There was no sound to be made as her eyes narrowed to observe the eyeless face of the lowly creature which stood before her, black body blending with the shadows around them, save the faint crimson luster of the stone at its underbelly.
In an instant, it's jaws parted with a shriek--diving forth in one telegraphed motion in a single-minded attempt to quell the only being which could break through its wall of defense.
Erviel sidestepped at the last second, twirling both body and blade, eyes flashing with lilac flames as she raised it high to slice through the beast's side--a geyser of hot-black ichor exploding outwards, accompanied by a frenzied roar from the augmented beast.
Ilvir seemed to have anticipated being the target of the beast's rage, given the light he radiated, yet his dodge had been for naught, as he observed its hate for the entity who had accompanied him thus far--the 'Betrayer.'
It's tail whipped outwards from behind her, the effort rewarded with a dodge from Erviel--unlengthened hand gripping tight at the appendage's raised tip in the midst of her descent--a rush of leaking strength flooding her facsimile of a body--cloak billowing as gargoyles swooped from all directions, their screeches mixing with the roars of their adversities, flooding the courtyard in a symphony of hatred.
Time diluted, her blade raising high and true--the back of the beast's head her mark. A tug, and it was pulled toward her--iron grip released on its tail as she landed upon its back and plunged--a brilliant black blossom erupting from the front of its open maw.
Pulling her blade from the creature's skull, the petals of the wilted flower splashed underfoot as she landed on the ground, spinning to face the writhing creature--sharpened arm angled forward, a surge of Corruption lengthening it further.
The beast gave a spasmodic jerk, losing balance upon trying to regain its center of gravity, collapsing to its forelimbs with a pained wail--granting Erviel more than enough of an opening to skewer her spear clean through it's ribs; pushing forward with a roar to carve through flesh and armor alike, the crimson orb at its belly pierced with a single strike as she tore her blade free, retreating in a shower of black petals that were no sooner a pile of droplets staining the ground in a glorious puddle.
There was no time to waste observing the corpse dissipate as another beast took its place--dodging as a clawed hand reached for her--jabbing her spear-arm forward in retaliation, piercing through its head, driving further 'till the tip burst from the soft underbelly of the black creature and its core--joining its slain brethren in death.
With one cut down, another beast took its place. And another. And another. And another.
By themselves, they had been simple enough to take down. Though now, Erviel stood with her back against Ilvir's, a ring of the creatures circling them, the stone legion overhead far too preoccupied with lending aid to their own to help.
"Goddamn bastards just keep coming…"
Maw clenched right, the corruptive spear her arm had formed into retracting into a blade once more, craning her neck to meet the uncertain look the paladin beside her had been giving her; a cryptic nod downwards being his only hint as she returned her focus back to the creatures enclosing on them.
To her unvoiced relief, Ilvir in a single motion, lifted both hands with open palms--releasing a bright flash of holy light--blinding the chain around them.
Only seconds to lose, Erviel careened towards the beast possessing the misfortune to be closest to her, sliding around to its side with her blade-arm lifted before bringing it down to behead the creature in one fell swoop--leaving a pouring stump at its neck, allowing the tainted fluid which leaked forth to pile at the ground.
A stomp, and the thickening puddle rose before her to form a solidified, cylindrical wall of corruptive blood, her voice rising as she issued a single command to the paladin in front of it, her untransformed arm reared back.
"Duck!"
Ilvir did so, and Erviel punched.
All at once, the fluid-like barrier exploded outward into a crescent-shaped wave of destruction, soaring above the paladin and tearing mercilessly into the ring of beasts around them--slinking right past their exterior to shatter the orbs which made up their being, if not bisecting them entirely.
Recovering without strain from the exertion, Erviel spun as a deep growl flooded the courtyard--the lumbering frame of the beast which had been the leader of the masked cultists rising to its feet to take on a bipedal stance, one which towered over even the mightiest of the stone gargoyles.
The orb once at its stomach drew toward the center of its chest, and then inwards as an armor-like plate formed and solidified across its torso. And from the two glimmering red lights which formed at its face, the beast glared at the Betrayer, the deep crimson glow from within its body growing richer, until deep vermilion flames whisked out from the sides of its open maw.
"Pissed, huh?" Erviel smirked, extending a limb to lengthen its blade into a spear once more, angling it forth. "Good. Makes you easier to kill."
Whether a wail of anguish for its cohorts deaths or a screech of unrestrained hate toward her taunt, the giant beast started forth, the ground vibrating with each step it took, a clawed arm rearing back, fingers pressed into a fist that was soon brought down upon the cloaked figure before it--lifted after having pounded to realize it had missed its mark entirely.
It would not get a chance to register fully, as a flash of holy light from the accursed paladin's hands blinded its sight--distorting its senses and sending its mind into a frenzy as eons of time under the Corruption were momentarily disrupted, the sense of power and pleasure leaving a disoriented mind without anything.
A roar of pain erupted from its maw as it staggered back, one hand grasping at its head, another swinging at whatever dare come near, any gargoyles careless enough to get close were swatted out of the air like flies.
But that light--if it could just stop that light...
No sooner was Ilvir left hopeless as the giant's wild thrashing stopped, its crimson gaze focused entirely on him--a fist already flying toward him to smash him to a pulp. A gasp, and the paladin grunted as he felt something smash into the side of his jaw with such force he found himself flung a few feet back--eyes widening as it had been none other than Erviel who had kicked him to safety. Mere seconds seemed to stretch into minutes as he recoiled from the strike, yet still the paladin knew he needed to act--throwing a palm forth to let a blast of radiant light scar the beast’s eyes once more.
It let out a screech of pain before it fell back, allowing Erviel to parry its strike--though not without harm--the spear-like construct her arm had formed into snapping like a twig from the sheer force of the beast's blow--having used it to deflect most of the impact.
"Shit!"
The Betrayer refused to falter, pain stifled behind a frustrated curse. Her arm which had remained unchanged morphed into a thick blade to take the other's place, and with a cry, she bounded up the creature's arm--leaping upward with a spin to plunge its tip into the glimmering eye of the giant.
A roar shook the courtyard, and Erviel hopped down from the creature's face--tearing her morphed arm free after twisting it out of spite, landing with her back toward it.
For a moment, she seemed to waver as if in a daze, the blade of her arm losing consistency as she glimpsed the mangled, broken heap of what remained of her primary limb, still morphed into the shape of a spear--as though the pain of such a wound had only now begun to register.
Ignorant of the beast which had already recovered from her attack, the crimson glow in its maw spilled free as its jaws parted--a torrent of velvet hellfire erupting to engulf the Betrayer.
"Erviel, behind you!"
Ilvir's voice came a second too late as she heard his yell--her head whipping back, eyes widening to meet the approaching ball of flame head-on.
"Oh fu--"
Words that could have been better spent toward an attempt at avoidance, were lost to the blaze which consumed her. A scream tore through the courtyard, leaving Ilvir aghast with despair as the giant let free a triumphant roar, the wisps of hellfire dying away as those of the stone legion erupted into action in a bid to quell the flames with their wings.
They would not make it, however, as a brilliant shower of lavender light erupted outwards, blinding all in its wake, leaving Ilvir a prone mess on the ground, dazed as he scrambled to his feet, yet alert as he found himself entranced by the radiance flooding the room, his hairs standing on end.
For this light, he realized, was not the same as the light he'd worshipped as a paladin, but instead something far more incomprehensible. Something not quite holy, yet not quite corruptive either.
A flash, and a screech of the beast as it recoiled, a thick blade of solidified corruption embedded into its left eye, the same which had been stabbed seconds ago, reducing it to a staggering mess as it tried to tear the construct free.
In awe, Ilvir's maroon eyes drifted back to the light, as did those of the gargoyles, and the remaining one of the beast.
From where the obliterated and ashen remains of Erviel should have rested--from where the lilac glow was the brightest--emerged a young woman, hair which framed her face and cascaded over her shoulders white as snow--lavender eyes alight with such fury they nearly matched the light of the stone which dangled across her chest. A cloak of lavender lay draped over her left arm, plates of black armor adorning both shoulders, whilst more crawled along her right arm, contrasting the white clothing otherwise adorning her body--the grey cloak concealing her previous form now a tattered pile beneath her booted feet.
The paladin could barely even believe his eyes, yet the sheer anger he glimpsed within the young woman's eyes, the stone which illuminated that strange light, the overpowering aura of corruption she gave off, and her right arm which was extended outward, lengthened into a dark blade aimed toward the giant beast...
"E-Erviel…?"
She either didn't hear him, or willfully remained silent to his shock--her lavender gaze focused firmly upon the crimson-eyed giant who had recovered from the abuse to its left eye, the only remaining light being that of its right.
"What a pain in the ass…"
The white-haired woman wasted no more time as she darted forth, the splash of fresh corruptive blood staining the floor not evading her attention any longer, trailing the tip of her blade along the ground, before halting and swinging it upwards--a crescent-shaped blade echoing her slash, slicing through the beast's raised arms and rupturing the plate shielding the core within its chest.
This time, it fell flat on its back, causing the whole room to shake. With it, Erviel bounded into the air a final time, her arm's blade surging into a spear once more, plunging into the giant's core, ripping it free to raise it high--before she flung it onto the stone pathways of the courtyard--smashing it to bitter pieces.
Though she prepared to leap off the giant's corpse--a gasp slipped from her lips as something large swooped down from above her--shoulders gripped by a pair of large stone claws which lifted her into the air. Any and all instinct to disembowel the creature who had the idiocy to catch her off-guard were discarded as Garth's deep voice flooded her ears, a vague hint of surprise in his tone.
"Heh, so this is how you really look then? Not what I expected, to say the least."
"That a problem?" Erviel refrained from smirking, gripping the stone across her chest instead. "The hell were you doing this whole time anyway?"
"Me? Couldn't help but sit back 'n watch you work. Looks like you were having one hell of a time down there." He grinned as her head craned back to meet his face, the script along his body a rich violet. "Still though, must've been a pain keepin' a disguise like that stable for so long… Even managed to fit some clothes under there too. How's that even work?"
"Yeah, I don't think I need to explain anything." She frowned, observing the aftermath of the chaos below them and reinforcing the edge of her transformed arm with another surge. "It was more of a failsafe. But now it's ruined, I'm pissed, and now you should fucking drop me!"
"No point in stoppin' now, eh? Shouldn't be much further."
"Yeah, as long as these bastards don't keep getting in my fucking way."
Garth nodded, the runes along his body returning to a shade of crimson--continuing to soar along the stretch of the underground courtyard, reaching a low enough altitude to where he released his grip and allowed her to land safely.
Ilvir was by her side in an instant, a few other gargoyles accompanying him, the tubby one, Worc she believed was his name, though they seemed to relent in their questions as she rose to her feet, her blade pointed toward the ground, nearly obscured by the violet cloak adorning the arm it belonged to.
She paid them no mind, instead focusing on the path which led further in--closer toward her goal.
She didn't need the paladin to check anymore. She knew. It wouldn't be long now.
She could feel it.
Feel him.