Natalya's icy strike hits home - although one cultist manages to throw himself to the ground, suffering only a flesh wound on his shoulder, two of them are caught solidly in the stomach. They double over as the icicles pierce their gut, dropping their guns and falling dying to the ground.

The injured cultist however is clearly angered. Still lying on the ground and firing his gun, he emits a strange gurgling noise from his throat... and then suddenly spits a steaming jet of acid from between his teeth! Unlike his erratic gunfire, the acid is aimed with precision, and will doubtlessly strike Natalya unless she does something.

The cultists facing Kitharsis, meanwhile, are in for a rude shock. They react instinctively when Kitharsis throws something at them, and instead of firing at him they aim for the bag. Their bad aim actually stands them in good stead for once as a few of the less well-aimed bullets streak towards Kitharsis, while a few more actually manage to punch through the bag and head towards him as well, trails of sand streaking behind them. Fortunately however the sand stops most of the attack... and then, suddenly, the entire bag explodes violently.

Several cultists have the presence of mind to cover their eyes while two more fall right over from the shock of the explosion, but none are completely spared as the sand rips into their ranks. Screams and shouts of pain and confusion erupt from the cultists as their skin and muscle is torn from their bones.

One of the wounded cultists uncovers his face only just in time to see a Kama descend on him. Spraying blood, his body topples over, his head cleaved in two. The remaining cultists are badly wounded and are easy pickings for Kitharsis.

However, one badly-wounded cultist, blinded and lying prone on the ground, decides that he has nothing to lose and will not be denied his revenge. Reaching into his robe with his remaining good hand, he pulls out a plasma grenade and twists it... in three seconds, it will go off in a blaze of superheated flame!

Meanwhile, Xeno's abilities protect him effectively against the gunfire directed towards him and strikes back with bursts of white-hot fire. The cultist with the grenade launcher manages to shoot before the projectile hits, but in his panic his aim was well off... the grenade instead heads near Sepher, falling into the midst of some cultists he is fighting and exploding violently.

Xeno's flaming blasts envelop the four cultists, hiding them in a massive explosion. Shrill screams are heard and several loud detonations follow as the grenade launcher-wielding cultist's ammunition explodes.

When the smoke clears, however, one of the cultists is left standing amidst the charred remains of his comrades. His weapons and clothing is gone, but his body is unharmed. With the robe burnt off, his hideous appearance is revealed: his skin is covered with shimmering black scales, and his fingertips end in claws. Without hesitation, the cultist charges like a berserker at Xeno.

Elsewhere, Diego reacts skillfully to the new threat, and begins firing on the incoming grenade. The shots hit it several times, throwing sparks and juggling the grenade in the air before one shot penetrates its casing and sets the grenade off. There is a loud explosion that throws two cultists near Tamrissa off their feet - Diego himself is left unharmed. His other beretta hits three more cultists near the front line, two of whom are fatally wounded. The third suffers only a minor wound to the side of his torso.

However, Diego's attack has distracted him, and he is not paying attention to where he was going. A nearby cultist takes note of this and draws a wicked-looking hatchet from his robes and moves to intercept Diego.

As Diego is just about to reach the pile of broken asphalt he was going to use as cover, the cultist leaps over it and falls on Diego, intending to butcher him with the hatchet.

Sepher in the meantime hits the five cultists hard, disembowelling one and seizing the heads of two more in his hands. The unfortunate cultists barely have time to scream before their faces dissolve off in a mess of black organic goo.

But unfortunately for Sepher, a badly-aimed grenade from one of Xeno's victims hits the ground just behind the remaining cultists and explodes violently...

The cultist challenging Shenba is caught completely off-guard and is cut down by her swordplay... but one of his friends, seeing this, takes cover behind some fallen metal pipes and opens fire with his gun. Shenba will need to act fast to avoid getting hit.

Sera's vicious attack spreads out amidst a large group of cultists and slays them left and right. However, some of the cleverer cultists begin to react and seem to catch onto the fact that Sera is behind it. Running as fast as they can, a group of seven cultists head towards her, drawing swords in their left hands while firing their guns with their right...

Luckily for Sera, two of those cultists are distracted when there is a loud explosion behind them that throws several of their comrades into the air... and then a warrior with dual chain swords rushes past. Hesitating only a moment, the two cultists break off from the other five running towards to Sera and chase after Kaworu... one lowers his gun, about to fire, while the other raises his sword over his head...

Finally, near the entrance to a nearby alleyway, an unsuspecting cultist drops his cute, meowing 'kitten' into a small cardboard box. Giving it one quick parting glance - and briefly wondering if he was simply being stupid - the cultist pulls his gun back out and shuffles sideways, firing at the marines nearby...

Soul Reaver is still firing screaming bolts of power at his foes when Natalya's warning suddenly rings out over the din. The cultists, realizing that they have been exposed, make a mad charge at Soul Reaver the same moment that he whirls around.

The faster of the two cultists gets in a good slash with his sword, but Soul Reaver's breastplate absorbs the worst of it. In return, Darkstar smashes into the side of his unarmoured chest, collapsing his ribcage and killing him instantly.

The second cultist however manages to dodge Darkstar's swing... in fact, his joints seem to bend at bizarre angles, letting him twist away from the weapon while his feet remain planted on the spot.

Although Soul Reaver avoids the cultist's strangely-angled sword-swing, he is not prepared as the cultist pulls a knife from his robe with his other hand and solidly plants it in Soul Reaver's side.

With a roar of pain, Soul Reaver grabs the wrist of the cultist's knife-wielding hand before the cultist can withdraw the weapon again. Soul Reaver's gauntlet is cold and his grip bone-crushingly tight.

The cultist releases the knife with a shriek of pain. Before he can do anything else, Soul Reaver has swung him around like a rag doll, right over his head and down onto the asphalt. The impact breaks several more bones, knocking the cultist unconscious and incapacitating him.

Blood drips slowly from the knife still lodged in Soul Reaver's side. Breathing heavily, Soul Reaver stands over the fallen mutant. His face twists into a sneer of disgust, contempt, and anger.

"You will regret that, sub-human!"

Seething anger fills Soul Reaver's mind and he draws back Darkstar high above his head. His teeth clench and his face draws into a grimace of hate... and Darkstar streaks down onto the prone body, hitting it with a wet thud. But there is no pause as Soul Reaver pulls the weapon up again, and again, and again, raining down a barrage of blows on the corpse.

Suddenly, his mind reeling, Soul Reaver comes to his senses again. Before him is nothing more than a mangled mess of blood, gore, and splintered bone.

The desire to draw Blooddrinker had been so strong a moment ago... as if through it, he himself could have feased on the carnage he had just wrought.

The brutality he had inflicted on this defeated foe was unnecessary. He had kept striking only through hate. Soul Reaver was disgusted at the sight of what he had done, not because of what he saw but what it represented to him.

I must maintain control of myself. I must use my anger... not allow it to use me. Otherwise...

Soul Reaver's thoughts go unfinished as he feels his Protection from Missiles spell begin to fade. Not wishing to be caught out in the open amidst the crossfire between marines and cultists, Soul Reaver quickly dives behind an overturned vehicle to take cover and prepare his next move.