Robin
Unrecovered from his adrenaline-fueled dive, the bandit, with his body cemented to the ground due to its perilous condition, is forced to endure the earth beneath himself rumble with frightening intent before being blown back even further due to the Root-Crown's quaking advance forward. Kuouo flew back, adrenaline running short as he screams in immense pain whilst barreling through the air. He crashed into the ground, the wind being knocked out of his diaphragm with dust spewing from his mouth and mixing into the dirt that clouded the air around them. He rebounded from the sheer momentum, his pupils growing hollow, consciousness slipping nearly slipping away from the bandit as his vision became shrouded in darkness. If he were to pass out now before verifying the Veirok vaccine's effectiveness, it could spell *Certain doom.*

. . . 

*Flwflwflwflw, skrrr -* **Shink!**

```fix
"A-AAGGGHHH, WHAT THE HELL!?"```

Kuouo sharply inhaled, a sharp pain burning through a tiny incision made on his bad leg. His vision returned to normal, no longer threatening a deep sleep away from consciousness. He tilted his head slightly to the left, looking down at the corner of his eye to see *Infernium* Tucked away in its sheathe attached to his left hip.

```fix
"Huff... Oh right, Infernium does that... But I, didn't even call your name...```

All the dagger could do is flash a dim, orange hue in response. Though it could not speak, it seldom provided Kuouo with evidence that it had somewhat of a mind of its own, seperate from its wielder. Infernium wasn't just a blade imbued with Kuouo's magic, no, it was bounded to his SOUL. Thus, if Kuouo fell in battle, so to would Infernium... But Kuouo wasn't really aware of that.

```fix
"Well, in any case, ya saved me from passin' out... Gah, fuck this shit hurts. And it's gonna hurt a lot more in the mornin' too. I'm not gonna be able t' walk without dealin' with this."```

Kuouo, unmoving both legs, sat up and observed the Root-Crown with no noticable effects from the cure. He grimaced, gritting his teeth and lightly pounding the ground his left paw. *``'I don't understand, why ain't it workin'? It should be in his bloodstream now, right? I... I thought I won...'``'* He hit the ground, this time smashing it with blooming embers flying out his paw. *``'FUCK, well... It's not like I can get to the damn second floor without curing him. I gotta get back to the doc and... Start from scratch. But first...'``*

As Cumhall was left to survive the Root-Crown's dizzying onslaught, Kuouo desperately crawled to his left, aiming for one of the already decrepit houses left in shambles from their battle. He eventually arrived at the front of the doorsteps. With the knowledge endowed upon him by *Anime*, he snaps off a relatively unrotted piece of wood from the staircase, fixing it onto his femur before reaching into his inventory and grabbing a drab, brown, tanktop.

```fix
"I'mma have to get a new one of these, this is the only color I have...```

After tearing the tanktop from its side, he braced himself for the hard part. Without monster food in hand, he knew that this wasn't going to provide instant pain relief — In fact, quite the opposite. He clenched his eyes, raising his right knee just slightly before tying the cloth around makeshift splint. He pulled both ends tightly, screaming a slew of swears in pain with tears almost, just almost, welling in his eyes. With the worst part over, he finally gains the confidence to stand on his good leg, now looking towards the Ascent to see if Cumhall survived his encounter, and more importantly, *If the cure worked.*
Keri
He scarce even had time to observe the syringe go in, to learn the outcome of his move, faster than his mind could comprehend is life was in danger, his knees bent and he rocketed into the air escaping by the skin of his teeth, mere centimetres.
The beast would strike, not him but, the stone wall behind him, the result of such an impact would surely be a reverberating blast of epic proportions, and would send Cumhall barrelling wildly through the air, he put his right shoulder first as he crashed harshly into the earth, dust and dirt plumed up into the air as his body was thrown into the earth, skidding and rolling multiple metres before he came to a stop.
```diff
- "Agh- fuckin' sh-argh" -
```
He put his hands to the ground and began to lift his body, but his right arm buckled and he slammed face first into the ground.
He flipped over onto his back, sitting up, he coughed and leaned forward his helmet immediately opened with a `HISS` and he spit out something resembling blood. Placing his left hand on the ground and transitioning to a stand, his eyes frantically scanned the scene until he located the bandit.
For the first time his face was visible, he was middle aged with many a blemish upon his pale skin and deep bags under his blue eyes, a few strands of graying brown hair poked out from the padded interior of the helmet and a trickle of whatever substance he had just spat out was dripping down his chin. In short; he looked like shit.

```diff
- "Dont go dyin' on me, if this cunt is any indication of whats to come i don' wanna go up there alone." -
```
He grabbed the hip flask from his belt and tossed it towards Kuouo, should he partake he would something that could scarcely be called a "Drink" More so straight alcohol with a bit of water added as to not instantly kill your liver.
The helmet snapped shut again and he faced the beast again, his posture was slumped, and as he went to roll his shoulder, his entire right arm fell off.
```diff
- "Ya' think ita' kick in soon, shits startin' to wear off an' i cou' use tha' doctor"
```
Dolores
The beast's fist struck momentously against the nigh-indestructable form of the `Ascent to the Second Floor`. Quaking reverberations that echoed with the sonorous shock which it imparted into the surrounding atmosphere with the sheer magnitude of force that erupted forth from its body — with such horrific violence that it literally *Tore apart* The muscular fibers of its legs, and, in part, its arms — rippled throughout the tower and into the ground, and from the ground, back into its body. Its legs, in the moment following, lose their vitality, overused to the point of ruination by its singular leap forwards, forcing the beast to its knees, its fist still harshly imprinted into the wall before it. 

There is an unbroken moment of hush following the deafening impact of its fist, as the beast momentarily goes still. 

*`Again, my sealed eyes open, and I—`*
*`I begin to see.`*

*`Swirling lights of blue,`*
*`that twirl, freely, unbound,`*
*`renewed, revitalized, like the halo of a great angel,`*
*`as if in dance, about the divine hand before me.`*

*`Azure, it flows,`*
*`like streaming water, formless, and free.`*
*`My eyes glitter alight as I set my sights upon its glorious form,`*
*`and as it is, so I, too, wish to be—`*

__***`𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞.`***__

The Root-Crown's moment of stillness ends, as he withdraws his hand from its impression against the remarkable stone that formed the *`Rise.`*
The orange glow of the runes that engraved its horns of dead root wane, in the dim lightt of a dying flicker.
The azure glow that originated from within its now-renewed horns of living, blue root return, in the brilliant light of revival.

*`I extend my hand to reach out for that light before me.`*
*`The divine hand of duty goes still, and I begin to see—`*
*`who I am, who I was,`*
***`and that which I am meant to be.`***
_ _

The parasitic root that so grotesquely grew throughout his body begins to stabilize.
Its gnawing, piercing, destructive paths recede, and its abhorrently-desecrated structure-of-body begins to transpose, into a form familiar — *Human,* And lacking such beastly traits as his body once demonstrated. The horns of blue which extended from his eye sockets shift and coalesce, rescinding their harmful nature unto his body, as, finally, his eyes once again see the light of reality around himself. Their glare of a deep, crimson red were revealed, shining bright in the shadow of the great-tower that loomed overhead.

*`That's right.`*
*`Remember...`*
*`who you were!`*

His repaired hand of a pale white reaches to clasp his jaw, bound by the remnants of the dead, runebound root, as he tears their husked form asunder, releasing his mouth and revealing his face in whole. Yet helplessly knelt to the ground, but again granted the ability to speak, the Root-Crown took a deep breath in, and for the first time in centuries, *Spoke.*

```diff
- "𝓠𝓾𝓮𝓽𝓪𝓪..."```

**```diff
- ☀ "ＥＺＵＥＫ！" ☀ -```**

***A prayer of the Knights of Sol.***
***The Sun that Purifies***
***Quetaa Ezuek.***

The elegant tone that spoke the words of prayer shook the very foundation of the world about the Guardian of the First Floor, and so manifested what was quite possibly the most brilliant demonstration of miraculous mana that had ever blessed the *First Floor.* A heatless, false flame, yet one that burned millions of times brighter than candlelight. A celestial apparition of a crimson, cosmic aura appeared about the renewed form of the Guardian, its holy light searing the impurities of those around it with its tangibly divine presence.

**It was like the dying Sun itself appeared before them.**

There was only one entity within the entirety of the *Vektet* Who could manifest the prayer with such prowess as this.

*`I am a child of the Sun.`*
***`Know my name!`***
Beverly
**```diff
- "𝓘 𝓪𝓶 𝓐𝓪𝔃𝓴𝓾𝓮, 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓾𝓪𝓻𝓭𝓲𝓪𝓷 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓕𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓕𝓵𝓸𝓸𝓻."```**

***Its creator, Aazkue.***

The Guardian of the First Floor, crippled by the damage he had done to himself in his bestial state, could not rise to his feet. To even move from where he kneeled would be impossible. And yet, even without knowing why, he would continue to act freely. *Of his own accord.* Without the need for a divine oath to drive him, without a second voice in his head commanding him — in this moment, he, Aazkue, himself, would choose to *Guard this greattower.* For what good is a Guardian, if he cannot even do this much?

***He slammed his hand with great ferocity into the ground before him, and spoke again—***

**```diff
- ☀ "𝑶𝑬𝒁𝑼𝑬𝑲." ☀ -```**
_ _

__`The Sun that Destroys; Solar Imbuement.`__
A prayer that grants one limited control over the chaotic flame of *`Disparity.`* It is an all-engulfing fire that can burn down even the greatest of foes, and yet it is still *Limited,* For it cannot exist without a proper vessel to imbue. Such is the nature of all elements of the Arue Arcana — there cannot be the *`Disparity`* Of an all-burning flame without the *`Unity`* Of an encompassing, uniting vessel. As he had no weapon to imbue, the spell would be ineffectual, lest he imbue his own body, and yet...

*There was, indeed, something else here, that he could imbue.*
***The very ground before him.***

***Geysers of intense, preternatural, crimson-red flames erupted in the wake of the kneeling Guardian, extending vertically to upwards distances of five meters.*** Each pillar of flame was roughly **A meter and a half in diameter**, each distanced from one-another in random intervals between two and eight meters. The effective range of the spell covered the entirety of the path and environment about the knelt Guardian, transforming the entire proximity of the great-tower into a chaotic grounds of destruction. The flames were all-burning and tremendously destructive in nature; there would be no option but to dodge and weave about their spontaneously-emerging forms.

The medicine was effective.
*And yet, it would not give them the peaceful ending they desired.*
Robin
```fix
"I ain't gonna die anytime soon, justa bit winded is all.```

Kuouo snatched the flask out of the air, opening the top and taking a huge swig — *HGRK!!* He clenched his throat, holding the burning liquid in the back of his mouth before forcefully swallowing the stuff. He loved alcohol, but not to *This* Extent. It was a little intense.

```fix
"Jesus fuckin' christ dude, this is worse than m... Oon... Shine..."```

Kuouo stared at the beheamoth, sitting still with his hand still affixed to the tower. His pupils shook in wait; for the first time in this battle, everything around them was quiet, as if the universe was too, waiting in deafening suspense.

**Then finally, he moved in a manner without the internal strife that burdened his mind and body for centuries.**

A wave of relief washed over Kuouo, a tired smile grew on his face as the parasitic roots on their body began to recede. The Root-Crown could finally hear again, he could *See* Again, he was no longer the silenced beast as he could finally...

*Speak once more.*