Against All Hope
Bestmaster's fist was still protruding from the abomination's chest, but in the next moment, she tore it out, almost ripping the entire corpse apart.
She seemed angry... really angry.
"How dare you raise a hand to my sister..."
Before the abomination could assemble itself back together, the beautiful Saint kicked it, sending the mangled corpse flying back. It landed on the sand a dozen meters away, twitched slightly, and then rose, already knitting itself into a single whole again.
The two of them stood opposite each other, looking intently at the enemy. The creature was bloodied and beaten, but eerily calm. There was a smile on its lips.
Beastmaster looked just as battered, her face torn and painted with blood. Her expression was dark and full of cold fury.
She gritted her teeth and spat:
"I won't show you mercy."
The corpse stared at her with a smile.
Then, it suddenly spoke.
Tilting its head, the corpse asked:
"...What is mercy?"
The Saint's expression slightly changed.
'What the hell... why are they talking...'
Sunny tried to stand up and only succeeded by using the Sin of Solace as a crutch. He was struggling to breathe, but it was alright... as the great connoisseur of physical trauma that he was, Sunny judged his condition as not really life-threatening.
For now.
He couldn't really understand why Beastmaster was wasting her time issuing threats to a great abomination instead of attacking it, but that had given him time to assess the situation, at least.
The remaining members of the survivor group... were alive. No one had died yet, from what he could see. That said, all of them were severely injured. Only Morgan and Saint looked like they could still fight... and Effie, too, although there was a pained expression on her face. With how exhausted and beaten they were, though, he doubted that they would be of any use.
Sunny himself would not be able to do much.
Neph's condition... was unknown.
'Can Beastmaster finish off the creature alone?'
In the next moment, however, that question was rendered meaningless. Sunny had also received an answer to why the beautiful demoness was wasting time conversing with the creature.
She had not been wasting time. She had been stalling for time.
As the sunlight pouring from the incandescent sky grew a little brighter, a figure made of pure radiance attacked the vessel of the Great Guardian from behind. At the same moment, Beastmaster dashed forward.
'Summer Knight!'
There was not one Saint, but two. The two Transcendents of Clan Song and Clan Valor seemed to have made a temporary alliance.
A hoarse sigh escaped from Sunny's lips. He summoned the runes and glanced at them to make sure that Nephis was still alive. After doing that, he took a step back and fell onto the scorching sand.
Closing his eyes, Sunny allowed the pain to wash over him. He only kept up with the ensuing fight through shadow sense, tense and wary.
The vessel of the Gate Guardian... was a harrowing foe, even for the Saints. However, despite all its power and uncanny tenacity, it didn't seem to be a match for them.
Perhaps the situation would have been different if it were any other two Transcendents, but Beastmaster and Sir Gilead were both outstanding. Especially Beastmaster - he noticed that wounds delivered by her took a lot longer to close. Some even remained open, as if something was preventing them from healing.
There was something else, too...
Sunny felt a fourth shadow standing at a distance. It was slender, delicate... and familiar.
'Cassie?'
So it was Cassie who had led the Saints to their aid.
Sunny felt some tension drain from his mangled body.
...As time went on, the corpse seemed to become a little muddled. Its attacks lost some of their edge, and there were drops of blood falling from its nose. Bestmaster was not only fighting it, but also battering the creature with powerful mental attacks.
'I think... they can actually manage it...'
Before they did, however, the bonfire of incinerating white flame suddenly grew weak, and then disappeared. Two shadows were revealed amidst molten sand and obsidian glass - one crumpled and motionless, the other standing above it. Then, the source of the second shadow swayed and fell.
The remaining vessel was taking longer and longer to heal its wounds. The Saints attacked it without pause, methodical in their relentless assault. Sunny could not see them, but felt the shape and position of the shadows change at a frantic pace.
Slowly... torturously... that pace slowed down.
And then, at some point, one of the shadows grew shallow and empty.
The vessel of the Gate Guardian had been reduced to a pile of unrecognizable flesh.
The battle had not been easy for Beastmaster and Summer Knight, but both of them were left standing.
Sunny gritted his teeth, then opened his eyes and slowly sat up.
...As soon as the creature died, Bestamster turned around and walked over to Seishan. Kneeling in front of the hideous monster, the beautiful demoness gently placed her hand on her shoulder and smiled.
"I'm here, Seishan. I was on time."
In front of her, the monstrous creature slowly grew smaller, turning back into an exquisitely beautiful young woman with silken grey skin. Her body was beaten and broken, but she was alive, and even conscious, albeit barely.
Beastmaster whispered a few more words to her sister, then rose to her feet.
Her gaze slowly shifted to Morgan, who was kneeling on the sand a few dozen meters away. The smile disappeared from her lips. The look in the beautiful Saint's one open eye...
Did not promise anything good.
Sunny shivered, suddenly remembering how all of them had ended up in this cursed desert, to begin with.
Three Category Four Gates might have opened in Antarctica, but the great clans...
Were still at war.
Sunny was not going to get between Beastmaster and Morgan, not that he could have done anything if he did.
But Nephis was also here, laying unconscious within a ring of black glass.
And she was a daughter of the King of Swords, too, even if only technically.
'Damn it all...'
There was no need to do anything, though, because as Beastmaster was looking coldly at Morgan, a tall figure in battered armor suddenly appeared in front of the Princess of War, blocking her from the beautiful Saint's suffocating gaze.
Summer Knight stared at Beastmaster and shook his head silently.
"Don't even think about it."
A dangerous smile appeared on her lips. The beautiful demoness raised an exquisite eyebrow and spoke with a hint of challenge:
"...What if I do?"
Sir Gilead's face remained calm.
"I'll kill you."
Beastmaster kept her gaze on him for a few seconds, then turned away and laughed.
"...Maybe next time, then."
Glancing at the setting sun, she raised her voice and called out:
"Come on! Everyone who is still alive, stand up. We need to find shelter before night comes."
