Chapter 91: Dead or Alive

Meso would take the first strike, manipulating the sand to explode in front of the trio, allowing it as cover for the Elites to take their chances, with Maxilla weaponizing the bone marrow to act as projectiles, letting it stretch out and fire in spurts, piercing through the minerals with little effort. Sacrum merely threw himself underneath such a wave, his claws opened and ready to stab and pry open a person's body. The other three, however, were prepared, attempting to maintain a similar cooperation attempt, with Stolas shooting the stars and letting it melt into vital parts of the sand, heating it up into glass, nullifying the Mineral Magic, whilst Zazel launched a sigil forward towards the wave, using the glass as an anchoring point to possess the attack altogether. Ennio merely timed and curved his shots overhead so as to attack them from atop, preventing them from moving forward. A Cluster of attacks on both sides, all with varying degrees of success. Realizing such odds, Meso pulled away Talus and Maxilla, kicking his feet upward and launching him up to the sky, the black debris from such bone-like material scattering to the wind. His wounds bled when he jumped, and whilst he winced, he didn't stop himself.

The attacks would connect upon Sacrum, not only landing the shot at his arms, the bullets curved and launched with such similar strength to paralyze the man's arms, but the sigil itself being summoned as a full figure, lines being made across the sand being manipulate to showcase an image. A Nazca Line. More specifically, one of the giant, with a wider body and smaller lines to act as details when the illustration took place. The very sigil was seen amidst the center of this mosaic, gaining full control over the likes of the sand, imprisoning Sacrum. He'd attempt to move his arms and try to cut off his own head, but due to the bullet wounds paralyzing them, he was unsuccessful. The beast made a low groan, graveled due to the sand, as it tried to approach the group upwards, absorbing the nearby sand by extending the lines and shaping them as hands to drag it into itself, gaining height to reach up and attack them. Meso merely tossed Maxilla towards the construct, trusting her in damaging the beast, letting her create a bone-like blade to chop it in half. 

KER-CLANG!!

It was no use. Maxilla witnessed it first-hand that the monster's body was denser than solid steel, more durable than what she is able to cut through. Taking matters into her own hands, she'd immediately switch tactics, watching the mound attempt to consume her whole, aiming her blade to cleave Sacrum's head in half.

SHIKK!!

Despite such a gruesome display, the man's blood dripping down towards the trio, they were not surprised. The bones around Maxilla began to shift and turn itself, being severed as far away as possible from the Nazca Line's clutches. It was being reborn. Meso and Talus quickly threw themselves down to try and secure the bone to ensure Sacrum's revival, yet they were quick to also notice the trio's next choice of actions. Talus threw himself in the front, whilst Meso used the minerals within the black ash, surrounding the two, making it so that whatever attack they unleashed, they'd be warped away somewhere else. Meanwhile, Stolas and Zazel made sure to focus on the monster at hand, whilst Ennio made his way to secure the bone further, shooting bullets not at the duo, but at the bone itself, having them break apart into several pieces, the minerals infused with the bullets taking a string-like shape, almost as if he fired a web. This attack would ensnare the bone, burying it deep within the sand, letting the revival take place underground, where he wouldn't be given a chance to breathe. Zazel and Stolas, as much as they could, would try to do the same thing to Maxilla, having Stolas fire several bullets, letting the cosmic dust and stars take shape in the form of a hand to grappled and mold the Nazca Beast into a ball-like shape, holding it tightly so as to no longer allow further movement.

"So what is that Demon supposed to be anyway? I've never actually seen it before" Stolas would ask, to which Zazel maintained his focus by having the beast spread apart her limbs, before trapping them, preventing her from wiggling out or using her Bone Magic to outgrow itself.

"Eligos. He's like a sentient symbol, if that's what you're looking for." Zazel would answer, providing the demons name, before getting himself ready to summon a second demon, using a sigil Stolas is very aware of. His own Sigil. As it was casted to summon the beast, it would expand the sigil as if it was an open door before breaking out of it, cracks being seen amidst the sigils center. The Cowboy would take notice and try to take advantage of it, approaching Talus and using the Minerals to make them become light, being able to slightly push the 3D shape away to the sigils presence, where Stolas, the Goetia Demon, finally makes its appearance.

The shape of Stolas can only be described as Biblical, an owl-like creature with human-like hands spreading out, feathers adorned like a halo to act as its main body, talons being stretched out and in the hundreds by its numbers, allowing the beast to combine it and act like a separate appendage to wield. The creature itself possessed four eyes, with multiple smaller eyes acting as the very feathers, giving the illusion of an audience staring down at someone. There was no beak, nor was there even a mouth at all, as it simply stared down with its eyes, floating over and reaching its hands to grab and tear apart the mound. Meso, amidst the rumbling, removed his very disguise and pushed himself and Talus out the way, as well as trying to disarm the prison Maxilla was in, buried deep within Eligos. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to. The binds were too much. They ensnared her well. Without question, the beast merely approached the Symbol of War, reaching out its arms to grab and prepare itself to split it in half. Meso threw almost every sand-like attack to halt the ultimatum, but nothing was of use. No matter how much sand, no matter how many weapons it made, it merely grazed the Demon's body. There was but one thing left to do.

RRRRRRRRRRIP!!

The sound of flesh and bone was made as it tore in half, with Ennio shielding the boys eyes from such a gruesome display.

The first of the three Elites was finally dead.