For a man who looked like he might fall apart any minute, the Splatterer was mighty fast. Lychinus’ lunge sailed past him, hitting nothing. He brought himself to an abrupt stop, right next to his opponent and a foot or two above the ground. He’d been prepared from the start to protect against a counterattack, but he hadn’t expected the monstrous being to possess such solid fighting technique. Before he could really steel himself, a massive elbow was coming his way with the force of a cannon. At the last moment, Lychinus turned and raised his body, causing the attack to strike his upper arm instead of his throat. There was a crack of impact, and Lychinus’ layer of flesh was shredded off around the affected area, pulverized by the sheer force, revealing the glowing crystalline structure underneath. He instinctively supplied power to his wings, imposing a strong but gentle deceleration on himself, to keep from being launched backwards. He didn’t absorb the full force, but was violently swayed backwards several feet, before bringing himself and the Splatterer back to a halt. His immensely durable core had resisted the strike without breaking, but it immediately felt bruised and sore, if such words could be used to describe an inorganic being. He felt the Splatterer’s burning aura now that he was so close, the heat and radiation streaming off his body. To call it unpleasant was an understatement, but Lychinus could withstand it. He considered taking another stab at its chest, but at this point he figured it wasn’t going to be that simple. Instead, something important now stood out to him: the monster had only one arm. With a rapid motion, he curled his left arm, with which he had blocked the attack, outwards and up, trying to wrap it around the elbow that was still pressed against him, trying to immobilize the creature’s one good arm. It was a somewhat awkward grip, but Lychinus brought a lot of strength to bear. From there, he lifted his sword with his other hand and made a quick stab for the monster’s right shoulder, the mobility of which would be hindered by the constriction of his arm.