Elhirut's swing worked just as planned - the glowing blade scythed out, and tore clean into the charging Lamalice, shearing it clearly in two as it erupted into a cloud of dark energy that swirled about the battlefield. The missiles hurtled forward into its brother, downing it as well in a storm of flame. More beams lanced out at the two - but Elhirut found their progress impeded, as the Meyven's Zeidram interposed itself between him and the monsters, intercepting the blasts with its arms wrapped around itself, peals of darkness leaving dark burns across its surface as he shielded the young man.
"Hold your fire. I'll handle these monsters!"
Even so, it hardly deterred him from dealing with the remainder. The twin-barreled plasma cannon's barrel lit up like a lantern - and a sustained blast of fiery death erupted forth, held tightly in both the machine's arms as it vented excess heat from its sides, swept from side to side. Every Lamalice that it caught was incinerated completely, screaming in futility as it was reduced to little more than piles of ash. At length, he lowered the superheated weapon, now glowing a bright red, Madin grimacing at the readout displayed in the cockpit... but, as the Zeydram turned its attention to the foe once more, Madin's words weren't concerning the state of his own machine.
"...Look. The rest, they've... Stopped."
Sure enough, the remaining Lamalice… Had halted. As if heeding some unheard call, they had instead turned towards the strange "growth."
Visible now, only to Elhurut, was the contagion that had been spreading across the battlefield... as it began to snake away from between his fingertips, around their machines, like water down a drain, as it was drawn into the surface of the tumor. Its foul surface rippled as it inhaled the dark mist, concentrating it, forming it into... something. Yet, the contents of these sacrifices alone must not have been enough.
The three Lamalice standing stock still barely even reacted when, with horrifying suddenness, a series of black tendrils burst from its surface. Craven, rubbery whips, they reached out, stabbing into the creatures - and snapped them forward, in a matter not unlike a frog's tongue, dragging them too into its surface, where they were quickly subsumed by the roiling mass.
"Great Cosmos...!"
In Elhirut's ears, a slow, heavy noise began to echo - unmistakable to any human being, yet at the same time wholly alien.
Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump.
The surface of the growth - no, the egg - seemed to darken then, as it slowed its ceaseless movement, crumpling inward in preparation...
Then, just as the concentration of dark energy had reached its peak, it finally happened.
In a flash, a clawed, white hand erupted from the surface, the rupture fountaining ink-like blood. It stretched out into the void, before curling into a fist. A series of cuts - like those made by a razor - materialized across the lump's exterior - and in mere moments, it detonated as well, in a cloud of dark, gelatinous ooze. What remained, crouched amongst the ruins of its shell, as it raised its head to look at them...
"Hold your fire. I'll handle these monsters!"
Even so, it hardly deterred him from dealing with the remainder. The twin-barreled plasma cannon's barrel lit up like a lantern - and a sustained blast of fiery death erupted forth, held tightly in both the machine's arms as it vented excess heat from its sides, swept from side to side. Every Lamalice that it caught was incinerated completely, screaming in futility as it was reduced to little more than piles of ash. At length, he lowered the superheated weapon, now glowing a bright red, Madin grimacing at the readout displayed in the cockpit... but, as the Zeydram turned its attention to the foe once more, Madin's words weren't concerning the state of his own machine.
"...Look. The rest, they've... Stopped."
Sure enough, the remaining Lamalice… Had halted. As if heeding some unheard call, they had instead turned towards the strange "growth."
Visible now, only to Elhurut, was the contagion that had been spreading across the battlefield... as it began to snake away from between his fingertips, around their machines, like water down a drain, as it was drawn into the surface of the tumor. Its foul surface rippled as it inhaled the dark mist, concentrating it, forming it into... something. Yet, the contents of these sacrifices alone must not have been enough.
The three Lamalice standing stock still barely even reacted when, with horrifying suddenness, a series of black tendrils burst from its surface. Craven, rubbery whips, they reached out, stabbing into the creatures - and snapped them forward, in a matter not unlike a frog's tongue, dragging them too into its surface, where they were quickly subsumed by the roiling mass.
"Great Cosmos...!"
In Elhirut's ears, a slow, heavy noise began to echo - unmistakable to any human being, yet at the same time wholly alien.
Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump.
The surface of the growth - no, the egg - seemed to darken then, as it slowed its ceaseless movement, crumpling inward in preparation...
Then, just as the concentration of dark energy had reached its peak, it finally happened.
In a flash, a clawed, white hand erupted from the surface, the rupture fountaining ink-like blood. It stretched out into the void, before curling into a fist. A series of cuts - like those made by a razor - materialized across the lump's exterior - and in mere moments, it detonated as well, in a cloud of dark, gelatinous ooze. What remained, crouched amongst the ruins of its shell, as it raised its head to look at them...