Signal

Not for a second did her cold eyes leave the beast — even resisting the native urge to blink. Slowly, she reversed herself, arms stretched to her sides as if to mark out her surroundings without the need for vision.

Willingly, it shifted towards her, massive arms causing a slight tilt in its body. Bits of its flesh began to writhe away from the rest, consuming the shattered stone that surfaced on the cracked ground.

A hollow lurch echoed out from its body, arms immediately after violently tumbling towards her as if a premonition of attack. She twisted herself, arms flying past, though circling back around for another hit.

Almost as if it was learning, this next swipe was barely scraping against the flooring below.

Now, she had to act.

With a swift leap, she managed to clear the passing arms with ease, positioning herself near to a small column holding up the triforium. The beast swung like a pendulum, using the inertia from its swing to raise its fists high into the air.

Like a guillotine preparing for execution, it towered its fists overhead similar to an omen of death. The looming shadow masking over Rei, she didn't hesitate to churn her still airborne self to the side, placing the back of her foot against the pillar and giving a weighted jump.

Just barely did she manage to escape, the pillar being reduced to nothing but rubble and ruin. She rolled onto the floor — arm covering her eyes to block against the dust and debris being flung into the air.

Even still, she kept moving.

Dashing as far away from the beast as humanly possible, she entered into the slim storage room. The Terror did nothing but follow.

And now, she was cornered. The slim arched door nearly perfectly encapsulated the monster's hulking size, and that was the only exit for her.

"God, I hope this works..." Seren, still watching from above, gave a slight tick. Raising himself from the ground, he shot his head upwards. Eyes widening and chest raising, he finally let out the signal.

"NOW!"

The moment those words hit their ears, all three of them set into motion. With a hefty jump, they pressed each of their weight down onto the ropes lodged into the crevices.

The already-sinking bell suddenly began to topple downwards. With the disheartening snap of damp, rotting wood, the bell was set free from the belfry; Free from its prison.

And with nothing to hold it back, it began to fall.

The width of the bell was just large enough to prevent it from sliding through the large gap by the center of the tower. Viciously did it beat against the edges of the wooden stairs, tearing and ripping apart the wood steps and metal railings as if they were nothing but a hindrance to it.

Rei, standing beneath the bottom of the tower, could already hear the clamoring clunk of the descending bell. Though the wooden flooring above her prevented any form of vision, she already knew time was running thin.

It was now or never.

Hastily did she bait the creature forward, waiting for it to make an attempt for her life. The second one of its colossal arms reached forward, she dropped to the ground below and rolled her body to the creature's feet.

Staring above, she was greeted with the unpleasant sight of the rotting human within — the glow of the lava shining through the remnants of its face as if some twisted jack-o-lantern.

She didn't hesitate in stabbing the beast's chest, one of the arms beginning to come back around and trying to pull her away. Thrusting herself over its shoulder and leaving the knife ingressed into the flesh, she barely managed to escape its hold.

Unfortunately, she retained no stability, crashing onto the floor and being left on the ground.

By now, she had used almost everything to her disposal: The daggers to her own stamina. Her body, though still flowing with adrenaline, slowly began to crumble and give way.

Her tired eyes glared upward just as the beast did the same towards her. It was going for the kill.

Much to her gratefulness, the moment its grotesque foot managed to take one step forward, that's what it happened.

The roof above fell to nothing but splinters.

The crash was practically deafening — nothing but the roars of a pathetic beast ravaging in pain, completely masked by the decimation of wood and stone around it.

Seren ran back, the platform he was on slightly beginning to chip and crumble as if it were to collapse. Such a moment never came, however.

Acher, Nyx and Silas slowly and carefully traced themselves by the towers edge, descending with what little remained of the spiral stairs. Most of their vision was clouded by nothing but dust and smoke.

By the time they had reached the bottom, they aimlessly peered down the hole in the floor and into the storeroom.

They were looking for any sign of life; Something to tell them that the plan and worked for failed.

For a good long while, nothing of the sort came to pass.

That was until the dust began to clear, and the hulking mass from beneath the rubble continued to move. The Coalescence was still alive.

Nyx could feel his heart begin to rip into knots. He felt his eyes widen and his breathing accelerate. 'Was it really all for nothing!?' he thought to himself, 'Can we really not kill it!?-'

As if a direct response to his questions, the slight silhouette of a shadow began to emerge in his vision. At first, he couldn't tell who it was. Once he finally realized, an odd sense of pride began to well up from inside him.

He fell from above, just before the Terror still trying to emerge from the ruins. Lave leaked all over the floor and lighting the tarnished wood aflame, the creature still clearly critically wounded.

It was on its last legs, and Seren was going for the kill.

With a weighting kick against the beast's lobe, Seren jolted both of his guns towards its temple. He gritted his teeth, letting out one final exacerbated laugh before speaking.

"DIE..!"

Without much more of a warning, he began to unload. Bullet after bullet, it seemed as though he was determined to not stop- even after the lava inside of its body began to grow into nothing but a light liquid of warmth.

Even as bits of its bloodied flesh crashed against his face, and parts of his body became scolded by the remnants of heat, he continued.

The only thing that got him to stop was the simple absence of ammo. His gun clicked a few more times on empty before he finally dropped his arms to his side.

One final gasp left his lips and his head hood up into the air. After all that had happened, he could only give one final statement:

"It's dead."