking and pull back.'
The puppet obeyed the order instantly, which was also just in time, before the messenger could let its own body nearly abruptly fall to the ground, trying to smash everything below it to smithereens.
"It's as close to dying as it will get!" Ray shouted, as he and the red-haired echo dove away, merely a second before they could get buried by the massive body.
While trying this exact move could've been effective, that was only if it had done so a bit earlier, now, the creature and offered itself on a silver plate for those allowed to kill it.
Caster and Sunny arrived the exact moment the creature's body slumped to the ground.
The legacy used his aspect to gain the advantage, and seemed to simply disappear, and reappear right next to the still turned neck, with his ghostly glowing jian. He used all the strength he had, along with the extra force of his speed, but only managed to cut halfway through, keeping the creature on its last legs, instead of killing it.
Then came Sunny, and as if luck, destiny, or fate was playing right into his hands, his tachi found the exact wound, Caster's jian had just opened, and thanks to the still ongoing empowerment of the crown, managed to cut through the remaining centimeters of monstrous flesh, decapitating the messenger, and ending its life.
As soon as the head fell, everyone finally had a moment to catch their breaths.
The charming archer also finally landed on the ground again, right next to his friend, who still hadn't gotten up from the ground. When he had landed, the first thing Kai did, was offer Ray a hand, which the young man took a moment later.
"Hah, you truly are a fairy tale prince, aren't you?" Ray joked, as he got helped of the ground.
"Sure, sure." Kai jokingly rolled his eyes, hearing the 'compliment' directed his way, before addressing the elephant in the room, "But, say; who might this be?"
While saying this, he gestured to the red-haired young man, who had been previously full of the blood of the spire messenger, all of which had evaporated, by this point, thanks to the implanted aspect.
"Well, the short version; it is my echo." Ray shrugged, and responded curtly.
"Then, did you… kill someone for it?" he asked hesitant.
"What? No, I didn't kill anyone for this echo." Ray immediately defended himself, which his friend noted to be the truth.
The two of them talked for a moment longer, before everyone's attention was brought over to Sunny, who had killed the spire messenger, and therefore was supposed to have received the wanted memory.
It was Nephis, who stepped over to him, and talked to him about it. When Sunny then really summoned one; a giant round shield, which was apparently too heavy for him to even hold, she proposed a deal.
What followed was a trade between the two of them; the round shield, for the stiletto they had gotten their hands on, a few months ago.
With the round shield now in her soul sea, Neph seemed to debate who to give it to, since Effie technically still had hers, and Ray could probably use it too, but before she could do anything, Ray already declined, making the choice an easy one.
After that, everyone really took a moment to rest. Even Changing Star seemed to do so, for once.
It then came to be a unanimous group decision, to remain here for at least a day or two more, to give any damage the memories sustained, time to repair.
Eventually, though, even that time came to an end, and the group slowly but surely began the journey back.
The way back would be unfortunately take way longer, since they did not have the 'comfortable' ride on the stone giant, a second time, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Thankfully, while traveling on the colossus, Caster had marked many vantage points on their map, which would still help them significantly, nonetheless.
Still, everyone knew the way back would be no child's play, and therefore already prepared their minds for the inevitable.
---
Nearly exactly three months later, the seven sleepers were once more on the beautiful marble arch, they had been on, the very first day, of their journey.
The air surrounding each one of them, seemed completely different to how it had been, just a few months ago. Everyone had consumed a huge amount of soul shards, on the way back, since not a single day went by, where they did not need to fight their way through nightmare creatures.
Thanks to that, though, everyone had also been able to receive a few new memories, keeping their arsenals fresh, and effective.
Still, the biggest change that any member of the cohort underwent, was undeniably Ray, who even now felt multiple glances directed at him.
He, himself, had a somewhat fed-up expression on his face, as he was trying to ignore everything, and just eat his meal.
Eventually, Effie couldn't help it anymore, and asked the same thing she had been asking for the entirety of the past week, "So, those things… they just grew out of your back? Just like this?"
Ray turned slowly to her, his expression darkening even more, for a second, "No, Effie. I suddenly had the overwhelming wish to have two giant wings, and the gods listened to that wish from beyond their graves, and granted it… How would I know where these dame chicken wings came from!"
*whack*
"Oh… don't give me a damn attitude now, you damn feathery bastards!" Ray cursed as he pulled on the two black wings that had accompanied him for the last week. The most irritating thing about them, though, was definitely that they seemed to have a mind of their own, and a serious attitude at that.
"Lets just forget about 'that', for a second," Nephis started, while slightly gesturing to Ray, who was still quarreling with the black wings.
"We will be back tomorrow, and once there, we need to pay back Sunny first." she continued, before giving Sunny the word.
"Yes. We will be going after a true bastard… my roommate…"
-x-
Whoo! A small milestone, the hundreth chapter.
Thank you all for reading my fanfiction, and i can tell you, what will come, after the fight against the cathedral's knight, will finally begin to twist the threads of fate a little...