**Nephis's POV – A Dance of Blood and Steel**
The world narrowed to the rhythm of battle—the pounding of her heart, the rush of blood in her ears, the sharp tang of ichor in the air. Nephis tightened her grip on her sword, the familiar weight a cold comfort against the chaos around her.
Ares was gone, a distant blur leading the Centurion away. She trusted his strength, but the gnawing unease in her chest refused to fade. No. She crushed the doubt before it could take root. Cold logic washed away every unnecessary burden, leaving only murder.
The first Carapace Scavenger lunged, its massive pincer slicing through the air like a guillotine. Nephis twisted, mud and water exploding where the chitinous claw smashed into the ground. Her sword flashed—a single, precise cut—severing the tendon connecting pincer to limb. The beast shrieked, ichor spraying in a black arc, but she was already moving.
A pivot. A thrust.
Her blade punched through its bulbous eye, sinking deep into the gelatinous brain beneath. A twist of her wrist turned its skull to pulp.
No time to celebrate.
Movement in her periphery—two more scavengers, flanking her, pincers snapping shut like steel traps. The first missed by a hair's breadth, carving a furrow through her cloak. The second came too fast.
*Clang!*
Her sword met chitin in a shower of sparks, the impact shuddering up her arms like a hammer strike. The force launched her back, boots skidding through mud. Pain flared in her shoulders, her bones protesting, but she swallowed it. Pain was nothing.
She barely had a breath before two more shadows loomed—ravenous, relentless.
Two scavengers were rushing towards her, desiring nothing more than to satisfy their endless hunger, yet before they could get any closer, their vision blurred as a figure crashed into them.
Sunny's echo tackled the two monsters to the ground, it's pincers already ramming themselves visciously onto them, pinning one of them and destroying the head of the other in a gory mess.
The pinned scavenger's flailing and wailing stopped abruptly as an azure sword plunged into one of its eyes, silencing it for good.
Sunny yanked her blade free, chest heaving, eyes locked on the beasts circling them. Ten left.
Cassie's voice cut through the din, strained and cracking slightly from the tension, her enhanced hearing catching the sound of sudden movement . "Left!"
Nephis was already on the move.
A scavenger's pincer grazed her side, slicing her bare skin. Warmth bloomed across her ribs, but she barely felt it. Her sword carved upward, splitting the beast's underbelly open in a gush of black viscera.
Nephis was a storm of blades—swift, brutal, her azure sword flickering like lightning, being in the forefront meant facing the beasts head on, tanking, killing and providing sunny the opportunities to finish off or target their weakspots. They moved in tandem, a lethal dance of steel and survival. Every step, every slash, was a gamble.
A pincer clipped Nephis's shoulder. White-hot pain. She gritted her teeth, countering with a downward slash that cleaved through the attacker's leg. It stumbled, screeching, only for Sunny to finish it with a stab through the throat.
Sunny's Echo snarled, intercepting another scavenger mid-lunge, buying them seconds.
But exhaustion was creeping in. Their breaths came ragged. Muscles burned. Every block sent fresh tremors through battered arms.
Yet they couldn't stop.
Nephis and Sunny moved like ghosts, their movements intertwined into an act of slaughter, their blades carving themselves into the beasts, yet nothing was free.
They were outnumbered, they did well, but advancing while blows and tons of weight fell on them constantly made them tire out quickly, especially while protecting the blind seer.
And so the bloody combat continued...
.
.
.
.
The last scavenger finally fell, its head rolling into the rising water. Nephis swayed, her vision swimming for a moment before she forced clarity back.
No rest. No respite.
The floodwaters surged higher, hungry waves lapping at their ankles.
They were injured and beyond bruised, it was hard to even stay standing, yet they couldn't, they mustn't fall.
Sunny's gaze darted toward Ares's distant figure, her jaw clenched. Nephis grabbed her arm before she could speak.
"We move. Now."
Sunny's protest died unspoken. There was no choice, a bitter remainder to their weakness.
The cliff loomed above them—sheer, unforgiving. Their fingers dug into crumbling rock, muscles screaming as they hauled themselves up. Every slip was death. Every hesitation, a sentence.
Below, the sea roared, a monstrous tide rising to claim them.
Nephis's hands bled. Her body ached.
But she climbed.
Because the only way out was through.