Jasmine's blade struck true again—SLASH—carving through a groove in the monster's side that Sylvie had revealed moments earlier with a burst of glyph-light. But the follow-through… didn't land right.
The monster's body twisted—not just in defense, but in response. Its muscle fibers, if they could be called that, bent like molten vines and reformed mid-impact, dampening the strike. What should've staggered it didn't even slow it down.
Sylvie noticed it first.
"That… should've hit deeper," she muttered, blinking hard.
Jasmine didn't answer at first. She leapt back from another swipe, boots skidding across dust-slick stone, her breathing quick and ragged. "I know. I'm not getting through."
She rushed again, pivoted around the creature's flared limb and dove beneath its guard, blade flashing with wind-imbued momentum.
SLASH—KRSSHH!
Another strike, across a thinner joint near the mid-ribs.
It hit—but it slid. Like the monster had anticipated her tempo.
