Prodding the burgeoning fire with a stick, Lauri let out a satisfied breath as he felt the warmth begin to lap at his frosty cheeks. Seeing Lauri's expression of bliss, Danse gave him a surprised look.
"I didn't expect a fire to make you so happy, Captain."
Looking up to Danse, who was leaning against the side of the Rhino, Lauri simply smiled.
"What's there not to be happy about? A nice reprieve from this frigid world as we wait for Sansa to spot the horde of Nightmare Creatures we've been sent to deal with. Speaking of. Hey, Sansa! See anything yet?"
Calling to the woman standing atop the Rhino, Sansa lowered the binoculars she had been using to survey the surroundings. Unlike Lauri's bright demeanour, hers was rather sour. They had been waiting atop the mountain pass for some time, and still there was no sign of the horde.
"Nothing yet, I'm starting to wonder if we picked the wrong spot to stake out. What are we supposed to do if they are moving through a different mountain range?"
Lauri and Danse both looked out over the mountains that seemed to go on into the distance. The Antarctic Centre was known for its mountain ranges. Still, it seemed that this particular region the cohort had found themselves in was nothing but one continuous mountain range, so instead of running around the base of the mountains and potentially running directly into the jaws of an idle Nightmare Creature. They had picked the largest mountain they could find to be their lookout post.
Scratching his jaw, Danse tried to stifle a yawn.
"What did Soul Reaper say we were hunting down again? Some kind of dog?"
At this, another member of the cohort stepped out of the Rhino. Letting her long hair out of its tight bun, Katrina rubbed her arms as she felt Antarctica's cold wind run along her body. Stepping closer to the fire, she sat beside Lauri.
"I don't get why you guys are choosing to sit outside. Couldn't you be having this cute little conversation, I dunno, inside the damn Rhino?"
Tilting his head to glance at her, Lauri stabbed at the heart of the fire.
"We're keeping Sansa company."
Not amused by Lauri's response, Katrina rolled her eyes. Pulling a data pad out of the bag slung over her shoulder.
"...Right."
Turning it on, she tapped it a couple of times, accessing the files sent to them by command. Another tap, and she had accessed the files regarding the threat they were up against.
"If the files are accurate, these particular Nightmare Creatures are from a Gate that emerged too far away from anyone to immediately subdue those that escaped from it. Now they are heading towards a convoy led by Captain Sunless, so we've been sent to stem the tide. Oh, and here. Are these the dogs you were talking about?"
Loading up an image that had been taken of one of the Nightmare Creatures, Katrina handed the data pad to Danse. Seeing the image, Danse's casual demeanour immediately grew disgusted at the sight.
"What- What is that thing? It looks rotten?"
Taking the data pad from Danse, Lauri's smile turned into a thin line on his lips as he looked at the image. The Nightmare Creature looked like some kind of feral mutt, its fur matted with old dried blood that mingled with the streams of pus leaking from tears in its skin.
"It does, doesn't it? If any of you have secretly been holding out on using any Charms that can resist negative effects. I believe now's the time to break them out."
Before anyone could respond, a strong gust of wind rushed through the mountain pass they were residing on; the wind was so strong that it almost instantly extinguished the campfire that Lauri had so painstakingly taken the time to light.
Now only faintly illuminated by the light shining from inside the Rhino, Danse cleared his throat.
"We don't need Charms to resist negative effects, right? I thought you said your Ascended Aspect would allow us to resist that type of thing?"
Not looking away from the image, Lauri's eyes changed subtly. The whites of his eyes began to glow faintly in the dark.
Dropping the stick he had been using to poke the fire into the now smouldering ashes. Lauri handed the data pad back to Katrina before he turned to face Danse, his smile seeming almost eerie as his eyes shone in the dark.
"Like the old saying goes, it's always better to have and not need than need and not have. That actually reminds me I-"
As Lauri was halfway through his sentence, he was interrupted by Sansa. Stamping her foot, she shouted:
"I see them!"
In no less than a second, Lauri was up, jumping atop the Rhino he stood beside Sansa peering into the darkness of the mountain range.
"Where?"
Handing Lauri the binoculars, Sansa held the binoculars and pointed him in the right direction. He could see them, hundreds of red specks running across the ground, weaving between fallen trees.
It turns out spending precious points on the thermal-binoculars had paid off.
Handing the binoculars back to Sansa, Lauri dropped back to the ground.
"Katrina. What's the Rhino's situation? Are we fit to move?"
Returning the data pad to her bag, Katrina nodded.
"All systems are up and running, but Mele, Lucky and Vick are still in the Dream Realm. Although they should be back soon, we could wait for them. Maybe thirty minutes should be enough."
Turning to stare daggers in the direction of the Nightmare Creatures, Lauri's smile grew.
Seeing this, Danse stepped forward.
"No, come on, you said we have to stick together!"
Blue sparks began to appear in the air, flowing to wrap around Lauri's body as he stepped towards the edge of the road.
"There's no time to wait, and no time to hesitate. We aren't too far from the convoy; at the speed those things are moving, thirty minutes could be enough time to allow them to reach it. Just get to me as fast as possible, and I'll be as big a distraction as I can be!"
As he reached the edge – a sheer drop into certain doom – Lauri's Memory finished summoning. White chitin armour appeared over his body, its surface catching and reflecting what little light remained.
He didn't hesitate.
Just as he stepped off the edge, Lauri activated his Awakened Aspect: [Light Dash].
In an instant, his body dissolved into light.
A streak of brilliance tore across the sky, vanquishing the distance in a heartbeat, until he reformed high above his destination.
Reaching the space above the horde of Nightmare Creatures, Lauri's body appeared from the light. His momentum immediately disappeared, causing Lauri to hang in the air for a fraction of a second before gravity did its job and began to pull him down.
Squinting, Lauri's lips creased, his expression growing neutral as he watched the feral mutts on the ground all come to a stop. They could see him, like a guiding star in the sky. The entire horde froze, no longer drawn to the faint scent of human souls from the convoy being defended by the Little Devil.
Now they were drawn to the radiant soul right above them.
A soul that glowed with such brilliance, they found themselves unable to tear their fetid eyes away from him.
Raising his hand, a weapon appeared in Lauri's palm. Not a Memory drawn from his Soul Sea, but a manifestation of light formed from his Dormant Aspect: [Light's Edge]. The weapon took the form of a mighty double-bladed axe.
As he began to speed towards the ground, Lauri used [Light's Edge] again; this time, he focused on his armour. The white chitin was covered in a layer of overlapping translucent golden light. Lauri's downward momentum began to slow, until he simply remained floating in the sky.
Lauri's eyes scanned the horde, moving from one mutt to the next. He didn't just gaze at their disgusting skin; he gazed deeper. Something about Lauri's Aspect allowed him to perceive the light of one's soul, or a soul tainted by corruption. Using this ability, Lauri quickly spotted the mutt with the dirtiest, darkest soul. The leader of the pack and the one who would be the Gate Guardian.
His eyes narrowed as he adjusted his grip on the double-bladed axe.
'A Fallen Tyrant… Just my luck.'
Raising his axe, the sky around Lauri lit up as dozens of bladed weapons formed from the light cast by his soul. Each blade pointed towards the fiend below.
A moment of silence hung in the air as Lauri changed the target of each weapon. At first, he had planned on barraging the Gate Guardian, but that didn't seem like the best approach. His weapons were made from his own Ascended essence, meaning they might not even be enough to pierce the hide of the Gate Guardian, at best leaving it with some meagre wounds. But it's Dormant and Awakened underlings on the other hand, the blades would do nicely.
Swinging his axe down, the first sword plunged towards its target.