Fractured God

From the shadows, they could tell the priest had stopped his antics and come back to the ground floor.

The other two girls had manoeuvred their way over to Tina and Elizabeth.

“You two were right in not interfering, it seems he's gotten a second wind. I'd recommend trying to attack only when his focus is directed on both of us and most importantly, if he hasn't taken notice of you. I fear if he stops more than one of you there's little I can do. Including you as well Tina.”

Tina shrunk her face at that unnecessary little tidbit Elizabeth added and folded her arms.

“Hey Elizabeth, want my sword?” Nora asked, holding out her blade.

The priest was slowly coming their way, slowly exiting the light he created.

She clicked her tongue and thought about it tapping her foot impatiently.

“No, keep it. As soon as he sees me with a blade he'll do his best to stop it like the previous blade.”

“Okay.”

The two women started putting some distance between themselves and Elizabeth.

“I'd recommend you stay in the shadows as well, Tina.”

Elizabeth began walking forward towards the sound of footsteps that had entered the darkness and much to her annoyance, Tina followed.

“Like hell I'm gonna do that. Do you think I'm on the same level as those two?”

“Without your spear combined with that man's magic, yes I'd argue you three are equally as vulnerable,” Elizabeth answered while trying to hide her limp. With the damage to her Achilles, she was basically fighting on one leg.

“Oh screw off, if you told me how you escaped his magic so quickly, I could help you out.”

“That is something you cannot learn Tina.” Elizabeth firmly responded. (“Tina we don't have time for this, just fall back!”)

“Why not-”

Elizabeth pushed her back and Tina looked insulted by the action. She wanted to say a few choice words for her but she noticed the footsteps had gotten far louder than they were seconds earlier.

She swallowed her pride and ran off but not before a bang was heard. Based on the increased pace of the footsteps, it didn't get her and she gained some distance.

“Damn, I could have sworn I would have got her.” The priest commented as he became visible in the darkness.

“Are you so confident you believe you can give us time to recuperate?” Elizabeth asked as she inched closer.

“I was going to ask the same thing. I'm sure there's at least one point you all would have finished me off had you not retreated. But let's not dwell on the past. After all, with some of my mobility back, your victory is currently a dream. And I can assure you, I'm comfortably capable of turning dreams into nightmares.” The priest said as he pointed the chain scythe towards her. He was breathing steadily as he watched Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Elizabeth couldn't hide her pain. One hand was sliced but the real pain was felt from the hand with the missing fingers.

It seemed after disabling one of her legs and her sword, the fists were the next weapons he hoped to disable.

“You sound exactly as you look. Immature.” She remarked, cold-faced.

“My offer to turn you four into something greater, stillstands. After all, it'd be such a waste if I accidentally killed you. Practically speaking, you'd be worth far more as one of those pale women than those other three combined. (I imagine I'll have to drain her mana to get similar results to them. While not ideal, for such a powerful pawn it should be worth the effort.)”

Elizabeth responded by moving a foot forward.

The priest quickly used his magic to stop her and closed the gap between them.

He aimed for her torso but she managed To sweep a leg to throw his aim off.

(“She used a faint and realised I wouldn't be able to attack her fast enough at my distance.”)

He stopped her again and tried to regain his footing. But he realised too late that she was leaning forward. She had used her good leg to sweep his leg and had begun to fall towards him when he stopped her.

It wasn't enough time for him to block and Elizabeth used her fall to hit him square in the face.

(“I know I'm not at my best but the fact she can fight this competent with only one good leg is commendable.”)

The punch had stained his eye with blood and resulted in him stopping her but being forced to use his free time to wipe his eyes.

Another punch came out of nowhere. His magic wasn't anywhere powerful enough to subdue. He thought that the pink woman made her more troublesome when they fought together but it appeared she was only hindering her while they were in close combat.

He stopped her again and had a wonderful counterkick lined up. She seemed unbearably aggressive when it came to his blade, so this would catch her by surprise.

She managed to block the kick with one hand but the priest stopped and connected with another kick.

He had used his magic to stay airborne longer. He quickly dropped himself when Elizabeth gained her movement and stopped her once more.

(“I can't get it consistent. Sometimes I can stop her every other second, sometimes it takes several. Wait a- did the pink-haired ogre damage my mana organs when she stabbed my hand? If that's the case I should be glad it's working this well.”)

He stopped her the moment a punch was going to rock her torso and grabbed her arm to pull himself up. She quickly moved back and he allowed himself to be flung upwards as he let go of her arm.

She was stopped again and quickly turned around into a blade that sliced her cheek.