The shout was enough of a distraction that his opponent wasn't ready for the sweep and strike by his spear. He managed to sink the butt of the spear deep into his opponent's stomach, causing him to cough and exhale, hard. Too bad it wasn't the other end, but needs must.
Then, Arthur was jumping back, pulling the leader to him, dodging another flashing Mana Dart, pulling an opponent to him and only barely managing to shift his body so that the thrown knife imbued with Focused Strike sunk into the top of his shoulder than his chest. It hurt, a little, but adrenaline kept him in the fight as his spear kept darting around.
He waited, just long enough for the flashing lights to blind Jai's opponent to loose his own Refined Energy Dart. He aimed at the man's head, watched as it exploded out of the side of the man's head because he was too busy ignoring flashing lights, and tried to keep his stomach from rebelling at getting splattered with warm blood and brain matter.
It cost him, as the parang slammed into his leg. He felt skin part, causing him to hiss in pain and causing his leg to buckle. Another strike caught his spear, and as the parang swept for his fingers, he was forced to let go or watch them fly off. One-handed, another opponent grabbed at it, only for Arthur to gift it to him, point first.
Movement in the corner of his eyes, and a boot caught him in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.
Too much going on, his opponents too fast. Other cultivation techniques were being thrown around. Someone had activated an Aura, one that slowed down the movement of tower energy. He could feel his chi, his energy struggling to move properly, making the Heavenly Sage's Mischief less powerful, his body heavier. He found himself pushing back with his aura, helping to remove the pressure a little, grateful his new trait let him do so.
He kicked a few times, pushing his opponent back. Mindful of the swinging parang, nearly getting a toe lopped off but managing to smack the arm away. Then, he kipped himself up, using a shoulder and then arm to spring sideways in a weird capoeira-wushu kick mix that he made up on the spot. Flailing legs coming in at a high angle caught a face, throwing his opponent back with a bleeding nose and scratched chin before Arthur managed to finish the spin and recover.
No weapon though, his kris with the rest of the gear. He hadn't wanted to wear it while he was training, the sheath annoying when it banged against his thighs. Instead, he kept forming a Refined Exploding Energy Dart.
Movement behind his opponents, the entire group having turned around and mixed around. He backed off, casting a glance back to check he wasn't running into anyone.
His opponent lunged for him, never realising that they'd left their back open.
Jan's spear erupted out of the boss's back, punching through as the full speed sprint and lunge pushed the weapon through his ribcage and out his front. He staggered a step, then another, his own momentum pulling him off the weapon. Arthur stepped sideways, grabbed and stripped the parang from his hand.
Shock cut through the gang of 04 members at the violent death of their boss. The younger of the group froze for a moment, expectation turned on their head. Moving swiftly, Arthur backed away, putting himself in front of the door and snarling one word.
"Surrender."
Sadly, things didn't go how he expected. Rather than dropping their weapons and taking the easy out, the remaining members fought even harder, two of them charging him at the same time. They broke away when they could from their own opponents, intent on leaving.
Shoulder hunching down, he set his feet.
One way or the other, they weren't leaving. Not after what they had done.
***
Arthur groaned, leaning against the wall and recalling what they said about desperate rats. The last minute of fighting had been even more furious, the injuries he had picked up as he refused to back out of the door such that the others could get out adding more injuries than any other time. He had dropped the Refined Energy Dart the moment he had created it into his Pocket Simpanan, rather switching over to forming and using Bark Skin as Heavenly Sage collapsed as he stopped feeding energy through the route.
After that, he just had to hang on long enough for his friends to finish off the others and come help him. The gang had fought until it was clear they weren't going to escape, and then the sole remaining standing member had dropped their parang. Right now, he was tied up with a bunch of rope and was kissing the ground as Noor and Jan finished bandaging the other two still alive members. Though, looking at one of them, Arthur wasn't sure if he'd survive.
Gut wounds were nasty, and while they were more resistant to infections, more didn't mean immune.
One last look, as he triggered his own Accelerated Healing. He moved slow, making sure to put as little weight on his foot as possible, feeling blood still leaking outwards from it as he took a step. Painful to the extreme, but he could survive it. The problem was more making sure he made it over to Jai where his friends had strapped a splint to keep it straight and in one direction.
"Don't keep messing with it," Arthur growled, sitting down beside them with blessed relief. He winced, reached sideways and pulled up the flap of skin by his side that flopped open, pressing his hand against it and waiting for it to gum up. "You need to make sure it's aligned mostly, then the Tower can do the rest."
"It... I'm going to lose my hand. Oh gods, oh gods, I'm done for. Shit... shit."
"You're not. Now, I need you to focus."
"I shouldn't. I blocked it. I didn't think. I just... blocked it. I'm so stupid, oh god, oh god."
"Oy!" Arthur considered reaching over to smack him with his one free hand but knew doing so would hurt. Instead he growled out the question, hoping it would get his attention. "You want to join us or not?"
A shove, and the mental prompt.
"What? Wah...?"
"Jai!" Zhiang Lai pushed on his arm, trying to get his attention. "Say yes! Yes."
"I..."
"You all too," Arthur said, cutting off the other two before they could ask. Or think about it. More pushing on the Tower, then he lapsed into silence as he waited to see what they'd do. He focused on his own healing a little more, tried to pull it through to the specific areas that needed fixing. Stopping his bleeding was the first and biggest step, he was leaking like a punctured sieve after moving again and reopening his wounds which was a bad idea. Nevermind having to put some holes in him and...
"Shit!" Arthur cursed, suddenly.
"What?" He barely noted how everyone tensed, weapons raised. He shook his head, dismissing their worry as he continued. "I forgot to use my new technique!"
Of course, considering it wasn't meant for short battles, but was better at taking out bigger monsters, perhaps it wasn't as big a mistake. Except, maybe he could have left a few more people alive.
Then, looking at the injured and the injuries, he dismissed that concern.
They'd made their decisions. As had he.
Regrets were for the late nights, not when everyone was still bleeding.