"Oh? Is it to be Rei instead of her this time?"
Oricule spoke as he leaped far back, narrowly evading a swing from the Death Scythe's blade.
Rei ignored the remark, instead forcefully twisting his wrist as he let out a shout that served as his only reply.
"Flying Slash!"
A blade of compressed air surged from the Death Scythe.
Having already seen through the technique, Oricule crouched low to the floor to avoid the projectile. However, Bosk took advantage of the opening, closing the distance and swinging his claymore in a massive arc.
"As if that would work!"
Still crouching, Oricule attempted to kick off the floor and use his explosive speed to dodge, but Seto let out a sharp cry to pin him down.
"Guruuu!"
"Ngh, again?!"
A wave of force generated by the Magic Eye of Shock struck him.
Against a target like Oricule, who possessed incredible regenerative abilities, the blow itself dealt negligible damage. However, in terms of sheer disruption, it was peerless.
His body stiffened for a fraction of a second—a window long enough for Bosk to bring his claymore down toward the monster's head.
Oricule managed to contort his body just enough to avoid a fatal blow, but the heavy blade bit deep into his left shoulder. Even with a strike from a man like Bosk, whose frame exceeded two meters, he couldn't sever the arm entirely; Oricule's blue skin had clearly bolstered his defenses to an incredible degree.
However...
"Fall back, Rei, Bosk!"
With that command, Elena's Whip-sword streaked through the air, shifting into its whip-like form.
Infused with a staggering amount of magic power, the sword’s tip buried itself into the same left shoulder where Bosk's claymore had already carved halfway through.
"Haaaaaaaaah!"
Elena swung her weapon upward with all her might. The segmented blade followed her lead, tracing a lethal arc. In the next instant, Oricule’s left arm was torn from his shoulder and sent spinning high into the air.
"Rei!"
Elena’s single-word shout was all the signal Rei needed. He immediately called out to Seto, who was already positioned beneath the flying limb.
"Seto, bring that arm here!"
"Gurululuuu!"
Responding with a sharp cry, Seto snatched the arm out of the air with its beak. With the feline agility of a great predator, it darted back to Rei’s side.
Rei took the arm and instantly stored it within his Misty Ring. Just as they had done with the monster's secondary limbs, they were now systematically making his regeneration impossible.
"Gugigigi... How insolent."
Oricule spat the words hatefully while clutching the stump of his shoulder. Bubbling flesh began to froth around the wound as it rapidly closed.
He glared at them with pure malice, but he made no move to flee. His mind had been warped by his man-demonification; he was now so consumed by bloodlust that he no longer possessed the rationality to assess the battlefield and retreat.
With eyes that had lost nearly all intelligence, he glared at his attackers. He kicked off the ground and swung his remaining right arm in a wide arc.
His target was Bosk.
Being the largest human present—excluding Seto—the veteran warrior was likely the easiest target to track.
"Don't screw with me!"
Perhaps feeling insulted that he was judged the weakest link, Bosk braced himself, using the broad blade of his claymore as a shield to catch Oricule's fist.
"Uoooooh!"
Even so, the sheer force of the blow was overwhelming. Oricule's fist plowed through, sending Bosk flying. Given Bosk's own size, the weight of his armor, and the massive claymore, a weight likely exceeding two hundred kilograms was hurled across the room. Even the seasoned warrior couldn't help but cry out in shock as he was launched.
Oricule stepped forward to follow up, but Seto lunged between them to block his path. As Oricule hesitated, the lethal segments of Elena's Whip-sword lashed out again.
"Ngh, numbers won't save you!"
Oricule reached out with his remaining right hand, intending to catch the weapon—not by its tip, but by the whip-like segments themselves.
"Naïve!"
Elena had anticipated the move. She surged her magic power through the weapon and twisted her wrist.
Reacting to her magic and movement, the tip of the Whip-sword coiled around Oricule's right hand like a snake. She yanked the weapon back, and in a flash of steel, the arm was severed at the elbow and sent tumbling through the air.
"Seto!"
"Guruluuu!"
Knowing exactly what to do, Seto chirped in acknowledgment. It snatched the flying right hand out of the air. When Oricule rushed forward in a desperate attempt to reclaim his limb, Seto delivered a thunderous horizontal lash with its tail.
Oricule's reckless charge was born from the realization of what Rei and Seto were doing, but it was a futile effort.
"Guooooooo! Give me back my arm!"
Despite being flattened by Seto's tail, Oricule scrambled back to his feet. He moved to resume his pursuit, but Elena stepped in to block his path.
"Did you think I would let you through? Bosk, how long do you plan on lying there?"
"I know, I know!"
Though he had been sent flying, Bosk appeared entirely unharmed. He kicked off the floor and moved alongside Elena, the two of them pincering Oricule.
Even in his frenzied state, Oricule seemed to understand that moving carelessly would be fatal. He shifted his gaze between the two warriors with all three of his eyes, including the one embedded in his forehead.
Rei took the right arm from Seto and vanished it into the Misty Ring.
(If we keep this up, we can take all his limbs and store them... No, that's not enough. As long as his torso remains, I can't store him, and if this drags on, he might find a way to recover. In the end, we have to blow him apart so thoroughly that he can't regenerate from the inside.)
As Rei reached this conclusion, he heard footsteps approaching.
He turned to see Vihera. She was clutching the pouch of jewels that Byune had taken from Pri Masterche. The bag looked fuller now; Byune must have scavenged every gemstone she could find from the woman’s jewelry.
But what truly caught Rei's eye were the two jewels Vihera held in her other hand.
One was an orange-tinted red, the other a pale blue. Recognizing them for what they were, Rei spoke up.
"Are you sure about this?"
He didn't need to elaborate. Vihera glanced back at Byune, who was standing a short distance away, watching them intently. The girl gave a small, firm nod.
Vihera looked back at Rei. "Yes. She wants us to destroy them—to set them free."
"...I see."
Rei closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating the weight of a ten-year-old girl’s decision to destroy the only remnants of her parents to ensure the monster's death. When he opened them, his resolve was absolute.
"Alright. Let's do it. First, we need to pull Oricule away from that spot."
He looked toward Oricule and his companions. Oricule was currently near the center of the room, far too close to Tibia and the magic circle.
While Tibia was currently protected by some kind of barrier, it was likely sustained by the synergy of the jewels and Rei's magic. There was no guarantee it would hold against the kind of internal explosion Rei was planning—one designed to turn Oricule into dust.
Vihera nodded, understanding the stakes. "Let's go. For our survival... and to release Byune's parents from these stones."
Even if the souls of the sacrificed were not literally 'inside' the gems, their lives had been the price of their creation. To Byune and Vihera, shattering them was the only way to grant them peace.
Rei and Vihera shared a final look, then Rei shouted to his partner.
"Seto! Blow him away! Move him back!"
"Guru?! Gurululululululuuu!"
Seto was momentarily surprised by the sudden command, but its trust in Rei was absolute. It let out a thunderous cry and lunged forward.
Seto activated its Power Crush skill.
Oricule tried to dodge the heavy foreleg swinging toward him, but Elena’s Whip-sword lashed out to restrict his movement. Caught between the two, Oricule faltered for a fraction of a second.
The old Oricule might have found a way out, but the man-demon he had become was incapable of such finesse.
"Guggaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Seto's foreleg struck with the force of a falling mountain. Oricule was sent skipping across the floor like a stone thrown by a child.
Had he possessed his hands, he might have been able to break his fall, but all four of his arms were now locked away in Rei’s Misty Ring. He tried to stabilize himself with his remaining legs and his right elbow stump, but he was sliding straight toward Rei and Vihera.
The moment he raised his head, Rei swung the butt end of the Death Scythe. The blow caught Oricule squarely under the jaw, launching him straight into the air.
The impact shattered Oricule's jaw and snapped his neck, though his unnatural healing immediately began to knit the bones back together. It didn't matter; he was airborne and helpless.
"Haaaaaaaaah!"
Vihera met him as he fell.
With lightning speed, she unleashed a flurry of five kicks. Her metal-clad greaves crushed Oricule’s ribs and sent him hurtling sideways. A few drops of blood from Oricule’s wounds splattered across Vihera’s pale, muscular thigh, lending her an eerie, predatory beauty.
Oricule crashed into the corner of the room, slamming against the wall with a sickening, wet thud—the sound of butchered meat being hurled against stone.
The impact shattered his spine and every other bone in his body. As his movements finally ceased, Vihera let out a sharp cry.
"Rei!"
Rei didn't need to be told twice. He began chanting instantly.
"O Flame, thou art a serpent. Therefore, incinerate the enemy as I desire."
Flames ignited at the butt end of the Death Scythe. Infused with a massive amount of magic power, the compressed heat caused the surrounding temperature to spike by nearly ten degrees.
With the flaming scythe in hand, Rei charged toward the broken heap against the wall. Vihera ran beside him, the jewels ready in her hand.
The distance was covered in a heartbeat. Rei drove the butt end of the Death Scythe deep into Oricule's abdomen, the sharp tip punching through the blue skin and into his vitals.
Once it was buried deep, Rei triggered the spell.
"Dancing Flame Serpent!"
A serpent of hellfire erupted inside Oricule, slowly—tortuously—burning its way toward his head. The slow speed was intentional; Rei had altered the spell's formula to ensure Oricule felt the full weight of the destruction before he died.
"Ga, gaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Oricule shrieked in agony as his insides were reduced to ash. He lashed out with a reflexive kick, but Vihera was already there.
"As if I'd let you!"
She slipped past Rei, parrying the kick with a gauntlet.
"Return all thou art to nothingness."
With those words, she activated the jewels and jammed them into Oricule’s screaming mouth. She struck his throat with her fist, forcing him to swallow the stones.
"Vihera!"
Rei reflexively grabbed Vihera and pulled her back, shielding her with his body. A split second later, a silent, white-hot explosion erupted from within Oricule. Rei felt the massive shockwave slam into his back, but the Dragon Robe held, and the two of them were hurled across the room by the force of the blast.