[h2][center]Geralt of Rivia[/center][/h2]
[center]Carcass Isle[/center]
[center]Lvl 8 (76/80) -> Lvl 8 (80/80) [/center]
[center]Word Count: 725 words[/center]

"I see." Was all Geralt said in reply to Bowser, not for a moment believing the extremely half-assed excuse that the Koopa King gave. Not that it really bothered him, stopping the big, dumb, loveable idiot from going through with it in the first place was enough. With Link taking advantage of their quick conversation to put himself, the (relatively) tiny human, in between this thing and the Giant Turtle Monster Thing and the Giant Mutated Superhuman, Geralt had to suppress a chuckle. Typical hero behavior. Still, he'd seen Link take and deal some incredible damage, so it wasn't entirely crazy. 

As the thing burst forward in a surge of speed that shocked even Geralt, the Witcher dodged to the side of the immense swing, even if he was a bit out of its range. The sheer speed with which the Guardian moved had prompted an instinctive abundance of caution, and Geralt cursed as he saw in his peripheral vision as Link was smacked away. Moving in to swing at the Orphan, Geralt was forced once more to dodge as it swung its placental weapon in a wide arc, unwilling to risk taking a blow like that head-on. 

Transforming his momentum from the dodge into a pivot and slice, Geralt scored a shallow cut with the tip of his blade along the Orphan's side, which let out a small burst of blood, before he was forced to move once more. Each dodge was barely sufficient, with the wind force of the Guardian's blows pushing Geralt's hair out of the way. Without the Cadet's help, he likely would have been forced to take some of those blows with a parry or even block. While he was confident in his strength, especially with the boost from the Harbor Demon, that would be pushing it. 

As he danced with the thing, however, his allies were less able to avoid its blows, being more willing to fight aggressively than he was. That resulted in the unfortunate effect of them being systematically and brutally being thrown from the fight with extreme violence. Bowser's shell got cracked, Nadia had to dismember herself to avoid it being done forcefully, and he was worried that Sakura had outright been killed for a split second before remembering that she had some sort of strange life force protecting her. 

For a moment, his heart [i]pounded[/i] in his chest as he moved to take the Guardian's attention off his allies, and his steps seemed to lighten as he moved. When he stepped in to attack, Geralt waited for the moment after one of the Orphan's more enthusiastic strikes landed before swinging his blade at the Guardian, carving a line through its torso before the placenta was suddenly spun around like a flail and coming directly for him. 

Desperation brought his blade between them, catching the swinging weapon on the flat and [i]forcing[/i] it to the side with a herculean effort as Geralt stepped past it. Momentum still bled through, though, and the sheer power behind the blow shattered Quen's shield. Ignoring the risk now present in taking another blow, Geralt quickly cast the Sign of Igni, unleashing a haphazard blast of fire at point-blank range into the Orphan. 

Not risking the hesitation, Geralt's sword came down on the Orphan in a one-handed swing, rending another line through the Guardian and drawing blood. As the placenta was lifted in an overhead swing, Geralt quickly raised his blade again, both hands behind it, and forced the weapon off to the side again, though the force left a ringing in his bones and made his teeth clatter like mad. 

By now, Link was returning to the fray, and Geralt was already feeling the effort of even parrying this thing's blows. Whatever power Galeem granted his Guardians, it was far beyond anything he'd ever seen in a man or an elf. 

"Damn thing won't slow down!" He bit out, half-dodging a blow and being sent spinning into the sand for it. Forcing himself back up with fury in his eyes and an ache in his side, Geralt called upon Fizz to join Nadia in dealing quick, light blows to the enemy. 

There was no reprieve for the Seekers of Light, and Geralt kept his other Strikers in mind, carefully conserving that resource for when the time was right.