The ground cracked beneath their feet, a billowing plume of dust rising up, obscuring their figures from the slithering creature. Leonidas sprinted towards the right side, while Willow headed leftwards, flanking it from both sides.

He could see why Willow had lost against it. It was massive, healed almost immediately, and was a Vis-ranked terror.

Not that he was going to lose.

Leonidas brandished Blush, twisting the blade while he focused inwards, the imaginative world unfurling. It was in its base form—when Leonidas hadn’t interfered with it—a black void, darker than even darkness itself.

Leonidas shifted his hands, arms moving as if he were painting on an invisible canvas. His movements were fluid, each connecting to the other, eyes fixed on the plethora of roses forming around him, slowly taking shape.

From his right eye, he gazed back on the outer world, his body clashing with Root. It would be a fool’s errand to face it in a contest of strength, Savior herself, a ten-meter titan had lost.

He would be incapacitated with a strike or two from Root, which meant he could not allow himself to be touched, while dealing it enough damage to offset the insane healing the damned root possessed.

A tall order...yet not entirely impossible.

He left the imaginative world just as Root fell over him. Wind touched him first, a torrential gust slamming into him, making his coat flutter.

A shadow fell next, darkening everything, plunging the world into absolute darkness. Leonidas’s face fell, fear struggling to take over his mind.

There was nowhere to flee, and so, Leonidas lunged forward in a flash of pink and crimson, using the newly formed crystalline flowers as footholds.

The root slammed into the ground beside him, carving through the ground, leaving a wound in the very earth. But it wasn’t done.

The damned thing slid sideways, swiping towards Leonidas.

Dammit!

From the river of roses behind him, a few flew towards Root, while the rest formed a staircase, which Leonidas promptly climbed, jumping over the blurring form of Root, landing on the other side.

A thundering sound forced him to look behind him, and there, Savior stood, darkness burning in her visor. Although there was no change in her overall demeanor—the same cold dismissal—Leonidas could somehow tell she was mad.

Her form rippled, shrinking into a smaller form. Although still titanic. The five-meter giant rushed forward, her sword trailing behind her.

Her armor had changed. The darkness of her flawless mantle shifted, turning jagged and rough. Broken blades, like a shattered sword, burst from her body, a grinder of steel and death.

Her boots had also shifted, hook-like appendages jutting from their soles, hooking into the ground, her grip much firmer.

She had learned from her previous attempt. She had been flung away, so she lowered her center of gravity. Leonidas guessed she would use the hooks to hook herself when she clashed with Root again.

It’s certainly a smart idea...but how the hell would she fight like that?

Oh well, it wasn’t his problem. Leonidas jumped, launching forward like an arrow. He crashed straight into Root’s massive body, the sheer force behind his strike breaking its momentum.

Willow, who had quietly been charging her Mark, opened her eyes, staring at the pilgrim who had just been stopped a few seconds before crashing into her.

She smiled.

"Take this, you overgrown root."

From her hand, a massive tornado of fire exploded, consuming everything in its path. It grew and grew, the vortex scorching Root’s skin.

The beast screamed without a mouth, then moved into the tornado. It burned and burned, yet it healed at the same time.

The fire wasn’t enough to kill it; hell, it hadn’t even slowed its healing. The roaring tempest swelled, then vanished.

A triumphant roar escaped the malevolent beast. It slithered wildly, bringing utter destruction with it. The ground collapsed, and trees collapsed everywhere.

Its victory was short-lived. Willow burst from behind the quenching tempest, her body moving faster than thought, slashing and hacking at the damned pilgrim.

By then, Leonidas had regained his bearing. His eyes locked onto the far back of Root, the part he guessed contained its brain.

He sprinted. Barely halfway through, something slammed into him, knocking the air out of him. His ribs cracked...then shattered, the sheer strength making him fly.

He grit his teeth, a bed of flowers slowing his fall.

Ow...damn this plant.

With shaky steps, Leonidas stood, gazing at the beast with utter hatred in his eyes. Before he could form a coherent thought, a baleful black blur blitzed past him, briefly blinding him with a bellowing boom.

A gust of acrid, dusty wind slammed into Leonidas, dirt stinging his eyes. He raised his hand to cover his eyes, but by then everything was already over.

Savior had launched onto Root in a blur of metal and shadows, spinning like a vortex of blades. Her jagged armor stabbed into the infernal hide of the abysmal beast, her feet hooked into its pulpy flesh, rooting her in place.

Meanwhile, her sword, a massive great sword of black metal, wreaked havoc across vast stretches of Root’s body, pus leaking with every hit.

Leonidas pushed upwards, sprinting forwards, not about to let Savior outdo him, while Willow, momentarily stunned by the appearance of the titanic knight, continued her assault, barrages of sound and fire slamming, burning, and burrowing deep into Root’s body.

Her form had also somewhat changed; the gaseous state of her sword wrapped around her broken armor like a second skin. Compared to Savior, her height was moderately small, a mere three meters.

We might win at this rate.

Just as Leonidas neared Root, a sudden change went through the world. It was nearly imperceptible, invisible to the naked eye, yet all three of them felt it clearly.

Their instincts suddenly blared, screaming warnings in their blood-crazed minds. Leonidas particularly felt it more than the others, the Shroud of Sacrifice enhancing his senses.

Willow tried jumping off Root’s twisting body, but she caught herself in one of the many large gashes the woman had made.

Savior paid her no mind, too engrossed in trying to finish off the damned pilgrim. He knew, she knew, they all knew that a bitter fate would await them should whatever they were warned about come to realization, which was exactly why Savior focused on attacking and Willow retreating.

She was a Manifest after all, death was not the end for her, but for Willow...it was very much the end.

He rushed forward, miniature roses serving as placeholders, seemingly sprinting on air. He took Willow in his arms and immediately rushed out, Savior making an opportunity for him to escape.

Willow chuckled in his arms, the sound dry and hollow.

"We’re so dead, are we not, Art? But my, what a gallant young man you are, saving your older sister like Prince Charming...only one-handed."

Leonidas did his best to ignore Willow, who even at death’s door seemed determined to annoy him.

Damn woman...I should have just let her die.

"Don’t worry, if you inevitably fall for me, I’ll reject you with clear intentions...my dearest Willow."