He watched as she did what she could against the beast. It had locked her saber in place, and Kuram feared the worst. She had enough wits to let the weapon be and avoid the strike that came. He gasped when she was felled to the ground and gritted his teeth. She recovered well, agility and bursts of speed obviously her advantage. He could see the potential Krause was so attached to, but her talent didn't provide her with anything that could take the beast down.<br/><br/>She managed to nick the monster and the gray, dirty blood on its arms was perfect expression of her effectiveness. He'd already realized her usual role in a team. She was the red cape to a matador. He would have to relent his role as helpful observer and dive into center stage, then. The monster had the same idea, and golden eyes widened when the Xlayer Preix realized how the beast intended to clear the scene for the two of them.<br/><br/>Kuram grabbed his cane tighter in his run, but his feet didn't move fast enough to stop the flexing pillar of tendons and meat shooting out. "Duck!" he roared at her question. She was caught in it and overwhelmed by the blunt power. The new limb of the monster stayed protruded, and then gurgled. He was above her fallen form in time to pull the handle of the cane and produce a thin sword to block the bone crescents coming out to slice her. It was the traditional weapon of the Ekurai, a simple cylindrical stick becoming a blade. Elegant and surgical in the right hands.<br/><br/>His arms were steady, one at the handle of the sword, and the other pressing a hand against the flat of the blade to add more counterforce to the descending bone weapons. But humans usually lost to Break Beasts in brute strength. "Juniper." he said between his teeth, locating the eyes at the side of the pillar. "Are you ok?" he asked as rolled his shoulders forward to toss the bones back so he could cock back his sword and cut through them. The Beast complained into the sky with its buzzing voice, and it gave him time to scoop her up and throw her onto grass under a tree planted ontop of a concrete square. Those ornamental structures were placed evenly throughout campus.<br/><br/>The beast came at him now, pillar receded, and reached for him with those long arms. Kuram's own fanned out to make his robes wave and his hair flail to take the impact. He'd blocked both monster palms, one with his sheath, and the other with his cutting blade. The more the monster tried to reach him, the more it cut itself up, which left it too occupied or weakened to apply more pressure to its intact arm. Kuram gargled as he stared the livid eyes down from where they sat on its shoulders, and then forced his sword forward, cutting through the wrist and into its forearm. The beast hissed with all its voices and retreated to cradle its cut limb.<br/><br/>Kuram could see Scythe weapons glisten from the top of a building, but focused on the monster. He held his sword out, arm straight toward his adversary, sword up toward heaven.<br/><br/>"<span style="font-family:Bilbo Swash Caps">I take your pitch black and I drown it in the warm loving sea.</span>" he said as the blade started to grow a faded green. "<span style="font-family:Emilys Candy">verdant abyss CRUSH. </span>" He twisted his wrist to have the blade point at the ground, and a great snake of green light was born from the edge, spearing out to reveal that most of its length was its jaws. It opened with myriad teeth to then snap shut around the monster, and inside the light the beast was mangled. Kuram sliced his sword once and the snake retreated into his blade. He got into a new battle position.<br/><br/>The light ontop of the building flashed again, and Krause with his blue armor and helmet landed, spear in hand. Sera was not long after, her red bow ready. "Okay! Everyone! Calm down. The Scythe Syndicate is here." Krause announced, looking the beast over, going closer to the heap of black meat it had become. Kuram's eye pulsed with worry.<br/><br/>"No! Don't get so close!" he pleaded as he darted forward. Krause twisted around, ignoring the beast to shove his spear in Kuram's direction. It cut up Kuram's side, but it didn't slow him down as he passed the blue Scythe and cut a shooting limb off before it could reach the professed leader. The sharp bone rattled on the ground as Kuram stood over the still pulsing black mass of the body. He cut it into six pieces. They sizzled and started to rot.<br/><br/>"Kuram. I'm sorry." Krause tried, but Kuram sheathed his sword and pushed Krause out of the way bitterly, staggering toward Juniper. He kneeled by her side.<br/><br/>"How are you?" he asked with blood rolling down his chin. And then he fell ontop of her.