39. Rock-on-Rock

Serac Edin, by virtue of the Instrument she'd transmuted, was a Wayfarer of the gunslinging variety.

Every problem she'd encountered so far in her journey she'd been able to solve by shooting it in the face. Granted, some problems required more creative solutions than others, but—by and large—she'd been happy to rely on REVOLVER and its six chambers to come through when it mattered most. Imagine her surprise and dismay, then, to discover that here was one problem she couldn't shoot to bits.

The first thing she tried was a garden-variety unimbued shot, only to find she might as well have blown dust on her enemy. The bullet barely left a dent as it made contact with Hanuman's Huskbound armor.

Meanwhile, across the battlefield, Zacko the NINEFOLD master sidestepped Hanuman's stomp before laying into the giant's foot with a right-fisted punch. [The Third Dao—Cestus]. Badoom! Along with a meaty sound effect, more of the Sentinel's body burst into powder.

Hanuman reacted by backing off a step, regrowing a new foot as it did. The giant shrank down by another size, but that only seemed to make it nimbler. It demonstrated its renewed aggression by throwing a punch right back at Zacko. Mano-a-mano and skill-to-skill.

Serac watched it all go down—and was allowed to watch, because her opponent had already decided to ignore her. This was less a case of Zacko drawing aggro and more that Serac had lost aggro entirely, simply due to how little threat she presented.

This won't do. For all she knew, Zacko could take this Huskbound Sentinel all by his lonesome, but that would result in 100% of the Karmic reward being funneled his way. It wasn't that she begrudged the Manusya his Karma (gods knew he needed it), but she couldn't forgive herself for sitting on the sidelines and losing out.

She needed to find a way to 'contribute' to the fight and quickly. By now, she was experienced enough to understand the breadth of options at her disposal—no need for either version of Trippy to prod her into action. The next thing to try was to switch up the damage type—a recent lesson taught to her by some ghosts.

[Chamber One: BLOOD FOR BLOOD]

[HANUMAN Status Effect: BLEED]

[Wayfarer Status Effect: BLEED]

[TRIBULATION active (x3): current buff at 15%]

Serac's only intention had been to imbue her bullets with Infernal damage. Knowing the boss's lack of a Health bar, she hadn't expected [Bleed] to produce any discernible effect on Hanuman itself. Imagine her surprise and wonderment, then, to discover that even a Huskbound giant could leave a visible trail of blood.

"It's not as surprising or wondrous as you make it out to be, Wayfarer." Trippy was quick to offer his two क. "You should know that our bones—or, more specifically, the marrow within them—are the very wellspring of our blood. Which is to say, bones do bleed, and you shouldn't expect this set of bones to behave any differently. Now, whether the [Bleed] gets you any closer to a smite in the absence of a Health bar, that's another story."

That bit of characterful anatomy lesson aside, Serac refocused on the task at hand. If Physical bullets were a no-go, could converting them to Infernal make the difference?

The answer was a callous and unequivocal no. The newly magical bullets, even when imbued with a visible black aura, merely bounced off the Huskbound armor, not even leaving a mark. Meanwhile, Hanuman and Zacko continued their crunchy, dusty duel, with neither paying a Rakshasa gunslinger the slightest bit of attention.

Okay, okay. The .44 Special can't even tickle this giant statue. Could I maybe… set it on fire?

[Chamber One: CATHARSIS]

[173!]

If Serac hadn't imagined it, the gut punch she inflicted on herself with every activation of [Catharsis] seemed to increase in severity, proportionate to the amount of lost HP. As powerful a spell as it was, she did not enjoy casting it. And on the rare occasion she did, she'd hope for it to at least make a difference in the fight.

No such luck. [Catharsis]'s black flames of penitence fizzled out just as soon as it touched Hanuman's armor. Its inefficacy was reminiscent of that against Ashvanaga's castle walls, except on this occasion, it didn't even come with a single damage notification as a consolation prize.

[TRIBULATION active (x2): current buff at 10%]

The downtick in [Tribulation] stacks told Serac that the [Bleed] effect had run out on both Hanuman and herself. Now, she was back to square one, with a cylinder full of unimbued bullets that could do nothing to their target.

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Welp. Now I'm well and truly out of options. I guess this fight just isn't meant for me. All I can do is sit on the sidelines and watch—

"Aren't you forgetting something, Wayfarer?" Trippy again, and if Serac hadn't imagined it… was that a note of annoyance in his voice? "You've got limbs. Consider putting them to use."

Serac gasped in surprise. Now, where have I heard that one before?

But there was a time and place for reminiscing about old friends, and in the middle of a boss fight wasn't it. She quelled her own shock, ignored a slight prickling sensation just behind her right ear, and refocused on the task at hand.

Hanuman's attention remained fully trained on Zacko and his NINEFOLD techniques. Which gave Serac plenty of room to sneak up behind the gradually-less-giant giant and land a left-fisted punch of her own. For any Wayfarer worth her salt should have more than one tool for the job.

[Auxiliary Technique: THE GRIND]

PULVERIZER sank its jagged teeth into Hanuman's 'calf', taking no time to pulverize a whole lower leg into pale-gray powder. Thus, where pot shots with lead bullets had failed, good old rock-on-rock violence proved to be the answer.

This, at least momentarily, caused the giant to lose its balance. Zacko, positioned on the other side of the statue, didn't miss his chance to inflict double punishment on the boss. He attacked Hanuman's intact shin with a rigid open palm, producing a satisfying 'smack!' upon impact.

[Auxiliary Technique: THE SECOND DAO—FAN]

With both legs gone, the Huskbound Sentinel dropped to the ground and tipped over. Finally, Serac thought, this must Hanuman's version of Poise-break.

But, by then, the giant statue had shrunk so much that it was closer to the Wayfarers in height than to its original size. With an agility afforded only by its newfound compactness, Hanuman pushed against the ground with both arms, then somersaulted into the air.

Both Wayfarers stood and watched, slack-jawed. The statue gracefully completed a full rotation, before landing on two feet—newly regrown while it was still in the air.

The fight wasn't over yet! At this point, Serac couldn't help but turn her attention onto the build-up gauge that took up the center of her Pathsight. [Ossify] had filled up to at least three-quarters full—and still ticked on at a steady rate.

Surely, the Wayfarers were only a few more good hits away from finishing Hanuman off. And yet… could they risk continuing the fight when they were so close to becoming Bone Husks themselves? As Serac and Zacko were caught in a moment of indecision, it was Hanuman that made the first move. It unlocked the stand-off by… turning tail and running away.

What the hell? Serac stared at the boss's back, dumbfounded. The statue moved through the stormy night air with surprising speed and was already moments away from disappearing into the clouds of bone dust.

"Oh, fuck no!" Zacko was the first to react, breaking into a sprint with every intention to chase the statue into the dust-storm.

Within the space of a fraught Ksana, Serac analyzed the evolving situation. Hanuman in its current form was fast, and it'd take Zacko some time to catch up. And even if he did, there was no guarantee he could end the fight quickly enough to avoid becoming fully [Ossified].

"Stop!" Serac commanded at the top of her lungs, breathing in more bone dust as she did. "I've got a better idea!"

No time to lose, and therefore no time to explain. Serac unclipped mini-Ash from her belt and imagined its 'Interstitial form' spilling back out into the physical world.

Crreeeaaaakkkkk…!!

Along with a war-cry only a living castle could produce, Ash plopped down on the battlefield, fully formed. Serac wasted no time, climbing onto the battlement in several lithe hops. From there, it was a simple matter of doing what she did best. Aim, lock, fire. Except, instead of a .44 Special fired from a six-shooter, the projectile that flew through the night sky was a [Blood-Tipped Javelin], thrown by Serac's arm.

By then, Hanuman's escaping figure was fully obscured by dust clouds. But Serac trusted in her own instincts—and in the powerful flight of Ash's [Javelin]. After a fraught Ksana or two, her faith was vindicated by a Pathsighted notification:

[HANUMAN Status Effect: BLEED]

"There!" Serac sighed in relief. "That should do it for now."

"Wait, that's your brilliant idea?" Zacko yelled from ground level. "To let our mark get away anyway… except now with a [Javelin] sticking out of its ass?"

"A [Javelin] that's going to leave behind a trail of blood," Serac explained patiently. "A trail for us to follow. Once we've freshened up with a bit of reconstitution. Now, come on! Let's get back inside before our [Ossify] gauges fill up."

Zacko reluctantly obeyed, grumbling to himself all the while. Once the Wayfarers were safely inside their castle, [Ossify]'s build-up stopped, then began to tick down in the opposite direction. The healing effect wasn't as instantaneous as when they'd been covered in Dashi's lantern light, but at the very least, the two of them now had the time to regroup and reassess.

"So, what now?" Zacko demanded, still in a foul mood for having his smite interrupted. "Are we gonna follow with Ash, or what?"

"Nah, don't think that's practical," Serac replied, her plan forming even as she spoke it. "Can't see shit through the eyeslit. And besides, we already know Hanuman has a way to deal with Ash before we can get close."

"So then… we follow on foot? But what about the bone dust? The storm might settle if we wait until the morning, but by then, I'll bet the trail of blood will be gone too."

"I'll bet you're right," Serac said slowly, still thinking. "I think, for this next part, we're gonna need some help. We'll need the locals to do us a favor."

"You don't mean…?"

"Yup." Serac nodded, and rather grimly at that. "We'll have to talk to Dashi again. See if we can't renegotiate the terms of our quid pro quo."

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