[center][h3][color=lightblue]Nicholas[/color][/h3]
[b][HP: 500 - SP: 4/6][/b]

[i]Unknown Location[/i][/center]
[hr]

One slash and it seemed to be over, the humanoid's neck severed, its form melting before his eyes. For a few moments, Nicholas let confidence and excitement wash over him, same as the others, same as the priestess who had been just as successful with her enemy and smiled at him in a way that left him with no choice but to respond in kind.
Some of them, he realized, had never fought anything like this before, may have never even ventured outside Armistice before. They had brushed aside the thin veil of safety that was the city wall and, for the first time, saw the world for what it truly was, what it held in store for all of them... and how exhilerating it could be to defeat something of otherworldly power, how sweet the sensation of not only cheating death but laughing in its face when it sent beings their way that had all but destroyed human civilization and yet you cut them down with ease.

He noticed that his body was warming up but it probably wasn't just due to the priestess' attractiveness - His armor, his swords, his shield, together they amounted to about half his body's weight without them and moving quickly in them was exhausting, even for a seasoned fighter. Considering the blow of the creature, the violence he had to withstand, Nicholas wasn't surprised to find himself beginning to sweat and breath just a little heavier than before.
But it wasn't so bad that he couldn't hide it still and he winked at the priestess again, as if to say 'See, that wasn't so bad'.

In hindsight, he should have waited a little longer with that; not only was Marcus still facing one of the faceless with considerably more difficulty than the rest of them but Nicholas' own liquified foes had gathered themselves, literally, not far from them, growing and taking a new shape, more imposing and terrifying than the last.
[color=lightblue]"Oh, for fuck's sake"[/color], he murmured under his breath as he returned to his combat stance.

The mercenary had seen and fought something vaguely similar to this before, a creature made entirely of slime and magic, though there had been one critical difference: The beast he had faced then was only about the size of a dog. That said, it had been a brutal fight still, the creature changing shape and taking blows from the sword like it was nothing, moving with devillish speed and, once it caught hold of one of his companion's legs, melting it right off, absorbing it, eating him alive.

Nicholas hoped against hope that this being didn't share the last trait with its relative, although he did remember the weakness its cousin had had, their salvation... and the priestess' seemed to have the exact same idea a few seconds before him, warning them to stand back as she started her assault. He admired her spirit and, even though he was confident in his magic, assumed that he would be no match for somebody who had done nothing but prepare their body and mind to act as a conduit for raw arcane power. What he did know, however, was how weak this energy could leave its user. 
Maybe her attack would succeed and destroy it but if it did any less than that, she would be leaving herself wide open for a counterattack that, even if the being didn't possess the combined strength of the faceless enemies, could be deadly.

That was why Nicholas ignored the red-head's warning and stormed right after her, his sword in hand still but his entire focus on his left arm, ready to raise his shield in her defense or to tackle her and pull her out of harm's way - though he hoped that neither would be necessary.