Akko hit the ground, her body rolling with a few gasps. Her body was banged up, a few scrapes here and there, but the blows to her limbs and head were too much for the girl to handle.
She groaned, pushing herself up to her knees. The monster in this dungeon was taking heavy steps towards her, its feet invoking tremors from the ground, knocking stray pebbles into the air. It's heel alone practically matched Akko's full height. It was an incredibly tall humanoid, the top of its body shrouded in the darkness of the dungeon, unlit by torches on the wall.
Akko brushed the long strand of brown hair behind her left ear, and grabbed at her wand. She didn't have any effects from a potion; the flasks on her belt, too, were shattered by her stumble, drained empty. She cursed under her breath, and pointed her wand at the towering creature above her. She could hear its breath, its snarls, and the brunette quaked.
She didn't want to be fearful, but she was sensing now how dangerous this situation was. She didn't want to mess up a spell. She stood up, repositioning her legs as she shivered from the bruises she had just received.
"Murowa!" she shouted as she jabbed her wand forward, a ball of heat forming at the tip, before bolting forward at the monster. She could see the creature tense as it took the blow dead-on, clouds billowing from the strike.
Akko was panting, struggling to channel the energy around her. She had experience now, yes, but she was still a novice in many regards, even despite Yggdrasil being restored. She managed a smile, however. She successfully casted murowa!
Don, slammed the creature's foot, again, however. The smoke faded away, now, and the creature didn't even seem to flinch. It's yellow eyes gleamed in the dark light of the dungeon. The room was fairly low down, and only a staircase to Akko's left and a hallway behind the beast acted as any means of escape. She looked behind her, and the walls were barely 10 feet behind her.
She suddenly felt a creeping sense of claustrophobia, despite how large of a hall they were in.
The brunette's expression sunk. She wasn't strong enough to take on this monster. She needed to make a run for it.
Akko stepped backwards, eyeing the monster. It moved forward once more; she was in arm's reach now, as her back hit the wall. She yelped, her eyes narrowing as she grimaced. She couldn't stall any longer.
The witch jolted to the right, away from the staircase on the left. The monster clearly had some intuition of what Akko might have done, so she figured she had to do the opposite.
So she was in shock as she was slammed into the right wall as the monster jolted towards her right in like, kicking her with its heel.
Akko choked. She could feel herself spitting up red as her body stamped itself into the stone, while she crumpled to the ground in wake of the damage.
Her vision was blurry as she looked up. Time was moving fast, yet she could still count the milliseconds. Her eyes were half open, narrowed from what could only be a concussion. She didn't quite understand what it meant as lines of gold shone from the staircase, dozens of swords piercing the beast's bare back. She heard it roar, but she only quivered in fear. She couldn't move.
She couldn't get herself to pick herself up, even despite hearing voices shouting her name.
Akko rested her eyes momentarily, a sudden drowsiness urging her to just sleep away the pain. She was forced awake, though, as Lotte and Barbara hoisted her up.
"Akko!" Lotte shouted. "We can't hold you!"
Barbara was next to Lotte, nervously glancing at the monster as Diana tried keeping it distracted. Sucy and Hannah had left back to the entrance of the dungeon to find Luna Nova faculty, so the three of them were left to find Akko and help her out.
The black-haired girl stuttered. "C-C'mon, Kagari, support yourself!"
Akko mumbled as the two pulled her behind them towards the staircase, only before the beast kicked its entire heel towards the hallway. Barbara and Lotte yelped, running further into the staircase, while Diana grabbed at Akko's collar and jumped out of the way of the kick, Akko in tow.
The monster was… evidently furious, and attacked the doorway with intent. The doorway into the staircase crumbled, separating the party. Akko was still delirious, but was trying to keep a grip. She could hear Diana futilely trying to instruct the girl what to do, but Akko simply wasn't in any shape to respond. Her ribs were throbbing in pain, and the brunette was becoming frighteningly aware of every breath she let out.
Diana was moving the two backwards, waving her wand once more. "Fineltina la Serana!" she chanted again, summoning more swords in the air. The monster was more aware of what she was planning, this time, however, and swiped them out of the air.
The blonde was taken aback, momentarily seceding into shock. Beads of sweat trickled down her face, unsure of what to do. That was one of her strongest spells, and the monster made contact with it like it was nothing.
The monster wasn't letting up, however, and immediately stomped the ground in front of it. While Diana and Akko weren't near enough to be crushed, the shockwave that ensued was enough to make impact. Diana strafed backwards, to get out of the radius, and reached towards Akko's shoulder to pull the brunette with her. The ground itself was rising upwards in sharp pillars, magic visibly being torn away as the ground was ruptured.
The blonde widened her eyes in pure shock, a sudden fear rising in the short time frame that she could react in such a way. She could feel a sudden dryness in her throat as she realized that Akko was out of her reach. Akko was on the ground, incapacitated, clenching her torso.
Dust blew upwards as Diana was pushed backwards. She stumbled to keep herself standing, but immediately waved her wand to get rid of the clouds of dust. Diana was in a panic, now, looking around the room. She almost forgot about the monster itself, as she needed to know where Akko was. Her anxiety only worsened when she could see red on some of the spikes from the ground.
Diana held her breath, and dashed towards it, seeing Akko lying still on the ground, crumpled. She was on her side, and her uniform was tattered now. A fine line of red was cut cleanly over her cheek, and a line of blood crawled down her other cheek from her eye. Her shoulder was gruesome: it was painted a deep, deep crimson.
The brunette's face wore pain like a suit; an intense grimace adorned Akko's usually kind face, she was nauseous from the pain and her injuries.
Diana hoisted her over her shoulder with a grunt, and began moving as fast as she could. She very well may be able to hold her own against a monster, but she couldn't guarantee Akko's safety. As her role as a student of Luna Nova, and as Akko's friend, she had to help Akko get out safely.
Diana fled the scene with Akko in tow, ignoring the growing sensation of dread as red soaked through her uniform.
