Ice lizard extermination III

"Line being breached! We need reinforcements now!"
It's Henry's voice. I haven't even reached the alley connecting the streets yet. Please hold on!

I run into the connecting alley. Before I even reach line two, I can see someone flying through the air. followed by a loud bang, probably hitting the wall of a house, then a thud. It was someone from our secondary party. They barely had any armour. I hope he'll be okay, but deep down I know it would be a miracle if he's even alive anymore. As if to confirm what I know, I can hear the house collapse. I decide not to look toward the back as I turn the corner, I'll focus on keeping alive who I can instead of looking back at who we've already lost.

Henry is fighting the class four, a rock deer. In the back, surrounded by small fry and all by himself. Meanwhile, the other party tries to keep the class two beasts from reaching the backline. Another Frost wolf is here. Unlike the one I defeated on line one, it's way in the back, focusing on supportive icicles and ice barriers. I run in to help Henry as quickly as I can. As strong as he might be, one-on-one with a class four is a bit too ambitious unless you're Pierre.

I run past the second party and start thinning out the ridiculous number of class two magic beasts near Henry.

"I'll be there in a minute, Henry"

"Glad you're back, Francis!"

"I'm sorry I'm late, Henry!
If only..."

He cuts me off there, which is probably for the best.
"Don't worry about the past now. You have to keep looking in front of you."

I feel so frustrated, but I already know what Henry said is true. Looking back now will only cause more losses and regret. My head knows, but I’m unsure if it can keep my heart in line...

I take my place to the front left of Henry and, releasing my anger, begin slashing at the reason one of the people from the other party died. Trying to change the regret that they may have fled from the battle if I hadn't shown off, into anger at the one who is undoubtedly directly to blame for their death.

The deer starts a magic circle, which causes the ground to crumble beneath our feet. It follows up by swinging at Henry with its antlers. Due to the unstable footing, it's nearly impossible to react quickly, and our stance is unstable. Henry manages to dodge by falling down, but now the deer raises its entire front, stamping down quickly as it tries to trample Henry. I find my footing in time and slice into the right front leg as I drag Henry away with my right arm. If it's this good at integrating our unstable footing into its tactics, we just have to use its plan against it!

"I have an idea, Henry! Keep it occupied for a bit."

"This better be good!"

I kick in the door of a fairly large house near the deer. After sliding open two doors, I finally find what I was looking for: a staircase. I quickly ascend to the first floor and cut a hole in the straw roofing with my katana. As the piece of straw flies out, I run along the wooden beam.
Sprinting towards the deer at full speed, I jump from this roof to the one next to it.

The deer just finished another swipe with its antlers. It stands on its hind legs, too busy fighting Henry to notice the straw that just landed. As it prepares to stomp on Henry again, I jump with all the force my legs can muster. I reach the deer's head before it can lower its front, cutting straight through the entire left side of its face.

"Let's see how well you'll fare with one eye!"
As I land on the roof of a smaller house on the other side of the road, through a great favour from fate itself, I don't fall through the straw. Instead, I miraculously land right on top of the front beam. In front of me, I can see a cloud of smoke, but I don't have time to look at other battles!

Our shinobi brings yet another untimely message: "Lines 5, 6 and 7 are being breached!"
"Retreat!"

I couldn't care less what line gets breached now, bring some good news for once, will you? I decided this deer is at fault for everything, so I'll take it down no matter what!

"Get the hell back here, Francis!"

I can hear Henry twenty metres behind me, but I'm already dead set on chasing this deer to hell and back.

After chasing it for about three minutes, I've only barely caught up. The deer is about as fast as I am while running on the roofs, but I'm not giving up. I jump towards the back of the deer and slice at the tendons of its hind legs.

As it falls down, I can hear a distant voice. Except I don't hear a sound, maybe feeling a distant voice is more accurate. The voice has a pleading tone, as it screams in agony: "Please, I don't want to die!" I see something like a small, light blue glowing meatball flying at me. As it gets closer, I can see it's an organ. My body acts by itself, and I... Catch it... With my mouth? Then swallow it?!

Only a few seconds after I do, my body feels like it is falling apart. My entire being is exploding while collapsing in on itself. I'm burning yet freezing.

I feel so much pain, as if I've been cut by hundreds of blades. Meanwhile, the entire world is spinning.

I hear someone or something talking, and it's so loud! Yet I don't understand a single word from all of the rambling.

All of my senses are getting overloaded, the last thing I see is the entire plaza I'm standing in turning a blue shade centred around me, with some white spots on top. It looks as if it's covered by a layer of ice with some snow on top, before everything turns black and quiet as I lose my sight, hearing, balance and consciousness.