Even before he got near the jaw of the Abyssal monstrosity, that nerve-rattling pressure began to reach Akoni.  When in the air with a trajectory affected only by the upward force of his legs, the unrelenting gravitational force emanating from his target’s mouth began to pull him nearer and nearer to annihilation.  Fortunately, though, his speed and the angle from which he came prevented the force from overwhelming him, and his blade struck true.  It gouged out a chunk of brownish-purple flesh, sending rivulets of gummy fluid flying, and Akoni plummeted back through his gate unharmed.  A low crackling noise, rather like the fragmentation of a colossal iceberg about to splinter and fall into the sea, issued from the aberration.  The freeform surface of the beast’s flesh began to twist and move again, readying an appropriate defense.  To an observant onlooker, this reflexive response might have been the most terrifying thing about the creature so far; within that huge, horrible body lay some kind of tactical intelligence, capable of recognizing threats, learning from mistakes, and creating strategies to counter opponents.

The Abyssal would not be allowed much reprieve to prepare.  A startling, nightmarish change consumed the huntress called Mary, turning her from an eerily beautiful and imposing human to a misshapen monster wreathed in vicious flame.  The molten rock she left behind as she rushed recklessly ahead outshone the adversary’s hellfire—a testament to the nature of the Charred Council’s authority over the fires of the underworld, though in truth those blue flames were replicated and not from the Pit.  Mary, literally aglow with molten power, explosively launched herself upward toward the Abyssal with enough murderous intent to cause Souta to flinch.  He couldn’t imagine whether his ally would have control over her mind in such a form, and so -vulnerable as he was in his current position- instinctively tried to protect himself.  Luckily for him, Mary flew for the librarian and not the smith, her claws outstretched to brutally eviscerate.  In her aggression, however, she didn’t plan that her plan of attack essentially matched Akoni’s, which meant that the Abyssal’s new defenses could get to work immediately.  From the aberration’s skin sprouted countless spikes, each about a foot long and barbed, but some of them outclassed the others.  About five of the spikes shot forward, like blades of grass growing many times faster than possible, so that Mary would run straight into them.

Of course, these events comprised only half of the attack, but the Abyssal’s size and keen mind allowed it to engage every enemy at once.  Next came Silas, whose courtesy compelled him to call out his attack and completely alert the creature to the threat.  After coming out of the hallway and disgorging some fire, it hadn’t utilized its mouth again, and this seemed like a prime opportunity.  Very abruptly, the front half of the Abyssal flipped around, as would a writhing inchworm after its back end had been pinned.  The force with which it turned to face Silas ripped off a few of its foretentacles, in fact, but evidently the sacrifice of a few constructed limbs didn’t bother the Abyssal too much.  In only a moment, the Pleiades blades were directed not at the creature’s body, but at its maw.  Of course, the Abyssal didn’t anticipate that those swords could not be physically redirected by any other power, even one as unrelenting as its, and Silas would almost certainly direct his weapons away so as to keep them from vanishing into his enemy’s maw.  Even though it could not consume the Pleiades, the Abyssal was inspired by the thrown weapons, and thought it might return the favor.  Blue energy cascading around its mouth formed into points, and after a moment a torrential downpour of brightly-glowing spears flew Silas’ way.

Meanwhile, Midori engaged her Firebrand Trigger as well, but decided to be a bit more discreet.  Since she didn’t confront the Abyssal with a direct threat, it allotted her only a cursory awareness, and she fluttered around the domed room freely.  Her discretion was rewarded: no retaliations came her way as she lopped off one tentacle after another, slowly worsening the abomination’s grip on the ceiling.  More tendrils grew to regain purchase, but her efforts had a definite effect.  After a short while of doing this, the little demon opted to shift her plan of attack, and dove straight for it.  Because she came from above, she didn’t receive the same sort of punishment Mary did, but there were still spikes to contend with.  Because of the Abyssal’s irritating regenerative abilities, the wound cut into its skin by Midori tried to mend itself almost instantly, but a little bit of fire did make its way beneath the flesh.  Souta, who hung not far away, saw his chance.  He begun to swing back and forth using his Trawlers, building momentum, and after a short while engaged his strength to throw himself toward the damaged area.  With one of the hooks he snagged the loose bit of flesh, and with a grunt of satisfaction he put his full weight behind that arm.  His bodyweight attached to the strip of flesh caused it to peel away, creating a large strip without spikes that Midori could attack.  A blue light bled through part of this exposed area from within.  On the downside, Souta guessed that as soon as the Abyssal could spare him some attention, it would kill him.  [color=teal]”Well, here’s your chance.  I’m gonna drop off in a sec so it doesn’t stab me.  Get going!”[/color]