Seraphina left a trail of fire as she shot forward. The light sword, now materialized in her hand, seemed capable of cutting through corruption itself.
The Tainted monster dropped the body of the Chosen it had been devouring up until that moment and met her attack head-on.
The bloodied snow lifted into the air from the sheer power of the shockwave that traveled through the artificially created mountain.
Due to the drastic increase in brightness, Azrael was forced to squint his eyes, trying to protect them. Without a doubt, he was about to witness a battle on a scale he had never seen before. Sadly, however, he was still in the middle of combat, he couldn't afford to stare in awe.
Making use of the chance Seraphina had given him, he managed to break his arm free from the monster's jaws.
Trying to get rid of at least one of them, he was about to strike. That plan sadly changed as he saw the Cryothane's mouths beginning to glow.
Reacting on instinct, he ducked, narrowly missing the blue fire the two Twisted monsters had hurled his way.
The tips of his white hair froze. He wasn't surprised that they were able to spew freezing fire. Thanks to Frostflare Flint's description, he had expected something of the sort.
"You are mine," he muttered, eyes narrowing as he positioned himself just below the closer beast's neck.
His scythe blurred through the air, a second later it slit the creature's throat. Freezing blood fell onto Azrael's body, covering him in an instant. Had it not been for the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he would have frozen on the spot.
"One more," he growled, unwilling to rest even for a second. His gaze locked onto the second beast, ready to strike again.
Unfortunately for him, while Seraphina was able to keep the Tainted monster at bay, as a consequence of her battle, it was too loud to hear the third Cryothane that had appeared behind him.
He took an involuntary gasp, his right shoulder was pierced by the abomination's tail, making his grip falter.
However, he didn't let go.
Going against his instincts, he stepped backward, the tail piercing deeper into his shoulder as he twisted his body to the side.
His eyes landed on the inside of the crimson, opened maw that was about to close on him. Thanks to his body reacting faster than his thoughts, the tip of the scythe had entered the monster's head that had managed to ambush him.
Before the Cryothane's jaws could snap shut, its eyes widened—and it died on the spot.
The monsters didn't let him rest, Azrael felt pain as his left heel was pierced by the first Cryothane, lifting him off the ground.
"Troublesome," he cursed as he was driven into the earth, feeling as though his spine was about to break.
The Cryothane roared, lifting him again from the ground before slamming him down once more.
In quick succession, he was lifted—only to be brought down again. Each hit felt more devastating than the last, either because the monster was becoming more enraged… or because he was growing weaker.
"Just die!" he roared, eyes blazing with rage. His body tensed, sending his weapon flying toward the monster.
Azrael knew that throwing your weapon was a foolish choice—normally. But desperate situations demanded desperate actions.
The blade of the scythe burned into the monster's snout, forcing it to halt its movement for a second.
Unwilling to let the opportunity slip, he freed his heel and charged. Exhausted hands gripped his scythe once more, dragging the weapon forward and leaving a bloody trail behind.
Another roar escaped the Cryothane's jaws.
"Pest."
Azrael managed to drive his weapon into the abomination's brain, killing it instantly.
His lips parted, sucking in hoarse, ragged breaths. His lungs felt like they were burning. Blood flowed down his countless injuries as he tried to steady his pounding heart.
"What the hell…?"
Even though he had been trained to contain his emotions to an eerie degree, etched into him by his guardian, he found himself unable to. The world seemed to disappear from his vision, everything blurring at the edges.
Having a dreadful realization of the cause, he glanced at his corruption progression.
Corruption Progression: [80/100]
"Very bad," he muttered, unable to stop himself from cursing his luck. The corruption was nearly full. If it reached full saturation, he would no longer be the same. No doubt.
"I have to kill…"
His voice grew heavy, eyes landing on the only salvation in sight.
His Purity progression was at 6. He needed 94 more to Rank up otherwise the Corruption would eventually overtake his mind.
There weren't 94 Chosen around. But there was someone else… A person with a Cleansed Purity Rank—Seraphina that was still in the middle of dueling the Tainted monster.
Should Azrael slay her he would instantly Rank up his Purity. Defeating someone above your Rank gave ten times the progression. If he killed a normal Chosen he would get 1 point, a Blessed individual would net him 10 and a Cleansed one would reward him with a 100.
'Attacking while she's fighting a Tainted monster is a bad idea,' he thought, mind spinning, overclocked by desperation
There was always the option to wait for her to win and then strike, but that would mean she wouldn't be distracted. Can he kill a Cleansed person while he himself was just Chosen?
Unlucky for him, there wasn't time to think, five more Cryothanes appeared in his field of vision, their eyes locking onto him. He could fight, but not kill them, otherwise the Corruption would overtake him.
'No choice.'
With no other option left, he charged. His left heel screamed in protest, but held on. The advantage of the cold was that the blood falling from his wounds had frozen, preventing him from dying from blood loss for now.
Five maws and tails shot toward his figure, testing his evasion abilities to the limit. In the span of a second, he found himself with dozens of shallow cuts all over his body. He wasn't sure if the weakness he was feeling in his body was because these creatures were capable of poisoning him, or if this was just exhaustion.
Nevertheless, he kept on going.
Making his body low, he passed under one of his foes, a scythe leaving a deep wound on one of its legs, slowing down its movements. A heartbeat later, he found himself on the top of another, his scythe already slashed across its eyes, blinding it.
A terrifying chill passed over his head as he barely managed to evade the freezing fire that had been hurled his way.
His eyes, however, remained locked onto the Tainted monster. The battle hadn't lasted long, but the creature was already heavily wounded. The most damaging injury was its cut off right hand, its feet had turned from pale white to coal black, being scorched by Seraphina's flames.
Filling his lungs with the cold air, he pushed his body to the limit, managing to pass under the Tainted monster's legs. His tattered clothes ignited briefly from Seraphina's nearby flames.
However, due to the coldness he had been feeling just a few seconds ago, he wasn't fazed by the heat for several seconds.
And that was all the time Azrael needed.
Silent as death, he reached Seraphina's side, eyes blazing with hunger for her tempting soul.
Despite being in the middle of battle, she didn't miss Azrael's sudden appearance; her gaze moved from the monster to him.
"Oh?" she mused, "I guess you reached your limit. Well, to be honest, you might be the first to last for so long."
Her lips moved, yet Azrael didn't hear her. His focus was unwavering, eyes cold and calculating, and body tensed to the limit. Not caring for the consequences later, he tried to do everything he could to even out the Purity and Corruption in his soul.
So he did the only thing that might save him.
He struck.