As Nephis' Aspect flooded her body with strength, she steadied herself. Beholding the shattered chamber, she brandished her longsword and immediately dashed forward.
After taking just one look at the situation, she knew it was a dreary one. Nico's attack, while swift, precise, and well-timed, was simply not strong enough to pierce the Terror, and because of the minor wound he had caused the monstrosity now fully realized his dangerous potential. Landing another impromptu strike like that would be much more difficult.
Shaman, the Awakened Devil, was also being heavily targeted due to its sharper, faster, and tougher body in comparison to the measly Dormant human's. Getting close enough to use its claws effectively without being skewered by pillars of light would be impossible.
To top it all off, the pair were both injured. Nico was suffering from the fatigue of the past battle because she could not reach him before the storm, and while she hardly knew if the soul inhabiting its host was weary, the Devil's only vessel here was singed and wounded. If it was completely, destroyed their chances would drop drastically.
So… what could Nephis do?
Exhaling as the burden of her Flaw washed over her, cleaning her mind, she did the only thing she could do in face of an overwhelming opponent.
Fight with everything she had. Melt everything in sight. Burn bright — so bright that the Terror had no choice but to be wary of her light.
And if everything went well, she would be able to give Nico enough space to use his wits and whatever plan he had concocted to incur a lethal strike.
***
Nico, Nephis, and Shaman were losing their prey.
Rays of piercing energy were rocketing angrily around the room, exploding on contact and collapsing sections of the floor and ceiling easily. The Terror, however, cared not, screaming in mad anger as it reluctantly stayed stationary, too burdened by the process of evolution to muster moving its gargantuan body.
Gritting his teeth, Nico swept his glaive upwards once more, carving off one of several dozen arms.
Not the first wound since the start, but the only other meaningful one.
A full minute had passed.
His face contorted miserably.
'It's too fast, too tough, and too much stronger than me. I can barely keep up with its movements, and as it nears completing the seventh core, it only gets more powerful.'
He desperately searched his memory. What tricks did he have left? His morning star would be ineffective, and so would the [Song of Steel]. The [Infectious Root] would be unable to burrow into the Fallen's tough body. The [Glass Torch] wouldn't be able to twist its sunbeams, and its stealth was better off being saved for a final strike, as the Terror would decipher it quite quickly otherwise. Shaman's mental hex was so far completely insufficient. Nico couldn't even do meaningful soul damage because he couldn't reach its cores.
Broken from his thoughts by a piercing beam that drew closer than usual, eviscerating the metal of his helmet and incinerating the soft flesh of his cheek beneath from just the passing heat, he bit back a scream. Blue blood couldn't even drop before the wound cauterized.
His soul was breaking.
The entire operation was… breaking?
Breaking.
An epiphany dawned on Nico. Two, actually. Unconsciously, because of their minds being synced, Shaman's euphoria leapt to him, and his lips began to curl into a slight smile.
So there was a way.
A seemingly meaningless sentence lit up in the back of his mind.
Memory: [Severed Vertebra].
Memory Description: [A fractured piece of spine; a shattered peace in time.]
He had assumed that this description pertained to the fact the Memory was a single, gnarled chunk. But… it wasn't fractured. In fact, the entire vertebra was unusually flawless — as all Memories tended to be — not a crack or splinter on its surface.
Most likely, in order for its enchantment to activate, one had to split it open, and he had a good bet that effect would be related to his own body.
The second epiphany was of the same variety. Throughout the fight, he had been trying to awaken his Dormant essence, slowly tugging on the tenuous connection that he was granted.
Only, that was the wrong process entirely. It would've never worked within his time limit, as it hadn't during the bridge battle. Hoping for some miraculous blessing during the fight was, and had been, foolish.
But reviewing everything now, it was obvious. How would a Dormant Nightmare Creature become Awakened? What was the purpose for the Dormant Cores if the act of crystallizing essence is what naturally catalyzed Awakening?
The answer was that Dormant Cores were just fancy reservoirs.
In order to build up essence and follow the necessary steps towards natural Awakening, Nightmare Creatures used Dormant Cores. More accurately, they were probably born that way by already Awakened Creatures, and since it also allowed them greater strength than their otherwise mundane brethren, it was optimal.
Then, when the time came, all they had to do was crack open the shell, commanding the essence within to swirl for as long as necessary until the new one was done crystalizing. Time was of no importance. They probably hid themselves within dens or cocoons while undergoing the process.
Yet, for humans that simply wasn't possible. Their souls were delicate at such an early stage. The fact they could only sustain one Soul Core was proof of that.
'Not me, though.'
Nico was practically built for this method. Not only did his lineage make his soul unmistakably more resilient, but his Aspect was Divine, allowing him to innately form multiple cores. Cursed with [Specter], his soul may have been just one interconnected cog in a vast machine — one that didn't like it when any of its parts failed — but that was also its strength. As long as he managed to continue pumping his own blood with his Aspect, he would be fine.
Shaken from his reverie by another close sunbeam, he grimaced. There were only two concerns.
'Can I form my new Awakened Cores in time? What of my Aspect Ability? Will it fade once each one is gone?'
For a moment, he resolved to scrap the entire thing, abandoning the idea of killing the Terror. If his soul roots, which were vital to controlling essence, were gone, he would undoubtedly fail.
Then he remembered again that he had multiple cores.
Couldn't he just… destroy and remake only one? That was enough to strengthen himself without losing time. That was enough to saturate his muscles, bones, and blood with Awakened essence and bring down the Terror.
Breathing deeply, he summoned the [Severed Vertebra], the sparks assembling in his left hand.
'All that's left is to buy time…'