Not wanting the horned cat to rise again, Dawn attacked, she rushed forward like a bullet, sword in high hands held facing downward to her right. When she got in range, she slashed upwards for the head, wanting to cleave it clean off, but the horned cat reacted, using its tail to block the attack.
Clang!
She was thrown back a few feet, but she charged forward again, going for a stab this time, her eyes locked on the exposed core, she thrust fast, but the cat did the same, moving its stinger to block, only this time Dawn had a different plan, she planted her foot into the ground, forcefully braking, then she spun around, slashing to the side, going for the head.
The horned cat wasn't expecting this, it saw the blade as it came for its head, and panic filled it. It pulled its head back as far as it could in an attempt to avoid the attack, but the blade grazed the neck and blood gushed out.
The cat staggered back, a look of fear formed on its face for a moment as it quickly put some distance between them.
Elias, watching this, was stunned. The way Dawn moved, the way she fought, everything that she did, it was out of the ordinary, her swordplay looked like something that had been refined for many years, fluid and powerful, each movement she made was for a purpose.
'Tch, here I am looking at someone fight for me, yet I can't fight for myself, I'm pathetic.' Elias thought to himself, he gripped the sword at his side, and then drew a deep breath, he clenched his jaw.
"I have been weak, I hate it." He muttered to himself, then looked up at Dawn, "but if this is my route to escape here and be sure I save Elena, then I'll take it and make use of it no matter what."
With that conviction in his heart, he pulled his sword and stood there, his breathing heavy as he watched Dawn and the horned cat, the core was still exposed and the cat was concentrated on Dawn.
"But before I can save anyone, I have to be sure that I can at least take a step." Elias dashed forward, side to side, eyes locked on one target.
Dawn sensed Elias moving, she was about to scream that he step back, but before she could utter a word, the horned cat attacked, wanting to use her distraction as an opportunity.
The horned cat could tell Elias was coming as well, but to it, the real threat was Dawn and not Elias, so it wanted to take care of her.
Dawn blocked the attack, she glanced at Elias for a moment, and then decided that she would distract the cat long enough for him to get to the monster.
She pressed forward and began raining attacks, her and the horned cat locked into a burst of attacks and dodges. Her sword moving for the neck of the monster, while it blocked every attack with the tail and tried to counter.
"She is helping me hold back the horned cat." Elias muttered when he noticed, he gritted his teeth, "I'm not going to fail her after she placed her trust in me." He pushed himself, running even harder.
He made it to the side of the cat, barely evading a wild swing from the stinger. He planted his feet into the ground, his eyes locked onto the core. He had a split second, not enough time to even form a thought.
'Now.'
He pressed forward, launching like a bullet, his foot pressing against the ground hard as he thrust for the exposed core, he watched as the flesh was healing over it and covering it, if he was a split second late, everything would fail.
'Come on, come on, take the step, your first step to finally becoming you!' As he screamed in his mind, he thrust faster, the tip of the blade touched the core, stabbing into it, and then the rest of the blade followed through.
STAB!
Time seemed to freeze for Elias, he looked in shock for a moment. He didn't see the stinger of the horned cat that swung through the air and slammed into his chest.
BAM!
Elias was sent flying through the air, he slammed against the wall hard, coughing a huge amount of blood as he collapsed and slid down the wall.
Dawn looked at him, "Master," she called, she moved to reach Elias, but the horned cat still reacted, using its stinger and attacking again, she blocked the attack, skidding backwards a few meters.
She looked at the cat, it was barely alive, its life was fading away, the sword in its core was killing it, but it didn't want to let go.
She shifted her stance and faced the cat, holding her sword in front of her.
"Your time has ended, vile creature. Hundred slashes."
She delivered her attack, and a hundred slashes tore through the air and into the body of the cat, finishing what Elias started, as the mangled body of the cat collapsed to the ground.
Dawn wasted no time, she rushed toward Elias, placing a knee on the ground. "Master," she called out, her face carried a faint trace of fear, as if she was scared of something, or scared that he died.
Elias slowly lifted his head, gave her a shaky smile, "I guess I couldn't kill it, sorry." He muttered.
"Your blade is the one that killed it, master," Dawn replied, a look of relief formed before vanishing away. She looked around for a bit.
"We must leave, I'll carry you," she said.
"No, no, I can, urghhh." He groaned as he forced himself to stand. "I'm not that broken yet." Elias said before getting up, he staggered, Dawn caught him.
"Thank you."
He looked at the body of the horned cat and his sword was in the core, a smile formed on his face.
They walked over to the core, she pulled the sword out before they left, heading in the direction that the cats came from.
As they walked toward the chamber, Elias couldn't help but ask a question that had been on his mind.
"Dawn, I have a question."
"What, master?"
"The moment you came out, you started listening to me, no refusal, no care for yourself."
Dawn looked at Elias, then looked forward, "it's my duty, and a person that questions duty ends up failing," she said.
Elias felt that what she had just said didn't come from a good place, he could feel that experience was what was talking here.
'She must have suffered a lot to come up with that belief, humans tend to want to do what they want, but she has a robotic belief, I want to know about her, I want to know what happened to her to cause this.'