Countless thoughts raced through Leo's mind as the two made eye contact.
` What should I do here? The civilians in the immediate radius are probably dead. Can I go all out without worrying about collateral? Do I even have time to consider any possible survivors? `
Before Leo could process another thought, the Cryptid shot forward at blinding speeds with its claws out forward in the shape of a lance.
Just hardly reacting fast enough, Leo pulsed a wave of Somnia throughout his muscles evenly to pull his sword up.
The monstrous nails slammed into his blade as he shielded his vitals.
Despite being able to block in time, the sheer force of the strike had sent him hurling back with its excess energy.
After flipping several times, Leo caught himself and landed unevenly.
He rapidly scanned the area upon regaining his balance, taking a mental note of the rubble around the Rougarou.
Raising his sword once again, he shot forward with his own attack.
The wolf launched its head forward, teeth bared and the abyss of its throat staring Leo down.
Fainting his attack, Leo slid beneath the jaws as it snapped shut with terrifying power.
Regaining his sprint, Leo coated his blade in thick, flowing flames before making a sizable gash upon what seemed to be the beast's achilles tendon.
The slash was large, but not quite big enough to sever the tendon on its own.
Wincing in annoyance, Leo continued sprinting forward and nearly drifted on the gravel as he ran around a large slab of reinforced concrete.
His hand purposefully swiped across the surface of the slab as he ran past it and emerged from the other side.
As his movements reached the Rougarou's ears, it disgustingly snapped its neck towards his direction and began to fill its air sacs again.
Seeing this, Leo forced Somnia into his hands and made a wide swiping motion.
This caused his secondary Art, Burst, to activate.
Jets of fire shot from the back of the reinforced portion of wall, sending it straight at the Cryptid's torn ankle with immense force.
The rubble exploded on impact, rebar piercing its skin as the leg snapped in two just above the foot.
Having not accounted for the half-filled air sacs, the third screech had pierced Leo's unprotected ears up close.
A mind-splitting ringing slammed his brain directly.
Hunching over, he held his head in pain.
` M-my eardrums! They're…! `
Blood gushed from his ears.
Before he could regain his composure, a massive tail slammed into him.
The point of impact shot blood from his mouth and broke several ribs before shooting him through several mounds of debris.
Landing hard on a bed of bricks and steel, Leo winced as he attempted to force himself back up.
A fierce pain struck him as he stood, causing him to tumble down the hill of rubble.
He put a hand on his right thigh.
` My femur… It's broken. Completely snapped in half. `
He looked up, seeing the Rougarou arching in pain as its stub of a leg dragged against the raw ground.
It slowly turned to Leo with hatred in its gaze.
Clenching his teeth, he pushed Somnia into his thigh and made his muscles constrict against the bone, forcefully mending it back in place with great agony.
He would need immediate medical attention as soon as this was over, but that would have to do for a temporary fix.
He leaned against his blade as he forced himself up, streams of blood rushing from his scalp.
The Rougarou filled its chest with air, but Leo felt something was off with its face.
Suddenly, its muzzle hideously split into four segments; strings of blood stretched from each part like webbing.
Leo's intuition told him that this had to be the Rougarou's more projectile-like usage of its shockwaves.
The air sacs filled to their brim just as Leo stood up, leaving him no time to run.
Just as the beast unleashed its attack, Desmond shot towards Leo and tackled him out of the way and behind a piece of wall.
The blast of air passed by them and slammed through a straight line of buildings, extending the Cryptid's destruction.
Desmond got up and quickly scrambled to his side, shaking him by the collar.
"Leo! Leo, are you okay?!"
Leo swatted his hand away as he coughed violently.
"Y-yeah, yeah. Just stop shaking me like that…"
Desmond took a deep breath, calming himself down upon learning his teacher was okay.
"You shouldn't be here. Where's Caspian?"
Desmond stood with an expression of stubbornness.
"You're my teacher. I can't leave you to die like this. As for Caspian, he's been called by King Henrik."
Leo sighed inwardly, accepting his explanation.
The Rougarou snapped its head around, searching for him.
"Doesn't seem to know where we are," Leo whispered to Desmond.
"My best guess is that its eyes are covered when it splits its mouth like earlier. I'll bait it into doing it again. While it charges up, you run."
Desmon opened his mouth to argue, but Leo barked over him,
"That's an order, god damn it! Just run, Desmond. This is my fault. It's my responsibility to bear! Mine alone!"
Leo gripped the pummel of his blade as he demanded his body to stand back up.
He wiped the blood from his eyes with a fist as he peered over the wall.
To his surprise, the Rougarou had begun to move East and closer to Central Section Three.
Where Maria was.
"Forget the plan. Just run South until you hit the wall. You should be safe there."
Desmond wanted to speak, but his words fell silent. He only stared at Leo with guilt in his fearful eyes.
He curled his hands into fists.
"I'm… I'm sorry…!"
He turned and ran away, nearly falling over his feet as he did.
Leo watched as Desmond disappeared behind the ruins. This lifted a weight from his shoulders.
Turning back to the beast that struggled to walk properly, he grabbed a brick and hurled it at its back.
The small, inconsequential impact was just enough to catch the canine's attention and make it turn to Leo.
He raised his sword towards the beast as he began to recall a memory.
A memory of the strongest person he ever knew.
Pained cries and machines pumping medicine. The sounds of the most devastating nights he had ever witnessed.
Charlotte, ravaged by sickness, had spent months fighting to survive long enough to bring Maria into this world.
Her pale, sweating forehead. Knuckles white from gripping hospital bed sheets. Tear streaks staining her beautiful face.
She gave him a daughter, and in the same breath, gave up her life.
He refocused his eyes as the memory left his view.
` Mine to bear. Mine alone. `
A massive influx of Somnia flooded from his Eidcore into his muscles and mind.
The last bit he had.
His blade exploded into a raging inferno of azure flames, whipping wildly around shining steel.
The Rougarou grinned widely as its air sacs began to rapidly inflate.
` If I can get my flames to a point of heat that spontaneously expands air, I might be able to counter its projectiles. `
The muzzle of the beast split into 4 parts as the air sacs came close to their limit.
Forcing more Somnia into his blade, the blue flames began to turn into a paler shade, nearing pure white.
The Rougarou's body recoiled like a rifle as the torrent of air rushed out of its mouth with a tumultuous howl.
Leo placed a hand on his blade and slammed it forward like a shield against the wave of wind.
Upon impact, the blast exploded into a flash of violet light as it dispersed.
Leo buckled a bit before regaining his footing.
` Shit. I won't be able to do that again... `
His eyes widened as he looked upon the beast's chest. One of its air sacs had ruptured due to the drawback.
A weak smirk grew on Leo's face.
` It seems he won't be able to either. `