Luna’s screaming echoed off the hills, and down into the canyon. V had crept close enough to the Champion of Vermin that the small mass of creatures near him turned their attention to him instead of Eika’s body. V could really use some of that “council” that L could provide, or really anything to help swing the situation in his favor. The Champion of Vermin slowly attempted to bite Eika again. V figured he was not going to find a better time to strike then this, and he lunged toward the Lord of Vermin. He did not expect his first strike to hit, too much was unknown about the enemy, but he hoped that by aiming directly at the man’s bent over head, he would be able to gauge how fast he could dodge, or perhaps learn of any other additional abilities he might use to dodge. In a way he was correct, The Champion of Vermin’s head snapped to the side, far far past what should be survivable. Much like his rotten eye socket and fetid mouth, his body seemed to be moving more like a corpse then a living creature. “It hurts, you know? This blessing hurts. You made me have to do this. No matter, once I feast upon your bodies, I will be restored.”
Jumping backwards closer to the canyon, the man threw a strange green smoke. Instantly realizing that this must have been what L was hit with, V just barley dodged, the smoke cloud wafted past him and continued into the wilderness. V figured that the man had the… benefits… of a dead body, while still being able to control himself as if he was alive. If this was the case, he wondered if stabbing him would even be helpful. Also, was he purposefully moving toward the canyon? Maybe the Champion intended to try and escape by falling into the canyon should he start to lose this battle. V figured that even if his body exploded on impact, some type of vermin would be able to eat enough of him to trigger his resurrection. As V again wished they had some sort of weaponized fire, The Lord of Vermin’s attention snapped away from V. Grabbing one of the rats at his feet, he threw it with a frightening force, not at V but at the small creature in the air next to him. As V’s brain caught up with the situation, he realized it was Luna. She had launched herself through the air, directly toward the Champion of Vermin. As she passed V, she pushed off of him with one of her arms, twisting in mid-air to avoid the rat projectile.
“You did this! You brought me back, you horrid bastard!” Luna’s voice echoed off the hills again, but it was filled with hatred, anger, and a deep sorrow that utterly confused V. As she rocketed past V’s shoulder and connected with the Champion of Vermin, Luna grabbed his head with her right hand, snapping his head so far backwards it was almost flush with his own back. Using the man’s head as her pivot point, she used her momentum to swing back under the man’s left arm, and brought her knee crashing into his face. V really had no time to consider this absolute insanity, as now that the Champion of Vermin had moved away, a tiny horde of rats and the like started trying to eat Eika. As V quickly dispatched the vermin, Luna screamed again as she rolled away from the man and jumped into a standing position. “I hate you! I HATE YOU!” She sprinted toward the Champion of Vermin, her speed had left him reeling, but not defenseless. The man shot some form of acrid smelling clear slime from his mouth, V was certain he himself would not be able to actually dodge the attack, as it broke up midair in a sort of splatter pattern. As Luna’s eyes blazed silver, she danced through the man’s projectile. Her movements were captivating, like someone dancing through the rain and avoiding every drop as it fell from the sky. As the clear liquid splattered onto the snow and rocks, it hissed and started burning through them.
Luna closed the distance in a moment, she bent backwards and skidded underneath the punch that the Champion of Vermin threw at her. Quickly turning, she kicked the man’s knee, hyperextending it. Although this caused him to stumble for a moment, it obviously was not a particularly huge problem for him; it probably bent that way “normally” in this form. She jumped, doing a front flip over his head, smashing the rock down on his right temporal bone. A wet squelching noise could be heard as Luna quickly dropped the rock. “Gah, this body is so weak…” Luna’s eyes had a tinge of regret, but it quickly turned again to rage. “No! I will never live in that body again!” In Luna’s moment of distraction, the Champion of Vermin had lunged toward her, intending to grab her with both arms. V did not really know what was happening, but figured it would be best to support Luna. After he had killed a few vermin, they had stopped trying to eat Eika, and instead started attacking him, so for the moment, Eika was safe. V threw his sword toward the Lord of Vermin, who defended with one arm, allowing Luna to easily dodge the other arm’s attempt at a grapple. The sword sunk deep into his arm, although once again, this seemed to result in very little to no actual damage. Luna jumped onto the man’s arm, gripping the hilt of V’s sword, she planted her feet on his chest and wrenched the sword as hard as she could. The Champion’s arm did make some strange popping noises and it twisted far beyond the normal angle, but only seemed to cause him a momentary loss of coordination in the arm. Luna pushed off his chest, slamming into the ground. A moment later, the man’s arm was covered in clear liquid, he had spat once again. His arm seemed to be unaffected by his own attack, but Luna had to hit the ground fairly hard to avoid it. “This body just does not have the strength I need.”
“You, caregiver! Do you know how to kill this being yet?” V shook his head as Luna dodged a few more attacks from the Champion of Vermin. “No not really, are you…” V trailed off, now was really not the time to discuss Luna’s situation. Luna made an angry “tch” noise as she continued to dodge the man’s attacks. V was fairly certain that if Luna was not seeing the future, she would have been struck more than a few times, the man’s movements made no sense. Blows that logically would have no strength due to the angle of the strike, were delivered with a high degree of speed and power. His movements and actions were almost totally unpredictable. Well, conventionally unpredictable. “Maybe we have to eat him.” Luna’s words were strained, it sounded like she was in a great deal of pain. “W…What?” V responded reflexively at the repulsive idea. “He was eating Gill- Eika, his monsters eat him. Perhaps the only way to stop him from reviving is to eat him in turn? The only thing we currently have working for us is that this a frozen environment, otherwise there would probably be an uncountable number of vermin helping us. However, if he somehow gets control of the horde in the village, we will lose. We need to find a way to kill him for real. Also, Eika will bleed to death soon unless we give her first aid.” V shook his head, the man’s movements had been getting slightly more refined as he tried to strike Luna, who, for the moment anyway, was still easily dodging him.
“Even if, somehow, somehow, we could manage to eat him. We would definitely die of some horrible disease.” Luna nodded “Yes.” Was her only response. Looking from Eika, to V, to the direction of L, and finally to the canyon. She nodded to herself a second time. “We might not be able to kill this being. However, I will not let my friends die because I was afraid. Not again.” Her voice was filled with malice, if words could cause harm, V believed her voice would be giving him third degree burns. “Do you... have an idea?” Luna moved closer to the canyon. “Yes.” Despite Luna’s sudden and drastic shift in personality, it was obvious what she was thinking. “You uh, think you will survive?” V asked as he glanced at the canyons edge. “No, I can’t imagine I will. Just because I might end up seeing a future where I explode on the ice does not mean I can avoid it. However, the price of my life has always been cheap. Measured in numbers and results, this is no different. My life to save a life. This will be no great loss. This is to save Eika, make sure she survives. I also don’t think this will kill this monster. So, you will either have to figure out a new plan, or simply flee.” Luna edged closer to the canyon as she dodged the man’s attacks. “Luna, I uh, don’t really know what is going on, but I’m sorry it turned out this way.” Luna shook her head “I’m not.”
Running at the man full speed, Luna threw her tiny body at him like a missile, causing them both to tumble to the ground. Luna had chosen the perfect spot for this assault, as it was on an outcrop of rock that sloped downward into the canyon, their flailing bodies tumbled toward the edge of the canyon. For a single moment, it appeared as if the Champion of Vermin halted their fall, his fingers bending backwards, grasping a chuck of stone. However, Luna brought her elbow down on them as she grappled his head. “Why won’t you just die!” With that last, pained outcry, they both tumbled over the edge.
V scrambled, carefully, to the edge of the canyon. Again, the Champion of Vermin had managed to surprise him. A massive set of black feathered wings had burst forth from his back. It was not a clean transformation either. It appeared as if the wings had physically burst forth from the muscles next to his spine. Scraps of flash and skin hung from the wings, blood poured forth from his back, and Luna had stuck her hand into the open wound. However, somehow, the awful, putrid Champion of Vermin was able to stay partially aloft. As Luna tried to bring him down, he glided further north through the canyon. V did not have the time to witness their fate, as he had to tend to Eika.
