Runeblade

Successive booms shattered the air as the manticore tore across the ground, every footfall driven forwards by another detonation.

Kaius's pulse spiked — there was no time to lose. Still sliding across loose soil and frost covered tussock, he reached for Aelina. Mana showered from the glyphs on his feet as he cast another Expedient Shunt directly in front of him. The explosion threw up a cloud of dirt, obscuring the Guardian as he shot back — gaining distance despite its speed.

He refreshed Slip Step mid-air, draining his dwindling Nails even further as he unloaded a salvo. Only five left.

Screaming towards his target, the Nails slammed home — tearing ragged holes in the manticores chest and neck. The manticore sprinted on unhindered with little more than a gurgle, his Nails unspooling into a mess of glowing barbed wire that wound through the gaping craters they'd left in their wake.

Kaius hissed, throwing himself into a space-lengthened step that carried himself off to the right. His Nails wouldn't last forever, but with they would slow the beast — for a time.

His hope was cut off at the knees when those same thin wires shifted from a cherry red to a radiant white. They drooped as they softened, the pressure of the manticore's healing slowly pushing the weakened metal free of the craters in its flesh.

Kaius grit his teeth and leapt back again — he couldn't keep running. Even with his spells, the distance between him and the Guardian had barely changed. He needed to fight, before his supplies dwindled and he lost his mobility advantage.

Readying his blade, he felt his feet drag furrows through the soil as he slid back.

Sensing the change, the manticore howled, redoubling its sprint. It was a living bonfire, lit up in a thousand hues of licking flames — Kaius was going to get burned.

He was ready for it.

Mana surged towards the manticore's forepaws as it raked towards his shoulder — a blow that would have disembowelled him. Kaius leaned on his skills, Uncanny Dodge and Tempered by Dissonance flooding his body with the energy needed to keep up. Stepping to the left to move with its attack, Mercurial Reversal flooded into his weapon as he swept his blade up from mid-guard — catching its claw on the lower-third of his blade.

A typhoon of searing heat erupted from the point of impact — blistering the skin of his hands even with his resistance. Manic laughter slid from his throat at the pain — he had the leverage.

Wrenching up, he guided its paw down — more fire scorching his cuisses and greaves black as it slammed into the ground. Stolen power flooded his sword. Kaius lunged, whipping the point of his sword towards the beast's elbow. Mystic's Rend flared, coating his blade in unstable arcane.

Cartilage crunched. His Rend whined. Chunks splattered his chest a moment later, toxic arcane infesting the wound he'd inflicted.

Yet still the fires burned — filling the ruined mess of a joint with unnatural light, supporting the Guardian's weight. Disturbingly human screams buffeted Kaius as the Manticore rushed him. His heart pounded like a sledgehammer in his chest, every scrap of ability leveraged as he slipped to the side of a snapping bite — another slice of his Rend blowing a weeping hole in its shoulder.

They went blow for blow, a dozen exchanged in seconds. Steel rang again and again as Kaius dodged what he could, and parried what he had to. No matter what he tried, the Guardian ignored its wounds — uncaring of his cuts, and the arrows and rays that fell upon its flank. Adrenaline coursed through him with every bone quaking clash — gods, it was a rush. Barely holding on, eeking out what retaliation he could as the Guardian fell upon him with fury glinting in its eyes.

He might have been strong, he might have been fast — but it was stronger, faster. Every blow left his arms shaking and sore, even when he used his Skill with the blade and leverage to steal its ability to use the full extent of its strength. Even A Father's Gift wasn't enough. It might have been durable, but its fine crystal edge was cracked and chipped, every turned blow damaging it further.

He'd gotten the measure of its strength — Corporus helping him get a feel for maximising his abilities. It wasn't enough. His Glass Mind had digested a thousand battles and lessons, and its judgement rang clear in his mind — he couldn't last. He just didn't have the weight, the staying power.

It had only been seconds since the manticore had focused on him, entire exchanges compressed into the space between heartbeats. A few more, and he'd be worn down.

Thank the gods he wouldn't have to do it any longer. Kaius felt it when Porkchop charged, the ground rippling beneath his brother as he tore across the alpine plateau — closing the hundred longstrides that Kaius had created in his retreat.

Rising to the Bulwark's Challenge, the manticore snapped its head back and leapt towards Porkchop with cat-like agility. It was not without parting gifts — Kaius's relief shrivelling in his stomach as its tail snapped towards him.

Uncanny Dodge screamed a warning — but it was so close, ripping through the air like one of Ianmus's rays. He reacted on instinct, driving his foot into the ground to hurl himself free.

He was too slow — the melon sized bone maul that tipped the manticore's tail clipped his hip. Flexible and light as it was, his armour may as well have not existed. The joint shattered — spikes punching clean through his armour to shred his flesh. He screamed, feeling shards of his own bone tear at him from the inside.

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Then fire flashed, searing him from within as the manticore ripped its tail free again.

Kaius spun away, hitting the ground like dead meat. He gasped as he tumbled across the ground, every impact shooting up his spine with the sting of concentrated acid.

"Kaius!"

He squirmed — groaning in agony — but planted his hands on the ground all the same. He would not lie in the dirt — it meant death! Taking only a short breath to brace himself, he forced himself to his feet as his leg spasmed.

Lesser Regeneration surged to life, directing his health to his wound. It wasn't fast enough to be instant, but healing wasn't all the skill could do. Even scattered and broken, his leg held — supporting his weight. It did nothing for the pain. Every movement was agony, his vision going grey as a high-pitched whine rang in his ears.

He had to fight! Rapid Adaptation would blunt the sensation, make it simply overwhelming, instead of crippling. Readying his blade, he stumbled forwards — growing steadier by the moment.

Hammering Porkchop's guard, the manticore suddenly cracked its tail against the ground. Energy surged to the maul at its tip, erupting forth into a blade of white fire. Unable to break Porkchop's armour with its claws, it whipped its tail into him again and again.

Porkchop did what he could, but his heavy-plate shattered all the same — the ranging head of the glaive-like Skill boiling his flesh. Still, he was a Bastion. The storm was weathered, and repaid in kind. When his armour lay flaked and broken, it was repaired with flooding mana. When he was wounded, immense volumes of health rushed through his body, repairing all traces of the damage. Through all, Porkchop fought: ripping and tearing with the jade fangs of Warden's Maw; cracking bone and pulping flesh as Jadecrash turned his paws into jagged crystal.

He gave the manticore everything he had.

Yet it was still a harrowing beatdown — for all he persisted, Porkchop could do little to return the damage in kind.

Kaius took another step, his leg bearing his weight just a little easier — he burst into a run. Another lance of light shot from the far off bunker of his back line, slamming into his chest in a wave of revitalising warmth.

**Ding! You have been Healed by Ray of Tender Recovery - Solar!**

In an effort to stave off the manticore's maul, Porkchop slammed his claws into the ground. A Shardwall erupted, only to shatter under the force of the manticore's slam.

Kaius skidded to a halt, leaning on his Bladerite and Rend as he hacked at the beast's flank. He grit his teeth as every rent he cut and hole he tore burned with fire — the damn beast was a machine! Redoubling his efforts, he shook his head; they could do this. Even if it had a skill that let it fight on through injury, it was injured — covered in dozens of smouldering holes that bled a slow stream of glowing embers.

To his left, he heard Porkchop roar. Energy surged through his brother in a titanic deluge, saturating every fibre of his being. A haze rose from the gaps in his armour as ghostly antlers burst from the tip of his helmeted head. He grew.

Gladespirit, Kaius realised with a lurch.

The sudden burst of power let Porkchop turn the tables — fight the manticore on equal footing, but it couldn't last. His brother's final Skill was expensive; there was no way he would be able to keep it active for long. A minute — maybe two.

Kaius had to make them count.

With their battle relatively static, he burned his last two casts of Zone of Discombobulation, drowning the manticore in a quagmire of confusion. Its reactions slowed, snapping bites and tail-smashes coming clumsily after a short delay.

Reaching for Drakthar, Kaius shoved a Nail into his blade. Tearing barbs roared to life. He cut.

Every torn wound flooded with fire, boiling the flesh of his arms as he rammed his blade near to the hilt in its ribs. His health surged — a cruelty, as nerves were kept in a state of screaming as they were scoured and reborn in an endless cycle.

Swallowing his own screams, Kaius threw himself back as he felt a flare of danger. Fire washed down the manticores flank, gouting from its open jaws as it turned back to drive him off.

It refocused on Porkchop a moment later, sending him stumbling with a flick of its maul. Kaius grit his teeth and dove back in, a Rend covering him in steaming viscera as he expanded the hole in its ribs.

When a scream of fury caught his attention, Kaius watched his brother rip his head away from the Guardian's neck — muzzle bloody and mouth full of flesh. A solar ray slammed into its eye in the same heartbeat, followed quickly by Kenva's Lance of Fury that drove deep into the socket. The arrow shattered, cutting shards driving deep into the creature's skull.

The manticore howled, flailing in pain — giving Kaius a glimpse of the burning hole in its skull. It whipped its tail back and forth, Kaius's heart slamming in his chest as danger flared in his mind.

His reaction was immediate — a Shunt throwing him clear as he refreshed Slip Step in the same moment. Laden with the saturated energy of a Skill, the beast's maul slammed into the ground where he had been standing.

And exploded.

A wave of fire washed over Kaius, concussive shock turning his controlled retreat into a wild tumble through the air. Right as he felt himself start to burn, he flickered — hungry flames tearing nothing but air as he slid into slip-space.

Casting another Shunt, Kaius steadied his flight — burning off his momentum to stumble forwards towards the battle.

Right in time to watch in horror as the manticore spun on its front legs, whipping its tail towards Porkchop's head. His brother ducked at the last moment — he wasn't fast enough, just barely turning it into a glancing blow.

It detonated a moment later, rocking his head back.

Kaius felt his brother's mind go dull and dark as Porkchop slumped. His brother's helm was shattered — curved inwards. Cold dread shot down his spine as he watched blood well up from the cracks.

Another arrow slammed into the open wound in the manticore's eye, but it merely howled — jumping on Porkchop's moment of weakness. Throwing itself bodily into the blow, it whipped its tail into his side with pulverising strength. It hit solid and square. Jade heavy-plate was sundered, Porkchop's ribs caving in and forcing a wet wheeze from his throat.

Another hit like that could kill him.

Kaius tightened his grip on his blade, fury and fear surging through him — washing away the pain of his wounds as he grappled with what he knew he must do.

His blade was too weak. He was low on spells. Porkchop could recover given time, but he had to make time.

Deep within his mind, he reached for the memory of something unknowable and vast.