Maniacal laughter, along with repeated banging sounds, made a symphony... as the Matriarch was the musician doing a solo while making Lidien her instrument.

Lidien's limbs were all broken, moving only by his will to live, as he tried everything he could to defend his vital organs every time the Matriarch attacked him with a certain kill.

"Legends say that a Blessed of Death could not be killed without burning their corpse..." the Matriarch said between her relentless assaults.

Now... with the support of Incite of Blood, Lidien maintained his state of consciousness from the beating, enduring the onslaught of the Matriarch with his Blood Form. Even the voice of the Monarch of Blood indicating where to defend did not help him gain any advantage.

Then he felt it.

The Matriarch was slowing down as he could now see the attacks with his slightly blurred vision from using too much blood. Her attacks even became bearable... or, it was just his pain receptors getting used to it.

The Matriarch suddenly stopped her assault and watched Lidien limply stepping back... panting slightly, controlling himself not to fall and stumble from the heavy weight he felt in his body.

Though his vital organs were not hit, the small cuts and deep wounds had almost depleted him of his blood. Had he not been able to control his own blood flow--not including the blood that had flown, painting the room crimson--Lidien would have already lost his consciousness from the loss of it.

"The legend seems true... even your predecessor would shy away from your tenacity."

Lidien blinked an eye, and was more surprised when the Matriarch didn't attack him at that time... instead, she went to a corpse of her own Elder.

Snap!

A tearing, wet, elastic snap made Lidien gulp as he watched the Matriarch yank one of her Elder's arms and eat it with a savage crunch of cartilage and bone, her emerald eyes locked on his as blood cascaded from her maw to matte the black fur of her chest.

Yet, despite Lidien being momentarily distracted by her feeding session, he was still thinking of finding a way--not to win... but to escape.

Realizing no matter what kind of strategy you have... in front of overwhelming strength, it'll be useless... and now, as he experienced it first hand, his only goal was to survive.

But, even surviving seemed impossibly hard to achieve.

'Idiot child, too much thinking makes you a fool... you already have the answer, within yourself... all around the room... yet you are finding something complex that in the first place wasn't needed.'

Lidien didn't reply to the Monarch of Blood, as all of his focus was now on finding the answer that the Monarch said wasn't complex.

Then...

'Down.'

Lidien instinctively jumped, then watched the Matriarch's heel connect with his crossed arms, sending him flying towards the ceiling.

And even before he could touch it, he was already smacked down by the Matriarch... exploding the wooden floor into sharp and splintered woods.

Lidien hardly rolled to his left side, as another thundering impact exploded to where his head should have been...

and with another sound of a dragging skid, Lidien was sent flying, bouncing on the floor, as his head was forcefully swayed by the Matriarch's foot.

Lidien was losing his mind, his thoughts were getting foggy. He didn't know if he should be thankful that it wasn't a kick that had momentum, but came from a stuck footing.

As he watched the Matriarch rushing towards him... flying, flapping her wings as her claws formed like a spear aimed at his heart, he smirked.

Then, the Matriarch's wings slowed down... as the realization of him being powerless, and death being imminent... time seemed to stretch till it stopped... as his thoughts ran faster from his Incite of Blood exceeding its limit as his survival instinct kicked in.

'No matter how fast I think, of where to dodge, and where to go... I will not be able to defeat this Angel, with her rapid regeneration from the corpses around us...'

'I thought... tens--no, even hundreds of solid plans will not work against someone much stronger than me...'

His eyes lost focus on the Matriarch, and transitioned to the dead Elders behind her.

'If all of my plans will not work against someone that is strong... at least, this instinct of mine has helped me survive...'

Then, his thoughts slowly got slower as he watched the Matriarch's wings flapping faster.

'Now I see it... I've been solving her all this time, when I should be fighting her.'

As the hand spear was inches from his neck, Lidien's thoughts ceased. His body moved with an impossible speed that his mind had never authorized. It was pure, unadulterated instinct.

"You are right, Old man, I think it's time to enjoy myself..."

Lidien spat blood into the eyes of the Matriarch, and that short frame of her blinking enabled Lidien to head-butt her, making both of them dizzy from its powerful force.

"Let the thrill of my upcoming Death beat my heart and never stop."

The Matriarch stood still, gently wiping her emerald eyes trying to remove Lidien's blood,

Then...

"Urgh!"

The Matriarch screamed, as she held her right eye, where Lidien had spat, suddenly erupted, bursting it out from her face... making it hollow and bleed nonstop.

She stared daggers at Lidien, but instead of attacking... she staggered to the side, grabbed a fallen beastfolk, and with a wet tear, ripped its arm free. She shoved the raw meat into her maw, and as she swallowed, the gruesome hollow of her eye sizzled with green energy, tissue knitting and a new eyeball forming with nauseating speed.

Lidien, who was now raising his hands, wondered, then stared at his own hand, repeatedly closing and opening it.

"That worked?"

Now, without using his thoughts to plan ahead, Lidien could think efficiently... like the time he thought of using the Xocoatl as a poison.

The moment his blood had struck her eye, instinct had taken over. He hadn't just covered it. He had infused it, forcing a microscopic part of his will and verve into the fluid. With a mental command that was more feeling than thought, he had made it expand from within... bursting the Matriarch's eye in the process.

'It took you long enough to realize, child... not all mysteries need to be solved complexly.'

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