The Monstrous beasts charged.
As they did so, Nephis dashed forwards as well.
The first of the Scavengers met her head on, It's allies not too far behind it. Its pincer came down with shocking speed, cleaving the air, but the attack itself had been long foreseen by Nephis.
A second before the tyrannical attack reached her, Nephis sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blow. Within that same motion, her sword gleamed and she delivered a precise cut, the steel of her blade screaming as it bit into chitin carapace, carving a deep gash along the joint of one of its forelegs.
The wounded scavenger shrieked, its cry shrill and furious as it lashed out with its second pincer arm.
Nephis flew backwards, letting the momentum of her strike carry her away, leaving the ground ever so slightly. As she did so, the claw slammed into the ground with enough force to fracture coral, sending shards skittering past her ankles.
By the time she could properly orient herself, a second scavenger was already upon her.
Another pincer flew forwards, this one much less anticipated and unavoidable.
With no better options, Nephis placed her sword in the path of the claw and her sword rung as she deflected a glancing blow, the impact rattling up her arm and into her shoulder. Most of the impact was dispersed and instead of trying to regain her equilibrium, Changing Star went with the fall, somersaulting over one hand and distancing herself from the monsters a bit.
The third scavenger had nearly joined the fray too, when a sudden spear tore through the air and struck its carapace.
The weapon bounced off harmlessly, skittering away across the stone.
The beast halted, swiveling its beady eyes toward the source.
Only a few meters away stood Yoru, clutching a spear in hand and preparing to summon another.
His shoulders were hunched, posture low and predatory. Much unlike the prey he was before. He had become entirely new. The fear that had once threatened to paralyse him was still there - but now it was distant, like something trapped beneath thick ice.
A living force ran rampant through his body, coursing through his bloodstream and begging to be satiated. The force was blood lust - induced by the [Marauders Love].
'Come, you filthy crab. Offer your blood and sate me!'
Locking onto Yoru's form, the beast let out another monstrous roar and raised its pincer high above its head, moving with much too speed than a creature of its stature had any right to be.
Yoru firmly grasped his spear and reeled it backwards. Aiming the tip directly at the beasts head.
His muscles coiled tight beneath his skin, tendons screaming as the motion drew every ounce of strength into a single line.
He wanted the beast to scream and shriek. It should cry in anguish and paint the labyrinth blue, before it even thought to keel over.
He hurled the spear.
But unfortunately his aim had been poor.
It looked as though the spear would dip and bounce off its chitinous armour, once again causing the monster no harm.
However, quite unexpectedly, the beast stumbled forwards and the spearhead met the creatures flesh sooner than expected.
It plunged straight into the creature's beady eye, eliciting a pained shriek.
The sound was like heaven given a voice.Yoru truly believed there was no greater bliss than hearing it suffer.
He glared at the now half-blinded beast and wore a vindictive smile.
A new spear had already formed in his hand as he advanced on the scavenger. He raised it slowly, the weapon steady and unwavering, and leveled its tip at the pathetic creature before him.
"Listen here, bastard. One of your cousins took my arm not too long ago. And although that monstrous wretch is dead, my hate for your kind is still very much alive. So you'll have to pay for your relatives' transgressions."
The scavenger obviously couldn't understand whatever he had just said, but the gesture seemed to enrage it.
Its wounded eye leaked blue ichor as it twisted its massive body with frightening speed and sent its pincer sweeping sideways in a brutal arc.
Yoru barely reacted in time. He threw himself backwards, the claw tearing through empty air where his head had been a heartbeat earlier.
He rolled, but as he came up on one knee, pain bloomed from his side hot and sharp. It seemed he had been grazed.
"You dare to bleed me?"
The rational part of his mind thought that - with the creature blind in one eye - now was the best time for Sunny to take action and deliver the final blow, but the much stronger and invasive part of his mind, the one fuelled by blood lust, demanded Sunny stay out of this. He wanted the sweet satisfaction of putting the thing to rest.
Yoru danced between the blows, clumsy yet precise, his body moved before his mind could catch up. He felt as though invisible hands were guiding him - nudging his steps just enough.
The scavengers pincer came down once again and Yoru rolled, this time into its blindspot. Its pincer struck the ground too hard, embedding itself for a fraction of a second longer than intended. Yoru capitalised on that small frame of time.
He exploded upwards from the roll and leapt onto the creature's carapace. His boots scraped against chitin as he steadied himself, eyes locking onto the concave cavity Nephis had told him about.
The world around him slowed down to a crawl, his entire being now swallowed by the idea of exploiting this vulnerability.
The last time he was faced with such an opportunity, his spear had failed to pierce the brain. He wouldn't allow for it this time.
Within the space of a single breath, Yoru plunged the spear downwards, and for a split second he felt the slightest resistance, denying the creatures death
… And his will utterly crushed it.
Yoru grit his teeth and the mundane spear penetrated the thin chitin, thrusting deep into the Awakened beasts brain.
The scavenger spasmed once… then went still.
[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.]
[You have received a Memory: Savage Lie.]
[Bear your Tragedy]
Yoru stood atop the corpse, chest heaving, bloodlust roaring triumphantly through his veins. For a fleeting moment, he wanted more. Another. Ten more. The entire labyrinth drowned in blue.
He felt the pain of his side slowly recede but didn't dwell on it for too long, as the sound of Nephis' battle still warred on. He wanted more blood.
Ignoring the voice of the spell as well as his own, he leaped off the hulking corpse of the scavenger and rushed over to Nephis' aid.
A/N: I'll be honest, I cringed trying to write the stuff about the bloodlust. But I hope you guys enjoyed the fight as fights are definitely one of my weak points.