As Kat's flame came into contact with the Nightmare's slick form it instantly froze over. As soon as this happened the full strength of Kat's body slammed into the thin coated of ice sending shards flying, all packed with demonic fire, deeper into the thing's body.
A boom echoed out from the impact as the golem stumbled forward. As it bent forward at the spot Kat had struck, the ice only cracked more. Capitalising on this, the sakura tree slammed into the golems left side, smashing it to right.
That is where another crack sounded out from the spot Kat had attacked. The last vestiges of the inky substance froze over before breaking, sending the golem falling to the side. It looked like it was all happening in slow motion but, this was only an illusion brought about by its massive height.
As it fell though, it was not idle. Bringing its massive club around, it slammed it into the ground, trying to prop itself up using the its right arm and the club instead of its leg. This halted the fall for only a moment before the tree struck it in the chest causing it to tilt slightly, but it held firm.
Kat was making her way back down to Minor just in case, when it brought its left hand down, slamming into the tree's branches that were about to strike it again. They tried to retreat back behind the shield it could summon, but a few tips let out sharp cracks as wood splintered under the force of the impact.
Kat was down to Minor by the time the golem tried to retaliate. It slammed its free hand down towards where Kat was before as if it was swatting a fly. Kat ducked into the shared space which Minor shut against the wave of wind that was sure to follow.
There was a slight rumble after the door slammed shut, but nothing compared to the previous time. Kat held her breath for a moment longer just in case she was speaking to soon, but Minor had no such reservations.
"We did it" said Minor breathless.
Kat smiled and said "Yeah, yeah we did"
"Ok" said Minor nodded her head back and forth "Do we go for the chest thing now?"
Kat tapped her cheek with her tail "I mean… yeah maybe? I'd guess that the Nightmare is going to be ready to protect its limbs a lot better now so maybe going for that would be a good idea. But we'll need Ki's tree to take full advantage of it. Do you think it's fine? I heard a bunch of branches break"
Minor frowned at that "I don't know… was it a lot of branches?"
Kat shook her head "I don't think so. Just a few that didn't make it to the shield before they got crushed by its arm"
Minor chewed on her tail for a moment before she said "Ok, then I think we're fine. We should still be in the same spot of I open this. Are you ready?"
Kat nodded. "Ok then" said Minor "Let's do this"
Kat readied herself as Minor pressed against the door. As soon as it opened for the third time Kat shot out once again, but she wasn't prepared for what she saw. The Nightmare golem had turned around, it was taking repeated strikes from the sakura tree to the back, and was now facing her head on.
As soon as Kat saw this, she quickly found what its limbs were doing, and its remaining leg and now left arm were supporting its body, while the other hand was being brought back to slap her out of the sky.
Kat shoved the energy she was building into her mind and everything slowed. *Shit!* Kat took a few moments to try and reign her panic back in. *Ok this is bad. I'm already being targeted. I can change directions really quickly but I don't think I'm fast enough to turn back before I get slapped by that arm.*
*I can dodge, I think, but the issue with that is the wind sheer from the strike is still going to slam into me… unless there is some way to avoid the worst of that? Well, it isn't using its club to strike me so it might not be so bad…*
Kat tried to look for a path to escape, but only had the urge to frown the more she looked around. The fist was striking down at her, but could likely move itself to the left or right if she tried to feel too far too fast.
Turning around was already ruled out so she would need to try and go forward to deal with it. *Could slamming into the fist be the safest? No there is no way that just tanking the fist is more ideal than try to go through the air pressure.*
*What if I bring my wings in and curl up? I might take a bunch of damage to my skin, but last time, the only reason my wings took so much damage was because they were caught up in it all. My back itself was almost completely fine…*
*Ok that's the plan.* Kat's eyes narrowed as she kept her slower perception and prepared for the task ahead. As the fist got closer, Kat moved herself the slightest amounts to the top of the fist. She was hoping that if she got blasted into the sky by the air, she'd have enough time to heal if necessary.
As the fist got closer and closer, Kat got ready to make more obvious moves. As soon as she could feel the beginnings of that air way Kat put all her effort into flying up. Just barely clearly the edge of the fist, Kat quickly brought in her wings and curled into the closest approximation of a ball she could manage.
She felt the air pressure slam into her. It rattled her wings a bit but they held strong. The same couldn't be said for her trajectory. She'd hoped that she could get higher enough to be knocked even further into the air, but that wasn't to be.
Instead the air wave sent her backwards away from the golem at an impressive speed. She was spinning rapidly and was surprised to find that even with her eyes opened she didn't seem to be experiencing any sought of nausea.
Eventually, the rotation slowed enough that she was able to risk spreading her wings out. She snapped them open in one motion, and Kat felt the pull on her muscles but they held firm. Looking back at the way she came from, she found herself at least a kilometre out, likely longer. With the size of the golem it was kind of hard.
*Well shit.* Kat looked down and found herself barely above the snow. Hmm, wait a second. Acting on hunch Kat drew a door in the floor the same as the ones Minor had made for her and waited for a second.
After a moment of held breath, the door swung open to reveal a panting Minor. She had cracks running along her hands and looked like she'd just run a marathon. Before Kat could worry, Minor beat her to the punch "Kat! You're alright?"
Kat nodded "Yeah, I'm fine, I was able to dodge… sort of. Anyway I'm fine"
Minor nodded and gestured for Kat to follow. As the door slammed shut behind them, Minor dropped to the ground. "S-sorry for this but… I had a feeling you'd… figure out the door trick… it just… took a bit more out of me than planned" said Minor in between panting gasps
"Why did you look like you've run a marathon?" asked Kat worried enough over the cracks.
"Ah, had to… cheat a little… I just… made it as if I ran to you… it was supposed to be easier on me… less cracks but… I didn't realise you were so far out" said Minor
Kat scooped Minor up and flared her aura again. Minor's eyes fluttered as if she was about to fall asleep but she held strong. "Not… not yet Kat. I need to be awake for… this" said Minor as she pushed open another door.
As she did, she collapsed into Kat's arms. Kat froze in place, until she saw the cracks receding. Then the soft sound of Minor's breathing further soothed her heart. Poking her head out, Kat found herself around a minute out from the Nightmare.
It was no longer facing her. Now it was using its free arm to tank hits from the tree as its leg started regrowing. Every bit of dripping Nightmare ink seemed to lengthen it slightly. *Ok this is my chance.*
Kat looked at Minor asleep in her arms and debated if she should take her or not. *I… I can't leave her alone but… can I risk carrying her towards that thing? I know I don't want to but…*