What had seemed a hopeless situation that could only end in death was slowly shifting, something that even resembled hope. With each light that flared up from her companions, another chance of survival emerged, another fray in the noose that was set for them. 

While the creature’s last attack had knocked back one of their group, ([color=0076a3][i]Nao[/i][/color], a voice both her own and Leto’s whispered to her) the others had rushed in to back her up. Izuki remained up front, taking Mari’s caution to heart and opting instead for more heavy-hitting attacks, causing the beast to snarl and thrash a paw against the blacksmith, the momentum flinging rotting flesh into the air. 

An absent part of her mind was suddenly glad she had a more detached knowledge of this imagery as opposed to seeing it firsthand. But instead of dwelling on that, she focused instead on continuing to search for this thing’s weakness. 

Meanwhile, the others were rising to the occasion and rushing in to help, one by one. The boy, Akito, had seemed to have awoken and thrown up a defensive spell of some sort, several pillars jutting up around each person’s location in her mind’s eye- wait… What was with Akito’s light? It was somehow different from the others. She couldn’t pinpoint a specific shape or attribute to it. At the moment, there was what appeared to be a gust of wind surrounding it, but unlike the others, it didn’t seem to compose his entire essence, rather, it seemed to form a protective shell around him, not unlike the spell ([color=0076a3][i]rakukaja[/i][/color]) he just conjured. 

But there was no time to dwell on that either, as the two other girls, Nira and Yuumei followed into the battle. One emitted a soothing light that enveloped Nao, as the other sent a jet of water shooting towards the creature.

If the endless barrage of light spells from Nao and punches from Izuki harmed it, Yuumei’s aqua caused it to absolutely [i]writhe[/i]. 

A strangled yelp tore from its throat as it thrashed about, smashing into the sides of the car, black, tarring rot dripping from its frame. Slowly, with each sickening splat, the white of bone shone through more and more. It’s ribcage protruded from its chest, showing more of those hideous vines, contorting and squeezing around it. 

For a moment, Mari could swear that she heard a pained whimper emit from the beast. Whether it was from everyone’s attacks or the vines, she couldn’t be sure. 

But that too was drowned out with a snarling roar as it reared upwards. To her horror, she noticed the vines suddenly arching backwards, as if- no, they [i]did[/i] a will of their own. There was a terrible second of stillness before they shot forward, licks of fire winding down the tips. 

They smashed against the protective shield Akito conjured, and to her dismay, it only served to slow their assault rather than stop them completely. They lashed out against everyone who dared stand against the hell hound, slicing and burning as they went. Mari stifled the urge to scream as she saw this happen, the surge of panic suddenly blurring her newfound sight.

No. No, stay calm. She forced herself to suck in a breath. It wasn’t over yet. They could do this. Thankfully, everything came back into focus, allowing her to survey the damage. 

[color=00a99d]“Are you guys okay?!”[/color] She called, voice shakier than what she would have liked. Thankfully, they were all still alive. But some were hurt. Worse than others. 

Okay… Okay. Think, Mari. There has to be something you can do! She tried to coach herself. Searching for its weakness was kind of a moot point now. Yuumei had uncovered that on her own. But that wasn’t going to do much good if they couldn’t recover before it could attack again.

And once more, what felt like a guiding hand drew her to the answer that she somehow knew all along. 

[color=00a99d][b]”Healing Wave!”[/b][/color]

It wasn’t nearly as all encompassing as Nia’s spell, but it washed over the group regardless. Just enough to pull them from the brink of whatever they were about to fall into. It would be okay. It had to be. She turned her attention to their foe again, desperately searching for any more holes that they could exploit. There was a brief twist in her gut when she noticed there was significantly less of the beast’s presence left, but more writhing vines, slowly consuming. 

[color=00a99d]“I… We’re getting there,”[/color] She forced through, trying to ignore the disturbing after effects. [color=00a99d]“About halfway, I think. Water spells seem to be doing the most damage to it.”[/color]