Confusing.

That was the only word Leonidas would use to describe the situation. The situation had delved into a hellish three-on-one, a clear advantage for them.

So then why did it feel like he was about to lose? The nagging feeling grew deeper every moment, a roaring discomfort in his chest.

It was annoying, and Leonidas didn’t like it. Choosing to ignore it could be devastating, but rashly acting on it would be equally self-destructive.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have much time to think about it. Mantis stood like a statue between the three, its claws twitching.

They moved instantaneously, blades flashing, ground-breaking. Leonidas swung Blush in an overhead strike, the blade whistling with a terrible sound.

With her spiked gauntlets, Willow shot a rapid series of strikes, each carrying a harrowing force behind them.

However, the strongest among them, Savior, was heavily damaged, so she opted to instead drop her greatsword and hold Mantis.

Four Seconds.

Mantis wasn’t sitting around idly either. Its clawed limbs moved, a pair of legs crossing together, cracking under Willow’s blows. Once again, the horrid pilgrim caught Blush within its teeth, sparks flying.

Unlike the two of them, Savior had success. She ducked under a piercing strike from the claws jutting from the beast’s eye sockets.

Dodging wasn’t all Savior did, as the next instant, her hands, covered in the chipped ruby gauntlet, shot forward, crushing the grotesque mandibles.

She pulled, a sea of green pus screaming from the wound, splattering over her helmet, the darkness in her visor indifferent.

Three Seconds.

Mantis screeched, its main attack torn apart in a matter of moments, leaving it relatively defenseless. Blush carved a massive arc through its back, crossing over the wound already present.

Leonidas swung like a man possessed, his movements frantic and urgent, the sense of unease growing deeper despite the damage.

In a last-ditch effort, Mantis tried focusing on just one of them, instead of dividing its attention among all three. That, however, proved to be a fatal mistake.

With its back turned to Willow and Savior, full focus on Leonidas, the beast allowed them the perfect moment to unleash hell upon it.

The two women, nearly identical to each other, punched in synchronization, tearing flesh and breaking bones. It was a sickening sight, and had the damned pilgrim not killed him many times before, Leonidas would have flinched in hurt.

The sight was oddly similar to three adults bullying a rude teenager.

Mantis’s scythe-like limbs lashed out, rending the very air apart. It was like the Grim Reaper, only if he wielded multiple blades.

A shield-like appendage wrapped around his right stump, where his arm had once been, while he blocked and countered with Blush in his left.

Normally, the battle would have been horrific, but under the combined assault of all three warriors, each desperate in their own right, it was nothing but pitiful.

Blush crashed against a blade, cut it in half, and moved on. The hooked shield on his right side blocked the other, and it too was cut in half.

Two Seconds.

The timer for the supersonic attack had long since passed, but with no claws and a mutilated body, Mantis had no power to use it.

And yet this...wretched feeling refuses to go away.*

He could still feel chills on his spine, a cold feeling on his neck, as if death was just a breath away.

Why...why was he feeling like this? The enemy was on its last breath, was it not?

A cold gasp left Leonidas’s lips as his eyes beheld what was happening. A sight that denied the constraints he had assigned to reality, a sight beyond words.

In front of him, a titanic amount of Insenium was churning inside Mantis, surging through its veins. That was not all, as the Insenium in the air was also being sucked towards the beast with a terrifying speed.

Combustion.

"The damned thing is gonna blow!"

His voice was startled, a hint of fear crawling right at its edges. His face bore a panicked expression beneath the porcelain mask, crimson light seeping from its cracks.

It seemed Willow also noticed what was happening as her expression changed noticeably; the victorious look she had worn vanished as though it never existed.

"On the dead gods!"

Yeah...she was definitely not happy.

Leonidas turned to move; the blast would surely blast out a massive chunk of the earth. They had to get as far away as possible.

There was a slight problem...Root’s body was circling them, a wall of plant, rising high into the sky. He couldn’t jump over it in a single move...it was impossible.

Looks like throwing Savior across the battlefield wasn’t the last gift the damned pilgrim left its Manifest.

Had they anticipated defeat and planned this in advance? Was it even possible to foresee your defeat and not do anything? He would have to ask Barbossa.

Mantis swelled to concerning levels, golden light pulsing beneath its fetid skin, veins outlined. The blood flowing from it had become more pronounced, staining the ground with its filth.

Without a second thought, Savior appeared beside him, hands already cupped together, lowered for him to stand on.

[Fear Sacrifice, Bane of the Gods]

His feelings were close to fear...they were hate. Leonidas was starting to hate the damned deity, despite his death. Not only had it condemned their world to a doomed fate...he was finding out everything faulty with his life had something to do with Sacrifice.

Just like now, sacrifice Savior for a chance to survive, or die together with her. Yes, she could heal in the mutated flames of his soul, but who knew how long that would take?

He stared at his knight as his feet gravitated towards her hands, memorizing her face...her helmet to memory. He would definitely reward her in some way when they met again.

Savior pushed him, and Leonidas jumped at the same time, flying out of the encirclement. He dismissed her instantly, but it was already too late. A massive explosion tore through everything, a light so searing his eyes were scorched.

And that was despite looking in the opposite direction!