Robin
**``YOU WILL DIE.``**

Kuouo, suspended in mid-air, could only watch in slow-motion as the greatsword is released from its wielder. In that very moment, those words repeated on loop in his mind, burning sensations of doom coursing through his body. Knowing he was at the apex of his jump, Kuo's eyes widened as the guardian's left backhand barreled through the air with immense force. With less than a second to spare, he shifts his legs upwards and positions his back in a laying position, mana being reinforced into his paws once more. With a short burst of flames, it allows him to dodge the Root-Crown's counterattack by *Mere centimeters.* The corporeal shockwave, companied with the hero's own evasive measure, sent him through the air like a rocket. He clutched the vial tightly, almost as if it were his only lifeline, his back scraping across the ground as he collided into it.

```fix
"N-arghh!.."```

Kuo grit his teeth, pangs of aching and burning pain echoing from the point of impact below his neck to his calves. He exhaled shakily, bearing the pain and forcing himself back onto his feet. Luckily for the goat, despite the fact that his cloak was now even more tattered than before, the layers of clothing and fur broke the impact of his fall enough to only leave a few bad scrapes and bruises.

```fix
"How... The hell did they... How the FUCK did they see me."```

Kuo stared at the behemoth in front of him, his breathing shaking as he attempted to recollect himself. Looking on as Cumhall leapt through the air, he racked his brain to theorize the Root-Crown's method of attack-and-counterattack despite their definite lack of senses.

*``'They can't hear, they can't smell, and not that they could taste me comin' but... Their mouth is shut too...'``*

Kuo looked at the dust clouding the air, settling below Cumhall's elevated arc of motion, the ground cracked with the sheer force used to power his four meter jump — And that's when it hit him.

*``'THEY'RE BLIND TOO, RIGHT. Dammit, what was the blind girl's name... The one that could feel vibrations and practically see...?'``*

He shook his head, opting to look for the name later when he wasn't trying to cure a giant beheamoth. He started piecing the puzzle together in his mind, *Extraordinary stratgems* Beginning to manifest as he scanned the environment around them. There was no time to test his theory, but considering the extra-sensory power one could gain when was deprived of just one, it made sense... Especially after such a powerful swing of that sword into the ground, it solidified Kuo's train of thought.

*And so did Kuouo's impromptu plan... That is, if Cumhall managed to survive his close-counter interaction.*
Dolores
The blind creature feels the shift of the air dissipate; its attention was temporarily driven away from the intruder who attempted to attack it utilizing whatever form of magic trickery they employed. As it *Felt* The intruder's body collide harshly against the ground, it would disdain to follow-up in an attack, even if — or perhaps *Because* — such an attack would likely result in them being eliminated as a threat or killed outright. Instead, as it feels the fast approach of the second intruder grow closer and closer to its body, the reverberations of their feet against the ground echoing throughout the beast's body in a ripple, it forced tight its muscles, bracing itself for an attack.

`A straightforward attack, as was the last. And a straightforward approach, unlike the last. There were similarities and differences between how the two approached.` The instinct to *Survive,* And to *Protect* Dominated the creature's cognizance, honed into a single, yet multifaceted directive that unconsciously accounted for a multitude of details, granting the **Thorn-Crown**, driven mindless, a borrowed intellect that would allow it to counteract the intruder's approach. For, after all, even as limited as such intellect was... The attack was characteristically straightforward, and thus no troublesome matter to intercept.
_ _

Identically to how it had intercepted Kuouo, the beast felt the vibrations of Cumhall, fast-in-approach, and in the moment that his feet left the ground, it prepared to sightlessly intercept the trajectory which he was *Bound* To come from. It could not directly see, through touch, his position, once he had left the ground — all it had to operate off was the *Force* And *Direction* Of the reverberations he created before going airborne. That was still enough to enable it to, again, **Swing its right hand in an arcing swipe, backed by monstrous force,** So to intercept Cumhall at the apex of his leap's trajectory. While weaker than its sword-swing, the swing was backed with unbelievable strength that far transcended any human — or even *Superhuman* — strength, **Releasing a tangible shockwave in its wake. The shockwave would extend a short distance beyond the swing, itself,** But thus would possess less raw force.

Putting himself into such a linear trajectory — almost in *Identical* Fashion to Kuouo himself — would put him at an innate disadvantage. It would be quite a task to dodge the swipe while airborne, but tanking two blows of such tremendous force in a row was far from advisable. **Direct collision with the creature's backhand** Would likely break bones and send Cumhall flying, and direct collision with the shockwave would simply swat him out of the air, sending him back to the ground.
_ _

The beast, in its undeniable might and position of vantage to continue pressuring either of the two intruders, each in a (likely) temporarily incapacitated state, would again disregard the idea of a follow-up. Instead, it would stay steadfast in the position it originally stood, using this moment of respite to slowly clasp the handle of its unrealistically gargantuan greatsword, tugging upon its form of heavy, rusted iron, unburying it from the rubble of the street.
Robin
Armed and ready to move once more, Kuo bit his lip, just realizing that Cumhall did nothing to alter his mirrored method of approach. He followed the Root-Crown's movements, heeding their swivel and preperation of their backhand packed with weight and momentum. Having noted that Cumhall, so far, hasn't prepared any evasive manuevers for close-calls such as this, Kuouo had to act quickly. ***Infernium***, held tightly in his left paw, burns brighter than it has in a long time. It wasn't just engulfed in flames - The metal melts into a powerful cyclone of fire, twisting around the caprine monster before being condensed into a small orb floating in him. With the hilt of ***Infernium*** Still in his grasp, he takes a deep breath before slashing it in the air three times—

```fix
"GET OUT OF THE DAMN WAY!"```

***```fix
"INFERNIUM - ACT 0.5, CROSSED FLAME FURY!"```***

With the intensity of a war cry, he called out Infernium's name paired with an age old *Special attack.* The orb took an unstable form before unleashing three infernous arcs of fire magic, each with an amount of force equivalent to the shockwave of the guardian's backhanded counterattacks. They all powerfully burn through the air, precisely targeting the back of the Root-Crown's knee before his hand could make contact with Cumhall. Upon hitting his target, Kuo would fall to one knee, giving an exhausted wheeze with the taste of grinded dust in his mouth.

```fix
"Rrgh.. Damn you, just... Just stay the fuck away, I got this!```

Allies, some contributed and others just got in the way, that's just how things worked - And Kuo knows what it's like being on both sides of the aisle. For now, he needed Cumhall to stay put and stay *Alive.*

*``'Someone needs to take me to the doctor if I nearly die here, after all.'``*

. . . 

With the usage of the ***Crossed Flame Fury,*** Kuo's mana stores were nearly tapped out — Especially after Infernium forcibly drew magic from his palm to gain its metallic form once more. It was reasonable to say he only had one usage of intense *Mana reinforcement* Left, and after using such a stunt to save his ally, Infernium wouldn't be able to shift into ACT 2 for a while, either.

Kuouo, leaving Cumhall to (probably) recover on his own, rises from his knee and guns for the tower, taking the risky role of bait he initially intended to assign to Cumhall - It was for the best anyways... Considering the death of Otaaraa and the attempted attacks on Kovrot and Aatkei, it was best to assume he didn't have the best interests of the Exile's Watch in mind...

**This was Kuouo Aiche Dee's battle to fight.**

Looking back, he wholly expected the Root-Crown to follow with ferocious intent to slam their greatsword down and smite the intruder. *``If this is someone who only acts without any extra senses, no higher thought — Pure instinct, then I can expect their attacks to be the same.'``* He pushed forward with more confidence, but not without caution. While he was glad to be gathering some kind of read on the guardian, he knew he was on Plan B — and knew that Plan C, a situation without any mana whatsoever, had the lowest chance of succeeding. He hoped to cling to Plan B, saving his last bit of mana to go on an offensive instead of an unexpected evasive manuever.

**Awaiting the Root Crown's next move, he gets ever-closer to the entrence of the tower with his eyes locked on the beast's body.**