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The Abolishers scattered. Some dashed backward, trying to get out of the way, but two simply pushed straight through the inferno, aiming to get right up in Vito’s face.

He welcomed them with another blast of fire, but this time, he lived inside the flames himself. He let the lutetium keep burning and create a soul-infused haze around his own body.

And he kept launching projectiles, too, but now they were nearly the size of his entire body and so would look like duplicates to confuse the enemy’s senses. With the help of pan-forma, he and Kerikos could do this so quickly that it wasn’t even necessary for each duplicate to serve as an attack. Some could be sent purely as distractions.

Without a doubt, the two frontal attackers ended up with more than they’d bargained for as the flaming body doubles swarmed and pummeled them into the ground.

The added control of Kerikos’ mind was key here. There was no way that Vito could have kept track of all the projectile duplicates without the reaper’s help, especially when he was also trying to keep track of the enemy’s position, as well. The reaper’s soul senses were much needed there, too, thanks to the blinding red light that filled his vision.

In the distance, Kerikos could sense some of the attackers from earlier, the same ones that Vito had made short work of. They were still regenerating, having to regrow their bodies either from scratch or from the neck down.

So Vito decided to get ahead of that problem while he could and incinerate their regenerative efforts. The reapers attached to them fled but not without incurring some damage themselves.

That was all the opening he got, though, because the other Abolishers were reconvening on him with long-ranged assaults. Gunfire, materialized projectiles, acid and explosions came for him all at once.

He dispersed more duplicates in quick succession in order to confuse their targeting, but there was still no way to avoid the attacks completely. It was his turn to endure a pummeling as he sprinted left while his duplicates scattered in all directions.

All directions, that was, except behind. At all costs, he couldn’t draw enemy fire toward the escaping civilians. Kerikos was keeping track of them, too, of course. If Vito could just buy a bit more time for them to finish climbing through that hole, then this fight might become a bit more manageable.